UDP Guidance needed

[gfkcruiser]

We will be on Odyssey for the TA in April.  Only been on a few RC cruises.  First time with the UDP.  I see that on cruise planner many of the included venues are already booked up for good times.  Are some of these times held for those with UPD or will I have to take the  very early or very late leftover times?   I know we have to wait till onboard to reserve except for first night. Plan to board early and make reservations if possible. 
 

Appreciate any advice or info you have. 
 

[DCPIV]

They hold some spots back for bookings made on board. Just head over to a maitre d' once you're on board and make your reservations. 

[Jasukkie]

I'm a first timer to the UDP too. Is it best to print out your names, res# and cabin, and a list of preferred times and venues? I really can't picture the line for a staff member to manually input 7 dinners and 3 lunches (some with multiple linked cabins) for each party with the UDP. Just the logistics or times, would you prefer 5pm or 9pm since 7pm is booked? I'm really flexible but I do want to have a chance to experience each restaurant at least once. 

[George C]

We had no issues getting reservations for the restaurants we wanted on Allure I would just book at least first couple of nights asap , you can book the entire cruise if you want hen change them later . Really enjoyed UDP on allure. Remember it includes some lunches also but specialty restaurants are normally closed on port days for lunch.

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

I'm a first timer to the UDP too. Is it best to print out your names, res# and cabin, and a list of preferred times and venues? I really can't picture the line for a staff member to manually input 7 dinners and 3 lunches (some with multiple linked cabins) for each party with the UDP. Just the logistics or times, would you prefer 5pm or 9pm since 7pm is booked? I'm really flexible but I do want to have a chance to experience each restaurant at least once. 

Go to any restaurant as soon as you board to make all your reservations. Having a list and being flexible will take the stress out of your booking experience.  If your ship has a Wonderland we have found the line to be the shortest for making reservations.  Picture this, a few cruises ago on a transatlantic the person in front of us was making lunch and dinner reservations for her party of 10, every thing she wanted was booked at her desired times and she was not very happy going back and fort with times and days. We stood in line for 10 - 15 minutes and she was totally confused, we walked across the deck to Giovannis  and made all reservations, left and saw she was still trying to make her reservations. Most ships seem to have a kiosk set up in the promenade for making reservations, if the line is long just pass and head to another venue.  We always eat late and have never had a problem getting the days and times we wanted. 

[Funbobby68]

Is room service included with the udp ?

[CatLadyFemme]

16 minutes ago, Funbobby68 said:

Is room service included with the udp ?

No

[cruiselvr04]

We did the UDP on Odyssey a couple of weeks ago.  I had made a list of where we wanted to eat each night and the time.  We went to a stand outside the MDR and handed the girl our list.  She was able to get us close times to what we wanted.  We did have to switch a couple of nights around but it wasn’t a big deal to us.  It was the first thing we did when we got onboard.  We also changed our minds mid cruise about a night late in the trip and we were able to change it, no problem.  She wrote on my sheet of paper any time/ restaurant changes.  While it’s suppose to show on the app it didn’t always so I just hung the paper on our cabin wall. 
 

We then headed to Giovanni’s for a great lunch that was so much nicer then going to the windjammer.  In fact we only went in the jammer once all cruise and that was for a snack.  You can also get lunch on sea days at the Compass bar as well as Playmakers.
 

We don’t always get the UDP but on the bigger ships with more options we enjoy it.  It’s not worth it on Freedom class and smaller to us because it’s too much repetition.  

[SNJCruisers]

The UDP also works on port days if you eat a late lunch such as Playmakers when they open at 300 or J Rockets when they open at 200.  Of course these days you should shift your dinner a bit later since you won't be hungry around 630-700.   Some days you might have to shift your dinner late if there is a 700 show that you wish to see.

[Jasukkie]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

The UDP also works on port days if you eat a late lunch such as Playmakers when they open at 300 or J Rockets when they open at 200.  Of course these days you should shift your dinner a bit later since you won't be hungry around 630-700.   Some days you might have to shift your dinner late if there is a 700 show that you wish to see.

I would not have thought about that, thanks. We will definitely do this.

 

Our MDR is early seating. We weren't planning on eating there but would it be okay to show up for lobster night and just have a couple of tails as an appetizer and plan on eating at one of the restaurants later that night?

[gfkcruiser]

Are shows at 7 and 9?   We are on for 14 days.  Don’t think we will do specialty all nights. 

[Ourusualbeach]

7 hours ago, Jasukkie said:

I would not have thought about that, thanks. We will definitely do this.

 

Our MDR is early seating. We weren't planning on eating there but would it be okay to show up for lobster night and just have a couple of tails as an appetizer and plan on eating at one of the restaurants later that night?

We dine at Chops on the second formal night and they will bring you as many of the tails as you want. 

[gfkcruiser]

So I went to cruise planner and all the times for all days are taken after 6:30 or after 8:30 for chops and Wonderland.   Will there be spots available when I board or am I shut out - in which case I will cancel the package.  

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, gfkcruiser said:

So I went to cruise planner and all the times for all days are taken after 6:30 or after 8:30 for chops and Wonderland.   Will there be spots available when I board or am I shut out - in which case I will cancel the package.  

