For the past few years Royal Caribbean has been at the forefront of cruise ship innovation. Anyone who has paying attention surely has noticed their dedication to pushing cruise ship amenities further than most cruise lines have dared to dream. With every new announcement Royal Caribbean keeps cruise aficionados on the edge of their seats wondering what will be next. The problem is its not always flow-riders and zip lines.
Lambasted by some for making decisions that can be construed as “nickle and diming” their passengers, Royal Caribbean once again finds a way to squeeze passengers. While we have all gotten used to the nominal surcharge levied in optional specialty restaurants, passengers who count the cruise lines “Chops Grille” restaurant will now have to pay 20% more for that particular alternative dining experience. Royal Caribbean recently raised the surcharge at Chops Grille from $25 to $30 dollars per person.
While its true that Chops Grille is a couple of notches above what is available in the dining rooms I can’t say I am a fan of paying even more for the experience. That being said I am not sure if the now $30 dollar surcharge is enough to keep me away from enjoying an extra special night out during a cruise.
Unfortunately Royal Caribbean’s Price Gouging Doesn’t Stop There
If you have had the pleasure of sailing on one of Royal Caribbean’s new “Oasis” class ships you undoubtedly have seen their casual for-fee dining venues. The new ships have a “Rita’s Cantina” or “Seafood Shack”. Those of you who have already visited those establishments were able to enjoy an appetizer or soup, entree and dessert at Rita’s for $7.95 and 8.95 at the Seafood Shack.
Even though you don’t expect to pay extra for food on a cruise ship, paying the price of an umbrella drink for a full slate of edibles isn’t a bad deal. Well, that’s all going away. Now when you visit Rita’s Cantina or the Seafood Shack you will not only be paying a 3 dollar cover charge but you will also be ordering “A la carte”, paying for each item. In other words if you are someone who loves all-you-can-eat dining you may want to stick to the Lido buffet.
To be fair the prices they charge aren’t bad, but the cruise line is still treading dangerously close to going too far. If you would like to see the menus you can click here (for Rita’s Cantina) and here (for the Seafood Shack).
Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Janet Diaz told Cruise Critic, “A la carte allows guests to better customize their experience and what they would like to pay,” explains Diaz. “Rather than charging one cover charge for a person who may just want a salad and another guest who may want shrimp, there are different price points based on what a guest orders, similar to land-based restaurants.”
While this explanation does sound nice, Royal Caribbean, please don’t pretend like you are doing your passengers a solid (at least not the meat eating passengers).
A $4 dollar Caesar salad from the shack plus the 3 dollar service fee will save that person who orders a salad 1 dollar, while her husband who orders soup, a burger and banana split will pay a total of $ 9.50 for the food plus the 3 dollar cover, more than 4 dollars more. The total meal ends up costing 19.50 instead of the 16 dollars it previously would have cost. Unless that person ordering the salad came into the Seafood Shack by themselves or with a whole group of herbivores you raised the price, plain and simple.