Dinner BOGO for Diamond Plus

[taglovestocruise]

On 2/1/2022 at 1:25 PM, zanydoc said:

After reading all this I guess I’m still a little confused, lol! So does the BOGO mean buy specialty restaurant for 1 person, get the second person free? Or does it mean buy 1 specialty restaurant, get another specialty restaurant on a different day free? Or can it be either? And has anyone actually utilized a teen or child D+ BOGO dining benefit since this thread started last year? 

The most accurate answer would be, and I am serious,  yes/no/maybe.  And that would change based on ship, sail date, waiter, venue and venue manager.  And maybe even time of day and day of the week. Plus the random cog in the wheel, be sure to ask with a smile on your face. happy cruising

[twangster]

6 hours ago, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Does the D+ BOGO include Johnny Rockets?  The first night I am not usually up for a longish dinner at a specialty restaurant. . . . but, would enjoy a burger and shake. 

 

Highly variable by ship and management.  Typically many do not seem to recognize venues like JR or Playmakers as a "specialty restaurant" but it never hurts to ask.

[zanydoc]

1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

The most accurate answer would be, and I am serious,  yes/no/maybe.  And that would change based on ship, sail date, waiter, venue and venue manager.  And maybe even time of day and day of the week. Plus the random cog in the wheel, be sure to ask with a smile on your face. happy cruising

Maybe showing a little cleavage would help, 😂!

[brillohead]

9 hours ago, zanydoc said:

Thank you. Forgot about the internet benefit. We don’t get the internet package, so he’ll love that! 

You will each get two free days (two 24-hour periods of time), so if you and spouse aren't using yours, he can get six days of internet using each person's benefit.

[Morecruisesplz]

On our recent Symphony cruise we had D+ bogo and a TA dinner for 2. Hostess said they would sort it out so she booked our dinner time day 1 then booked the rest while at it. But Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were day 2 & 3 -- no bogo/no coupons/upcharge to $129 for the holiday dates. So day 1 we paid nothing but our tip. Day 4 Jamie's we paid for one person (bogo from day 1) then another evening we ate at Chops again and were charged zero! We had one more night booked but canceled it because we were already ahead of the game. (Figure that one out.)

[strathcona]

Has anyone try booking for one online for day one or two, cost less, about 15 to 20% off the ship price and then bring your partner as your BOGO. They would charge the dinner to the one person onboard credit and the second person would be free. Always have booked onboard which has never been a problem but trying to save a couple dollars now. 

[nelblu]

On 2/4/2022 at 7:21 PM, brillohead said:

You will each get two free days (two 24-hour periods of time), so if you and spouse aren't using yours, he can get six days of internet using each person's benefit.

And if you are Prime in Casino, you get 30% off the remaining internet package.

[nelblu]

On 2/4/2022 at 10:10 AM, DragonOfTheSeas said:

Does the D+ BOGO include Johnny Rockets?  The first night I am not usually up for a longish dinner at a specialty restaurant. . . . but, would enjoy a burger and shake. 

I'm in the same feeling and been successful in getting the 1st dinner on the second day and the 2nd dinner on any subsequent day.

 

However, many times the host/hostess gets really confused if you are pairing it with friends or relatives who have Chop's + 1.😆

[island lady]

1 hour ago, strathcona said:

Has anyone try booking for one online for day one or two, cost less, about 15 to 20% off the ship price and then bring your partner as your BOGO. They would charge the dinner to the one person onboard credit and the second person would be free. Always have booked onboard which has never been a problem but trying to save a couple dollars now. 

 

For us, it was not the $$...it was the availability.   By the time we got on the ship, nothing...nada...zip available for Chops.  

 

For second leg, I booked "Chops +1"  online in advance while still on first leg.  Could pick any time I wanted, but for some reason could not do it if I just booked Chops alone.  Guess RCI wants to push the packages.  😕

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, strathcona said:

Has anyone try booking for one online for day one or two, cost less, about 15 to 20% off the ship price and then bring your partner as your BOGO. They would charge the dinner to the one person onboard credit and the second person would be free. Always have booked onboard which has never been a problem but trying to save a couple dollars now. 

Pretty sure if you do that, they cancel your pre-booked dinner and give you OBC, then charge you the on-board price for the dinner with the second one being free.  

[island lady]

12 hours ago, brillohead said:

Pretty sure if you do that, they cancel your pre-booked dinner and give you OBC, then charge you the on-board price for the dinner with the second one being free.  

 

Did not happen that way for us.   Chops +1 prepaid online.   Simple to add on second person, zero bill at the "+1" which was Giovannis on first night, then a bit more confusion but same result in Chops on second night.  

 

Though with RCI....you are talking ship to ship "Really Consistently Inconsistent".  😉 

[gerig]

I normally prereserve and for nights 1 and 2 at two specialty restaurants and only pay for one person.  Both of us are diamond plus then we show up for our reservation as 2 which counts as the "free". 

[Oxo]

Going on Symphony OTS in Feb 2023. What is the cost of the BOGO?

