I thought all cruise food was included!!

[texascots]

I'm a first time cruiser...I thought all food on cruise ships was included in the price you pay for the cruise...

texascots

[barbarah33]

The food is included in the price of your cruise; main dining rooms, buffets, grill, pizza, room service, etc. If you want anything 'special' or 'alternative' such as one of the restaurants on board - Italian or steak, a platter of hors d'oeuvres brought to your room for a party, verandah breakfast or dinner, then you need to pay extra for it. The cost is clearly shown for everything that isn't included as part of your cruise fare so there shouldn't be any worries or concerns. You can certainly eat away with no problems on what is included very easily and be quiet happy. But sometimes people want something a bit different while on a cruise and the cruise lines have found a way to accommodate this and make more money.

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

All food is included...

 

The only thing you may have to pay for is a little room service pizza (3$)

 

all meals in the dining room, horizon court, everywhere are included

[texascots]

Thanks for your replies!! I get it now!:cool:

Can you hi-jack food and bring it back to your room for a little late night snack?:rolleyes:

texascots

[Nanatravel]

Yes, you can bring back food from the buffet to your room or order room service (for a tip).

 

Not all food is included any longer since the implementation of "special dining venues". Example on the Millennium (2000) Olympic Dining room; Carnival Pride-David's and Legend- the Golden Fleece, and many of the ships in Princess fleet- Sabatini's and Crown Grille, etc. NCL has many of its "dining rooms" as a specialty experience. Some dining restaurants/rooms provide white glove service lasting 2 or more hours. Some have music and entertainment for your dancing pleasure like David's and Olympic. All of these charge a fee per person. You may tip in addition to your normal tip allocation. Some ships sell ice cream, speciallty deserts at the Coffee bars with your Latte's and Capuccino's, etc.

 

The bottom line is you don't have to go to or incur any additional expenses for food, it is all up to you. There will be plenty to eat and it will be fine on most cruises.

 

Bon Voyage.

Nanatravel

[sept10dsm]

Thanks for your replies!! I get it now!:cool:

Can you hi-jack food and bring it back to your room for a little late night snack?:rolleyes:

texascots

Yes you can. Have a great cruise. There will be plenty of included food.

[Pam in CA]

As the others have said, all food is included and on Princess, that means food 24/7. :) That includes ice cream, coffee, and other items that some people think cost extra. They don't. However, if you want the specialty ice cream from the booth near the pool, that is extra (but there's plenty of "free" ice cream at lunch, in the afternoon and at dinner). Some people don't like the coffee and want to pay extra for the special coffee brewed from grounds. But you don't have to. There's "free" coffee in the buffet and dining rooms.

 

There are some restaurants that are "specialty" restaurants such as the steakhouse or Sabatinis. You will still be able to get steak and pasta in the dining room but these are "special" experiences with extra special food. There is a nominal fee for these, such as $15 - $20/pp.

 

The only thing that isn't free are sodas and you can buy a soda "card" (which is really a sticker on your cruise card) that works out to about $3.99/day. Cans of soda are $1.50 so if you drink more than 2 sodas a day, it's a good value.

 

You can take an entire cruise without paying anything extra for food but you have choices if you want some special attention or special quality.

[willysgrandma]

Bring baggy clothes - they'll be tight by the time you get off the ship, LOL.:p

 

Have a great time!

[cynbar]

I agree with the above posters -- you'll have no problem at all finding an assortment of good meals and snacks, 24 hours a day, without paying anything extra.

[Princess Chatterer]

As the others have said, all food is included and on Princess, that means food 24/7. :)

 

I went to Horizon Court on the Golden Princess in February at 5 a.m.. NO FOOD!

[critterchick]

Some people don't like the coffee and want to pay extra for the special coffee brewed from grounds. But you don't have to. There's "free" coffee in the buffet and dining rooms.

 

I would have placed the quotation marks differently: there is free "coffee" in the buffet.;) The dining room coffee isn't half bad, IMHO.

 

OP, you will not go hungry! At some point (maybe midnight?) the Horizon Court switches from a buffet to a late-night cafe with table service. I've never been hungry enough late at night to check it out, though.

[Pam in CA]

I went to Horizon Court on the Golden Princess in February at 5 a.m.. NO FOOD!

Interesting... but then you won't see me wandering around at 5AM. :)

[alolewis]

One night on the Coral I couldn't sleep and went out for a walk so not to disturb DW. At 3 am I went to the Horizon Court to get some ice water to drink and there was food out, seemed to be more like salads but as I wasn't eating didn't look closely, the two waiters were very disappointed that I didn't want to eat. Other than the two waiters and me, there was no one else there. At 6 am on other days there was continental breakfast stuff out, I think the eggs and stuff didn't come out to 7 am.

To the OP on that 10 day cruise we never spent any additional money on food, just drinks. No real need to take food back to room to eat later as there is a fruit bowl in the room, 24 hour room service and a 24 hour buffet (except I guess 5 am).

