Best way to use/book D+ BOGO dining benefits

[Salty Law Dog]

Ok savvy cruisers, can you please share your methods for best using the Crown and Anchor BOGO dining benefits? We usually get the UDP, but for the smaller ships, ie Jewel, it’s not worth it. We haven’t taken advantage of the BOGO dining benefits, but I’m struggling with the best way to do it, especially since we are both D+, so we should get 4 BOGO meals. Should I reserve one spot in the CP 2X for each of us, then tell them once on board that there are 2 of us? Thanks for any suggestions! 

[AshleyDillo]

The BOGO for D+ is based on the onboard price, not the discount price you can get through the Cruise Planner. All you need to do is wait until you board and then make your reservations. Keep in mind the BOGO is only valid on nights 1 and 2. You just tell them when you dine that you want to use the BOGO.

[WAAAYTOOO]

It has been my experience that whether or not they require you to use your BOGO perk on nights 1 or 2 is very ship dependent.  On OA, they didn’t care when you used it.  We’re on EX now and I was told yesterday that we could use our BOGO any time, lunch or dinner.  I’m sure there are ships that require you to use them on days 1 or 2 but honestly, I think this “rule” is a hold -over from days gone by when days 1 and 2 were “slow” days for specialty dining.  That is no longe the case (my [non]expert opinion).  I barely managed to get a reservation for Chops on night #2 (granted, this is EX so far fewer specialty dining options compared to the big ships).  So, my advice is to plan on using your BOGO on nights 1 or 2 but check and see, once onboard, if you can spread them out.

We were also previous UDP devotees, but have recently transitioned to 3 night + BOGO fans.  We have a number of 4-nighters coming up this fall and will be using only BOGO for those sailings.

[Salty Law Dog]

Thanks for the tips! So for the two of us, if the ship only allows night 1 and 2, we should get those free due to each of our status as D+? Somehow I don’t think that is going to fly. I’d much prefer to spread out to use 4 BOGO, 2 for each of us. I agree with WAAAAY Tooo, dining availability seems to be all over the place. Lately we have noticed the specialty restaurants are busy early, and then less so later in the cruise. 

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

but have recently transitioned to 3 night

Going to hijack this thread for a sec...I was actually thinking about our Wonder sailing this July where we will have the 3 night package + BOGO. Do we have to use one of the nights from the 3 night package on Nights 1&2 as well? I know when you book it on the CP, it makes you choose a time. It's our first time using this package but if I can use the 3 night on Day 3 and after, then I can use our BOGO on Nights 1&2.

[bobroo]

All I know is that it is Bobroo mandatory that you remind your server AND the restaurant manager of your BOGO situation-- on both legs. The Buy One and especially the Get One Free. 

'Cause a lot of times they don't have the best memory. Even with good memory, the restaurants numbers will be bigger if they charge you full price. As far as Royal is concerned all specialty restaurant managers and servers are there to make the numbers bigger.  Serve food? Not so much.

 

[Ampurp85]

OP keep in mind it's bogo so it's technically 2 dinners only. You can buy one and get one free and your spouse/significant other can do the same. It's not for two people each.

[Ampurp85]

If it's not a large ship with tons of specialty restaurants I plan to do the BOGO off on all my smaller sailings.

[WAAAYTOOO]

6 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Going to hijack this thread for a sec...I was actually thinking about our Wonder sailing this July where we will have the 3 night package + BOGO. Do we have to use one of the nights from the 3 night package on Nights 1&2 as well? I know when you book it on the CP, it makes you choose a time. It's our first time using this package but if I can use the 3 night on Day 3 and after, then I can use our BOGO on Nights 1&2.

Technically, yes, you must use 1 of your 3 night meals on days 1 or 2 but here’s another situation where YMMV.  I have never ever had anyone enforce this rule.  When we boarded EX yesterday the “convenience” booking that they had made for me was for Giovanni’s on the first night.  I had no interest in going to Giovanni’s on the first night, so I moved it to the last night.  TBH, that “convenience” booking is nothing but a nuisance - even for the crew !  IMO they should just drop that booking completely.  It’s not like it saves anyone any time.  You still have to stop somewhere and make the rest of your reservations (unless you’re in a suite, of course) and we nearly always change night #1 from whatever booking they make for us.

