On a recent flight, my seatmate told me she was contemplating her first cruise but wanted to know, “Is room service really free?” That would be a selling point with her husband, she added.
I explained that yes, it’s often free. But the menu may not be quite what you’d expect.
While some cruise lines, including?Holland America, will prepare bacon and eggs for room service breakfast, on most ships your choice is strictly continental ? toast, cereal and coffee and not much more.
Whether you can get a hot breakfast or not may depend on your cabin. On?Celebrity, for instance, there’s a different room service menu for concierge-level and above.
When ordering breakfast, you typically fill out a card the night before with your selections and requested time and hang it on your door. For other meals, you pick up the phone.
While you can get a sandwich, salad or soup delivered to your cabin ? and Carnival has particularly yummy Caesar salads ? you may not be able to get a more filling main course.
Royal Caribbean?recently updated its room service menu to include healthy choices. You can skip the chili and chorizo dip and chips in favor of vegetable panini.
On luxury lines including?Seabourn, Regent Seven Seas and Silversea, free room service means you can order practically anything on the main dining room menu and have it delivered, course by course.
On?Crystal ships, if you’re in a fancy suite you can even order from the menu of the onboard Nobu restaurant. On Oceania Cruises, those in top suites can get en-suite delivery from any of the specialty restaurants.
Fancy small ship line SeaDream Yacht Club will deliver room service treats, including caviar anywhere even while you’re soaking in the hot tub or lounging on the Balinese day beds.
Room service is typically offered 24 hours per day. But on some ships a surcharge applies if you get a snack attack in the middle of the night. On?Norwegian Cruise Line?and Royal Caribbean ships there’s a late-night fee of $3.95 (between midnight and 5 a.m.).
On Norwegian, you also have the option of paying $5 anytime to have a whole stone-baked pizza delivered to your cabin or anywhere else you want on the ship, including to your deck chair.
To treat yourselves to a romantic breakfast overlooking the sea,?Princess Cruises?has an extravagant, 4-course champagne breakfast for two, served on your balcony that I’ve heard is worth the $32 price tag.
Be forewarned if you get into the habit of room service breakfast that it may not be available on disembarkation day (when the crew is busy getting the ship ready for the next load of passengers).
Be aware too that service is typically considered an extra. It’s appreciated if you give the waiter a tip — $1 to $3 should do it unless you have asked him or her to bring a particularly heavy load.