Unlimited dining package vs Costal Kitchen

[12thman]

I just bought the unlimited package and have a Sky class suite so costal kitchen is an option. My question is how good is the food at the coastal kitchen vs specialty dining options? Also can I get food from other specialty dining restaurants at the costal kitchen?  

[Lovetocruise2002]

36 minutes ago, 12thman said:

I just bought the unlimited package and have a Sky class suite so costal kitchen is an option. My question is how good is the food at the coastal kitchen vs specialty dining options?

I am of the mindset that Coastal Kitchen rivals any specialty.  In fact, there are some dishes that are even better.  In addition, some specialty restaurant favourites are also available in Coastal Kitchen.  The only specialty that CK cannot match is Izumi, maybe Playmakers?   We had the UDP booked too for SY in July.  As soon we upgraded to Sky Class, we cancelled the UDP.  It was a no brainer for us.

 

39 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Also can I get food from other specialty dining restaurants at the costal kitchen?

Yes if you are Star Class.  Not that I know of for Sky class.

[12thman]

51 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I am of the mindset that Coastal Kitchen rivals any specialty.  In fact, there are some dishes that are even better.  In addition, some specialty restaurant favourites are also available in Coastal Kitchen.  The only specialty that CK cannot match is Izumi, maybe Playmakers?   We had the UDP booked too for SY in July.  As soon we upgraded to Sky Class, we cancelled the UDP.  It was a no brainer for us.

 

Yes if you are Star Class.  Not that I know of for Sky class.

Thank you. Does the menu change during a 7 day cruise or stays the same? 

[Lovetocruise2002]

46 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Thank you. Does the menu change during a 7 day cruise or stays the same? 

They rotate through a 7 night menu in Coastal Kitchen.  What ship are you sailing?  As mentioned by @spiralqueen in a recent live blog, Allure seems to run the rotation in a different order than the rest of the fleet but it's still the same 7 night menu.  I posted copies of the 7 night menu in this thread:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/12970-menus-only/

 

[12thman]

3 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

They rotate through a 7 night menu in Coastal Kitchen.  What ship are you sailing?  As mentioned by @spiralqueen in a recent live blog, Allure seems to run the rotation in a different order than the rest of the fleet but it's still the same 7 night menu.  I posted copies of the 7 night menu in this thread:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/12970-menus-only/

 

Thank you again. We'll be on Allure in September. I'll look at @spiralqueen live blog post. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Just now, 12thman said:

Thank you again. We'll be on Allure in September. I'll look at @spiralqueen live blog post. 

Definitely have a look then.  It's the same menu.  They just rotate it on different nights.  So for example, Night 1 menu on most ships is Night 4 on Allure.  Not sure why they do that?

[spiralqueen]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Definitely have a look then.  It's the same menu.  They just rotate it on different nights.  So for example, Night 1 menu on most ships is Night 4 on Allure.  Not sure why they do that?

Actually on my sailing, the normal night 1 menu (filet) was night 7. It was a VERY odd order. It was actually to the point where I thought the app had the menus wrong at first because I had heard of filet being either night 1 or 4 but never 7. It turned out that the app shockingly had the correct menus for the entire week. @12thman

[12thman]

2 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

Actually on my sailing, the normal night 1 menu (filet) was night 7. It was a VERY odd order. It was actually to the point where I thought the app had the menus wrong at first because I had heard of filet being either night 1 or 4 but never 7. It turned out that the app shockingly had the correct menus for the entire week. @12thman

Thank you. Been reading your live blog as we're doing the same in September. Still on the fence about unlimited or just costal kitchen. Thank you for giving @Matt the cruise compass I've been searching for that exact itinerary. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

21 hours ago, 12thman said:

Also can I get food from other specialty dining restaurants at the costal kitchen?  

Within limits....yes.  Often I will order cream of mushroom soup or red velvet cake, for example, when I am in the CK or one of the other specialty restaurants but I have never tried ordering one of the entrees from another specialty.  While I suspect that they would say "yes", it is not something that I would do.

As an aside, you can also order a dish from the MDR when you are the CK or one of the specialty restaurants.  As I have said a number of times, Dan's very favorite dish is the roasted lamb shank.  We buy the UDP 100% of the time these days which means that he would miss his lamb shank since we are not dining in the MDR anymore.  BUT he just orders it at whatever restaurant we are dining at on the night that they are serving it in the MDR.  We have never failed to have them bring him his lamb shank !  Same goes for the lobster.  If we are dining at one of the specialties on lobster night we just ask them to please bring us lobster tails from the MDR and they will.

