What does the Royal Caribbean fare actually include?
Your stateroom, Broadway-style shows, main dining, Adventure Ocean kids' club, pools, and most onboard activities. Gratuities, drinks, Wi-Fi, and specialty restaurants are all separate charges.
What should two people budget beyond the fare on a 7-night cruise?
It depends how you drink. À la carte: gratuities, Wi-Fi, drinks as you go, and modest specialty dining typically land around $400–$600 per person — a rough range, not one fixed total. Package-heavy (pre-cruise): the cost table later in this guide adds port fees, the Deluxe Beverage Package at the fleet median ($75/day plus 18% for two), gratuities ($259), Wi-Fi (~$280), and two specialty dinners to ≈ $2,230–$2,330 for two before the fare. Your real number sits between those examples, or outside them, depending on how much you drink, whether you buy Wi-Fi, and how often you book specialty venues.
Why do those two totals look so different?
They're different scenarios. The lower figure assumes you pay for drinks individually. The higher figure is a full pre-cruise package example for two — not a minimum, and not what every guest spends. Same line, different habits.
Is the Deluxe Beverage Package automatically worth buying?
No — it's not part of the fare. At a fleet median around $75 per person per day plus 18% (about $88.50 all-in), it adds a lot to your total, and both adults in a stateroom generally have to buy it. It pays off only for steady daily drinkers. The companion guide owns the break-even math, port-heavy logic, and stateroom rules.
Who should think twice about Royal Caribbean's pricing?
Light drinkers, port-heavy itineraries, and anyone drawn in by a low headline fare without budgeting add-ons. Families leaning on included kids' club and shows may spend less; couples wanting quiet evenings should look past Icon-class mega-ships — Radiance-class sailings are a different product. Run your own sailing before you book rather than trusting a headline fare.
Take the fare you've found, add your nights and guests, and the calculator works out what the sailing ends up costing once gratuities, drinks, Wi-Fi and dining are on the bill. Royal Caribbean is already selected.
Price this for my Royal Caribbean sailing →Royal Caribbean builds the largest cruise ships in the world and fills them with more to do than anyone gets through in a week. Their base fares often run higher than mass-market competitors like Carnival or Norwegian, and that gap is real, but the ships are more ambitiously designed, with a broader range of included activities than any direct rival. Royal Caribbean is also very good at selling you extras once you're aboard.
Royal Caribbean's newest ships are built primarily for families and groups who want a high-energy vacation with plenty going on. If you're a couple looking for quiet evenings and space to breathe, the calculation is different, and the right ship for you probably isn't Icon of the Seas.
Common questions
How much are gratuities on Royal Caribbean — and do suites pay more?
$18.50 per person, per night in standard staterooms and $21 in any suite, added to your onboard account daily and charged for every guest including children. Star Class suites are the exception — gratuities are built into the suite. It's separate from the 18% already added to bar drinks and specialty dining. Prepaying locks the rate before any increase. Full gratuities breakdown →
What does the Deluxe Beverage Package actually cover — and what's excluded?
Cocktails, beer, wine by the glass, premium coffees, bottled water, and most bar drinks up to a $14 per-drink cap — plus CocoCay. Licensed Starbucks, souvenir glassware, and drinks above the cap are extra. Both adults in a stateroom generally must buy the same package. Break-even is roughly five-plus drinks a day at fleet-median pricing. See the full break-even →
How much is Wi-Fi on Royal Caribbean — and can one plan cover a couple?
VOOM Surf + Stream runs about $20 per device, per day bought pre-cruise — around $39 if you wait and buy aboard. It's priced per device: a plan can cover up to four, but each one adds to the price, so two of you online at once costs more than one. Sky and Star Class suites include it already. It works at Perfect Day at CocoCay too. Wi-Fi plans and how to save →
What your fare already covers
More than most mainstream lines include — and seven things it doesn't.
Royal Caribbean's fare isn't stripped back. Main dining rooms, the buffet and several casual venues are included for every guest at every meal. So are the theater shows, the pools, the kids' clubs, the sports decks and the ice rink. On the newest ships — Icon of the Seas, Star of the Seas and the Oasis class, carrying between 5,600 and 7,600 guests — that list runs long, and it's why a Royal fare often looks expensive next to a smaller line's.
