Multiple Entree’s gone from UDP

[Clarea]

10 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I know they have had less than desired IT. I wonder if it’s actually poor communications between Royal and IT. 

 

I could see tht might be the case if there were occasional IT issues, but Royal's IT issues are constant.  I cannot figure out why they let this go on for so long.   All I can come up with is that their website has defensive programming so automated bots cannot easily get prices, and the defensive programming is causing issues.

[Lionesss]

36 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

One of the main reasons companies change promotions is when they discover that too many people abuse it.  For example, there is an all you can eat restaurant that changed the rules to "Within a 2 hour period".  

 

 

This made me chuckle.

 

I remember visiting my DD in college and her taking us to lunch on her meal "tokens" cause she had many left.

 

She goes we all have a lot left.

We study in the dining hall, have breakfast, and lunch or lunch and dinner on one token.  Why go to the Library if you have your computer.  Everyone does it on weekends.

Besides as long as you stay in venue, your not charged again.

 

She goes some people stay all day, get three meals on one token.

With our leftover $$ we go to the quick shop to buy food for our rooms.

 

Yup, not saying if it is right or not, but gotta love them.

 

 

 

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

37 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

I could see tht might be the case if there were occasional IT issues, but Royal's IT issues are constant.  I cannot figure out why they let this go on for so long.   All I can come up with is that their website has defensive programming so automated bots cannot easily get prices, and the defensive programming is causing issues.

Of course your probably correct. It still makes me wonder about the communications when the reps for the most part rattle off incorrect information unless of course they are only trained on what’s been published online by IT. That’s a real Catch 22. 

[molly361]

So has anyone tried emailing Mr Bailey's  office with this question. Sorry but I have seen incorrect info given to people on their social media sites

[996turbos]

2 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

One of the main reasons companies change promotions is when they discover that too many people abuse it.  For example, there is an all you can eat restaurant that changed the rules to "Within a 2 hour period".  If many people go to specialty restaurant and order multiple entrees and do not finish them, then eventually, they will modify the package.  Same with drinks.  Way too many people were sharing, so what happened?  It was changed.  Change happens after abuse occurs. 

 

This is apples and oranges. Sharing a drink package is specifically excluded. That's abuse if you share. To order more then one entrée when that is what you purchased is fulfilling the agreement between the guest and Royal. Real abuse is a corporation that feels it is justified in changing the rules of the agreement midstream, after payment is taken, because it now doesn't like the deal it agreed to. Fair is something you learn in kindergarten 101. This is why there is so little trust between a consumer and any large company now days.

[Mikew0805]

20 hours ago, squadron said:

Who needs two entrees????

I don't understand why there is so many people so hungry that they need two entrees? I know in another thread someone said "what if you get one and do no like it." Well, I cannot imagine if you take a bite of something and do not like it, that they would not replace it with a different entree. 

 

I guess there are a lot of hungry people on board. 🤷‍♂️

[Queen of Oakville]

12 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

I don't understand why there is so many people so hungry that they need two entrees? I know in another thread someone said "what if you get one and do no like it." Well, I cannot imagine if you take a bite of something and do not like it, that they would not replace it with a different entree. 

 

I guess there are a lot of hungry people on board. 🤷‍♂️

 

Does it really matter why?  My 12 year old son when going through a growth spurt will eat like a college football player.  Some of us need to watch our weight and other's don't.

 

As others have said, it's about contract fulfillment.  You can't change the deal midstream.  

 

[Mikew0805]

1 minute ago, Queen of Oakville said:

 

Does it really matter why?  My 12 year old son when going through a growth spurt will eat like a college football player.  Some of us need to watch our weight and other's don't.

 

As others have said, it's about contract fulfillment.  You can't change the deal midstream.  

 

Sure they can. They do it all the time, and one can get used to it or not cruise with them. This is still an ongoing issue with the Coffee card. I don't like it, but they can do it all they want.

