Unlimited dining - is it worth it?

[tagpsu]

We are sailing HOTS in December. We have grand suite (first time in grand suite). We bought unlimited dining today but wondering if we should cancel. Would CK and MDR be good and maybe just do one, possibly two, specialty restaurants? We’ve been to Wonderland on the Anthem. Are there any other must do restaurants? Just not sure we did the right thing. Thanks in advance. 

[Snit13]

19 minutes ago, tagpsu said:

We are sailing HOTS in December. We have grand suite (first time in grand suite). We bought unlimited dining today but wondering if we should cancel. Would CK and MDR be good and maybe just do one, possibly two, specialty restaurants? We’ve been to Wonderland on the Anthem. Are there any other must do restaurants? Just not sure we did the right thing. Thanks in advance. 

I bought 3 night for Harmony in November.  Anything to keep me from having to eat in MDR works for me.  I am looking forward to CK but do enjoy the Specialty.  You may want to take a look at the 3 night package.  Happy Sails

[Clarea]

Food is very subjective, what is "worth it" to someone else may not be "worth it" to you.

 

Try a cruise both ways and see what fits your "worth it" assessment.

[tagpsu]

11 minutes ago, Snit13 said:

I bought 3 night for Harmony in November.  Anything to keep me from having to eat in MDR works for me.  I am looking forward to CK but do enjoy the Specialty.  You may want to take a look at the 3 night package.  Happy Sails

 

We thought about that too. We just canceled unlimited so we can rethink this. We would eat in Wonderland again, but we don't have to. We ate in Chops Grille on Enchantment, and it was OK. Wouldn't mind trying the Hibachi one (just for fun to do on a cruise), Central Park, and/or Jamie's Italian (hmm that's 3). We definitely want to try CK. We just don't want to crowd our cruise feeling like we have to dine in the specialty restaurants, but we want to go to some (if that makes sense). Thank you for advice.

[tagpsu]

15 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Food is very subjective, what is "worth it" to someone else may not be "worth it" to you.

 

Try a cruise both ways and see what fits your "worth it" assessment.

 

Yeah that's the thing. We've done MDR, and we've done specialty. Never ate in CK. Not sure it was worth the $400 and trying to cram in enough restaurant experiences to make it worth the money. I can't picture us wanting to eat 4 or 5 in one specialty and at 9 in the other. There is definitely time to rebook it if we change our minds, but the 3 restaurant may be better option or maybe just 1. I don't know. I just know I was having buyer's remorse on that package LOL.

[tagpsu]

24 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

Food is very subjective, what is "worth it" to someone else may not be "worth it" to you.

 

Try a cruise both ways and see what fits your "worth it" assessment.

 

I see your point too about what restaurants good for different people. For CHOPS maybe it was just that ship? The steak wasn't really prepared the way we wanted it. The other food was great. Service was really good too.  For Wonderland on the Anthem, we had a big group; this time it would be just my husband and me. 

[taglovestocruise]

We were close to getting the UDP on our 14 night Symphony cruise. Went with the BOGO, 3 night and 5 night. That ended up being perfect.  Doubled up on Jamie's and 150, three times at chops and once at Wonderland.  Wife is allergic to seafood so we skipped Hooked and Izumi. It got to be a little redundant, the thought of a couple more of the same plus 9 sea day lunches would of been overkill. happy cruising.  We also had one thrown in by our TA and I can not remember where used it. 

[LilBlackDress]

50 minutes ago, tagpsu said:

 

We thought about that too. We just canceled unlimited so we can rethink this. We would eat in Wonderland again, but we don't have to. We ate in Chops Grille on Enchantment, and it was OK. Wouldn't mind trying the Hibachi one (just for fun to do on a cruise), Central Park, and/or Jamie's Italian (hmm that's 3). We definitely want to try CK. We just don't want to crowd our cruise feeling like we have to dine in the specialty restaurants, but we want to go to some (if that makes sense). Thank you for advice.

I don't believe the Hibachi is included in the 3 or 5 night package. It might be available in the UDP but I am not even sure of that... 

Hoping someone who knows for sure will chime in 

[Merion_Mom]

6 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

We were close to getting the UDP on our 14 night Symphony cruise. Went with the BOGO, 3 night and 5 night. That ended up being perfect.  Doubled up on Jamie's and 150, three times at chops and once at Wonderland.  Wife is allergic to seafood so we skipped Hooked and Izumi. It got to be a little redundant, the thought of a couple more of the same plus 9 sea day lunches would of been overkill. happy cruising.  We also had one thrown in by our TA and I can not remember where used it. 

 

The Empress offers the UDP.  😮

 

(the only specialty restaurant is Chops - a person asked about this, and I suggested that perhaps one should just work one's way through the menu 🤣 )

[tagpsu]

6 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

I don't believe the Hibachi is included in the 3 or 5 night package. It might be available in the UDP but I am not even sure of that... 

Hoping someone who knows for sure will chime in 

 

Good point. Thank you for bringing that up. I know it’s now in the unlimited pkg. I wouldn’t buy unlimited just to get it, but it does sound like fun and different. Have been to hibachi restaurants around here and Always fun. 

[tagpsu]

9 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

We were close to getting the UDP on our 14 night Symphony cruise. Went with the BOGO, 3 night and 5 night. That ended up being perfect.  Doubled up on Jamie's and 150, three times at chops and once at Wonderland.  Wife is allergic to seafood so we skipped Hooked and Izumi. It got to be a little redundant, the thought of a couple more of the same plus 9 sea day lunches would of been overkill. happy cruising.  We also had one thrown in by our TA and I can not remember where used it. 

