$291 for Unlimited Dining Package - Too Expensive?

[mramella]

Hello,

 

The Unlimited Dining Package for our 7 day cruise on Icon of the Seas next March is $291 per person.

 

That seems like A LOT!

 

What do you guys think? Too much?

 

Thanks!

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by mramella

[Denversail]

I’m guessing everything will cost more for awhile on that ship.

[Sunshine3601]

Everything always costs more on brand new ships.     How many restaurants do they have you want to go for Lunch and Dinner?   Only you can determine if it is worth it.    

The average price for a 7 day cruise seems to vary from $225 to $260 (based on what I see on my future cruises).    So $291 isn't bad.     

 

Book it now then if you see a sale, cancel and rebook at the sale price.    

[taglovestocruise]

$41 per meal is way too much, if that is before the 18% is added in then it is way way too much. 7 diners and sea day lunches at $20/22 per meal is a good price. We were on Quantum 10 night and the UDP was 261.00 and that included 7 lunches. That being said, prices for everything seem to be sky rocketing.  Royal seems to be nickel and diming every one to recoup the billions they borrowed in 2020/2021/2022. Just need 20 billion dimes and they are good to go.

Edited February 22, 2023 by taglovestocruise

[John&LaLa]

59 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

$41 per meal is way too much, if that is before the 18% is added in then it is way way too much. 7 diners and sea day lunches at $20/22 per meal is a good price. We were on Quantum 10 night and the UDP was 261.00 and that included 7 lunches. That being said, prices for everything seem to be sky rocketing.  Royal seems to be nickel and diming every one to recoup the billions they borrowed in 2020/2021/2022. Just need 20 billion dimes and they are good to go.

 

Packages, food and drink, are fairly new in the timeline of cruising. If it's to much, do ala carte

[MaryZ]

I just paid approx $533 with gratuity for the Anthem.  I'm pretty sure it was on sale for $225 pp. 
I don't think that's too much for the Icon.  They have more restaurants than the anthem does
 

[goldfish65]

Wondering if having the UDP gives you any priority for getting reservations, or will you find that venues are sold-out regardless.

[wreckem2013]

10 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Wondering if having the UDP gives you any priority for getting reservations, or will you find that venues are sold-out regardless.

UDP reservations are first come first served. 

[ARandomTraveler]

If you take the cost of your package plus the 18%, then divide it by 7 (or however many days your cruise is), and the answer is $34 or less, that's about the average price for a dining package. 
 

Sometimes it's a little lower and that's when you know you got a good sale. If it's more, it's a bad deal. 
 

The more you use it, the lower that "per meal" cost is, but if you calculate it assuming you'll eat dinner at a specialty every night, and the cost is $34 or less then it's worth buying. Otherwise no.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[ARandomTraveler]

1 hour ago, goldfish65 said:

Wondering if having the UDP gives you any priority for getting reservations, or will you find that venues are sold-out regardless.

Actually it's the exact opposite. People with the dining package get what's left at the time they board the ship and make reservations for the week. 
 

People who paid individually for a restaurant get the first choice for days/times. Suite guests get second choice. And then everyone else gets what's left. If you have an early boarding time, you have a better chance at getting a reservation that you want. The later you board, the less options you'll have. 
 

You can get on wait lists though. 

[paulco]

I love late MDR, it’s quite reasonable!

[nolimits]

Just off OASIS upon Boarding made 4 reservations kept the other 3 nights fluid .

those 3 nights we would ask for reservations and where told no more reservations all full. We never missed a meal just showed up and where seeted. Had  to have precocktail at Central Park bar  1 of those 3 nights. The Res seem like suggestions 

[Merion_Mom]

There are two ways to think about the price of the UDP.

 

1.  "OMG!" More than $40 pd pp! I'm having a heart attack!"

 

 

2. So many discussions on this forum around the quality/declining quality of the MDR experience. So many times posters have said, "They should just raise the cruise fare a few hundred dollars and restore the quality!"

 

If you are a #2, that's what this UDP does for you.

[Sunshine3601]

6 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

If you take the cost of your package plus the 18%, then divide it by 7 (or however many days your cruise is), and the answer is $34 or less, that's about the average price for a dining package. 
 

Sometimes it's a little lower and that's when you know you got a good sale. If it's more, it's a bad deal. 
 

The more you use it, the lower that "per meal" cost is, but if you calculate it assuming you'll eat dinner at a specialty every night, and the cost is $34 or less then it's worth buying. Otherwise no.

 

Remember you can use for lunch too.  Or grab some snacks at Playmakers or get appetizers at Hooked before going to dinner at one of the other venues.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Sunshine3601

[cruisetorelax44]

The$290 includes gratuities.  I was honestly surprised it didn't cost more with all of the new restaurants coming. My 7 night Navigator UDP was $245 plus grats... which works out to about $290. 

[crewsweeper]

We've got UDP for the upcoming Wonder cruise.  Picked up on sale earlier last year before price rises.  However, I'm entertaining the prebook individually option for our January 24 cruise as these prices are creeping up so that even a 35% off sale is way more than what we have typically paid in the past.  Will save the hassle of trying to book on board with UDP. Biggest roadblock is DW is not a planner and doesn't want to commit early.  But second time on ship she should have good idea of where to go and where to avoid or use as alternative.

