Dining Frustrations & Questions

[JoeFan]

I am sailing on August 4th Oasis 9 night cruise out of Cape Liberty and I am trying to figure out the MDR menu rotation and formal nights.

I see some references for 9 night cruise menu rotations but not sure how this translates to other ships.

Question 1: Is there a way to know what our rotation will be?

 

I also have another question. My last cruise on Symphony, we had the Unlimited Dining and when I showed up early on day 1 and tried to book dining for the rest of the cruise, most nights were booked and Izumi Hibachi wasn't available at all for the entire cruise. The manager said I should have booked it online before I boarded but when I try to do that it wants to charge me.

Question 2: Can you book UDP reservations for the entire cruise before the sailing and how? 

[Ryan79]

1) Look up a cruise with the same length. The app has this info available for several months out.

2) Not directly as the discount is the trade off for leftover reservation spots. However you could book and pay for reservations separately and then cancel and book your UDP spots to those now open reservation spots. This however is becoming more a pain as RC doesn’t encourage this practice. 

[JoeFan]

16 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

1) Look up a cruise with the same length. The app has this info available for several months out.

2) Not directly as the discount is the trade off for leftover reservation spots. However you could book and pay for reservations separately and then cancel and book your UDP spots to those now open reservation spots. This however is becoming more a pain as RC doesn’t encourage this practice. 

I wouldn't book all 9 nights. But locking down the 1 night I want makes sense. What is the cancellation policy for paid dining? If I book something on night 4, can I cancel it when I get on board and get a refund?

[Ryan79]

 

14 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

I wouldn't book all 9 nights. But locking down the 1 night I want makes sense. What is the cancellation policy for paid dining? If I book something on night 4, can I cancel it when I get on board and get a refund?

The cancellation policy for specialty dining is 24 hours, so Night 4 will be ZERO issues at all! 

[JoeFan]

3 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

 

The cancellation policy for specialty dining is 24 hours, so Night 4 will be ZERO issues at all! 

Thank you.

One more question. The way I read it, is if I cancel a specialty dining while onboard. Those funds are transferred to onboard credit. 

Will I be able to use that credit to pay for gratuities for another cabin?

[twangster]

2 hours ago, JoeFan said:

Thank you.

One more question. The way I read it, is if I cancel a specialty dining while onboard. Those funds are transferred to onboard credit. 

Will I be able to use that credit to pay for gratuities for another cabin?

Not directly.  

You could cash out the OBC through the casino and then visit guest services to put that cash towards another cabin.  

[Ampurp85]

To answer your question first question, I am sure the Manager was talking about Hibachi and not the Unlimited dining package (UDP). If you want Hibachi, it is better to book beforehand and then have the charge reversed. I have heard they are cracking down on people who try to book a bunch of reservations a la carte but have the UDP and wait for them to be refunded. 

[Pattycruise]

On 4/16/2023 at 5:52 PM, JoeFan said:

Thank you.

One more question. The way I read it, is if I cancel a specialty dining while onboard. Those funds are transferred to onboard credit. 

Will I be able to use that credit to pay for gratuities for another cabin?

My SIL had too much OBC on her account …it was from her visa points transfer.  We went to guest services and she asked to have her OBC moved from her cabin to my cabin.  They did it.