With nearly 150 cruises under our belts, we know a thing or two about cruise line included offerings! Sometimes, it still catches me off guard when a client asks, “What’s included in my cruise fare?” That’s why I’m putting together this article. I’ll cover what’s generally included and provide tips and tricks on how to maximize your cruise fare.

If you haven’t already checked out our First Time Cruiser series, it’s a great primer to get started.
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Room Inclusions

First, and most importantly, your stateroom cabin. This is the place where you’ll fall asleep from the gentle rocking of the ship. You cabin is outfitted with:

• Comfortable bed that can typically be configured to either two twins or one king. Due to size of certain staterooms, they may not be able to be reconfigured; your travel agent can help you with those types of details
• Outlet(s) to charge your devices. Keep in mind, we always recommend packing an outlet splitter as older ships typically only have one main outlet for the room. Additionally, we’ve sailed in many cabins where multiple outlets don’t work
• TV with movies, live programming both on and off the ship, a navigation channel and usually at least one live camera view
• Closets with hanging rods, shelves, and some staterooms even have drawers to store your belongings
• Magnetic walls to hang your extra items on magnetic hooks for a quick grab when you head out of the cabin.

Stepping into your bathroom, you’ll find standard amenities:

• Hand soap, either of the liquid or bar variety
• Body wash
• Conditioning shampoo
• Toilet paper
• Tissue
• Bath towels, wash cloths, hand towels
• Storage. This one varies significantly based on the cruise line and cabin type you book! If you pack a lot of toiletries, we highly recommend consider investing in an inexpensive over-the-door storage organizer. We don’t cruise without the exact one linked!
• There’s usually a shelf or cubby in the bathroom to store your own toiletries, razors, etc. as well.

Note: Some cruise lines combine body wash, shampoo, and conditioner into one. If there’s a specific product you prefer to use, we always recommend bringing your own via these handy travel-safe containers.

Transportation to Exotic Ports of Call

When talking about how to maximize your cruise fare, most people forget that the cruise is your transport! Unlike staying at a hotel or an all-inclusive resort, when you go to sleep at night on a cruise ship, you wake up in a brand new port the next morning! It’s a fantastic way to tour the globe. There are so many places right there at your fingertips!

In many of the ports that we visit, we hop off the ship and set out on foot to explore the port. Cruisers are not required to book an excursion to have a good time in port, however, there are plenty of excursions to choose from. We always recommend reviewing your country’s guidelines Travel Advisories list to understand where it’s safe to visit.

If you’d like to explore excursions for your itinerary, we’ve got a full list of recommendations around the globe. We recommend both cruise line excursions and independent ones through Viator. Whoever you choose to book your excursions with, we always recommend finding excursions that provide a guaranteed return to ship.

Did you know that you can search our website for things to do in the ports you visit. Here’s one example for your next visit to San Juan!

How to Maximize Your Cruise Fare: Included Food

Let’s dive into the included food options for your cruise. There are several choices when it comes to included dining on your sailing. Depending on the cruise line you book you’ll find:

• Quick grab-and-go options (burgers, sandwiches, burritos, pizza)
• All-you-can-eat buffets that have everything from salads to lobster tail on some cruise lines
• Main dining rooms that serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner

Let’s break down what each of those are and how they work.

Quick Grab-and-Go Options

The quick, fast-casual grab-and-go options are typically the spots we enjoy the most for breakfast and lunch on our cruise. Sure, you won’t have the variety of the buffet, but the options here are typically made to order versus sitting out in serving trays. Many of the cruise lines offer a burger bar, Mexican food stand, pizza, deli sandwiches, and more. Some examples include:

• Carnival Cruise Lines: Guy’s Burger Joint, Pizzeria del Capitano, BlueIguana Cantina, Carnival Deli
• Royal Caribbean: Sorrento’s, Mini Bites, El Loco Fresh
• Norwegian Cruise Line: Observation Lounge, The Local/O’Sheehan’s, American Diner
• Margaritaville at Sea: Cheeseburger in Paradise, Mexican Cutie Cantina, Frank & Lola’s Pizzeria
• Celebrity Cruises: Spa Cafe, Mast Grill
• Princess Cruises: Trident Grill, Prego Pizzeria

Many ships will also offer soft serve or frozen yogurt onboard at no additional cost. Hours for all of these venues vary, so be sure to check your daily schedule.

