Unlimited Dining reservation question!

[danp2482]

Hi everyone! I have a question about specialty restaurants and the UDP. Does Royal have some formula to save some tables for those that purchased UDP? Looking at our upcoming cruise, there are limited reservations left for cash bookings. Is it going to be slim pickings when we board?

[twinmommy08]

More reservations will be available onboard. They never oversell from my experience. You should go to one of the restaurants as soon as you board to book your dinner plans to get your ideal schedule if that is important to you. We like to eat dinner around 7 pm and it seems to be a popular time. 
 

When we book UDP, our first stop is to the restaurant that is open for lunch and we make our plans while we relax and have a meal. I’ve never had a problem getting a reservation but we’ve had to be flexible with our dinner times. 

[Hogbay]

13 minutes ago, danp2482 said:

Hi everyone! I have a question about specialty restaurants and the UDP. Does Royal have some formula to save some tables for those that purchased UDP? Looking at our upcoming cruise, there are limited reservations left for cash bookings. Is it going to be slim pickings when we board?

Yes they do ,the UDP can sell out once the limit is reached. 

[bigque]

Good to know cause I was about to post the same question! 

[binro01]

When I was in the cruise terminal waiting to board the ship I was able to connect to the ship’s WiFi and make all my trips dinner and sea day lunch reservations with no problem at all. We had the UDP for a 6 night cruise on the Allure of the sea’s and it was a great value. We sailed from Fort Lauderdale. 

[George C]

We loved the UDP on allure a couple of months ago , only restaurant that was hard to book on our cruise was Chops. But I believe that was due to social distancing, which I believe will be gone soon. 

[livingonthebeach]

On a recent Jewel sailing I got a really good price for the UDP - $130 for the entire package for a 5 night sailing. Granted, JOTS does not have nearly as many specialty restaurants as the Oasis and Quantum class ships. But even if you ate at Chops or Giovanni’s every night it was well worth it. Izumi was 2 Apps, 1 entree and 2 desserts.  They also give you a credit toward the price if you want to do Chef’s Table or a Taste of Royal.

 

Since I’m a bargain hunter by nature, I kept checking the cruise planner for a lower price.  I did not see anything lower - as a matter of fact the UDP completely disappeared for days only to come back at a higher price - it was finally lowered to the price I paid then disappeared again.  The takeaway here is keep checking the cruise planner.

 

I have Oasis booked for April 3rd and on that sailing (4 nighter) there is no UDP showing in the planner.  I don’t know if it was ever offered or not since I only booked last week. They have a 3 night package as well as Chops + 1 and the individual restaurants.  I might just do one - 150 Central Park since that’s the only restaurant I haven’t been to on that ship. I’ll keep checking and report back if the UDP ever appears.

 

As someone mentioned, the first the upon boarding should be to go to a specialty restaurant and book the remaining lunch and dinner times. You can also reserve on the App. Better to do it in person if they are close to being booked as the attendants can bypass the system - you can’t do that on the App. 

[J&L~SetSail]

I snagged UDP for our upcoming Wonder of the Seas at $196. Seems like a good price, but they didn't add taxes and gratuities when I checked out. Do you think those were included in the price or will they be added for each meal?

Also, are there limited times to use the a la cart restaurants like lunch on sea days only as well or can we go to those on port days?  Thanks 

[livingonthebeach]

4 minutes ago, J&L~SetSail said:

I snagged UDP for our upcoming Wonder of the Seas at $196. Seems like a good price, but they didn't add taxes and gratuities when I checked out. Do you think those were included in the price or will they be added for each meal?

Also, are there limited times to use the a la cart restaurants like lunch on sea days only as well or can we go to those on port days?  Thanks 

 

I paid $130 for the UDP for a 5 night cruise.  No 18% added on.  You have the option of tipping when the bill comes -- it's always $0.  On port days almost all the specialty restaurants are closed for lunch. I don't know about Wonder - there are several live threads of CCers on the maiden voyage, maybe ask there. 

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, J&L~SetSail said:

they didn't add taxes and gratuities when I checked out. Do you think those were included in the price or will they be added for each meal?

If they did not add additional gratuities at checkout then the grats are already included in the price.  Sounds like you purchased under the "Cruise Planner" program, which includes grats in the price.  It seems like they are transitioning to the new "My Royal Cruise" in 2022 and with that program, grats are added at the end.  You are good-to-go with gratuities unless you choose to pay more, once onboard.