[Opinions]

As the others have said, all food is included and on Princess, that means food 24/7. :) That includes ice cream, coffee, and other items that some people think cost extra.

 

Where is the ice cream that's available 24/7?..I seem to have missed it on a recent cruise on Star Princess...Help me please before my next Princess cruise.

[cruzinchris]

Where is the ice cream that's available 24/7?..I seem to have missed it on a recent cruise on Star Princess...Help me please before my next Princess cruise.

 

Not sure it's available 24/7 but one can get "free" ice cream at lunch or dinner in the dining rooms and from 3:30-4:30 in Horizon Court. The afternoon ice cream sundae bar is not advertised in the Patter but you can remember that it is offered at the same time as Afternoon Tea that is advertised daily.

Chris

[gambit57]

If you have a balcony, it's nice to bring food back and eat on the balcony. Room service menu never seemed that appealing to me. I prefer the buffet food for a snack.

 

I haven't paid for food yet. I stuff myselves during dinner. I like to try most of the menu. The regular stuff is great. No need for special steak for me. I can get steak either at home or in the dining rooms. I'm flexible enough that if the steak isn't that great, then I'll just order the lobster or something different. See no reason to pay more. Other people do. It's nice that you have a choice I guess. For people like me who don't care, we don't have to pay. Others LOVE steak or whatever, so they can get it. I suppose this way, the cruise lines figure they can please more people and wring more profit.

[Pia1913]

I went to Horizon Court on the Golden Princess in February at 5 a.m.. NO FOOD!

 

That's because they usually shut down between 4:00 and 6:00 AM for cleaning. Next time stash some munchies in your cabin frig for early morning cravings. :D Golden has incredible CC cookies.

[AlaskaGolden]

That's because they usually shut down between 4:00 and 6:00 AM for cleaning. Next time stash some munchies in your cabin frig for early morning cravings. :D Golden has incredible CC cookies.

 

I thought they were able to close down one side of the buffet at a time for cleaning. Seems to me that closing the entire buffet for 2 hours for cleaning (even from 4 AM to 6 AM), wouldn't be the right thing to do! I know many folks who get up at those hours, especially if they are adjusting to a different time zone, and would like something to eat from the buffet!

[Pam in CA]

Not sure it's available 24/7 but one can get "free" ice cream at lunch or dinner in the dining rooms and from 3:30-4:30 in Horizon Court. The afternoon ice cream sundae bar is not advertised in the Patter but you can remember that it is offered at the same time as Afternoon Tea that is advertised daily.

I didn't mean to imply that ice cream was available 24/7. I meant to say that FOOD was available 24/7. Chris is correct: you can get great ice cream at lunch or dinner in the dining room(s) or in the buffet (not all Princess buffets are called "Horizon Court") during the afternoon. That's about 7 - 8 hours of available ice cream. Some people think the only ice cream is on Lido deck near the pool and that they have to pay for it. They don't. There's great, free ice cream elsewhere.

[Pia1913]

I thought they were able to close down one side of the buffet at a time for cleaning. Seems to me that closing the entire buffet for 2 hours for cleaning (even from 4 AM to 6 AM), wouldn't be the right thing to do! I know many folks who get up at those hours, especially if they are adjusting to a different time zone, and would like something to eat from the buffet!

 

They do keep one side closed even in the morning. Usually don't open both sides until approx 8:00 or later. It depends on the traffic. As for closing at 4:00 AM, I've never had reason to question it, since there's no way you'll find me eating at that hour. :) Anyhow, in case of emergency there is always room service.

[Pam in CA]

A friend of mine took a Princess cruise to Alaska and came back with the comment: "Never again! They made us pay for the tours! We wanted to take the helicopter tour but when we found we had to pay for it, we refused to go."

 

The OP is good in that they are asking their questions, doing their research and setting reasonable expectations.

[Brad1185]

They are also charging extra for Intl Cafe and Vines which also has extra charge for sushi

[Casshew]

A friend of mine took a Princess cruise to Alaska and came back with the comment: "Never again! They made us pay for the tours! We wanted to take the helicopter tour but when we found we had to pay for it, we refused to go."

 

:eek: I almost feel sorry for them...... almost

[willysgrandma]

A friend of mine took a Princess cruise to Alaska and came back with the comment: "Never again! They made us pay for the tours! We wanted to take the helicopter tour but when we found we had to pay for it, we refused to go."

 

 

Were you able to keep a straight face when they said that? Did they use a TA or book themmselves? A good TA would have explained that to clients who never cruised before. If they booked through the cruise line directly, they probably wouldn't have known that.

[chrysalis]

Not to "high-jack" this thread, but we had dinner last year on the Sea with a couple whose TA told them "you do not need any cash, all you need to do is charge everything to your cruise card"....so they were a bit surprised when the local ladies on the street-side in Grenada would not take their cruise card for payment of assorted spices and trinkets.