Purchasing onboard vs. pre-cruise

[oceanmom]

31 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said:

Not sure what goes on with our account, as they always post full charge for the restaurant and credit 50% of the charge in the second column, which leaves half as a charge that we've already paid.

How recently has this happened to you?

 

We always prebook and pay for the speciality restaurants before boarding the ship and have never had the full amount posted anywhere on the folio statement. What shows up, as others have said, is on one of the early days of the cruise (last month on the third day), a loyalty credit shows up. The couple of times we've done lunch in the Pinnacle which cannot be prebooked, it shows up as the full charge with the credit.

[RuthC]

I find no problem getting the 50% discount when I prepay for a Pinnacle dinner. I find getting the 100% 5*  discount to be the problem. It's as if the night auditors are unaware---even after all these years---that 5* Mariners get two free dinners. 
I have to make two trips to the Front desk to get the full credit. Happens every time. 

[chloes nana]

So if you have complimentary PG and Tamarind vouchers form our TA or HAL how do we pre book these and not have to pay for them? I am confused 😐 

[richstowe]

22 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

I don't know if this is a "thing" fleet wide, but something we have observed a couple of times is that once onboard, they would only allow people to make Pinnacle Grill reservations at basically "two-sitting" intervals -- like 5:30 and 8:00 (or some times like that.)  We observed a very irate diner in the PG asking why he couldn't get in at 7:00 when the place was virtually empty.  The response was along the lines of, "That's just the way we do it."

This is my experience not and not only on HAL . I guess they want 2 turns  and will allow only a few  reservations between early and late seating's .  In fact one time (on Princess) after not being able to reserve  in advance at our preferred time, we just walked in at 7ish and they gave us a table . Silly .

[catl331]

12 hours ago, chloes nana said:

how do we pre book these and not have to pay for them?

I don't know any way to pre-book them. We just reserve the freebies once on board.  Maybe you could prebook, cancel on board for a refund, and rebook immediately for free, but with HAL I'm not confident it would work smoothly. 😄

[PSR]

On 9/21/2019 at 4:44 PM, kazu said:

I’ve never been charged again for a specialty dinner i’ve prepaid for.

 

We have also been given a refund of 50% the first cruise day for all pre-booked dinners, and have never been then charged the full price (after dining) to our account. It is strange that you have been. I would suggest that if you don't see the credit on your account the first day, contact the front desk so your prepayment is noted. Hopefully that will correct the problem.

[PSR]

On 9/21/2019 at 6:36 PM, RuthC said:

I find no problem getting the 50% discount when I prepay for a Pinnacle dinner. I find getting the 100% 5*  discount to be the problem. It's as if the night auditors are unaware---even after all these years---that 5* Mariners get two free dinners. 
I have to make two trips to the Front desk to get the full credit. Happens every time. 

 

Ruth, are you saying that if you pre-book these dinners and pay, you DON'T automatically get a 100% refund the first day like you get the 50% refund  if you are 4 star? That seems weird. Do you have to pre-book for the dates/times to get what you want, or does the PG decide the dates and times for your 2 dinners like they do for the 1 complementary dinner perk on some bookings?

[kazu]

2 hours ago, PSR said:

 

Ruth, are you saying that if you pre-book these dinners and pay, you DON'T automatically get a 100% refund the first day like you get the 50% refund  if you are 4 star? That seems weird. Do you have to pre-book for the dates/times to get what you want, or does the PG decide the dates and times for your 2 dinners like they do for the 1 complementary dinner perk on some bookings?

 

That’s exactly what she is saying.  You get the 50% back and then after you have your dinner, you are supposed to get your remaining 50%.  It went smoothly for me a couple of times just mentioning it to the PG Manager, but, most times, I have to follow up over and over to get it reimbursed.  It seems the infamous ‘night auditor’ must be one busy person.🙄

 

There is no limit to the 5* bookings as long as there is availability.  You can choose your days and times.  

[clianmel]

If I make dining reservations pre-cruise can I use the coupons provided as a perk by my TA to get the charges re-imbursed once on board?

[Jareds_mommytoo]

19 hours ago, chloes nana said:

So if you have complimentary PG and Tamarind vouchers form our TA or HAL how do we pre book these and not have to pay for them? I am confused 😐 

Those you dont prebook, the ship services makes a random time for you and puts the card in your room 

[RuthC]

7 hours ago, PSR said:

 

Ruth, are you saying that if you pre-book these dinners and pay, you DON'T automatically get a 100% refund the first day like you get the 50% refund  if you are 4 star? That seems weird. Do you have to pre-book for the dates/times to get what you want, or does the PG decide the dates and times for your 2 dinners like they do for the 1 complementary dinner perk on some bookings?

I pre-book to get the days/times I want. I would have to book on the ship otherwise; the dinners aren't booked for me, as HAL provided dinners are. 
When I board I find a 'loyalty' discount on my account, in the full amount of what I have paid for the dinners. 
So far, so good. 
The problem comes in when I have the dinners. I am charged full price (appropriately, since I paid once, but have the identical credit---a wash), but then I get a 50% 'loyalty' discount on what I have just paid, not the 100% I should get. That needs a trip to the Front Desk; sometimes more than once. 

I don't mind getting a refund of the money I paid in advance, then being charged and refunded again. That way I do get credit for the cost of the dinner toward Mariner Days. Who knows, in the future HAL may extend the program, again, to 6*, so I want the points to accru. 

[PSR]

8 hours ago, RuthC said:

I pre-book to get the days/times I want. I would have to book on the ship otherwise; the dinners aren't booked for me, as HAL provided dinners are. 

 

Thank you for that information...I will plan to do that for our 5* dinners. In addition, I am saving the rest of your information also; I have a feeling I will have to use it 😒...

[kevingastreich]

On 9/22/2019 at 2:15 PM, richstowe said:

This is my experience not and not only on HAL . I guess they want 2 turns  and will allow only a few  reservations between early and late seating's .  In fact one time (on Princess) after not being able to reserve  in advance at our preferred time, we just walked in at 7ish and they gave us a table . Silly .

Right, just walk up and ask for a table, if they have one, you will get it. we do it all the time.