SDP - How many restaurants per day?

[Heronymous]

I'm not sure how late the restaurants are open, but if you had the dining plan, could you eat lets say at 5pm and then again at 11:30pm? Or is it one restaurant per day?

-Keith

[vinnytman]

I asked the concierge desk the same thing. They said that the SDP is essentially a punch card. If you purchase a 7 day SDP and eat at two SD restaurants in one night, then that counts as two out of your seven.

 

If you're lucky enough to have the UDP you can eat at as many SD restaurants as you want in a night -- for every night of your cruise.

 

That's the big difference between UDP and SDP.

Edited August 17, 2015 by vinnytman

[pretykym]

Wait so with UDP do appetizers one place meal another then dessert another? Or early dinner then late diner? At the upgrade restaurants??

[Leavethekidswithmom]

Wait so with UDP do appetizers one place meal another then dessert another? Or early dinner then late diner? At the upgrade restaurants??

 

 

Yes to both.

[ColinIllinois]

SDP Frequently Asked Questions / Terms and Conditions:

 

 

http://www.ncl.com/specialty-dining-package/faq

[4774Papa]

Between eating, stop at the fitness center to work off a couple of thousand calories.

[FranknBeans]

You'll also need reservations for All the restaurants good luck.

 

There is plenty of food items to pick from at any of the specialty restaurants from so no real need to do two three or four in 1 night.

You also are ruining the dinner reservation setup for other guests who just want to have a relaxing dinner but can't get in because someone has made a reservation to go and just have wedge of lettuce with blue cheese dressing.

 

I hope the maitre d's are monitoring this situation because its just sheer gluttony.

 

I just don't get it! It seems like a case of "its free so I'm going to take advantage of it all"

[biker@sea]

You'll also need reservations for All the restaurants good luck.

 

There is plenty of food items to pick from at any of the specialty restaurants from so no real need to do two three or four in 1 night.

You also are ruining the dinner reservation setup for other guests who just want to have a relaxing dinner but can't get in because someone has made a reservation to go and just have wedge of lettuce with blue cheese dressing.

 

I hope the maitre d's are monitoring this situation because its just sheer gluttony.

 

I just don't get it! It seems like a case of "its free so I'm going to take advantage of it all"

 

You do not have to have reservations.

 

I have done walk in regularly. No ressies ;)

 

.

[bbryan5]

between eating, stop at the fitness center to work off a couple of thousand calories.

 

lmao

[vinnytman]

 

I hope the maitre d's are monitoring this situation because its just sheer gluttony.

 

 

 

What situation should they be monitoring? Are they there to tell Pax how they can and can't eat? Should the Maitre d's be the food police now?

 

The UDP has been around for years! Pax could dine in as many specialty restaurants as they want in one evening.

 

With a he SDP it should cut down on Pax dining in multiple SD restaurants in one night, but I'm sure there are some that still will. To each their own.

[BreeYark]

 

You also are ruining the dinner reservation setup for other guests who just want to have a relaxing dinner but can't get in because someone has made a reservation to go and just have wedge of lettuce with blue cheese dressing.

 

"A la carte" pricing will also have this effect. People will now make legitimate appetizer and dessert reservations. NCL will have to rethink it's reservations schedule.

[legion3]

"A la carte" pricing will also have this effect. People will now make legitimate appetizer and dessert reservations. NCL will have to rethink it's reservations schedule.

 

I have the free UDP and I may just go for that dessert and coffee or extra salad.

 

If it keeps people hungry out, well I'm sorry. There is always a chance I won't get in to a restaurant either...freestyle :rolleyes:

 

Won't sail NCL and go to an a la carte restaurant with prices on it...

Yuck

 

 

Are they really going to hand me a menu with prices...:(

[laurabegorrah]

"A la carte" pricing will also have this effect. People will now make legitimate appetizer and dessert reservations. NCL will have to rethink it's reservations schedule.

 

I'm not sure I 100% believe that. On land, do/would you go to a different place for apps, main course, and dessert? Even if they are all next to each other? I'm sure there are people that have and will do this, but I highly doubt it's going to be enough to really throw a monkey wrench into the whole workings of the seating times. Just think about the wait times to be seated, take order, get order, get check at each place - it would take you 3 or 4 hours at least to get through a meal lol

 

I can maybe see doing apps, main meal, then a show or entertainment, and then dessert somewhere else, but I would think by that time of night, you'd be at the tail end of people waiting for full main meal, so should muck things up too much....

[FranknBeans]

What situation should they be monitoring? Are they there to tell Pax how they can and can't eat? Should the Maitre d's be the food police now?

 

The UDP has been around for years! Pax could dine in as many specialty restaurants as they want in one evening.

