js

Thank you all so much! I went on this weekend and lunch popped up! Will sit with my dh and decide which one we should book because we are trying to avoid unnecessary crowds when we can.

Thank you.

On 5/13/2024 at 2:49 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

Yes you do, which is why in our case we look at the total drinks combined each day for both of us to justify the total cost for both packages - not just which one of us may end up buying a couple here and there.  We would never together buy the 10 -12 drink combined daily difference between our vouchers and drink package breakeven to justify it.  Again, just our experience. But there is the ease and variety of beverages included to perhaps make it worthwhile

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

On 5/13/2024 at 4:38 PM, alishac said:

They were also doing this in Port Canaveral last July on the Wonder. I got all the reservation times I wanted and it only took about 5 minutes, all before I'd even boarded the ship!

I hope they have this at NJ pier next April for Odyssey! I would LOVE to board and not have to run around like the old days. I can't believe that RCCL doesn't still have the online booking for dining packages.

On 5/13/2024 at 4:45 PM, rdhed said:

The deluxe drink package includes bottled water, specialty coffee(just not the freestanding starbucks or at least that how it used to be-there are other places to purchase), and soda. If you can get a can of soda I am not sure. I feel like whenever by DH gets one they bring it in glass(but website says cans). Website also says sparkling water is included-if its in a bottle no clue. From the website these are the included beverages. 

• Vodka: Absolut, Belvedere, Grey Goose, Stoli, Tito’s Handmade Vodka
• Rum: Bacardi, Bacardi 8, Captain Morgan Rum, Malibu Miami Club
• Gin: Aviation, Beefeater, Bombay Sapphire, New Amsterdam, The Botanist
• Tequila/ Mezcal: 1800 Avion Silver, Camarena Gold, Patron Silver, Del Maquey Vida Blanco Mezcal
• Scotch: Chiva Regal 12 Year Old, Dewars 12 Year, Glenfiddich, Johnnie Walker Black, The Glenlivet
• Whiskey, Bourbon/ Rye: Buffalo Trace, Canadian Club, Jack Daniels, Jameson, Makers Mark, Whistle Pig Rye
• Cognac: Hennessy VS, Remy Martin VSOP
• Spiked Seltzers: Truly
• Beers: Domestic, imported and craft beer brands
• Wine by the Glass: Iconic varietals from California to New Zealand
• Non-Alcoholic Beverages: Can and fountain soda, fresh and bottled juices, premium coffee and teas, bottled and sparkling water, Johnny Rockets Shakes, Desserted Soda Floats

Thank you SO much! I really appreciate this very much!

39 minutes ago, barbeyg said:

We did embarkation day specialty dining lunch on Odyssey recently, so I know it can be booked. We booked in advance, when there was a sale.  The lunches are less expensive than dinners, and at times, you can grab a nice sale.  

Thank you SO much! I haven't seen any say we can book for lunch so I will keep looking. I sail April 2025.

Hi.

I am sailing Odyssey and have 6 nights of specialty dining (one from TA, 3 night and a 2 night..Chops plus chose your own).

Anyway, on embarkation day, can I book a lunch in a specialty restaurant either once on or prior to the cruise?

Thank you.

20 hours ago, ajtaylor29 said:

Coming back to comment on my own dumb post. (i can't figure out how to delete or i'd do that?!?)

I don't think anything has changed, i must have read wrong....

I understand that there has always been an upcharge to dine at Teppenyaki (hibachi) grille. We've paid it before and i don't have a problem with that - it's an entertaining meal/event that we enjoy when we go but we don't go every cruise!

The other specialty restaurants are still all included. I do understand that with both Izumi sushi and Playmakers there is a food credit allowed per day. We've eaten at both venues multiple times and i don't think we've ever exceeded the daily amount!

 

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time to write out this response.

19 hours ago, LilBlackDress said:

If you want to do the Hibachi, Yes
Other than that, No

Thank you. Yes, I know the hibachi, was wondering about Wonderland but now see there is no upcharge.

2 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

The OBC is fully refundable and can be used for anything.  Anything left over will be put back on your booking CC, you can even cash out your OBC in the casino using a slot machine. . 

Perfect.

Thank you so much again!

I may do that this week or whenever I can book for April 2025.

9 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Canceling on board the only refund is OBC. We have done this in the past and just put it towards the daily gratuity.  Happy sailing..

Thank you. I usually prepay and have it added to my invoice before final payment, but maybe I just do what you did and apply to gratuity. So the OBC that would be refunded to me can be used for gratuity. Sometimes I think certain OBC cannot be applied.

Thank you.

On 5/1/2024 at 7:49 PM, taglovestocruise said:

My statement was about how to not stand in line to book, paying full price and getting it taken care of before boarding.  However if you are looking for a hack to the system then do this. 

