3 Night Dining Package on a 10 night cruise

[luv_crusing]

We're not interested in having dinner every night in a specialty restaurant, so we're thinking of just buying a 3 night UDP instead. For those who have bought this, does this have to be 3 consecutive nights or can it be spread out over the 10 night cruise?

 

From what I understand, UDP can be used once per day per venue, I assume that would mean that I would need to have lunch at a specialty restaurant the same day that I will be eating dinner at another specialty restaurant.. Or does the 3 night UDP only limit you to 3 dinners at specialty restaurants and does not include lunch at another venue?

 

If I choose to upgrade to Chef's Table for the additional $49.99, does this count as one of the nights or is this an add-on to the 3 nights UDP?

 

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated..

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, luv_crusing said:

For those who have bought this, does this have to be 3 consecutive nights or can it be spread out over the 10 night cruise?

You can use it on any day, but it makes little sense to use it for lunch.

The UDP can be used more than once per day at any venue.

[RedIguana]

5 hours ago, luv_crusing said:

3 night UDP instead

Is this something new? I have done the 3 night dining packages before, but have not heard of a 3 night UDP (unlimited dining package). The 3 night packages I have done were good for dinner for 3 different nights at any specialty restaurant, but never mentioned lunch. Not sure if the requirement for using one night 1 or night 2 is still there.

[ARandomTraveler]

It's not a 3-day pass, it's a 3-meal pass. So if you choose to use it for lunch one day, you can't also use it for dinner that same day without using up another one of your 3 days. 
 

As @Biker19 said, it makes little sense to use it for lunch. The price of a 3-day meal package is usually around $132, which is $44/meal. You can generally purchase lunch at a specialty restaurant for less than $44, so you'd be wasting one of your meals to use it on a lunch. 
 

I had the UDP on my last cruise and we got great use out of it, but we really had to force feed ourselves. Lunches and dinners at a specialty restaurant all in one day was so much food, and also so much time spent sitting around a dining table instead of doing something more fun or more relaxing (in my opinion). 
 

However, for my next cruise, I started buying dinners a-La-carte because certain ones were on sale, but then I got to the point where I had booked enough of them that I may as well have booked a 3 or 5 day plan, and then at that point I was like "f- it, I'll just book the unlimited plan again."
 

So I went ahead and bought it, with the mindset that I won't get my dollar-for-dollar value out of it, but it would decrease the decision making about when to use the "coveted" days in one of the limited plans.

It's there for it I want it, it opens up every dining option on the ship, any day I want it, and I don't have to worry about it. If I end up having over-paid for it because I eat at the windjammer or the main dining room more nights, so be it. 

 

Moral of the story - I'd either book individual restaurants that you know you want to go to (and therefore you can pick which day and time you want to go before getting on the ship), or just pay for the unlimited plan. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by ARandomTraveler

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

Is this something new?

The OP misworded that - the 3 night package is not unlimited.

[taglovestocruise]

6 hours ago, luv_crusing said:

We're not interested in having dinner every night in a specialty restaurant, so we're thinking of just buying a 3 night UDP instead. For those who have bought this, does this have to be 3 consecutive nights or can it be spread out over the 10 night cruise?

 

From what I understand, UDP can be used once per day per venue, I assume that would mean that I would need to have lunch at a specialty restaurant the same day that I will be eating dinner at another specialty restaurant.. Or does the 3 night UDP only limit you to 3 dinners at specialty restaurants and does not include lunch at another venue?

 

If I choose to upgrade to Chef's Table for the additional $49.99, does this count as one of the nights or is this an add-on to the 3 nights UDP?

 

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated..

3 night plan is not the same as the UDP.  3 night is for any specialty venue and can be used anytime throughout your cruise for specialty dining, there is a up charge for Hibachi Grill and Chef's table. . The UDP is for any venue and includes lunch on any sea day.  As others have said it would be a total waste of money to use the 3 night for a lunch. Specialty restaurants are sometimes close to half off for lunch in the cruise planner when on sale.

[RedIguana]

Just now, Biker19 said:

The OP misworded that - the 3 night package is not unlimited.

Thanks. I was assuming the OP was confusing the 3 night package with the UDP benefits, but was asking just in case Royal snuck a new option in there.

[luv_crusing]

Thanks for the replies and clarification... We will probably just go ahead and purchase individual meals at the specialty restaurant instead... The price difference isn't significant for 3 dinners....  We are not buying the Unlimited Dining Package since we want to avoid having to stuff ourselves everyday to justify the price of the UDP...