First time on a Oasis class ship (Harmony) - dining question

[jstuartys]

Hi, 

We have cruised RCCL several times but usually stick to smaller ships.  This summer we are making the jump to the Oasis class. 

 

We have the 3 specialty meal dining plan, but for $80 more, I can just book the 3 restaurants we want in the cruise planner individually and avoid having to race to a restaurant to try to get the times/venues we want.    Are the specialty restaurant reservations harder to get on the larger ships?  I have never had an issue getting what we want on the smaller ships but not sure if its more of a gamble on the larger ones.   Seems it might just be better to spend the $80 (what's another $80, right?) and avoid the hassle and risk of disappointment?

 

Is it hard to get reservations on board?

 

Thanks! 

[John&LaLa]

Just now, jstuartys said:

Hi, 

We have cruised RCCL several times but usually stick to smaller ships.  This summer we are making the jump to the Oasis class. 

 

We have the 3 specialty meal dining plan, but for $80 more, I can just book the 3 restaurants we want in the cruise planner individually and avoid having to race to a restaurant to try to get the times/venues we want.    Are the specialty restaurant reservations harder to get on the larger ships?  I have never had an issue getting what we want on the smaller ships but not sure if its more of a gamble on the larger ones.   Seems it might just be better to spend the $80 (what's another $80, right?) and avoid the hassle and risk of disappointment?

 

Is it hard to get reservations on board?

 

Thanks! 

 

Izumi hibachi has the fewest available slots. 

[jstuartys]

3 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Izumi hibachi has the fewest available slots. 

ah, that makes sense.  It also seems to be the most expensive with a family since the kids price is much closer to the adult price than the other options.

[taglovestocruise]

4 cruises on Oasis Class, always have a package, never had a problem getting the restaurants, times or days we wanted. We always eat late..  If you need 6:30 reservations and are not flexible then it might be worth it to pay extra.

[cruisinghawg]

We have never had a problem getting our times but we are one of the first on board. Sometimes we may have to go 30 minutes later or earlier but we adjust. 

[jstuartys]

6 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

4 cruises on Oasis Class, always have a package, never had a problem getting the restaurants, times or days we wanted. We always eat late..  If you need 6:30 reservations and are not flexible then it might be worth it to pay extra.

 

2 minutes ago, cruisinghawg said:

We have never had a problem getting our times but we are one of the first on board. Sometimes we may have to go 30 minutes later or earlier but we adjust. 

Thanks!   The kids a little less flexible, so I think we will go ahead and book.  I would take the risk with just the adults. haha.

[Fontaid]

1 hour ago, jstuartys said:

 

Thanks!   The kids a little less flexible, so I think we will go ahead and book.  I would take the risk with just the adults. haha.

You could always get the kids a slice of pizza to hold them til your reservations are ready...

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

1 hour ago, jstuartys said:

 

Thanks!   The kids a little less flexible, so I think we will go ahead and book.  I would take the risk with just the adults. haha.

That was going to be my recommendation, since it sounds like the price difference isn't a big factor for you. Might as well be sure you get what you want. 🙂 

[PhillyFan33579]

I don’t know what the price is on your cruise, but we bought the UDP on a cruise on Harmony last week and an upcoming cruise on Harmony in July for roughly $200. Seems like that would be a better deal than spending $160, if I understand your post correctly, for only 3 meals. We didn’t make reservations until later in the day on embarkation day, after spending several hours bar hopping. The only restaurant that had limited  reservations by then was Izumi, which is always the case on Harmony due to its small size.