Refund if I cancel a specialty dining reservation?

[BunnyLebowski]

I searched for an answer to this, but didn’t find anything recent. My question is, if I book specialty dining prior to my cruise, would I be able to cancel the reservations once onboard if necessary and receive a refund and also when is the cancellation deadline? I assume we will keep the reservations, but it’s so hard to know what my spouse will feel like doing once onboard.
 

This is our first cruise on Holland America. We’re elite on Celebrity but was unimpressed with the food and wine our last two sailings, so thought it might be fun to branch out a bit. We’re heading to Norway in August. Any additional recommendations for new mariners would also be appreciated. Thank you!

 

edit to add that we’re on the Rotterdam in case that makes a difference. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by law chick

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, law chick said:

I searched for an answer to this, but didn’t find anything recent. My question is, if I book specialty dining prior to my cruise, would I be able to cancel the reservations once onboard if necessary and receive a refund and also when is the cancellation deadline? I assume we will keep the reservations, but it’s so hard to know what my spouse will feel like doing once onboard.
 

This is our first cruise on Holland America. We’re elite on Celebrity but was unimpressed with the food and wine our last two sailings, so thought it might be fun to branch out a bit. We’re heading to Norway in August. Any additional recommendations for new mariners would also be appreciated. Thank you!

 

edit to add that we’re on the Rotterdam in case that makes a difference. 

 

You can definitely cancel your reservation on board and you will be refunded by on board credit.  The OBC is refundable so if there is a credit balance it will be credited to your credit card you used for your charges.

 

I think the technical deadline is 24 hours - but not 100% sure on that, sorry.  I have cancelled on board and seem to remember notifying the PG after we had lunch we would be too stuffed for dinner that night that had been booked before the cruise.  The PG manager was able to move our reservation to another night and there was no issue.  That was pre-covid though.

[Dismomx5]

I've cancelled (and rebooked) specialty dining many times online. You just go to your account, your cruise and then your itinerary.

[Haljo1935]

We've moved reservations once onboard with no penalty. We've also canceled once on board,  but not same day; same day we've only moved, not sure about penalty.

You can move the reservation to a couple days later then cancel it at least 24 hours in advance if you want/need to.

Welcome to HAL. Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!