Ultimate Dining Package Question

[Qc-Mtl-To]

Hi all,

 

Sorry if this has been covered before. Im in the process of booking the Silhouette out of Venice on July 27. At this point, I'm hesitating between securing a AQ cabin or to go with a regular verandah. I sailed twice with the Silhouette before and truly love Blu.

 

To get to the point, I would be tempted to secure a regular verandah if I could with certainty book a ultimate dining package. I just dont feel like the MDR every night, so AQ is like an insurance policy against it...

 

From what I understand, the UDP is offered driven on the pre-booking of the specialty restaurants and as a result can only be booked during the first day.

 

My question is: Did any recent cruiser did NOT see the UDP available, or a vast majority attest that they have seen it offered.

 

Im mostly asking as since I will be travelling alone, the difference between a veradah and AQ is ~$500, which could be bridged halfway by the UDP... and to be honest, the quality in BLU always prevented me from trying the other places... Although I wouldnt say no at making Murano my new dining room for the week...

 

Thanks!

[aquaseeker]

We got off the silhouette cruise out of venice a few weeks ago. We had blu on our previous cruises but really loved the aft balcony, so choose a concierge category this last time around. You are right we too were faced with a dining dilemma. We went right to guest relations on boarding. They were offering 20 per cent off speciality restaurants if you dined the first night. So we dined at the lawn grill the first night. Then we choose the 4 dining speciality dining package also at a discounted rate. They were offering the ultimate dining package as well. It just wasn't what we were looking for, so I didn't pay attention to the pricing on that one. It was offered on board the ship but not sure if it was at a discounted price. Here is some good news for you though. At the end of the cruise the 5th day towards the end. They left a message on the phone to let us know that speciality dining would we discounted 30 per cent for the rest of the cruise. The night we ate at Tuscan we were told if we really enjoyed it to talk to the mater dei and he would offer us a discount for another night of dining there. On our cruise the speciality restaurants were not filled hence the discounted prices. Due to a port extensive cruise we dined early 6:30 or 7:00 pm it might have been more filled later in the evening I'm not sure. I hope this helps you make a decision. We made friends with our dining neighbors every night in the speciality restaurants so in that regard it did feel like blu. Have a great time.

[Travel luv]

If the difference is $500 and you are traveling alone, you would still come out on top if you had several or most meals in the speciality restaurants. You are highly likely to get a discount any way, so even if the ultimate dining package is not available, you should come out on top. Is the food in Blu really worth an extra 500 compared to speciality dining?

 

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[terigo]

The UDP was offered before we even got on the ship, right after we got our sea passes. There was a table with all the dining packages available right there. We signed up for it, and it was the best decision we made. I have a post about it on this page. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2058473

Apparently not that many people do take advantage of it (which is weird to me). The maitre d told us there were only 8 couples who had the package.

teri

Edited June 18, 2014 by terigo

[Cruise a holic]

We got off the silhouette cruise out of venice a few weeks ago. We had blu on our previous cruises but really loved the aft balcony, so choose a concierge category this last time around. You are right we too were faced with a dining dilemma. We went right to guest relations on boarding. They were offering 20 per cent off speciality restaurants if you dined the first night. So we dined at the lawn grill the first night. Then we choose the 4 dining speciality dining package also at a discounted rate. They were offering the ultimate dining package as well. It just wasn't what we were looking for, so I didn't pay attention to the pricing on that one. It was offered on board the ship but not sure if it was at a discounted price. Here is some good news for you though. At the end of the cruise the 5th day towards the end. They left a message on the phone to let us know that speciality dining would we discounted 30 per cent for the rest of the cruise. The night we ate at Tuscan we were told if we really enjoyed it to talk to the mater dei and he would offer us a discount for another night of dining there. On our cruise the speciality restaurants were not filled hence the discounted prices. Due to a port extensive cruise we dined early 6:30 or 7:00 pm it might have been more filled later in the evening I'm not sure. I hope this helps you make a decision. We made friends with our dining neighbors every night in the speciality restaurants so in that regard it did feel like blu. Have a great time.

 

We do the same thing as we prefer the SP restaurants on the S class ships to either Blu and or the MDR. We have also done it on the Summit, but only have two speciality restaurants.

 

You can only book this package on board. Since it is for the entire week, you do save money. You can enjoy lunch at Bistro on five, the Lawn grill ( on SIlhouette and Reflection only) in addition to dinner at any specialty restaurant. In addition, during the cruise some of the speciality restaurants also serve lunch- this rotates and can be one or two lunches that aren't announced until you board. IMO works out better for us to take the package- the first day of the cruise we make all of the arrangements , get the times we like, and do not have to wait for "specials", which may not work for us.

 

Enjoy your cruise

Edited June 18, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[miched]

We do the same thing as we prefer the SP restaurants on the S class ships to either Blu and or the MDR. We have also done it on the Summit, but only have two speciality restaurants.

 

You can only book this package on board. Since it is for the entire week, you do save money. You can enjoy lunch at Bistro on five, the Lawn grill ( on SIlhouette and Reflection only) in addition to dinner at any specialty restaurant. In addition, during the cruise some of the speciality restaurants also serve lunch- this rotates and can be one or two lunches that aren't announced until you board. IMO works out better for us to take the package- the first day of the cruise we make all of the arrangements , get the times we like, and do not have to wait for "specials", which may not work for us.

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

 

If you have that package do you still have access to the buffet or able to get a burger or sausage from the mast grill? :rolleyes: :D

 

 

🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Cruise a holic]

If you have that package do you still have access to the buffet or able to get a burger or sausage from the mast grill? :rolleyes: :D

 

 

 

Yes! No restrictions. If you want three lunches- buffet, restaurant and grill- enjoy!!

[MarkusToe]

does anyone know if unlimited dining is available on Summit as well?

Sailing Oct - Nov 2014

The only thing I'm able to see are 5 dinners for 149$ or 3 for 109....

[Cruise a holic]

does anyone know if unlimited dining is available on Summit as well?

Sailing Oct - Nov 2014

The only thing I'm able to see are 5 dinners for 149$ or 3 for 109....

 

Yes- You can only purchase on board. However remember the Summit has Normandie , Qsine and Bistro on Five.

 

We have had the package- but the choices of restaurants isn't the same as the S class ships- especially the Silhouette and Reflection.

 

My DH enjoyed dining in Normandie 5 of the 7 nights, and Qsine the other two. We had lunch at Bistro a few times and a "special" lunch in the Normandie one day during our Summit Cruise. We are sailing on the Summit in August- not sure if we will take the package this time as the MDR is also good.