Concierge Class Restaurant Reservation Priority

[sensfantoronto]

My wife & I, sailing this Saturday, Feb. 29, on Equinox on a 7-night Caribbean cruise have just been informed our MoveUp bid for a concierge class upgrade was successful. We are very happy to now have a much better location but I have a specific question regarding my specialty restaurant seating time priority that comes with concierge class.

 

We have pre-purchased the 5-night specialty dining package & already know that we are not allowed to make the actual night-by-night reservations until once on-board. This was disappointing to us because we likely won't be boarding until after 1:30PM, and are worried that we may not get the specialty restaurant reservations that we want, as the times will be booked.

 

How does our newfound concierge class status assist us, if at all, in securing the specific restaurant & times we want? If it does assist us, how do we take advantage of it once we get on board? 

 

We're hoping to eat twice each at Murano & Tuscan Grill + once at Le Petit Chef & would prefer an 8PM reservation. 8PM, is the time we booked for our courtesy hold when we booked the 5-night package.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

[Moby Jones]

It doesn't help with reservations unless there has been some very recent changes to concierge class. 

[az_tchr]

59 minutes ago, sensfantoronto said:

My wife & I, sailing this Saturday, Feb. 29, on Equinox on a 7-night Caribbean cruise have just been informed our MoveUp bid for a concierge class upgrade was successful. We are very happy to now have a much better location but I have a specific question regarding my specialty restaurant seating time priority that comes with concierge class.

 

We have pre-purchased the 5-night specialty dining package & already know that we are not allowed to make the actual night-by-night reservations until once on-board. This was disappointing to us because we likely won't be boarding until after 1:30PM, and are worried that we may not get the specialty restaurant reservations that we want, as the times will be booked.

 

How does our newfound concierge class status assist us, if at all, in securing the specific restaurant & times we want? If it does assist us, how do we take advantage of it once we get on board? 

 

We're hoping to eat twice each at Murano & Tuscan Grill + once at Le Petit Chef & would prefer an 8PM reservation. 8PM, is the time we booked for our courtesy hold when we booked the 5-night package.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

Are you not boarding until 1:30 because of your arrival at the port OR because of the Celebrity email?

I would be at the port at 11am if possible. Will be the only thing that can assist with the times for your specialty dining.

[sensfantoronto]

We might be earlier than 1:30, I was being safe. Our flight is scheduled to land @ about 9:30, and we have arranged for Celebrity to do the transfer between airport & cruise terminal. My worry is the flight we are on is delayed almost every day. Usually only a one hour or less delay, but about once a week the delay is significant with a landing time of 12:15-12:30. This concerns me. 
 

I know, I know, I know- we should have flown in the day before. I swear I’ll never do this again and always fly in to the departure city at least a day in advance. But for this trip, what is done is done. I can only hope the forecast for our departure city remains clear and no other factors contribute to a significant delay.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Why are you doing the expensive, slow-moving cruise line tours at your embarkation city?  Much simpler and cheaper to use an Uber/Lyft.  If you use the bus transfer, you  may have to wait until another flight comes in and fills up the bus.  I've sat on a bus for an hour and 45 mins. waiting before.  Much, much better to just get an Uber or even a taxi.

[helen haywood]

Absolutely agree.  Do not wait at the airport for Celebrity’s shuttle.  Being Concierge means you will be able to eat lunch in the MDR on embarkation day.  It is from 11:30 to 1:30 I think.

[Want2Cruise 701]

Congrats on the MoveUp.  Concierge Class will not get you a preferred dining time unfortunately.  You will have to inquire once onboard.  

 

FLL is so close to Port Everglades that I think it's better and cheaper to take an Uber than the X transfer.  You and your wife can be in a car within a few minutes.  No waiting on a shuttle and hoarded with others and their luggage.  IMO!

[Fouremco]

OK, you're a Sens fan, so I won't chastise you for flying in on the day your cruise starts! The good news is that Toronto's next snow storm is scheduled for mid-week and you should have partially sunny skies on Saturday.

 

I have to agree with @DrivesLikeMario, take an Uber/Lyft or even taxi. Far cheaper and far faster.

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you download the Lyft app, they have great coupons for new accounts.  I saved $5 on our transfer.  Even with a generous tip, it was only $13 for the 2 of us and 4 bags.  Taxis will charge a "bag fee".  Better to use Lyft.

[Fouremco]

Just now, DrivesLikeMario said:

If you download the Lyft app, they have great coupons for new accounts.  I saved $5 on our transfer.  Even with a generous tip, it was only $13 for the 2 of us and 4 bags.  Taxis will charge a "bag fee".  Better to use Lyft.

While I typically use Uber these day, I've taken a taxi to and from Port Everglades many times and have never been charged a bag fee, just whatever the meter showed. Still, it would be my third choice after Uber and Lyft.

[kenevenpar]

1 hour ago, sensfantoronto said:

My wife & I, sailing this Saturday, Feb. 29, on Equinox on a 7-night Caribbean cruise have just been informed our MoveUp bid for a concierge class upgrade was successful. We are very happy to now have a much better location but I have a specific question regarding my specialty restaurant seating time priority that comes with concierge class.

