Specialty Dining Reservations for the Retreat cabin eligible for free specialty dining - reservations?

[JoieNsk]

Sorry, it this question was asked already (I am sure it was at some point).

 

But we only sailed Celebrity once. And at that time retreat didn't exist yet, things were much more simple. So I figured - maybe I can get some quick answer without much digging.

 

We will have Celebrity cabin, eligible for included specialty dining, this October. 

 

Last time we sailed with Celebrity they didn't have Petit Chef experience. I am a big Disney fan, and love cartoons and fairy tales (sorry :)) in my 50+). So I really want to do Petit Chef :))) Not surprising 🙂

 

As it was important to me, - I made a reservation and paid for it. To make sure I have a date and time comfortable for us. I read somewhere in these boards - that once on board, if talking to Retreat concierge - you can get the charge reimbursed as ship credit? If somebody had  personal experience with something like this?

 

Also I figured I would also like to do Eden (we are going to be on Edge). But I figured too late:  the earlier times on sea days are all taken already. And it is a European port intensive cruise, where visiting the ports is really important for us - as early as possible, so we have maximum time in the ports. My husband is a big sleeper. So early dining is so important, that basically if we can't dine early - we would not go at all.

 

Does Concierge keep some reservations for Retreat crowd? So maybe it is possible to get 6pm time through the concierge?

 

Can I contact them in advance about that? Or can we do it while on the ship?

 

Thanks in advance!

[jelayne]

If you are in a Royal Suite or above then you will be contacted by a Shoreside Concierge within 1-3 weeks before your sailing.  They will ask about any specialty dining reservations you want, the liquors you want in your suite, time you plan to board,  any special occasions, etc.  You don’t need to make reservations yourself.  

[JoieNsk]

24 minutes ago, jelayne said:

If you are in a Royal Suite or above then you will be contacted by a Shoreside Concierge within 1-3 weeks before your sailing.  They will ask about any specialty dining reservations you want, the liquors you want in your suite, time you plan to board,  any special occasions, etc.  You don’t need to make reservations yourself.  

Thank you!!!

[chemmo]

Draft an email ready about a month before your cruise listing your preferred dining times and venues. Also list your bar set up preferences, pillow preferences and anything else you want ready in your room on boarding. 

 

The shoreside concierge usually contacts you by phone occasionally we have just had an email. Let  them know you have a draft ready, they will give you their email and you can forward. Most of the time this system works, occasionally we have boarded and our requests have not gone through. We always take a printed copy of our email on board so if this has happened we can give it to our Retreat Host to action. Strongly suggest on boarding  you ask your Retreat Host to check your reservations have all been booked. 
 

There are different versions of the LPC dinner experience with different videos and different food. I suggest you book one in near the beginning of your cruise and another towards the end then again ask your Retreat Host to confirm you have both shows and adjust if not.

 

If you wish to change your dining choices/times once on board ask your Retreat Host if you can modify, they will always try their best.
 

Remember in addition to the speciality restaurants you also have Luminae (no reservations required), the MDRs, the buffet and room service to consider. After a long port day you may prefer to simply head for the buffet and enjoy a graze before returning to your suite or you may prefer to enjoy some drinks poolside for a while and then enjoy dinner in your suite… Whilst I would suggest you pre book your speciality dining and experience each venue also be ready to ‘go with the flow’ depending on how you feel on the day. If we ever decide not to visit a restaurant we have pre booked we always let the venue know. One of the strengths, in our opinion, of Celebrity is its buffet…In the evenings it is relatively quiet and relaxing. It has some cooked to order meat and salmon, an excellent Indian selection, stir fry and the usual buffet options. A great option when you are exhausted!

[JoieNsk]

11 hours ago, chemmo said:

Draft an email ready about a month before your cruise listing your preferred dining times and venues. Also list your bar set up preferences, pillow preferences and anything else you want ready in your room on boarding...

Wow! Thank you so much for taking your time to respond to me with such great details! I really appreciate it!

 

Thank you for great tips about e-mail draft and print-out, and double checking the reservations. I would not have thought of that myself.