So, I really can’t answer your question with any certainty.  I’m sure you’re in a suite, so I would just let the Concierge handle it for you.

[Linda R]

8 hours ago, Salty Law Dog said:

Ok savvy cruisers, can you please share your methods for best using the Crown and Anchor BOGO dining benefits? We usually get the UDP, but for the smaller ships, ie Jewel, it’s not worth it. We haven’t taken advantage of the BOGO dining benefits, but I’m struggling with the best way to do it, especially since we are both D+, so we should get 4 BOGO meals. Should I reserve one spot in the CP 2X for each of us, then tell them once on board that there are 2 of us? Thanks for any suggestions! 

The BOGO is one per person, per cruise.  So 2 half price dinners per cruise.  You cannot combine them for a free meal.  I just go to a dining room first day of boarding and book them.  Prices vary.

[Pattycruise]

On 4/2/2023 at 10:12 AM, Salty Law Dog said:

Thanks for the tips! So for the two of us, if the ship only allows night 1 and 2, we should get those free due to each of our status as D+? Somehow I don’t think that is going to fly. I’d much prefer to spread out to use 4 BOGO, 2 for each of us. I agree with WAAAAY Tooo, dining availability seems to be all over the place. Lately we have noticed the specialty restaurants are busy early, and then less so later in the cruise. 

My recent experience on Radiance.

connected with other solo sailers. One guy said “as long as you go and BOOK your BOGO on night 1 or 2 it can be used for any two nights during the sailing.  He had done this on Allure a few weeks prior.  Night 2 we went and booked for Night 3 and night 9.  Night 3 (first use of BOGO) had the full price meal AND  the waiter specifically said when presenting each of us our bill : “ your next booked dining experience will be the free one of the BOGO”.  Night 9(second half of BOGO) we were presented with a zero balance bill where you could add a gratuity, I do cash. 
 

now, to add the “twist”.  One guy only purchased night 3 as his “BOGO” and they gave it to him at 1/2 price.  

On Oasis  last August hubby and I  each had BOGO, my MIL did not.   We wanted to use this for Chops dinner.  They worked it as follows.  BOGO on FIRST 2 guests and 3rd guest was 25% off.  They considered both of our BOGOs as USED.

I was told on Radiance the Chops manager oversees all restaurants so “he’s the guy” to ask the tough questions to.  IDK if that’s the case on all ships. 

[Salty Law Dog]

Following up on my own thread….While on Jewel recently, we didn’t have any problem using our D+ BOGO benefits whenever we wanted- for both cruises. Prior to the cruise I had booked two reservations, for one person each- one for me and one for my spouse, and paid for those. Then upon boarding we went to one of the specialty restaurants, adjusted the time (already had the days we wanted) and made sure the maitre d’ knew we were using the BOGO and that there were 2 people, not one. Easy peasy. As always, be sure to jot down the name who you worked with. We could have waited for the suite or Diamond Concierge to help, but it’s just easier for us to take care of it right away upon boarding. Word of caution- I DO NOT recommend booking any specialty dining with the person manning the table on the Promenade deck- go to one of the specialty restaurants. We did that recently on Symphony and it was “royally” screwed up. Since the restaurants fill up, it’s very hard to fix if you don’t catch it right away. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

1 hour ago, Salty Law Dog said:

Following up on my own thread….While on Jewel recently, we didn’t have any problem using our D+ BOGO benefits whenever we wanted- for both cruises. Prior to the cruise I had booked two reservations, for one person each- one for me and one for my spouse, and paid for those. Then upon boarding we went to one of the specialty restaurants, adjusted the time (already had the days we wanted) and made sure the maitre d’ knew we were using the BOGO and that there were 2 people, not one. Easy peasy. As always, be sure to jot down the name who you worked with. We could have waited for the suite or Diamond Concierge to help, but it’s just easier for us to take care of it right away upon boarding. Word of caution- I DO NOT recommend booking any specialty dining with the person manning the table on the Promenade deck- go to one of the specialty restaurants. We did that recently on Symphony and it was “royally” screwed up. Since the restaurants fill up, it’s very hard to fix if you don’t catch it right away. 

Great news.  Thank you.

Since you made your BOGO rezzies before boarding and received a discount (not so much, I realize...but still, not full price) did they adjust the cost when they realized you were using them for BOGO ?

