Diamond Plus dining discount question

[OceanCruise]

For the 2 for one Diamond Plus discount the first 2 nights, how does the discount get applied? Can I make the specialty dining reservation on the cruise planner ahead of time using OBC and get the discount once on board? Or, do I have to wait to book while onboard? First time I will be in a Crown Loft Suite/Sky Class so I believe I will be contacted ahead of time to make any reservations.

[HicksRA]

I would just wait until contacted by the concierge and tell him/her where you want your BOGO applied and ask to make reservations. 

[RFerrington]

15 minutes ago, OceanCruise said:

For the 2 for one Diamond Plus discount the first 2 nights, how does the discount get applied? Can I make the specialty dining reservation on the cruise planner ahead of time using OBC and get the discount once on board? Or, do I have to wait to book while onboard? First time I will be in a Crown Loft Suite/Sky Class so I believe I will be contacted ahead of time to make any reservations.

The BOGO offer is good for onboard booking only.  Yes, you will hear of some who have had success in purchasing the meals prior to boarding through the CP but that's not how the program is supposed to work and I have heard that more and more people are being denied the discount based on pre-boarding purchase through the CP.

 

You CAN ask the Concierge to make your reservations for you prior to boarding and I strongly recommend that you do that....but your cost will be based on the current onboard prices.  Having the Concierge help you with reservations will give you an advantage for getting the days and times of your choice.

[PhillyFan33579]

To add to what others have stated, you have to purchase it on the ship. Also, it only applies for dinner on the first two nights of the cruise. As previously mentioned you will no doubt hear about exceptions to the two items mentioned above, but remember they are exceptions, not the norm. 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

To add to what others have stated, you have to purchase it on the ship. Also, it only applies for dinner on the first two nights of the cruise. As previously mentioned you will no doubt hear about exceptions to the two items mentioned above, but remember they are exceptions, not the norm. 

Over the last two years we have booked and payed the BOGO on day one but used it much later in the week. We have done this on Ovation, Quantum and Navigator.  There has never been any difficulty in reserving for later in the week. 

[sjb317]

14 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Over the last two years we have booked and payed the BOGO on day one but used it much later in the week. We have done this on Ovation, Quantum and Navigator.  There has never been any difficulty in reserving for later in the week. 

That has been true for us to until our last cruise on Adventure.  They would not allow us to book and pay but use later in the week.  This meant that we could only use one of our BOGOs as we could not get a reservation for the second night.

 

Sherri🙂

[OceanCruise]

4 hours ago, RFerrington said:

The BOGO offer is good for onboard booking only.  Yes, you will hear of some who have had success in purchasing the meals prior to boarding through the CP but that's not how the program is supposed to work and I have heard that more and more people are being denied the discount based on pre-boarding purchase through the CP.

 

You CAN ask the Concierge to make your reservations for you prior to boarding and I strongly recommend that you do that....but your cost will be based on the current onboard prices.  Having the Concierge help you with reservations will give you an advantage for getting the days and times of your choice.

Just to clarify, if the concierge makes dining reservations prior to boarding for night 1 or 2, do I have to go to the restaurant (or concierge?) upon boarding to confirm reservation and pay at that time or do I just pay at the end of the meal? 

[RFerrington]

11 minutes ago, OceanCruise said:

Just to clarify, if the concierge makes dining reservations prior to boarding for night 1 or 2, do I have to go to the restaurant (or concierge?) upon boarding to confirm reservation and pay at that time or do I just pay at the end of the meal? 

I would ask the Concierge that question.  As for confirming the reservation, I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I have never had a Concierge not get a reservation done correctly...but it never hurts !

 

We have had wildly different experiences with BOGO on different ships.  Sometimes we are required to book by day 2 and pay up front, sometimes we can book and pay anytime and sometimes we were restricted to using our BOGO only on nights 1 and/or 2 (although, this "restrictive" situation has been by far, in the minority).

 

On our most recent sailing (Wonder) we were told to just go to the restaurant (I think it was Chops on night #4) and pay when we were done.  It's a real shoulder-shrugger as to how they will handle it...but the Concierge will help you with this.

[MisterBill99]

20 hours ago, RFerrington said:

I would ask the Concierge that question.  As for confirming the reservation, I wouldn't worry too much about that.  I have never had a Concierge not get a reservation done correctly...but it never hurts !

