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First Night Done Right


rjac

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I bought this package for my wife and I for our March 28 cruise on the Allure next year. It was only $15.00 per person and we will find out which restaurant we will be dining at when we get to our room, As I understand it, we can change to a different restaurant if we don't like the one they selected for us. Has anyone here done one of these "first night done right" or is this a really new offering from RCI? :27_sunglasses:

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It's a pretty new option. I first saw it back in April of this year: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/04/22/spotlight-first-night-specialty-restaurant-discount

16 hours ago, rjac said:

As I understand it, we can change to a different restaurant if we don't like the one they selected for us.

Yes, that is correct.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just saw a FB post that said there has been a change to 1NDR - now you can only do Sabor or Giovanni's, or pay half price for any of the others.

 

Can anyone confirm?  I just bought it last week, so any chance I'll still be able to use any of the restaurants?

 

 

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The write-up is the same as it has always been, but if you check the wording they could easily eliminate Choppes and not change the wording.  Nowhere in the description does it say ALL specialty restaurants.  What is actually says is 

"Embark on a culinary journey with a reservation at one of our specialty restaurants on your first night and save 50%. Select your preferred time and number of guests, and a courtesy reservation will be made on your behalf. You'll receive confirmation of the restaurant chosen for you in your stateroom upon arrival. If you wish to amend to your reservation, you may do so at the hospitality desk or any specialty restaurant."

So probably the only way to know this answer this question is if someone experiences the change forst-hand or someone calls RC.

 

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1 hour ago, Matt said:

I can't check because it's not offered on any of my upcoming cruises.

This is all that is present in my Cruise Planner:

"Embark on a culinary journey with a reservation at one of our specialty restaurants on your first night and save 50%. Select your preferred time and number of guests, and a courtesy reservation will be made on your behalf. You'll receive confirmation of the restaurant chosen for you in your stateroom upon arrival. If you wish to amend to your reservation, you may do so at the hospitality desk or any specialty restaurant. "

 

Pretty non-descript.  50% off what, since no Specialty restaurants on Oasis cost $30.  But under restrictions, it states "none".

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.. But then again, this post from CC by someone who is currently on Oasis.

 

" Thanks everyone! We made it on with no problems. Arrived at 10:30, was on the ship before 11:30. I was pretty impressed with how quickly the process was for getting on the ship. We were arraigned FNDR at Giovanni's and they said we could only chose between it and Sabor. At first I was a little annoyed, but since we were Considering it anyway..."

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I was on Liberty In June and bought the 3 night dinning package, when we got on ship we went and checked were we were at the first night and it was Sabor, we followed that up with Cops and then Giovannis, we liked Sabor so much that we booked it again on the last night.

They have these Chicken-Stuffed Jalapenos that are wrapped in bacon that could be my whole meal, matter of fact I think it was...

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35 minutes ago, Floski said:

I love Sabor, but with the new changes, will probably do that for lunch one day.

Giovanni's was definitely an option for me, but I think Matt has convinced me to try for 150 Central Park!

 

Hell, it won't matter - I'll be on a luxury liner and loving life!  I don't care if it's Sonic.

 

Imagine how much food you could get from Sonic for $15 a person!

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31 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

I was on Liberty In June and bought the 3 night dinning package, when we got on ship we went and checked were we were at the first night and it was Sabor, we followed that up with Cops and then Giovannis, we liked Sabor so much that we booked it again on the last night.

They have these Chicken-Stuffed Jalapenos that are wrapped in bacon that could be my whole meal, matter of fact I think it was...

The three night dining package doesn't have the restrictions that are imposed by the FNDR package.

 

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Until it becomes a trend I am not totally convinced.  It cold have simply been a case of the other restaurants being full, especially if they were not flexible on their times.  Still, I will hold off on booking this until I hear more.

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1 hour ago, jce2 said:

Until it becomes a trend I am not totally convinced.  It cold have simply been a case of the other restaurants being full, especially if they were not flexible on their times.  Still, I will hold off on booking this until I hear more.

