Royal Caribbean has changed the way guests pay for a few of its specialty restaurants.  Chops Grille, Rita's Cantina and the Seafood Shack have all changed from a one price for everything to a "surcharge plus a la carte" menu.  Basically you will now pay a fee to dine at these restaurants and then pay a price for each item you order on top of that.

Royal Caribbean had recently increased the the fee to dine at Chops Grill from $25 to $30 per person earlier this year. Rita's and the Seafood Shack also changed earlier this year when they charged a $3 up-front service fee, and all items are a la carte. In addition, a 15 percent gratuity may be added to the bill.

So why the change in pricing structure?  Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Janet Diaz told Cruise Critic that, "increases bring the cover charges in line with the premium and exclusive offerings found at our specialty dining venues, which offer a high quality experience at phenomenal value.  A la carte allows guests to better customize their experience and what they would like to pay.  Rather than charging one cover charge for a person who may just want a salad and another guest who may want shrimp, there are different price points based on what a guest orders, similar to land-based restaurants." 

Diaz also mentions that the price change wasn't generating sufficient gratuities for the restaurant staff, which added to the reason to change, "We looked at what gratuity split is taken out of a typical traditional cover charge and applied a similar formula to the a la carte menus, making the necessary adjustments based on concept, service level, etc. With this system it allows to cover for the gratuity, while keeping the menu pricing at the lowest level possible."

Royal Caribbean is planning a spending spree to upgrade its fleet of cruise ships over the next three years to help keeps its older ships competitive in the cruise market.  

This $300 million revitalization called "Royal Advantage", will allow most of its Vision, Voyager and Radiance class vessels to get a series of upgrades including

• Restaurants from Oasis Class of ships
  • Chops Grille steakhouse
  • Rita's Cantina Mexican restaurants
  • Izumi Restaurant (sushi)
  • Chops Grille (Steak house)
  • Park Café (sandwiches and salads)
  • Boardwalk Doghouse (brats and wieners)
• New cabin designs
• Royal Babies and Tots Nursery
• Wi-fi throughout ship
• Digital Wayfinding Systems
• Oversized LED video screens on pool decks

There's more planned but no details are available quite yet.  These changes sound quite similar to the changes that have already been made to ships such as Radiance of the Seas mostly recently.

These overhauls will require each ship to enter into a lengthy drydock process where the ship will get its upgrades.  The schedule of upgrades are as follows

1. Splendour of the Seas - November 2011
2. Rhapsody of the Seas - March 2012
3. Grandeur of the Seas - May 2012
4. Serenade of the Seas - November 2012
5. Legend of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
6. Vision of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
7. Navigator of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
8. Voyager of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
9. Explorer of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
10. Adventure of the Seas - 2013 or 2014
11. Brilliance of the Seas - 2013 or 2014

We know that the overhaul for Splendour, Grandeur and Serenade of the Seas will take place in Cadiz, Spain after Royal Caribbean signed a deal to have those ships rehauled there last month.

Royal Caribbean also mentioned that Independence of the Seas, Mariner of the Seas and Enchantment of the Seas will receive smaller, less significant upgrades.

Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein is excited about the changes that will help keep the cruise line competitive, "The Royal Advantage revitalizations takes many of the best features that we have created in recent years and introduces them across our fleet, offering our guests enhanced vacation choices around the world."

While Royal Caribbean's deployment of nearly half their fleet to Europe has been the big story in the company as of late, the other big trend that is sweeping across all of Royal Caribbean's ships (and frankly other cruise lines too) is the food options onboard.

While on your cruise ship, there will ample food provided throughout the day.  In short, there's hardly ever a time where you can't find food that is complimentry.  Complimentry food comes from a variety of sources and options.

Complimentry Restaurants

Main Dining Room

Every evening dinner is served in the main dining room at assigned seating tables.  You may end up sitting with passengers who you don't know, but the servers work to make your dining experience here as personal as possible.  The main dining room offers appetizers, entrees and desserts to choose from each night and you may order as much (or as little) as you like and it's nearly all complimentry.

