RCIfan1912 Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 Yeah our cruise isn't till August 2021 but its fun to actually as a "cruise" question. Hopefully we sail in 400 days! Just checked my Royal Caribbean cruise page and its exactly 400 days away, gotta start packing. Anyway I am really growing tired of the crowded Windjammer on embarkation day and other free food places. Oh this is for Oasis of that makes a difference but can you schedule a specialty restaurant lunch for embarkation day? Just somewhere you can sit and relax for an hour and not be rushed while having a nice lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 24 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: can you schedule a specialty restaurant lunch for embarkation day? Yes. But not specialty is open on embarkation day. Check a recent cruise compass and it will give you an idea of what options you have. It's usually Chops or Giovanni's, Port Side & Playmakers. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass Ogilthorpe, Neesa and RCIfan1912 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 20 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Yes. But not specialty is open on embarkation day. Check a recent cruise compass and it will give you an idea of what options you have. It's usually Chops or Giovanni's, Port Side & Playmakers. https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass Thanks, I think Royal might be missing some revenue here. I think people would book lunches if they were available on embarkation day. Might be a good revenue stream. Neesa and FoxboroCruiser 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 2 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: I think Royal might be missing some revenue here. I think people would book lunches if they were available on embarkation day. Maybe, maybe not. I can tell you that from the cruises that I have been on, most specialty dining is pretty empty on embarkation day. There are some die hard WJ (not me! lol) fans out there and I feel like embarkation is so busy that most people don't want to sit down for a meal. Also, some may not have even checked in yet at that point (that's not me either lol). RCIfan1912, Neesa and Ogilthorpe 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 2 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Maybe, maybe not. I can tell you that from the cruises that I have been on, most specialty dining is pretty empty on embarkation day. There are some die hard WJ (not me! lol) fans out there and I feel like embarkation is so busy that most people don't want to sit down for a meal. Also, some may not have even checked in yet at that point (that's not me either lol). We try to board as early as possible. We are there well before boarding actually begins but who knows if that will even be allowed going forward or for a while. I sent Royal an email asking them questions about lunch on embarkation day. I'll probably get a response a few days before our sailing next August but I figured give them a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said: We try to board as early as possible. We are there well before boarding actually begins but who knows if that will even be allowed going forward or for a while. I sent Royal an email asking them questions about lunch on embarkation day. I'll probably get a response a few days before our sailing next August but I figured give them a try. Are you in a suite? If you are, when the suite concierge reaches out to you a week to do before sailing, you can have them make reservations for you. Honestly though, on a regular sailing, most open venues are not busy at all. You could probably just walk right in for lunch without a reservation. Especially with Playmakers and Port Side. RCIfan1912 and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: Are you in a suite? If you are, when the suite concierge reaches out to you a week to do before sailing, you can have them make reservations for you. Honestly though, on a regular sailing, most open venues are not busy at all. You could probably just walk right in for lunch without a reservation. Especially with Playmakers and Port Side. No, no suites for us just yet. In a year or two I want to start booking suites only. Yeah we will be fine, just want to avoid the craziness of the Windjammer. Oasis has so many spots I guess it will be easier to find a not so crazy lunch. Ogilthorpe and Lovetocruise2002 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said: No, no suites for us just yet. In a year or two I want to start booking suites only. Yeah we will be fine, just want to avoid the craziness of the Windjammer. Oasis has so many spots I guess it will be easier to find a not so crazy lunch. It will be easy. The gong show is in the WJ on embarkation day. Hagar and Ogilthorpe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky in Love Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 I agree on it all depends what what happen going forward. In the past if you purchased THE KEY you were already reserved for a specialty lunch on day 1. The specialty three night dining package provided you with opens to purchase day 1 or day two dinner options and you had to make specialty dinner options after boarding by calling from one of the ships phones dialing 55013. If you have downloaded the APP you can look at all of the lunch snd various lunch and dining options. