Key Aspects:
- One Carnival guest feels that being required to pre-pay for specialty dining is an inflexible, money grab practice that needs to end.
- While the issue was opened for an online vote, there is not much support for the idea of free reservations and charging only after the meal.
- Different cruise lines have different policies to curb the practice of making reservations than not showing up, including no-show and late cancellation fees.
It can be a treat to indulge in one (or more!) specialty dining reservations while on a cruise, but some less-than-friendly practices have made cruise lines reconsider how they charge for these exclusive venues.
Pricing policies have varied from full charges up front to a reservation that is only charged after the meal, with each cruise line taking steps to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity to try out different tastes.
One Carnival cruise guest, however, has taken issue with the pre-pay policy. They reached out to John Heald, Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, to express their outrage.
“Making us pre-pay for dinner at the steak restaurant is nothing but the money grab. it shows you do not trust your customers,” the guest claimed. “You need to stop this policy. There needs to be flexibility.”
To be fair, fine dining restaurants, including steakhouses, on land do not charge for reservations. Costs are only applied after a customer’s meal and vary widely depending on what is ordered, as different drinks and dishes have different prices.
Onboard Carnival ships, however, specialty restaurants are “prix fixe” (French for “fixed price”) with a flat rate charge regardless of what guests order. For Carnival’s signature Fahrenheit 555 steakhouse, that price is currently $52 per adult and $15 per child.
While Heald did not respond to the guest directly, he included their outrage on his daily poll, leaving it up to his more than 642,000 Facebook followers to vote and share their thoughts on the pricing.
The original guest is not receiving a great deal of support, as fewer than 400 votes agree with their assertion that the pre-pay pricing is a money grab that needs to stop.
In contrast, more than 5,750 voters understand the policy and the need for pre-payment.
By pre-paying, not only do guests guarantee their specialty restaurant reservation, but the cruise line is assured of payment even if guests do not show up for the mealtime they reserved.
Read Also: Are Carnival Cruises All-Inclusive?
If guests are unable to make their reservation because their plans or preferences change, they can speak with the restaurant manager to make adjustments or cancel if necessary.
Guest reactions to the pre-pay policy are generally positive, noting that it forces travelers to be accountable to the plans they’ve made.
Will Carnival Implement Cancellation Fees?
At the moment, Carnival Cruise Line has no clear policy on whether or not fees are charged for changing or cancelling one’s specialty dining reservation. Because the specialty restaurants are pre-pay, it stands to reason that guests who simply no-show for a reservation would forfeit that fee without any refund.
In recent weeks, both of Carnival’s major competitors, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line, have implemented no-show or cancellation fees.
On Royal Caribbean ships, no-show fees are intended to “preserve these limited seats for clients eager to experience our exclusive, limited-capacity dining options,” according to the cruise line.
This is meant to help end the less-than-polite practice of guests making multiple reservations at different restaurants for the same night.
Some guests have been snagging highly desirable times and days for the dining experiences, then simply cherry picking which ones they want at the time of their cruise and letting the rest lapse.
The fee helps the cruise line recoup some of that lost revenue and is an attempt to discourage this “restaurant hogging” behavior.
Norwegian Cruise Line also recently implemented a $10 per person no-show fee for specialty dining reservations. While this is a minimal amount, it is at least a step toward curbing unused reservations.
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If Norwegian Cruise Line guests are able to cancel or modify their reservation more than two hours before its specified time, there is no fee. Presumably, an onboard wait list would likely be able to fill that reservation with enough advance notice of a cancellation.