Also know that if you are in a full suite you can have meals from the MDR delivered to your suite via room service.  If we are in an Owner's Suite we will sometimes get the lamb shank delivered to our suite instead of going to a specialty. Anything less than an OS usually isn't practical since there is no dining table in the lower suites.  The Grand Suites have a smaller table out on the balcony so you can eat out there if it's not too warm.

[12thman]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Within limits....yes.  Often I will order cream of mushroom soup or red velvet cake, for example, when I am in the CK or one of the other specialty restaurants but I have never tried ordering one of the entrees from another specialty.  While I suspect that they would say "yes", it is not something that I would do.

As an aside, you can also order a dish from the MDR when you are the CK or one of the specialty restaurants.  As I have said a number of times, Dan's very favorite dish is the roasted lamb shank.  We buy the UDP 100% of the time these days which means that he would miss his lamb shank since we are not dining in the MDR anymore.  BUT he just orders it at whatever restaurant we are dining at on the night that they are serving it in the MDR.  We have never failed to have them bring him his lamb shank !  Same goes for the lobster.  If we are dining at one of the specialties on lobster night we just ask them to please bring us lobster tails from the MDR and they will.

Also know that if you are in a full suite you can have meals from the MDR delivered to your suite via room service.  If we are in an Owner's Suite we will sometimes get the lamb shank delivered to our suite instead of going to a specialty. Anything less than an OS usually isn't practical since there is no dining table in the lower suites.  The Grand Suites have a smaller table out on the balcony so you can eat out there if it's not too warm.

Thank you so much for all the information, it will be very useful! We have the Crown Loft Suite it does have a good size dinning area from looking at it on YouTube. After @Lovetocruise2002 and @spiralqueen live blog and what you mentioned seems CK is the better option. Being our first time on RCI it's a bit overwhelming to decide what to do about meals. Thanks to all for the input it has really helped us!!! 

[Lovetocruise2002]

36 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Thank you so much for all the information, it will be very useful! We have the Crown Loft Suite it does have a good size dinning area from looking at it on YouTube. After @Lovetocruise2002 and @spiralqueen live blog and what you mentioned seems CK is the better option. Being our first time on RCI it's a bit overwhelming to decide what to do about meals. Thanks to all for the input it has really helped us!!! 

We are in a CL on Symphony this July, doing CK exclusively.  If this is your first cruise on RCI I would try CK this time around and save specialty for another time. 

[12thman]

On 5/27/2019 at 12:05 PM, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We are in a CL on Symphony this July, doing CK exclusively.  If this is your first cruise on RCI I would try CK this time around and save specialty for another time. 

Thank you, I'll discuss it with my wife. The ones we really wanted to try are Izumi and Samba. We have There's a couple Brazilian steakhouses here in western Washington and excellent sushi restaurants but not at the prices that RCI is offering.  

[JLMoran]

21 minutes ago, 12thman said:

The ones we really wanted to try are Izumi and Smaba. We have There's a couple Brazilian steakhouses here in western Washington and excellent sushi restaurants but not at the prices that RCI is offering.  

You can do Izumi for lunch on a sea day (assuming you do plan on sushi and not hibachi) and the menu will be the same as dinner. Don’t bother with Samba, recent reviews here all say it’s very disappointing compared to times past.

[AGSLC5]

22 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Thank you, I'll discuss it with my wife. The ones we really wanted to try are Izumi and Smaba. We have There's a couple Brazilian steakhouses here in western Washington and excellent sushi restaurants but not at the prices that RCI is offering.  

I assume your going on Allure because that's the only ship with Samba.. I have been on Allure 5 times and at first when Allure was a new Ship Samba was delicious and I loved it. As the years have gone on I hate to say it has become really bad. If you really want the package just for that I would rethink that idea.. 

[12thman]

1 minute ago, JLMoran said:

You can do Izumi for lunch on a sea day (assuming you do plan on sushi and not hibachi) and the menu will be the same as dinner. Don’t bother with Samba, recent reviews here all say it’s very disappointing compared to times past.

Thanks for the information! The Brazilian restaurant here in Bellevue, is pretty good but very expensive.

[AGSLC5]

Just now, 12thman said:

Thanks for the information! The Brazilian restaurant here in Bellevue, is pretty good but very expensive.

Yeah I live in Ft. Lauderdale Florida and we have these restaurants all over the place.. They are quite good but pricy. In my opinion Chops Grill and 150 Central Park are far better options.. I love 150 Central Park. They have a beef tenderloin that is delicious. I also really love Giovanni's. I had a sea bass that was to die for. 

