Ultimate Dining Package To Be Replaced

[firefox247]

12 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Why is this new package confusing?  It's the same package as before, the same price and they removed restrictions.  You can now eat more than once per evening, and you can order 2 entree's now.  They added the Hibachi grill, and Playmakers for late night hot wings.  The only thing they may have removed is embarking lunch.   As far as getting a reservation, that is most likely won't be an issue.  Not many people are going to pay the upcharge.

 

It isn't that cut and dry.  RCI considers Hibachi an experience which is technically excluded from the packages.  The fact that they listed it separately before makes me think it is included now, but we need confirmation.  Playmakers is even more fuzzy.  It wasn't listed before, and it isn't listed now.  RCI's justification has always been that Playmakers is a "bar" and not a "specialty restaurant," so until I see reports of people eating wings for free, I'll be a hopeful skeptic.

[SAmome]

47 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Why is this new package confusing?  It's the same package as before, the same price and they removed restrictions.  You can now eat more than once per evening, and you can order 2 entree's now.  They added the Hibachi grill, and Playmakers for late night hot wings.  The only thing they may have removed is embarking lunch.   As far as getting a reservation, that is most likely won't be an issue.  Not many people are going to pay the upcharge.

I dunno, I'm a little confused about JRs being included.  Say you are poolside Navigator and go to get a burger at 3pm on Nassau day?  It's a la carte grab and go from what I understand.  Included, maybe NO b/c not a sea day and lunch-ish time.  At 4:30 try again, maybe YES b/c approaching dinner hours?

 

On 3 night sailings w/o a sea day, what can you use before 5pm regarding Playmakers, Bamboo Room and Johnny rockets isn't obvious without the UDP specifying hours can be used, which may vary if embarkation/port/sea day.

[vacationlover_mn]

37 minutes ago, SAmome said:

I dunno, I'm a little confused about JRs being included.  Say you are poolside Navigator and go to get a burger at 3pm on Nassau day?  It's a la carte grab and go from what I understand.  Included, maybe NO b/c not a sea day and lunch-ish time.  At 4:30 try again, maybe YES b/c approaching dinner hours?

 

JR’s isn’t ala carts on most ships.  It’s a set price of something like $10

[sisocialworker]

1 hour ago, Andy C said:

I'll just stick to CK.  

gotsta go UDP on ships that don't have CK...like explorer 

[Tree_skier]

My UDP price on AoS hasn't changed at all for December

[SAmome]

27 minutes ago, vacationlover_mn said:

JR’s isn’t ala carts on most ships.  It’s a set price of something like $10

Ok, same question still for Mariner which has a sit down JRs cover charge.  Is 3pm visit on Nassau day no good, but yes at 4:30?  In theory could visit to buy a couple shakes and share some onion rings even if have 8:30 specialty dining reservations.

[RFerrington]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

The only thing they may have removed is embarking lunch.

Where did you see this ?  I have not seen exclusion of embarkation lunch...of course, they never officially sanctioned it before, either.

[robntawn]

On 4/13/2019 at 7:23 AM, Ronaldo807 said:

Robntawn - do you mind sharing what email address you sent this to? Thanks.

I tried to send DM, but it is disabled.  

[molly361]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Why is this new package confusing?  It's the same package as before, the same price and they removed restrictions.  You can now eat more than once per evening, and you can order 2 entree's now.  They added the Hibachi grill, and Playmakers for late night hot wings.  The only thing they may have removed is embarking lunch.   As far as getting a reservation, that is most likely won't be an issue.  Not many people are going to pay the upcharge.

Embarkation lunch was never included.  It has been allowed on most ships but technically it is supposed to be lunch only on sea days.  Don't know about this new package

[AshleyDillo]

27 minutes ago, SAmome said:

Ok, same question still for Mariner which has a sit down JRs cover charge.  Is 3pm visit on Nassau day no good, but yes at 4:30?  In theory could visit to buy a couple shakes and share some onion rings even if have 8:30 specialty dining reservations.

 

The TA FAQ that was released did specify JR was included in the new Ultimate plan.  I would imagine it wouldn't matter what hour you tried to visit them as long as they were open.  And it did say that milkshakes aren't included unless you had the beverage package that included them.

 

It will be interesting since there are a la carte JRs..$35 would buy a lot of food there for one person.

Edited April 15, 2019 by AshleyDillo

[skoolbusdrvr]

9 minutes ago, molly361 said:

Embarkation lunch was never included.  It has been allowed on most ships but technically it is supposed to be lunch only on sea days.  Don't know about this new package

Your itinerary on your first day quotes it a sea day I was on the Oasis of the seas last year in November and we got it for lunch the first day

[RFerrington]

4 minutes ago, skoolbusdrvr said:

Your itinerary on your first day quotes it a sea day I was on the Oasis of the seas last year in November and we got it for lunch the first day

We have always been allowed to eat lunch at whatever specialty restaurant was open when we had the UDP but it has also been a point of confusion for many.  I have heard of some who were denied but we have never been denied.

 

I guess I'll find out soon as we will be on Freedom on April 28 and purchased the old UDP on Black Friday.  I am going to ask the Suite Concierge to make reservations for us at Chops for lunch so that we will not have to fight the Key folks for a seat.

