Restaurant Reservations

[cruisegal919]

Hi - does anyone know how far in advance you can begin making restaurant reservations online? We're on the Voyager in September and although it's still a few months away I'm getting excited and wanted to mark my calendar as we have two birthdays to celebrate on the cruise. I remember on my last cruise there was a reminder in the My Cruises section of the website but this time there isn't any mention. Is this still available?

[NCCruzQueen]

Usually you can begin booking the restaurants 28 days out. All depending on when that day falls around a weekend. It should pop up in your My Cruises around then.

[dougburns]

I would not do Signatures or Latitudes on a formal night, because Compass Rose always puts out a great menu on those nights. After the first day or two you can always get a reservation at the specialty restaurants as long as you're flexible on time. That's based on 200 days aboard Regent during 12 cruises.

[aksmusic]

Hi

You can do online restaurant reservations 28 days before your cruise leaves. However, I would suggest that you confirm these as soon as you board the ship. We made reservations online for the Mariner April 20th cruise, and were dismayed to find out they had not been recorded. The staff had to scramble to get us reservations and they told us there were a number of complaints about this.

[Travelcat2]

Agree with "Dougburns" comment about not booking on formal night -- or, at least not the 2nd night out (Captain's Reception night) and the 2nd to the last night) -- dining in Compass Rose is extra special on those nights. Latitudes and Signatures are wonderful -- we enjoy booking one of them on our first night and the other mid-cruise.:)

[poss]

Would love to hear more about people's notions of how "bad" it'd be to show up in Compass Rose in navy blazer, shirt, and tie on formal night. We've decided not to take dark suit etc this time (want to travel as lightly as possible), but would certainly enjoy eating in CR on that special night if we'd be welcome. On the other hand, it's ok if we need to order room service instead, i.e. if the consensus is that that's the more courteous thing to do. Thanks for in-put.

[ridolphi]

28 days out it should pop into your "my cruises" section. Agree with aksmusic - be sure and confirm as soon as you board. Same thing happened to us, we made reservations for 6 people in Signatures for the first night on Mariner last year and showed up only to find that they had not received our reservation, they said they had been having some trouble with the website reservations. Hint ..... you should receive the normal confirmation card on your door on the day of your requested reservations, which I knew about when making reservations onboard, but didn't realize would also be the case when making them online.

 

Poss -You could probably get away with a blazer, shirt and tie (and slacks too of course;) ) on formal nights -- you may find yourself alone in that -- but as long as you have on a jacket/tie, I doubt they will turn you away. You can always go to LaVeranda as an alternate to in suite dining that night as well.

[poss]

Is it really ok to go to La Veranda? I had the idea that one wasn't "permitted" to be anywhere on the ship if not in formal attire.

 

Also: Why is it that it's the 2nd to last night (rather than the last) that Compass Rose is special? Is that the case on every cruise?

[poss]

Is it really ok to go to La Veranda? I had the idea that one wasn't "permitted" to be anywhere on the ship if not in formal attire.

 

Also: Why is it that it's the penultimate night (rather than the last) that Compass Rose is special? Is that the case on every cruise?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Poss, the second-last night is the Captain's farewell reception.

 

Yes, it's okay to eat in La Verandah. We did that one night when my husband just did not feel like wearing a jacket (it was informal night). I enjoyed that restaurant quite a bit. We had to go back and get a jacket for him after dinner to go to a lounge; however on formal night, if you are wearing a jacket and tie, I'm sure it would be just fine in the lounges, if not in Compass Rose.

[hobse]

The Captain's Farewell Party was the last night on our cruise.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh, you're right, I guess it varies. It's just that the last night is usually taken up with packing, etc. I'm pretty sure it was second-last on our European Voyager trip last year, but I could be wrong.

[cruisegal919]

Thanks all for the great info - I'll mark the 28 days out on my calendar and be sure to reconfirm onboard. September is just so far away.....

[ridolphi]

Well not quite as far as our cruise in Nov.:D :D LOL!

 

Have a wonderful trip.

[kathy16]

Restaurant reservations for my 7/11 Mariner should have been available yesterday- but site said unable to make reservations at this time- sorry- although it is now less than 28 days.. Is this usual practice? I was so excited to finally be able to, that I made big notation on my calender.

[NCCruzQueen]

Kathy, Give it a day or two then call Regent. It should pop up soon.

[Cowgirlup]

I was able to make dinner reservations for the 7/11 cruise yesterday with no problem....

[Cowgirlup]

Whoops - just realized you said the 7/11 MARINER cruise - I booked them for the PG! Sorry!

[marleysmom]

Im also on the 7/11 mariner and get the same message.

Addtl question. Alaska cruise does not have a "formal" nite. ost nites are country club casual with 1 informal nite. FAQ says jacket and tie for informal. If that is the case, what is country club casual???

Does my 13 year old son need a sports coat?

[ridolphi]

Country Club Casual means khakis or nice slacks for men with a polo style shirt or open neck cotton shirt, nice cotton skirts or slacks for women or I have even worn nice capris with a dressier type top (meaning other than a tee - maybe a sleevless sweater shell), no jeans, t-shirts, shorts, flip-flops etc.

 

As to yous son on Informal night, if it were my son, he would wear a blazer and nice slacks and maybe even a tie. But that is just me, and my kids grew up cruising and they learned that they would have to dress accordingly in the evenings. I'm sure he could get by in nice khakis and a cotton shirt. Do remember that if you go to Signatures, and you must, :D a jacket is required, no matter what the evening's dress code. I don't know how that might apply to your 13 year old.

 

Have a great trip, you will love the Mariner. And hopefully your son will be really impressed with Alaska - my kids couldn't stop talking about it for weeks, and that was many years ago.

[divenski]

I would not do Signatures or Latitudes on a formal night, because Compass Rose always puts out a great menu on those nights. After the first day or two you can always get a reservation at the specialty restaurants as long as you're flexible on time. That's based on 200 days aboard Regent during 12 cruises.

 

Would you still suggest not going to Signatures or Latitudes on an informal night? A Voyager cruise I am going on soon does not have a formal night; it's 2 informal and 5 CCC, and so based on your post, it sounds like there is a chance that the better menus in Compass Rose might be on these 2 nights.

 

Also, does the CR menu change during a 1 week cruise?

[tennisbunny]

We've got the same situation of 2 informal and 5 CCC nights. Are cocktail dresses appropriate for the informal nights or perhaps a long gown? Or is that too dressy?

 

Thanks!:cool:

[dougburns]

Either is OK. The lovely "Miss Lynn" always wears a long dressy dress.

[SFImporter]

Poss -You could probably get away with a blazer, shirt and tie (and slacks too of course;) ) on formal nights -- you may find yourself alone in that -- but as long as you have on a jacket/tie, I doubt they will turn you away. You can always go to LaVeranda as an alternate to in suite dining that night as well.

 

I had read in another thread that dark suits were fine and tuxedos not required for formal night. Is this bad info? I've only done the Alaska cruise and that was fairly casual. This time we are doing a leg of the Asia cruise.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

A dark suit is fine.