Who here likes the Specialty Dining Package?

[travelplus]

One of the main reasons for sailing on Royal Caribbean is Chops and Giovannis which my Father and I will go to on the Brillance Of The Seas.

 

On our last cruise we purchased the 3 Specialty Dining Venus for $75 per person and we went to Chops twice and Giovannis once.

 

Another cruise had a really amazing brunch in Chops for $35 per person with sparkling wine and a tour of the kitchen.

 

The three for $75 is a great deal and cheaper than it is back home as a good steakhouse or Italian Restaurant goes for more.

 

4 for $90 is not bad either per person.

 

Great Osso Bucco and Pasta at Giovannis.

Edited April 15, 2017 by travelplus

[Surfguyxxx]

I take advantage of it all the time.

[shipshape sam]

We have always enjoyed them. We also eat at buffet and MDR, so for us, it is a variety of options. My personal favorite is Samba's on Allure.

[George C]

We did 5 nights package on Brilliance ( 12 day cruise) and really liked it, will do 5 night again in 2 weeks on Liberty, most likely will eat al meals in specialty

[mac_tlc]

On Oasis this week the prices were $85 for three, $100 for four and $115 for five

 

mac_tlc

 

 

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[George C]

105 on Brilliance and also Liberty for 5 nights

[katiel53]

We did a 5 night package on Allure in January and loved it. We are going to do that again in July. I think it's worth every penny.

[luckyinpa]

does this have a somewhat regular sale price or pretty much always list price

[Ken at the beach]

does this have a somewhat regular sale price or pretty much always list price

 

I haven't seen the dining packages go on sale. A while back the individual restaurants were on sale and it was actually cheaper in many cases to book the restaurants individually instead of the package.

[Cruisegirl6]

We don't go to the MDR and eat at the specialty restaurants each night of the cruise. I don't purchase these packages because I was told there are certain restrictions and also I am unable to reserve my date and time before the cruise, was told it has to be done on the cruise and don't want to risk not getting the 7:30 time we most prefer to have dinner.

[Ken at the beach]

We don't go to the MDR and eat at the specialty restaurants each night of the cruise. I don't purchase these packages because I was told there are certain restrictions and also I am unable to reserve my date and time before the cruise, was told it has to be done on the cruise and don't want to risk not getting the 7:30 time we most prefer to have dinner.

We've never had a problem making reservations as soon as we board within 1/2 hour of our preferred time.

[JMHDisney]

I also don't buy the packages because I can't pick my times. I find that so annoying. I'm not a fan of main dining and eat in specialty on nights when we aren't in port for dinner. But I'm always dining with at least one child so I want to eat early with the other families and not at 8pm with a hangry kid and a bunch of people who are having a romantic night out. It's worth it to me to pay a little more for the certainty.

[BourkeBlogs]

We're on the Indy now and booked the Dining package onboard. It was $70 for 3, $85 for 4 and $100 for 5 so prices seem to vary by ship. We're going to do Chops and Giovannis twice and us the 5th one for a galley tour. We were able to choose any times / days we wanted and have booked for 18:30 on each of our chosen nights.

[coffeebean]

I also don't buy the packages because I can't pick my times. I find that so annoying. I'm not a fan of main dining and eat in specialty on nights when we aren't in port for dinner. But I'm always dining with at least one child so I want to eat early with the other families and not at 8pm with a hangry kid and a bunch of people who are having a romantic night out. It's worth it to me to pay a little more for the certainty.

Really? The cruise line assigns when you are to eat in a specialty restaurant if you are dining on a dining package?

[Ken at the beach]

Really? The cruise line assigns when you are to eat in a specialty restaurant if you are dining on a dining package?

They don't assign you a time but you can't make your reservations until you are on board while those paying full price get to pick their times when they make the reservation.

[critterchick]

We will buy the 5 night package on any cruise 7+ nights and love it. We buy onboard ($105 on Serenade in March) and have never had a problem getting a reservation. We prefer 8:00 or later, and have never had a problem booking onboard.

[George C]

We don't go to the MDR and eat at the specialty restaurants each night of the cruise. I don't purchase these packages because I was told there are certain restrictions and also I am unable to reserve my date and time before the cruise, was told it has to be done on the cruise and don't want to risk not getting the 7:30 time we most prefer to have dinner.

 

We had no problems going to the restaurant of our choice each night at our preferred time which is 8 or 8:30

[Ery]

Really? The cruise line assigns when you are to eat in a specialty restaurant if you are dining on a dining package?

 

 

We bought the four night package in our last trip, no we couldn't reserve our times online. But within 15 minutes of being in board we'd gone to the restaurants and reserved the days and times we wanted for all 4.

 

 

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[grapau27]

Really? The cruise line assigns when you are to eat in a specialty restaurant if you are dining on a dining package?

We booked a 3 night dining package on Harmonys second cruise several months before cruise and paid in full then. The 40% offer did not show up on checkout so i phoned RC who said it would bo onboard credit when we got on board.

I checked as soon as we got onboard and they said no.

It took over an hour liaising with GS and Speciality restaurant manager before it was sorted so in future we decided we will negotiate a deal if we want to do a specialty restaurant when we get onboard.Our last cruise on Vision we got a 20% then a 30% discount with free drinks for chops grill.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[Cruisegirl6]

Thanks for the replies! I don't mind paying a bit extra, its all done and when I board I don't have to go to each of the restaurants to make the reservations, a lot easier for me as we have carry ons with us and don't have to lug that with us. I love Giovanni's wished the Harmony have that one but will do without it on this cruise.

[critterchick]

Thanks for the replies! I don't mind paying a bit extra, its all done and when I board I don't have to go to each of the restaurants to make the reservations, a lot easier for me as we have carry ons with us and don't have to lug that with us. I love Giovanni's wished the Harmony have that one but will do without it on this cruise.

 

You can call them from any house phone if you've boarded before the staterooms are ready. They don't fill up right away - we make our reservations after we've seen the menus for the MDR for the week, since we will visit there once or twice.

 

Also, if you are Diamond or higher or in a full suite, you have access to a Concierge. You can email him or her before the cruise to make your reservations for you without having to pay up front. I spend enough money on RCI that I don't want to miss out on a useful promotion.:)

[Ery]

Or even book from the stateroom TV. I'd rather save the $50 a person and buy the package early, but everyone is different and we all have our cruising styles. I like having everything paid when we get on board, I don't mind making the reservations once on board, we'd be walking by most of the restaurants waiting for our staterooms to open anyways [emoji4]

 

 

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[slg1979]

On some ships like the liberty OTS we're sailing on recently the specialty restaurants (chops and Giovanni's) are right next to the windjammer. You just walk up and talk to them on your way to or from the windjammer. What we do is hubby stakes up a table poolside for us and I'll go take care of it. I am so not worried about getting the correct times with the package, if these restaurants were super booked up they wouldn't be offering the packages [emoji6].

 

 

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[Pmorton3360]

We booked our times for 4 night package first thing on board at Giovanni's. They were open for lunch. Saved one and booked later. No problems. On Harmony. We really enjoyed the package.

 

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[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you for those options, I definitely get the package next time!