The Royal Caribbean dining package Debate: To feast or to fare?

You’ve booked the cruise. The stateroom is selected. You’ve navigated the “flights versus driving” debate. Now comes the defining decision that can elevate your vacation from mere sightseeing to a culinary safari: Do you buy the dining package?

As someone who’s been on a large number of cruises, with different cruise lines, who has sampled a large number of speciality restaurants at various prices, included or excluded in these kind of packages, I know this decision is fraught with variables.
Royal Caribbean has mastered the art of the upsell, and their dining packages are the shining centerpiece of their ancillary revenue strategy.

The math, however, isn’t always in Royal Caribbean’s favor. Whether or not a dining package is “worth it” boils down to a single, essential calculation: How many times do you plan to bypass the included meals, and which specific venues are you targeting?

The core math: The value vs. the cost

Let’s dissect the basic proposition. Your cruise fare already includes high-quality food: the sprawling (and surprisingly excellent) Windjammer Cafe, the Main Dining Room, and various casual spots including the likes Sorrento’s Pizza and Cafe Promenade.

When you purchase a specialty dining package—whether it’s the 3-night bundle or the “Unlimited Dining Package”—you are choosing to pay extra to replace those included meals with dining in the ship’s premium, upcharge venues. It is worth mentioning that you do still have access to all the other “included” venues, even if you’ve already dined somewhere else on the ship.

The value proposition is this: Royal Caribbean prices these packages to offer a discount of roughly 30% to 40% compared to paying the “sticker price” for each individual reservation. If you buy the 3-night package (often starting at $100 per guest) and use it for Chops Grille ($55), Hooked Seafood ($50), and Jamie’s Italian ($45), you have mathematically beaten the system. Please be aware that these figures vary on each different sailing, and that it is worth checking the specifics for your booked cruise before making a decision.

However, this is where the strategy—and the expertise—comes in.

It’s not just “Dining”; it’s what (and how often) you dine

The biggest pitfall for guests is buying the package based on a theoretical desire to eat well, without knowing the specific costs of the venues they prefer.

The frequency dilemma: How many nights?

The logic of the package breaks down the fewer times you use it.

• The 3-Night “Experience”: If you only plan to eat at a specialty venue twice on a 7-night sailing, do not buy a package. It is mathematically better to pay the “a-la-carte” sticker price for those two reservations. The 3-night package is designed specifically to make you pay for a third night, locking you into a behavior pattern that benefits the cruise line’s occupancy in those venues.
  
• The “One Chops” Trap: If your only goal is to experience Chops Grille once (the ship’s signature steakhouse), the “Chops+1” bundle might seem tempting. But often, the pricing for that bundle is only slightly cheaper than the separate sticker prices for Chops and, say, the Italian venue. The discount is marginal. In this case, I advise booking the two venues separately; it gives you far more flexibility with your reservation times (which you can only book once onboard if you buy a package).

The specific venue factor: Some restaurants offer better value than others

This is the nuance that often gets lost. Not all specialty restaurants are priced equally.

• The High-Value Target: Izumi Hibachi. If you plan on doing the Izumi Hibachi experience (the “cooking as theatre” show), a package is almost always required for value. However, Royal Caribbean knows this. When you use a dining package at Izumi Hibachi, you must pay a surcharge (often ~$10 per person on top of the package cost). Even with the surcharge, the package generally still offers a small discount over the steep sticker price, but you must factor that extra fee in.
  
• The Middle-Tier Target: Chops Grille, Jamie’s Italian, Hooked, 150 Central Park. These are your “bread and butter” venues. They are priced identically (or nearly identically) in the high-$40 to high-$50 range. If you plan to visit any three of these on your sailing, the 3-night package is a clear and undeniable winner.
  
• The Low-Sticker Pitfall: Playmakers or The English Pub. If you buy the Unlimited Dining Package, you get a daily $20 credit at places like Playmakers Sports Bar or the English Pub. Here’s the reality: Whilst possible, it is very difficult to spend more than $20 on food at these spots, even with two orders of wings on top of all the other food that is already available and included in your package.
  If you use your Unlimited Package at these lower-tier locations for lunch and only hit the main specialty spots for dinner, you may barely break even against the per-day cost of the package.

The “Experience” venues (Where packages fail)

This is crucial. The newest and most immersive dining experiences—which are arguably the biggest “must-do’s” on newer ships—are not fully covered by any package.

• Empire Supper Club (Icon of the Seas): A jazz-filled 1930s New York experience. This costs over $150 per person. Even with the Unlimited Package, the surcharge is immense.
• Royal Railway (Utopia and Icon class): An immersive train-car dining simulation. Also requires a significant upcharge on top of any dining package.

If your primary goal is to experience these exclusive concepts, purchasing a dining package is a losing strategy, as the upcharges negate the bulk savings. A full list of in and exclusions can be found HERE on Royal Caribbean’s website (Website opens on new tab).

The recommendation

You Should Buy a Dining Package IF:

1. You have already looked at the specialty restaurants on your specific ship and you personally want to dine at three or more of them.
2. You are a foodie who actively wants to escape the large, noisy main dining room every night and want to experience a smaller and more personal venue.
3. You love the idea of Izumi Hibachi and are willing to pay the small extra fee to get the package discount on the expensive sticker price.

You Should NOT Buy a Dining Package IF:

1. You only want to experience one specialty dinner (e.g., just for a birthday or anniversary).
2. Your main goal is to experience the high-tier “experiences” like Chef’s Table, Royal Railway, or Empire Supper Club.
3. You are perfectly content with the (very good) included food and prefer to spend your budget on shore excursions, drink packages, or the spa.
4. You are traveling on a short (3-4 night) cruise, where you simply don’t have enough time to maximize the package without missing out on the unique Main Dining Room menus.