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Has anyone done the Unlimited Dining Package?


LeeS

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It can be used for lunch and dinner anytime the restaurants are open and as long as there is space for you.

As for breakfast, the only non complimentary breakfast I have seen is there is a new additional charge section on the Johnny Rockets menu for breakfast.  I don't know if that would be covered with the dining package or not if you ordered those new breakfast food items. (Milkshakes are not covered under the dining plan, but they are under the drink package). However, Johnny Rockets on the Oasis class ships is open for breakfast for everyone and it is complimentary, other than those couple of upcharge items.

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We got the UDP on Navigator of the Seas and loved it.  I know to some people the main dining room is great and we did eat there one night and it was good however we just loved to go to the specialty restaurants and have a more one on one dining experience.  All of the restaurants were amazing so I am a full supporter of the UDP if you have the money to splurge. 

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I got the 3-night dining package on the Allure last week. This is a downsized version of the Unlimited Dining Package.  To be honest, I did not enjoy specialty dining as much as I enjoyed the Main Dining Room (which is already included in the cruise payment).  The feeling that I got while I was dining at Chops Grille, Izumi, and Samba Grill was that they were trying too hard to be "special".

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We just did the UDP on Odyssey last week. We very much enjoyed it; but as it was our first time graduating from the 3 night package we felt the need to get the most bang for our buck and did it for lunch and dinner every night and even got some food in playmakers with it. (additional non meal time stops at Izumi) We would do it again but next time we get it we will not focus on absolutely having to have every possible meal we can in specialty. Some nights we were working around their schedule so we ate too early and then on the sea days when we did lunch it felt like we just ate the whole day. 

We did enjoy the food in Playmakers quite a bit while watching a game later in the evening. 

The Pub food was for whatever reason not included. I don't know if that is always the case or perhaps the bartender just made a mistake. Regardless the food is not very expensive in the Pub to begin with, like 4-8$ for appetizers. 

I would say if you are going on a ship that has many specialty dinning options then you should definitely do it. If you are going on a ship with fewer options it might make more sense to do the chops +1 or something else.

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7 minutes ago, CruizIan said:

We just did the UDP on Odyssey last week. We very much enjoyed it; but as it was our first time graduating from the 3 night package we felt the need to get the most bang for our buck and did it for lunch and dinner every night and even got some food in playmakers with it. (additional non meal time stops at Izumi) We would do it again but next time we get it we will not focus on absolutely having to have every possible meal we can in specialty. Some nights we were working around their schedule so we ate too early and then on the sea days when we did lunch it felt like we just ate the whole day. 

We did enjoy the food in Playmakers quite a bit while watching a game later in the evening. 

The Pub food was for whatever reason not included. I don't know if that is always the case or perhaps the bartender just made a mistake. Regardless the food is not very expensive in the Pub to begin with, like 4-8$ for appetizers. 

I would say if you are going on a ship that has many specialty dinning options then you should definitely do it. If you are going on a ship with fewer options it might make more sense to do the chops +1 or something else.

We'll be on Odyssey with the UDP in 2 weeks - what are your 'can't miss' recommends?

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8 minutes ago, KLA said:

We'll be on Odyssey with the UDP in 2 weeks - what are your 'can't miss' recommends?

Well first off we were thinking about skipping Giovanni's because it just looked really casual and to be honest we didn't love Gio's Table the old concept. But we could not have been more wrong. Thankfully we decided to have lunch there on like day three and it was incredible and we went back for dinner on the last night. Everything is awesome. When we went for lunch they recommended three appetizers (The meat and cheese plate, stromboli, & Caprese) all was great but then we each ordered our own actual pizza when we could have split one or really just had the apps for lunch. It was just me and my Wife so we missed not having extra people to help with the sharable portions. 

Teppanyaki - has one of the best views on the ship and is definitely worth one of your dinners.

Playmakers - Food was good sports bar food if you are into that sort of thing and was great to just munch on late night watching a game. I think you could order up to 11pm

Wonderland - If you have never done it before I would say do it because it was an experience but you might have to get something to eat later on because it is not really a "Filling" meal.

We missed the opportunity to have some food at Giovanni's Wine Bar and I found out they have fried lasagna bites that I wish we would have tried.

Obviously CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS, everybody! CHOPS!

GIOS.jpg

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3 minutes ago, CruizIan said:

Well first off we were thinking about skipping Giovanni's because it just looked really casual and to be honest we didn't love Gio's Table the old concept. But we could not have been more wrong. Thankfully we decided to have lunch there on like day three and it was incredible and we went back for dinner on the last night. Everything is awesome. When we went for lunch they recommended three appetizers (The meat and cheese plate, stromboli, & Caprese) all was great but then we each ordered our own actual pizza when we could have split one or really just had the apps for lunch. It was just me and my Wife so we missed not having extra people to help with the sharable portions. 

Teppanyaki - has one of the best views on the ship and is definitely worth one of your dinners.

Playmakers - Food was good sports bar food if you are into that sort of thing and was great to just munch on late night watching a game. I think you could order up to 11pm

Wonderland - If you have never done it before I would say do it because it was an experience but you might have to get something to eat later on because it is not really a "Filling" meal.

We missed the opportunity to have some food at Giovanni's Wine Bar and I found out they have fried lasagna bites that I wish we would have tried.

Obviously CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS, everybody! CHOPS!

GIOS.jpg

That looks fantastic - thanks so much for the recommends! 