 

We have pre-purchased the 5-night specialty dining package & already know that we are not allowed to make the actual night-by-night reservations until once on-board. This was disappointing to us because we likely won't be boarding until after 1:30PM, and are worried that we may not get the specialty restaurant reservations that we want, as the times will be booked.

 

How does our newfound concierge class status assist us, if at all, in securing the specific restaurant & times we want? If it does assist us, how do we take advantage of it once we get on board? 

 

We're hoping to eat twice each at Murano & Tuscan Grill + once at Le Petit Chef & would prefer an 8PM reservation. 8PM, is the time we booked for our courtesy hold when we booked the 5-night package.

 

Thanks for your help in advance!

 

 i've never heard of this perk actually being applied, but I could be wrong.(specialty restaurant preferred time)

Edited February 24, 2020 by kenevenpar

[az_tchr]

29 minutes ago, sensfantoronto said:

We might be earlier than 1:30, I was being safe. Our flight is scheduled to land @ about 9:30, and we have arranged for Celebrity to do the transfer between airport & cruise terminal. My worry is the flight we are on is delayed almost every day. Usually only a one hour or less delay, but about once a week the delay is significant with a landing time of 12:15-12:30. This concerns me. 
 

I know, I know, I know- we should have flown in the day before. I swear I’ll never do this again and always fly in to the departure city at least a day in advance. But for this trip, what is done is done. I can only hope the forecast for our departure city remains clear and no other factors contribute to a significant delay.

Repeat after me:

 

I will always fly in a day before departure.

 

Repeat twice more.

 

Nothing you can do unless you have friends on the same cruise. They might, just might, allow them to reserve times for you.  If you have Elite or better Captain's Club status it will help on board. Otherwise you are likely to be eating very early or very late.

Buena suerte.

[mafig]

Does the perk say "specialty restaurant preferred time" or "restaurant preferred time?"

 

The reason I asked is that the last time we were in Concierge we got a notice in our cabin with a phone number to call for 

main dining room reservations

 

 

This number was different than the number listed in the dailies.  I only made prior reservations in the dining room the first night.  Thereafter I called this number and always got the time I requested.  

When we got back I read several reviews with complaints that they could not get into the dining room until after 8:00.  

 

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by mafig

[jelayne]

I believe the priority applies to the MDR not the specialty restaurants.

[mafig]

That's what I thought too.

[scubagal44]

We were just in Concierge class on a Reflection cruise with a specialty dining package.  We made reservations once onboard, and for the last night in Murano we didn't get the time we wanted but booked a time we didn't really love anyway.  Then sometime on the first or second sea day (of a 10 night cruise) we went to the Concierge and asked about getting an earlier time there.  He looked at the system and wasn't able to move us to our preferred time, but said he would follow up directly with the restaurant.  The next day he left a message for us in our cabin saying that our time had been changed to our preferred time.

 

Similarly, later in the cruise we wanted to move a reservation from Lawn Club to Tuscan, so we went directly to the Concierge.  He looked it up and said he wasn't able to make the switch because it was fully booked in the system, but again said he'd follow up with Tuscan.  We saw him a couple of hours later walking around the ship and said he'd gotten us a table at whatever time it was.

 

So... not sure if being in Concierge class had anything to do it or we just got really lucky with cancellations or whatnot (twice?), but the moral of the story is that if you don't get the time you want, it can't hurt to pay a visit to the Concierge and ask nicely for a change.  

[GateGuardian]

I was on the Reflection in November and didn't have any issue booking my prefer time and specialty restaurant the night before. My experience with Celebrity is they don't really fill up.

[kenevenpar]

19 hours ago, jelayne said:

I believe the priority applies to the MDR not the specialty restaurants.

 

From the web site (and we all know how accurate that can be):

 

Dining

Main and specialty restaurant seating time preferences

 

Again, I have not seen that perk actually work.

[Roo B]

I was on Equinox Feb 8-15 in concierge. When I reserved our MDR dining table (traveling with a group of 8) before we left - I was told by the customer care they would `consider`` my request but were adamant that concierge were not entitled to any dining preferences. I had been trying to do reservations on my own on the website and had problems (surprise face).

 

When I went to confirm our dining arrangements on board, I was told by the concierge that they had a lot of concierge guests and elites, so unfortunately I should not expect to get my dining preference. 

 

She should have waited to find out what I was asking for, because it really wasn't a problem for them to fulfill.  she could have said nothing and waited to see if it was a something that could be done or not.  I would have walked away happy, instead of disgusted that there was one more perk that was removed that I paid for with a concierge room .

 

We also were not given any kind of preference with specialty dining. times were limited which could be because of Valentines day. But the concierge was only offering me 5:30 or 9:00 pm when I tried to book a specialty dinner.

 

in the past I have had good luck with the concierge making dining arrangement for me and my group.  I don't know if it depends on the individual concierge or if this is another one of their roll-backs.

[sensfantoronto]

Thanks to everyone for your advice on my situation.

 

We'll keep hoping our flight is on-time or only slightly delayed & we have definitely decided to take a cab to the cruise terminal instead of the X transfer. 

 

Once aboard Equinox, I'll make a beeline for the specialty dining desk, which in another post on this forum, I was informed is set-up just outside the Oceanview Cafe. I'll make all my reservations immediately &, if I don't get all the venues/times I prefer, I'll check with the concierge to see if he or she can make any changes as the cruise progresses.

 

Again, thanks to all!