Updates RE: Unlimited VS. Ultimate dining package

[BNBR]

5 minutes ago, martinclm said:

Ugh....ok.  I know that it's worth the cost, it's just a lot of money.  Was that with a "discount" at all?

 

Yes, it was $199 then discounted to $175.

 

I thought it was cheap for what you get. A decent meal at a land based resort can run $150 alone!

[martinclm]

Just now, BNBR said:

 

Yes, it was $199 then discounted to $175.

 

I thought it was cheap for what you get. A decent meal at a land based resort can run $150 alone!

That's true, it is definitely worth it.  We love Chops and we were wanting to try some of the other restaurants that we didn't get a chance to do on Harmony on our last trip...just thinking of all the other stuff that we need to pay for that we haven't yet.  Just trying to decide whether we want that extra cost or not.  Already planning on getting the Deluxe Beverage Package.  Maybe we'll just be on a liquid diet on the cruise!  LOL  

 

Thank you for the info.  That is a good deal!

[CruiseMomTX]

Were sailing on the Liberty Aug 4th and just booked the UDP last night when it went down to $154 pp.  Just want clarification on what places are included and can we make reservations now or do we have to wait until we board?

Thanks!

[Ourusualbeach]

1 minute ago, CruiseMomTX said:

Were sailing on the Liberty Aug 4th and just booked the UDP last night when it went down to $154 pp.  Just want clarification on what places are included and can we make reservations now or do we have to wait until we board?

Thanks!

Everything on Liberty except chefs table would be included.  You must wait until you board to make reservations. 

[theEvilQueen2]

We've always eaten dinner in the MDR, but haven't always been happy with the food.. and I think it's gotten worse. So when I gave DH the option to have a decent steak every night, he jumped at it.  Hopefully I can get him out of Chops and into something more exotic. We're on Symphony in September so they should have it all worked out by then. As a retired insurance agent, my advice is even if it says 'unlimited' there's always an 'exclusions' page. First World problems. 

 

Happy Cruising. 

[cyndyga]

Is the Pub food in Brass & Bock  on Anthem included with a $35.00 cap like Playmakers on the other ships? Thanks!

[Tree_skier]

On 5/22/2019 at 8:17 PM, JoeFan said:

How does UDP work with hibachi?

 

When we used it on Mariner we were able to choose from anything on the Hibachi menu.  Sushi and Sashimi were all extra.

[PaulaW]

8 hours ago, cyndyga said:

Is the Pub food in Brass & Bock  on Anthem included with a $35.00 cap like Playmakers on the other ships? Thanks!

We were on the Anthem in May. Unfortunately, Brass and Bock was not included. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

9 hours ago, theEvilQueen2 said:

We've always eaten dinner in the MDR, but haven't always been happy with the food.. and I think it's gotten worse. So when I gave DH the option to have a decent steak every night, he jumped at it.  Hopefully I can get him out of Chops and into something more exotic. We're on Symphony in September so they should have it all worked out by then. As a retired insurance agent, my advice is even if it says 'unlimited' there's always an 'exclusions' page. First World problems. 

 

Happy Cruising. 

Yep - because who would buy into the (more aptly described) "almost everything, most of the time, depending on what ship you're on" dining option?

 

Tom

[cruisinfromtampa]

On 6/3/2019 at 5:20 PM, BNBR said:

 

Yes, it was $199 then discounted to $175.

 

I thought it was cheap for what you get. A decent meal at a land based resort can run $150 alone!

 

I was able to get it for $152/person over Cyber Monday for our Harmony sailing in 2 weeks.  Our anniversary dinner this year by itself cost more than that.  I'll know for sure by the end of the month, but I can't see it not being worth it in the end.  $15/meal/person is great.

[cyndyga]

6 hours ago, PaulaW said:

We were on the Anthem in May. Unfortunately, Brass and Bock was not included. 

That's disappointing with the limited specialty restaurants on Anthem I was hoping it would be :)

Edited June 7, 2019 by cyndyga

[minnie00]

I look it at like it would cost $350 for 3 dinners and a lunch which is usually what we do on a cruise...this way the rest are free. 4 more dinners and 2 lunches

[38anchor]

Can I ask if there is any difficulty getting the reservations you want when boarding. We are sailing Ovation (not until next year) and we have 6 sea days. I am thinking this would be great but as Ovation hasn't got a huge amount of dining options, is it difficult to get all the reservations you want? 

[Ronaldo807]

4 hours ago, 38anchor said:

Can I ask if there is any difficulty getting the reservations you want when boarding. We are sailing Ovation (not until next year) and we have 6 sea days. I am thinking this would be great but as Ovation hasn't got a huge amount of dining options, is it difficult to get all the reservations you want? 

