Specialty restaurants are an optional cost on a Royal Caribbean cruise to enjoy different cuisines and cooking styles, and it could cost you a nominal fee or hundreds of dollars.
Specialty dining has gotten very popular in recent years, with many cruisers electing to dine only at the extra cost restaurants.
While there's nothing wrong with the food options included in your cruise fare, eating at specialty restaurants gives you a greater variety. Some cruisers say they eat at specialty restaurants because the food quality is better than at the complimentary restaurants.
Read more: 11 cruise fees you should know about before booking
Depending on your ship, the cost to eat at specialty restaurants could be nominal or quite high. Here's an overview of the specialty dining costs and what to expect when you get onboard.
Specialty restaurant costs
Here is a list of all the Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants and an explanation of the costs to dine there.
Keep in mind that prices can vary from ship to ship, as well as pre-cruise discounts being offered.
For the a la carte priced restaurants, you can look up Royal Caribbean menus to see exactly how much individual items will cost.
Read more: How does specialty dining work on Royal Caribbean?
150 Central Park
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $69.99 per adult/$14.99 per child
Basecamp
Price structure: A la carte
Cost: Between $7-$11 for the extra cost items. Some menu items are complimentary
Chef's Table
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $109.99 per guest
Chops Grille
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $69.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Lunch: $29.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Empire Supper Club
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $200 per guest
Fish & Ships
Price structure: A la carte
Cost: Between $2 - $10. Some menu items are complimentary
Giovanni's Italian Kitchen
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $54.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Lunch: $24.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Giovanni's Italian Table
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $49.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Lunch: $24.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Hooked
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $64.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Lunch: $24.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Izumi hibachi
Price structure: Cover charge. Sushi priced a la carte.
Cost: Dinner: $64.99 per adult, $54.99 per child
Lunch: $39.99 per adult, $29.99 per child
Izumi sushi
Price structure: A la carte or fixed price menu
Cost: Fixed price menu is $39.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
A la carte items range in price. Appetizers between $3-$14. Large plates between $14-$22. Desserts between $5-$6.
Costs are the same for lunch and dinner.
Jamie's Italian
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $54.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Lunch: $24.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Johnny Rockets
Price structure: Cover charge or a la carte, depending on the ship.
Most ships are priced with a cover charge for lunch and dinner. A few ships have a walk-up setup with a la carte pricing.
Cost: Breakfast: Complimentary (Oasis Class ships only)
Lunch and dinner: $14.99 per person on ships with cover charge. A la carte items between $2.99 and $11.00.
Mason Jar
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $49.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Brunch: $34.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Pier 7
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: Dinner: $24.99 per adult, Kids under 12 eat free
Brunch: $14.99 per adult, Kids under 12 eat free
Playmakers Sports Bar
Price structure: A la carte
Cost: Between $7.99 and $29.99 per item
Portside BBQ
Price structure: A la carte
Cost: Between $3.99 - $21.99 per item
Sabor
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $24.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Samba Grill
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $44.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Taste of Royal
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $39.99 per adult, $19.99 per child
Wonderland
Price structure: Cover charge
Cost: $59.99 per adult, $14.99 per child
Two ways to save money on specialty dining
The prices listed are if you were to walk up to the restaurant on your Royal Caribbean ship, but you could save a lot of money on the cost with a little advanced planning.
Royal Caribbean offers two ways to pay less than the listed onboard prices, and in my experience, this is always cheaper than booking restaurants onboard the ship.
Specialty Dining Packages
If you're going to eat at more than two specialty restaurants, a Royal Caribbean dining package is the way to go.
Dining packages offer a bulk discount compared to eating at the same amount of restaurants individually.
Royal Caribbean offers a few different dining packages, but the options will vary from ship to ship. Likewise, the price of a dining package will depend on your ship and sailing.
The Unlimited Dining Package allows you to eat at as many cover charge restaurants as you like on your cruise every day, for lunch or dinner.
The only limitation with this dining package is at a la carte restaurants, where you are limited to one dining at each a la carte restaurant once per person, per day. When you dine at an a la carte restaurant, you're given a stipend to use towards the value of items on the menu.
Read more: Guide to the Unlimited Dining Package
Royal Caribbean also offers other dining packages, such as the 3-night Dining Package, or Chops + Your Choice (essentially a two restaurant package with one defaulting to Chops Grille).
You can pre-book dining packages on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner site.
Pre-book individual restaurants
Another way to save money on specialty dining is to pre-book a specialty restaurant before the cruise begins.
Royal Caribbean regularly offers pre-cruise discounts on specialty restaurants. The exact discount depends on your ship, sailing, and the Royal Caribbean promotion running at that time. You can expect at worst a 10% discount off the onboard price at most restaurants.
Is specialty dining on Royal Caribbean worth it?
While there is plenty of food included with your cruise fare at no additional cost, specialty restaurants offer food you might not be able to get otherwise onboard.
The cost of specialty dining has gone up significantly in recent years, but for many cruisers, they're on vacation and simply want to splurge.
Read more: 7 reasons to eat at specialty restaurants instead of the Main Dining Room
You can find good values, especially if you eat a lot and are not picky. Some of the high end choices, like Chef's Table or Empire Supper Club, will cost a lot for a more intimate experience.
Anyone that wants to dine at specialty restaurants should either pre-book the restaurant or buy a dining package. Dining packages can slash the price of an extra cost restaurant by as much as half, if you take advantage of what the package offers.
You don't have to pay for specialty dining on a cruise, but if you choose to do so, pre-planning will definitely save you money and make the cost proposition more favorable.
