marti314

Just now, twangster said:

Typically JR is not considered a specialty restaurant and therefore is ineligible for the UDP.   Having said that someone may very well post they've had success going there with it.  So it's one of those YMMV since it can vary by ship.

I've not tried to use the UDP at Sabor when it's open at 3pm.  By that time I've broken down and eaten elsewhere and besides, when you have the UDP you eat so much food that eating lunch at 3pm would render dinner useless.  I know there is temptation to try to maximize the value of the UDP but it is so... much... food.   Usually by a sea day past mid-cruise I raise the white flag of surrender and skip lunch or grab a small salad in the WJ so that I can actually eat my dinner. 

Thanks for the info on Johnny Rockets.  Allure has a day in puerto Rico where back on ship is 1:30 pm and Sabor has lunch from 1:30 - 3:30.  On the days when it is open from say 3:30 - 5:30 i was really just wondering if they let you go in and grab some chips n guac with the UDP.

After reading through the T&C's of the ultimate dining package it says "Lunch on Sea days" but when referencing a cruise compass for Allure Eastern Caribbean it looks like Johnny Rockets and Sabor are open on Port days for a period of time.  Does anyone know if the UDP can be used at Sabor or Johnny Rockets on port days for lunch or even an afternoon snack in the case of Sabor being open from 3 - 5:30 pm?

Thanks for the feedback

On 1/6/2019 at 8:56 PM, Sh2738 said:

Thanks!

Wonder how the title is Bottomless Galley Brunch but it says select ONE from each category.  

Just now, KLA said:

Good answer from @marti314. Some other cruise lines handle it differently - like not offer anything at all as part of the drink package the first day. From my understanding a lot of it has to do with how alcohol is taxed in Texas. I think Royal basically eats some of the cost when cruising from Texas to make the limited selection available. 

Only so much they can do with the rules they're given. 

Yes, Texas is an odd state that EVERY liquor you sell has to be bought through what is now a single distributor (BEN E KEITH) and you will notice when in port the bottles all have a sticker on it.  This sticker basically says Texas is taxing that bottle like crazy which is why RCL chooses to go with limited brands (typically cheaper brands) to avoid massive taxes.

Yes it will work on embarkation day but you will have a very limited set of liquors / beers and wines available to you until about 7:00 pm that first day.  You will get basic brands like Smirnoff, Bacardi, No Name Tequila, Bud, Miller.  

They do make a nice strong texas tea on Embarkation day which is basically a long island with Tequila in it.  

Its not that big of a deal but you cant get any top shelf until the first evening.

I did walk to this MEGA (walked into town from the RCL pier).  The sun will beat you down and it is quite the hike i will tell you that.

One thing to note at this store is they will store any and all bags you have in the front in small lockers while you shop.  Obviously this is to prevent theft but be sure to not leave anything of value in those bags.  

Their prices are pretty reasonable to restock on sunblock (and you wont get a fake watered down version).

1 hour ago, cruiselife said:

I don't like roller coasters so I definitely wouldn't ride it even though it does look like a pretty cool experience. It's not for me, but I could see it being a draw for a lot of people. My biggest question about it is the noise. I understand it is electric but there has to be some noise associated with the coaster itself and then the screaming. I can't imagine relaxing by the pool will be the same if you can hear the coaster and screams. Personally I think cruise lines should just stick to water slides. I don't think the go cart track on the Bliss seems all that cool either. I find them both to be a waste of valuable top deck space on a cruise ship that should be primarily devoted to pools. I definitely prefer the direction that Royal Caribbean is going, but what else is new.

Do you mean like all the people on Harmony and Symphony who choose the boardwalk balcony and hear screaming down the Ultimate Abyss all day.  This isnt going to have a 200 foot drop so maybe its more of a cruiser coaster than a thrill coaster.

WOW RCCL IT / R&D  is terrible!

Drink package challenge... RCI was the loser today  

Unless you are drinking at least 40 drinks a day RCL is not losing at all on any alcoholic drink they serve in a drink package.  I am guessing they are pouring a drink for 25 cents - 1.00 each depending on the liquor you choose.  Wine might be more like 2.00 a glass for their costs.  They do not pay these crazy state taxes on the alcohol they serve once they are out to sea so its even more lucrative for them.

Gotta love random % Discounts.

Today I am running a sale on a cup of coffee, its 97% off......  ONBOARD PRICE $100.00

I did the same thing a few weeks back and thought it was just the dates I was picking that were not eligible . I picked a random slow date next December and the C&A discounts show up vs booking without the C&A number typed in.  Perhaps more dates are being marked as blackout for discounts?

On 11/30/2018 at 2:49 PM, Traveler said:

Its quite simple, the cost for for the UDP for Symphony and Harmony was 29 $ per day ,I guess RC decided that all OASIS ships will be the same so 29*7 is 203 ,but 200 dose not looks good therefore 199 ... Only one hundred and not  two

Now , while its very easy to change the price in the system   - change is being made in the product catalog or some pricing reference tables and just waiting for the next automatic update,  the picture change (where you see the 24 $) is much more complicate :

First the marketing need to approach the IT to change it , IT will tell marketing its a design change so it should go to another division, the other division will send it to the graphic department which will reject the request since they just had a downsizing and the person who was in charge on pricing pictures was  fired a  week before.  After some discussion they will decide to take a contractor for this work , it will be the same person that was just fired but now he will be hire as contractor paying him 200% of his previous  salary. He will do his job and change the picture pricing to 29 PP. The picture will be sent to marketing branding group for approval , the person that need to approve it will reject it saying the price Icon is too red which contradict the new brand color pallet which changed  few days ago (actually, no much changed done but its a good for job security for such divisions). The graphic department will get back the picture, they will hold it for three days and send back the same exact picture , this time the brand group will approve it. Next marketing will send it to IT to upload to the site , IT will try to upload it on the next maintenance window just to see they do not have enough disk space as someone forgot to compress the picture , as the maintenance window will already pass it will wait for the next one. On the next window it will be uploaded and everyone will be happy , the only problem will be  once when people go to the site they will still see the 24 $ picture , yes , someone forgot to refresh the cache , oh well it can wait for another window. when it finally it will be fixed , RC will find out a drop in UDP purchasing and ask to rollback the change. 

