Pandamonia

Once you hit that D then it feels much better because you can avoid being ripped off completely by royals terrible pricing system. I calculated that id need to save 200 per person per week on the cruise fare on another line to be in the same position as sailing royal with the loyalty benefits. So on a 12 or 14 day cruise there is 800 per couple which isnt a small sum. This is further complicated by the fact i usually do ultimate dining because my partner loves her sushi and that gives 40% off bottles of wine. A bottle of red at $33 less 40% isnt to bad even by royals standards its actually then cheaper than P&O and the rose wine is even cheaper at $29. I then plan to combine this with the coffee card and i think i can get soft drinks from Johnny rockets on the ultimate package in the 20$ budget to eat there per day. Now royal has added 40% off wine as an alternative use on its vouchers its even easier to do by the pool. If that fails then i still have the currently 140GBP per day that im NOT spending on the package to dip in to after the 4 vouchers are exhausted. But i think im finally at the point where i no longer want to drink on a cruise for the sake of drinking so i think i wont miss it.

I was talking about speciality, Not MDR. I don't eat in the MDR any more because the food is poor and I prefer restaurant environment rather than a School dinner hall MDR.

Food and drinks service both worse on Royal than P&O based on last two cruises I've been on. Drinks service on royal is basically the worst I've seen it since they moved to all packages which means they really don't care if you get a drink or not since they have been paid already. Compared to P&O they actually come over and asked if I wanted another just as I run out. Royals ships are better and their customer service does seem to care when you complain unlike P&Os which seem to just go blank faced when complaining about a problem. Royal might have been superior in every way once upon a time now they are just more expensive all of the time.

I'll be honest the big ships are nice for a week but everything on them is worse than the mid sized ships. Service, food and overly busy in places you want to be. Don't kill yourself just to get on one imo there will be more deals once the global economy hits the skids.

Well Royal cant cook a fillet steak any more to save its life. for 55$ + 18% tip you expect better but the waiter just looks at your chewy well done steak and cant understand whats wrong with it. On P&O (carnival brand) i got a 10oz fillet with a lava stone and cooked my own to perfection for around 18$ per person and it was amazing. The alcohol was also cheaper and better. They no longer charge tips anywhere or even the room but they only make your room once a day.

Just got back from the cheapest P&O cruise ive ever been on. Cheap drinks, good service. MDR was supposedly good but for around 20 USD per person we ate speciality every night. Food was very good and service was excellent mostly. Only problem was the price was so cheap it allowed a much different demographic on board but they weren't a problem. Upside was that the cost was so low that anything less than perfect really wasnt an issue. Then there is royal which royally rips you off and then has the cheek to not even get the basics right and then expect you pay their staffs wages in 18% tips for zero service.

Everything on Royal is more expensive and MUCH worse than it used to be. Speciality restaurants couldnt cook a medium fillet steak. Also no staff and 80% empty tables on wonder in speciality. Drinks packages are a rip off. Drinks prices are a rip off too. Service is pretty bad never see a waiter walking around. Cruise prices are sky high and they would rather sail empty than discount. Wonder had entire blocks of cabins empty at back of the ship in October med cruise. I just got back from a P&O cruise which was so cheap i couldnt believe the price. 40 quid a day drinks package but limited to 15 alcoholic ones at 7 quid max spend. Peroni was 5.25 a pint cocktails 6.95 GBP. Best bit was that i NEVER went to the bar as a waiter fetched every drink for me and best bit NO STUPID 18% TIPS! How amazing that the staff are paid a salary by the company and not the customer directly! Contrary to my last 5 Royal cruises where i mostly found myself stuck in a queue for a drink and then had to pay 18% for someone to pass me a bottle from the fridge. Royal is basically chasing profits by increasing prices and providing less which is short termism and will ultimately damage the brand longer term. Had i now not got free diamond drinks and 40% off bottles of wine i dont think id even sail royal any more. No way am i paying 100 GBP per day for drinks package which a few years ago was as low as 27GBP per day for beers, wines and spirits. Even at 50 GBP i dont think ill be paying it any more. Royal has simply put me off the whole drinks package thing now. Upside is that ill spend 1400-2000 GBP per couple for a 2 week cruise and i wont gain like 5kg in weight. Thanks Royal for opening my eyes and keeping me slim. Your greed has both made me richer and slimmer!

People actually pay for those things in the US? In Europe we laugh at people who paid for those.... but they were always empty on Euro sailings.... Go figure...

35 usd which is the fixed price menu option

Royal is so uncompetitive in Europe right now they have halved the drinks package cost on Euro sailings. i just paid 39 GBP for 7 days which is around 45 USD currently per day. Offer is on 2022 and 2023 sailings. The Wonder was very empty with entire sections of inside cabins closed off on the ship with even half the windjammer closed on certain days. I just got 200GBP off using CAS discount on an ocean view with free balcony upgrade for June. Paid less than 100 GBP per night pp and the discount drinks package makes the cruise feel like 2019 pricing. Purchased the UDP and got half of the money back given they can not cook a steak correctly in ANY restaurant on the first try and basically it starts to become a pretty economical holiday on board royal again... Meanwhile Royal thinks selling 200 USD cabanas on the deck which were empty whole cruise is a good way to make money.... I cant wait for the coming economic recession as it might focus them on getting the basics right and pricing things correctly as over 100USD per day for drinks is obscene.