Unlimited dining - Allure

[Brownezes72]

Hi,we are booked on the oct sailing on the Allure. 
 

We are considering doing the UdP. We have found on previous cruises the mdr very noisy and rushed at times. Is it worth doing this?? We have sailed before on Alliure and have only eaten in the mdr.  Is this also available for lunch on embarkation day?

 Any feedback would be appreciated 🙂

[molly361]

To me it's worth it on the Oasis class ships and yes it is available for lunch embarkation day

[Norwich Cruiser]

I think the UDP is only worth it on Oasis class ships as you have a wonderful variety of restaurants to choose from.

 

Lunch has always been available on embarkation day.

[Brownezes72]

Thanks!! So for lunch on embaration day i have to reserve or can i just walk in??  Appreciate all the feedback 🙂

[molly361]

6 minutes ago, Brownezes72 said:

Thanks!! So for lunch on embaration day i have to reserve or can i just walk in??  Appreciate all the feedback 🙂

Yes you can just walk in embarkation day since you don't get onboard until almost lunchtime.  On other days I have seen people without reservations turned away on sea days

Edited June 6, 2021 by molly361

[Brownezes72]

Thanks!

[Brownezes72]

Thanks!!

[katiel53]

We have been able to enjoy lunch at a specialty restaurant on embarkation day at either Giovanni's or Sabor.  When the Key came into existence we were no longer able to have lunch at Chops because the wait staff served the Chops embarkation lunch in the MDR. 

 

The other specialty restaurants , Hibachi and Samba were not open for lunch the first day.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, Brownezes72 said:

Thanks!! So for lunch on embaration day i have to reserve or can i just walk in??  Appreciate all the feedback 🙂

With Covid you may not be embarking until well after lunch.  We do not know if they will have restaurants open for lunch

[boatseller]

I found it a great value on an Oasis class sailing, and probably would on Quantum as well because of the variety.

 

It's good for any $$ dining, lunch, dinner and Johnny Rocket's breakfast.  They have since added Playmakers but I don't know the exact rules for that venue.

[katiel53]

13 hours ago, boatseller said:

I found it a great value on an Oasis class sailing, and probably would on Quantum as well because of the variety.

 

It's good for any $$ dining, lunch, dinner and Johnny Rocket's breakfast.  They have since added Playmakers but I don't know the exact rules for that venue.

My experience is that the UDP is good for lunch only on Sea Days, not every day. Also, JR is available to everyone for breakfast, not just those with UDP as it is an included in the cruise price meal.

[Ourusualbeach]

13 minutes ago, katiel53 said:

My experience is that the UDP is good for lunch only on Sea Days, not every day. Also, JR is available to everyone for breakfast, not just those with UDP as it is an included in the cruise price meal.

It's a bit tricky.  You are correct in the sense that the main restuarants...Jamies and Chops aren't open on port days and you can only use the UDP there on sea days however we have never had an issue using the UDP on port days at venues such as Playmakers, Portside BBQ and Johnny Rockets that usually open about 1:00 or 2:00.  Basically, if the restaurant is open you can use the UDP regardless of sea or port day

[katiel53]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It's a bit tricky.  You are correct in the sense that the main restuarants...Jamies and Chops aren't open on port days and you can only use the UDP there on sea days however we have never had an issue using the UDP on port days at venues such as Playmakers, Portside BBQ and Johnny Rockets that usually open about 1:00 or 2:00.  Basically, if the restaurant is open you can use the UDP regardless of sea or port day

On Harmony, Jan 2020, we tried to use JR in the afternoon as part of the UDP and were told it wasn't a port day, so we could use it, but had to pay.  I don't know if this was just on that one cruise on Harmony or if that was the policy.  We have never tried to use the UDP at JR for lunch any other time.

 

Our next cruise is on Symphony so we will see what is available to us.  I hope we have the same availability as you have.

[boatseller]

5 minutes ago, katiel53 said:

My experience is that the UDP is good for lunch only on Sea Days, not every day. Also, JR is available to everyone for breakfast, not just those with UDP as it is an included in the cruise price meal.

Hmm...I could swear I used it one day for breakfast.  Buts yes, JR is complimentary at bfast.  And it's good too.

 

The specialty restaurants are open for lunch on sea days only.  Basically, if the venue is open, you can use the UDP.