So now you see , why its 199 in the price and still 24 in the picture ?   

I sure am glad they do not have the same people running the actual ships as they do their IT / Marketing.  

10 minutes ago, Susie said:

I thought UDP price shown includes gratuity. You pay that price and you just go to special dinning restaurant everynight but no need to pay extra gratuity except you want to. Confuse now????? Do I wrong???

You are right, every specialty restaurant cost you see includes the gratuity.  Same with the packages.  You never HAVE to pay more unless you opt to.

Gratuity / service charge is always included in every Speciality dining reservation and plan.  

Looks like a 20% increase in the price is all i am seeing where the total price is updated (yes its 199 if you add it to the cart) and the banner is still the old price.  

We all know the RCCL site is riddled with challenges but this one was pretty fun for a 7 night sailing:

How Dare Delta try to sell me an upgrade to First Class for cheaper than buying it outright when i booked the flight.  This is a scam /End Sarcasm.....

Just now, princevaliantus said:

I received it but it is all about making money. Solo travelers do not benefit as you still have to pay double-occupancy. It is all a scam.

That little company called Apple that sells these devices that we all tether our body 24/7 and forces us to buy silly looking ear phones that look like they are broken is also about making money.  Come to think of it every business is all about making money, especially the ones that need to return value to their shareholders.

If it doesnt make them money or loses them money the program goes away, its capitalism at its finest.

Just now, Baked Alaska said:

WOW!!  @WAAAYTOOO and @marti314!! Yes, NO MENTION OF IZUMI ANY WHERE ON MY CP!! Okay, so now where does that put it in the Ultimate Dining Package? Izumi is the reason WHY I purchased the UDP for my family (during Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale). What in the world is going on with dining???? 

Izumi was never on the cruise planner except for Hibachi which i still see on mine.  

Maybe it was a mistake or they got blasted for the pricing of that pre-fixe.  As matt said its likely still ala carte and you will get your 35.00 as the UDP states.

As quickly as this new Izumi 49.99 pre-fixe showed up, it disappeared from my cruise planner.  Wonder if they got some complaints or if it was a mistake or if its only gone from my sailing.

Yes the Deluxe, Refreshment as well as Soda package can all be used on Labadee.  with respect to drinks its the same as the ship where you use your sea pass card so they can see that you have the package etc.

Yes every package you buy you will be forced to pay gratuity, you do not have the choice of deciding if the service was worth 18% or not.  To Improve Professional Service (TIPS) doesnt really hold true these days (not just on cruises either).

The DX sushi combo if i remember had like 9 or 11 pieces of nigiri for i think like 19.00.  This 49.00 "deal" just seems like they are now exceeding a land based sushi place and thats without the "Value" of a dinner already factored into the cruise fare.

For what its worth, they didnt seem to update their MAIN site to reflect a Pre-Fixe only menu

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-dining/izumi

9 minutes ago, twangster said:

Let me guess.  Harmony or Symphony?  Normal price of UDP is $29 per day.  Other ships are $24 per day.

I bought it for 7 sailing.  All 25% off.  No artificial raising of prices.

Same with BOGO drink packages.  However in that case the BOGO ends up at what is frequently available pre-cruise.  No prices artificially increased, such a different sale.  The BOGO is not discounted from the last sale price, it's a BOGO from onboard prices.  Always has been.  The price displayed includes the discount.  

Drink packages have always varied ship to ship and by cruise length.  My price on a 9 night cruise is not the same as 5 night cruise on the same ship.  There is no standard drink package price, never has been.

The normal price of the UDP on allure has been 168 for the last few months.  Today it is 152 advertising "Prices reflect 25% off discount".  25% off puts the price at 190 per week which is far more than it has been without a "sale".  

I also see other things in my cruise planner that have been raised just to be artificially lowered.  I guess for people who track this they notice, for those that do not B1G1 50% off sounds like a steal.

I recommend everyone keep a very close eye on the prices they are paying today with these BLACK FRIDAY sale banners.  

Looks like Royal created artificial inflated prices to lower them for this sale.  Example on my cruise planner the ultimate dining package is 152  and it says this is 25% off per guest.  

Normal price has always been 168 so if their math is correct the normal price they set today just to discount is 190 per person.

Same thing with the Deluxe Beverage package being b1g1 50% they created an artificial price to put this sale on.  

these promotions mean nothing when it comes to best prices.  They could do a 99% off promo and I guarantee magically the prices would still come out to be similar to what you see on any other day.  Their pricing is based on time of year (for far out bookings) & how well the ship is filling up.  Beyond that these promotions are just ways to say "Hey come look this new sale we have going on". 

What i would recommend is to price out which cruise you think you want to go on then over the following days or weeks keep looking at the prices.  With the same 60% off sale or whatever the sale may be you will see the prices change within a sale.  You just have to find a price you find to be of value.  With the non refundable deposits it makes the YOLO book-it a little harder to swallow these days if you are just looking to HOLD a cruise.  Yes you can reprice before final payment but in the past many of us would book 2 - 3 and pick the one we found to the the best value and cancelled the others before the final payment.