3 night dining pkg

[mek]

My grandson and his wife are sailing on Adventure OTS next month.  I just purchased the 3 night dining package for them as a gift.

I would like to know what the difference between the price on the planner ,$119pp, and final price,$142pp,  is for.  Sorry, my husband and I never purchase these packages so I don't know. I must have missed something when I booked it.

Does it include any gratuity or not?  Just need to make sure I give him the correct information. 

 

Thanks

[firefly333]

13 minutes ago, mek said:

My grandson and his wife are sailing on Adventure OTS next month.  I just purchased the 3 night dining package for them as a gift.

I would like to know what the difference between the price on the planner ,$119pp, and final price,$142pp,  is for.  Sorry, my husband and I never purchase these packages so I don't know. I must have missed something when I booked it.

Does it include any gratuity or not?  Just need to make sure I give him the correct information. 

 

Thanks

Yes they added 18% to the price for mandatory gratuities. Paid up front.

 

I dont know if it's been fixed but the only one I found that didnt charge me 18% when I paid before my cruise was hibachi lunch. Maybe the glitch fixed, but all the rest charged me 18%.

 

Also it's very important they schedule all 3 nights when they board. If they wait the best dining times fill up. Go to a pay restaurant and book asap when they board. 

Edited September 12, 2023 by firefly333

[orville99]

17 minutes ago, mek said:

Just need to make sure I give him the correct information. 

One thing to let them know is that there will be a “Courtesy” reservation made for them in one of the restaurants on either the first or second evening, but they can change it to whichever night and restaurant that they want. With only three specialty restaurants on Adventure, they can do one evening in each or do multiple evenings in any one of the three. Just make sure they go to one of the specialty restaurants as soon as they board, because dining slots fill up fast.

[mek]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Yes they added 18% to the price for mandatory gratuities. Paid up front.

 

I dont know if it's been fixed but the only one I found that didnt charge me 18% when I paid before my cruise was hibachi lunch. Maybe the glitch fixed, but all the rest charged me 18%.

 

Also it's very important they schedule all 3 nights when they board. If they wait the best dining times fill up. Go to a pay restaurant and book asap when they board. 

So I'm assuming the 18% doesn't go just to their server - correct?  If this is the case, I will tell them to take some extra cash just for them.

[mek]

58 minutes ago, orville99 said:

One thing to let them know is that there will be a “Courtesy” reservation made for them in one of the restaurants on either the first or second evening, but they can change it to whichever night and restaurant that they want. With only three specialty restaurants on Adventure, they can do one evening in each or do multiple evenings in any one of the three. Just make sure they go to one of the specialty restaurants as soon as they board, because dining slots fill up fast.

When I made the reservation I had to choose between the first and second night and I chose the second so that gives them a little wiggle room.  It never occurred to me that they could repeat a restaurant with the pkg, so I will be sure to tell them that.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, mek said:

So I'm assuming the 18% doesn't go just to their server - correct?  If this is the case, I will tell them to take some extra cash just for them.

I've read it goes into a tipping pool but unless it's really good service they paid a tip, so anything extra in cash of course welcome. I hope they enjoy it. 

[firefly333]

1 minute ago, mek said:

When I made the reservation I had to choose between the first and second night and I chose the second so that gives them a little wiggle room.  It never occurred to me that they could repeat a restaurant with the pkg, so I will be sure to tell them that.

That temporary booking is considered a place holder. Have them still go and give them times for all 3 nights. Write down what they want and hand it to them so no questions later. Even if they dont get exactly.

 

And yes if they want chops all 3 nights they can. Any 3 dinners.

[mek]

Thanks for the help!

[orville99]

20 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

That temporary booking is considered a place holder. Have them still go and give them times for all 3 nights. Write down what they want and hand it to them so no questions later. Even if they dont get exactly.

 

And yes if they want chops all 3 nights they can. Any 3 dinners.

We always look at the nightly offerings in the Main Dining Room before we board and then make a “dining” matrix sheet so we can make our specialty reservations for the evenings where the MDR offerings don’t look good to us. 

[orville99]

1 hour ago, mek said:

When I made the reservation I had to choose between the first and second night and I chose the second so that gives them a little wiggle room.  It never occurred to me that they could repeat a restaurant with the pkg, so I will be sure to tell them that.