 

I know that we have pretty much everything included. And I wish we could try everything - the ship looks beautiful, and we like to eat 🙂 

 

But I also know how we are: when we cruise in Europe, we do a lot of stuff in the ports, often on our own. So on the port days we do just go to the buffet or get the room service - for dinner, - exactly the way you suggested. And from our only previous Celebrity cruise - I remember, the food in the buffet was really good, indeed! I recall my husband said it was the best cruise buffet from any cruise line we tried 🙂

 

So I am not counting on us making to many sit-down dinners. That's why I picked up the ones I am interested, and hope we will make at least them. I definitely will make it to the Petit Chef :))) Hope my husband will too :))

 

But I still am trying to plan at least some things. I made my own spa reservations already, because I wanted them on port days and at certain times. And from my experience concierge can not help too much with the spa - if it is booked up. There are only so many spots, and that "so many" is not really "many".

 

If we have concierge type service, we rarely ask for something. I am the type that I try to book everything myself - to be in control. But with the earlier time for Eden show - the concierge might be helpful - hopefully.

Edited August 31, 2022 by JoieNsk

[canderson]

16 hours ago, jelayne said:

If you are in a Royal Suite or above then you will be contacted by a Shoreside Concierge within 1-3 weeks before your sailing.  They will ask about any specialty dining reservations you want, the liquors you want in your suite, time you plan to board,  any special occasions, etc.  You don’t need to make reservations yourself.  

For at least some sailings, it's long before 1-3 weeks now!  I was surprised to receive an email earlier this week and a followup phone call from shoreside for a cruise scheduled 2 months from now.

 

@JoieNsk

One of the nicer features of the email you will receive will be menus for the various dining venues.  They will include all 3 of the LPC menus, but until boarding, you will probably not know which menu is being served on which night, making planning a bit more difficult if one of the menus is preferred over the others.

[JoieNsk]

22 hours ago, canderson said:

For at least some sailings, it's long before 1-3 weeks now!  I was surprised to receive an email earlier this week and a followup phone call from shoreside for a cruise scheduled 2 months from now.

 

@JoieNsk

One of the nicer features of the email you will receive will be menus for the various dining venues.  They will include all 3 of the LPC menus, but until boarding, you will probably not know which menu is being served on which night, making planning a bit more difficult if one of the menus is preferred over the others.

Thank you for the tips on the menus!

 

As to communication from a concierge - we haven't received any communication from the cruise line so far, and our cruise starts on October 14th, so not much time left.

 

Granted we are booked through the big warehouse travel agency. But I would think for this particular subject it should not matter though: I already received communication for the Disney Cruise which is not till January 2023.

 

Maybe because Edge has a lot of retreat eligible rooms - they are behind?

 

I could have contacted them myself (if I find the e-mail etc). But honestly I don't worry too much about dining reservations on a port intensive cruise with interesting ports. I am sure we will not stay hungry :)))) I care much more about what we will do in ports.

 

If I would not be able to book Eden, I will not cry. Like I said - we will just go to the buffet, or get the room service. We got such a great deal on the cabin, so I am not worried if we will "eat" enough to make the money worth :)))

 

Though it is nice not to worry about paying for the drinks and wifi!

Edited September 1, 2022 by JoieNsk

[canderson]

1 minute ago, JoieNsk said:

Granted we are booked through the big warehouse travel agency. But I would think in this particular matter it should not matter though: I already received communication for the Disney Cruise which is not till January 2023.

Have you received other communications from Celebrity to your email account?  I wonder if your 'big box' has properly communicated your email address to Celebrity.  That would be something to check.

 

I have phone numbers for only two of the shoreside teams since the restart - they're working Constellation and Reflection.  Are you on one of those ships?  Apart from that, I don't know of a 'generic' shoreside concierge number, so the alternative would be to call the general number and ask for the appropriate shoreside concierge number or ask to be transferred.

[JoieNsk]

Not the same question - but a bit related.

 

With a drink package you get with Retreat type cabin - do they have a max price for the drinks you can get?

 

I assume they would, but we usually don't drink much, so all these details about the drinks don't stay in my head for long.

 

Normally we never buy drink package, as it doesn't worth it for us. But I remember we got something like this once - on other cruise line, where the alcohol was included. And they only would give you certain wines, but not the others.

[JoieNsk]

1 minute ago, canderson said:

Have you received other communications from Celebrity to your email account?  I wonder if your 'big box' has properly communicated your email address to Celebrity.  That would be something to check.

 

I have phone numbers for only two of the shoreside teams since the restart - they're working Constellation and Reflection.  Are you on one of those ships?  Apart from that, I don't know of a 'generic' shoreside concierge number, so the alternative would be to call the general number and ask for the appropriate shoreside concierge number or ask to be transferred.

I did receive some general communication - like about "use your on-board credit" - at least I think I did.

 

That's a great point about e-mail address lost in communication. I should check if I received anything for this particular cruise at all.

