Best way to dine with 7 night UDP on Harmony of the Seas?

[Sigyn]

I have an upcoming cruise on Harmony of the Seas and I purchased the UDP. With a 7-night cruise, how should I divide up my nights among the specialty restaurants? It's just myself and my teenage son. I see five key restaurants that I'd like to visit for dinner: 150 Central Park, Chops Grille, Izumi Hibachi, Jamie's Italian and Wonderland. There's also Izumi Sushi, but my son only eats California rolls when it comes to sushi so we'll skip that. I only want to go to Izumi Hibachi once, since there's an extra pp charge for it above the cost of the UDP. If we visit each of these five restaurants once, we still have two nights to fill. Which two of the remaining four restaurants should we visit twice? 150 Central Park, Chops, Jamie's or Wonderland?

 

I went ahead and paid separately to reserve Izumi Hibachi for dinner one night mid-cruise since I heard it's difficult to get those reservations. I'll accept OBC for what I paid for it once we're on board and get the time moved to our UDP.

 

Also, I see that we can go to lunch at restaurants on sea days. We have three sea days, plus the day of embarkation and I heard that Chops or Jamie's might be open on embarkation day. Does anyone know which specialty restaurants tend to be open on sea days? There is also a Johnny Rockets and Sabor Taqueria on Harmony. (We can't go to Coastal Kitchen because we're not in a suite or Pinnacle Club.) I'd like to try Sabor for lunch one day.

 

I'm not 100% sure how the $20 a la carte per day stipend works at restaurants with UDP. If anyone can explain, I'd be grateful. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by njsmom

[crewsweeper]

 

We loved 150CP so either that or Chops for 2 dinners.   Wonderland is once and done IMO.  But do the braised short ribs.    If your son like Jamie's menu, do that one again.

 

Oh, I think you can get a $20 credit at Johnny Rockets for lunch and I almost forgot about Sabor.  Also a credit for lunch, but skip trying dinner there.  Good fish tacos.  

Edited March 15, 2023 by crewsweeper

[Sigyn]

4 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

 

We loved 150CP so either that or Chops for 2 dinners.   Wonderland is once and done IMO.  But do the braised short ribs.    If your son like Jamie's menu, do that one again.

That's a good idea about Jamie's. My son really loved the spaghetti and tiramisu at Onda on the Norwegian Prima in December when we did a holiday cruise. Sometimes it's the simple things done really well that are appreciated. He also loves filet mignon, so that's a possibility with Chops. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by njsmom

[happy cruzer]

Good question.  What about Vintages?  Can the UDP be used there as well say for a late lunch then have a late dinner in one of the other restaurants?

 

Thanks.

[Starry Eyes]

How many sea days on your cruise?

 

You may find Johnny Rockets open on port day afternoons.  As long as you (can your teen spoil his appetite?) don’t spoil your dinner, keep that in mind, too, option for a JR stop.  
 

Wonderland is cutesy.  I do not think a teenage boy (and probably not you either) will want to do that twice in one cruise.

 

I think Jamie’s has a nice lunch menu.  The dinner menu is similar with a few additions.  I think you will find Jamie’s open on embarkation day for lunch.  So, likely embarkation lunch, plus a dinner and maybe another sea day lunch at Jamie’s…unless you love Italian (like we do), you might not want to reserve another dinner at Jamie’s.  
 

Chops lunch menu lacks some of my favorites from their dinner menu.  On the UDP, I tend to do Chops at dinner a couple times rather than dinner once and lunch once.  Of course, the real steakhouse fans will eat there more than that….reserve  lunches, too, if steakhouses are your thing.

 

We like reserve 150 CP and reserve it twice.  Look at the menu and see if it appeals to you.

 

 

 

 

[crewsweeper]

1 hour ago, happy cruzer said:

Good question.  What about Vintages?  Can the UDP be used there as well say for a late lunch then have a late dinner in one of the other restaurants?

 

Thanks.

I believe you can do that for a $ credit.  But Vintages no longer has it's own tapas.  Just appies from Jamie's.

[Hutcha]

2 hours ago, njsmom said:

I went ahead and paid separately to reserve Izumi Hibachi for dinner one night mid-cruise since I heard it's difficult to get those reservations. I'll accept OBC for what I paid for it once we're on board and get the time moved to our UDP.

Is this an accepted practice? I know it works for Star class, but I have an Icon cruise next year that I was wondering about. I have the UDP on that one.

[Sigyn]

1 hour ago, Starry Eyes said:

How many sea days on your cruise?

 

You may find Johnny Rockets open on port day afternoons.  As long as you (can your teen spoil his appetite?) don’t spoil your dinner, keep that in mind, too, option for a JR stop.  
 

Wonderland is cutesy.  I do not think a teenage boy (and probably not you either) will want to do that twice in one cruise.

 

I think Jamie’s has a nice lunch menu.  The dinner menu is similar with a few additions.  I think you will find Jamie’s open on embarkation day for lunch.  So, likely embarkation lunch, plus a dinner and maybe another sea day lunch at Jamie’s…unless you love Italian (like we do), you might not want to reserve another dinner at Jamie’s.  
 