TIA

[njkruzer]

5 minutes ago, Oxo said:

Going on Symphony OTS in Feb 2023. What is the cost of the BOGO?

TIA

The cost for one person.  Each restaurant is different. 

[Oxo]

25 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

The cost for one person.  Each restaurant is different. 

So, you must decide and select the restaurant when you buy the BOGO.

THANK YOU! 

[daninwi]

Not 100% clear on how the BOGO works, as next cruise in Feb will be the first at Diamond Plus.  If there are two of us that are D+, do we each get a BOGO?  Or is it per cabin?  For a three day cruise, this could be a huge benefit, as we usually get the UDP.  Understand it may be hard to get into Chops, but never had a problem getting reservations squared away on boarding day - other than our first choice for times might not be available.  

[cruisegirl1]

19 minutes ago, daninwi said:

Not 100% clear on how the BOGO works, as next cruise in Feb will be the first at Diamond Plus.  If there are two of us that are D+, do we each get a BOGO?  Or is it per cabin?  For a three day cruise, this could be a huge benefit, as we usually get the UDP.  Understand it may be hard to get into Chops, but never had a problem getting reservations squared away on boarding day - other than our first choice for times might not be available.  

Yes, you will each get a BOGO. 

M

Edited December 23, 2022 by cruisegirl1

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, daninwi said:

Not 100% clear on how the BOGO works, as next cruise in Feb will be the first at Diamond Plus.  If there are two of us that are D+, do we each get a BOGO?  Or is it per cabin?  For a three day cruise, this could be a huge benefit, as we usually get the UDP.  Understand it may be hard to get into Chops, but never had a problem getting reservations squared away on boarding day - other than our first choice for times might not be available.  

It depends on the cost of the UDP.  Even with the BOGO, dinner at Chops can run $80 because they charge the shipboard price.  If you can get the UDP for $30pp/day, you're better off doing that than using the BOGO.

[monorail81]

On 12/14/2022 at 8:05 AM, gerig said:

I normally prereserve and for nights 1 and 2 at two specialty restaurants and only pay for one person.  Both of us are diamond plus then we show up for our reservation as 2 which counts as the "free". 

Have you ever run into any issues doing it this way once you are aboard?  Because I’d much rather book it ahead of time using the preboarding price than the onboard. 

[island lady]

8 hours ago, monorail81 said:

Have you ever run into any issues doing it this way once you are aboard?  Because I’d much rather book it ahead of time using the preboarding price than the onboard. 

 

The problem is the confusion with the BOGO for the restaurants if you book online in advance.  We have had some that were just fine with it, some confused and not sure what to do, and some got quite nasty about it.  

 

I like to simply book the BOGO as soon as I board, but this recent Serenade cruise....I could not get a reservations in Chops at any time.  Giovanni's was no problem.  

[monorail81]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

The problem is the confusion with the BOGO for the restaurants if you book online in advance.  We have had some that were just fine with it, some confused and not sure what to do, and some got quite nasty about it.  

 

I like to simply book the BOGO as soon as I board, but this recent Serenade cruise....I could not get a reservations in Chops at any time.  Giovanni's was no problem.  

ok. Thanks!  The confusion is what I want to avoid. The nastiness that may be encountered isn‘t worth the extra savings to me.  I’m not so concerned about getting a Chops reservation. We’ve found Chops to be so hit or miss that we hardly eat there anymore. 

[island lady]

1 minute ago, monorail81 said:

ok. Thanks!  The confusion is what I want to avoid. The nastiness that may be encountered isn‘t worth the extra savings to me.  I’m not so concerned about getting a Chops reservation. We’ve found Chops to be so hit or miss that we hardly eat there anymore. 

 

Same thing.  Tried Chops one more time, (and was the one that got nasty trying to get us to pay the second person...even though we had BOGO).   

 

Service was bad...food was "meh".   

 

Giovanni's on the other hand was fantastic.   

 

We decided not to do Chops for dinner again.  Done with it.   Breakfast?  Great!  But not dinner again. 

[firefly333]

On 2/4/2022 at 6:21 PM, brillohead said:

You will each get two free days (two 24-hour periods of time), so if you and spouse aren't using yours, he can get six days of internet using each person's benefit.

If you each get 2 free days wouldnt that be 4 total not 6. Not following your math.

[Merion_Mom]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

If you each get 2 free days wouldnt that be 4 total not 6. Not following your math.

 

I'm guessing that she means if you start the 24 hour period at noon, it overlaps two days, so four vouchers laid end to end, noon to noon, would stretch into 6 calendar days.  🙂 

[firefly333]

29 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

I'm guessing that she means if you start the 24 hour period at noon, it overlaps two days, so four vouchers laid end to end, noon to noon, would stretch into 6 calendar days.  🙂 

I'm disappointed izumi cut the orders so much. I can buy a lot of sushi here for $5 wednesday sushi day. I didnt mind $13 for a large order onboard but cutting it from 8 pieces to 4 is half. And other dishes cut way back allure dec 11.