HSDerm348

It really seems done by stateroom - I’ve ordered ALL the food for the two of us over $20 but under $40 and had no issues with it all being covered. If you both have the package and one goes over $20, you will use both your packages and there will be no charge as long as it’s under $40 total. You may also only get one bill to sign for any additional tip - they’ll choose randomly whose account to use. Consider it $20 worth of credit per person with the dining package and if you’re in the same room they will consider it a combinable credit. I’ve never actually paid above the credit in Izumi sushi when I’ve gone over the allowable amount. But I’ve never gone over the combined $40 for the two of us at playmakers.

Good point, I am assuming EVERYONE has the UDP in the example I gave!

You get the $80 total amongst all of you (they don't really focus on $20/person, but Playmakers is not particularly expensive and $20 will go far for even two people). You now only get visit per day at each restaurant but I have had a workaround that has worked in the past if you don't spend your maximum dollar amount at Playmakers. The way around it, in my experience, is only use the room cards for the people you need to cover the cost of the bill. So if you spend $40, use two room cards ($20 credit each) and, if you need to, explain that since you only used $40 - you are not using the other people's dining plans because they might come back later in the day. I have done this previously with success but it might be a ship-to-ship or server-to-server variable.

I routinely order wine with the dining packages. They do only let you get the discount at dining venues. For example, I’ve always been denied the discount on oasis class ships in vintages but I’ve always been given the discount at Giovanni’s wine bar on the Odyssey. And in the Wonder’s Giovanni’s Wine Bar (in place of vintages) they have been inconsistent denying it on the first cruise and giving it on the second. i have NEVER had any problem taking wine from any venue at any price or with any package. Personally, if I’m going back to a wine bar I have them hold the wine for me. If I’m going back to a restaurant and especially another restaurant, I take the wine with me and bring it to another restaurant - I’ve done this in the same night that I’ve purchased the wine and on separate nights. Once purchased, it’s yours and they generally let you do what you want!

As someone who was a restaurant server for over 20 years. Yes. People do order multiple entrees in restaurants, but it is usually to share something. It was pretty rare for people to order two full entrees for themselves, but keep in mind, USA portions are much larger than most MDR portions....

I'll see you on the Oasis TA!

Sorry, to be unclear and to make it worse, I had to edit my post because it posted before I was done - hit the wrong button 😞 Yes! They offer the BOGO 50% off on day 1 and I was wondering, since that is the price, if you get the Diamond Plus 30% off that price since it is the current "onboard price." I recently sailed with a friend who sailed solo and they wouldn't give her 25% off her BP and had to pay full price because the deal required a second person even though when you buy online it just gives 25% off per person.... I know the rules are tricky and weird but I wanted to check! Thank you for the help!

Emoji When I was on Oasis in November, there were three of us and we each ordered an entree and then we ordered a single shared entree to try amongst the three of us. It all came out at the same time. But our server treated us completely like nothing had ever changed - at the end of the cruise he told he had been there for more than 15 years. I think it depends on your server, how busy they are, and what they have been trained and are willing to do.

I will be D+ soon and only recently became both Diamond and Prime in the casino - so we no longer get the beverage package because it doesn't make sense for us with free drinks in the casino plus 4 drinks a day. I've searched around for this specific and can't find it! On the first day of the cruise when they offer the Buy One Get One Half off for everybody - is that combinable with the 30% off for D+? I ask because the terms and conditions just say you buy it onboard and you get 30% off and it does not exclude or include any other promotions.... Thanks for your help!

Bellacruz54 - I would not worry too much about the Odyssey. My favorite ships are the Oasis and the Odyssey and the Wonder. When I am on the Odyssey I personally think it is very pretty and designed for social media pictures. I love being able to be in the pool just outside the solarium and watch a movie - you can't do that on the Oasis ships except on the Wonder where they sort of added the screen back to the pool area. The Wonder and Odyssey both have excellent WJ seating arrangements compared to prior ships. The Odyssey, which I have done twice - both the 6N and the 8N - has significantly better food than the Oasis in my opinion and the service AND food I've had in specialty restaurants is some of the best I've had fleet-wide. What I miss on the Odyssey is Central Park and the ice skating rink (the ice show). It does feel like there is less big entertainment on the Odyssey, so much so that I was concerned after our 6N that we would get bored on an 8N cruise on her. We did not and are sailing it again next month! I would not do Odyssey every cruise but it is a wonderful rotation into my Oasis and smaller class ships!

I had the UDP on the Wonder earlier this month and, out of fear of reprising the odyssey experience where I could only get pre fixe, I decided to order carry out. The waitress asked how many people I was feeding and what rolls I really liked and she gave us enough 4 pc sushi carry out orders to make a meal! It was great. Slow. But great! Ate it on our balcony.