[12thman]

1 minute ago, AGSLC5 said:

I assume your going on Allure because that's the only ship with Samba.. I have been on Allure 5 times and at first when Allure was a new Ship Samba was delicious and I loved it. As the years have gone on I hate to say it has become really bad. If you really want the package just for that I would rethink that idea.. 

No we originally booked a cruise on NCL SKY because it's the ship we sailed on our honeymoon to Alaska back when it was the inaugural season in Seattle. But it was too short of a cruise and RCI seemed to offer a better cruise for the time off work, travel time, and ports. We really wanted to go to St Thomas but San Juan Porto Rico could be a blessing in disguise. We didn't really think about food options as that hasn't been a problem because not much was offered back then. We like shows, comedy clubs, etc. Allure has a lot to offer in that regard.

[AGSLC5]

29 minutes ago, 12thman said:

No we originally booked a cruise on NCL SKY because it's the ship we sailed on our honeymoon to Alaska back when it was the inaugural season in Seattle. But it was too short of a cruise and RCI seemed to offer a better cruise for the time off work, travel time, and ports. We really wanted to go to St Thomas but San Juan Porto Rico could be a blessing in disguise. We didn't really think about food options as that hasn't been a problem because not much was offered back then. We like shows, comedy clubs, etc. Allure has a lot to offer in that regard.

Allure has all my favorite shows. You will love the entertainment. Its one area I feel Royal is superior to NCL and I like NCL and go on all their new ships including Bliss and I always say food In my opinion is better on NCL (I only eat is specialty restaurants on both lines) but entertainment is much better on Royal.. 

[12thman]

30 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

Allure has all my favorite shows. You will love the entertainment. Its one area I feel Royal is superior to NCL and I like NCL and go on all their new ships including Bliss and I always say food In my opinion is better on NCL (I only eat is specialty restaurants on both lines) but entertainment is much better on Royal.. 

So I've been looking at NCL Bliss for Alaska next year and it's very inclusive (unlimited open bar, shore excursions credit, specialty dining credit, free wifi (250 minutes I think?) But also Ovation because of the entertainment. It's really hard to decide. We have decided that our cruise on RCI in September will be the deciding factor. Not happy how RCI has handled the way they altered our trip in September. One day just got an email saying my shore excursion in St Thomas was cancelled, no explanation as to why. Then When I tried to book shore excursions in Puerto Rico it kept showing St Thomas until I emailed them and they said it would be updated in a few days as they hadn't secured all the logistics and contracts. So we'll see how our cruise goes and decide if we'll be loyal or not. Loyalty is earned.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, JLMoran said:

Don’t bother with Samba, recent reviews here all say it’s very disappointing compared to times past.

+1 on hearing this about Samba.  I have also heard in addition to this that the smell of chlorine from the Solarium (Samba is Solarium Bistro) is bothersome to some while the are dining.

[Lovetocruise2002]

@12thman, I just thought of something else.  When we cruised Anthem last year, I took quite a few pics of the food at Coastal Kitchen.  It is documented in this blog.  I have pics from every night except night 7 (that is my least favourite menu of all the night so we went to Jamie's).  Maybe the pics will help in your decision too.  Disclaimer:  They are not @twangster quality photos.

[12thman]

36 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

I have also heard in addition to this that the smell of chlorine from the Solarium (Samba is Solarium Bistro) is bothersome to some while the are dining.

Good to know, didn't even think about that.

[12thman]

1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

@12thman, I just thought of something else.  When we cruised Anthem last year, I took quite a few pics of the food at Coastal Kitchen.  It is documented in this blog.  I have pics from every night except night 7 (that is my least favourite menu of all the night so we went to Jamie's).  Maybe the pics will help in your decision too.  Disclaimer:  They are not @twangster quality photos.

Thanks for the link it's very good. The pictures at CK really help. Did notice that the menu is very similar to Allure in CK. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

7 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Did notice that the menu is very similar to Allure in CK. 

It is the same but Anthem follows the usual rotation as Harmony, Symphony, and Ovation.  Not sure which rotation OA does.  But the menu is the same.