[Rogueperson]

I'm going to answer yes and no here.  When i went on Allure in 2019, we purchased the 3 dinner package because there was a decent sale.  In addition, we went to Chef's Table (planned) and Samba Grill (unplanned, they offered us 50% off).  So I got to try most of the specialty restaurants.

Out of all my cruises, Allure's specialty restaurants did not stand out.  They seemed lesser in quality than my previous cruises, and upon review, it appears they charged a little higher on Allure than on other ships (I could be wrong though).  Even Chef's table seemed to reuse some things from the other restaurants, while the other specialty restaurants reused other dishes from the MDR (which annoyed me a little).  Examples, the beef carpaccio on the menu at Chops appeared at dinner in the MDR.  A dessert at Chops appeared at Lunch in the MDR.  Chef's table poached a dessert from Wonderland and the bread from Central Park 150.

Chops - They were pretty good, except for the appetizer and dessert issue (see above).

150 Central Park.  The food looked pretty, but there was nothing spectacular here.

Giovanni's - This was probably the best of the bunch.  We decided to hit this place for lunch to escape the crowds on embarkation day so this was a bonus too.

Izumi's.  - I've always felt that this place was a little mediocre.  We did the Hibachi style and the presentation was like on land, but minus any of the fire tricks for obvious reasons.

Samba - This one didn't get a fair shake from me because I ate too much at lunch and was not as hungry as I should have been when time came to eat here.  From what I did try, it was decent.

Bottom line for me, I felt Allure devalued the specialty restaurants a little.  If you've never been to the specialty restaurants, or want to, then get the package to try everything.  7 nights goes by quickly and if you want to try them, you'll find you'll spend more time there than in the MDR.  If you're looking for an upgrade to the MDR food/experience, I would say do not get it, because I personally found the MDR service to be way better and if you were to compare food, I was not impressed overall with the specialty restaurants this time around. 

Chops is probably the one I will keep going back to, as I love a good steak and their steaks are good, but all the other ones, I can take or not.  And also I will continue to do Chef's table because at the worse, they take the best stuff out of the specialty restaurant and combine them into an awesome dining experience, and at best, you have a unique awesome dining experience.  Win win there, so Chef's table will remain in my queue always.

[jcc1025]

We have done it on Allure a couple of times and recommend it, liked the quite dinner experience. We like all the restaurants, and while not big beef eaters we found the choices good and the service great. We would also recommend Chef's Table, took us awhile to move to this as it is a little pricey but the food and the presentation makes it worth it. 

[George C]

I think it’s definitely worth it , we have it booked for November, we did 5 night package on oasis a couple of years ago. 

[woneill63]

We did this two years ago, on a 5 night Mariner cruise.  Three night dining package, one night at Izumi's, and one night at Chef's Table.  First time we never dined in the mdr on a cruise.  Chef's Table was spectacular, we will do this on every cruise going forward.  We did a spring break 7 night cruise on the Allure in 2018 and we had a great waitress in the mdr, I told her on the first night that we didn't want dinner to take more than an hour and a half.  She did a fantastic job each night of making sure our dinner never lasted more than an hour and 15 minutes. 

Every waitress/waiter we have had on Royal Carribean have been very professional and have taken great care of us.  I was on a Carnival cruise about 7/8 years ago and the waitress got into a big argument with one of my best friends.  She had brought him a glass of wine that had gone bad and kept insisting it was fine.  I was amazed how far the waitress escalated the situation, you never see anything like this on Royal. 

On the Allure, we dined at Chop's and Giovanni's, and both were an excellent experience from start to finish.  Obviously, dinners are very subjective and everybody has their own opinion.

[Brownezes72]

I decided to but it just for the simple fact that i find the MDR very noisy and the tables so close together. Hubby and i prefer to dine alone and use our vacations to spend alone time together as we both work 50 plus hours a week.  We are not a fan of the vibe of the mdr personally so its more than just the food for us.  We are hoping we can use it for lunch on embarcation day.  Also does anyone know and can confirm if the gratities are included?

[artvlay]

If you buy a 3 nite, 5 nite or unlimited package do I chose what restaurants I go to? Can I go to Chops every night? 

[Biker19]

34 minutes ago, artvlay said:

Can I go to Chops every night? 

Yes, space permitting.

[George C]

34 minutes ago, artvlay said:

If you buy a 3 nite, 5 nite or unlimited package do I chose what restaurants I go to? Can I go to Chops every night? 

Yes they will assign first one, but you can change restaurants as soon as you board, you can do chops every night.