[not-enough-cruising]

I am a little OCD about my dining times BUT I love the UDP. I am on Allure this week. When on an Oasis class ship I usually book and pay for specialty dining for the week in the cruise planner. When I board, I take advantage of the boarding day specials on a dining package, they then refund all my money paid pre cruise as a refundable OBC, and I am left with all the same reservations and times, but at the package price. 
 

I know it sounds convoluted, but my personality won’t allow me to wait to make reservations on board. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by not-enough-cruising

[jrapps]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I am a little OCD about my dining times BUT I love the UDP. I am on Allure this week. When on an Oasis class ship I usually book and pay for specialty dining for the week in the cruise planner. When I board, I take advantage of the boarding day specials on a dining package, they then refund all my money paid pre cruise as a refundable OBC, and I am left with all the same reservations and times, but at the package price. 
 

I know it sounds convoluted, but my personality won’t allow me to wait to make reservations on board. 

I wasn't aware you could do that. Do you have to have each reservation cancelled and then immediately rebooked once you are onboard to get the same times? Or do you have them refund the pre-purchased price of each meal as you dine night by night?

[taglovestocruise]

3 minutes ago, jrapps said:

I wasn't aware you could do that. Do you have to have each reservation cancelled and then immediately rebooked once you are onboard to get the same times? Or do you have them refund the pre-purchased price of each meal as you dine night by night?

We have also done this when we want a specific time and day.  Go to any restaurant to make all of your reservations, the host will just cancel your pre paid dinner and use a package night. Refund will be instant as a fully refundable OBC. Once and done. happy cruising

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, jrapps said:

I wasn't aware you could do that. Do you have to have each reservation cancelled and then immediately rebooked once you are onboard to get the same times? Or do you have them refund the pre-purchased price of each meal as you dine night by night?

Most times, this week being no different; I go to the hostess stand at the MDR and explain my situation, a few key clicks and they tell me it’s handled. 
This week, within an hour or so, my account in the App showed 8 individual refunds and credits, and my reservations in the Calendar never changed. 
It’s quite the simple process, as long as you don’t mind fronting the $$ to secure the reservation. 

[cruz_happy]

Thank you all for the good information & to the OP as I had the same question.

 

I do have another question on the same subject as this is the first time booking an UDP for us.  When I booked the UDP, it had only 2 times available, both bad.  I picked one just to complete the purchase.  But am I held to that time or can I make reservations at any time for each restaurant?  (We usually go later than the 7 pm rush.).   When can you make the reservations?  Is it only when get access on the app or can you book before then after you've purchased the UDP?  

 

TYIA.

[RFerrington]

41 minutes ago, cruz_happy said:

am I held to that time or can I make reservations at any time for each restaurant?

The reservation that you made during your CP purchase is a place holder only.  You can change both the venue and/or the time once you get onboard.  Frankly, I don't see the value of this meaningless reservation but the UDP has always been done this way.

 

Also, once you get onboard you can make all of the rest of your reservations for the rest of the cruise.  In fact, it is advisable to do that ASAP once you board as dinner reservations become harder and harder to get as the cruise goes along.  If you're a late diner you will have no problem getting your desired restaurant and time.  The 6-7:30 timeframe is the most popular and hardest to get once things start to fill up.

[ballonewb]

Booked the udp for independence.  It’s only a 3 night with no sea days.  Will any of the restaurants be open for lunch?   Specially looking for playmakers.  Also I heard you can get sushi to go at Izumi to bring back to your cabin.  Any help would be appreciated. 

[twinmommy08]

28 minutes ago, ballonewb said:

Booked the udp for independence.  It’s only a 3 night with no sea days.  Will any of the restaurants be open for lunch?   Specially looking for playmakers.  Also I heard you can get sushi to go at Izumi to bring back to your cabin.  Any help would be appreciated. 

There is generally one place open for lunch on embarkation day. Generally the Italian place. Playmakers is your place for lunch on port days. 

[Ronaldo807]

We typically go to one of the specialty restaurants onboard to make our reservations, but in November they seem to be backed up with trying to make reservations & handle the lunch crowd. Someone said the reservations can be done on the promenade by the people selling the packages. Is that true? Or are you better off going to one of the restaurants directly? We will have a group of 9, all with UDP, so I want to make this as quick and painless as possible.