Thank you. I agree with you. I think it would have  been too Much. 

[tagpsu]

2 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

The Empress offers the UDP.  😮

 

(the only specialty restaurant is Chops - a person asked about this, and I suggested that perhaps one should just work one's way through the menu 🤣 )

Lol that’s funny. 😅

[Cruise a holic]

1 hour ago, tagpsu said:

We are sailing HOTS in December. We have grand suite (first time in grand suite). We bought unlimited dining today but wondering if we should cancel. Would CK and MDR be good and maybe just do one, possibly two, specialty restaurants? We’ve been to Wonderland on the Anthem. Are there any other must do restaurants? Just not sure we did the right thing. Thanks in advance. 

We enjoy at least four to five specialty dinners for a week cruise.   If you got a good price, keep it.  You can have breakfast in your suite or in the suite dining room. 

[taglovestocruise]

14 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

I don't believe the Hibachi is included in the 3 or 5 night package. It might be available in the UDP but I am not even sure of that... 

Hoping someone who knows for sure will chime in 

Each ship and sailing may be different. On our Symphony TA we could go to Izumi and receive a $35 credit per person, Habichi Grill was not included.  I know for a fact because we had reservations for Izumi and I had to cancel them, wife is allergic to seafood and did not even want to be around the smell. Put the nix on trip to hooked. 

[LilBlackDress]

11 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

The Empress offers the UDP.  😮

 

(the only specialty restaurant is Chops - a person asked about this, and I suggested that perhaps one should just work one's way through the menu 🤣 )

I really don't understand why they have the UDP available on the smaller ships!

My next cruise is 11 nights one Serenade, and I can't see eating at Giovanni's and Chops for dinner, and lunch on sea days, for the entire cruise!! Do the Specialty Restaurants change their menu daily? I didn't think they do, but I could be wrong. 

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

I really don't understand why they have the UDP available on the smaller ships!

For the same reason they have it on every ship - to make money.

[LilBlackDress]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

For the same reason they have it on every ship - to make money.

Point taken ;)
I guess a better way to word it would have been... I am not sure who would purchase it on a smaller ship, especially  over 5 nights. Even at 5 nights that is a bit too much of the same menu options, IMO. 

[Merion_Mom]

11 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

I really don't understand why they have the UDP available on the smaller ships!

My next cruise is 11 nights one Serenade, and I can't see eating at Giovanni's and Chops for dinner, and lunch on sea days, for the entire cruise!! Do the Specialty Restaurants change their menu daily? I didn't think they do, but I could be wrong. 

 

During a month on the Jewel this year, a group of us ate in those two almost ever other day, generally alternating between the two.  It wasn't boring.  But it's not just about the food, it's about the wine.  I mean, it's not just about the food, it's about the company.  😄 

 

And Serenade also has Izumi.  🙂

[Clarea]

29 minutes ago, LilBlackDress said:

...  Do the Specialty Restaurants change their menu daily? ...

 

No, same menu the entire cruise.

[LilBlackDress]

Just now, Merion_Mom said:

 

During a month on the Jewel this year, a group of us ate in those two almost ever other day, generally alternating between the two.  It wasn't boring.  But it's not just about the food, it's about the wine.  I mean, it's not just about the food, it's about the company.  😄 

 

And Serenade also has Izumi.  🙂

Sound like a fun cruise! 
I am not a huge fan of Italian Food. So that limits how many times I would want to eat there. I guess I could make it work if I had to tho...

 

I always forget about Izumi. My DH is not a huge fan of sushi, but he tolerates it for me! 

[cb at sea]

You do know that every passenger can eat as much as they want without any package at all....so EATING is unlimited....you just have to pay for the specialty restaurant, if you want to try them.  Food is included in your fare!

[tagpsu]

47 minutes ago, Cruise a holic said:

We enjoy at least four to five specialty dinners for a week cruise.   If you got a good price, keep it.  You can have breakfast in your suite or in the suite dining room. 

We canceled but could reschedule. It was $199 per person ($398 total). Do you think that will come down in price or is that good?

[tagpsu]

43 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Each ship and sailing may be different. On our Symphony TA we could go to Izumi and receive a $35 credit per person, Habichi Grill was not included.  I know for a fact because we had reservations for Izumi and I had to cancel them, wife is allergic to seafood and did not even want to be around the smell. Put the nix on trip to hooked. 

From what I’m reading the Hibachi part was added recently to the package. Bummer that your wife is allergic but definitely don’t want to take the chance. 

We will be cruising with two 22/23 year olds next June and one doesn’t like seafood. So we will have to make sure she can find something. 

[tagpsu]

14 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

You do know that every passenger can eat as much as they want without any package at all....so EATING is unlimited....you just have to pay for the specialty restaurant, if you want to try them.  Food is included in your fare!

Yep that’s one of the reasons we decided to cancel the unlimited dining package. We like the specialty restaurants but not sure we would really need the unlimited. We definitely want to try Coastal Kitchen. I wasn’t sure we would use the specialty restaurants for lunch. It seems like the package would need to be used at least 5 or possibly nights to be worth it. I may regret it. Will know for next one lol. 

Edited July 15, 2019 by tagpsu

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

You do know that every passenger can eat as much as they want without any package at all....so EATING is unlimited....you just have to pay for the specialty restaurant, if you want to try them.  Food is included in your fare!

Pretty sure everyone realizes that.  Some don’t mind paying for a premium dining experience which not only includes different food but a nicer atmosphere.

 

It always amazes me at the uk bed of people who male this comment. Some like to gamble, others enjoy the unlimited drink package, some go to the spa....Why would you care what others spend their money on.  Each person has different priorities and gets enjoyment from different things.