Allure.....First Night Done Right

[martyap]

Our first experience on the Allure. The cruise planner is offering first night specialty dining at a 50% reduction or "starting at $15pp"....it looks like you pick the time and they pick the venue and you could tweak it upon boarding.

We have selected MTD so we could pick our shows and then schedule dining times around our show schedule.

 

1. Is it a good idea to do a specialty restaurant day #1? Is the First Night Done Right a good idea? I guess they want to fill the specialty restaurants and there is no guarantee what you end up with.

 

2. I had read that it was a good idea to try to schedule Ocean Aria on the first night........is that true?

 

Thanks

Karen

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Our first experience on the Allure. The cruise planner is offering first night specialty dining at a 50% reduction or "starting at $15pp"....it looks like you pick the time and they pick the venue and you could tweak it upon boarding.

We have selected MTD so we could pick our shows and then schedule dining times around our show schedule.

 

1. Is it a good idea to do a specialty restaurant day #1? Is the First Night Done Right a good idea? I guess they want to fill the specialty restaurants and there is no guarantee what you end up with.

 

2. I had read that it was a good idea to try to schedule Ocean Aria on the first night........is that true?

 

Thanks

Karen

Yes its good to book it early. If there are rough seas are its too windy they will cancel it. Usually pretty calm first night .

 

Bill

 

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[Tee & Chilli]

I've read here you may change the restaurant pre selected for you. $15 is a good price and I've purchased this deal also.

[easyboy]

Whichever way you can do it. $15pp still a good price.

 

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[kalliekae]

We enjoy going to a specialty restaurant on the first night. Our experience has been that there are very few people and service is outstanding. Food is better to us in the specialty restaurants than in the MDR. The $15 price is a good value. I hope they offer it on our cruise next year although I am pretty picky as to which restaurant they would place us in on our first night.

[martyap]

Thanks......I booked the First Night Done Right at $15pp and I'm sure at that price whatever restaurant RCCL pre selects will be fine.

[sdpete]

$15 is a good deal.

[mkam2821]

Just came off of Allure. We did first night done right. There was a voicemail onboard advising they assigned us to Sabor. As I wanted to use our complimentary lunch for Sabor, we went to Chops and asked if they could change the reservation to that venue which they did with no problem (perhaps because we eat late).

We enjoyed our meal and our receipt showed no balance (though we did leave an additional gratuity since we presumed what the wait staff would be receiving would be based upon the reduced fee.

[njmomof2]

Has anyone done this who also has D+ BOGO? I'm travelling with mom in April and she is D+ so get the BOGO deal, which I believe must be either night 1 or 2.

 

If we decide to purchase under this program, can we then use the D+ BOGO for night 2 or will they allow us to push it out further in the week?

[cruzin76]

Just got off Allure. As soon as we boarded at 11.30 we went to CP 150 to check our First night done right booking. Joy said we had no reservations scheduled and it was our choice for time and restaurant. We did CP150 at eight and it was great. Only a third full. We did not get stuffed but the food and service was great. You will get the time and restaurant you want. They are doing these promotions because they need to drum up business. Just reserve as soon as you board. Important, also bring a print out of your reservation. This helps them a lot to find you in the system. We didn't and it took Joy ten minutes to find us. You can go to any restaurant when you board to book. We also had a 3 night package and I will have to say Giovanni's won hands down . Filet is awesome. Chops and CP 150 were great also, but grading food, atmosphere, and service won our vote for a return night. Also if you enjoy eating outside you will enjoy both Chops or Giovanni's outside. One night was piano in central park another was classic guitar. Central park is just a great place to be in a isolated place on a ship of 8000 counting crew.:)

[cruzin76]

Recommend reserving Oceania the first night. It would have been a memory maker to see this performance the first night. Ours was cancelled and rescheduled for 7pm the forth night. It is best at night. We saw it from our balcony at different times and the lights at night add elegance to the show.

MTD can't compete with specialty restaurants. We had MTD night 3, night 5 2nd formal night and night 7. Food was great all nights. Service was ok night 3 and rushed night 5 and 7. Night seven dinner took only 45 mins. That's starters, main course, coffee and dessert. Waiters were rushing because we waited 30 minutes to get in with reservations. Passengers were getting upset because they were seated no reservations in a different line at the same time. Got to admit night 7 made a A+ cruise into a A-. If you have early times you should be alright. After eight I know they had a problem on the nights I mentioned

[martyap]

Thanks for all the updated info.......we booked all our MTD for around 6:45/7 and now we are just waiting for the entertainment to show up in the CP. January 2nd will be the 90 day mark so hopefully we can finalize soon.

 

We don't mind the meals in the MDR as there is always something to select. There was a promo on Giovanni's at $24pp a few weeks back so we grabbed that........then we saw the First Night promo and it is great to know that RCCL offers the flexibility to change venues/times. We will check it out once we board.

 

They are not very flexible with the promo Giovanni's reservation. I tried to modify the date and it would only allow me to cancel at the $24 price and then re-book at the regular $30 price. Not a big deal.

[Gatorshill]

Just off Allure. We did the First Night Done Right. We were expecting a message in our room about which venue/time, but didnt see one. We didnt check the voicemail though, and now that I think of it the light was flashing the first day. We went to go check at the front desk. The first person we talked to in the promenade at the dining kiosk had no idea what we were talking about and didnt know the promotion was out there. The second said we were booked in Giovanni's, but we could switch to Samba if we liked. The way it was said, it didnt sound like we had a choice to switch to Chops or 150, but we didnt ask either. We had already booked Samba at a pre-cruise discounted rate, so we stuck with Giovannis. At the $15 its well worth it.