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Do you think the unlimited dining package is worth it?

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TheBucketLister

TheBucketLister

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Posted (edited)

On the Mariner 10/22/21 cruise it shows the Unlimited Dining Package at $173.00 / per adult, and when the gratuity is added on it is $204/pp.  Could this be an error, or possibly not been flagged correctly to price with the current promotion?  I have checked all of my cruises in the next year (including two other Mariner cruises in December) and the prices are all way lower on a per night basis.  I booked the UDP on the Mariner for a 5 day cruise in December that is still $75 cheaper than for the UDP for this 3 day cruise.  If it is an error, is there any way to bring this to Royal's attention, or get the cheaper price by calling them? $68 per night seems pretty excessive.
 

Edited by TheBucketLister
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CruisinHeels

CruisinHeels

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I've purchased the UDP for the first time.  I'll be a solo cruiser on a 4nt on Freedom in October, so for $104, I thought I'd give the UDP a shot.  I got an amazing fare on the cabin, so I bit on the Labor Day sale for the DBP/Voom combo and the UDP.

 

I'm not sure if WJ will even be open for dinner on my sailing and the thought of sitting in the MDR as a solo is unappealing.  Worst case, I'll eat my weight in wings from Playmakers. 

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Roybthered

Roybthered

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We sailed a 4 night cruise on Anthem OTS in July and are sailing on her again in Oct for 5 nights, we purchased the UDP for the first time on the 4 night and it was well worth the money, so much we have purchased it again for our Oct cruise. If we where on a transatlantic we would have to see if it was worth it overall but on a short cruise I think it is worth the extra in my HO.  

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Presbycruiser67 Great Review Rare

Presbycruiser67

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I am not purchasing one for my cruise on the Mariner of the Seas because the included dining gets really rave reviews from CC.

 

On the other hand, Independence of the Seas' included gets a negative review on CC.  They also seem to have low fares.  So for that ship I might go for it.

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tkwbear

tkwbear

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On 9/8/2021 at 4:22 PM, maranelloboy05 said:

Did it the first time two weeks ago on Ovation and from a value proposition I think it was absolutely worth it. Walking on and sitting down at Jamie's during embarkation was fantastic and being able to eat at those specialty restaurants was great.

 

The downside for me was lack of variety. Unfortunately we only got to eat at Izumi once, were not super thrilled with Wonderland so we ended up having basically every meal at Jamie's or Chops. Theres worse things but I did miss the variety of the MDR as I felt going to the MDR was a waste while paying for UDP. Last cruise we did 3 nights at specialty and I think that was a good middle of the road.

I'm doing my first RCI cruise alone on the Ovation in a couple of weeks. I thought the specialty restaurants might be interesting, and am seriously considering the Unlimited package. There was a note that on the first night they assign you to a restaurant. I don't care about Johnny Rockets, BBQ, or other stuff I can eat any time. Surely they will pick something better than that. Jamie's and the Chops sound good, I like sushi, but I feel like them picking my first night is defeating the purpose of me buying the package. 

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xxHadleyxx

xxHadleyxx

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1 hour ago, tkwbear said:

I'm doing my first RCI cruise alone on the Ovation in a couple of weeks. I thought the specialty restaurants might be interesting, and am seriously considering the Unlimited package. There was a note that on the first night they assign you to a restaurant. I don't care about Johnny Rockets, BBQ, or other stuff I can eat any time. Surely they will pick something better than that. Jamie's and the Chops sound good, I like sushi, but I feel like them picking my first night is defeating the purpose of me buying the package. 

Once you're onboard you can change whatever they assigned.   I honestly don't ever notice what it is/was.  I board with a list of what I want and head straight to a station to book them (first night included) or book via the app once on if possible.  And Johnny Rockets would never be the assigned thing.

 

Edited by xxHadleyxx
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tkwbear

tkwbear

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7 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

Once you're onboard you can change whatever they assigned.   I honestly don't ever notice what it is/was.  I board with a list of what I want and head straight to a station to book them (first night included) or book via the app once on if possible.  And Johnny Rockets would never be the assigned thing.

 

Excellent! That makes me feel a lot better!

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AustinCruise

AustinCruise

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When I used it on independence, the planner said I was purchasing an unlimited dining package for 9pm.

 

When I got on the ship, there was a spot listed as 9pm but not even a restaurant assigned.  With COVID the ship was empty, so easy to setup a first night dining reservation at a reasonable (to us) time of 8pm.  We then made the rest of the reservations about 2 days ahead.   Again, ship was under capacity with COVID so I don't know how this would play out in normal times.