 

We have had wildly different experiences with BOGO on different ships.  Sometimes we are required to book by day 2 and pay up front, sometimes we can book and pay anytime and sometimes we were restricted to using our BOGO only on nights 1 and/or 2 (although, this "restrictive" situation has been by far, in the minority).

 

On our most recent sailing (Wonder) we were told to just go to the restaurant (I think it was Chops on night #4) and pay when we were done.  It's a real shoulder-shrugger as to how they will handle it...but the Concierge will help you with this.

 

So does that mean that you could have used the BOGO all week if you wanted to, and not just twice? I just got Diamond+ as a result of the new status match change and am looking forward to using this on Symphony in October (which I just booked this week before the announcement, good timing).

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

So does that mean that you could have used the BOGO all week if you wanted to, and not just twice? I just got Diamond+ as a result of the new status match change and am looking forward to using this on Symphony in October (which I just booked this week before the announcement, good timing).

I think what they meant was they were allowed to use the 2nd free night later in the week. Harmony allowed this. Allure did not. Not that you can use bogo more than once, or maybe I  misread your question.

[RFerrington]

17 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

So does that mean that you could have used the BOGO all week if you wanted to, and not just twice? I just got Diamond+ as a result of the new status match change and am looking forward to using this on Symphony in October (which I just booked this week before the announcement, good timing).

Sorry if my post was confusing.

 

The BOGO perk is only good once per person, per cruise.  Since both my husband and I get one, we have 2 to use per cruise.  Some ships require that your BOGO be used only on nights 1 and/or 2 but some ships allow you to use them on nights other than 1 and/or 2.  
 

If I’m not mistaken, the BOGO specialty dining perk is one of the loyalty perks that does not transfer as part of the Captains Club to Crown & Anchor loyalty match, unfortunately.  It’s one of my favorite perks and we use ours nearly every cruise.

[Another_Critic]

31 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

If I’m not mistaken, the BOGO specialty dining perk is one of the loyalty perks that does not transfer as part of the Captains Club to Crown & Anchor loyalty match, unfortunately.  

I don't see it on the exclusion list (it's mostly points based exclusions).

[TeeRick]

We had to use our BOGO on nights 1 and 2 on Symphony earlier this year.  We were not allowed to use it later in the week.

[WVU-79]

There may be exclusions for the BOGO, depending upon the ship you are on at the time.  We were denied using this perk on Explorer of the Seas for Izumi Sushi for day one or day two.  We were not given a reason, just a big NO.  The Diamond Lounge Concierge tried unsuccessfully also.  

[leaveitallbehind]

I can only respond with our experience over many cruises with the D+ BOGO.  The Concierge has never reached out to us in advance regarding booking this, but we also don't typically stay in suites, so I can't answer to that.  It has been done on board in person on day one with any of the specialty restaurant's maître d's. 

 

The first night is typically scheduled for day one or two, with the second night able to be booked on any subsequent night. We have never had an issue with any subsequent night requests. (In this manner you can also book dining packages with a commencement on day one or two without conflict to the D+ BOGO).

 

To do this you make both nights' reservations at the same time and your SeaPass cards are charged in full based on the on board rate of the specialty restaurants involved when you make both reservations. 

 

I don't know if this is a reciprocal benefit with Elite+ now that the tier reciprocity as been realigned.  I think that is a good question.

 

On a side noter, you can also "share" the benefit with other non D+ cruisers.  One several occasions we have booked the reservations as indicated but shared the dining with friends of ours who are Diamond.  Typically we would book one for myself and my friend, and my wife would book the other for herself and his wife.  We booked them, charged the cost to our SeaPass cards, and they paid us separately for the shared cost. Their names appeared on the booked reservations with us and we split two meals at shared discount together.

 

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[leaveitallbehind]

7 minutes ago, WVU-79 said:

There may be exclusions for the BOGO, depending upon the ship you are on at the time.  We were denied using this perk on Explorer of the Seas for Izumi Sushi for day one or day two.  We were not given a reason, just a big NO.  The Diamond Lounge Concierge tried unsuccessfully also.  

Chef's Table and I believe Empire Supper Club on Icon are excluded.  You may have had an issue with Izumi as that is priced a la carte and, other than with a dining package credit, not sure how they would apportion the BOGO value.  We have never tried to include Izumi because of that.

