Icon of the Seas - Specialty Dining Question

[Skywatcher1206]

Hi All,

We are going on the Icon of the Seas for Spring Break 2026 and I had a question regarding specialty dining.

We are hoping to do 4 speciality dining restaurants - Chops, Hooked, Giovanni’s and Izumi. We are hoping to do these on nights 3, 4, 5, and 7.

It appears that there is a 3 night package, unlimited package, or individual bookings. Would our best bet be to purchase the 3 restaurant package, and then pay out of pocket for the least expensive out of the 4? What are the typical prices of these restaurants?

Thanks!

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

I would buy the 3-night package and then pay separately. Chops is $70 per person for dinner, Hooked and Izumi (hibachi) are $65, and Giovanni’s is $55, if the price is the same as early 2024. I believe if you’re doing sushi at Izumi it is quite a bit cheaper.

Sometimes when you get the package, Royal makes you use one restaurant on Day 1, but I don’t know if that’s the case for Icon.

 

[OKW Lover]

We sometimes go with the unlimited package so we can totally avoid the MDR. Another advantage to doing that is having lunch at Johnny Rocket

 

[pjacobi]

What's wrong with the MDR? The menus look just fine for me! You can even order a Chop's steak in the MDR for upgrade fee.

I did book Izumi Hibachi lunch, but other than that we are eating in the MDR.

If the MDR is not good enough, we'll save the specialty restaurant for a future cruise.


-Paul

 

[Lesverts]

I do not mean to hijack this thread but I have questions.

I am on the Allure this time next year.

Is Izumi Sushi and Hibachi Teppanyaki the same restaurant? I want to go to Izumi for their snacks and dumplings but not really interested in Hibachi that is more expensive than Teppan Edo.

When do the dining/drink packages become available for booking? I am use to celebrity where they are available from the moment you book.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

I do not mean to hijack this thread but I have questions.

I am on the Allure this time next year.

Is Izumi Sushi and Hibachi Teppanyaki the same restaurant? I want to go to Izumi for their snacks and dumplings but not really interested in Hibachi that is more expensive than Teppan Edo.

When do the dining/drink packages become available for booking? I am use to celebrity where they are available from the moment you book.

I believe the hibachi and sushi/other food areas of Izumi are separate but still considered the same restaurant on Allure. I believe Izumi dumpling/sushi is a la carte on Allure unless it has changed.

Are you looking at the app or on a computer for the drink package? I think sometimes things don’t show up on the app properly. Royal runs a variety of special prices so I recommend booking your drink package when it is available and then watching for sales. We got a good discount on several things on our last Royal cruise.

 

[We’reAllMadHere]

What's wrong with the MDR? The menus look just fine for me! You can even order a Chop's steak in the MDR for upgrade fee.

Nothing is wrong with the MDR but the specialty restaurants are generally worth the upcharge in my opinion (which may change as they continue to grow in expense). The service was excellent - down to the servers cutting my kid’s steak for her. The MDR food is made in a more assemble line/mass produced fashion and not the same quality.

We surprisingly like the buffet on Royal as well for a quicker dinner experience. The buffet is better than those on Carnival or NCL.

 

[fly girl]

Hi All,

We are going on the Icon of the Seas for Spring Break 2026 and I had a question regarding specialty dining.

We are hoping to do 4 speciality dining restaurants - Chops, Hooked, Giovanni’s and Izumi. We are hoping to do these on nights 3, 4, 5, and 7.

It appears that there is a 3 night package, unlimited package, or individual bookings. Would our best bet be to purchase the 3 restaurant package, and then pay out of pocket for the least expensive out of the 4? What are the typical prices of these restaurants?

Thanks!

I am booked for Icon Spring Break 2025. I wanted the exact same as you, 4 nights in specialty dining.

How I booked it was the 3 night package, and one extra booking. The one extra is Izumi as it is the cheapest. Just remember with the 3 night package. you have to book when you get on the ship. That is the one minus of the package. But I did this last year on Odyssey and it worked out fine. I had my "plan of attack" and was ready with restaurants and times as soon as we boarded. One restaurant didn't have the time we wanted on the day we wanted, so we switched restaurants for different days to make the reservation time we wanted. It was not a big deal and it all worked out great.

 

[plutolovr]

Hi All,

We are going on the Icon of the Seas for Spring Break 2026 and I had a question regarding specialty dining.

We are hoping to do 4 speciality dining restaurants - Chops, Hooked, Giovanni’s and Izumi. We are hoping to do these on nights 3, 4, 5, and 7.

It appears that there is a 3 night package, unlimited package, or individual bookings. Would our best bet be to purchase the 3 restaurant package, and then pay out of pocket for the least expensive out of the 4? What are the typical prices of these restaurants?

Thanks!

We always book the Unlimited package. I am not a fan of the main dining rooms, just a personal preference. For us, especially if offered at a discount, the unlimited package is worth it. You can also use it for lunches in the specialty restaurants as well and really get your money's worth. You also get a $$ amount toward food purchases in Playmakers and a discount on wine.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

Thanks all for the responses!

 

[Skywatcher1206]

I am booked for Icon Spring Break 2025. I wanted the exact same as you, 4 nights in specialty dining.

