Food Per-diems Question

[Lurontravel]

I am curious about what dollar amount each cruise line allots per person, per day for food? It might take a number of people to answer this question, as I'd be curious to know about as many lines as possible, including but not limited to: from Carnival, Costa, RCCL, X, Regent, Crystal, Ccunard, NCL, Princess, HAL, etc, etc, etc.

 

I had heard a number of years ago that Carnival had the lowest per-diem of all the lines,and am curious about how all the lines currently "stack up". With all of the discussion on food quality, am wondering what impact this might have on food quality.

[Happy ks]

I'm sure the higher end lines allow more per diem, but I've read the lower to mid level cruise lines allow around $12-20 per day, per person, for their food cost.

 

It's kind of amusing to think of it this way when you read that people feel they need to "eat their fare share" or that "babies don't eat much, so why do they have to pay a third/fourth person rate".

 

Of course, this is food cost alone and does not include the labor cost to cook, serve and clean it up, as well as the trash and recycling that is needed. But, I'm sure the food cost is low in comparison to the cost of fuel, maintenance and salary for staff and crew that it takes to keep a cruise ship operating.

 

So, to me, the cruise fare is primarily for the cost of hotel (including housekeeping), transportation, dock facilities, fuel and operations, with food expense coming in last.

[cruisinbuddy]

I'm sure the higher end lines allow more per diem, but I've read the lower to mid level cruise lines allow around $12-20 per day, per person, for their food cost.

 

It's kind of amusing to think of it this way when you read that people feel they need to "eat their fare share" or that "babies don't eat much, so why do they have to pay a third/fourth person rate".

 

Of course, this is food cost alone and does not include the labor cost to cook, serve and clean it up, as well as the trash and recycling that is needed. But, I'm sure the food cost is low in comparison to the cost of fuel, maintenance and salary for staff and crew that it takes to keep a cruise ship operating.

 

So, to me, the cruise fare is primarily for the cost of hotel (including housekeeping), transportation, dock facilities, fuel and operations, with food expense coming in last.

Just like a restaurant they buy in bulk to keep the costs down. Someone on here found the food facts for all of CCL, OMG:eek: that was a lot of food. Something like 51,000 lbs of filet mignon a week. Now that's for the whole fleet. Try this link, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=519634&highlight=food+facts

[Lurontravel]

That was a very interesting link cruisinbuddy. I sure would love to be any of CCL's food distributors. Bet they do alright ($$$).

 

Happyks, thanks for the general numbers. However, I'm still curious about each individual line's per diem. Anyone have access to that information or to any links that do?

[Ephraim]

Ross Klein in his book gave an estimate of about $10 per day on Carnival and up to about $25 a day on the premium lines.

 

Cruise lines have managed to actually cut down on the cost of food and to limit some of the costs. That's why you don't see the midnight buffet anymore. You also see many institutional foods, especially on the budget minded lines.

 

For example, you don't often see real eggs but instead egg product, which doesn't need to be manually broken and won't discolour in the steel food trays on the buffet. They also now serve more pasta on the cruises which is a low cost food item. And often the lobsters that you see are either more inexpensive Cuban (Caribbean) lobster or smaller canner sized. Premium Maritime (Maine) lobster isn't usually served on cruises since it realizes much higher prices on the open market.

[Happy ks]

That was a very interesting link cruisinbuddy. I sure would love to be any of CCL's food distributors. Bet they do alright ($$$).

 

Happyks, thanks for the general numbers. However, I'm still curious about each individual line's per diem. Anyone have access to that information or to any links that do?

 

 

You might have to go to the individual lines to learn of their costs, I'm sure it may vary quite a bit.

 

The per diem does sound low, but if you take the food allowance and multiply it by my family of 4, figure 3 meals a day for 7 days, it would be a grocery bill of $336 per week. No way do we spend that at the grocery store :) .

[BruceMuzz]

As of January 2007:

All numbers are approximate averages. Actual numbers vary by ship, itinerary, and season. These numbers change very frequently, based on seasonal variations on prices for many different items. Hurricanes, deep freezes in the tropics, hail storms, labor strikes, and many other factors cause huge shifts in bulk prices, forcing rapid changes in per diems for some cruise lines.

 

NCL - $8.30 per passenger per day.

 

Carnival - $8.50 per passenger per day.

 

Royal Caribbean - $9.75 per passenger per day.

 

Celebrity - $10.50 per passenger per day.

 

Holland America - $10.50 per passenger per day.

 

Princess - $10.50 per passenger per day.

 

Regent - $18.00 per passenger per day.

 

Silver Sea - $18.00 per passenger per day.

 

Crystal - $20.00 per passenger per day.

 

Seabourn - $24.00 per passenger per day.