 Go into the cruise planner pick your three restaurants , pick your days and times and pay full price.  Go back into the cruise planner and purchase the three night package and pay the discount price.  Once onboard go to guest services and let them know you purchased the three night package and would like to use that for your reservation keeping the same time and days. They will issue you a fully refundable OBC for the full price you paid. Many on cruise critic have done this in the past and we also have done it several times.  We usually just pick one for a full price if there is a specific time and day we want. You can book cruise planner dinner reservations a year or more in advance. 

Wow, thank you so much! This is extremely helpful.

The only con I can see is that I wouldn't want OBC. We are seasoned cruisers and once we have the dining and alcohol package, we really don't spend too much extra money.

I'm just making sure that this goes back as OBC, not to my card, is this correct?
If so, maybe I'll just book Tappenyaki and Chops and just use OBC for the upcharge for Tapp and then something else? 

I appreciated your taking the time to help! Thank you again!

Is bottled water and canned soda, as well as specialty coffee available with the UBP?
How about sparkling or seltzer in bottles?

If above isn't included, I need to also add to my ressie with the UBP.

Thank you all.

I have a 3 night package on Odyssey. Will I be charged an upcharge?
Thank you.

I recently did this and it took about 2 weeks to post.
I was SO happy I didn't have to wait until a couple of weeks before since we sail April 2025.

34 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Guess we're not quite done yet - LOL. Just another point of view from our experience, but let me start by saying we never buy the drink packages. We are D+ so we each get 5 vouchers.  They are combinable in that I can use hers for me and visa versa, so for us the 10 combined daily pretty much covers our requirements. Especially when you factor in port of call days. We also typically only use them on alcoholic beverages, and with the voucher value at $15 we have never been denied a drink of choice. Water (above that provided) and soda, etc., would be a la carte for us.

 

So on the occasion where our vouchers have been used and we would want additional drinks of any type, paying for them a la carte would never reach the cost of the beverage package. On port of call days when we may have unused vouchers, we cash them in prior to going to bed for unopened canned and bottled beverages (beer, Truly, soda, water) and take them back to our stateroom for another time. It has always worked out well for us. 

 

With 8 combined, your results may vary. But do the (rough) math - the approximate breakeven for the packages is about 6-7 drinks per day per person, including port of call days. So with your 4 vouchers each you would need a total of about 10-11 drinks per day per person every day to justify the cost, since you both need to buy it.  Again I'm focusing on only on alcoholic beverages. Maybe it will work for you as it does for us.  Just saying....

Thank you. The 8 drinks (4 mine/4 dh) could work for dh and maybe a couple he would pay for but it won't work for me (4 a day). If I could just purchase the drink package for me, it would be a no brainer and I would do but it looks like I need to purchase for two people in the cabin.

Thank you all so so much for taking the time for your detailed responses.

I ended up booking so we have six night specialty dining.

1 Night from TA

3 Nights we just booked the dining package

2 Nights was new that just came up, one night Chops and we can chose our second restaurant.

So, 6 nights out of 7 and I told my dh that we won't go to a specialty on our Coco Cay day since we can hang on Hideaway Beach as long as we want and eat and drink and not be tied to run back to get ready for dinner.

Again, thank you all for your detailed responses.
Now to get the UBP, which is where I will excel. LOL

I wish I could just get the package for me because my dh only drinks beers and we have 4 drinks each being diamond. I will def. make use of the package, and my dh, not so much.

16 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

It is not a matter of hit or miss. The restaurant is one of our favorites and has always been good. But Izumi is a la carte and as such, we have found that if you are including it in the dining package the fee they provide to cover the a la carte charges is typically more than what we eat a la carte, so to us the value is not there for the package. We would rather pay Izumi a la carte and include other specialty restaurants which typically have a higher individual fee to get our full value from the package.  Just our experience.

 

And to be clear, Izumi is sushi and Teppanyaki (aka Hibachi) is the Japanese steak house.  On many ships the two (Izumi / Hibachi) are next to each other in separate rooms. On Odyssey they (Izumi / Teppanyaki)  are separate deck restaurant locations

14 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

$15 pp.  Also a very good and entertaining venue.

Thank you. Yes, that isn't bad but wow, it should have stayed included. Thanks.

12 minutes ago, Weluv2cruise2gether said:

Teppenyaki is the hibachi restaurant on odyssey and they also have Izumi which is sushi. You can use the unlimited dining package in Izumi however they do the price fix plan so you get one app, 2 large plates and a dessert. But with the 2 large plates, if you are ordering sushi rolls, they no longer give you a full roll, it is half a roll when using the unlimited dining package. 

Thank you. Wow that they don't give a full roll. We go to Rock Republic on NCL and they give full rolls and so delish. Oh well I appreciate your letting me know. Thank you.

I just now saw there is also a 2 day option. Chops plus another day.

So, I can purchase the 3 day and then the 2 day for 5 days and have the TA day, which

makes it 6 nights, which is perfect and less than the UDP, just one day less and no food comps at sea which is fine, I hope to be outside in sun and not inside eating on a sea day.

Also, what approximately is the upcharge for the hibachi once we have the dining package?
Thank you.