As soon as you board before you eat lunch go and make your reservations for the week.  There will be openings for those that book on board.  But don't delay.  If you procrastinate and eat first it could be detrimental. Be flexible, try to see the entertainment schedule on a previous sailing so you can map out your entertainment slots and then plan your meals around them.  Good luck.

[Surfguyxxx]

5 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

We dine at Chops on the second formal night and they will bring you as many of the tails as you want. 

I never knew that; thanks.  I'll be trying this one out!

[SNJCruisers]

7 minutes ago, Surfguyxxx said:

I never knew that; thanks.  I'll be trying this one out!

There's a live thread ending today from the Symphony by Bennybrun and one night at Hooked he enjoyed 4 tails.  The picture was very appealing.

[Jasukkie]

9 hours ago, gfkcruiser said:

So I went to cruise planner and all the times for all days are taken after 6:30 or after 8:30 for chops and Wonderland.   Will there be spots available when I board or am I shut out - in which case I will cancel the package.  

Without forums such as this we would be left thinking this. How hard would it be to add a paragraph in the cruise planner explaining how this all works?

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, Jasukkie said:

Without forums such as this we would be left thinking this. How hard would it be to add a paragraph in the cruise planner explaining how this all works?

 

About as hard as explaining quantum physics to a three-year-old. 😇

[DrDani226]

1 hour ago, Jasukkie said:

Without forums such as this we would be left thinking this. How hard would it be to add a paragraph in the cruise planner explaining how this all works?

Better yet, there’s no reason they cannot make it so that you can make all your reservations ahead of time when you have a package. 

[taglovestocruise]

23 hours ago, DrDani226 said:

Better yet, there’s no reason they cannot make it so that you can make all your reservations ahead of time when you have a package. 

You can make them all as soon as you board the ship. You exchange making reservations before you board for the discount they give you when buying the package. And even though you pre select your first night preferred time it is only a place holder and then rarely/never make a first night reservation. 

[Kbonner]

This UDP thing resembles to overbooked airline seats.

We  booked the UDP for Wonder TA and learned that we have no guaranteed seating in the various venues due to booked out capacity. We cancelled the UDP. For 644$ I expect feasible service and not hassle and begging for admission to specialty restaurants

[rebeccac]

This is one place where NCL does it better.  Once you buy a dining package, when you make a restaurant reservation online before you board, it will automatically use your dining package to "pay" for the dinner.  Although, they do not have an UDP (if you want all the days you just book a package matching the number of nights of your cruise), and I am seriously considering purchasing one for our Odyssey OTS cruise later this year.  

[jean87510]

1 hour ago, Kbonner said:

This UDP thing resembles to overbooked airline seats.

We  booked the UDP for Wonder TA and learned that we have no guaranteed seating in the various venues due to booked out capacity. We cancelled the UDP. For 644$ I expect feasible service and not hassle and begging for admission to specialty restaurants

We had issues with our 3 night bookings for the Symphony last month.  When we were onboard, I immediately was on the app booking shows and restaurants at 1145 am thanks to input from Cruise critic.  Problem was all the decent times were taken and we were unfortunately stuck with the 9pm times.  This was on a ship with 50% sailing capacity.  I had to go to guest services for another issue and they were able to get one of my meals Jaimies at 8p.  We had the Izumi hibachi at 915p plus Hooked at 9pm.  The hibachi I was so tired I dont even remember what i ate.  Hooked luckily was on a sea day so we napped prior.  Point is, I agree these reservations should be made online at least for the big ships.  If you can book a restaurant pre cruise, why cant you do the same at least for the packages?  They will give you a time but you have no idea where.  And then you are trying to book a place along with others once onboard.  Another issue we had with that 1st night was there were apparently NO restaurants open at our time of 9pm.  GS could only get us Jaimies at 8pm.  After eating there, I understood why 🤨

[SNJCruisers]

8 hours ago, rebeccac said:

This is one place where NCL does it better.  Once you buy a dining package, when you make a restaurant reservation online before you board, it will automatically use your dining package to "pay" for the dinner.  Although, they do not have an UDP (if you want all the days you just book a package matching the number of nights of your cruise), and I am seriously considering purchasing one for our Odyssey OTS cruise later this year.  

Yes and no.  On NCL it lets you book the specialty restaurants that offer a la carte pricing as well as package pricing ahead of time because the system doesn't know whether you'll be paying a la carte or through a package.  If you're looking to book a place that has a flat fee such as teppanyaki, then you can't make that reservation until you get on board if you're using a package.  Otherwise they will charge you the full price.

[SNJCruisers]

9 hours ago, Kbonner said:

This UDP thing resembles to overbooked airline seats.

We  booked the UDP for Wonder TA and learned that we have no guaranteed seating in the various venues due to booked out capacity. We cancelled the UDP. For 644$ I expect feasible service and not hassle and begging for admission to specialty restaurants

If you want guaranteed space, then you pay full price.  If you want the discounted package, then you make your reservations on board.  There are many slots available for those that book on board.  You just can't procrastinate and you need to be flexible.