How I booked it was the 3 night package, and one extra booking. The one extra is Izumi as it is the cheapest. Just remember with the 3 night package. you have to book when you get on the ship. That is the one minus of the package. But I did this last year on Odyssey and it worked out fine. I had my "plan of attack" and was ready with restaurants and times as soon as we boarded. One restaurant didn't have the time we wanted on the day we wanted, so we switched restaurants for different days to make the reservation time we wanted. It was not a big deal and it all worked out great.

Did you have to use one of the dinners on night 1 or were you able to choose?

 

[plutolovr]

Did you have to use one of the dinners on night 1 or were you able to choose?

You can now make your dining reservations prior to the sailing when you purchase a package. So after you make the purchase, just go into your Cruise Planner and make your reservations for where you want, when you want.

 

[fly girl]

Did you have to use one of the dinners on night 1 or were you able to choose?

you can use it the first or second night. We used it night 1 as night 2 was "formal night" in MDR. It was automatically set for Chops, but we used it for Giovanni's.

You can now make your dining reservations prior to the sailing when you purchase a package. So after you make the purchase, just go into your Cruise Planner and make your reservations for where you want, when you want.

Really? OMG that is fabulous. I am going to check right now! Thank you.


**edited to add**
@plutolovr I am on my cruise planner (website and app) and I cannot see anywhere I can make the reservations. Can you only book it after check in has opened?

Unfortunately, right now I cannot cancel and rebook to see if I can reserve times immediately as the price is a lot higher.

***edited yet again***

After a search, it looks as if you can only prebook if you have the Unlimited Dining Package. Well that stinks. The price isn't justifiable to me. Hope we can get some decent dining times.

 

[Skywatcher1206]

you can use it the first or second night. We used it night 1 as night 2 was "formal night" in MDR. It was automatically set for Chops, but we used it for Giovanni's.



Really? OMG that is fabulous. I am going to check right now! Thank you.


**edited to add**
@plutolovr I am on my cruise planner (website and app) and I cannot see anywhere I can make the reservations. Can you only book it after check in has opened?

Unfortunately, right now I cannot cancel and rebook to see if I can reserve times immediately as the price is a lot higher.

***edited yet again***

After a search, it looks as if you can only prebook if you have the Unlimited Dining Package. Well that stinks. The price isn't justifiable to me. Hope we can get some decent dining times.

I look forward to hearing what dining times you are able to get. Hopefully, they will be good!

 

[fly girl]

I look forward to hearing what dining times you are able to get. Hopefully, they will be good!

 

[pjacobi]

After a search, it looks as if you can only prebook if you have the Unlimited Dining Package. Well that stinks. The price isn't justifiable to me. Hope we can get some decent dining times.

I've prebook one specially restaurant on the app and do not have a dining package. I'm not sure when it opens but Izumi Hibachi was sold out at about 35 days out.

-Paul

 

[fly girl]

I've prebook one specially restaurant on the app and do not have a dining package. I'm not sure when it opens but Izumi Hibachi was sold out at about 35 days out.

-Paul

I know hibachi goes fast. Thankfully, we don't want it. I booked Izumi (not hibachi side) separately for our 4th dinner. For the 3 night package we are choosing Chops, Giovanni's, and Hooked.

 

[abdgeek]

Hi All,

We are going on the Icon of the Seas for Spring Break 2026 and I had a question regarding specialty dining.

We are hoping to do 4 speciality dining restaurants - Chops, Hooked, Giovanni’s and Izumi. We are hoping to do these on nights 3, 4, 5, and 7.

It appears that there is a 3 night package, unlimited package, or individual bookings. Would our best bet be to purchase the 3 restaurant package, and then pay out of pocket for the least expensive out of the 4? What are the typical prices of these restaurants?

Thanks!

I just got off Icon of the Seas and it appears some things have changed with regards to Specialty Dining. I booked the 3 Night Speciality Dining package and booked a separate Hooked lunch for embarkation day. For the Hooked lunch, I was able to pick my dining time when I booked online. However, for the 3 night package, no reservations times were made in advance by RCCL nor could I make them in advance —not even a courtesy one for Day 1 or 2. Based on what I read online, I too was worried about not getting the restaurants I wanted when I wanted. I needn’t have worried. I boarded around 10:30am and there was a Speciality Dining person in the terminal making dining reservations. I got everything I wanted at the times I wanted before I got on the ship—Izumi Hibachi, Hooked, Chop’s. I do eat early, but the group ahead of me was booking times around 7:30pm. During the cruise, I constantly saw employees walking around the ship at the dining venues asking people if they had signed up for specialty dining. Make sure that you check the website regularly to see if the price of the dining package goes down. I wound up canceling and rebooking both my lunch and 3 Night Dining Packages twice because the price went down. It got so crazy that I started taking pictures of the price I was paying so that I knew what percentage off discount I was getting.

 

[pjacobi]

During the cruise, I constantly saw employees walking around the ship at the dining venues asking people if they had signed up for specialty dining.

Yes, I experienced this, too. There seemed to be a lot of openings for the specialty restaurants.

I am afraid some spreadsheet executive will force the MDR to serve LOWER quality food so more money can be made from the specialty restaurants. It makes perfect sense if all you look at is a spreadsheet!


-Paul