Unlimited dining package

[Lane412000]

We booked or purchased the unlimited dining package for the specialty restaurants.  I cannot locate on the website where I can reserve restaurants before I board for the cruise. I called RCCL and was told that I have to make reservations when I am onboard or the cruise ship reserves restaurants and times for us.

 

What happens if a reservation is made for a restaurant we do not wish to eat or at a time that is not what we wanted?

 

Any suggestions or information on how the unlimited dining package works would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[dswallow]

RCCL will make a "courtesy" reservation for your first night's dining at some random restaurant you have no control over. But once you board, just go to one of the specialty restaurants and change it to what you want. And then, or later, or day-by-day, whatever works for you, stop at one of the restaurants and book what you want.

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, Lane412000 said:

We booked or purchased the unlimited dining package for the specialty restaurants.  I cannot locate on the website where I can reserve restaurants before I board for the cruise. I called RCCL and was told that I have to make reservations when I am onboard or the cruise ship reserves restaurants and times for us.

 

What happens if a reservation is made for a restaurant we do not wish to eat or at a time that is not what we wanted?

 

Any suggestions or information on how the unlimited dining package works would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Royal Caribbean is selling you a dining package at a discounted rate in exchange for the choice and certainty that you get by booking the restaurants before the cruise.

 

As dswallow wrote, you take care of it after you board.  Depending on the ship, many people have reported being able to just walk up and be seated immediately.

 

Which ship will you be on, @Lane412000?

[katiel53]

On our last two cruises, which were Allure and Harmony, no reservation was made for us by the cruise line on night 1.  We were told that too many people changed the ship made reservations to other restaurants so they were no longer assigning a restaurant.

 

We made all of ours with no trouble, except on Allure.  Now that Hibachi is included in the UDP,  we couldn't get the day or time we wanted, but we did get another night and time.  It wasn't a problem for us as it didn't make any difference to us which night we went to Hibachi.

 

On Allure we ended up having four nights in Chops because we were very disappointed in Giovanni's this time.  It used to be one of our favorite restaurants, but the steak we had was tough and not good at all.  We enjoyed having dinner at Samba as well.  

 

 

[Lane412000]

20 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Royal Caribbean is selling you a dining package at a discounted rate in exchange for the choice and certainty that you get by booking the restaurants before the cruise.

 

As dswallow wrote, you take care of it after you board.  Depending on the ship, many people have reported being able to just walk up and be seated immediately.

 

Which ship will you be on, @Lane412000?

Taking the weekend cruise on the Majesty of the Seas in a couple of weeks.  Only a three night cruise to celebrate 60th birthdays for three of us

[UFMOM]

Every cruise is different. If there are certain times and restaurants you want, then book these as soon as you get on board as times may or may not fill up. If it ends up with lots of spots still available to book, then you can easily modify the reservations as you go. If reservations end up being tight, then you have a reservation in place.

 

Mary Ann

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, Lane412000 said:

Taking the weekend cruise on the Majesty of the Seas in a couple of weeks.  Only a three night cruise to celebrate 60th birthdays for three of us

 

And the UDP was available for purchase in your Cruise Planner??!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

THERE ARE NO SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS ON THE MAJESTY OF THE SEAS.

[Merion_Mom]

Are you sure that you meant Majesty, and not Mariner?

[Ourusualbeach]

4 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Are you sure that you meant Majesty, and not Mariner?

Their posting history would suggest Navigator. 

[Merion_Mom]

7 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Their posting history would suggest Navigator. 

 

ha ha ha

 

So not even a confusion with the first two letters? 😉

[Lane412000]

14 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Their posting history would suggest Navigator. 

You are right, it is the Navigator of the Seas.  Majesty of the Seas.....major league brain fart there.

[Lane412000]

After thinking of the responses that I have received, I think that my mindset is still with Oceania where the specialty restaurants are free to everyone, thus the need to make reservations ahead of time in order to get a seat on the day and time that is desired. On the majority of the other cruise lines where an additional price is needed for specialty restaurants, it appears easier to get a reservation when onboard.