 

To answer your question, yes it does matter why, since it was a question that I chose to ask. Also, I chose to use the word hungry instead of the more appropriate word. My question was not directing that someone should or shouldn't do something.. it is just a question. No need to be defensive.

[awestover89]

15 hours ago, AnnaNicole said:

How many entrees and how many times do you really need to eat?!   Let's go back to the days of quality over quantity.  

 

Cruising was amazing 15-20 years ago.   Multi-course meals.   Good quality.  Perfect portions.   Excellent service. 

 

I cannot stand food waste...which is why I abhor buffets, UDP, and mediocre-poor quality.    Less is more.

 

 

The problem is, how do you define perfect portions, since that's different for everybody? My grandmother could get either an appetizer or an entree and that's it, getting both is too much. My husband usually does one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert. I usually need two appetizers. His brothers almost always get 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and still visit Sorrentos after dinner. No food waste, just different appetites and metabolisms. 

 

Higher quality doesn't equate being able to eat less and still be satisfied. I've had amazing meals at 3 Michelin Star restaurants, but even the best tasting 4oz steak in the world is still only 4oz and isn't filling by itself. 

[awestover89]

24 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

I don't understand why there is so many people so hungry that they need two entrees? I know in another thread someone said "what if you get one and do no like it." Well, I cannot imagine if you take a bite of something and do not like it, that they would not replace it with a different entree. 

 

I guess there are a lot of hungry people on board. 🤷‍♂️

 

Appetite, metabolism, age, muscle mass, athleticism. There are a million reasons why one person may be hungry for larger portions than other people.

[Queen of Oakville]

Not defensive at all, and I should not have quoted you, I should have quoted the person who asked who needs two entrees.

 

My point was that gluttony is not always the answer. My 12 year old devoured his 9 oz filet at chop's and could probably have eaten a second.  We were not on the ultimate dining plan, so we never bothered to ask.  

[JupiterTwo]

26 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

I don't understand why there is so many people so hungry that they need two entrees? I know in another thread someone said "what if you get one and do no like it." Well, I cannot imagine if you take a bite of something and do not like it, that they would not replace it with a different entree. 

 

I guess there are a lot of hungry people on board. 🤷‍♂️

 

I think that many people view cruising as their luxury vacation. As a luxury, they are offered meal choices that they would not ordinarily get at home. Therefore, they want to try a little bit of a lot of things while they are on a cruise ship. Specialty restaurants up the ante over the MDR, and tasting several upscale dishes fulfills the same luxury experience.

 

Being on a cruise ship increases this desire over land-based luxury hotels because you can't just grab a cab and go anywhere else in town, or go to one place cocktails and appetizers, another for the main course, and a third for dessert.

 

On the topic of restaurant hopping, do people who want multiple entrees really eat one to completion before ordering a second one, or do they want both together and they go bath and forth between them? Asking for a second seating at a specialty restaurant for the second entrée would likely not be the ideal way people wish to eat their dinners.

 

My 2 cents...

 

Steve

[dswallow]

I'd be curious to know if they will even take two reservations on the same night at the same restaurant for the same person (or for that matter if they'd even take reservations for the same person at 2 different restaurants on the same night).

 

As that is now what RCCL wants to tell us we have to do if we want two entrees... I can guess the likely answer here. 🙂

[Queen of Oakville]

25 minutes ago, JupiterTwo said:

 

I think that many people view cruising as their luxury vacation. As a luxury, they are offered meal choices that they would not ordinarily get at home. Therefore, they want to try a little bit of a lot of things while they are on a cruise ship. Specialty restaurants up the ante over the MDR, and tasting several upscale dishes fulfills the same luxury experience.

 

Being on a cruise ship increases this desire over land-based luxury hotels because you can't just grab a cab and go anywhere else in town, or go to one place cocktails and appetizers, another for the main course, and a third for dessert.

