You'll have a choice on a Royal Caribbean cruise to enjoy food included with your cruise fare, or spend extra on other food.
While not all the food on Royal Caribbean is included, there is enough food and drink for you to enjoy that is included so you will not need to pay extra for food. However, you may feel inclined to pay for drinks or meals anyway as a way to enhance your cruise.
Depending on the ship you sail on, the exact venues with complimentary (included) food will vary, but here are some basics you can expect on any Royal Caribbean ship:
- Main dining room
- Windjammer Cafe (buffet)
- Grab-and-go coffee shop (Cafe Promenade, Cafe Latte-tudes, or Cafe Patisserie)
- Pool deck quick food (El Loco Fresh, Boardwalk Dog House, Park Cafe)
Read more: Royal Caribbean food guide
The two primary places you will find the widest selection of food included with your cruise is in the main dining room and Windjammer.
Main dining room
The main dining room is open for breakfast and dinner every day of your cruise, and for lunch on sea days. The main dining room is a sit down restaurant where you have assigned seating.
For dinner, there are two types of main dining room seating: traditional and My Time Dining.
Traditional dinner is when you pick between early or late seating. Every day your dining time is the same, and your waiters and table mates are the same.
My Time Dining offers flexible dining times, where you can reserve times in advance or show up and wait for an available table. You will likely have different waiters and table mates every day, unless you request otherwise.
Read more: My Time Dining versus Traditional Dining
Nearly all the food available in the main dining room is included with your cruise fare, with the exception being alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, and some upcharge items at dinner (steak or lobster).
Windjammer
The Windjammer Cafe is the classic cruise ship buffet, and it is open for all meals every day of your cruise (the Windjammer is currently closed for dinner in 2021 while there is limited capacity, but will eventually re-open for dinner).
The Windjammer offers the widest selection of foods to eat, with different buffet stations you can walk up to and pick from.
All the food you see in the Windjammer is included. Just like the main dining room, alcoholic drinks and soft drinks cost extra.
Read more: Guide to Royal Caribbean's Windjammer Cafe buffet
Room service
There is a service charge for room service, where you pay $7.95 per order. Whether you order one or ten items, the service cost is the same.
You can order a continental breakfast option that has no service fee in the morning, which consists of coffee, tea, and assorted breakfast choices.
Drinks
Royal Caribbean includes some beverages with your cruise fare, which cover the basics to keep you refreshed and hydrated.
The drinks included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare are:
- tap water
- milk
- tea
- coffee (regular and decaf)
- lemonade
- iced tea
- flavored waters
- juices (at breakfast and not fresh squeezed)
- Hot chocolate (via instant packets)
Read more: What drinks are included with your Royal Caribbean cruise?
All other drinks cost extra, including alcohol, soda, and juices.
Royal Caribbean offers guests beverage packages that can be purchased to save money on these extra drinks. Drink packages are worth it if you drink enough every day of your cruise to "break even" on the package cost.
Snacks
Besides meals, there is also a good assortment of food you can munch on between meals.
Depending on the Royal Caribbean ship you sail on, the exact venues will vary, but there are some common options for something small to eat that has no additional cost.
- Cafe Promenade, Cafe Latte-tudes, or Cafe Patisserie
- Park Cafe
- El Loco Fresh
- Boardwalk Dog House
- Sorrentos
These locations are open most hours of the day and night, and you will find sandwiches, pizza, desserts and much more.
Not only are these grab-and-go restaurants included, they offer some very tasty choices that many cruise fans really enjoy.
Some top favorites include:
- Roast beef kimmelweck sandwiches from Park Cafe
- Pizza slices from Sorrentos/Cafe Promenade
- Cookies from Cafe Promenade, Cafe Latte-tudes, or Cafe Patisserie
Perfect Day at CocoCay
Perfect Day at CocoCay is Royal Caribbean's private island in The Bahamas, and there is a surprising amount of food included with your visit to the island.
Lunch is served at the island, and there are a few different dining venues you can go to that should be close enough to anywhere you are relaxing.
Not only is there a lot of food included at Perfect Day at CocoCay, it is really good too.
- Skipper's Grill
- Chill Grill
- Snack Shack
Cups of water are available at no additional charge at these venues.
Labadee
Royal Caribbean also has a private destination on the coast of Haiti, called Labadee.
Just like CocoCay, lunch is served for all guests to enjoy.
- Columbus Cove Cafe
- Cafe Labadee
- Dragon's Cafe
Cups of water are available at no additional charge at these venues.
