dining packages have gone way up and you get less

[joyhannah]

I notice that RCCL double the price of the dining package on my up coming nov 18 symphony of the seas cruise 

but i see you get less time in the a la carte restaurants look like you can only go once a day. am i reading that right?

anyone else notice this? the price today is $329

 

[cruisegus]

Not sure where you are seeing only 1 restaurant per day, but that is not what my Nov cruise planner says.

It states multiple visits and multiple restaurants per day

[LilBlackDress]

Mine skyrocketed on Oasis 2024... These are the prices over the last few months $260, $225, $199 (but listed as sold out) The Memorial Day Sale $288, then $159 for a few hours, but again sold out and then back to $288

 

As for once a day at the al a carte restaurants... my understanding is it is once per day per person. I know my DH and I can easily be under the $20 at Playmakers... We could go for lunch and charge mine and late-night snacks and charge his. I could be wrong but that is how I heard it. 

[LilBlackDress]

3 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

Not sure where you are seeing only 1 restaurant per day, but that is not what my Nov cruise planner says.

It states multiple visits and multiple restaurants per day

this is what it says in mine... The OP was specifically talking about the A La Carte restaurants (Izumi, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, not sure if there are others) 

Overview

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package. For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. Please see Important Details and Advisements for more information.

Highlights

• Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.
• For ships with this venue, Izumi Sushi is a prix fixe menu or $34.99 food credit.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $15 surcharge, and Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

Important details and advisements

• Not valid for premium experiences including: Wine Pairings Dinners, Taste of Royal, Mystery Dinner Theater, Culinary Activities, and Holiday Celebration Dinners.
• Beverages are not included.
• Child pricing applies to children between the ages of 6-12. Children ages 0-5 are complimentary. Children must order from the kids menu.
• A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing.
• All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.

 

[cruisegus]

Sorry missed the OP saying a la carte.

 

But it has been like that for close to a year now, so no a recent change

[joyhannah]

i was just on oasis in November at it was not like that

[joyhannah]

Thank you all for the information

[LilBlackDress]

28 minutes ago, cruisegus said:

Sorry missed the OP saying a la carte.

 

But it has been like that for close to a year now, so no a recent change

No worries 🙂

 

I was going to say we don't know the last time the OP cruised, but now I am seeing Nov. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, LilBlackDress said:

this is what it says in mine... The OP was specifically talking about the A La Carte restaurants (Izumi, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, not sure if there are others) 

Overview

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package. For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. Please see Important Details and Advisements for more information.

Highlights

• Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.
• For ships with this venue, Izumi Sushi is a prix fixe menu or $34.99 food credit.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $15 surcharge, and Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

Important details and advisements

• Not valid for premium experiences including: Wine Pairings Dinners, Taste of Royal, Mystery Dinner Theater, Culinary Activities, and Holiday Celebration Dinners.
• Beverages are not included.
• Child pricing applies to children between the ages of 6-12. Children ages 0-5 are complimentary. Children must order from the kids menu.
• A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing.
• All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.

 

So why would someone do ala carte at izumi and not the fixed price meal? Which I hear is a lot of food. 1 small, 2 large, and a dessert choice. 

[LilBlackDress]

16 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

So why would someone do ala carte at izumi and not the fixed price meal? Which I hear is a lot of food. 1 small, 2 large, and a dessert choice. 

Maybe they aren't interested in the small plate or want more than one small plate... either way the fixed price or the $35. credit, per person you can get a lot of food

[ARandomTraveler]

The price for the UDP on my upcoming summer sailing was $315.99 for the last 8 months. It's never changed, no matter what the current  "sale" is (not even Black Friday).

 

For this weekends Memorial Day sale, the sale price is now $419.99 😂

[Merly]

8 hours ago, LilBlackDress said:

this is what it says in mine... The OP was specifically talking about the A La Carte restaurants (Izumi, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, not sure if there are others) 

Overview

Savor the savings with the Unlimited Dining Package. For one low price, you can enjoy multiple entrees and visit multiple specialty restaurants every night of your sailing. And as an added perk, this unlimited package also applies to lunch at specialty restaurants on sea days. A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing. Please see Important Details and Advisements for more information.

Highlights

• Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants.

What's Included

• Unlimited visits to speciality dining restaurants every night of your sailing and lunch on sea days.
• For restaurants with a la carte pricing, you’ll receive a $20 food credit, which can only be used once a day.
• For ships with this venue, Izumi Sushi is a prix fixe menu or $34.99 food credit.
• For ships with these venues, Teppanyaki/Izumi Hibachi is included, with a $15 surcharge, and Chef's Table is included, with a $49.99 surcharge. These will be charged once onboard.

Important details and advisements

• Not valid for premium experiences including: Wine Pairings Dinners, Taste of Royal, Mystery Dinner Theater, Culinary Activities, and Holiday Celebration Dinners.
• Beverages are not included.
• Child pricing applies to children between the ages of 6-12. Children ages 0-5 are complimentary. Children must order from the kids menu.
• A courtesy reservation will be made for Day 1 or 2 of your sailing.
• All additional reservations or changes to your courtesy reservation must be made once onboard at any specialty restaurant.

 

Does the lunch on sea days apply to embarkation day ?

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

The price for the UDP on my upcoming summer sailing was $315.99 for the last 8 months. It's never changed, no matter what the current  "sale" is (not even Black Friday).

 

For this weekends Memorial Day sale, the sale price is now $419.99 😂

Wow!!  I don't know what sailing you are but that's a hard no from us.  

