blewis77

I am also on your sailing and was told NO yesterday! By any chance did you get thee Rep's name you spoke to?

Thanks,

Carol

Thanks so much for pointing this out! I just called and added the 18 drink vouchers to our seaside sailing departing this Saturday 2/10. At first the agent said they no longer offer them.... I asked if she would mind pulling up my reservation and checking as I heard that someone was abe to purchase them today for an upcoming seaside cruise. She was surprised to see they were available and thanked me for informing her ;)

Ben

Hi Bob, thank you very much for the detailed review! We are sailing on the Seaside on 2/10 in a fantastica balcony cabin with the meaitime drink package.... couple questions for you regarding this:

Were you able to use the mealtime drink package in any of the specialty restaurants on your first week? The terms and conditions state in the main dining room or buffet, wondering if this is actually the case.

Also, in terms of utilizing the package outside of the main dining room, are there certain bars that you have to go to for beer/wine during the published lunch/dinner hours? Do you need to inform the bar staff of the package before ordering? Trying to understand how to utilize the package in advance, avoiding a trip to guest services :)

Thanks again for all of the great info.

- Ben

Regarding my previous reply on 10/13 I was interested in the 'up-charge' venues (specifically illusionarium) not counting as one of your 'SDP' meals…. Sorry if this has been covered in one of the numurous UDP/SDP threads and may be a bit off-topic, but wanted to share what I found out and experienced today on NCL.com in case it is useful to others:

We are sailing on the getaway on 1/24:

-- Based on conversations today with TA and NCL directly, 'up charge' venues count as a meal in your SDP.

Info regarding Kids and booking speciality dining in advance:

-- Prior to purchasing the SDP online, when looking to book a speciality restaurant for our cruise, the cover price showed for each speciality restaurant for all guests on the reservation, including children. One of my questions to NCL was regarding including kids in the reservation who will be eating form the standard 'kids' menu…. I was told there was no way to do this in advance of my cruise and that I would have to pay the cover charge up front if I wanted to make a reservation that included the kids and this would be adjusted on-board if they ordered from the kids menu, unless I purchased the SDP……..

-- So, I decided to buy the 3 day SDP for myself and DW (not the kids). Once I did this, the dining reservations on NCL.com for specialty restaurants show a $0 cover charge, or "A La carte" for some (even though they will not be al la carte until February on the Getaway supposedly). Once the SDP was purchased I was also able to make reservations for up to 8 people with no upfront charge. This was useful to include others in our party not on our reservation.

-- Regarding the illusionarium, once the SDP was purchased for my wife and I, when I booked it for our family on ncl.com (floor seating), the kids were $35 as expected, and wife and I were $17 since we had the SDP.

Hopefully this is helpful to some and does't add more confusion!

I bought a 3-meal package. Booked Illusionarium f(not for first night). Was charged a reduced rate and it DOES NOT count as room of the 3 specialty dinings. Neither does Ocean Blue where u also get a reduced price

I was not aware of this. From reading other posts and the vague terms and conditions I had assumed the Illusionarium at the discounted rate (up-charge) WOULD COUNT towards one of the SDP meals. Has anyone else experienced this? For example, buy the 3 day SDP and eat at 3 speciality restaurants and also pay $10 for illusionarium on a 4th night. This would definitely add value to the SDP if you are planning doing the illusionaruim…..

Candian85, thanks for the info on Rendezvous Caye wtih kids. We will be in Belize in February on Carnival with a 3 and 5 year old and are deciding between Rendevous Caye through Carnival 'snorkling wonders of the barrier reef tour' or the 'Island Beach Break' tour (just received confirmation back from CCL that this goes to Water Caye as mentioned in another thread). Has anyone been to Water Caye with little ones or have comparisions betwween Rendezvous and Water Caye?