What is meant by "Specialty Restaurant cover charge applies"?

[TopofWorld]

Hi ev1. Apologies if this is a truly stupid question, but I was looking at specialty dining and something confused me. For all restaurants it says "Specialty Restaurant cover charge applies". Does this refer to the 45USD pp fixed charge or there is a cover charge over and above the 45USD. Sometime ago, for one of the restaurants the app stated there was a 145USD cover charge and then the 45USD pp, but now this has been removed and all it says for all restathere is a cover charge. Where I live, a restaurant cover charge refers to a really small charge just to sit down (like 2-3USD pp), get some bread, and dips and water to get started, and then you get the menu to order. Again, sorry if there is a simple answer, but my OCD got the best of me. Take care all.

[Astro Flyer]

19 minutes ago, TopofWorld said:

Hi ev1. Apologies if this is a truly stupid question, but I was looking at specialty dining and something confused me. For all restaurants it says "Specialty Restaurant cover charge applies". Does this refer to the 45USD pp fixed charge or there is a cover charge over and above the 45USD. Sometime ago, for one of the restaurants the app stated there was a 145USD cover charge and then the 45USD pp, but now this has been removed and all it says for all restathere is a cover charge. Where I live, a restaurant cover charge refers to a really small charge just to sit down (like 2-3USD pp), get some bread, and dips and water to get started, and then you get the menu to order. Again, sorry if there is a simple answer, but my OCD got the best of me. Take care all.

The specialty dining cover charge is the cost for the meal & there might be an 18% tip now added to that cover charge…which ship?
 

[TopofWorld]

The ship is Sun Princess. So the cover charge is the 45USD pp charge plus 18% tip. Am I correct to assume that the same logic with other cruise lines applies for specialty dining? 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert?

Thank you for your time.

[JimmyVWine]

11 minutes ago, TopofWorld said:

Am I correct to assume that the same logic with other cruise lines applies for specialty dining? 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert?

Sort of.  On Sun Princess, there are a number of Specialty Dining options and frankly, few of them follow the 1/1/1 model.  For example, at Crown Grill, you could get a salad, and then a soup, and then a main, and then a dessert all within the cover charge.  At Sabatini's, you can likewise get several courses before your main, but once you get to the main, it then follows the 1 main, 1 dessert model.  At Butcher's Block, the menu is pre-set, and you get 6 different courses of meat, in differing portion sizes before you get to your one dessert.  At Umai, neither the Teppanyaki nor the Hot Pot options really follow the 1/1/1 model.  So the bottom line is that you will never get LESS than 1/1/1, but at many of the restaurants, you will actually get much more than 1/1/1.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Not sure about the 18% added or whether it is included... to many conflicting reports here to be certain. I am just going to wait until the cruise to find out (April).

[wallyj]

58 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

Not sure about the 18% added or whether it is included... to many conflicting reports here to be certain. I am just going to wait until the cruise to find out (April).

I believe Princess as of December 1, 2023 instituted the cover charge for specialty dining would not include the service charge and 18% will now be added to your bill.
 

If you are dining on a voucher/premier pkg, then no charges will be billed, unless you ordered additional mains, etc.

[memoak]

22 minutes ago, wallyj said:

I believe Princess as of December 1, 2023 instituted the cover charge for specialty dining would not include the service charge and 18% will now be added to your bill.
 

If you are dining on a voucher/premier pkg, then no charges will be billed, unless you ordered additional mains, etc.

It seems to be different on some ships. We are in the Crown Grill on the Crown in February and were not charged the 18% just the $39 per person. We sail next month on the Ruby and we will see what happens 

[t&atravel]

2 hours ago, TopofWorld said:

The ship is Sun Princess. So the cover charge is the 45USD pp charge plus 18% tip. Am I correct to assume that the same logic with other cruise lines applies for specialty dining? 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert?

Thank you for your time.

It’s possible that you may be conflating two different dining with cover charges.  There is “casual” dining that incurs a $14.99 cover for a 3 course meal and “speciality” dining that has a higher cost but not necessarily limited in the course selection.  The chart attached may help.  The plus fare package includes 2 free casual meals and the premier fare is unlimited casual and 2 free specialty meals.

 

dining-options 2.pdf

[TopofWorld]

Thank you all for your help and time. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

4 hours ago, TopofWorld said:

The ship is Sun Princess. So the cover charge is the 45USD pp charge plus 18% tip. Am I correct to assume that the same logic with other cruise lines applies for specialty dining? 1 appetizer, 1 entree and 1 dessert?

Thank you for your time.

The restaurants vary as said.  Anything from an all you can eat or a Chefs Table that could be $95 or more to a sushi bar where things are a la carte.

The 18-20% gratuity added is pretty much the norm today.

To literaanswer your question a "cover charge" pays for your meal or cover.