Gah! BRB problem again

[KJT1985]

You know, before picking a resort I thought I asked all the right questions, got all the right answers and had made a good decision. First it was guest pass/age issues. Now its dinner/reception problems.

 

We are having to have two AHRs and decided not to have a private reception in Jamaica because of this. We just couldn't justify spending the money for 30 people when they'd all get the big experience back home. It was decided that we'd just all go have dinner in one of the restaurants. NOW i'm being told that we can't all eat together - that they can only seat 8-10 people at a time! This isn't what we wanted at all! We wanted to all be able to eat in one of the restaurants at the same - just having dinner, not a "party". I was told this was possible. Now i'm being told its not and that we have to pay $50-90 a person (at a resort which ALREADY includes all food and drink!) to have a private reception if we want everybody to eat at the same time!!! GRRRR! I'm not asking for them to give us the restaurant for the whole night - just to make all our reservations for the same time and give us the usually allotted hour for dinner. My fiance is no help. He says I got us into this, now I need to fix it. He refuses to pay for a private reception. I think it's a bit ridiculous too at an AI. I understand its more work but why can't they just let us book the restaurant?! I mean - there would be no difference than if we all "coincidentally" booked the same dinner time. It's not like the other guests are going to know we're all together and we'd all have to eat anyway. I just honestly don't see what the issue is - especially when we're all paying to stay there!!!! Gah!!!

 

Has anybody else had this issue? What are you doing? IS there anything I can do? Any chance we could all get into the same restaurant at the same time if we book individually the day we show up?

[Patti]

I have run into this before. One of my daughters got married in Playa del Carmen (outside of Cancun). We all stayed there and she actually got married on the beach there. They were so nice and even gave us a private room (for 50) to have a special dinner the night before the wedding. On the other hand, my other daughter got married in Puerta Vallarta. We all stayed at Dreams, however, she did not get married there. Dreams did the same thing that you're talking about. We explained that we just wanted to sit together - that we didn't want anything extra (regarding food or drink) that the rest of their guests were getting - but they just wouldn't do it. Bottom line, my daughter's mother-in-law said that if we had all be at home, they would have paid for the rehearsal dinner, so they paid for us to have a private dinner set up outside by one of the more private pools. It was really nice - but I definitely share in your frustration. It doesn't make any sense that you're staying at an all inclusive but they are wanting you to pay more - just because you want to sit together.

[YaelM]

My only suggestion would be to ask if you could do your dinner either super late or super early as to not interfere with "regular dinner hours" but most resorts are like this - otherwise no one would pay for a private dinner reception and I'm assuming its how they make most of their money

 

Another option is to have everyone seated at teh same time but maybe at different tables next to each other?

[jenninjamaica]

I just realized the same thing. We really wanted dinner at the French Restaurant but I just found out they will only seat 10 people together at one time. Should we eat in shifts, lol!! I don't know, I guess a per person dinner is cheaper for our small group than a 300 person wedding at home. But still, we picked AI for a reason!!! GGRR!! I feel your pain!

[budgetjamaicabride]

Who told you this? It is incorrect! Keisha will have a section reserved for your party but it must be at 6:45 for a 7:00 seating. Everyone will be seated together. We are doing this and I confirmed it when I finally got ahold of her today via phone.

[budgetjamaicabride]

By the way, I call using skype to save money.

[KJT1985]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YaelM My only suggestion would be to ask if you could do your dinner either super late or super early as to not interfere with "regular dinner hours" but most resorts are like this - otherwise no one would pay for a private dinner reception and I'm assuming its how they make most of their money Another option is to have everyone seated at teh same time but maybe at different tables next to each other?

That's what I wanted. I don't want anything rearranged but she said that they will ONLY take 8-10 of our guests at a time. According to her there is NO way to have everybody eat at the same time unless we have a private reception. And aren't they already making enough money off us being regular guests?

[KJT1985]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TA Maureen Take a deep breath. I am pretty sure you are getting this stuff from Keisha's canned emails. You need to calm down and get a hold of Keisha on the phone and ask all your questions. Only 8-10 people can be seated per table.

Yes, its from Keisha. When she said 8-10 people I emailed again to clarify and asked: "Could we have a dinner for 35 resort guests in one of the specialty restaurants (we'd just all be at different tables)? Or we would be required to have a private reception if we want this many people to be able to eat dinner at the same time? Thanks!!"

and she replies: "you could have dinner together as a group at either of the 2 specialty restaurants only that not everyone would be able to dine at the same time, or you could do a private reception with everyone dining in the same area at the same time, please find attached menus, you are welcome." Word for word.

So yeah, I thought this was messed up since us being able to have dinner together was exactly the impression I was given before booking! I didn't even want to deal with this yet since we have 4+ months to go - I just asked her when I emailed about something else. I'm only NOW upset that i'm being told we'll have to spend $2,000 just to have dinner together!

[KJT1985]

Quote:

Originally Posted by budgetjamaicabride By the way, I call using skype to save money.

Does it cost?? My FMOL is said it was a free 800 type number

[KJT1985]

I guess while we're talking about it...how soon should I be contacting them for things like this? Can I wait till a month before? Should I start asking questions and making plans sooner?