 

Well, I'm booked for FNDR for an early Nov cruise.  Reserved several months ago.  If it isn't clear by then, I'll let you know our experience.  Would certainly like to have choices, but Giovanni's will do.  Or maybe I can argue to grandfather me to common practice at the time of purchase...  :10_wink:

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Man, even when I DID eat meat I didn't get all that excited about bacon... I had a strong preference for goetta, but I think that just means I'm from Cincinnati. 

We bought the FNDR deal for the first night of both legs of our B2B honeymoon cruise. Planning on going to Chops on the first leg (so the husband (!!!) can get a steak) but I wouldn't be opposed to Giovanni's! It just seems like it'd be almost a waste to use on Sabor since we booked our own Sabor dinners at the $15 price point anyway. 

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2 minutes ago, DocLC said:

There's no calling him "husband"--even if speaking of the future--until after the wedding! ;)

Omg. We have a house and we've lived together for three years. We're pretty much already there before all the 'formal' junk. :4_joy:

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1 minute ago, KLAconQueso said:

Omg. We have a house and we've lived together for three years. We're pretty much already there before all the 'formal' junk. :4_joy:

TMI!

Nope . . . wedding required unless you're a common law state, but you'd still need to be together longer. <jk>

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm booked on Radiance of the Seas from Sydney Australia in November and have been trying to understand the costs of the specialty dining areas.  The FNDR says "Embark on a culinary journey with a reservation at one of our specialty restaurants on your first night and save 50%." but the cost says "From $A18,90 per adult"  Does this imply that all of the specialty restaurants are A La Carte and not fixed price?  Given that Giovanni's is "From $26.46" why isn't FNDR "from $13.23" if it is really 50% off?  Is the quoted price at specialty dining inclusive of tips or are they extra?

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It seems that how FNDR is being implemented is changing.  Previously, one could be assigned any Specialty restaurant for the $15 charge and one was able to change the reservation once onboard.  But recently (at least on on Oasis class ships), the only choices offered for the assigned reservation are Giovanni's and Sabor.  If you want to reserve another Specialty restaurant such as Chops or 150 Central Park, you could reserve at 50% of the normal price.  Given that those full prices are $49 and $45 respectively (again on Oasis class), you would be charged the difference between the pre-paid $15 and the half price amount.  Make sense???  Not sure if this has been implemented on all RCI ships.

Regarding how 50% off is calculated, it's a moving target.  The same question could be posed about all RCI "sales".  Welcome to the world of RCI dynamic pricing...

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On 8/9/2017 at 8:13 PM, KLAconQueso said:

Man, even when I DID eat meat I didn't get all that excited about bacon... I had a strong preference for goetta, but I think that just means I'm from Cincinnati. 

My mom is from Cincinnati, and every time I've been up there (more times than I can count) they tried to get me to eat goetta...just couldn't do it, lol.  Mom loves it.  I can put down some Skyline though.

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2 hours ago, RestingBirds said:

My mom is from Cincinnati, and every time I've been up there (more times than I can count) they tried to get me to eat goetta...just couldn't do it, lol.  Mom loves it.  I can put down some Skyline though.

Skyline? Serously?  My mom lives in Cincinnati and we ate there last time I visited.  Going back in October and threatening my daughter with a meal there just to get her to behave!  What they call chili, we call spaghetti sauce!

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5 hours ago, jce2 said:

What they call chili, we call spaghetti sauce!

HEY NOW. 

7 hours ago, RestingBirds said:

My mom is from Cincinnati, and every time I've been up there (more times than I can count) they tried to get me to eat goetta...just couldn't do it, lol.  Mom loves it.  I can put down some Skyline though.

HAHA! Too funny - we actually just had Goettafest a few weeks ago down along the river. I don't eat meat anymore so I don't touch it, but I do admit I miss the flavor. 

<3 Skyline! We actually are having that brought in as late night food for guests at our wedding. :15_yum:

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  • 2 weeks later...

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