UDP and “bulk-booking” on embarkation day

[MattG]

Hello friends,

I’m planning to go to a specialty host stand on embarkation day to “bulk-book” all of our specialty dining at once. I have a chart that says what restaurant we’d like on which day for lunch/dinner. What else does the host/hostess need from us that can help them in this process? 
 

We’re a party of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids) and we’re traveling with a party of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids). Do you think we can get a 9-top? Or better to get two tables but next to each other? 
 

How flexible should we be on dining times? We prefer 6pm but can go +/- 30 minutes 

[Mark_A]

That is what I do.  If they have the openings it won't be a problem.  Idid have an issue a few months ago where the only reservation times I could get were around 9:00 pm. and I was at the kiosk at 11:30 am

[Ampurp85]

If you are one of the first on, you might be good but most dining before 7:30 is a popular time, add in the fact you are a 9-top and things will get complicated. If your reservations aren't linked, they won't be able to really try to sit you together. They might be able to note you wanting to sit in proximity though. Either way good luck. 

[Salty Law Dog]

Definitely link your reservation with the party you are traveling with. It gets super complicated if you don’t.

[MattG]

12 minutes ago, Salty Law Dog said:

Definitely link your reservation with the party you are traveling with. It gets super complicated if you don’t.

We are linked! 

[MattG]

I’m basically battling the people who booked speciality dining on the Cruise Planner, right? 

[Salty Law Dog]

I think it is a mix of those who have already booked through CP, the slots they hold open for Star Class and suite guests, and then the rest. Be flexible and be nice to the person helping you book and you should be ok. I recommend heading to one of the fancier restaurants to book all of your dining rather than the promenade. Just my .02.

[WAAAYTOOO]

18 minutes ago, MattG said:

I’m basically battling the people who booked speciality dining on the Cruise Planner, right? 

…and those in full suites who are able to have the Concierge book their dining reservations prior to boarding…

[D Alt]

I honestly don't think that timeframe is going to be a problem if you do it day 1. 

[Ampurp85]

I think it's mostly the party size.......yes you are battling suite guest, but a 9-top might be your biggest issue.

[MattG]

16 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I think it's mostly the party size.......yes you are battling suite guest, but a 9-top might be your biggest issue.

the 9-top is a "nice-to-have" and completely flexible, the booking times (somewhere between 5:30pm-6:30pm) are more important. Otherwise, we're off to Windjammer, which seems like a sin when you have UDP. 

[CruisingNewb]

We were probably one of the first 50 to board our cruise this past June.  First thing that I did was run to Chops and begin reserving our specialty dining with the host.  

I used my spreadsheet and began reserving.  Even though I was one of the first on board and overly prepared with my spreadsheet, I did not get the exact times for my family of 4 dining on each day.  They gave me times that were more than acceptable, but they were off by 30 minutes or so for most days.  

I highly suspect this was due to (1) limited seating in each venue, and (2) Key and Suite guest priority reservations.

My advice is to be flexible.  You will likely get your reservations, just might not be the exact times you were looking for.

Also, keep in mind that (at least on the Ovation) the Chops host could schedule all of our reservations, but only the Chops reservations showed up immediately on our daily planner app.  The other ones took 2 days or so to appear.  Write down the times on paper when the host makes the reservations.  

Oh...one last thing, many people told me that any host from any specialty dining restaurant could book all of your reservations.  That was not the case for us on the Ovation.  The Izumi host could only make Izumi reservations for us.  May be a specific computer glitch, may be fleet wide (I doubt it), but be aware that Chops was out go to host stand. 

[MattG]

25 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

We were probably one of the first 50 to board our cruise this past June.  First thing that I did was run to Chops and begin reserving our specialty dining with the host.  

I used my spreadsheet and began reserving.  Even though I was one of the first on board and overly prepared with my spreadsheet, I did not get the exact times for my family of 4 dining on each day.  They gave me times that were more than acceptable, but they were off by 30 minutes or so for most days.  

I highly suspect this was due to (1) limited seating in each venue, and (2) Key and Suite guest priority reservations.

My advice is to be flexible.  You will likely get your reservations, just might not be the exact times you were looking for.

Also, keep in mind that (at least on the Ovation) the Chops host could schedule all of our reservations, but only the Chops reservations showed up immediately on our daily planner app.  The other ones took 2 days or so to appear.  Write down the times on paper when the host makes the reservations.  

Oh...one last thing, many people told me that any host from any specialty dining restaurant could book all of your reservations.  That was not the case for us on the Ovation.  The Izumi host could only make Izumi reservations for us.  May be a specific computer glitch, may be fleet wide (I doubt it), but be aware that Chops was out go to host stand. 