[AGSLC5]

4 hours ago, 12thman said:

So I've been looking at NCL Bliss for Alaska next year and it's very inclusive (unlimited open bar, shore excursions credit, specialty dining credit, free wifi (250 minutes I think?) But also Ovation because of the entertainment. It's really hard to decide. We have decided that our cruise on RCI in September will be the deciding factor. Not happy how RCI has handled the way they altered our trip in September. One day just got an email saying my shore excursion in St Thomas was cancelled, no explanation as to why. Then When I tried to book shore excursions in Puerto Rico it kept showing St Thomas until I emailed them and they said it would be updated in a few days as they hadn't secured all the logistics and contracts. So we'll see how our cruise goes and decide if we'll be loyal or not. Loyalty is earned.

just my opinion but I would pick Bliss for Alaska and here is why. Bliss has an amazing lounge called the Observation lounge. The views you get from there are unbelievable. For a Caribbean cruise the view doesn't matter so much but Alaska is all about the view and beauty of Alaska. Plus your going to want to do shore excursions and see Alaska so the boat entertainment is not as important. Jersey boys on Bliss was a great play its just for the Caribbean it didn't keep me entertained enough but for Alaska I would absolutely go with Bliss and I am very loyal to Royal I am diamond plus with 326 points but I am objective and for Alaska I would pick either NCL Bliss, Joy, or Encore whichever has the best deal.. 

[12thman]

I've looked into the Bliss and Joy. The Bliss would be the one that we choose if we choose NCL. Although the Ovation has the North Star and we would be in Sky or Star class so that would help our Crown and Anchor points. Based on your points you are a veteran of many cruises so I'll take that into account. This board and site in general is very helpful as I haven't found a dedicated website for NCL fans. Thanks for your suggestion. 

[mom2mybugs]

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

+1 on hearing this about Samba.  I have also heard in addition to this that the smell of chlorine from the Solarium (Samba is Solarium Bistro) is bothersome to some while the are dining.

We were going to do samba and got food overloaded and cancelled.  The chlorine smell wasn’t an issue dining in the solarium bistro during the day though and @12thman fyi the solarium bistro was really a great place for breakfast and lunch if you aren’t doing every meal in CK.  We actually never set foot in the windjammer the entire cruise...just did park cafe and solarium for breakfast and lunch.  Jane

[12thman]

2 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

We were going to do samba and got food overloaded and cancelled.  The chlorine smell wasn’t an issue dining in the solarium bistro during the day though and @12thman fyi the solarium bistro was really a great place for breakfast and lunch if you aren’t doing every meal in CK.  We actually never set foot in the windjammer the entire cruise...just did park cafe and solarium for breakfast and lunch.  Jane

Thank you Jane, I wanted to try the Park cafe for it's Kummelweck sandwich. Plus whatever is included with our fare. Dinner at CK seems like a really good choice now that several people have said very positive things. 

[mom2mybugs]

19 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Thank you Jane, I wanted to try the Park cafe for it's Kummelweck sandwich. Plus whatever is included with our fare. Dinner at CK seems like a really good choice now that several people have said very positive things. 

The kummelweck was great...that was our boarding meal!  They also had a very nice salad bar and several paninis.   Someday I will get a suite once...maybe when I quit dragging kids with...and will enjoy CK.  @Lovetocruise2002 has me convinced lol!  Jane

[12thman]

1 hour ago, mom2mybugs said:

The kummelweck was great...that was our boarding meal!  They also had a very nice salad bar and several paninis.   Someday I will get a suite once...maybe when I quit dragging kids with...and will enjoy CK.  @Lovetocruise2002 has me convinced lol!  Jane

We are looking forward to trying many different eateries that's included with our fare. Bit disappointed to read about Sorrentos, love pizza!!

[AGSLC5]

6 hours ago, 12thman said:

We are looking forward to trying many different eateries that's included with our fare. Bit disappointed to read about Sorrentos, love pizza!!

Have you considered buying the 3 night package? That way you could mostly do CK but get to experience some restaurants as well. Oasis class is my favorite class for restaurants. I love Chops, 150 Central Park, and Giovanni's. Plus I really love the ambience of eating in Central Park. I have also had the pleasure of eating in Coastal Kitchen and don't get me wrong I enjoy that as well but I also find it fun switching it up a couple of nights. Just a thought of course if you want to stick with CK you totally can. 

[12thman]

38 minutes ago, AGSLC5 said:

Have you considered buying the 3 night package? 

Yes, originally had that then the unlimited went on sale and doing the math for lunch and dinner it was a really go deal. Then came across people mentioning how go CK is and how the menu rotated nightly. Which I thought stayed the same every night which didn't interest me. That's why I put up the question here as to which is better unlimited dining package or Coastal Kitchen so I could get some feedback to decide what to do. As of right now I still have the unlimited dining package.