Anything else we can't miss on the ship? 😄 

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3 hours ago, CruizIan said:

Well first off we were thinking about skipping Giovanni's because it just looked really casual and to be honest we didn't love Gio's Table the old concept. But we could not have been more wrong. Thankfully we decided to have lunch there on like day three and it was incredible and we went back for dinner on the last night. Everything is awesome. When we went for lunch they recommended three appetizers (The meat and cheese plate, stromboli, & Caprese) all was great but then we each ordered our own actual pizza when we could have split one or really just had the apps for lunch. It was just me and my Wife so we missed not having extra people to help with the sharable portions. 

Teppanyaki - has one of the best views on the ship and is definitely worth one of your dinners.

Playmakers - Food was good sports bar food if you are into that sort of thing and was great to just munch on late night watching a game. I think you could order up to 11pm

Wonderland - If you have never done it before I would say do it because it was an experience but you might have to get something to eat later on because it is not really a "Filling" meal.

We missed the opportunity to have some food at Giovanni's Wine Bar and I found out they have fried lasagna bites that I wish we would have tried.

Obviously CHOPS, CHOPS, CHOPS, everybody! CHOPS!

GIOS.jpg

This is great - Ill be on Odyssey in 3 weeks.

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I took the UDP on Quantum of the Seas in Feb 2021 and was so glad I did. It was a cruise to nowhere (test cruise from Singapore) so we could go to the specialty restaurants for lunch & dinner. Breakfast is not included but we found a lot of options at MDR or Solarium Bistro. My fave was Wonderland (for the experience) & Chops (filet mignon of course), my teenage girl loved Izumi & my boy preferred Jamie’s & Chops. There’s something for everyone and desserts everyday!354E321C-9958-4E8B-BF22-0638131D2EBA.thumb.jpeg.884493170452b49cfefb1ed2db9732f7.jpeg

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We did the UDP on the Ovation a couple of weeks. 

We love the specialty dining, but holy cow it was too much food.  My husband and I tried to share our food but the serves just bring out more food.  By day 5 I was asking for the kids menu and eating a piece of fruit for breakfast.

The food and the service was very nice but we would not do the UDP again, probably the 3 night one because we do love the SD.

 

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Depending on the type and length of the cruise whether we choose an UDP. The MDR is always great. For us, the UDP is a lot of food. When we first done it, we made the mistake of treating it like a three night package where to want to try a larger selection for a particular speciality resturant forgetting the fact you can go back there again, and again, and lunch on sea days. Once we did it on a three day cruise to nowhere and we felt like we spent my waking hours going from one restaurant to another; too much food. The offer on the cruise planner sales, especially when 50% off , make it great value for money. If you add up the individuals prices for restaurants you want to try and then the special on there UDP, it is a no brainer and well worth the money.   

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We have sailed on a few times on Royal Caribbean and our first time on Anthem in July on a 4 night around the UK (no stops as it was the first sailing after Covid), we purchased the UDP and it was well worth the money.

Izzumi was amazing, staff talked us through everything and asked what we liked and made recommendations from there. 

Jamie Olivers', WOW again really looked after and made to feel welcome and allowed us to chill, the menu was very good indeed.

Chop Grill, well as ever a really good choice from the menu and the staff very attentive. 

We only had 4 nights and would of like a few more so we have booked for 15th October from Southampton , Liverpool (back home), Belfast and back to Southampton, 5 nights and we can actually get off this time at port.

We have booked the UDP again as we feel it is worth the money and like has been said it is a bit more intimate than the MDR (no knocking it as we do love it in there).

Here is to being able to get further afield in the future and sailing TA and over in the States!

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On the bigger ships (quantum and oasis class) with more restaurants, I say yes. However we only do dinners, not lunch as I would gain way too much weight. I barely eat lunch on land plus sea days are spent on the pool deck and we’re not going to shower and get dressed to go get lunch. 
 

On smaller ships (Freedom and below) we usually will do a 3 night and possibly go back to one for a 4th night. Those ships typically have 3 restaurants: Chops, Izumi and either Jamie’s or Giovannis
 

We have a 12 night on Odyssey next October and our group has settled on the 5 night package because it is a very port intensive cruise (Holy Land/Greece) and we have several ports that leave late. I don’t want to commit to a specialty restaurant if I’m schlepping back onboard at 7:30/8:00 after being ashore all day. I will stuff my face, have a glass or two of wine and hit the bed! 
 

We have 3 sea days plus embark day and one day where we leave the port at 3:00, so we figured there’s 5 nights we could easily do. We will do MDR for the rest. 
 

So for us it really depends on the ship and itinerary. 
 

Currently we have it booked for upcoming Symphony and Wonder. The 5 night on Odyssey and Alaska we may just do a Chops+1. 

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On 9/16/2021 at 3:06 PM, CruizIan said:

Just have a great time! Try the Poutine in The Pub its delicous!

Lobster Man 'n Cheese bites are good too, really can't taste the lobster with all the cheese .  Didn't care for the pretzel sticks , they were more like bread sticks. They come with mustard to dip, but I dipped them in the cheese dip that came with the Lob Mac 'n Cheese appy.

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On 9/28/2021 at 2:32 PM, barjpoe said:

Lobster Man 'n Cheese bites are good too, really can't taste the lobster with all the cheese .  Didn't care for the pretzel sticks , they were more like bread sticks. They come with mustard to dip, but I dipped them in the cheese dip that came with the Lob Mac 'n Cheese appy.

They are definitely just bread sticks I would 100% agree. They also serve them in the pub as pretzels if that is not what you are already talking about.

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