[Cruise a holic]

These sales are a joke.  The prices for many things including the cruise fare, has increased substantially.  So many people will pay the increased amounts, so the cruise lines are now making a fortune.  So sad for those on a fixed income anxious to cruise.

[RFerrington]

5 hours ago, Merly said:

Does the lunch on sea days apply to embarkation day ?

Yes

[Moon Orchid]

12 hours ago, firefly333 said:

So why would someone do ala carte at izumi and not the fixed price meal? Which I hear is a lot of food. 1 small, 2 large, and a dessert choice. 

This was true back then, not anymore. We bought the dining package when sailed on Quantum last October. It was a lots of foods at Izumi.
Fast forward to Izumi on Ovation this May. One small plate,2 large plate with only half of what it used to be ( 4 piece instead of 8 on a large plate ). I don't think it worth $45 for 8 pieces of sushi, and a dessert their choice ( because they didn't have couple things from the dessert menu ).

[firefly333]

27 minutes ago, Moon Orchid said:

This was true back then, not anymore. We bought the dining package when sailed on Quantum last October. It was a lots of foods at Izumi.
Fast forward to Izumi on Ovation this May. One small plate,2 large plate with only half of what it used to be ( 4 piece instead of 8 on a large plate ). I don't think it worth $45 for 8 pieces of sushi, and a dessert their choice ( because they didn't have couple things from the dessert menu ).

I have it booked several times for 28.99 plus 18%, 34.99 total.

 

I hope it's worth that much. Soup, fried veggies and shrimp and a sushi roll. 

 

Now I'm getting worried. I'm not a big eater in one sitting. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I have it booked several times for 28.99 plus 18%, 34.99 total.

 

I hope it's worth that much. Soup, fried veggies and shrimp and a sushi roll. 

 

Now I'm getting worried. I'm not a big eater in one sitting. 

 

Once you move to PC, find a cruise that lines up with one of mine. I won't let any of your food go to waste, promise. D drink on me as a thanks for some sushi. 😁

[firefly333]

43 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Once you move to PC, find a cruise that lines up with one of mine. I won't let any of your food go to waste, promise. D drink on me as a thanks for some sushi. 😁

D+ drink on me. I have not one single day used 5 vouchers. I might order 3 alcohol drinks a cruise, plus fresh squeezed oj and sometimes coffee at the cafe. A couple days I went pkg wild last cruise the OJ was so delicious and sweet and oranges still in season and had 2 glasses. Last sept it was awful like battery acid. They squeezed some bad oranges.  Kinda took away the urge until lately to try it again. 

 

I do have some booked to PC, but havent made moving plans specifically. I still have oct 2024 from texas and adventure dec 2024 b2b out of PC, just added 3 adventure and 1 last from Galveston. I'm booked southern april 2025, after bella2 cruise. I should change my signature. My TA moved my dec 2024 from texas to PC, but havent made up my mind yet about 8 day harmony oct 2024 out of texas. Good price but I might be moved by then. 

[Moon Orchid]

58 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I have it booked several times for 28.99 plus 18%, 34.99 total.

 

I hope it's worth that much. Soup, fried veggies and shrimp and a sushi roll. 

 

Now I'm getting worried. I'm not a big eater in one sitting. 

I'm not a big eater either. My husband usually eat some of the sushi that I didn't want, but I didn't have anything left for him last time on Ovation 😄
We stopped by Sorrento's for some pizza later because foods in Windjammer was terrible, and I always love a quick stop at Windjammer on previous cruise. Things changed so much these days on Royal ships.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, Moon Orchid said:

I'm not a big eater either. My husband usually eat some of the sushi that I didn't want, but I didn't have anything left for him last time on Ovation 😄
We stopped by Sorrento's for some pizza later because foods in Windjammer was terrible, and I always love a quick stop at Windjammer on previous cruise. Things changed so much these days on Royal ships.

Well I'll try it first leg in sept. If it's a bad deal then I can cancel the other bookings. When so many posts say it's not a good deal, ala carte is a better deal, I should listen probably, but I'll try it once at the fixed price. 

[Tree_skier]

7 hours ago, Merly said:

Does the lunch on sea days apply to embarkation day ?

 

Yes, the UDP can be used for lunch on embarkation day.  

 

10 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

The price for the UDP on my upcoming summer sailing was $315.99 for the last 8 months. It's never changed, no matter what the current  "sale" is (not even Black Friday).

 

For this weekends Memorial Day sale, the sale price is now $419.99 😂

 

Is that in CDN$?  Mine all went up with the new 'Sale'  but that is higher than anything I have booked or seen.

[ARandomTraveler]

6 hours ago, jean87510 said:

Wow!!  I don't know what sailing you are but that's a hard no from us.  

 

38 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

 

Yes, the UDP can be used for lunch on embarkation day.  

 

 

Is that in CDN$?  Mine all went up with the new 'Sale'  but that is higher than anything I have booked or seen.

I should have provided context, sorry. It's a 12-day cruise on Spectrum out of Singapore, priced in US dollars. So it's not a terrible deal, but it's a lot more expensive than it's been offered in the last 8 months, and supposedly on sale. 
 

Spectrum also doesn't have that many restaurants, so it's not worth it to me. I bought the UDP on Symphony and enjoyed it, but even with all the restaurants on Symphony, I had to force myself to get full use of the package because I just can't eat that much food, plus the hours of time spent dining really took away from other vacation activities that I enjoy more. I don't plan to buy it for this trip. 

[MommaBear55]

All my dining packages are up by 24% or so. No deal there...

[Pandamonia]

Royal is doing its best to put me off ever booking with them again. Royals pricing goes up MSC and P&O is going down.