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[Another_Critic]

5 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Chef's Table and I believe Empire Supper Club on Icon are excluded.  You may have had an issue with Izumi as that is priced a la carte and, other than with a dining package credit, not sure how they would apportion the BOGO value.  We have never tried to include Izumi because of that.

 

"Purchase a specialty restaurant dinner cover charge during the first or second night of your cruise and enjoy complimentary dining for the second guest. Valid for dinner reservations on the first or second night only. (Excludes Celebration Table, Chef’s Table, Empire Supper Club, Hooked, Izumi: Hibachi/Teppanyaki, Omakase, Izumi in the Park, Johnny Rockets, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, and Royal Railway)"

[leaveitallbehind]

6 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

"Purchase a specialty restaurant dinner cover charge during the first or second night of your cruise and enjoy complimentary dining for the second guest. Valid for dinner reservations on the first or second night only. (Excludes Celebration Table, Chef’s Table, Empire Supper Club, Hooked, Izumi: Hibachi/Teppanyaki, Omakase, Izumi in the Park, Johnny Rockets, Playmakers, Portside BBQ, and Royal Railway)"

Thanks for that expanded list.  I would never have thought of some of the others, and some of the others are on new ships.  I also thought in 2019 on Symphony we included Hooked, but I could definitely be wrong or that certainly could have changed.  Again, thanks for the updated list!

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[TeeRick]

28 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Thanks for that expanded list.  I would never have thought of some of the others, and some of the others are on new ships.  I also thought in 2019 on Symphony we included Hooked, but I could definitely be wrong or that certainly could have changed.  Again, thanks for the updated list!

Hooked was excluded for BOGO on Symphony for us in Feb 2024.

[leaveitallbehind]

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Hooked was excluded for BOGO on Symphony for us in Feb 2024.

I most likely am incorrect as my rapidly aging memory is failing and it probably wasn't included in 2019 either!  Good restaurant, however.

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[TeeRick]

3 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

I most likely am incorrect as my rapidly aging memory is failing and it probably wasn't included in 2019 either!  Good restaurant, however.

Yes we went there for dinner anyway!

[Tlbecker1]

On 5/31/2024 at 12:23 PM, taglovestocruise said:

Over the last two years we have booked and payed the BOGO on day one but used it much later in the week. We have done this on Ovation, Quantum and Navigator.  There has never been any difficulty in reserving for later in the week. 

This has been our experience also.  We were even allowed to use it for lunch on our last few cruises.

[firefly333]

2 hours ago, leaveitallbehind said:

You may have had an issue with Izumi as that is priced a la carte and, other than with a dining package credit, not sure how they would apportion the BOGO value.  We have never tried to include Izumi because of that.

Actually twice I've done izumi sushi side. There is a ala carte, but there is also a set price sit down dinner. The sit down dinner is 39.99, I've done as bogo on both allure and harmony.  but for sure there is a sit down "set price". 

 

I took a screen shot. The 39.99 I circled is full price for their sit down dinner. 1 small, 2 large and dessert for 39.99.  ... and it's been allowed for me on 2 different oasis class ships.

 

 

 

Edited June 2 by firefly333

[leaveitallbehind]

15 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Actually twice I've done izumi sushi side. There is a ala carte, but there is also a set price sit down dinner. The sit down dinner is 39.99, I've done as bogo on both allure and harmony.  but for sure there is a sit down "set price". 

 

I took a screen shot. The 39.99 I circled is full price for their sit down dinner. 1 small, 2 large and dessert for 39.99.  ... and it's been allowed for me on 2 different oasis class ships.

 

 

 

Yes, aware of the set price that is either on the planner or with the dining packages and have had the fixed price option at the restaurant before.  We just have never done that as the BOGO and wasn't sure what base they used for calculating the BOGO value.  Thanks for the update.

 

We also usually eat there during our cruises as well but prefer the value of the other restaurants over Izumi's credit and schedule our BOGO and dining packages at other restaurants instead, opting for Izumi a la carte. For us that is typcially the better value.

Edited June 2 by leaveitallbehind

[RFerrington]

We almost always get a 3 night package plus use our BOGO and it is great combo.  For those restaurants that are exempting the BOGO vouchers, we just use one of our package nights.  Frankly, you just never know until you get onboard which restaurants they are going to "exempt" from the BOGO vouchers.  Even the same ship might have a different rule the next time you board !