Specialty Dining is all booked up 124 days till Sail… HELP

[expectthebest]

Hi Critics:

We are booked on the JOY 5.26.24-6.02.24 Bermuda RT NYC in an inside suite..I just realized I can book our specialty dining b/c it’s 124 days till sail away.
 

I call NCL to book and was told only reservations open are at 9:00 pm on one sea day and 9:30 pm on the day we sail back to NYC in Ocean Blue and Cagneys.. the rep on phone said to book the the 2 time slots and just change them when I board the ship on sail away.

 

He said go to the actual restaurant as soon as we are on the ship b/c we are suite guests we will be able to board along with Haven if that is true.

 

Has anyone encountered this? Should we seek out the Concierge upon boarding or actually run to the restaurant..

 

We have a 13 yr old and a 6 year old so those times would just not work for us..

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

-Mark

[zqvol]

There will be a desk on board the ship. When you board go there and make the changes you need. You were told correctly except that it is done at a central location, not at each restaurant..

[expectthebest]

3 minutes ago, zqvol said:

There will be a desk on board the ship. When you board go there and make the changes you need. You were told correctly except that it is done at a central location, not at each restaurant..

Thank you for clearing that up !!

Do you think something in the normal 5-6pm range would become open?

[expectthebest]

I do find it hard to believe there are no times open at 124 days out.. I think the rest of the ship gets to book at 120 days..

should I try our cruise consultant on the 120 day mark? 
or is that gonna be same results?

[G-DawgMN]

3 minutes ago, expectthebest said:

I do find it hard to believe there are no times open at 124 days out.. I think the rest of the ship gets to book at 120 days..

should I try our cruise consultant on the 120 day mark? 
or is that gonna be same results?

They only open 20 percent of the reservations prior to the cruise. If you are in a true suite contact the concierge when you board and they can take care of it. 

[Panhandle Couple]

Try using the web site or the app for booking.

 

Why call someone?  You probably work the computer better than they do.

 

Calling is so 1980's....

[BirdTravels]

38 minutes ago, KSSS2013 said:

They only open 20 percent of the reservations prior to the cruise. If you are in a true suite contact the concierge when you board and they can take care of it. 

More like 75% are pre-cruise. People quote call center operators who have 0% insight into the booking policies of the cruise line. There is 0% reason for the cruise line to leave 80% of their tables unbooked pre-cruise. 

Edited January 24 by BirdTravels

[BirdTravels]

59 minutes ago, expectthebest said:

Hi Critics:

We are booked on the JOY 5.26.24-6.02.24 Bermuda RT NYC in an inside suite..I just realized I can book our specialty dining b/c it’s 124 days till sail away.
 

I call NCL to book and was told only reservations open are at 9:00 pm on one sea day and 9:30 pm on the day we sail back to NYC in Ocean Blue and Cagneys.. the rep on phone said to book the the 2 time slots and just change them when I board the ship on sail away.

 

He said go to the actual restaurant as soon as we are on the ship b/c we are suite guests we will be able to board along with Haven if that is true.

 

Has anyone encountered this? Should we seek out the Concierge upon boarding or actually run to the restaurant..

 

We have a 13 yr old and a 6 year old so those times would just not work for us..

 

Any advice would be appreciated

 

-Mark

Check again at 120 days. This is probably more of a glitch unless you are booking for more than 4 people. 

 

DO NOT go to the actual restaurant, there will be no one there. Central restaurant reservations will be at Teppanyaki, Deck 6 Mid-ship on embarkation day.

 

As an inside suites guest, you do not receive concierge service onboard. 

[MCMC100]

Have you tried booking yourself?  I’m on the Getaway in 33 days. I just randomly selected Cagneys on Mar 1 for dinner and looked at reservations for 4 people. This is what’s available…..

 

 

I also checked La Cucina for Feb 28 reservations between 5:30 to 9:30 every 30 minutes still available for 4 people.  I can’t believe all specialty dining on the Joy is sold out at 124 days. You got an NCL employee who doesn’t know what they’re doing. 
 

