Dinner On a Cruise
In the old days, cruise ship dining was an elegant affair taking place three meals a day plus an option for an afternoon snack served during tea time. No more.
Today, modern ships offer a wide array of dining options, from basic meal service all the way up to luxury specialty dining experiences. And, unlike land vacations, your meals are included in your fare.
1-Main restaurant:
Nearly all cruise lines have a main dining room available for sit-down service during breakfast, lunch and dinner. Typically, you'll find that the venue offers a range of traditional American and Continental dishes served in a large, banquet-style room where you may have to share a table with other passengers.
2-How much it costs to dine
For the vast majority of luxury and premium cruise lines — Crystal Cruises, Oceania, Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas, Windstar — the cost of the main restaurant and specialty restaurants is included in your fare.For mainstream (mass market) cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Holland America, dining in the main restaurants on board is included in your fare, while it costs extra to dine in a specialty restaurant (although Royal in particular sometimes adds surcharges to certain items on the menu in the main dining room).
3-Assigned seating vs. open seating
A lot of first-time cruisers wonder, Will I be forced to eat with a lot of strangers? In general, no. Here's how it works:
Traditional assigned seating
Most larger cruise lines maintain the tradition of two dinner seatings each evening: at 6 pm and 8 or 8:30 pm. When booking, you'll be asked which you prefer. You may want to choose the earlier seating if you plan to go to a lot of shows, and you can request a small or large table or a seat near a window, but there's no guarantee it will be honored. Early seating is often favored by those cruising with kids and some seniors.
Open seating
Open seating — an option that lets you eat when you want and with whom you want — has been around for a long time on luxury and smaller ships (including Star Clippers). Several years ago Norwegian Cruise Line introduced Freestyle Dining to its ships, to positive results. More recently, Royal Caribbean introduced the concept of dynamic dining — no set dining times, no assigned seats, no required formal nights — to mixed results on its Quantum class of ships. Note that with open seating, you sometimes have to wait for a table or make a reservation each night.
4-Dress code
There's a certain amount of decorum expected on cruise ships during dinner. That means, no swimsuits, tank tops, flip-flops, casual shorts and sleeveless tops. If you're in the mood for casual, head to the smaller informal restaurant near the pool.Dress codes on cruise ships vary by cruise line and by evening – many cruises feature one or more formal nights. Some cruise lines enforce the dress code and may offer to bring out a suit jacket for the gentleman
5-Formal dining
Formal dining has given way to casual dining on most cruise lines in recent years. Traditionally, cruise lines set aside one evening on a 7-night cruise for a formal night, when people dress in evening wear. On lines such as Princess, Cunard, Crystal, Seabourn and Silversea, you'll see quite a few men don tuxedoes on formal night, while most wear dress slacks and a sport coat. If you wear slacks and a dress shirt you'll be OK.
6-Al fresco dining
If you've ever enjoyed al fresco dining on a cruise ship — having breakfast, lunch or dinner on deck on a sunny day — you know what a glorious treat it is. On cruise lines such as SeaDream, Silversea, Viking, Ponant, Seabourn, Azamara and Windstar, you'll likely have a chance to indulge.
7-Dining options you'll find on board
The dining options below are available on most of the mainstream cruise lines. So check to see which of these are included on the cruise you're considering:
- Sit-down meals served by wait staff in the main dining room
- Buffet
- Formal dining, often on one night of the cruise on many ships (but you have the option to skip it)
- 24-hour dining venue (available on some ships)
- Room service (note that some ships charge a fee for delivery after midnight)