 

With a he SDP it should cut down on Pax dining in multiple SD restaurants in one night, but I'm sure there are some that still will. To each their own.

 

They should monitor those with legit dinning reservations not an app.

Done 30 plus cruises with NCL all using the speciality dining and never seen the a dining pkg till a couple years ago at most.

If you dined in them you were billed accordingly with possibly the odd special such as first night two for one or free bottle of wine etc.

[SuiteCruiser]

What situation should they be monitoring? Are they there to tell Pax how they can and can't eat? Should the Maitre d's be the food police now?

 

The UDP has been around for years! Pax could dine in as many specialty restaurants as they want in one evening.

 

With a he SDP it should cut down on Pax dining in multiple SD restaurants in one night, but I'm sure there are some that still will. To each their own.

 

I had a early teppanyaki dinner the first night of a cruise and sat with a family with 3 teenage sons, they had the UDP and ate at one specialty at 5:30 and another at 10:00 every night.

Edited August 17, 2015 by SuiteCruiser

[Linda the Book Lover]

MY DH was just talking about this a few days ago about going for dessert later in the evening and eating dinner earlier some nights. To me it's the same as the main dining rooms where you can eat dinner and go back later for dessert so you don't miss the early show. I am sure they will work out the reservations one way or another.

[pretykym]

You'll also need reservations for All the restaurants good luck.

 

There is plenty of food items to pick from at any of the specialty restaurants from so no real need to do two three or four in 1 night.

You also are ruining the dinner reservation setup for other guests who just want to have a relaxing dinner but can't get in because someone has made a reservation to go and just have wedge of lettuce with blue cheese dressing.

 

I hope the maitre d's are monitoring this situation because its just sheer gluttony.

 

I just don't get it! It seems like a case of "its free so I'm going to take advantage of it all"

 

 

I certainly did not mean to start anything. I have no plans to do this and honestly could never eat that much food. Half of my comment was my dry sense of humor and apologize if it upset anyone. No gluttony here I promise. Just good natured excitement to cruise.

[legion3]

I'm not sure I 100% believe that. On land, do/would you go to a different place for apps, main course, and dessert? Even if they are all next to each other? I'm sure there are people that have and will do this, but I highly doubt it's going to be enough to really throw a monkey wrench into the whole workings of the seating times. Just think about the wait times to be seated, take order, get order, get check at each place - it would take you 3 or 4 hours at least to get through a meal lol

 

I can maybe see doing apps, main meal, then a show or entertainment, and then dessert somewhere else, but I would think by that time of night, you'd be at the tail end of people waiting for full main meal, so should muck things up too much....

 

 

No way.

 

Absolutely would eat main at one place and dessert at another.

 

On land I would have to drive and park

At sea I can walk. Easy peasy.

[legion3]

They should monitor those with legit dinning reservations not an app.

Done 30 plus cruises with NCL all using the speciality dining and never seen the a dining pkg till a couple years ago at most.

If you dined in them you were billed accordingly with possibly the odd special such as first night two for one or free bottle of wine etc.

 

How would they know what your ordering plans are?

 

Monitor what people eat?

 

Not really possible unless they have a set amount on cost.

 

Which they had before a la carte.

 

Every action has a reaction.

 

Dessert and coffee = ok

 

Salad and drink = ok

 

Taking up a table from someone who would eat a whole meal= sorry but its ok too now.

[bt0510]

I just got off the phone with NCL customer service. Since they switched to the SDP, my wife and I have been thinking about our plan for meals, to determine how many DAYS to purchase. SDP was originally DAYS, not MEALS. Now, our plan, which I was going to purchase for today, gets thrown out the window. As noted by others, the SDP is now number of MEALS, not number of DAYS (multiple meals per day). They effectively doubled the price of SDP per day, if not more.

However, the rep said that since I booked back in January, I could ask to have my booking promo switched from OBC to UDP (the old plan). So I'll think about that for a day. I'm not so sure about the knowledge this guy had though, because he had to ask his manager every question I asked him. He also believes that UDP for a 7-day cruise means we get a total of 4 MEALS per person. So he confused me. I'd have to call back.

 

NOTE that I also posted this info in the Everything ESCAPE thread, but thought it would be useful in this thread as well.

 

As a recap, NCL has switched from UDP (as many meals as you want for the length of your cruise), to SDP DAYS (as many meals as you want for each day used for the number of days purchased), to SDP MEALS (the number of meals purchased, not to exceed the number of days for your cruise). In my opinion, they went from a good option, to a fantastic flexible option, to a money-sucking option.