The exception for food that is not complimentry in the main dining room are steak filets, that often come at an extra cost.

You can also dine in the main dining room for breakfast every morning and for lunch when available.  For breakfast, it's sit down service although here seating is first come-first served and you will not have the same waiters as dinner.  Lunch offers similar set up.

There is often a dress code to the Main Dining Room, although it's mostly an issue for dinner and less so for other meals.

Quick Service Restaurants

Throughout your cruise ship you will find other restaurants you may grab something to eat for no additional cost.  The exact restaurants vary from ship to ship but you will find a good variety of food to choose from.  Examples of food here can include pizza, sandwiches, pastries, ice cream and more.  

There's usually some seating available at these restaurants although not a lot.  These types of restaurants are usually for the "grab and go" passenger, who may be wanting something quickly to eat on their way to somewhere else.

Windjammer

The defacto buffet on every Royal Caribbean ship is the Windjammer Cafe, which is an all you-can-eat buffet that serves meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  There's lots of seating and it's a great option  when you want a casual meal.  The Windjammer is also usually convenient to the pools on the ship.

Don't let the buffet setup fool you, the Windjammer offers good quality food and while you could argue the food quality isn't as high as you will find in the main dining room, it's still a restaurant many Royal Caribbean fans love to frequent.

As mentioned earlier, the Windjammer is open for dinner and can be a good alternative for those who do not want to get dressed up for dinner in the main dining room or simply want to have more pool time or some other activity.

Room Service

Yes, room service is complimentry on your Royal Caribbean cruise.  There is a menu in your stateroom to choose from and it's available 24 hours per day.

There is a catch to room service, while the food is complimentry, it's traditional to tip the person that delivers the food to your room.  In addition, Royal Caribbean changed their room service policy back in 2009, and there is now a $3.95 surcharge for any food ordered between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m.

Speciality Restaurants

The biggest trend among all Royal Caribbean ships is the addition of specialty restaurants to their ships that cost a nominal fee.  The prices vary from ship to ship and restaurant to restaurant.  These specialty restaurants tend to have a food theme (Italian, French, Steakhouse, etc) and are table service restaurants.

Most specialty restaurants have a dress code, and in some cases their dress code is more formal than the main dining room.  

Specialty restaurants recommend making a reservation in advance to ensure there is a seating available.  It's not to say you can't walk up ona  given night and dine there, but there may be a wait or no availability.  You can book speciality restaurants in advance of your cruise on the Royal Caribbean website up to 60 days before your cruise but no sooner than 4 days before your sail date.

Pricing can also vary from restaurant to restaurant.  Some restaurants have a cost per person and then nearly everything on the menu is included in the cost.  Other resaurants offer their menu items with a la carte pricing.  Others include a per-person fee and a la carte pricing.

The future

Royal Caribbean has been working on increasing the amount of specialty restaurants on their ships as they've proven to be great money makers.  Some guests are bothered by the amount of speciality restaurants onboard because it's come at the expense of the complimentry offerings as well as the principle of paying for food on a cruise ship.

No one knows what the future will entail exactly, but all signs point to more speciality restaurants than we've seen before on Royal Caribbean ships.  Even older ships are often receiving new restaurants when they are brought into dry dock for upgrades.

The bottom line is there's plenty of places on your Royal Caribbean ship to eat at.  Both complimentry and specialty restaurants offer a wide variety of food to choose from and there's almost always something to get regardless of time of day.

We've heard a report that speciality restaurant Rita's Cantina aboard Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas has gone from a $7.95 service charge to a $3.00 service charge and all food is now priced a la carte.

The move is similar to how the Seafood Shack specialty restaurant aboard Oasis of the Seas is handled.  

The change is effective as of the cruise that left Port Everglades yesterday.

The change of pricing isn't unprecedented.  Royal Caribbean changed the price structure aboard Radiance of the Seas back on June 10.

