BOGO on Independence ??? Only 2 choices??

I am sailing on the January 9, 2017 sailing on the Independence...I've cruised Royal many times but first time on Indy. The BOGO offer just showed up to book for dining. I purchased this on the Anthem back in June and it was a really nice deal. I was about to purchase it for the Independence and then I noticed that there are actually only two specialty restaurants. I am missing something??? Thanks...

I am sailing on the January 9, 2017 sailing on the Independence...I've cruised Royal many times but first time on Indy. The BOGO offer just showed up to book for dining. I purchased this on the Anthem back in June and it was a really nice deal. I was about to purchase it for the Independence and then I noticed that there are actually only two specialty restaurants. I am missing something??? Thanks...

Correct, Indy has only Chops and Giovanni's.

If I booked them both separately, that would only be $ 50...doesn't sound worth it to book the BOGO...

If I booked them both separately, that would only be $ 50...doesn't sound worth it to book the BOGO...

Check your Cruise Planner. They might be up to $35 and $25, or more.

The BOGO dining is actually a pretty good deal if you don't mind specialty dining the first two nights. At $15pp/night, it's a big savings over regular price. We've booked it for the first time on our upcoming Liberty cruise.

If I booked them both separately, that would only be $ 50...doesn't sound worth it to book the BOGO...

Don't get it. 30$ versus 50$ seems like 40% saving. If you were planning in dining at them both anyway and don't mind night 1 and 2 it seems like a great deal.

I'm sailing on Indy in February. According to my cruise planner Chops is now $35 and Giovanni's is $25. So it's a 50% savings. Sure seems worth it to me. :confused:

We considered it for our upcoming Freedom cruise, but decided against it. Although it is a great price, we didn't want to miss the first formal night in the dining room. The beef tenderloin on the first formal night is fantastic! (also the chocolate soufflé)

We don't care for the menu in the dining room on the third night so we prefer to eat in specialty restaurants on nights when we know we're not missing to much in the dining room.

We were able to book on a different night as long as we reserved it on the FIRST night. Is that not still the case? Things change moment to moment but we were on Freedom and booked Chops first night and were then allowed to book Giovanni's for night 3.

We were able to book on a different night as long as we reserved it on the FIRST night. Is that not still the case? Things change moment to moment but we were on Freedom and booked Chops first night and were then allowed to book Giovanni's for night 3.

Recent posts seem to indicate that if you go to the specialty dining desk at embarkation and check your reservations they may be willing to change venues and dates. However these were for larger ships where there were more specialty venues than just 2.

We're just thrilled to have Giovanni's over Jame's on Indy for our first TA this April! Yum!!

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I was more concerned about whether you can choose a day besides 1st and 2nd night. We like to do a specialty later in the week. We really enjoyed that option with our diamond plus bogo they did not seem to have a problem with us booking a different night as long as we paid for it first night.

I checked back after reading these responses and the prices have gone up to $ 35 and $ 25...and the beverage package price was on sale for 25 % off instead of the 20 %.. so since I was saving money on that..I just booked the Bogo...I am going to try and shift the second night booking for later in the week. Thanks so much for the input

We considered it for our upcoming Freedom cruise, but decided against it. Although it is a great price, we didn't want to miss the first formal night in the dining room. The beef tenderloin on the first formal night is fantastic! (also the chocolate soufflé)

 

We don't care for the menu in the dining room on the third night so we prefer to eat in specialty restaurants on nights when we know we're not missing to much in the dining room.

Where did you find the menus to help make this decision? I booked the BOGO but didn't consider MDR menus.

We have not been on RCI before and are traveling with 2 teen daughters. Is the BOGO for the two restaurants worth the extra money for Independence of the Seas? How likely will we be able to change the second night? And last question, what is formal night all about, dining wise? We did a Celebrity cruise and it wasn't anything special...thanks!

With regard to formal night dining, on US based cruises of 5 days or longer, they normally offer "free" lobster.

We have not been on RCI before and are traveling with 2 teen daughters. Is the BOGO for the two restaurants worth the extra money for Independence of the Seas? How likely will we be able to change the second night? And last question, what is formal night all about, dining wise? We did a Celebrity cruise and it wasn't anything special...thanks!

