TMatl

Which cruise/ship are you on? Surprised if they’re fully booked 4 months in advance.

Not sure which ports you’re going to but we found a store in St Maartens that sold liquor and found Blantons for $75. I bought a couple bottles since the ship didn’t have it this time around. We went to the beach bar and watched the planes come in then walked to the stores just beyond the beach. Did some shopping in the jewelry store then stopped in the liquor store which had a decent selection and good pricing. Pricing definitely wasn’t gouged.

WHOA!! So the Mason Jar has EH Taylor for $13 a drink? Wow, that’s Awesome. EH is head and shoulders better than any bourbon on that list. I have 13 bottles of EH and thankfully do as it’s become hard to find. There’s liquor stores near me where I can find Eagle Rare for $45-50. And not usually hard to find. Baker’s is another great bourbon and rather hard to find. EH and Bakers on a cruise? That is awesome, take advantage of those two bourbons. Don’t waste your time on the others. I went on Harmony just before Covid, the final cruise before they stopped. They had a big barrel cut open in the liquor shop and they filled it with bottles of Blantons—$80/bottle which is basically retail price. They were promoting they had every letter in stock (the letter on the cap by the horses back leg). There were over 30 bottles in/on the barrel. I have 6 bottles at home but grabbed 3 bottles while I had the chance. I went on Harmony again this year expecting to find the Blantons again and they didn’t have it on the ship. I’m guessing their supply chain got cut off or short.

We went on Harmony last year during Valentines Day. My gf, for some reason, claims Valentines Day is a real holiday . Anyway, we did the 3 meal dinner plan and signed up for the Fake holiday dinner at Chops separately. (It was $80 pp) The VD dinner was not part of the Specialty Dining plan. We could only get a normal reservation time by purchasing their VD dinner separately. Surprisingly Chops wasn’t full or overly busy and our reservations was at 7:30.

Make sure they add the Worcteshire and horse radish to the Bloody Mary. Gotta add some spice. Good Bloody Mary’s come w a piece of bacon as a garnish, along w the olive and the celery stalk.

We’ve always just used those really long straws so we can drink it straight from the bottle.

The bar.

If you have the UDP, once you get on board, can you go to one of the specialty restaurants and book all of your specialty dinners for the week, at all the other restaurants? Or do you have to go to each restaurant and make your reservation with them?

When the Solarium restaurant is open you can get the same buffet that’s served at the Windjammer. And it’s never been packed.

Which specialty dining restaurants are available for lunch on the day of departure, with the UDP? What are the options?

We’re on the Wonder next February and I received an email last week offering the UDP for $205pp?? I might be off by a dollar or two.

Thanks for all your feedback, advice, and updates.

And that's why we're leaning towards doing the UDP--Wonder has some great specialty dining options. And we have 5-6 restaurants on our list. Plus, upon looking at the MDR menu, it doesnt really stand out. We were a little disappointed at the weekly menu outside of the lobster dinner. And you mentioned Playmakers, we'll be there for Super Bowl Sunday, and we're all sports fans so we're glad to see a sports bar on the ship. And will be there a lot. So, if I am reading your message correctly, normally you'd have to pay for food from Johnny Rocket and/or Playmakers? But its covered in full with the UDP? Thanks for your feedback and recommendations.

Frank, from the looks of your last name, it appears you may be Italian. As I am. If you live in a city/town that has real Italian food then Jamie’s might be a bit of a let down. Jamie’s is good but you’ll never confuse it with with great, true Italian food. It’s great with a group bc they just basically bring any and everything you want to try. If you go as a couple, it’s more like a traditional restaurant in that they take your order, and what you order, that’s all they bring to the table. It isn’t a bad meal at all but it will not be confused with some of the great Italian restaurants you can find in NYC or the NE. Now, 150 Central Park is great. Go with the Lobster Thermidore and you can thank me when you get back from your cruise.

Great insight everyone, thanks for your replies. I agree with those who like and recommended 150 Central Park. We’re definitely going there, that’s a given. And my gf wants to go to Hooked as well. If we have the 3 meal specialty dining plan and have dinner at 2 restaurants but want to do the brunch at Mason Jar, can we do that? Does the meal plan cover brunch or is it only for dinners? We’re at the point of debating doing the UDP or the 3 meal plan. Too many places people want to eat at.