Pre-Booking Dining

[OmarOak]

We are on Koningsdam in early January, our first HAL cruise after prior trips on Princess and Celebrity.

 

Reading through various posts, it seems as if waiting to book specialty restaurants until boarding might be problematic because all the best days/times are pre-booked. Is this a correct perception?

 

If you pre-book specialty dining does the charge get added to the on-board billing or will I be paying seperately before the cruise?

 

Thanks! 

[510picker]

If you know which days you want, it is definitely best to pre-book. I can't comment on the times available since I always pre-book. Your credit card will be charged immediately when you pre-book. Enjoy your cruise!

[KirkNC]

There is really no reason to not prebook unless you want to use OBC’s to pay.  Personally, I have very rarely had a problem booking while on board but I always do it when first embarking.  

[avian777]

21 hours ago, 510picker said:

If you know which days you want, it is definitely best to pre-book. I can't comment on the times available since I always pre-book. Your credit card will be charged immediately when you pre-book. Enjoy your cruise!

 

  👍👍👍 Agree - we "pre-book" all of our dinning reservations, as we are a tad fussy as to our preferred dinning times!!!

[shook]

Can anyone comment on how to pre-book complementary dining (our TA gave us 1 free Pinnacle Grill and 1 free Canaletto). I would like to do this before we cruise to make sure we can use them on the dates/times we'd like to - but if I pre-book online, then I am charged my credit card immediately. Will I get the charges reversed onboard when I present the comps? Thanks!

 

[kazu]

8 minutes ago, shook said:

Can anyone comment on how to pre-book complementary dining (our TA gave us 1 free Pinnacle Grill and 1 free Canaletto). I would like to do this before we cruise to make sure we can use them on the dates/times we'd like to - but if I pre-book online, then I am charged my credit card immediately. Will I get the charges reversed onboard when I present the comps? Thanks!

 

 

You should be able. to I would think.

 

 I prebook on line all the time then on board,  I ask the. PG manager to apply my 5* benefit to that PG dinner.  I then get refunded my PG dinner that. I had paid for as OBC.

 

If there is a confirmation in your room, I''d go directly and ask them to substitute your. Reserved dinner and refund you.

 

Wait to see what others have to say on this though.

[Nashna]

We are sailing on Sunday on the K.  I have pre-booked two Pinnacle Grill dinners that were part of a promo.  I expect to have those reservations credited once we are onboard.  Based on recommendations on CC, I am waiting to book Canaletto until we are onboard as they don't book out the way Pinnacle Grill does.  We like to dine at 7:00pm and I wanted to be sure to get that time.

 

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, Nashna said:

We are sailing on Sunday on the K.  I have pre-booked two Pinnacle Grill dinners that were part of a promo.  I expect to have those reservations credited once we are onboard.  Based on recommendations on CC, I am waiting to book Canaletto until we are onboard as they don't book out the way Pinnacle Grill does.  We like to dine at 7:00pm and I wanted to be sure to get that time.

 

 

I was on the first Konigsdam cruise after the drydock and I passed by the Canaletto on my way to the 7:00 PM movie each night and found it nearly full each of my 11 days aboard.  My earlier dining at 6:00 PM had some open tables.  I don't know if the nearly full status was created by onboard booking or online booking.

[Nashna]

5 minutes ago, Crew News said:

 

I was on the first Konigsdam cruise after the drydock and I passed by the Canaletto on my way to the 7:00 PM movie each night and found it nearly full each of my 11 days aboard.  My earlier dining at 6:00 PM had some open tables.  I don't know if the nearly full status was created by onboard booking or online booking.

Good to know.  I will be sure to make reservations early in the cruise.  Reports on CC regarding the food quality at Canaletto have not be stellar.   

[Crew News]

4 minutes ago, Nashna said:

Good to know.  I will be sure to make reservations early in the cruise.  Reports on CC regarding the food quality at Canaletto have not be stellar.   

 

Food is very subjective.  I liked my branzion meal and especially the Zuppe di Pesci.  My favoritie is the Ossa Bucco but it is only available on Fridays.  The pistaccio gelato is always a good ending to a meal.

 

Here is the latest menu that has not changed since May 2018:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Canaletto.pdf

Edited January 7, 2019 by Crew News

[Nashna]

Thank you for the menus.  My DH loves Veal Santimbocca while I love anything with pasta.  Thursday night looks like it will work well.  I'll double check when we board to make sure they are still adhering to the old menu.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

And for those dinners that you have pre paid for and want to cancel once on the ship -- that money will become a shipboard credit.

[ZSandy25]

35 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

And for those dinners that you have pre paid for and want to cancel once on the ship -- that money will become a shipboard credit.

Thanks, I always look for my 4 star discount but didn't know if I cancelled that I would get shipboard credit.

[TAD2005]

If you have free PG or Canaletto dinners by HAL, you will get a time and date assigned and that will be in your cabin when you board.  You can then contact the matre'd  and try to change it.   If you want a specific date and time, and book it online, and pay for it, then you must cancel it once onboard and hope that the slot you booked and cancelled will not be filled by someone on a waiting list.   That usually isn't a problem unless you wait too long.  

When you do pre-pay and cancel a dinner, your cabin account will be credited and you just apply that credit to your new reservation.  The only sticky point is if the time and date that you really want is already in high demand and there is a waiting list.  When you cancel your pre-paid online booking, that frees up that time slot for the next person on the waiting list, if there is one.

[Nashna]

15 hours ago, Crew News said:

 

Food is very subjective.  I liked my branzion meal and especially the Zuppe di Pesci.  My favoritie is the Ossa Bucco but it is only available on Fridays.  The pistaccio gelato is always a good ending to a meal.

 

Here is the latest menu that has not changed since May 2018:

 

http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Canaletto.pdf

Thanks for the heads up.  We had booked the Pinnacle for a Thursday night.  Since that is Saltimbocca night, we changed the Pinnacle and booked Canaletto instead.  When I called HAL to make the change, they informed me that our promo dinner reservations were already on our record.  The times and dates that HAL had assigned were not going to work for us.  I'm very glad that we pre-booked our reservations on line.  We will be sure to get a credit for the pre-paid and will cancel those booked by HAL.