Welcome to Cruise Critic, Mikko!

Thank you!

I am sailing on the January 9, 2017 sailing on the Independence...I've cruised Royal many times but first time on Indy. The BOGO offer just showed up to book for dining. I purchased this on the Anthem back in June and it was a really nice deal. I was about to purchase it for the Independence and then I noticed that there are actually only two specialty restaurants. I am missing something??? Thanks...

We bought the two night BOGO package for $33 for 2 per night on Harmony. We ate in Wonderland and 150 Central Park, which would have been $49 and $45 even with regular D+ BOGO. So we paid $66 for four meals instead of $94 for D+ BOGO. Had we NOT been D+ it would have been $188 for the four meals, and with the bought BOGO, it was $66.

I'm booking the bogo on Indy after some thought. He is a new cruiser so I'd like him to see the specialty restaurants. We also plan on doing the MDR for the other nights and I think he will love how fancy it is. I asked him if he minded missing the mdr for formal night if we have to uphold the booking of a specialty on the 2nd day and he said that's fine. He already bought his suit and I bought my dress so we will be dressing for formal night and getting pics done but eating in the specialty restaurant if we can't change it. He likes lobster tail but being in NJ we can get really great Maine lobster pretty often so he'd be ok missing that. The bogo deal is pretty good imo. I have never eaten at Giovanni's though so I'm hoping I'll enjoy it as much as chops.

I booked the BOGO on Indy for our sailing a couple weeks ago. It was a good deal, but if I had to do it again I would skip Giovanni's and do Chops later in the week if I wanted to. I was very unimpressed with my food at Giovanni's - MDR was better. Chops was quite good. It didn't bother me too much as our night at Giovanni's was essentially free, but I think I would have preferred to take better advantage of the MDR the first day or two.

I booked the BOGO on Indy for our sailing a couple weeks ago. It was a good deal, but if I had to do it again I would skip Giovanni's and do Chops later in the week if I wanted to. I was very unimpressed with my food at Giovanni's - MDR was better. Chops was quite good. It didn't bother me too much as our night at Giovanni's was essentially free, but I think I would have preferred to take better advantage of the MDR the first day or two.

That's disappointing to hear about Giovanni's. Which items were a miss? Did others in you party find something that was good?

That's disappointing to hear about Giovanni's. Which items were a miss? Did others in you party find something that was good?

My app was prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella on crostini, which was good. Pretty hard to screw that up. I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce - the sauce was good but the gnocchi was super pasty and gummy. My entree was something with jumbo shrimp or tiger shrimp or something - the shrimp was quite overdone and flavorless, and it was nearly impossible to remove from the shell. When we had lobster tail in the MDC, our server removed it from the shell for us. My partner had lamb, I believe, and he seemed to like it well enough. Dessert was tiramisu which was totally average, 5/10. I didn't hate my meal there, but most of my food was not really good, especially considering it's an uncharge restaurant. I really enjoyed Chops. With the BOGO deal you essentially get Giovanni's for free, so there's nothing really to lose, as long as you're OK with the set nights you have to eat there.

My app was prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella on crostini, which was good. Pretty hard to screw that up. I had gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce - the sauce was good but the gnocchi was super pasty and gummy. My entree was something with jumbo shrimp or tiger shrimp or something - the shrimp was quite overdone and flavorless, and it was nearly impossible to remove from the shell. When we had lobster tail in the MDC, our server removed it from the shell for us. My partner had lamb, I believe, and he seemed to like it well enough. Dessert was tiramisu which was totally average, 5/10. I didn't hate my meal there, but most of my food was not really good, especially considering it's an uncharge restaurant. I really enjoyed Chops. With the BOGO deal you essentially get Giovanni's for free, so there's nothing really to lose, as long as you're OK with the set nights you have to eat there.

Thanks for the detailed response, appreciate it!

Hello,

Quick question on the BOGO special for Day 1 and Day 2- I am assuming if we book this, then two specialty restaurants will be automatically assigned to our group? Is it possible to swap specialty restaurants, and if so, does that have to be accomplished upon embarkation?

First time on Royal- we usually cruise on Celebrity. Thanks very much for your help.