Booking La Reserve

[marylovestotravel]

Do we have to wait until our specialty restaurant bookings open up to make a reservation for La Reserve? I looked on our cruise of 20 days and there were only 2 days available. Will more evenings become available closer in to the cruise? once we are  onboard ship? Should bookings be done through my travel agent or should I phone Oceania?

 

This is a whole new world for me. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

Mia

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, marylovestotravel said:

Do we have to wait until our specialty restaurant bookings open up to make a reservation for La Reserve? I looked on our cruise of 20 days and there were only 2 days available. Will more evenings become available closer in to the cruise? once we are  onboard ship? Should bookings be done through my travel agent or should I phone Oceania?

 

This is a whole new world for me. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

Mia

Additional nights MAY be added. But, you should grab current open spots ahead of embarkation. No need to wait for your specialty booking window.

I can't remember if it's bookable on your Oceania web account. But, you can call Oceania direct and book it yourself.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Flatbush Flyer

[KatieBelle]

Flatbush Flyer is right.  

-You do not have to wait for your reservation date to open up.  Anyone can book as soon as the La Reserve schedule appears.

-You may book online.  If you have shipboard credit, you may use it.  If you encounter any glitches, your TA should be able to make a reservation as well.

-If dates sell out quickly, additional bookings may be added.  But not always!  

 

Good luck and enjoy!  La Reserve is one of our favorite experiences onboard Marina/Riviera.

 

-Katie

 

Edited January 29, 2020 by KatieBelle

[samiam0403]

You can definitely book La Reserve before specialty dining is available to book. I've already booked for my cruise in December. Also, if you pre-book, then decide to purchase a beverage package later (or even after boarding), you can get the 20% discount refunded by going to guest services and requesting it. 

[StanandJim]

8 hours ago, marylovestotravel said:

Do we have to wait until our specialty restaurant bookings open up to make a reservation for La Reserve? I looked on our cruise of 20 days and there were only 2 days available. Will more evenings become available closer in to the cruise? once we are  onboard ship? Should bookings be done through my travel agent or should I phone Oceania?

 

This is a whole new world for me. Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks

 

Mia

The larger picture Mia, is that La Reserve is a Wine Venue, and not a Specialty Restaurant.  It will only open be  open on select nights of the voyage. 

[Mura]

Based on a recent experience, I would also suggest you have a copy of your invoice showing your reservation for La Reserve.  We had paid early on for our reservations on a B2B (I continue to use the old terminology because I'm old) but somehow they got lost.  I don't recall if we had a confirmation card in our room or not about this one.  But our butler heard me say we were going there that evening and he'd already checked the guest list -- and we weren't on it.  So he got to work to make sure he was correct. 

 

He was.  Fortunately I did have the invoice showing our reservation for that date so it was relatively easily fixed.  Now, if we hadn't been on two 7-day sailings, it might not have been fixed because our booking was for a night during the first week and we ended up at a different meal during the second week.  One positive aspect of this was we ended up at the most expensive dinner at the time without having to pay anything extra; the negative aspect was that we'd wanted to try the new menu -- we'd already sampled the remaining existing menus.  But we didn't mind that part since the menu we got was our favorite from past experience.

 

There was a second glitch regarding dinner reservations on that cruise -- we showed up in Polo for our 7:30 reservation and were told we'd been booked for 6:30.  This despite the fact that I had received the usual notice on our door showing a 7:30 sharing reservation.  They found a two-top for us at the last minute ... not in the best location but it was in the restaurant!  The other couple apparently were also accommodated.

 

So bring "proof" that you indeed were booked for that night.  I agree -- this is a very rare occurrence.  But you don't want it to happen to you.

 

[marylovestotravel]

What time is the seating at La Reserve? The only dinner posted is on a day when we are in port and we depart at 6PM. Might be a tight call with tours.

 

Mia

[Paulchili]

55 minutes ago, marylovestotravel said:

What time is the seating at La Reserve? The only dinner posted is on a day when we are in port and we depart at 6PM. Might be a tight call with tours.

 

Mia

If you depart at 6 you should be back by 5 - so it will not a too tight.

I believe they gather for pre-dinner drinks at 6:30 and dinner at 7.

Others may correct me as it’s been quite some time since we did this.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Paulchili

[samiam0403]

1 hour ago, marylovestotravel said:

What time is the seating at La Reserve? The only dinner posted is on a day when we are in port and we depart at 6PM. Might be a tight call with tours.

 

Mia

Concur with Paulchili - dinner was at 7:00pm for both La Cuisine Bourgeoise (I arrived at approximately 10 minutes prior to find my fellow diners enjoying pre-dinner cocktails outside the venue) and Dom Perignon (arrived approximately 20 minutes early having learned my lesson, only to be seated in the venue upon arrival) on Riviera last month. 

[Mura]

That's funny .... Things must have changed since our last La Reserve dinner in May 2018.  It was always aperitifs at 7 and dinner commencing at 7:30 for all of our dinners in La Reserve.  It's only a difference of half an hour ... Our first dinner in La Reserve (our first Marina cruise was in October '11 but I don't recall if they already had La Reserve dinners) started at 7:30, which was when we arrived ... only to see everyone else was already there.

[pinotlover]

Perhaps the hours have changed. Last February and all years prior, we meet at 7:00 for a cocktail and socializing, and were seated ~ 7:15 for dinner starting around 7:30. 
 

I actually hope they aren’t starting earlier now!

[Paulchili]

5 hours ago, Mura said:

That's funny .... Things must have changed since our last La Reserve dinner in May 2018.  It was always aperitifs at 7 and dinner commencing at 7:30 for all of our dinners in La Reserve

 

4 hours ago, pinotlover said:

Perhaps the hours have changed. Last February and all years prior, we meet at 7:00 for a cocktail and socializing, and were seated ~ 7:15 for dinner starting around 7:30. 

I am sure that both of you are correct as our experience was some time ago and my recollection was just that - not a definite fact.

[marylovestotravel]

Thanks for your replies, I now feel more confident about what to expect.

 

Mia