Go to your reservation in the app - click on Dining under Things to Do, scroll down past the offers to purchase additional specialty dining until you start to see the restaurants. Touch the restaurant name you want and a reservation screen will open. Drop downs for dates, party size and available times will show as above.  Click your time preference and follow the prompts to “checkout”.  You don’t pay anything but it processes the reservation like a purchase.  You will get an email confirmation and the reservation will show up in My Plans.  
 

I really can’t believe it’s sold out in 24 hours. I was on the Joy in late September and we decided to switch reservations during a Labor Day party with family who were going with us - no problem.  

[sailingships]

Book online We booked our meals for a Sept cruise weeks ago. You dont have to wait for 120 days etc to book meals or excursions for some cruises. Some have those listed early. Just check your cruise in your account to see if you have access yet.

Edited January 24 by sailingships

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, sailingships said:

Book online We booked our meals for a Sept cruise weeks ago. You dont have to wait for 120 days etc to book meals or excursions for some cruises. Some have those listed early. Just check your cruise in your account to see if you have access yet.

The 120 day restriction does not apply to excursions at all. You can book them whenever they are listed, which can be anywhere between a couple of years to a couple of weeks before departure.

 

Meals are on a set schedule for booking (generally 120 days, but 125 or 130 days for certain room types and latitudes levels). The OP is trying to book at 125 days due to cabin type.

 

The biggest issue with dining is that sometimes glitches mean that there may be delays in everything opening up. I have never seen them become available to book early.

[European_CruiseGirl]

As others have said: go to NCL app and do the bookings directly from there. It us very likely that you just got an employee who doesn’t have a clue. It would be highly unlikely that there are no tables available at 124 days. Either it is a computer glitch or an NCL employee glitch. 

[G-DawgMN]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

More like 75% are pre-cruise. People quote call center operators who have 0% insight into the booking policies of the cruise line. There is 0% reason for the cruise line to leave 80% of their tables unbooked pre-cruise. 

 I’m sure you’re right but I was actually just told that when I checked on a reservation last week. 

 

  But, I was on the Epic last year and was 3rd in line. Couldn’t get my 6pm reservation for Moderno. 
 

 

 

[kitkat343]

As others have correctly noted, keep trying to book online.  If that doesn't work, book as soon as you can access  NCL's internet when you board.  We were able to make all but one reservation (needed early dining for 5 people on sea days).  And we were able to easily make the last reservation we needed on the ship right when we boarded.  People who tried to book a few days into the cruise because they didn't understand how specialty dining worked were the only ones who really got stuck.

Edited January 24 by kitkat343

[razor7_us]

On 1/3/2024 at 9:07 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

15 hours ago, zqvol said:

There will be a desk on board the ship. When you board go there and make the changes you need. You were told correctly except that it is done at a central location, not at each restaurant..

 

 

15 hours ago, expectthebest said:

Passengers should go to the Teppenyaki restaurant, desk 6 mid, to make and/or change specialty dining reservations

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Yep...I've just gone through this for our sailing which is 77 days out.  NOTHING available unless we want 9:30pm.  No thanks!  I talked to 3 different people and they all said that they only open up 20% of availability at about 120 days...when that 20% is gone then you have to wait until you get on board.  I fully understand the idea of not releasing ALL availability up front...but 20% just seems a ridiculously low number.  That just totally ensures that there will be a mad rush on day 1 for dining reservations.  50% or 60% seems much more reasonable.

[KeithJenner]

4 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yep...I've just gone through this for our sailing which is 77 days out.  NOTHING available unless we want 9:30pm.  No thanks!  I talked to 3 different people and they all said that they only open up 20% of availability at about 120 days...when that 20% is gone then you have to wait until you get on board.  I fully understand the idea of not releasing ALL availability up front...but 20% just seems a ridiculously low number.  That just totally ensures that there will be a mad rush on day 1 for dining reservations.  50% or 60% seems much more reasonable.