[garnet115]

I just got off the phone with NCL customer service. Since they switched to the SDP, my wife and I have been thinking about our plan for meals, to determine how many DAYS to purchase. SDP was originally DAYS, not MEALS. Now, our plan, which I was going to purchase for today, gets thrown out the window. As noted by others, the SDP is now number of MEALS, not number of DAYS (multiple meals per day). They effectively doubled the price of SDP per day, if not more.

 

How has it effectively doubled the price per day???:confused:

 

However, the rep said that since I booked back in January, I could ask to have my booking promo switched from OBC to UDP (the old plan). So I'll think about that for a day. I'm not so sure about the knowledge this guy had though, because he had to ask his manager every question I asked him. He also believes that UDP for a 7-day cruise means we get a total of 4 MEALS per person. So he confused me. I'd have to call back.

 

You can switch among whatever promos were available at the tme that you booked. If your promo had UDP, then you get the full UDP (although I think there were different terms for inside rooms). The confusion may be that under the current promo, those choosing SDP are only getting a 4-meal package on a 7 night cruise, not a 7-meal package.

 

NOTE that I also posted this info in the Everything ESCAPE thread, but thought it would be useful in this thread as well.

 

As a recap, NCL has switched from UDP (as many meals as you want for the length of your cruise), to SDP DAYS (as many meals as you want for each day used for the number of days purchased), to SDP MEALS (the number of meals purchased, not to exceed the number of days for your cruise). In my opinion, they went from a good option, to a fantastic flexible option, to a money-sucking option.

 

Based on the terms and conditions, I think it was always their intention for the SDP to be a per-meal rather than a per-day plan. They just worded it very poorly, and that is likely why the description on the website changed.

 

 

responses in the quote, above, in red.

[LrgPizza]

responses in the quote, above, in red.

I agree with your above replies.

 

The SDP plan has not changed, they just clarified the wording. Most of us assumed that if you buy the 5 day, you were buying 5 meals. Most assumed it worked like a punch card, so to speak. I know there was some that were hoping to eat multiple specialty dinners each day, but that's not realistic.

 

As far as money sucking, we bought the 4 day SDP for our upcoming Escape TA, and we will save money over paying as we go for the restaurants we have chosen to enjoy.

[detroitlions]

When on the Epic in march/April I chose UBP and paid for UDP since it was only $240 for 2 and kid was half off. I did not know I could eat at more than one special restaurant a day. I would not normally but on this trip my meal at Tepenyaki and Bistro was pretty bad so I barely ate it and I think I went to the noodle place or buffet hours later and garbed a quick bite to eat. Now I do not like being stuck in a restaurant more than 2 hours so I doubt I would have went unless DW insisted which only works some times lol. So now since I am going with a larger group on the OCT 17 Getaway cruise I am trying to talk them into at least the 3 day package. (if it were up to me I would go to Cagneys all 3 days ) How is this going to work? Reads like 1 meal a day. They all have not sailed NCL in a while so it will be a hard sell they were already asking a lot of questions on food quality that I had a hard time answering mainly because I do not revolve my whole cruise around the food.

[hawkeyetlse]

The SDP plan has not changed, they just clarified the wording.

The wording is still pretty terrible:

There is no minimum to the number of meals that can be redeemed in a day, however each meal is counted towards the package purchased.

They clearly mean "maximum", not "minimum"…

 

If someone knows ahead of time that they want to do two specialty restaurants every day during a 7-day cruise, I wonder if NCL will allow them to purchase two 7-meal SDPs on day 1.

[bt0510]

responses in the quote, above, in red.

How has it effectlively doubled the price per day???

 

Seeing how I was obviously very drunk the last time I looked at the specialty restaurant list, I provided a incorrect comment here. I thought that most of the specialties were open for lunch and dinner. Now I'm going back to the drawing board all over again. I'm an NCL newbie, so please forgive my ignorance! :(

 

I agree with your above replies.

 

The SDP plan has not changed, they just clarified the wording. Most of us assumed that if you buy the 5 day, you were buying 5 meals. Most assumed it worked like a punch card, so to speak. I know there was some that were hoping to eat multiple specialty dinners each day, but that's not realistic.

 

As far as money sucking, we bought the 4 day SDP for our upcoming Escape TA, and we will save money over paying as we go for the restaurants we have chosen to enjoy.

 

Based on the above comment I added, it has not changed to the extent that I originally thought it has, but it has still changed. I was intrigued by the idea of trying a few different venues for an early and late dinner. That will now likely not happen, unless my wife goes along with it. I doubt that. The money sucking part is also part of my earlier ignorance. They are still changing to their advantage, which any corporation would do, but removing what appears to be a very desirable/used aspect of the original dining package. (ie. specialty restaurant hopping)