Royal Caribbean's steakhouse specialty restaurant, Chops Grille, price has gone up to $39 per adult on certain ships.

The price increase appears to have been made on Oasis of the Seas, although an upcoming Quantum of the Seas cruise still lists the $35 cover charge.  It's possible the $39 price will eventually make its way around the fleet at some point later.

Previously Royal Caribbean was charging $35 per person to dine at their most popular specialty restaurant. The roughly 11 percent increase is a new change for guests wishing to dine at the restaurant.

Royal Caribbean recently revamped Chops Grille's menu by adding dry-aged steaks as an option to the menu that carries with it an additional charge. The dry-aged steaks cost between $18-19 and the roasted maine lobster has an additional $21 charge.

READ OUR REVIEW OF THE NEW CHOPS GRILLE MENU

In the past, Royal Caribbean has honored the old price if guests have reserved Chops Grille and paid the old $35 per person price.

What do you think of the new price for Chops Grille? Do you think it's still a good value?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

I don't know about you, but when I go on a Royal Caribbean cruise, enjoying the food and drinks are a big part of the cruise vacation experience for me.  I love trying out new foods, savoring my favorite drinks and taking a gastronomic tour of what's available to me on the ship.  However, I'm not independently wealthy and if I can save some money here or there, I try to find any way I can to do so.  Here are my top five tips for saving money on food and drinks on your Royal Caribbean cruise.

5. BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine)

If you enjoy having wine on your cruise, this is by far the best tip I can offer.  Royal Caribbean allows passengers to bring up to two bottles of wine per stateroom on embarkation day.

If you are flying to your cruise port, I suggest buying wine somewhere in the area before boarding rather than risking your wine breaking in transit.

4. Use multi-specialty restaurant discounts

Often, Royal Caribbean will offer a discount if you reserve a spot at multiple specialty restaurants before your cruise begins. 

Using Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's website, you can get up to 30% onboard credit when you make three or more reservations at any specialty restaurants.  You will get the onboard credit on day one of your cruise and that's more money to spend onboard!

If you were already planning on dining at a specialty restaurant or two, adding an extra restaurant will net you some money back that can end up paying off perhaps one of those meals or allowing you to save money elsewhere on the ship.

3. Make reservations in advance

This tip will not save you any money off the total price of dining, but it can make paying it off a heck of a lot easier.

Instead of reserving your specialty restaurants onboard or just showing up to eat and adding more costs to your SeaPass account, book as many reservations as you can online before your cruise.  Royal Caribbean will charge you at the time of your reservation, thus breaking up the total cruise bill.  

When you get home from your cruise vacation, there will be less of a monster bill waiting for you.

2.  Buy drink packages after you do the math

Royal Caribbean offers a number of beverage packages to choose from these days and whether or not you take a package can save you money.

The drink packages, for alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks, can be money savers if you drink enough every day of your cruise. By the same token, opting not to purchase a package may end up saving you money if you would not have consumed enough to make the packages worth it.

My advice is figure out how many drinks on average you would need to consume to "break even" on the drink packages and consider port days, when you will not be on the ship much.  If you think the drink package will save you money, then go for it but otherwise hold back and pay for your drinks a la carte.

1. Use your Crown and Anchor coupons

 

Crown and Anchor coupons on #jeweloftheseas are now attached to SeaPass card. List of offers on welcome letter

A photo posted by Royal Caribbean Blog.com (@royalcaribbeanblog) on Sep 21, 2013 at 10:56am PDT

For members of Royal Caribbean's customer loyalty program, Crown and Anchor Society, there are exclusive discounts given to you at the start of your cruise, including coupons to save you money on drinks and food.

You can find discounts on bottles of wine, complimentary cover charge to Johnny Rockets and buy one, get one free drink coupons in the array of coupons you get.  The exact coupon you receieve will depend on your ship and Crown and Anchor Society status, but remember to take advantage of those discounts to save you some money!

Your tips

Whether you are on a tight-budget or are letting the money flow like a faucet, using these tips can help you keep a little extra cash in your pocket.  How do you save money on dining and drinks on your Royal Caribbean cruise? Share your advice with us in the comments below!

It wont be long before you start seeing souvenir Coca-Cola cups on your Royal Caribbean cruise and it seems like they are everywhere!  The cup comes in bright colors in a stylized design that is the perfect way to get refills of your favorite soda anytime you want. Here are six things that you will want to know if you are thinking about buying one.

You can purchase it from many places onboard the ship

If you want to get the souvenir cup, you can purchase the non-alcoholic drink package that is right for you.  Especially on embarkation day, you will find stations around the ship offering to sell you the package and the fun cup!

Simply pick between the Royal Refreshment Package and the Royal Replenish Package and you will get a complimentary Coca-Cola souvenir cup with each package purchased.

Often you will find the packages for sale outside the Windjammer and on the Royal Promenade.

The cups work with the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines

Of course you can have bartenders fill the cup up and there are automated machines near the pool, but the best way to use your Coca-Cola souvenir cup is with the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines!

Located on select ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet, you can use these amazing machines exclusively with the souvenir cups and choose from over 100 flavor combinations!

In order to use the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines guests must purchase an all-inclusive beverage package or the Royal refreshment package and use their complimentary Coca-Cola souvenir cup. The Coca-Cola souvenir cup has a special chip in it which activates the machine.

You can only refill the cup once every 15 minutes

As mentioned earlier, the Coca-Cola souvenir cup has a special chip that prevents people without the cup from using the self-service refill stations.  

The machines do "lock down" your cup for about 15 minutes after you refill your cup to ensure the cup isn't shared with people that do not have the drink package.

You get a free cup with any unlimited alcohol package purchase

Of course you can get the souvenir Coca-Cola cups with the non-alcoholic packages, but if you prefer to go with the unlimited alcohol packages, you get the souvenir Coca-Cola cup too!

Each of the unlimited alcohol packges (select, premium, ultimate) come with a complimentary souvenir cup that you can use to get unlimited soft drinks during your cruise when you're looking to get something with a little less punch.

The cup is accepted almost everywhere

The souvenir cup can be refilled nearly everywhere onboard the ship. Bars, self-service stations, restaurants and lounges will all gladly refill the cups for you.

However, the souvenir Coca-Cola cups do not work with room service or the drinks in your mini-fridge.  Keep that in mind before you order something that will cost you extra!

You can pre-purchase the mug online before your cruise

You don't have to wait to get on your cruise in order to purchase your souvenir Coca-Cola cup.  In fact, you can pre-purchase online at royalcaribbean.com and have your cup waiting for you.

After you purchase the package online, the souvenir cup should be waiting for you inside your stateroom once you get in there.  That way, there's no waiting in line for you and you can start taking advantage of the benefit immediately!

Have you bought the Coca-Cola souvenir cups before?  Do you think they are worth it?  And will you buy one on your next Royal Caribbean cruise? Share your thoughts in the comments below!