Showcasing onboard experiences all her own, Royal Caribbean International's Allure of the Seas, the world's next largest and most innovative cruise ship debuting in December 2010, will introduce new culinary concepts and tempting twists to signature Oasis-class restaurants. A Brazilian steakhouse will be a destination restaurant that comes to life for dinner service in the Solarium, featuring authentic Brazilian-style meats and seafood dishes, from Picanha cut sirloin steak to Atlantic salmon marinated with sea salt and garlic, served table-side and sliced straight off the skewer. In Central Park, recently anointed Chef de Cuisine Molly Brandt will present guests with a one-of-a-kind menu and distinct dining experience at Allure of the Seas' 150 Central Park, a signature fine dining experience.

"As churrascaria concept restaurants gain popularity on land, Royal Caribbean is taking advantage of having a new ship to introduce a Brazilian steakhouse and bring a new dynamic and colorful nightlife ambiance for adults in the Solarium," says Lisa Bauer, senior vice president, Hotel Operations, Royal Caribbean International. "Guests onboard Allure of the Seas will have a new arrangement of dining experiences throughout the ship, from the Adagio Main Dining Room to new venues on the Boardwalk and Royal Promenade."

THE BOARDWALK

CENTRAL PARK

POOL AND SPORTS ZONE

ROYAL PROMENADE

VITALITY AT SEA SPA AND FITNESS CENTER

There will be a new specialty restaurant on the soon-to-be-completed Allure of the Seas, Samba Grill, a Brazilian-style Churrascaria restaurant.

The new restaurant will be a little different depending on the time of day.   During the evening, Samba Grill will be adults only while during the day it will revert to being the Solarium Bistro, where it will serve light breakfasts and lunches.

Samba Grill will be a notable difference between what you will find on Allure of the Seas' sister ship, Oasis of the Seas, where the Solarium Bistro serves healthier choices for all three meals during the day and dinner in the evening for a supplementary charge of $20.

While eating at Samba Grill, guests will be served by waiters dressed as gauchos, who will offer grilled meat off skewers while live music is playing.

The new restaurant will have a charge of $25 per person, as well as a vegetarian alternative, featuring a wide-ranging salad bar, for $15 per person.

For those looking for Italian food on their next Oasis of the Seas cruise, Giovanni's Table offers family-style Italian in the Central Park area of the ship.  Today, we review this Mediterranean enclave.

Interesting note about Giovanni's Table, prior to our cruise, we tried to get a reservation online but couldn't get one for the time and day we wanted.  We decided to wait until we boarded the ship and try to go to the restaurant on the first day of the ship and get a reservation.  Sure enough, we showed up on the first day and got the day and time we wanted without a problem.  Might be worth trying this idea out if you are in a similar situation.

Atmosphere

Giovanni's Table is situated in Central Park and features a very quaint and somewhat romantic setting.  It kind of looks like that restaurant from Lady and the Tramp meets chic restaurant downtown.  Inside the restaurant, you will find the place small enough to have some charm while big enough to handle a lot of hungry customers.  There are tables that have a window to Central Park as well as seating outside to choose from.  Further inside the restaurant are more tables that can accommodate larger groups.

Giovanni's is meant to remind you of a restaurant in the Tuscany region of Italy along the coast.  With it's northern Italy influences, Giovanni's Table certainly exudes the atmosphere one would expect from an Italian restaurant that serves traditional Italian dishes.  Serving to help sell the idea of a real Italian restaurant is the fresh meat slicer that frequently is used by the wait staff to slice fresh prosciutto ham in razor-thin slices.  The smell fills the room each time and it adds to the charm of the restaurant.

Eats

For dinner, Giovanni's Table offers a fairly large selection of Italian food.  There are three main courses, appetizers and salads, pastas and entrees.  The appetizers, salads and pastas are all served family style, meaning large plates are brought out of each item with the understand that you will share the items between the members of your party.  In most cases, there was enough food on each family style dish to easily satisfy two people and more than likely could be enough for 3-4 people.

To start with, appetizers are the first course and there's a lot to choose from.  For just me and my wife, we found three options that we both wanted to try before we even got to the soups.