If three separate people quoted 20% then that is remarkable consistency for NCL phone staff.

 

People fairly regularly post on here saying the various percentages that they have been told are made available for booking, and it is anywhere between the 20% you were told and about 75%.

 

I have absolutely no idea what the actual amount it, and I suspect neither do the phone staff. My guess, based on seeing what availability is like both before and once onboard is that it is quite a bit more than 20%.

[Liljo22]

18 hours ago, expectthebest said:

Thank you for clearing that up !!

Do you think something in the normal 5-6pm range would become open?

The most popular are 7-7:30 and I have found that there are usually plenty of spots before and after that when I board.  

[expectthebest]

Update!!!!!!:

First of all a special cruise critic thank you to all who chimed in!!! All the info was soooo helpful..

We downloaded the app and once logged in we searched open times.. and there was a lot.. we booked both Cagneys and Ocean Blue for 5:30 which I’m so excited about..

 

Now we are salivating over the menus !!!!

 

Thanks a million!!!

-Mark

[MCMC100]

Glad it worked out. You picked two great restaurants. Enjoy….

[UKstages]

congrats on getting the reservations that you want!

 

just to set expectations, i'd like to refer you to something that was briefly mentioned in post 8.

 

as a suite guest on the joy.,. you won't really have easy access to a concierge. there will probably be a card in your suite with a concierge's name (who will likely be the same concierge for the haven), along his or her phone number. but the concierge team doesn't really have the time or inclination to help suite guests. it'll be pretty much an absentee concierge who may respond a day or two late to a phone call or email, if at all. in most cases, you'll be better off - and can get things done more quickly - by booking reservations yourself.

 

this was my suite experience on the joy... an invisible concierge. the joy is unique in the benefits it provides (or rather, doesn't provide) to suite guests.

[expectthebest]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

congrats on getting the reservations that you want!

 

just to set expectations, i'd like to refer you to something that was briefly mentioned in post 8.

 

as a suite guest on the joy.,. you won't really have easy access to a concierge. there will probably be a card in your suite with a concierge's name (who will likely be the same concierge for the haven), along his or her phone number. but the concierge team doesn't really have the time or inclination to help suite guests. it'll be pretty much an absentee concierge who may respond a day or two late to a phone call or email, if at all. in most cases, you'll be better off - and can get things done more quickly - by booking reservations yourself.

 

this was my suite experience on the joy... an invisible concierge. the joy is unique in the benefits it provides (or rather, doesn't provide) to suite guests.

Thank you UK!!

This will set my expectation very low when thinking of the concierge service.. I understand their loyalty to the Haven guests as priority number 1… Our family is pretty low key and we don't require much besides maybe a tweek in reservation or entrance to a last minute show. Plus with our 2 children along in this journey I would assume bedtime will sneak up pretty quickly and I will be carrying our 6 year old back to the cabin each night..

 

Last year on RCL he would frequently fall asleep as dinner was wrapping up and never make it through the ice cream and cookies at the end of the meal. We would always bring “his” cookies back to the room with us and sure enough the next morning the first thing he would ask us is did we forget his cookies from the restaurant.. lol

 

Best,

Mark

[MagnoliaBlossom]

the confusion may lie in the ship.  On some of the jewel class and older ships, the reservation “desk” is a table in the Asian restaurant area outside of Tepanyaki.   At times it has been in the Pour House.  It depends on the ship, so ask a crew member when you board so you don’t waste a lot of steps and time searching for the correct location.

19 hours ago, razor7_us said:

 

 

 

[razor7_us]

1 hour ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

the confusion may lie in the ship.  On some of the jewel class and older ships, the reservation “desk” is a table in the Asian restaurant area outside of Tepanyaki.   At times it has been in the Pour House.  It depends on the ship, so ask a crew member when you board so you don’t waste a lot of steps and time searching for the correct location.

 

The OP was inquiring about the Joy. I gave an appropriate response