 

On the topic of restaurant hopping, do people who want multiple entrees really eat one to completion before ordering a second one, or do they want both together and they go bath and forth between them? Asking for a second seating at a specialty restaurant for the second entrée would likely not be the ideal way people wish to eat their dinners.

 

My 2 cents...

 

Steve

 

 

That's the thing - someone with a larger appetite may want 2 steaks but may not want 2 appetizers, 2 salads, or a second entrée with all the sides.  That is, they may not want the entire experience of sitting down again and eating a 2nd full meal from start to finish.

 

Using the main dining room as an example, if I order two entries , I just want the extra protein, I don't want all the sides that come with it.  For example on Lobster night, I want the tenderloin/steak entrée, with the two lobster tails added to the plate.  I don't want all the extra veggies/rice/potatoes that come with the lobster tail.  And most servers will ask - do you want the full entrée or just the lobster tails.  I think that is the same experience that people are looking to extend to the specialty dining venue.  I could be speaking out of place, but I would guess that most people wanting two entries, are looking for the extra protein (or two different proteins) and are not necessarily looking to eat two full meals.  I could be wrong.

[travelplus]

23 hours ago, molly361 said:

Checked three upcoming cruises. Still showing as multiple entries allowed. Has anyone emailed Mr Bailey's people for clarification?

I got a call from  Tiffany from Mr. Bailey's team and she helped me to resolve a few issues and spent almost an hour to resolve it and called me back. I can attest that his team is really good and will get back to you. I also dealt with Laura one of Mr. Godlstein's and now one of Mr. Bayley's assistants too. In addition Mr. Goldstein personally responded to some of my e-mails to him.

 

It would help to contact them and get a hard copy of the policy in writing.

 

 

[travelplus]

One could do a progressive dinner. Start at Giovanni's for your Pasta and Appetizer move on to Chops for your meat and soup and salad and desert.  Or you could start at Izumi's and end up at Giovanni's with a stop at Chops.

 

It sounds like its one entree per person per check and I think they have this policy to make it fare for others who need to dine too for speed of service as well. Perhaps they had a lot of waste or people would ponder a long time when other guests  had reservations.   

Now I wonder if you were to return to the same Specialty  restaurant would you be asked to wait a long time while others who have had reservations  are seated.  I wonder if the priority in being seated again would go down because you had already dined and a party of 5 who did not eat would get seated first. 

 

I  wonder if its one reservation per group or passenger per night?  I mean if you wanted to dine at more than one restaurant you would be placed on a waiting list.

 

I can see those who keep ordering entrees would slow down service for those who want just one entree.  It may throw off the service times and others may miss a show and complain that the service is taking more than the suggested two hours.

 

Would it make more sense not to get this package and then pay $10 if you really wanted a second entree. To me  I am so full after ordering more than one appetizer one entree and one or two deserts. Its more than I eat on land.

 

What could work is if you really wanted a second entree pay the $10 and share it with your dining partner if they too want another entree that you both enjoy   

 

Thoughts?

Edited August 23, 2019 by travelplus

[tomservo]

On 8/22/2019 at 3:36 PM, MrMarc said:

I think it is also the principle.  The description is VERY specific "For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing."  Multiple entrees AND multiple restaurants, not multiple entrees AT multiple restaurants.  

 

 

I disagree with your interpretation of the wording. If they simply meant multiple restaurants, they would say that. No need to mention multiple entrees, that is implicit with "multiple restaurants". It is implicit because no reasonable person would think they were limited to a single entree for the night even if they visited multiple specialty restaurants ("sorry, I see here you already had a steak at Chops earlier tonight, so you're only allowed to order apps and desserts here at Izumi" - not happening).

[tomservo]

On a side note, what's the difference between the current Unlimited and the prior Ultimate plan? Is the only difference that the prior plan allowed one specialty per night?