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grimaldi

grimaldi

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12 hours ago, tkwbear said:

I'm doing my first RCI cruise alone on the Ovation in a couple of weeks. I thought the specialty restaurants might be interesting, and am seriously considering the Unlimited package. There was a note that on the first night they assign you to a restaurant. I don't care about Johnny Rockets, BBQ, or other stuff I can eat any time. Surely they will pick something better than that. Jamie's and the Chops sound good, I like sushi, but I feel like them picking my first night is defeating the purpose of me buying the package. 

 

You don't have to worry about Johnny Rockets or BBQ. They aren't on the Ovation.

 

On 9/9/2021 at 8:47 AM, AustinCruise said:

I found it worth it on independence for a 7 day w/ Giovannis, chops, Izumi sushi, and Izumi teppanyaki.  Plus fish and ships for lunch.  Totally enjoyed. 
 

Will not be doing it on liberty in November. Not enough variety for me on that ship. 

 

Were you able to use the UDP to purchase the non-free items at Fish & Ships? Does anybody know if the package gets you the tapas at Vintages or anything at the Patisserie, or is it all out-of-pocket, or YMMV depending on the crewmember, etc.?

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AustinCruise

AustinCruise

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, grimaldi said:

 

You don't have to worry about Johnny Rockets or BBQ. They aren't on the Ovation.

 

 

Were you able to use the UDP to purchase the non-free items at Fish & Ships? Does anybody know if the package gets you the tapas at Vintages or anything at the Patisserie, or is it all out-of-pocket, or YMMV depending on the crewmember, etc.?


yes. First time I went to fish and ships they said it wasn’t included. I asked at guest services and they said it was included. 
 

next time I went back to f&s and asked again they said it was included. Earlier person wasn’t familiar. 
 

they charged $0 and marked our purchases off on a printout next to the register behind the counter. 
 

looked to me there were about 35 families that did UDP if the list was what I think it was. 
 

btw - that was one of our favs. Except for the proximity to the smoking  area. 

Edited by AustinCruise
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grimaldi

grimaldi

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27 minutes ago, AustinCruise said:


yes. First time I went to fish and ships they said it wasn’t included. I asked at guest services and they said it was included. 
 

next time I went back to f&s and asked again they said it was included. Earlier person wasn’t familiar. 
 

they charged $0 and marked our purchases off on a printout next to the register behind the counter. 
 

looked to me there were about 35 families that did UDP if the list was what I think it was. 
 

btw - that was one of our favs. Except for the proximity to the smoking  area. 

 

Awesome. Great to hear, and thanks!

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tkwbear

tkwbear

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I've got wrong information from the 2 RCI employees I've talked to. One quoted the ULD as $196 but it's $217. The other one told me I could use it at a couple of restaurants that aren't even on the Ovation.

 

So I'm thinking I might do the 3 day pass then visit some of the other free venues, but Windjammer didn't show up on the list of restaurants on line. How did Wonderland work out for those that went? It might be fun, but only if the food is good. Liquid Lobster with bone marrow doesn't sound good to me.

 

I got my room assignment. Deck 10 where the lifeboats partially block the view. How much of the view is blocked?

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Rummblestrip

Rummblestrip

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On 8/18/2021 at 11:22 AM, ryano said:

The low carb keto diet is out the window for the week lol.     

This is the reason we choose to buy the unlimited package. The planks in Jamies at lunch is just one example. You can tell them you are keto and they will hook you up!  Many other places to find amazing keto options. 

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Samguy

Samguy

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We're going on an 11 night cruise on the Jewel Of The Sea that includes two overnight stops.  We figure that we'll be having dinner on shore those two nights.  Would the UDP be worth it?  It says that you only get a $20 credit for a la carte restaurants.  As we love sushi, I wasn't sure if that would work but I've read where people say that they just open another tab for everything that they order! 

And we also love our beef so would the Chops Grills be included?  

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killsport Great Review Rare

killsport

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Posted
43 minutes ago, Samguy said:

We're going on an 11 night cruise on the Jewel Of The Sea that includes two overnight stops.  We figure that we'll be having dinner on shore those two nights.  Would the UDP be worth it?  It says that you only get a $20 credit for a la carte restaurants.  As we love sushi, I wasn't sure if that would work but I've read where people say that they just open another tab for everything that they order! 

And we also love our beef so would the Chops Grills be included?  

We had UDP on Jewel for a holiday cruise. Izumi was included ($35/pp would have been the cost for the appetizer + 2 dishes + dessert). We didn't need more as we were full. In fact, we didn't do dessert one of the times. The menu is very similar to page 1 of this

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