Large Group Dining - Specialty Restaurants

[HugoBoss344]

Hello,

I know large group planning can be difficult on cruises, but it's my husband's 40th birthday and he has one request: group dinner on his birthday at Jamie's Italian.  

There are 13 of us on this cruise who would like to dine for his birthday.  I suppose my first step is to call RC and see what they can do, but I thought I'd try here first to see what others have learned and what my expectations should be. 

Some additional points/questions:

• Some people will have the unlimited dining package, and some will have the three night, and some will have no dining package.  Is this a nightmare for the staff?
• If people think it makes it easier on the staff, we could cover any cover charges or drinks not covered by packages, however keeping each cabin on their own would be ideal.
• We wouldn't mind splitting tables, but of course we'd rather all be together.
• We are very flexible on time and would do a really early dinner if it helped the staff keep their wits about them.
• Is it realistic that they could accommodate us before the sailing or do you think we'll have to wait to reserve when we get on ship?
• If RC won't let us reserve ahead of time and waiting until we get onboard is too dicey, I suppose the only other way to make it happen is to prebook and pay the covers on the app by adding all the different parties to the reservations, yeah?  Then we'd be on the hook for 13 cover charges even though many have the unlimited thought, right?

I've seen some info about large group dining in the MDR, but not in specialty places. I seem to recall a long time ago an email to RC for large group dinging, but I can't find that anymore.

Very much appreciate the advice anyone can provide!

HugoBoss

[HugoBoss344]

Called RC in the meantime and it seems you need 8 cabins to be considered a group, otherwise they won't allow you to make a group reservation.  Seems the only option is to get onboard and race to the reservation stand.

[AshleyDillo]

You can take your chances and wait until you are onboard to see if you can get it reserved, or you can make the reservation in advance and pay the cover charges. Keep in mind you need to link all the reservations to book everyone in your party. Try reserving as many as you can in one time slot and then do the rest in an adjacent timeslot. I highly advise you try for the earliest time available. It will make it much easier for them to put your whole party together.  When you board go immediately to the restaurant and conform everyone in your party is actually one group (especially if you had to split them up when booking).

Once onboard you can get refunds for those with the dining packages. It likely will be refunded to their onboard accounts individually, so if you paid in advance for everyone you would have to settle up with those individuals.

[HugoBoss344]

Thanks @AshleyDillo

Helpful to know but it may be all too complicated for one dinner. We want to stay relaxed and not overwhelm staff so I think we'll skip the group dinner and just see everyone at the bar for a toast.