 

On a side side note, their usage of the term "Unlimited" is ludicrous. Even ignoring the multiple entrees kerfuffle, there is obviously a limit to how many restaurants you can book on any given cruise, so none of this is "unlimited". More like Excessive.

[Colorado Babe]

When we were younger and just started cruising, my husband would order numerous entree's and the staff loved watching him eat.  He is a body builder, does to the gym 5 days a week and also runs 5 miles a day.  Now, that were older, he only orders one entrée with the hopes that I'll only eat half so he can finish mine.  Times have changed.    

[awestover89]

6 minutes ago, Colorado Babe said:

When we were younger and just started cruising, my husband would order numerous entree's and the staff loved watching him eat.  He is a body builder, does to the gym 5 days a week and also runs 5 miles a day.  Now, that were older, he only orders one entrée with the hopes that I'll only eat half so he can finish mine.  Times have changed.    

 

I do love the reaction of the staff sometimes. We went on an Alaska cruise with my brother-in-law when he was 18 and he got at least two entrees every night, once he might have ordered three. One of the later nights on the cruise we had a late lunch on shore, so he only ordered one entree. The waiter was worried something was wrong and tried to get him to order another. The head waiter even noticed something amiss and came by our table to make sure everything was OK. BIL ended up joking that he could have made room if the sliders from the day before were on the menu, but since they weren't he was fine. About 10 minutes later the head waiter came back with a plate of sliders, and there was another plate of them on the table when we sat down the next night as well.

[Colorado Babe]

3 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

I do love the reaction of the staff sometimes. We went on an Alaska cruise with my brother-in-law when he was 18 and he got at least two entrees every night, once he might have ordered three. One of the later nights on the cruise we had a late lunch on shore, so he only ordered one entree. The waiter was worried something was wrong and tried to get him to order another. The head waiter even noticed something amiss and came by our table to make sure everything was OK. BIL ended up joking that he could have made room if the sliders from the day before were on the menu, but since they weren't he was fine. About 10 minutes later the head waiter came back with a plate of sliders, and there was another plate of them on the table when we sat down the next night as well.

Exactly.  He never ordered desert but they brought him one of each!  

We cruise frequently and have never had an issue ordering two items when were with friends.  We will be on the Adventure Sept 6th and are going to try just to see what they say.   

[awestover89]

1 minute ago, Colorado Babe said:

Exactly.  He never ordered desert but they brought him one of each!  

We cruise frequently and have never had an issue ordering two items when were with friends.  We will be on the Adventure Sept 6th and are going to try just to see what they say.   

 

It's not an issue in the MDR, just in the specialty restaurants, and just the entrees in the specialty restaurants (apps and desserts are unlimited)

[Colorado Babe]

4 minutes ago, awestover89 said:

 

It's not an issue in the MDR, just in the specialty restaurants, and just the entrees in the specialty restaurants (apps and desserts are unlimited)

We usually do more specialty dining then the dining room. Rarely go in there! 

[MrMarc]

Well, I called customer service yesterday and again today.  They checked with supervisors and the Resolutions team both times.  Both times they  assured me that the package DOES include multiple entrees just as it is described in the Cruise Planner dispite what the facebook team is saying.  So I have no idea what the real answer is, my guess is it depends on the ship and restaurant.  

[Colorado Babe]

9 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

Well, I called customer service yesterday and again today.  They checked with supervisors and the Resolutions team both times.  Both times they  assured me that the package DOES include multiple entrees just as it is described in the Cruise Planner dispite what the facebook team is saying.  So I have no idea what the real answer is, my guess is it depends on the ship and restaurant.  

When we were on the Adventure in May, there were several young couples on both sides of us in Giovanni's.  The young men tried to order several entree's and they were told "extra charge".  I heard the waiter telling them and when he came back we had a quiet discussion about this as I was surprised.  He did say, yes they do charge extra now.  So, I do know it is definitely being enforced on the Adventure of the Seas.  We will be back in a few weeks so I am curious to see if it is still being enforced.