One concerning trend we’re seeing post-COVID is cruise lines beginning to charge a fee for their fast-casual options. That is, unless you book their cruise add-on package. You’ll want to discuss this with your travel agent before you book to ensure you know what you’ll have access to on your booking.

Buffet

If you’d prefer a much larger selection of options, the cruise ship’s buffet is perfect for you. The cruise ship’s main buffet opens for breakfast (early and late risers), lunch, dinner, and sometimes late night.

Traditionally, the breakfast options will include omelet stations, yogurts, fresh fruits, pancakes, waffles, and more traditional breakfast offerings.

Shifting to lunch, you’ll usually find pastas, sandwiches, and a combination of several different ethnic food options like Indian, Chinese, Italian, and more.

At dinner, the buffet typically offers an expanded menu. In some cases, you’ll see duplication from the main dining room menus, or a theme night where the food options follow a specific theme (Latin night, Asian night, etc.). On Norwegian Cruise Line, we never miss the Asian themed night in the Garden Cafe Buffet as it’s our favorite option!

Late night typically includes greasy foods like pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, and desserts. While many cruise lines offer late night grab-and-go buffets, there are several that have late-night sit-down options for food as well. Your travel agent will be able to help you understand all of the various options.

Main Dining Room: Breakfast/Brunch and Lunch

Many cruise lines open up their main dining room(s) for other meals during your cruise. The dining room provides a more relaxed dining experience for cruisers looking for a sit-down, served experience.

Breakfast is usually served early in the morning, beginning around 7am. This sit-down option includes a variety of options from pastries, to fruit, to cereals (both hot and cold), and traditional options like pancakes, French toast, eggs many different ways, side potatoes, meats, and more! Traditional breakfast service may be offered every day, or just on port days, depending on your cruise line.

Some cruise lines offer a Brunch option on sea days with extended seating times going into the early afternoon. The Brunch menu has a larger variety of offerings with steak and eggs, pasta dishes, and more. If your cruise line/ship doesn’t offer brunch on sea days, you may instead find lunch in the main dining room. This menu usually reflects faster service options like burgers, pastas, salads, and soups. Occasionally, you’ll find some special dishes in there as well, so it may be worthwhile to check the menus ahead of time.

We always recommend checking your ship’s schedule of events to find out what options are available in the main dining room for breakfast/brunch/lunch on your sailing.

Cruise Tip: While Breakfast and Lunch are typically included in the Main Dining Room, some cruise lines charge an additional fee for Brunch. Be sure to check with the crew on board to avoid any surprises.

Main Dining Room: Dinner Seating Times

The Main Dining Room is typically the dining option cruisers are most familiar with. Some cruise lines require you to select your dining time preference at booking. The options typically include Early (seating between 5:00pm-6pm), Late (seating between 7:30pm-8:15pm), and anytime (as the name implies, seating whenever you wish to dine).

If you have assigned Early or Late dining, you’ll usually be seated with the same wait team each night so they’ll learn your names and dining preferences (drink orders, etc.). Your table will typically remain the same throughout the cruise – unless it’s a Disney Cruise where you rotate dining rooms.

The third option mentioned above (sometimes called Anytime, My Time, or Your Time) means that each night, you’ll either check in at the entrance to the restaurant, or you’ll use the app to check in. You’ll be given an update on how long the wait to be seated is. In some cases, you’ll receive a pager, but if you checked in via the app, you’ll receive an in-app notification once your table is ready.

With all of that said, there are several cruise lines that don’t require you to specify your dining time at all. You simply show up to the dining room when you’re ready to dine and the host/hostess will seat you if there’s capacity. If not, you may be given a pager and have a small wait to dine. This is the model that both Norwegian Cruise Line and Margaritaville at Sea follow for their dinner mealtimes.