Chops lunch menu lacks some of my favorites from their dinner menu.  On the UDP, I tend to do Chops at dinner a couple times rather than dinner once and lunch once.  Of course, the real steakhouse fans will eat there more than that….reserve  lunches, too, if steakhouses are your thing.

 

We like reserve 150 CP and reserve it twice.  Look at the menu and see if it appeals to you.

 

 

 

 

Very helpful info. Thank you! Three sea days on our cruise.

 

Could any teenage boy spoil their appetite? An hour later and they're ready to eat again! 🤣

Edited March 15, 2023 by njsmom

[Starry Eyes]

1 hour ago, njsmom said:

Very helpful info. Thank you! Three sea days on our cruise.

 

Could any teenage boy spoil their appetite? An hour later and they're ready to eat again! 🤣

Yeah, I thought a late lunch was more likely to spoil your appetite than his.

 

With three sea days plus embarkation lunch, you have lots of opportunities to use your UDP😀.  I know your son is not a big sushi fan, but you might want to look at the Izumi menu.  They do have other items, like noodle dishes.  Izumi might be open for one of your sea day lunches.  BTW, you may want to make reservations for all the sea day lunches you think you want as soon as you board.  You can always cancel one or more of them in favor of non-reservation places like Johnny Rockets if you wish; while cancelling is pretty easy…reserving later might be challenging as others may have snagged the spots.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Starry Eyes

[springgrl]

We recently did the UDP on the Allure of the Seas.  Sabor and Johnny Rockets will definitely be open on embarkation day and are part of the UDP.  We loved Sabor and, especially their house made guacamole.  We ended up going to lunch at Sabor three times during the week, once to Johnny Rockets and once to Chops.  Chops has nice salads for lunch.  Vintages tapas were not included in the $25 food credit but it might be different on the Harmony.  150 Central Park was our favorite restaurant and we went to dinner there three times.  There wasn’t a Wonderland on the Allure but we did eat there when we were on the Odyssey.  I agree with the previous poster; it’s fun but, for us, it was a “one and done” experience.  

[happy cruzer]

6 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

I believe you can do that for a $ credit.  But Vintages no longer has it's own tapas.  Just appies from Jamie's.

Thanks for the report.  The app for Harmony shows Vintages as having the tapas...

[islandchicklet]

We were on Harmony in September and Jaime's was open on embarkation day.  It was so nice to go and sit down in a quiet, cool place and be away from all the fluttering of 1st day excitement. I love Sabor but it is outside and I am still lugging around my carry ons and in "clothes" so I am hot. So if you want to start off the cruise relaxed I suggest Jaime's for lunch!

[SV1432]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:15 AM, njsmom said:

I went ahead and paid separately to reserve Izumi Hibachi for dinner one night mid-cruise since I heard it's difficult to get those reservations. I'll accept OBC for what I paid for it once we're on board and get the time moved to our UDP.

I know someone else posted a question on this, but I wouldn’t be certain on the OBC for this. Admittedly, I have no idea what your C&A status is or the room category you’re in, but I don’t believe this practice is the norm. If the extra price of pre-booking a specific restaurant so you can guarantee a reservation is worth it, that’s awesome. But I wouldn’t just assume an OBC is a given.
 

If RC is allowing that as a normal practice, it defeats the value of the individual restaurant packages (higher price point but earlier choice of dining times) and decreases the value of the UDP for others that may want to experience Izumi.
 

If you get to have a guaranteed reservation for the same price point as someone on UDP who can’t reserve in advance (other than Day 1 or 2), congrats on the awesome work around! It makes sense to pay more for a guaranteed, early reservation, especially if one absolutely has to eat at a specific venue they find value in. What exactly would RC be issuing an OBC for though? 

[Sigyn]

59 minutes ago, SV1432 said:

I know someone else posted a question on this, but I wouldn’t be certain on the OBC for this. Admittedly, I have no idea what your C&A status is or the room category you’re in, but I don’t believe this practice is the norm. If the extra price of pre-booking a specific restaurant so you can guarantee a reservation is worth it, that’s awesome. But I wouldn’t just assume an OBC is a given.
 

If RC is allowing that as a normal practice, it defeats the value of the individual restaurant packages (higher price point but earlier choice of dining times) and decreases the value of the UDP for others that may want to experience Izumi.
 

If you get to have a guaranteed reservation for the same price point as someone on UDP who can’t reserve in advance (other than Day 1 or 2), congrats on the awesome work around! It makes sense to pay more for a guaranteed, early reservation, especially if one absolutely has to eat at a specific venue they find value in. What exactly would RC be issuing an OBC for though? 

How long do you have to cancel a reservation in advance before being charged? 

[SV1432]

You should already be charged on your CC, but you can cancel and get a refund on any pre booked items up until 48 hours prior to cruise.
 

This happens a lot, as items may drop in price with a sale, so people book at the reduced rate and cancel the same item at the higher rate they originally paid. A lot of the more experienced cruisers typically know what the best sales are (I.e. Black Friday, Internet package at XXX price, the best price I’ve ever seen for ABC package is $XXX, etc.) 
 

To be clear, I’m not 100% sure on RC’s policy relating to this and they may very well issue you an OBC. Just thinking out loud is all. Hope this helps. Maybe some other folks have personal experience with doing this exact thing, but I don’t unfortunately.

Edited March 16, 2023 by SV1432