New Cruisers Tip #6: Making Reservations

You’re on your first cruise, and you want to get the full experience. You go to make a reservation to get a massage, or for a dinner at a specialty restaurant, only to discover that all the ideal times have been taken. You’re now stuck getting a massage during your dinner time, or eating at the supper club at 10:00 at night. What should you do to get those good reservation times?

I’ve never made a spa reservation, and I’ve only been in a cruise spa a handful of times at most. But I know that there are certain times that are more popular than others. For the ladies, if you want to go to the salon right before formal night, for example, you better make your reservation on the first day as soon as you can. If I had to guess, I’d say formal night cruise days are the most requested times for spa reservations. You want to look and feel your best going into formal night, which is why these times are so popular. Of course, any day at sea will be harder to get an appointment for since everyone is on the boat. I’m not sure if the spas are open while at port, but if they are, I suggest you get an appointment on these days as there will be a better chance you’ll get a good spot.

Specialty restaurants are becoming more and more popular on cruise ships. Carnival has supper clubs on select ships. Royal Caribbean offers several specialty restaurants, including the intimate Portofino, Chops Grille steakhouse, and Mystery Dinner Theater. And of course there’s NCL, which is all about restaurant variety. The list goes on. So how do you get a good reservation at one of these restaurants? Well first let me point out that the majority of them are not free. They usually have a nominal fee per person. But in return for that fee, you get higher quality ingredients and better service, with your food made to order. (They won’t make your food unless/until you order it.) Once you’ve decided you want to pay the little extra, you can make the reservation. Once again, it’s best to make the reservation on the first day as soon as possible. If you want a 6:00 dinner time on a popular night, you better make that reservation right after you board (and stop at the buffet for a quick snack of course). When we want to make a reservation at Carnival’s supper club, we will make the reservation right at the table they have set up in the lobby when we board.

If you see a table to make reservations of any kind when you board, take advantage of it! You will have a better chance of getting your reservation if you make it right away.

But wait, there are other types of reservations. When in port, you might want to go on an excursion. Nowadays, you can usually book your excursions online prior to the cruise, but if you don’t, I suggest you go to the shore excursions desk after you make your supper club reservations and book your excursion. The popular ones will sell out quickly, as will those with limited space. Of course, there is a charge for excursions. The basic rule of thumb is, the more unique the experience (or any golf excursion), the more expensive it will be. So a snorkeling excursion will almost always be cheaper than a scuba diving excursion. You get the idea.

I also want to mention that dining requests — what time you wish to eat dinner in the main dining room — are not reservations. They are simply what they are called: requests. I’ve seen too many people get upset saying, “we asked for early seating dinner due to health reasons and were put in late seating. We tried to get it changed and were denied.” The cruise lines don’t care what your reason is for your seating. They have a way of seating people, and will go by that. If you make a request for a certain dining time, that’s all it is: a request. It’s not a guarantee.

Related Posts:

• Excursions

Tags: excursions, reservations, spa, supper club