[AGSLC5]

4 hours ago, 12thman said:

Yes, originally had that then the unlimited went on sale and doing the math for lunch and dinner it was a really go deal. Then came across people mentioning how go CK is and how the menu rotated nightly. Which I thought stayed the same every night which didn't interest me. That's why I put up the question here as to which is better unlimited dining package or Coastal Kitchen so I could get some feedback to decide what to do. As of right now I still have the unlimited dining package.

ahh ok that makes sense. Yeah I guess its a tough call. I like the unlimited because it includes lunches but I guess you have to run the numbers and see what works better for you. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Even though I am not a huge fan of the Coastal Kitchen, I will usually give it at least 1 night (usually night 1 if that is filet night) even if I have the UDP just to change things up a bit. With the O and Q class ships there are more options for using the UDP so that helps.  We will always purchase the UDP but I still enjoy going to the CK - particularly on the O class ships (MUCH nicer views than the CK on the Q class).  We always always go to the CK for breakfast unless we are having breakfast delivered.

[12thman]

@WAAAYTOOO would you mind saying why you don't eat at CK? You don't like the food or service?

 

Thank you in advance. 

[ScooterScott22]

We had the UDP as part of the suite and utilized that more than Coastal Kitchen for dinner.  We only did 2 dinners in CK of the 11.  Lunches were also more commonly Not in Coastal Kitchen, but the ratio was closer with 4 being in CK.  The food was fine, my wife was not as big of a fan of Coastal.  For us the number of specialties and options at each venue allowed us to enjoy different items, even if we doubled up on one location.  While I respect it may not be feasible to have the UDP and it seems just doing CK would be fine but if you have the option personally i would opt for the greater variety with the dining plan.

[12thman]

Thank you for sharing @ScooterScott22 it's not a matter of affordability, it's what the majority think is better. This is our first time on RCI and while everyone has their own preferences for meals it does help us to decide what to do. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

Going to jump in again on this one and say that we have done a number of Royal cruises and never really did specialty at all until this year. Up until 2017 we did none at all. Then we added in one per cruise in 2017 & 2018. The only reason for that was that there were unique restaurants that we wanted to try (ie. wonderland and Jamie’s because we cannot turn down pasta).

Anyway, in March of this year, we sailed Star class and I was so torn because I knew it would be specialty all the way to max out our Star class benefits. But I also saw this as a good opportunity to test them all out to see if it was really better than my beloved CK. My conclusion is that specialty is great but CK is most definitely comparable if not better (which is what I had suspected all along). And the other thing to consider, which we fell victim to, was that it really is food overload. Unless you are really good at portion control, which we were not, by the end, we felt pretty ill. I know that @WAAAYTOOO has made mention of this before too. It’s just too much food. 

That was our rationale for cancelling the UDP for our sailing on SY this July. We were on the fence about it but our UDP experience on HM helped us to decide.  I 100% agree with @spiralqueen in that I would save the UDP for the smaller ships that do not have a coastal kitchen or save it for when I am not in a suite that includes CK. 

[AGSLC5]

21 minutes ago, 12thman said:

Thank you for sharing @ScooterScott22 it's not a matter of affordability, it's what the majority think is better. This is our first time on RCI and while everyone has their own preferences for meals it does help us to decide what to do. 

I think this is such a personal question.. For instance I liked Coastal Kitchen but I am not In love with it like some people are. I personally prefer the dining package because I like trying all the different options. I think the food in the restaurants and CK quality wise are about the same I just prefer the ambience of restates in Central Park better to that of CK. If I were you and money wasn't a factor I would get the Unlimited and do both have lunches in restaurants and a few dinners in restaurants and then also a few dinners in CK. I am a big foodie so I don't ever have food overload from the dining package but then again I don't eat Breakfast because I don't like it so really I just eat an early lunch and then dinner.. So really it all comes down to your personal preference. Whatever you choose I do hope you have a wonderful time. Allure was my favorite ship until Symphony came out and its still my second favorite I'm sure you will have a great time. 

[12thman]

4 hours ago, AGSLC5 said:

I think this is such a personal question.. For instance I liked Coastal Kitchen but I am not In love with it like some people are. I personally prefer the dining package because I like trying all the different options. I think the food in the restaurants and CK quality wise are about the same I just prefer the ambience of restates in Central Park better to that of CK. If I were you and money wasn't a factor I would get the Unlimited and do both have lunches in restaurants and a few dinners in restaurants and then also a few dinners in CK. I am a big foodie so I don't ever have food overload from the dining package but then again I don't eat Breakfast because I don't like it so really I just eat an early lunch and then dinner.. So really it all comes down to your personal preference. Whatever you choose I do hope you have a wonderful time. Allure was my favorite ship until Symphony came out and its still my second favorite I'm sure you will have a great time. 

That's what we are planning to do but after read @spiralqueen live blog and seeing some other blog pictures of CK we may just do CK. Just getting feedback from others to help us decide. Thanks for sharing.