We didn't have any issues making our reservations on Navigator with our dining package or on Harmony with UDP immediately upon boarding. With that said, we did try to change one of our reservations several days in on Harmony and couldn't change to a time we were looking for. 

[Welchy]

Just aboard Navigatior of the Seas. Was told that Johnny Rockets is included in the package. Went to Jamie's for lunch and there are only two other tables occupied if anyone is concerned about a crowd for embarkation lunch. 

[gbcruise]

So I just purchased the UDP for our Rhapsody TA cruise, $276 for 14 days. With it including sea day lunches, which are 9 days this allows a total of 23 dining times. My real understanding was we could go eat apps prior to a show and then later dinner . We cannot eat apps, main and dessert at one sitting so this was going to allow us to really enjoy the food throughout each evening in sections. Am I going to end up with a problem here?

[micruiser2002]

59 minutes ago, Welchy said:

Just aboard Navigatior of the Seas. Was told that Johnny Rockets is included in the package. Went to Jamie's for lunch and there are only two other tables occupied if anyone is concerned about a crowd for embarkation lunch. 

Can you find out if Playmakers and Bamboo club are both included?  Thanks.

[j1d1]

3 minutes ago, gbcruise said:

My real understanding was we could go eat apps prior to a show and then later dinner . We cannot eat apps, main and dessert at one sitting so this was going to allow us to really enjoy the food throughout each evening in sections. Am I going to end up with a problem here?

 

I can't speak to how it is being handled on Rhapsody.  On Mariner, this is not being allowed even though the website and CS reps indicate that it should be.  It's possible that it will be handled differently on Rhapsody.  Or it may be allowed over time as crew are educated on how it should be handled.  On busy nights, there aren't any extra reservations to be had, so I think the specialty dining crew really don't want to use a reservation for someone just having apps even if that seems to be the intent of the Unlimited Dining Package.  Maybe they should create specialty appetizer only reservations allowed only early in the evening.

[seabeew]

1 hour ago, micruiser2002 said:

Can you find out if Playmakers and Bamboo club are both included?  Thanks.

Not welchy, but food at the Bamboo Room was not included in the Unlimited package on Navigator in early May. No problem getting apps at Hooked and dinner elsewhere.

[Welchy]

On 6/10/2019 at 3:30 PM, seabeew said:

Not welchy, but food at the Bamboo Room was not included in the Unlimited package on Navigator in early May. No problem getting apps at Hooked and dinner elsewhere.

 

Bamboo room food not included I'm being told. Playmakers is included however. 

[Ladymom30]

Any updates on the UDP? I’m considering buying it but only if I can do sushi and a restaurant later. Also is JR included on Harmony?

[xpcdoojk]

So, now after wading thru this, I am a bit confused.  

 

Hopefully, they will offer lunch at a secondary (not Chops) on embarkation day.  

 

JC

[MommaBear55]

Just curious what people tip at the specialty restaurants. I always added a bit when we were paying a full upcharge per evening, but at $20 per person per night, that doesn't seem to add much tip for the server.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

11 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

Just curious what people tip at the specialty restaurants. I always added a bit when we were paying a full upcharge per evening, but at $20 per person per night, that doesn't seem to add much tip for the server.

 

We're usually at a $20 tip for the two of us. Granted, poor service can impact that.

 

Tom

[zooma]

Just back from Anthem and had the UDP. Worked smoothly, and we'd do it again. We ate at Chops, Jamie's, Wonderland, and Izumi. Let me know if specific questions (though we didn't exactly push it to the limit, so I might not be able to answer all hypotheticals).

 

Briefly . . . we made reservations as soon as we boarded at one of the specialty restaurants. We had a large group for a couple of the nights but were able to book on everyone's behalf by providing their cabin numbers. With a "large party," which they defined as 8+ people, we were a little more limited in dining times, eg, 530p or 8p, but otherwise no problem.

 

In addition to UDP, we had the Key. Upon boarding, the Key folks had told us we could have our embarkation lunch at Chops on Day 1 or Day 2. Because of the UDP, we of course could've eaten there both days for lunch, but we were busy with other members of our group on Day 1 so skipped it that day. When we went to Chops on Day 2 for lunch, our group had some UDP people and some Key people. We all received the same menu and that appeared to be the full Chops lunch menu (not the more limited Key one). It is possible we would've received the limited one had we gone on Day 1.) No one mentioned to us that we could've used our Key lunch at Jamie's.

 

We did not end up going to two different specialty places in the same night, though it seems we could have, given availability. For example, Izumi always seemed to have open seats, so I think we could've just walked in early (say, 530pm) and had sushi/apps and then gone to dinner later elsewhere. We were just never hungry enough to do that kind of thing.

 

Anyway, let me know if particular questions!