I concur with you about the promenade kiosk.  We had a FUBAR mess the last time we used the kiosk.  I now only go to one of the specialty restaurants to make my dining reservations.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Salty Law Dog said:

I DO NOT recommend booking any specialty dining with the person manning the table on the Promenade deck- go to one of the specialty restaurants.

7 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I concur with you about the promenade kiosk.  We had a FUBAR mess the last time we used the kiosk.

Good to know. We'll be D+ after our next cruise and have been following threads like this. We may have anyway but we'll definitely be going to a restaurant to use our BOGO's after reading this.

[Lovetocruise2002]

2 hours ago, Salty Law Dog said:

Prior to the cruise I had booked two reservations, for one person each- one for me and one for my spouse, and paid for those.

 

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Since you made your BOGO rezzies before boarding and received a discount (not so much, I realize...but still, not full price) did they adjust the cost when they realized you were using them for BOGO ?

Great question! That was mine too. Onboard pricing is more than online pricing, so you were allowed to keep your online pricing when you got onboard to add the other person?

[Salty Law Dog]

There was no need to adjust the price, and they did not, because I paid for one by reserving one spot, and then just told them my BOGO was my spouse when we were at the podium, and vice versa. It was much nicer because there was no anxiety about price or a reservation time (ie only times left that we didn’t want) and there were no issues with when we wanted to dine. 

[Ampurp85]

I just want to say, hopefully this works on all ships. Grandeur was doing bogo for diamond members, so rules seem to differ on smaller ships.

I was planning on using my bogo on the smaller ships in Jan. I will book my one in CP then the other onboard.

[OCSC Mike]

47 minutes ago, Salty Law Dog said:

There was no need to adjust the price, and they did not, because I paid for one by reserving one spot

This question was asked because if you go by the wording of the D+ benefits page, you're not actually supposed to be able to use your BOGO until you're onboard... meaning you would pay the onboard price for one and then the other would obviously be free.

Others have reported doing what you did and then having to cancel and re-book onboard to use their BOGO. It seems to be a YMMV situation.

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

This question was asked because if you go by the wording of the D+ benefits page, you're not actually supposed to be able to use your BOGO until you're onboard... meaning you would pay the onboard price for one and then the other would obviously be free.

Others have reported doing what you did and then having to cancel and re-book onboard to use their BOGO. It seems to be a YMMV situation.

Exactly 

[Salty Law Dog]

Agreed. I figured it didn’t hurt to try it the way I did. Next time it may not work. But we usually get the UDP anyway, but it isn’t worth it on the Radiance class. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Very disappointed that Wonder required that both Dan and I use our BOGO vouchers on days 1 and 2.  It dicked up my entire dining schedule.  We couldn’t use them for either Hooked (which I already knew) or Mason Jar brunch.  Ugh.  I almost “Karen-ed” out but caught myself at the last moment.  . 
 

Side note:  none of the dining reservations that we made today, onboard are showing up in the app.  I even deleted and re-installed the app.  Nope.  Nada.  This is very common for me.  Not sure what I’m doing wrong.  I think the app knows I hate it and think it’s poop and it’s just paying me back.  

[OCSC Mike]

11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Very disappointed that Wonder required that both Dan and I use our BOGO vouchers on days 1 and 2.  It dicked up my entire dining schedule.  We couldn’t use them for either Hooked (which I already knew) or Mason Jar brunch

That's disappointing. I know that's how it reads (so Wonder was actually just following the rules) but many posters seemed to not have a problem booking other nights. I was also hoping to use ours for Mason Jar brunch once we get there. Amazing meal there in June.

Hope the rest of the cruise goes smoothly!

P.S. Looking forward to any thoughts you have, especially food-related. Are you going to do Mason Jar Brunch anyway?

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Are you going to do Mason Jar Brunch anyway?

Yes, we have the 3 night package so we’re using one of those for MJB.

[OCSC Mike]

9 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, we have the 3 night package so we’re using one of those for MJB.

Good, hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

My 1st D+ cruise is over 9 months away and I'm already trying to figure out what to do now, lol. Like you, my plan was to hopefully use a BOGO on brunch. We really don't do much specialty dining but loved Mason Jar.

On the plus side, since we have one cruise left before D+ I had already booked brunch for that one with some OBC before the price increase. The old pre-cruise price with a measly 10% off is almost the same as booking a BOGO onboard now.