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 9 minutes ago, Lucky in Love said: I agree on it all depends what what happen going forward. In the past if you purchased THE KEY you were already reserved for a specialty lunch on day 1. The specialty three night dining package provided you with opens to purchase day 1 or day two dinner options and you had to make specialty dinner options after boarding by calling from one of the ships phones dialing 55013. If you have downloaded the APP you can look at all of the lunch snd various lunch and dining options. Oh interesting, we are going up get the 3 night dining package. We like a mix of specialty and MDR so that package is perfect for us. I'm getting a bonus from work in January and February, I know strange it's after Christmas but that when we will be booking the 3 night dining package and internet and I think a few other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky in Love Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 31 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Oh interesting, we are going up get the 3 night dining package. We like a mix of specialty and MDR so that package is perfect for us. I'm getting a bonus from work in January and February, I know strange it's after Christmas but that when we will be booking the 3 night dining package and internet and I think a few other things. I like the 3 night specialty dining option because it allows me to skip a day in-between and eat in other venues during 7 night cruises. I prefer to go where the urge takes me during vacation. Happy cruising! RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickinSTL Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 Our group of 20 or so on Harmony last year had lunch at Jamie's Italian on embarkation day.. The wait staff just looked at us and said "we're not giving you all menus, We're going to bring you all everything on the menu".. and they did.. Best lunch we ever had! RCIfan1912, Ogilthorpe, Neesa and 3 others 3 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, RickinSTL said: Our group of 20 or so on Harmony last year had lunch at Jamie's Italian on embarkation day.. The wait staff just looked at us and said "we're not giving you all menus, We're going to bring you all everything on the menu".. and they did.. Best lunch we ever had! Holy cow that's awesome! Was that scheduled before hand or you just walked up to Jamie's and they seated you all? Jaime's is amazing in my opinion. Ogilthorpe and RickinSTL 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickinSTL Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 45 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Holy cow that's awesome! Was that scheduled before hand or you just walked up to Jamie's and they seated you all? Jaime's is amazing in my opinion. After our first cocktail, we went and asked the Head waiter if they could accommodate us.. They said No problem at all. I'm not a pasta guy at all.. but OMG the Lasagna was awesome lol USCG Teacher, RCIfan1912 and Ogilthorpe 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, RickinSTL said: After our first cocktail, we went and asked the Head waiter if they could accommodate us.. They said No problem at all. I'm not a pasta guy at all.. but OMG the Lasagna was awesome lol Very interesting, thank you for the info. Appreciate that, maybe that will be our plan, to just show up and ask. We are only 3, 2 adults, 1 kid/8 at the time of sailing, if we sail. Again thank you for the info, very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickinSTL Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said: Very interesting, thank you for the info. Appreciate that, maybe that will be our plan, to just show up and ask. We are only 3, 2 adults, 1 kid/8 at the time of sailing, if we sail. Again thank you for the info, very interesting. You'll have no problem.. we even started a "Dining Crawl" one day.. We had apps at Sabor, An entrée at Chops, More apps at Jamie's, and Dessert at 150 CP.. Now Royal Monopolized it lol USCG Teacher 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 I guess my only concern with "taking your chances" and just showing up for a WHILE is that there is likely to be a lower limit on the # of people that these restaurants can accommodate - at least at the beginning of sailing again. I am concerned even about having the UDP and whether or not getting reservations will be as easy as it used to be. Just something to think about. RickinSTL, USCG Teacher and RCIfan1912 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad2Cue Posted July 19, 2020 Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 6 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: Very interesting, thank you for the info. Appreciate that, maybe that will be our plan, to just show up and ask. We are only 3, 2 adults, 1 kid/8 at the time of sailing, if we sail. Again thank you for the info, very interesting. I have just walked up and asked about making a reservation later in the evening or later in the week. Then I ask where is a good place to have lunch. The Head waiter has said, "if you are interested in lunch we currently have a special for 50% off." I think it might depend on how busy it is but I have never seen it too busy on embarkation day for lunch. WAAAYTOOO and RCIfan1912 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted July 19, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2020 59 minutes ago, Dad2Cue said: I have just walked up and asked about making a reservation later in the evening or later in the week. Then I ask where is a good place to have lunch. The Head waiter has said, "if you are interested in lunch we currently have a special for 50% off." I think it might depend on how busy it is but I have never seen it too busy on embarkation day for lunch. Thanks, I think we'll take our chances as you do even with the current circumstances. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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