Mariner discount for dinner reservations?

[Curlingwhiz]

We are booked on a 7 day cruise in May.  Normally we are on longer cruises and book our dining at the Pinnacle Grill while on board so we get our 25% discount.  I have been reading that on some of the shorter cruises.......especially ones that had an Explore 4 option.............that dinner reservations can be scarce right from the first day.

 

So my question is - if we book and pay on line for the reservation (there are 6 of us so I am a little concerned on space) is there a facility for getting back the 25% discount?  Or do we just have to absorb it for the privilege of booking early?  

 

Not a major $ amount but I do hate giving away money - particularly when it is our treat.  Does anyone have experience with maybe getting the 25% as a credit on board?  Thanks in advance

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, Curlingwhiz said:

We are booked on a 7 day cruise in May.  Normally we are on longer cruises and book our dining at the Pinnacle Grill while on board so we get our 25% discount.  I have been reading that on some of the shorter cruises.......especially ones that had an Explore 4 option.............that dinner reservations can be scarce right from the first day.

 

So my question is - if we book and pay on line for the reservation (there are 6 of us so I am a little concerned on space) is there a facility for getting back the 25% discount?  Or do we just have to absorb it for the privilege of booking early?  

 

Not a major $ amount but I do hate giving away money - particularly when it is our treat.  Does anyone have experience with maybe getting the 25% as a credit on board?  Thanks in advance

 

If you book on line you will pay full price.

 

Then, on board you will get your loyalty discount as on board credit.  Never had a problem and I do pre-book.

 

If your dining partners are not the same mariner status you may not get the discount for them but I always have.

By all means book it if you want to dine there and you will get your discount.

[Gigi1977]

We are 4 star. We always book ahead, pay full price and then onboard our discount show up as OBC. If we don’t use it, it is returned at the end of the cruise. 

[TAD2005]

We always pre-book online, and on the first day onboard, we see the "Loyalty Credit" applied to our cabin account.   And we did book for ourselves (4 star) and 2 friends who were 2 star.  We received 4 loyalty credits on our account.

[*Miss G*]

Ditto to all the above but I advise confirming reservation with the PG Manager when you are onboard.  This stems from when I had made and paid for reservations for us all following my parents’ renewal of vows.  Confirmation envelopes received in each room as well.  When we got to the PG they knew nothing about it.  I now double-check onboard.

[Sue from Canada]

I need to book the Pinnacle for 8 people but the pull down menu only goes to 6.  I guess I'll have to call HAL.

[richwmn]

4 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

I need to book the Pinnacle for 8 people but the pull down menu only goes to 6.  I guess I'll have to call HAL.

Sue, the people at ships services has been great when I have booked large parties. Sometimes they will ask you to fill out a form, sometimes not, but the request has to go to the ship so the response won't be immediate.

 

[Sue from Canada]

On 2/21/2020 at 7:21 AM, richwmn said:

Sue, the people at ships services has been great when I have booked large parties. Sometimes they will ask you to fill out a form, sometimes not, but the request has to go to the ship so the response won't be immediate.

 

I've been asked to fill out a form with each person's name, cabin number and whether they paying for dinner or rec'd a voucher.

[doublebzz]

On 2/19/2020 at 6:37 PM, TAD2005 said:

 We received 4 loyalty credits on our account.

 

On 2/19/2020 at 5:50 PM, kazu said:

 

 

 

If your dining partners are not the same mariner status you may not get the discount for them but I always have.
 

 

What are "loyalty credits"?

 

I always received the same mariner status discount for my guests until my most recent cruise in January on Zuiderdam.  Pinnacle Grill would not honor my 4 star discount for my guests and I had to pay full price for them.

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

 

What are "loyalty credits"?

 

I always received the same mariner status discount for my guests until my most recent cruise in January on Zuiderdam.  Pinnacle Grill would not honor my 4 star discount for my guests and I had to pay full price for them.

 

That’s how it shows on your on board account if you pre-book specialty dining.  You pay full price when you book on line and then you are credited on board.

 

From my billing on a a recent cruise :

 

 

2019-04-13	Loyalty - Food/Beverage	$ (22.94)
2019-04-13	Loyalty - Food/Beverage	$ (22.94)

 

 

Those are the refunds which they call “loyalty” which represent the discount as a Mariner we are entitled to.  They only do the 4* though.  For 5* you need to take care of that on board.

[doublebzz]

Thanks Kazu - good to know.

[Wakepatrol]

I spoke with a Hal rep today and they told me if I book online,I will NOT get credited back when I board? We are 3 star mariners? 

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

I spoke with a Hal rep today and they told me if I book online,I will NOT get credited back when I board? We are 3 star mariners? 

 

You will see the loyalty credit on your onboard account.  (It will look like Kazu’s example above.) I am guessing you spoke with first line support on the phone.  They don’t get it right much.

[kazu]

12 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

I spoke with a Hal rep today and they told me if I book online,I will NOT get credited back when I board? We are 3 star mariners? 

 

They are completely wrong.  

 

Call 3 times and you’ll get 3 different answers, sorry to say.

 

You are definitely refunded on board within one day.  

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Wakepatrol said:

I spoke with a Hal rep today and they told me if I book online,I will NOT get credited back when I board? We are 3 star mariners? 

The HAL rep you spoke to is wrong. 

[catl331]

15 hours ago, Wakepatrol said:

I spoke with a Hal rep today and they told me if I book online,I will NOT get credited back when I board?

It was that way when the star program started, but it changed quickly when advanced bookings dropped off steeply. It's sad to see how often HAL reps give out bad info.