It's time to put in reservations for the other 2 restaurants. My questions are more for scheduling around ship activities and for aesthetics. (I am on the 10-day itinerary, so this may differ than the 7-day, I realize.)

Since you can pick just one advance res per restaurant, I was hoping for some LCT advice on what nights to shoot for. For instance, better to eat at Le Grill outside while tendered by Bora Bora, or while on the sail for the breeze? Is there an island we visit you recommend enjoying while dining outside? (I am thinking this is the main draw for Le Grill?)

also, dining at La Verandah (is it really as good as it sounds?) I don't want to miss any special nights in the regular dining room. Or does it not matter. I think we chose one of the nights tendered at Moorea for now.

Thank you for the help of your experience!

La Verandah was excellent on our 10-day cruise. Unlike our previous PG experience, we enjoyed it better than L'Ecole, though the latter was also good. We ate at La Veranda 3 times. On a couple of occasions I think special main courses in L'Ecole were also available in La Vernada. I can't answer anything about when to eat at Le Grill, because we had no interest in eating there. I know they made some changes to La Veranda's menu over the course of our cruise.

----------

Eugene

Hmm, I would think floating out in the lagoon at Bora Bora would be perfect for Le Grill. I haven't done that when the ship was underway, but not sure. I doubt if it will be insufferably hot by now, so the breeze might be nice, or it might be wild, don't know.

You only get promised one night in each of these places, by the way, so if you want, you can just roll the dice and wait until you board. Sometimes you can get waitlisted for a second visit near the end of the cruise; they usually let you know late afternoon of that day.

Sue, give me 15 days and I will be able to answer all your questions (since for now they are mine as well).

Steve

On the 7-day itinerary, we did Pacific Grill on Tuesday while at anchor at Bora Bora, and La Verandah on Wednesday. This worked fine for us. I enjoyed the food and ambiance of both. Some people like to eat dinner off the ship at Bloody Mary's in BB - if that possibly interests you, you would not want to reserve a specialty restaurant for that night.

I enjoyed eating outside at Le Grill for the tropical open air feel and breezes. Chances are it will be dark by the time you eat, so there's not really a benefit in terms of scenery or sunset viewing, unfortunately.

The really cool thing is that if you miss something you really like in the main dining room, just make a special request with the maitre d' and you can have it another night. Also, on the night they have lobster in the main dining room, they will also have lobster as a special in the other restaurants. Seems nobody wants to miss out on the lobster (well, except me :) )

Dena

Thanks for the tips, everyone!

Dena, you must have been reading my mind--losing out on lobster DID concern me! But now I don't have to worry about it. Steve, can't wait to hear about your PG adventures!

Sue, last year on our 10-day itinerary they were practically begging passengers to book an additional night at Le Grill since it was being underutilized. So if you like it there you will probably be able to get in a second time with no problem. For your time of year the temperature should be fine.

When we tried booking Aspicius (now still La Verandah in the evenings) for one night with our friends booking another night (each requesting a table for 4) they would not allow this as they wanted the cabin # of the people we would be dining with. But then we were both invited to join the cruise director at his table there one evening (along with another couple) so we were able to move our own reservation to another night and we did eat there twice - yum, yum. As Dena said you can always request something special that you missed in L'Etoile for another night and they will prepare it for you.

We've enjoyed Le Grill on our last 2 PG cruises. Never imagined that folks would be begged to choose that venue. The curry is wonderful as is the sashimi and poisonne cru (please pardon the spelling!). Service is always superb and relaxed. Tried Le Veranda in November as well as in August 2004 when it was Aspicius and left less than impressed. Will try again when we return to compare from previous sailings.

I agree about the service in Le Grill. We ate many lunches there and were made to feel like special guests even though we were in a very casual setting.

We reserved in La Veranda on Sunday night (7-day cruise), and Le Grill on Wed. On Thursday, we asked about getting in to La Veranda again and were able to with no problem. I will mention that some people at the table next to us in Le Grill felt sick eating while the ship was sailing -- it was more noticable on Deck 8 where Le Grill is -- so if you have any fears about that, I would not book Le Grill for when the ship is moving.

We were also among the people who chose to eat at Bloody Mary's when anchored at Bora Bora. They made it very easy, as we just told the excursion desk that morning that we were interested (in response to a note in the daily newsletter), and they made the reservations and ran a special tender from the ship to Bloody Mary's dock. I would highly recommend it, (dress VERY casually as it can get a bit warm) as the food was great and it was fun to see.

When we were on the PG (7 nights), we were only able to book LaVeranda for one night....We were on a wait list after that, but it never happened. Ate at LeGrill a few nights and then in the main DR. The only thing I didn't like much in the main DR was the noise level. We ate a couple of nights with another couple and sometimes it was actually hard to hear what was being said. The night we were in LaVeranda, we were sailing and more than a few people were "leaving early!" Another night in the main DR we were sailing and the room cleared out fast. Didn't bother me though - I NEVER missed a meal!!
j.

The new rules (as of last week) was that you can only book one night each at the LeGrill and LaVeranda per cabin. If you get on the ship early enough, you can get a "free" reservation the first night (Sat) at LaVeranda that does not count towards your one night. The LeGrill was almost full every night, but we were not impressed. We loved the main dining room (the place to see the "in crowd" (as we had some Hollywood types on board). We ate at LeGrill when motoring towards Moorea. It was nice a breezy and not rough seas (and I get sick in my bathtub).

The sushi and sashimi are served on either the first or second day (so they are fresh). We did the galley tour on Friday and there was not a lot of stuff left in the freezers. Lobster was served on Thursday.