Top five things to do as soon as they board - in order of priority:

1) go to a specialty restaurant and make all their dining reservations;

2) Find the nearest bar and start relaxing;

3) Do the muster drill on the app;

4) Find another bar and get a second dose of relaxation, and:

5) Take that drink and find their muster station

[mickeychicky]

When I booked it for our cruise, TWO people at Royal Caribbean told me the first night reservation THEY PICK, which is usually always Chops, and then we reserve the other two nights when we board.  They also said there is a notice/letter that is in the cabin with the first night reservation information.  We picked the day, which was Day 2 at the the time which was 9pm but the restaurant info will be in the cabin.  Is this ONCE AGAIN the wrong info from Royal?

[orville99]

23 minutes ago, mickeychicky said:

When I booked it for our cruise, TWO people at Royal Caribbean told me the first night reservation THEY PICK, which is usually always Chops, and then we reserve the other two nights when we board.  Is this ONCE AGAIN the wrong info from Royal?

Yep. 

[mek]

1 hour ago, orville99 said:

Top five things to do as soon as they board - in order of priority:

1) go to a specialty restaurant and make all their dining reservations;

2) Find the nearest bar and start relaxing;

3) Do the muster drill on the app;

4) Find another bar and get a second dose of relaxation, and:

5) Take that drink and find their muster station

Didn't realize muster is still being done on the app.

[mek]

Thanks again for the help.  My last cruise was on Allure last October and it looks like it will be the last with my husband who is in poor health.

Right now I'm cruising vicariously through my grandkids.

[orville99]

8 minutes ago, mek said:

Didn't realize muster is still being done on the app.

Everything except for physically showing up at the muster station so they can scan your sea pass card is now done on the app - very quick and easy.

Edited September 12, 2023 by orville99

[mek]

44 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Everything except for physically showing up at the muster station so they can scan your sea pass card is now done on the app - very quick and easy.

I thought that was great last year on Allure, but I thought I had heard some talk about it going back to the old way.

Glad to hear it hasn't changed and I'll update my grandkids so they know what to do.

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, mickeychicky said:

When I booked it for our cruise, TWO people at Royal Caribbean told me the first night reservation THEY PICK, which is usually always Chops, and then we reserve the other two nights when we board.  They also said there is a notice/letter that is in the cabin with the first night reservation information.  We picked the day, which was Day 2 at the the time which was 9pm but the restaurant info will be in the cabin.  Is this ONCE AGAIN the wrong info from Royal?

We have had a package on every cruise over the last ten years, about 20. There has never been a pre reservation made.  

[mickeychicky]

On 9/12/2023 at 7:21 PM, taglovestocruise said:

We have had a package on every cruise over the last ten years, about 20. There has never been a pre reservation made.  

Well they added it to our cruise calendar, the two people going, the time...just no restaurant.  So, as the others have said I guess it's a "HOLD" and we'll go when we get onboard to reserve the restaurant.  I mean if there a reservation hold, who's to say the specific restaurant they want isn't going to be booked already for that night. 

[c-leg5]

3 hours ago, mickeychicky said:

Well they added it to our cruise calendar, the two people going, the time...just no restaurant.  So, as the others have said I guess it's a "HOLD" and we'll go when we get onboard to reserve the restaurant.  I mean if there a reservation hold, who's to say the specific restaurant they want isn't going to be booked already for that night. 

The first choice may well be booked. That is the disadvantage of the discounted dining  package.

[Special Ed]

3 hours ago, mickeychicky said:

Well they added it to our cruise calendar, the two people going, the time...just no restaurant.  So, as the others have said I guess it's a "HOLD" and we'll go when we get onboard to reserve the restaurant.  I mean if there a reservation hold, who's to say the specific restaurant they want isn't going to be booked already for that night. 

I'm dealing with the same thing. They give you a phone number to call in the reservation so I tried asking. I learned what I already knew from asking before - no specific reservation made. As c-leg5 said, this is the disadvantage to the dining package (which I didn't know when I booked it).

[RFerrington]

On our last cruise (Grandeur, 9-2) they had made a reservation for us on night #2 for Giovanni's.  This is the first time I can remember where they actually made a reservation for us.  We went ahead and kept it but we could have changed it if we had wanted something different.

[zoepipes]

On 9/12/2023 at 1:10 PM, firefly333 said:

Yes they added 18% to the price for mandatory gratuities. Paid up front.

 

I dont know if it's been fixed but the only one I found that didnt charge me 18% when I paid before my cruise was hibachi lunch. Maybe the glitch fixed, but all the rest charged me 18%.

 

Also it's very important they schedule all 3 nights when they board. If they wait the best dining times fill up. Go to a pay restaurant and book asap when they board. 

They must have fixed the glitch because we did have the 18% added to our Hibachi lunch.  Question: is the lunch as good as the dinner?  I know we've had the dinner and there is always more than I can eat - wondering if the lunch was the same.