[smokeybandit]

Is it too expensive for you? That's all that matters.

Some will say it's a great deal. Others will point out that paying extra for food when you've already paid for food is a rip off.

[Jimbo]

Our Jewel Cruise for 14 nights is $297 plus grats per person.

[ARandomTraveler]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Remember you can use for lunch too.  Or grab some snacks at Playmakers or get appetizers at Hooked before going to dinner at one of the other venues.

I know, and if someone eats more than once a day it becomes a better deal, but to assess whether the price is "good" or "bad," using the 1-meal-per-day calculation gives an apples-to-apples comparison that makes it easier to compare an average price. 

[ARandomTraveler]

2 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

We've got UDP for the upcoming Wonder cruise.  Picked up on sale earlier last year before price rises.  However, I'm entertaining the prebook individually option for our January 24 cruise as these prices are creeping up so that even a 35% off sale is way more than what we have typically paid in the past.  Will save the hassle of trying to book on board with UDP. Biggest roadblock is DW is not a planner and doesn't want to commit early.  But second time on ship she should have good idea of where to go and where to avoid or use as alternative.

I'm leaning this way too. I've already made a couple individual bookings and am deciding whether I want to buy the UDP or not. It's kind of nice to just book them and have it out of the way.
 

I really disliked the stress of getting on the ship and rushing around to make show and dining reservations before all the spots were taken. It felt like the Hunger Games and wasn't a pleasant way to start the trip.

 

I might still buy the UDP just to give the option to randomly pop in for lunches and use it for dinner some nights. We're going on a unique itinerary (an Asian route), so the windjammer and the MDR have some different food options that I feel like I might enjoy so I don't want to buy the UDP and then feel like I "have" to eat at a specialty every night to get the best bang for my buck.
 

Basically I just have to decide if it's worth spending $800 on the UDP for 12 days even if I don't use it as much as we did last time, or if I should just stick with individual reservations. 

[Rusty_lock]

16 hours ago, mramella said:

Hello,

 

The Unlimited Dining Package for our 7 day cruise on Icon of the Seas next March is $291 per person.

 

That seems like A LOT!

 

What do you guys think? Too much?

 

Thanks!

 

It does seem like a lot but I think this is the what we can expect going forward.  I got the UDP for our upcoming Oasis cruise back in November for 225.  The current price is 265.  I checked our Icon cruise in 2024 and it is listed for the same price as yours.  I'm assuming it'll come down some when it goes on sale.  225 is good value.  I struggle at 290.  I'd probably just do a 3 night deal and maybe a lunch or two a la carte.

[Rusty_lock]

4 hours ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

The$290 includes gratuities.  I was honestly surprised it didn't cost more with all of the new restaurants coming. My 7 night Navigator UDP was $245 plus grats... which works out to about $290. 

Interesting... I had not noticed that.  On my previous purchases, 18% gratuities were added at check out. Here on Icon that is not the case.  That brings the price down to 245.  I'm assuming that when it goes on sale it'll drop to at least 225 which is my threshold for purchasing it.  

 

EDIT: I just checked our for our Family cruise on Harmony that I didn't plan on getting it and grats are added after at check out.  

 

So 290 ends up looking better than I thought. 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Rusty_lock

[molly361]

3 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

We've got UDP for the upcoming Wonder cruise.  Picked up on sale earlier last year before price rises.  However, I'm entertaining the prebook individually option for our January 24 cruise as these prices are creeping up so that even a 35% off sale is way more than what we have typically paid in the past.  Will save the hassle of trying to book on board with UDP. Biggest roadblock is DW is not a planner and doesn't want to commit early.  But second time on ship she should have good idea of where to go and where to avoid or use as alternative.

Same here. I  al ready pre-booked 2 dinners and 3 lunches which were on a good sale and will probably cancel the UDP 

 

 

 

[cruisegirl1]

We booked the UDP because we didn't want to have to deal with long MDR lines or having to wonder if we would get reservations at CK. 

 

Now I'm reading that getting a specialty restaurant reservation mid evening is difficult as all the preferred times go to those purchasing individual dinners or to suite guests who (with the assistance of the suite concierge) can get a reservation ahead of time. UDP passengers get the times that are left.  

 

I thought the price was OK.  $225 plus gratuity for a 7 night Oasis class ship.   It fluctuates between $225 and $260 almost daily.

 

It would be the first time  with the dining package.  I'm hoping that  if we can't get reservations that suit us that we can get a refund for the package.  

 

M

 

 

[cruisetorelax44]

2 hours ago, molly361 said:

Same here. I  al ready pre-booked 2 dinners and 3 lunches which were on a good sale and will probably cancel the UDP 

 

 

 

cancel if you want, but i know of many people who bought the UDP, and then individually bought restaurants for every lunch and dinner. then once on board, they just asked to keep the dining times for the UDP, and canceled the individual books. They got all of their money back as refundable on board credit. It's extra work, and a lot of money to lay out twice, but they got their reservations.