Main Dining Room: Food Options

The main dining room for dinner is a traditional restaurant where you’ll be seated. You’ll order from a menu and the food will be delivered one course at a time. Most cruise lines feature comfort/classic items every night that remain the same all voyage. The menu will also have daily rotating appetizers, entrees, and desserts that are unique each night. Several cruise lines offer a fully unique menu each night of your cruise.

When ordering, it’s typical to order all courses at the same time rather than ordering between courses. The only exception to this is if the dessert menu is not provided at the time of ordering your dinner.

How to Maximize Your Cruise Fare: Included Drinks

Surely I’ve piqued your interest with INCLUDED DRINKS! Yes, there are inclusions on a cruise ship when it comes to beverages. It may not be what you’re expecting, so let’s break it down.

When you go to the buffet on a cruise ship, you’ll find several filling stations with cups nearby. You’ll have unlimited access to ice and water during your cruise. In most cases, you’ll also find drip coffee and hot water in the vicinity. There will usually be tea bags, hot cocoa, an assortment of sugars, and stirs available.

Quick rant: Please use a fresh cup each time when getting beverages. If you’re filling your own water bottle that you brought on the cruise, use a cup to fill versus placing it against the machine’s nozzle. This helps ensure the machines remain sanitary.

Throughout the day, you may notice a variety of juices, lemonades, and teas available in the buffet and across the ship. Cruise lines have partnered with different vendors for their machines. You might see brands like Vitality, Lara, Jucify, and others. Vitality is a basic machine that provides a simple push-button option to dispense juice of choice. Lara and Jucify are a little more advanced in that they feature a touch-screen to select the juice and you can fill you glass with one or more juices within on pour.

Breakfast hours will usually offer options like orange juice, apple juice, cranberry juice. Moving later in the day, you’ll usually see iced tea, lemonades, and some other fruit cocktail type of juice.

Cruise Tip: If you choose to eat in the main dining room, you’ll typically have the same beverage options to order from for the different meal service times, even though they may not be listed on the menu.

How to Maximize Your Cruise Fare: Included Entertainment

One of our favorite features of a cruise is the amount of entertainment that’s happening each day. Cruise ships have many different ways to keep you busy through the cruise from the sail away deck party, to trivia sessions during the day, and themed nights in the nightclub.

There’s also usually a variety of shows onboard where you can enjoy a comedian, solo performances, bands, and more! We love attending the main theater shows on a cruise ship where theatrics, aerialists, singers, and musicians come together to perform an awe-inspiring show.

Some of the cruise lines will allow you to reserve your admission to the shows ahead of the cruise through their app, while others open up reservations once onboard. Many of the cruise lines also offer fully included shows where there’s no reservations necessary – it’s just first-come-first-served.

Typically the main show lounge performances will repeat multiple times during your voyage to ensure maximum exposure to guests. And if you’re on a cruise ship that requires reservations for shows but you didn’t manage to capture one, you’ll find a standby line that forms approximately 30-60 minutes prior to showtime that will allow those guests to fill in the empty seats that are available in the auditorium.

If you’re still looking for ways on how to maximize your cruise fare, check out the activities onboard. We mentioned the trivia options, but there’s usually also movies playing on a big screen, miniature golf, pools, and hot tubs. Newer cruise ships are introducing more inclusions like multi-story dry slides, water slides, and more! Always check your cruise ship schedule to find out opening times for your sailing!

Wrapping Up

There you have it! You can now say that you’re going into your cruise fully prepared for what to expect. If you have any questions about the items covered in this article, drop them in the comments. We have traveled by cruise ship across many different brands and are excited to share our knowledge and experience with you! Hopefully this article helped you to better figure out how to maximize your cruise fare.

And if you’re still hungry for more, be sure to check out our First-Time Cruiser Series. While it’s labeled “first-time” we’ve heard from even experienced cruisers that they’ve learned new things from the series!