Decreased specialty dining prices on board?

[SLM]

Right now for our 15 night Greenland cruise, the 3 night dining package is "on sale" for $94. I'm wondering if we might get a better price if we purchase on board.  Can anyone give me some insight on if prices on dining packages are better in the sales on embarkation day, and also if the price starts to drop further into the cruise? Thanks.

[ChessE4]

Normally more expensive on board. We book the odd meal in advance on sale.

[Baked Alaska]

That is the usual "sale" price in the CP. If you're comfortable purchasing it at that price, go for it. Might come down BF, but sometimes prices are inflated right before BF, and then you end up seeing the non-sale price as the "sale" price. BTW, CP sale will be cheaper than onboard pricing.

[SplashOfWater]

I can't say I've ever seen the UDP discounted onboard. But we have seen restaurant staff circulating in the various areas of the ship offering discounted meals at the specialty restaurants. I think they do this when the bookings at the restaurants are low. I don't know how deep the discounts are or if they are better than what you can get during a CP sale (especially the good one around Black Friday).

[WAAAYTOOO]

I would never predict that the onboard prices will ever be less than the discounted pre-cruise "sale".  Is it possible ?  Yes.  Probable ?  No.  We always, always, always purchase pre-cruise and adjust if the price goes down.  Never been offered a "deal" better than what we paid, pre-cruise....so far, at least.

[Ryan79]

Never seen or heard of a dining package being cheaper on board. If anything, that’s when you pay the full undiscounted price. Sometimes they will have onboard sales for ONE specific restaurant, But that sale isn’t as good as the pre-cruise sales.

[SPS]

I have yet to see ANYTHING be cheaper once on board. Your best bet is to pre-purchase in the cruise planner if you see a price you are comfortable with.

You will also have the advantage of doing a Cancel/Re-Purchase should you see a reduced price later on.

[GP1422]

On Freedom now and got offered a BOGO at Chops. $62.99 for two I think is a pretty good deal. 

[Ampurp85]

16 hours ago, GP1422 said:

On Freedom now and got offered a BOGO at Chops. $62.99 for two I think is a pretty good deal. 

The often offer the individual dinners at a discount but never the actual dining packages, which is what the OP was referring to. 

[BreakingWaves]

On 8/31/2024 at 6:24 AM, Baked Alaska said:

That is the usual "sale" price in the CP. If you're comfortable purchasing it at that price, go for it. Might come down BF, but sometimes prices are inflated right before BF, and then you end up seeing the non-sale price as the "sale" price. BTW, CP sale will be cheaper than onboard pricing.

This happened with us on ours last year. The discount went up but the final price was actually more.

[rjac]

On 8/31/2024 at 10:36 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I would never predict that the onboard prices will ever be less than the discounted pre-cruise "sale".  Is it possible ?  Yes.  Probable ?  No.  We always, always, always purchase pre-cruise and adjust if the price goes down.  Never been offered a "deal" better than what we paid, pre-cruise....so far, at least.

Yeah, what she said.