On 5/10/2024 at 5:05 PM, taglovestocruise said:

You can go to Wonderland, Chop's, Giovannis, Playmakers.  Izumi  seems to be hit or miss and ship to ship and sailing to sailing.  We have had the UDP once and it was way to much on a 12 night cruise. Three day and TA gift would be perfect for 7 nights. 

Thank you. Do you mean Izumi sushi is hit or miss with the package?

On 5/10/2024 at 5:14 PM, leaveitallbehind said:

Well technically all of the specialty restaurants have an upcharge, or a fee.  But any of the dining packages will cover that so you can dine at any of them at no additional charge. That is what the package purchase price covers. (Chef's Table is excluded and would require an additional fee).  Izumi is a la carte and we don't include that in the package as we never reach the fee allowance when we dine there.

 

And to be clear, there is the Unlimited Dining Package, which covers all specialty restaurants for dinner every night on board, and I believe also includes a couple of lunches.  The other packages, such as the 3 night you refer to is for any restaurant for dinner on any three nights, with the first one typically being on day one or two. But they are separate packages - there is no such thing as a UDP 3 night package..

 

So if your TA provided one night and you purchase the 3 night package, you will have 4 total nights at a specialty restaurant.  And you can dine multiple times at any of them within the total nights allowed with your package.

Thank you. Yes, we technically will have four nights. My dh is a big eater but I am not and happy with an English Muffin or fruit but enjoy going out for a nice meal and drinks.

I'm not going to do the UDP and we will just have to do MDR the other nights.

On 5/10/2024 at 5:16 PM, Tree_skier said:

I have purchased both...  I think the UDP, when on sale, is the best value.  Odyssey is great since she has a lot of options. 

 

We did two nights in Chops, two night in Giovanni's, two nights in Hibachi and one night in Wonderland.  If I was cruising Odyssey again I'd do it the same way and pay the uncharge for the hibachi. It was very, very good.

 

For lunches, beyond the specialty restaurants on sea days, you have the option of Playmakers which has great food and the English Pub.  Odyssey's pub is the only one, that I know of, that serves food.  We ate there for lunch at least three days, if I remember right, on our 8 day cruise.  

 

 

Thank you. We have two sea days and like to be lazy so may just keep the 3 night but your post is very helpful to me. I appreciate it very much (as always)!

On 5/10/2024 at 9:34 PM, Weluv2cruise2gether said:

We had the unlimited dining package on Odyssey this past March. We did Teppenyaki (hibachi), and we had to pay an additional up charge. 

Thank you. Yes, I know that is one of them and now guessing Izumi not sushi is the other, is this correct? 

31 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

No.  Day one you are in your departure port and is considered boarding and departure day, even though at some point you are at sea. In most cases you don't leave port until late afternoon, and some itineraries don't leave until the evening.  Days when you are cruising and have no port of call are considered sea days, and will be identified as such on your itinerary.

Thank you very much.

This is helpful.

Thank you all very much.

I'm guessing the first day we get on does not count as a sea day is this correct?

Hi.

I have a one night dinner given to me by my TA and thinking about booking the 3 night UDP

for our other nights on the Odyssey.

What restaurants can we go to that do not include an upcharge? I believe one is Izumi but I can go to Izumi Sushi.

Also for those that have purchased at different times both the UDP and 3 day, which did you prefer?

Thank you.

On 4/19/2024 at 8:46 PM, Crusin Karen said:

I will TRY to keep this as brief as possible 🤞 if you look at my sig you can see I’m a CCL cruiser-been Diamond for a long time-all the perks and I’m very spoiled! Husband passed unexpectedly couple years ago and instead of giving up cruising I’m a solo-I live in NE NJ so cruise from here now vs flying somewhere alone. I love to cruise in winter but CCL won’t have a ship here winter ‘25. Enter Odyssey! I do not care about itineraries. I mostly stay on ship. Don’t care much about shows either! I love to CRUISE! I love being ON a ship. I love to dress up for dinner. After I love to just have a drink and be around people. Thinking of booking OOTS March ‘25. Would the ship be a good fit for me? On CCL you can bring a bottle of wine and 12 pack of cans in carry on. Can I do this with OOTS? TIA for any advice/opinions! 

Just want to say I'm sorry about your dh and happy you are cruising.

My dd, sil and grandson live in Ridgewood. I love they (and I) can walk "to town".

We will be sailing on Odyssey April 25 so will just miss you.

Happy planning!

On 4/29/2024 at 5:16 PM, taglovestocruise said:

If you don't want to waste your time just book full price and make your reservations. 

Thank you. So does this hack work that I would go ahead and book with my credit card when ressies open. Then what do I do once onboard? Do I go to a restaurant or wherever and 

tell them what I have, ask them to cancel and rebook me same date/time and then use my seapass card for my OBC?
Thank you.

On 4/29/2024 at 4:41 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Just a regular cabin

Thank you.

I am in a regular cabin too.