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Good price for 3 night dining


mikeMTL

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6 hours ago, mikeMTL said:

Hey on my Royal app, 3 night dining package is apparently up to 40% off showing at 101.99$, so my question is, from previous price points offered that you know of, is this a good price?

That is a good price. We purchased it on our last cruise in FEB on Odyssey for $109... the lowest I've personally seen it listed on past cruises was $99.

If you want that dining package, I would purchase it now... you can always cancel and repurchase at the lower cost if the price drops even further in the future (all can be done through the Cruise Planner). It's currently listed at $120 ("normal" 20% off pre-cruise rate in the CP) for our next cruise in JAN on Wonder.

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With the three-night package, I would start by looking at what restaurants the ship has, their cover charges or how much a la carte credit you'll receive with the package, and which are the most appealing to your party based on the menu.

For example, looking at my Oasis cruise this summer, I'm seeing the following (several are on sale):

  • 150 Central Park - $64.99
  • Chops Grill - $54.99
  • Giovanni's Table - $41.99
  • Izumi Sushi - $28.99 for prix-fixe menu 
  • a la carte restaurants - $35 credit 
  • Port Side BBQ and Playmakers - $20 credit 
  • Izumi Hibachi - $10 surcharge, current cruise planner price of $45.99.

At $101.99, before gratuities, I'd want to make sure my average meal cost is at least $34 to break even*. So if you went for the Royal Classic Trio of Chops, Giovanni's, and Izumi (either sushi or hibachi) you'd come out ahead. Personally, I'd avoid using the 3-night package at BBQ or Playmakers due to the credit received with the package. Instead I'd pay for those two out-of-pocket if dining there.

Without knowing your sailing ship or personal interests, my personal three to start with would be: Wonderland, 150 Central Park (more nouveau) or Chops (more classic), and Izumi Hibachi. 

*If you're taking advantage of the discount on bottles of wine, it skews the value math so I'm leaving it off.

"Enjoy a discount of 40% off bottles of wine under $100 and 20% off bottles above $100 while dining in specialty restaurants."

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Some ships also have Jamie's Italian and Wonderland, which I would recommend using the 3N package on. Basically, to get your money's worth do the higher end specialty and base your decisions on what you really want to try.  Sushi, BBQ and wings are cheap enough to pay out of pocket if you are doing only 3nights

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I am also debating the 3 night package (as well as the UDP if the price is reasonable), but traveling with family that may not want to do specialty dining often. What is the experience for booking reservations when you have some people with packages and some without? 

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On 5/7/2022 at 1:13 AM, mikeMTL said:

Hey on my Royal app, 3 night dining package is apparently up to 40% off showing at 101.99$, so my question is, from previous price points offered that you know of, is this a good price?

Until recently, it had been $92.99, but these days, I predict this is as good as it will get for a long time.

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17 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Makes no difference how you are paying for the specialty meals when you make the reservations.

Thanks!  So when on board, I should be able to make reservations for my party regardless of whether they have a dining package or not.  How would you recommend handling preferences for the courtesy reservation when booking the package, knowing that you may want to add others to the reservation once on board?

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3 hours ago, TheMick424 said:

So when on board, I should be able to make reservations for my party regardless of whether they have a dining package or not.  How would you recommend handling preferences for the courtesy reservation when booking the package, knowing that you may want to add others to the reservation once on board?

Yes. You just need to know the room numbers when making the reservations once onboard.  If you want to use the app to make the reservations on board, you need to make sure that you have all of the reservations linked so you can see all of the individuals.

For the courtesy reservation time you select when booking the package, I always just ignore it really. You can pick the time if you know for sure that's what you want, but you can't guarantee that they'll have a reservation time available at the restaurant that you want at that time anyways.  I think the courtesy time selection is more of an inventory control thing for the Cruise Planner rather than actually booking a reservation.  You can change whatever is "courtesy booked" for you once onboard, if anything was booked at all.

When you are pre-paying for a single reservation at a specific time, that's the only time where it gets difficult when considering adding others with dining packages later. In that case, I would suggest pre-paying to secure the spots and then you can get refunded onboard.

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42 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Yes. You just need to know the room numbers when making the reservations once onboard.  If you want to use the app to make the reservations on board, you need to make sure that you have all of the reservations linked so you can see all of the individuals.

For the courtesy reservation time you select when booking the package, I always just ignore it really. You can pick the time if you know for sure that's what you want, but you can't guarantee that they'll have a reservation time available at the restaurant that you want at that time anyways.  I think the courtesy time selection is more of an inventory control thing for the Cruise Planner rather than actually booking a reservation.  You can change whatever is "courtesy booked" for you once onboard, if anything was booked at all.

When you are pre-paying for a single reservation at a specific time, that's the only time where it gets difficult when considering adding others with dining packages later. In that case, I would suggest pre-paying to secure the spots and then you can get refunded onboard.

Thank you!  Helpful tips!

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I sail on Harmony of the seas November 12 and about a month and a half ago the three night dining package was around $92. Then it all of a sudden went up to $101 and the price didn’t budge for weeks. I figured I might as well jump on that price before it goes up even further. 

it seems it would make more sense to utilize a three night dining package on dinner rather than lunch in order to make it worth it. And as someone posted in this thread, paying out of pocket for places like Izumi sushi and Playmakers would be the better way to go. 
 

I just got back from a sailing on freedom of the seas and had Giovanni’s Italian kitchen for lunch. I thought it was really good!  For my next sailing on Harmony, only Jamie’s is available. Anyone have a preference between those two restaurants?

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15 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Giovanni's has the pizza right? I can see it being the clear winner just because of that😛

Yes! It's even more casual than Jamie's in my opinion. The pizza is pretty good and they have a filet on the dinner menu.

12 hours ago, Patchy said:

Giovanni’s (At least the Italian Kitchen; not sure about Giovanni’s Table) has a complimentary limoncello at the end of the meal.

And, yes, complimentary limoncello!

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