 

We are on Edge. 

 

But thank you for the tip on calling Celebrity and asking for the Concierge phone number. I think that would be the best option!

[canderson]

10 minutes ago, JoieNsk said:

Not the same question - but a bit related.

 

With a drink package you get with Retreat type cabin - do they have a max price for the drinks you can get?

 

I assume they would, but we usually don't drink much, so all these details about the drinks don't stay in my head for long.

 

Normally we never buy drink package, as it doesn't worth it for us. But I remember we got something like this once - on other cruise line, where the alcohol was included. And they only would give you certain wines, but not the others.

Yes, there are upper limits for the Premium Beverage Package whether obtained as a function of booking a suite or buy purchasing it in a lesser cabin category.  This covers it well https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/beverage-packages   but to net it out:

 

Classic covers anything up to $9, and gets you 15% off any bottles of wine you purchase.

Premium covers anything up to $15, and gets you 20% off any bottles of wine you purchase.

 

If you go over those $9 or $15 numbers, you pay just the difference plus the 20% tip on the difference.

 

 

[Whinenowine]

If you want to take the bull by the horns you can proactively call the general Retreat number at 877-RETREAT. Press 3 for shoreside concierge, and then press 2 for Celerity Suite and above.  Have your reservation number handy for when they pick up.

[JoieNsk]

Thank you SO MUCH to everybody - for all very helpful advice in this topic!!!

[SailingHigher]

On 9/1/2022 at 1:45 PM, Whinenowine said:

If you want to take the bull by the horns you can proactively call the general Retreat number at 877-RETREAT. Press 3 for shoreside concierge, and then press 2 for Celerity Suite and above.  Have your reservation number handy for when they pick up.

Let me echo this suggestion. Our MoveUp bid to an upper suite on Beyond came through on Friday morning. That afternoon, I called 877-RETREAT and explained that I had prepaid for three specialty dining reservations. The shoreside concierge processed credit card refunds for two of them. I had used cabin credits for Le Voyage, but that restaurant is not part of the upper suite reservation deal. She also reassured me that all reservation times were still in place even though they would not show up in the Celebrity App at this time. She offered to make any other reservations I was considering. Now that we have more choices without fees, I'll come up with a few more and probably call again. Great service and there was no wait to speak with her during business hours. 

[SusieAV8R]

On 8/31/2022 at 2:46 AM, chemmo said:

Draft an email ready about a month before your cruise listing your preferred dining times and venues. Also list your bar set up preferences, pillow preferences and anything else you want ready in your room on boarding. 

 

The shoreside concierge usually contacts you by phone occasionally we have just had an email. Let  them know you have a draft ready, they will give you their email and you can forward. Most of the time this system works, occasionally we have boarded and our requests have not gone through. We always take a printed copy of our email on board so if this has happened we can give it to our Retreat Host to action. Strongly suggest on boarding  you ask your Retreat Host to check your reservations have all been booked. 
 

There are different versions of the LPC dinner experience with different videos and different food. I suggest you book one in near the beginning of your cruise and another towards the end then again ask your Retreat Host to confirm you have both shows and adjust if not.

 

If you wish to change your dining choices/times once on board ask your Retreat Host if you can modify, they will always try their best.
 

Remember in addition to the speciality restaurants you also have Luminae (no reservations required), the MDRs, the buffet and room service to consider. After a long port day you may prefer to simply head for the buffet and enjoy a graze before returning to your suite or you may prefer to enjoy some drinks poolside for a while and then enjoy dinner in your suite… Whilst I would suggest you pre book your speciality dining and experience each venue also be ready to ‘go with the flow’ depending on how you feel on the day. If we ever decide not to visit a restaurant we have pre booked we always let the venue know. One of the strengths, in our opinion, of Celebrity is its buffet…In the evenings it is relatively quiet and relaxing. It has some cooked to order meat and salmon, an excellent Indian selection, stir fry and the usual buffet options. A great option when you are exhausted!

I agree with your comment about Oceanview (buffet) being relatively quiet and relaxing in the evening.  (We have often seen the Bridge officers eating there, also unwinding).  You can still get a glass of wine if you chose to have such there in the evening with your meal.

[Whinenowine]

On 9/4/2022 at 8:12 AM, SailingHigher said:

She also reassured me that all reservation times were still in place even though they would not show up in the Celebrity App at this 

Yeah for the life of me I cannot understand this tech failing. But like you, all my shoreside-made reso’s were there and waiting for me.