[LMaxwell]

$35 credit one time, or $35 per seating?  I could see JR's being a once and done thing, but if people love Izumi do they get a $35 credit for lunch and then $35 for dinner, each day of the cruise if they so choose?  

 

When is breakfast being added?

[Ronaldo807]

4 hours ago, robntawn said:

I tried to send DM, but it is disabled.  

I don't believe anyone except the admins have messaging capabilities.

[Ronaldo807]

6 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Why is this new package confusing?  It's the same package as before, the same price and they removed restrictions.  You can now eat more than once per evening, and you can order 2 entree's now.  They added the Hibachi grill, and Playmakers for late night hot wings.  The only thing they may have removed is embarking lunch.   As far as getting a reservation, that is most likely won't be an issue.  Not many people are going to pay the upcharge.

I respectfully disagree that it's not confusing and the conflicting answers from Royal Caribbean representatives make it more confusing. To make it clear would be to state that the package includes all upcharge restaurants and bars that serve food during operating hours which Royal has not done.

[SAmome]

9 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

 

The TA FAQ that was released did specify JR was included in the new Ultimate plan.  I would imagine it wouldn't matter what hour you tried to visit them as long as they were open.  And it did say that milkshakes aren't included unless you had the beverage package that included them.

 

The beverage package is back to including milkshakes? I don't read it that way but I assumed if we go, it would be for onion rings and use a bogo coupon for milkshakes.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/beverage-packages

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/experience/dining-packages

 

UNLIMITED DINING PACKAGE 

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package! For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. Plus, enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

[amyhphoto]

Same FB group, same day. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[valareha]

We will be sailing on Harmony next Sunday 4/21, had purchased Ultimate Dining a long time ago for a really low price to try it out as we have never done it before, it has been updated in our planner as Unlimited dining....

 

I’ll report  back on our experience.

[molly361]

8 hours ago, amyhphoto said:

Same FB group, same day. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Well that clears things up    NOT!!!😇

[molly361]

How is embarkation day considered a Sea Day?  Not following that.  Guess when you leave Nassau at 2pm that would be a sea day as well??

[Joseph2017China]

With all this talking about what is included and not included.  The real question is, considering this new plan has more options, than the ultimate for the same price.....will someone not buy this if they can't eat lunch on embarkation day or if they can't use it to get an hamburger on JR? 

 

Honestly, I got it on sale for my upcoming trip, and am pleased.  The ship I'm on has a total of 7 specialty places.  I'm very pleased, but I won't spend that kind of money on a port intensive, 7 day cruise and only have 3 specialty restaurants to chose from.  Even if JR is included.

[cruisinfromtampa]

With all this talking about what is included and not included.  The real question is, considering this new plan has more options, than the ultimate for the same price.....will someone not buy this if they can't eat lunch on embarkation day or if they can't use it to get an hamburger on JR? 
 
Honestly, I got it on sale for my upcoming trip, and am pleased.  The ship I'm on has a total of 7 specialty places.  I'm very pleased, but I won't spend that kind of money on a port intensive, 7 day cruise and only have 3 specialty restaurants to chose from.  Even if JR is included.

My feeling exactly. We’ve never done more than the BOGO. We booked UDP on Harmony because I wanted to try the other restaurants. We paid $150 for the week. 7 dinners plus 3 lunches means $15/meal. I’m ok with that, and it gives us the opportunity to try something different. Will we book it again? Maybe, maybe not. But we generally don’t sail on the big ships with multiple restaurants, so it generally won’t be an option anyway. I’m good with this change, especially if it now includes hibachi.


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[SAmome]

To me it's becoming clear that these other venues are included b/c they are lower cost than the other specialty dining dinner spots and RCCL is betting you can only eat so much for DINNER with UNLIMITED plan.  

 

I think Playmakers/JRs/Bamboo Room will only be able to be used during the day for lunch on AT SEA days.  RCCL wouldn't do something that would cost them more money.  JRs may be open for lunch on Nassau day but I just doubt it will be covered.  

 

Embarkation lunch will be for Keys folks.

 

UNLIMITED DINING PACKAGE 

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package! For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. 

[Ronaldo807]

17 hours ago, valareha said:

We will be sailing on Harmony next Sunday 4/21, had purchased Ultimate Dining a long time ago for a really low price to try it out as we have never done it before, it has been updated in our planner as Unlimited dining....

 

I’ll report  back on our experience.

 

This will be great as we are going on Harmony in May. I'm interested to see how it works for lunch on embarkation day, if vintages is included, if hibachi is included, and if you can go to places like Johnny Rockets/Sabor once they open on port days which appears to be around 2:00-3:00.

[vacationlover_mn]

On 4/15/2019 at 10:49 AM, LMaxwell said:

$35 credit one time, or $35 per seating?  I could see JR's being a once and done thing, but if people love Izumi do they get a $35 credit for lunch and then $35 for dinner, each day of the cruise if they so choose?  

 

When is breakfast being added?

For Izumi, on sea days, under the old package, on Symphony, it was a $35 credit for non hibachi, in late feb.

 

as far as I know, none of the places open for breakfast have ever had a charge?  If JR is open, it’s always been a free breakfast