It’s been a year - I feel like that’s about how long they tend to run offers without any more casino visits. That is also common on many land-based casinos. Or if you cruised more recently and didn’t gamble that can also dry them up, from my understanding.

Definitely did not have any problem myself applying this and keeping the same room and reservation, even with non-refundable deposits to begin with. The casino booking agent even me reassured me it would work - and it did!

Yes, the problem is that it is repriced. It is not cancelled and rebooked, but it is repriced at prevailing rates. I have an OV balcony and it cost me $1k to upgrade from interior with the certificate because the price difference has doubled since I first booked. But I had to wait until the certificate was released….I always monitor to see if the price difference decreases though (until final payment date)!

You sure can! I did that for my November cruise!

For drink packages, I used to see a regular price, a sale price, and an occasional sale price pretty frequently (I often rebooked drink packages after the "occasional" price drop would hit). Unfortunately, more often than not on the Oasis and Quantum class ships that I've been sailing on it is now most often just the two prices - although once I got hit by a permanent price increase! The last Black Friday time period definitely had better prices on several shore excursions, but for the drink and dining packages, the price did not decrease for me (again on my Quantum and Oasis class ship sailings that were booked then). In the past a lot of people have had good luck getting dining and/or drink discounts in the black friday period, but honestly, I think Royal is tired of people cancelling and rebooking everytime there is a "rare" price drop to the extent that they just don't do it much anymore!

I've been on Odyssey twice now, including this past January. We prefer Oasis class ships but I think the Odyssey is the "prettiest" Royal ship (in my opinion). The halls in the promenade are more narrow and there are generally more congestion points. Some of the fun teenage thing to do cost $$ - such as any extended time on the ripcord or other things. Bumper cars are free! The biggest thing that always takes me by surprise is that there is no Studio B/ice skating rink or show. But I do think there are plenty of things to do for a teen, just like most of the cruise ships!

I just did this. I wouldn't wait - I am applying my Prime (interior) cruise to an existing balcony booking I made specifically to use this Cruise in November. The price difference between interior and balcony has gone up $600 since I booked it a month ago and even $100 more since I called on Monday (when they wouldn't let me use the certificate)....frustrating!

It is not typically as good in my experience (I am Prime but have several current pending offers of Balcony rooms for two, for example) - but it lets you choose from ships and dates much more broadly and further in advance. So I typically do use it when I have friends that are picking a sail date that works for them - I know I can still get a guaranteed offer for that date this way. I would not use the annual offer generally other than the benefits provided by this level of planning!

Yes, I tried to book it after waiting on the phone for 90 minutes and they said it is gone because they are still finalizing things and it should be reposted in the next few days.

Not yet! I (and most posts I’ve read agree) expect it this week - likely early this week. You can check the status online - I always just Google Casino Royale Offers and the first or second link will let you check active offers - including if the annual certificate has loaded! But if you’re worried, you can always book now and apply the certificate later. I’ve done that this year to lock in a room for B2B cruise so I’d have the same room for both….

I will say that the wording of the announcement I saw when I looked for this is drink up to a $14 cocktail or get the wine discount. Just curious if it will burn a voucher to get the discount. We shall see!

WHHHAAAATT???? Amazing news! Now I can just buy my night at 150 Central Park and be done with it 🙂 Awesome! Thank you.

Hello CC fans and stans! We were recently on Odyssey and had the unlimited dining plan and used our 40% off wine to great effect for our first sailing with no drink package (we finally earned the drink coupons for being Diamond). We primarily did this at Giovanni's Wine Bar (FYI if you like wine the staff on the Odyssey in this venue are phenomenal). When we sailed Wonder last April ('22) we were told many times that you could NOT order food on the unlimited dining plan at the giovanni's wine bar as they claimed it is a beverage venue. This is different than Odyssey where you most definitely CAN use the dining plan for the snacks and pizzas (I used it there both in January '22 and again in January '23). We didn't want the dining plan this upcoming cruise on the Wonder but we do want the wine discount and the 3 night option is sold out. My question is this: Does anyone know if you can use the dining plan's wine discount in Giovanni's Wine Bar (not the restaurant side) on the Wonder? I'm not sure it's worth it if I can't use it in the wine bar and I'm concerned they will say they are a beverage venue and the rules technically say you get the wine discount "while dining." If that's the case then I would just skip the dining package and the wine :). Thanks for any help from anyone that knows!!

I get that it could be enough for some people - we go there for the sushi. I will say the gyoza are good but both that and the truffle lobster roll were not on the menu anymore either (at least when we went at lunch). So, one roll per person isn’t exactly a lunch when you don’t want the apps and dessert that they offer and they won’t let you use the package to just order rolls - just the two half rolls.