Celebrity Dining "Packages"?

[lx200gps]

We've just booked our second ever Celebrity trip, on the Equinox for next May.  In reviewing our booking on the X site, I can't find any reference to purchasing, in advance, a specialty dining package, the type where you buy bundles of 2, 3, 4 etc nights at a substantial discount.  Have those packages been eliminated?  All I am able to find are discounts on Murano and TG

[canderson]

No, still available in the online planner for all cruises.  Sounds like another IT glitch.

[keesar]

44 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

We've just booked our second ever Celebrity trip, on the Equinox for next May.  In reviewing our booking on the X site, I can't find any reference to purchasing, in advance, a specialty dining package, the type where you buy bundles of 2, 3, 4 etc nights at a substantial discount.  Have those packages been eliminated?  All I am able to find are discounts on Murano and TG

They are still available.  But I would not call the prices a substantial discount.  Check again later.

[lx200gps]

25 minutes ago, keesar said:

They are still available.  But I would not call the prices a substantial discount.  Check again later.

Fair enough. I was going by the pricing shown in a thread here from about 2 years ago, where the 3 night package was stated as being $129/pp, 4 nights $149 and  the 5 night was $182. Don't know if those prices are still accurate, I still don't see the packages as available yet for our booking. At $45 for TG and $50 for Murano,  I would consider these discounts substantial, in the context of cruise line pricing ;o)

[lx200gps]

42 minutes ago, canderson said:

No, still available in the online planner for all cruises.  Sounds like another IT glitch.

More than likely it's a website issue.  We only finalized the booking yesterday, and half the time I try to access the booking, it tells me it's locked and to try again layer. The other half the time I can access it no problem, but still no dining packages showing. I'll give it a few days and try again.

[jelayne]

We have a April 2023 cruise where the dining section of the Cruise Planner is not showing anything. 
We have a October 2023 cruise where the dining section is showing the packages as well as reservations for Select dining.

Just keep checking back.

[lithiananner]

My sailing is in August 2022 and the same dining package prices are listed for my cruise.  

[Mark_T]

Usually we find the 3 night package is not worth having, but once you go up from there it is a decent saving if you are not fussy about when and where you will eat each night.

[lx200gps]

11 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

Usually we find the 3 night package is not worth having, but once you go up from there it is a decent saving if you are not fussy about when and where you will eat each night.

That's my read as well. We're on an 8 nighter next May and prefer to eat most of the time in specialty restaurants, eating VERY early, so a 5 night package would work for us.  The percentage savings do creep up the more nights you choose.  And As at this morning, the dining packages are still not showing, only the 30% first night discounts at TG and Murano.

 

On a related note, does Celebrity allow us to use our OBC to buy the packages in advance (assuming they ever become available ;o) or can we only book them once on board?

[Mark_T]

6 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

On a related note, does Celebrity allow us to use our OBC to buy the packages in advance (assuming they ever become available ;o) or can we only book them once on board?

Yes, you can buy in advance with OBC, you just can't make the actual reservations before you board.

[destar]

Just be aware that if you purchase any of the dining packages, you get a small discount, but you can't make reservations until you are onboard. If there is a specific specialty restaurant that you would like, its not a 100% that you'll get a reservation. If you pay the regular price you can reserved now. 

[lx200gps]

18 minutes ago, destar said:

Just be aware that if you purchase any of the dining packages, you get a small discount, but you can't make reservations until you are onboard. If there is a specific specialty restaurant that you would like, its not a 100% that you'll get a reservation. If you pay the regular price you can reserved now. 

What's the general rule on Celebrity re the availability of restaurant slots pre-cruise vs on board? On Princess, our regular line, AFAIK they hold about half of all available slots for embarkation day reservations and even a few day-of walk-ins. We've never had to reserve ahead of the cruise on Princess and have never had a problem getting our desired times when we went to individual restaurants immediately after boarding.  Are we saying that on X we will have a problem doing this?

Edited June 23, 2022 by lx200gps

[destar]

40 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

What's the general rule on Celebrity re the availability of restaurant slots pre-cruise vs on board? On Princess, our regular line, AFAIK they hold about half of all available slots for embarkation day reservations and even a few day-of walk-ins. We've never had to reserve ahead of the cruise on Princess and have never had a problem getting our desired times when we went to individual restaurants immediately after boarding.  Are we saying that on X we will have a problem doing this?

I'm new to Celebrity, going on my first cruise on the Apex in February 2023. I purchased the 3 specialty dinner package and when i couldn't make reservations, I called customer service and they advised me that with the discount package I can only reserve once onboard. So I ask them if I wanted to have the interactive dinner at Le petit chef on the 3rd night if I would be able to get that reservation, they said no, that they will tell me what date and what time is available. There is no guarantee that the specialty restaurant I wanted will be available on the 3rd night. I cancelled the package and purchased at regular priced, I was able to select Le petit chef for the 6:30 pm seating on 3rd night of my cruise.

[keesar]

When we were trying to book once on board, we were given times around 9 pm.  Not for us.  I would rather pay a little more and get the day and time convenient for us.  We were able to score good discounts on the first night and those evenings when the ship was in port.  Very  challenging  getting a discount when at sea and on the Evening Chic nights.  

 

Also make sure that the package is not a 2 dinner and 1 lunch package.  Read closely.

Edited June 23, 2022 by keesar