UNLIMITED DINING PACKAGE on ALLURE

[basenji56]

I just booked a cruise on Allure of the Seas for October.  In looking at the cruise planner, I noticed a new option:  Unlimited Specialty Dining.

 

Price is $196 for a seven day sailing.

 

Is this a post-pandemic option?

 

Has anyone purchased in the past?  Did you consider it a good value?

 

 

"Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package! For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. Plus, enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

 

Not valid for premium experiences including: Chef's Table, Wine Pairing Dinners, Taste of Royal, and Mystery Dinner Theater.

 

For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20.*

 

For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $10 surcharge, which will be charged onboard.*"

[Brownezes72]

We are also sailing Allure in october 17 And curious about this package. We gave done the Allure before and did the 3 day dining option and really enjoyed doing so. We did one the first and last night and one mid week.  Hopefully someone will chime in and let us know if its worth it 🙂

[RFerrington]

We are on Allure 10-3 and 10-10.  I purchased the UDP for the first week and a 3 night pkg for the following week.  We love the dining pkgs and in general, I think the Unlimited is a better value than the 3 night b/c it is....well....unlimited.  With the UDP, you are able to go to dinner at one restaurant and then hop over to a different restaurant for dessert, if you so desire.  I use this example a lot, but it is a good illustration. I really do not care for the menu at Wonderland but their The World dessert is yummy.  So, often we will have an early dinner at, say, Chops and then around 8:00 (after the big dinner rush) we will pop into Wonderland and share a The World.  It’s so decadent.  Plus, with the UDP you get lunches on sea days which brings up its value even more.

 

$196 for a 7 night is a reasonable price. I am paying $196 for our Christmas 2022 Oasis sailing.  Our Christmas 2021 Symphony is $199.  My suspicion is that the prices are not going to go any lower than they are.  If you’re interested in purchasing the UDP, I recommend you get it now. If I’m wrong (which I usually am) and the price does go down you can cancel and rebook without penalty.

[Coralc]

That is a very good deal. I would book now!  

 

At the present time Allure doesn't have Portside BBQ or Playmakers. They were supposed to be added during the amp. But there are plenty of other restaurants in which you can dine. 

For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20.*

 

 

[ericfromri]

just a word of caution. i was on explorer for 65 days with the UDP the whole time and chops everyday for lunch and dinner and when i got off the ship my kidney hurt, went to my doctors 11 blood tests later, he told me my iron level was 11 times the maximum healthy range.  the food is wonderful, but now i eat red meat 2 times per week and donate blood every month 3 years later.    also it looks like the price went up, on the average cruise , was about $23 per day .

Edited May 28, 2021 by ericfromri

[ericfromri]

2 minutes ago, Coralc said:

That is a very good deal. I would book now!  

 

At the present time Allure doesn't have Portside BBQ or Playmakers. They were supposed to be added during the amp. But there are plenty of other restaurants in which you can dine. 

For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20.*

 

 

i was looking forward to the new restaurants.  on the last cruise of Allure Transatlantic 2020, we had a pinnacle farewell in both restaurants that are going byebye, brazillian and mexican.

[Hoopster95]

Both of you are going to get so many different answers on this thread it will make your head spin.

My perspective of whether it's worth it will be different from the next ten posters... which poster do you take advice from?

 

My question to both of you is:

• If you had a choice, do you go to McDonalds or buffet restaurant... or a high end Steak House?
• Do you like food trucks, or do you like sit down meals, with service, and a glass of wine?
• Do you cook at home, and are specific with your ingredients... and therefore you can appreciate quality, heat of the food, tastes? 
• Do you like a view when you're on vacation? tables that are far apart for better intimacy? Dining in a different locations each night (just like on land) with each restaurant having different menus? Or would you prefer sitting 4 inches from tables positioned right beside you with zero privacy, no view, a hustle and bustle of over-worked servers/waiters rushing around you all the time trying to get you in and out of the venue?

If you enjoy buffet better than a higher-end sitdown meal with service, and if you enjoy a lack of intimacy and bland dishes that you will never remember having eaten a week after the cruise, then stick with free main dining room. Maybe you are simply a burger and fry kind of person... that's ok. Stay simple with MDR and you may really enjoy it.

 

UDP all the way is my personal choice.

Btw, I cook, am somewhat a foodie and know my wines. MDR has been awful the last 3-4 years in my humble opinion. Post-Covid.... who knows??

Edited May 28, 2021 by Hoopster95

[RFerrington]

9 minutes ago, ericfromri said:

just a word of caution. i was on explorer for 65 days with the UDP the whole time and chops everyday for lunch and dinner and when i got off the ship my kidney hurt, went to my doctors 11 blood tests later, he told me my iron level was 11 times the maximum healthy range.  the food is wonderful, but now i eat red meat 2 times per week and donate blood every month 3 years later.    also it looks like the price went up, on the average cruise , was about $23 per day .

