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Star Specialty Dining Question


ScooterScott22

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Hopefully someone can help me decide.  We are struggling with weather to make some specialty dining reservations or not.  We are still relatively new to Royal and will be doing Star for the first time this late spring in Alaska.

While I understand that we have the Genie, there are a few nights we really would like to lock in place.  We are not ones to plan every tiny detail for the most part so it seems the Genie will be beneficial to us in that regard.  Since the Alaska scenery is slightly different we are looking at this a little different.  There will be thing to see as we are sailing unlike traversing stretches of water in the Caribbean.  We have done Norway fjords/Iceland in the past and this is similar in that the itinerary is more likely a one time type cruise.  Also many of the port departure times are around 8-9pm we also don’t want to conflict with some of those plans.  Sorry for the background but I think it might help on why this is on my mind.

So the real question is what to do with the 1-2 nights we really would like to have a specific dining location (time is probably somewhat negotiable).  Should we go ahead and schedule those couple of things on our own now?  Is if fine to schedule/book most of the dining that we want?  Should we just rely strictly on the Genie?  

Any advice is appreciated but hoping Waytooo has some details and shares info on this.

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I have not gone yet, going Star class in March, but from all that I have read and heard, do not book anything.  Let your Genie do it.   They can get you anytime you would like.  Just let them know in the email 1-2 weeks prior to your sailing.  As a Type A individual, and after planning many cruises on my own, it is hard to let go.  I too have found it strange to barely look at my cruise planner for that sailing.  From what I understand, they block off times for Star guests and they can basically squeeze you in whenever, even if availability online is not showing.  People even decide the day of and get the times they want.

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Let the Genie know when you receive your initial contact email from them. They should be able to get you in for those times and it will also be helpful for them in scheduling all of the other activities.  Star Class is great and the Genies make every effort to get you in for everything that's available to you on the ship.  Definitely kept our schedule full on both Anthem and Symphony. 

It was also flexible enough that we were able to take a look at the schedule the Genie set for us and make changes to it the night before or morning of.  We opted to have food delivered to the room to eat on our balcony rather than sit at the restaurant and the Genie even arranged for us to have access to certain menu items in Coastal Kitchen that were not being served on the evening we had scheduled to eat there.  

I've done Alaska too (not as Star Class, though) and if I did have the Genie I would probably just have the food delivered when the dining times coincided with the scenic traveling.  If you aren't planning on doing Alaska multiple times I would make every effort to make the most of your time in port.  Have later dining times or take advantage of having it delivered to your room and enjoy the ports and the scenic sailing.  Use the Genie to beat crowds off the ship if you have early private excursions and don't stress about doing it all or experiencing everything on the ship.

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Specialty dining is supposed to be complimentary to star class.  If you book your own reservations in advance, is the cruise planner smart enough to know not to charge you?  The Genie would be able to refund the charges if necessary, but you wouldn't have deal with that if you just let the Genie handle the reservations from the start.

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1 hour ago, Atlantix2000 said:

Specialty dining is supposed to be complimentary to star class.  If you book your own reservations in advance, is the cruise planner smart enough to know not to charge you?  The Genie would be able to refund the charges if necessary, but you wouldn't have deal with that if you just let the Genie handle the reservations from the start.

No, the cruise planner is not smart at all.  If you make any specialty dining reservations before you get on board you will be charged and then the Genie will have to get the money refunded.  It would be a big hassle.

As the others have said, do not book anything.  Your Genie will take care of everything.  We have never ever NOT been able to get the dining time or location that we wanted.  The Genie has a LOT of pull in getting you in where (and when) you want to go.

The only restriction to having food delivered to your suite from either the dining room or any of the specialty restaurants is that you must have it delivered during the normal operating hours of the restaurant.  In other words, you cannot ask them to bring you lobster from Chops at midnight.  As long as your requests are within the normal operating hours your request will be honored.  I also agree that dining in your suite is one of the biggest benefits you have as Star Class guests.  Take advantage of it.

I know it's hard to do sometimes, but relax and just know that your Genie will take care of everything.  EVERYthing.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/29/2018 at 10:29 AM, ScooterScott22 said:

Hopefully someone can help me decide.  We are struggling with weather to make some specialty dining reservations or not.  We are still relatively new to Royal and will be doing Star for the first time this late spring in Alaska.

While I understand that we have the Genie, there are a few nights we really would like to lock in place.  We are not ones to plan every tiny detail for the most part so it seems the Genie will be beneficial to us in that regard.  Since the Alaska scenery is slightly different we are looking at this a little different.  There will be thing to see as we are sailing unlike traversing stretches of water in the Caribbean.  We have done Norway fjords/Iceland in the past and this is similar in that the itinerary is more likely a one time type cruise.  Also many of the port departure times are around 8-9pm we also don’t want to conflict with some of those plans.  Sorry for the background but I think it might help on why this is on my mind.

So the real question is what to do with the 1-2 nights we really would like to have a specific dining location (time is probably somewhat negotiable).  Should we go ahead and schedule those couple of things on our own now?  Is if fine to schedule/book most of the dining that we want?  Should we just rely strictly on the Genie?  

Any advice is appreciated but hoping Waytooo has some details and shares info on this.

My experience is this.

 

Email your genie with your preferences. Tell them what food you like ( and don't). Tell them what time you want to eat. They'll take care of the rest. 

Your genie has a significant amount of clout to sneak you in to a restaurant that is otherwise full so I wouldn't worry about times not being available. Plus, this saves the hassle of getting your CC refunded.

 

My first Star Class cruise we ate half of our meals in the MDR as we were travelling with a large group. Our genie was dissapointed in the fact she wasn't able to make 7 nights worth of reservations for us- we certainly made up for it by having specialty dining room service nearly every day.

 

 

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