Thank you for this! This is really helping set expectations. We'll be on Oasis, with 3 specialty venues in close proximity, i'm hoping we can knock them all out at one venue, but can always bounce to another if needed. 

 

Quick question - did you prioritize your venues for specific days, or did you prioritize your dining times? For instance, if you didn't get a time you wanted for Chops on Day 3, did you check another venue for an open time (and move Chops to another day)? Or did you just accept the different time and keep Chops for that day?

[CruisingNewb]

11 minutes ago, MattG said:

Quick question - did you prioritize your venues for specific days, or did you prioritize your dining times? For instance, if you didn't get a time you wanted for Chops on Day 3, did you check another venue for an open time (and move Chops to another day)? Or did you just accept the different time and keep Chops for that day?

I will attempt to answer your question in the way I understood it.

First, all of our dining times were scheduled by me to have an hour buffer time before and after, just in case we did not get that specific time.

For instance, Izumi on day 2 for lunch on day 2 was scheduled for noon.  We had plans to do flowrider at 3pm.  The time we got for Izumi was 12:30 instead of noon.  So we took it and still had time to get changed for flowrider.

We did not have to swap out venues for times because we scheduled enough buffer time.  

Even if the latter was not true, we had the UDP for 7 nights and we had to stick to our schedule as much as possible because we wanted at least one full day between dining at the same venue.  We did not want to eat Chops 2 days in a row.  So we had Chops on Sunday, and then again on Tuesday for lunch.  If we had to swap out venues for times, we might have ended up eating sushi 2 days n a row, Italian 2 days in a row, etc...

[MattG]

11 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

I will attempt to answer your question in the way I understood it.

First, all of our dining times were scheduled by me to have an hour buffer time before and after, just in case we did not get that specific time.

For instance, Izumi on day 2 for lunch on day 2 was scheduled for noon.  We had plans to do flowrider at 3pm.  The time we got for Izumi was 12:30 instead of noon.  So we took it and still had time to get changed for flowrider.

We did not have to swap out venues for times because we scheduled enough buffer time.  

Even if the latter was not true, we had the UDP for 7 nights and we had to stick to our schedule as much as possible because we wanted at least one full day between dining at the same venue.  We did not want to eat Chops 2 days in a row.  So we had Chops on Sunday, and then again on Tuesday for lunch.  If we had to swap out venues for times, we might have ended up eating sushi 2 days n a row, Italian 2 days in a row, etc...

You nailed the question, and I appreciate the answer. I can understand how changing the dining for one night can cascade into the other nights. 

Here's what I have drawn up:

 

[CruisingNewb]

20 minutes ago, MattG said:

You nailed the question, and I appreciate the answer. I can understand how changing the dining for one night can cascade into the other nights. 

Here's what I have drawn up:

 

Your spreadsheet is impressive and looks similar to ours, but I would not be doing you or royal Caribbean justice if I did not suggest the MDR and windjammer for a few meals. I really liked Izumi, but as a sushi snob, twice was enough for us. The MDR had a nice selection of items that were different from specialty dining and we really enjoyed some of the offerings. Also, I have heard great things about 150 CP, but between chops and 150, you are going 5 times for steak (I know I am oversimplifying it). I would suggest MDR on at least one night.

[MattG]

17 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

if I did not suggest the MDR and windjammer for a few meals

Totally agree on the MDR and Windjammer having solid favorites. Last cruise (Anthem), we did Windjammer for every breakfast and lunch (except one lunch, plus Coco Cay) and MDR for every dinner (and the one non-Windjammer lunch). I'm also trying to avoid the Windjammer on this cruise as i've heard it's a madhouse on Oasis, being smaller than it should. Having a solid baseline, we're gonna go the complete opposite direction and go HAM on the UDP - we got it for a crazy-good price ($166/pp). On future cruises, we may end up doing a 3-night dining package and splitting the difference. 

17 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

I really liked Izumi, but as a sushi snob, twice was enough for us.

I'm actually curious to skip the sushi and try the noodle bowls and the other non-sushi entrees, things we don't normally get on land.

 

17 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

Also, I have heard great things about 150 CP, but between chops and 150, you are going 5 times for steak (I know I am oversimplifying it)

A ribeye at Chops is on the menu (ha!), but the Lobster Thermidor and Lamb Wellington are calling my name at 150 CP!

 

All of this to say - i'm on vacation, and I plan on being super flexible. If everything falls through, I know the MDR and Windjammer will always be there for us. 