Yikes !  Hope everything is ok now.  Just temporary, yes ?

[ericfromri]

10 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Yikes !  Hope everything is ok now.  Just temporary, yes ?

well apparently i had normal iron levels before this trip because at every physical, i get all the blood tests and they were normal for iron. the incredible ribeye triggered me. i  now have maintenance blood donations one time per month. i donated several times per year before, now its just planned and i eat red meat several times per week and not everyday. both my parents are scandinavian, so they did the  genetic test for the HFE mutation and said i was a carrier of  which is very common if your parents are norwegian or swedish.  fortunately no medicine required, just being mindful and frequest blood tests.   thanks for the concern...

Edited May 28, 2021 by ericfromri

[George C]

1 hour ago, basenji56 said:

I just booked a cruise on Allure of the Seas for October.  In looking at the cruise planner, I noticed a new option:  Unlimited Specialty Dining.

 

Price is $196 for a seven day sailing.

 

Is this a post-pandemic option?

 

Has anyone purchased in the past?  Did you consider it a good value?

 

 

"Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package! For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. Plus, enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

 

Not valid for premium experiences including: Chef's Table, Wine Pairing Dinners, Taste of Royal, and Mystery Dinner Theater.

 

For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $35 food credit, with the exception of Port Side BBQ and Playmakers which will be $20.*

 

For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $10 surcharge, which will be charged onboard.*"

We have same package on Allure for end of November, mine might have been 10 dollars more, not sure , looking forward to it , in past we got 5 night package, love Hibachi, we have we extra bonus since we are in suite and can also use CK. 

[Ourusualbeach]

21 minutes ago, ericfromri said:

just a word of caution. i was on explorer for 65 days with the UDP the whole time and chops everyday for lunch and dinner

hmm, a post by you last week in response to one of my posts had you eating at Izumi everyday for lunch on that same 65 day EX cruise.  No wonder things hurt.🤣

[ericfromri]

17 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

hmm, a post by you last week in response to one of my posts had you eating at Izumi everyday for lunch on that same 65 day EX cruise.  No wonder things hurt.🤣

good catch almighty one.   it was more than 2 years ago and blends together but you can rest easy as it does not say every day.  "almost"   lollollol

Edited May 28, 2021 by ericfromri

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, George C said:

We have same package on Allure for end of November, mine might have been 10 dollars more, not sure , looking forward to it , in past we got 5 night package, love Hibachi, we have we extra bonus since we are in suite and can also use CK. 

I really miss the 5 night pkg. before the UDP was unlimited, the 5 night pkg was perfect for us.  Once they went unlimited and it started including lunches, we started getting the unlimited. 

[SNJCruisers]

On 5/27/2021 at 9:05 PM, RFerrington said:

 

$196 for a 7 night is a reasonable price. I am paying $196 for our Christmas 2022 Oasis sailing.  Our Christmas 2021 Symphony is $199.  My suspicion is that the prices are not going to go any lower than they are.

When did you book your Christmas 2022 Oasis UDP and was an 18% Gratuity added?   I had paid 179 for our recently cancelled Oasis cruise and just flipped it to June of 2022.  UDP is currently listed at 167, but at checkout an 18% grat is added increasing the price to 197.  I am thinking the gratuity addition might be new for 2022 bookings?

[RFerrington]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

When did you book your Christmas 2022 Oasis UDP and was an 18% Gratuity added?   I had paid 179 for our recently cancelled Oasis cruise and just flipped it to June of 2022.  UDP is currently listed at 167, but at checkout an 18% grat is added increasing the price to 197.  I am thinking the gratuity addition might be new for 2022 bookings?

I booked the UDP for our Christmas (12-22-22) Oasis cruise on 5-2-21 and it was before the new format "My Royal Cruise" so the grats were not separated out like they are now.  Today's price for this UDP is $166.99 plus 18% grat ($30.56)  = $197.05 for no real difference in overall price.  I have a number of other Oasis class cruises (non-holiday) for which I paid $179 total (grats already included) and it is my personal opinion that that price will not be seen again.  It seems as if the new "sale" price for all O class UDP is $196.

 

The new User Interface (My Royal Cruise) is slowly being implemented for cruises in 2022.  I suspect that eventually this new format (where they break out the gratuities separately) will be the regular format for all ships.  Who knows how long it will take but I'm just glad I bought all of my Cruise Planner purchases before they switched over.  Everything is going to be higher (IMO).