For our starters, we chose fresh mozzarella and tomato, caesar salad and focaccia alla Giovanni.  The mozzarella and tomato was good, much like any other time we've had this dish before.  The ingredients were fresh and we chose to add olive oil and vinegar to give the dish a little something extra.  The caesar salad wasn't anything special and tasted perhaps a tad bit better than the caesar salad we had elsewhere on the ship and wasn't something I'd feel obligated to get again.  The foccaccia alla Giovanni can best be described as cheese bread with a little potato between the cheese and the bread that comes with the option of dipping the bread in a pesto sauce along with other accompaniments such as green and black olives.  This was surprisingly good and was the best choice we had among the appetizers.

Next up is pasta and we decided to share one dish, the gnocchi, which are small potato filled pastas in a white sauce.  Gnocchi isn't by any means a favorite pasta of mine, but it seemed like a decent choice.  While the gnocchi was good, we both felt after a few each that the pasta "got old".  As in, it was still good, but we couldn't eat a lot of it at once.  More than likely going to pass on this for our next visit.

By the time we got to our entrees, we were both feeling a little stuffed.  To Giovanni's Table's credit, they give you a lot of food and you're best served to try bites of each even though we felt guilty leaving any of the food on the dish to be thrown out.  For my entree, I opted for the tuna dish, which was kind of like an Italian version of ahi tuna.  A lightly cooked tuna that is rare on the inside (warm on the inside, unlike ahi which can be cold).  This was really good and was easily the best thing I ate that evening.  The sauce was light, which is key because the fish should be the focal point of the taste, not an overbearing sauce and with the baked tomatoes and potatoes along side, it was enough to stimulate my appetite to want to eat it all.

My wife opted for the filetto di Manzo alla griglia, a grilled 8oz beef filet tenderloin.  It was a good cut of beef and definitely better than the steaks we had in the Main Dining Room.  It also wasn't the best steak we've ever had but it certainly was something we could enjoy and I had a bite of it as well. We both thought it was good and were satisfied with the option.

Overall

In terms of pricing, we found Giovanni's Table to be a good option at $15 for dinner per person and $10 for lunch.  We opted to eat here on "lobster night" (neither of us eat lobster) so a night at Giovanni's Table may be best for a night where the menu doesn't look very good in the main dining room.  The wide selection of food and mostly tasty options really left us happy that we stopped by.  I think we both felt like it was worth the extra cost for a nice evening out and found the service better than the food.  

The Italian food is mostly traditional Italian food that many Americans love to enjoy.  The food here wasn't as good as the Italian food we had previously tried at the specialty restaurant Palo on the Disney Wonder, but felt it was still a good meal overall.  We did not try lunch, although we did notice that the lunch menu offers less options than the dinner menu.

Giovanni's Table is open for lunch 11:30am to 3:30pm and open for dinner 6:00pm to 10:00pm.

And I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve been here! What did you order? Any suggestions or favorite items? Let me know in the comments below!

The final cooking competition is over to become the next chef at 150 Central Park on the soon to be launched Allure of the Seas and it's Maureen Brandt of Stillwater, Minnesota.  Brandt won the fan vote last month and today competed with five other chefs for the right to become the next Chef de Cuisine of 150 Central Park, the signature restaurant onboard Allure of the Seas.

Brandt competed in a day long competition and cooked three meals for the panel of judges.  Her specialties included chilled Lobster, provencial Lamb Loin and a pistachio cake.

Chef Daniel Fein came in second place and CruseCritic is reporting he has accepted the position of Chef of 150 Central Park on Oasis of the Seas, whose chef has announced previously that he will be leaving.

With Brandt winning, she completes a long trek of winning the Allure of the Seas Culinary Challenge, which started back in early July 2010.  She submitted a video of her cooking a dish and explaining why she should be considered for the contest.  She then made it to the final six competitors, won the fan vote and today has won the cooking competition.

Brandt is a 1999 graduate of Stillwater Area High School and she is also a "Certified ProChef Level Three" by the Culinary Institute of America and CEC through the American Culinary Federation.

The panel of judges for the cooking competition included Culinary Institute of America Chef Lou Jones and Dr. Victor Gielisse and from Royal Caribbean Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations, Lisa Bauer; Vice President of Food & Beverage Operations Frank Weber.