Do you get unlimited food on a cruise?

Your cruise fare always includes food for breakfast, lunch and dinner on a cruise ship. However, not all venues that offer food will be free. The main dining room and cruise ship buffet will always be included in your cruise fare, though a few specialty items might cost extra.



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You can eat as much as you want, so don't worry. On a recent cruise, we were next to a table with a family of 8. EVERY night they all ordered every appetizer, every soup, every salad and every entree. No, I'm not kidding---we felt so sorry for our waiter as he huffed and puffed with trays of food.

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Is food included on a cruise? You do not have to pay for food on a cruise – but you might want to. Unless you're sailing on an all-inclusive luxury cruise ship, you'll find two types of restaurants on board a cruise ship: free venues and extra-charge, specialty restaurants.

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You can eat as much as you want, so don't worry. On a recent cruise, we were next to a table with a family of 8. EVERY night they all ordered every appetizer, every soup, every salad and every entree. No, I'm not kidding---we felt so sorry for our waiter as he huffed and puffed with trays of food.

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Cruise ships are good at making food available 24/7, so if you're hungry, there's usually no one to blame but yourself. The main dining room usually has set meal times, but sections of the buffet will always be open, and you'll usually be able to find a diner, cafe, or pizza shop that's open at all hours.

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Food and drinking are usually complimentary on the cruises. You are also allowed to bring your own snack on the cruise so that you can have what you love. A certain time is fixed for every meal - breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can either have it with everybody in the dining room or bring it to your room.

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In many cases, no. Several of the biggest cruise lines, including Carnival, Holland America and MSC Cruises, have a rule that if one adult in a cabin orders a drinks package, all adults in the cabin must order the package. This is to prevent two or more people in a cabin from sharing a single drinks package.

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Getting on your ship means a lot of choices on how to begin your vacation, but many guests elect to start things off with lunch. Embarkation usually begins in the late morning to early afternoon, so lunch is the first opportunity to sit down for a bite to eat.

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Cruise line drinks packages let you order as many drinks as you want while on a cruise for one flat fee. This takes the place of paying for drinks one at a time. At some lines, there are several tiers of drinks packages. Basic tiers often just include sodas and bottled water.

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Activities That Cost Extra on Cruises: Bingo, casino play, arcade games, escape rooms and golf simulators will all cost you extra on most ships. Additionally, hands-on cooking classes, wine and liquor tastings, and a few other courses require an extra charge outside your fare.

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If you're planning a cruise and researching your cruise options, you've probably noticed that not everything is included with your cruise fare. Taxes, gratuities or a service charge, plus other “extras” are just some of the things not included with your cruise fare.

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You probably won't need much actual cash while onboard, as many cruise lines will just charge purchases to your account. Even ship casinos these days have cashless credit systems. On nearly all cruises, passengers are given an itemized bill at the end of the trip listing all charged expenses.

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The answer to this question varies a lot by person, their travel habits, spending preferences, length of the cruise and destination. Many people suggest $100 per day, and this has generally worked well for me in my cruising experiences, but there are a lot of variables to consider.

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Prices for cocktails on cruise ships usually run about $10-14 per drink, before gratuity. So expect to spend about $12 to $16.50 per beverage when gratuity is added. Here is a sample menu from a recent Carnival cruise to give you an idea of what's offered.

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Dinner or “smart casual” attire If you're having dinner in the main restaurant or any meal at one of the specialty restaurants, you'll follow a “smart casual” dress code on most nights. This means long pants, jeans, a dress or skirt, a stylish top, or a button-down.

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At night for dinner guests can go for casual or smart casual clothes at most of the restaurants. Although for specialty restaurants in cruise ships a formal dress code is suggested. The cruise line does not have any kind of formal nights but 'Norwegian's night out' can be considered as the formal night.

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What drinks are free of charge?
  1. Water. Water is always free of charge on most cruise ships. ...
  2. Flavored water. Some cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean drink package provides their passengers with several options of flavored waters to choose from. ...
  3. Lemonade. ...
  4. Tea and coffee. ...
  5. Hot chocolate. ...
  6. Milk. ...
  7. Fruit juices.


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Guests are not allowed to bring beer or hard liquor onboard for consumption or any other use. Alcoholic beverages (beer, seltzer, or hard liquor) seized on embarkation day will be returned at the end of the voyage provided that they are in the original sealed package.

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To the delight of many passengers (or to the chagrin of those watching their waistlines), cruises offer no shortage of nibbles at all hours of the day. Although cruise midnight buffets are nearly extinct, several lines still offer a spread of snacks that are available into the wee hours of the morning.

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If you're comfortable wearing jeans, not to worry as many cruise lines permit wearing jeans in the dining room and restaurants most nights of the cruise. Make sure that your jeans are without holes, even if it's the style. As a rule of thumb, stick with dark jeans for a more elegant look.

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Most cruise lines have port agents stationed in the port area to assist if your ship has left without you. In cases when cruisers are late returning to the vessel, the ship's crew will often remove the passengers' essential items -- passports, cell phones and medication -- from the ship to leave with the port agents.

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