Charging for Steak in the Dining Room?

If you're a subscriber to Cruise Critic, you've probably at least heard mention this past week about a new charge Royal Caribbean is testing onboard its Freedom of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas for "organic Chops steak" in its main restaurants. No, not the specialty restaurants; the main restaurant. This is the first experiment of this kind for premium charges in the main restaurant, and is causing a flurry of posts.

The line defends the move, stating they are testing whether people would prefer to pay extra for a premium, organic product, without leaving the regular dining room. The steak in question is a 10-ounce New York strip steak for $14.95. This is an additional offering on the menu, not replacing a current menu item, and the 7-ounce Sirloin remain on the complimentary menu during this test. They say it's a premium steak, and are emphasizing the fact that it's organic.

Thought it was time to put in my $.02 on this. I think it's a huge mistake. While I understand the cruise lines' desire to enhance revenue, this is the beginning of a very slippery slope toward more charges in the "free" dining. I encourage all my clients to resist this trend.

If you're booked on these ships, do NOT order this steak, and make sure you tell the line on your end-of-cruise survey that you don't like the concept, even if you're sailing on a Royal Caribbean ship which doesn't offer this test program. I do still strongly encourage you to make use of the premium restaurants for a higher-end experience, and have no problem with the charge for those. When you consider that Chops Grille onboard only charges $25 for the entire meal, the $14.95 for just one steak just isn't a good deal, especially when you know that, instead of being truly cooked to order, it will be part of the production line of the regular kitchen.

I don't see any way that it is costing $14.95 above and beyond their regular costs for Royal Caribbean to procure and prepare an "organic" steak, and saying this is the way for them to test the demand for more organic products onboard is misleading. I hope you will join me in discouraging this practice of a surcharge in their main restaurants, and instead encourage Royal Caribbean to find other avenues for those wishing to have organic food onboard.