NCL has added a late night room service surcharge and I just read that both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are upping their prices for their "specialty" restaurants and that is disappointing to say the least.
The reasons behind Royal Caribbean raising their surcharge for Chops Grille by 20%, from $25 to $30 per person is said to be to bring it "in line with the premium and exclusive offerings found at our specialty dining venues, which offer a high quality experience at phenomenal value". In addition to that increase, the line is also changing their pricing structure in a couple of their more casual fee based dining venues, Rita's Cantina and The Seafood Shack. Currently, those two venues charge $7.95 and $8.95 respectively for essentially all-you-can-eat. That will be changing to a $3.95 cover for each and a new a la carte menue that will charge separately for each item. The line says that the old pricing structure wasn't generating enough gratuities for the staff. Whatever the reason, expect to pay more for your meals in these restaurants. As Cruise Critic pointed out, a quesadilla, guacamole, and grilled chicken used to cost you just the $7.95 surcharge at Rita's Cantina. After the change, this same meal will now cost $11.25. Not a huge increase, but it adds up.
You can check out the new menus for Rita's Cantina here and The Seafood Shack here.
The reasons behind Royal Caribbean raising their surcharge for Chops Grille by 20%, from $25 to $30 per person is said to be to bring it "in line with the premium and exclusive offerings found at our specialty dining venues, which offer a high quality experience at phenomenal value". In addition to that increase, the line is also changing their pricing structure in a couple of their more casual fee based dining venues, Rita's Cantina and The Seafood Shack. Currently, those two venues charge $7.95 and $8.95 respectively for essentially all-you-can-eat. That will be changing to a $3.95 cover for each and a new a la carte menue that will charge separately for each item. The line says that the old pricing structure wasn't generating enough gratuities for the staff. Whatever the reason, expect to pay more for your meals in these restaurants. As Cruise Critic pointed out, a quesadilla, guacamole, and grilled chicken used to cost you just the $7.95 surcharge at Rita's Cantina. After the change, this same meal will now cost $11.25. Not a huge increase, but it adds up.
You can check out the new menus for Rita's Cantina here and The Seafood Shack here.
On Celebrity, they are upping the charges on several of their specialty restaurants by between 15% to 33%, their second increase in the past 20 months. The price for Murano, found on the Solstice ships, and the French restaurants on the Millennium Class ships, will increase from $35 to $40 per person. Dining at Qsine will also go up from $35 to$40 per person, and the cover for The Lawn Club will jump from $30 to $40 per person. According to Celebrity, the main reason for the increase is the rising price of food around the world.
With all-inclusive land based vacations becoming more popular, cruise lines are getting into some dangerous territory by adding in all these extra expenses. I'll definitely consider an all inclusive as my next vacation even though I still love cruising.
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