 

[ScooterScott22]

Reviewing this and had a couple of thoughts to pass along.  First I agree with others that the size of the party (9) might be the most influential piece on getting a reservation.  Agree that to head to one of the restaurants right after boarding and work with them to see what you can schedule.  Don’t forget that you can also update or find new reservations while cruising in the app.  So adjustments still might be possible.  

The other item is a question, how far out is your cruise?  We did UDP on Wonder in March and Harmony in May and on both occasions not one location, other than Mason Jar, had every table occupied.  The issue seems to be staffing, not enough servers to cover every table.  If your sailing after Labor Day there are a few reasons, it might not be as difficult.  Stick to your plan, know your spots where you can be flexible and good luck.

[MattG]

10 minutes ago, ScooterScott22 said:

The other item is a question, how far out is your cruise?

Mid-October 2022. Hoping RC uses the summer to staff up and overcome peak season obstacles. 

[twangster]

One phenomenon I've noticed since the restart is that specialty dining is more popular now compared to pre-shutdown.  A lot of people have experience from before and that's great but UDP and making reservations on board isn't like what it was before.  In these current times with specialty dining in high demand it can be harder to secure reservations with dining packages once on board.  It gets worse as your party size increases.  

I'm not sure why specialty dining has become so popular now.  Just another weird side effect of the pandemic.

[MattG]

33 minutes ago, twangster said:

I'm not sure why specialty dining has become so popular now.

RC has said on-board spending has gone waaaaay up since COVID, I’m wondering if cruising is drawing a different clientele? Aside from regular cruisers, has anyone noticed a different customer base? I don’t cruise frequently enough to judge. Maybe some of the MEI or other TAs can chime in on if they’ve seen a demographic change. 

[MattG]

33 minutes ago, twangster said:

One phenomenon I've noticed since the restart is that specialty dining is more popular now compared to pre-shutdown.

We got it for two reasons:

1) We did MDR on Anthem last winter, and had so/so experiences. UDP was $220/person then.

2) Coming up Oasis, we saw it for $167/person, and felt it was too good to resist. 

[CruisingNewb]

2 hours ago, MattG said:

RC has said on-board spending has gone waaaaay up since COVID, I’m wondering if cruising is drawing a different clientele? Aside from regular cruisers, has anyone noticed a different customer base? I don’t cruise frequently enough to judge. Maybe some of the MEI or other TAs can chime in on if they’ve seen a demographic change. 

Although I cannot provide comparisons, I can tell you this: tons of people were buying things in the stores and the specialty dining venues were packed with waiting lists each time we went (we had specialty dining 9 times).

Also, people were buying photos and packages like crazy too.  So I can tell you that on our cruise, people were spending tons.

[Nicci]

This was an interesting read, thank you @MattG for asking! I have UDP for the first time ever on my solo TA this Fall, so I’m hoping being only one person they will find space for me (unless they would prefer to keep tables for more people = buying more)…

[ellcee]

10 minutes ago, Nicci said:

so I’m hoping being only one person they will find space for me (unless they would prefer to keep tables for more people = buying more)…

Was never an issue for me.

 

[Ampurp85]

I book specialty dining and I mostly travel solo, never had an issue......but I also make my reservations after 8pm 

[MicDay]

We tried the UUP on our last cruise in September 2021, it was too much food for us but it was excellent.

I used the app as soon as we boarded to book our lunch/dinner times but it was just the two of us.  I had no issues getting where I wanted and the time I wanted.

This was on the Ovation it was a seven day Alaska Cruise so we had two sea days. 

By day 4 we were skipping breakfast so we'd be hungry for lunch or dinner.

Good Luck and I think you'll do fine, you have an excellent attitude going in.  

 

[MattG]

While I have everyone here...

 

How are portion sizes in specialty dining compared to MDR? I've noticed app portions being small, entrees being average, and desserts being small. I'm COMPLETELY okay with this because I would always end up ordering multiples if I wanted to try something new. 

With @MicDaycommenting on being stuffed, and others saying "it's a lot of food...", I'm curious if the portions are larger in specialty dining? 

 

[KristiZ]

31 minutes ago, MattG said:

I'm curious if the portions are larger in specialty dining

Definitely. 

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, MattG said:

While I have everyone here...

 

How are portion sizes in specialty dining compared to MDR? I've noticed app portions being small, entrees being average, and desserts being small. I'm COMPLETELY okay with this because I would always end up ordering multiples if I wanted to try something new. 

With @MicDaycommenting on being stuffed, and others saying "it's a lot of food...", I'm curious if the portions are larger in specialty dining? 

 

So imho not only are the portions larger but the quality is better, so you end up fuller.... if that makes sense.