The entertainment is the clearest example. Royal Caribbean is one of the few lines staging full Broadway musicals at sea, and they're included in the fare: Hairspray on Symphony of the Seas, Mamma Mia! on Allure of the Seas, and Back to the Future: The Musical on Star of the Seas. AquaTheater high-dive shows, ice skating productions and main theater performances are included across the fleet.
Seven things aren't in the fare, and they all land on your SeaPass account:
- Drinks beyond what the dining room offers, including alcohol, soda and specialty coffee
- Internet
- The daily gratuity
- Specialty restaurants
- The waterpark at Perfect Day at CocoCay
- The spa, which adds a 20% gratuity automatically
- Room service beyond the continental breakfast
The rest of this guide prices each one.
Dining: what the fare covers and what it doesn't
The main dining room
The main dining room is included in your cruise fare. You choose your table time when completing your booking: traditional dining (assigned early seating around 5:30 pm or late seating around 8:00 pm, same table and waiter each night) or My Time Dining (flexible, roughly 6:00–9:30 pm, reservations strongly recommended and bookable in advance via the app). Same menu either way. Show schedules are timed around the traditional seatings — worth knowing when planning your evenings. Switching formats once onboard is allowed once per cruise if space permits.
Kids' club
Adventure Ocean, Royal Caribbean's youth program for ages 3–17, is included in the fare and runs daily. For families with children in that age range it's one of the most significant included amenities on the ship — and easy to overlook when you're comparing fares.
Specialty restaurants
Cover charges of $45–$70 per person for dinner at standard venues — Chops Grille, Wonderland, Giovanni's Italian Kitchen, Hooked Seafood, and Izumi Sushi (premium experiences run $110–$200). Where you land in that range depends mostly on when you book rather than which restaurant you pick: the same venue costs less if you reserve before you sail and more once you are onboard. An 18% gratuity is automatically added on top. Specialty lunch at the same venues runs $25–$35 per person and is notably better value — it's also a useful way to sidestep the Windjammer buffet crowds on embarkation day.
Book pre-cruise through the app or My Royal Cruise website. Desirable time slots go early and onboard prices are higher. One piece of fine print: a no-show fee (up to $50 per person) applies at the specialty restaurants if you don't cancel at least 24 hours ahead — so cancel rather than skip.
What costs extra on the ship
- Room service: Continental breakfast is complimentary via the door-hanger card. A hot cooked breakfast carries a $7.95 service fee plus 18% gratuity, so about $9.38 in fees before anything you actually ordered. Every other room service order carries the same charges.
- Licensed Starbucks outlets: standard retail prices apply — excluded from all beverage packages, including the Deluxe.
- Spa and salon: A 20% gratuity is added automatically at point of sale. Not optional.
- Photos: Photographers are active throughout — embarkation, dinner, pool deck, ports. Pre-purchasing a photo package is cheaper than buying individual prints at the end of the week. Decline at each session if you don't want any.
Buy this before you board
Three things cost more if you wait until embarkation day.
Wi-Fi is the clearest. It runs about $20 per device, per day bought pre-cruise, and around $39 a day if you wait and buy aboard — close to double for the same connection.
The Deluxe Beverage Package and specialty dining both behave the same way. The pre-cruise price is the lower one, and where you land in the published range depends more on when you book than on what you choose.
One rule applies regardless of which Royal Caribbean ship you're on: book extras before you leave home. Specialty dining, Broadway shows, shore excursions, spa appointments, FlowRider time slots, and My Time Dining reservations are all available pre-cruise through the Royal Caribbean app and the My Royal Cruise website. On the newer ships, popular restaurants and shows fill before the ship leaves port. Loyalty members with Crown & Anchor Diamond status and above get earlier access to booking windows — if this is your first Royal Caribbean sailing, act as soon as your booking window opens.
If you already know you want any of the three, booking ahead is the cheapest decision on this page.
Packages, gratuities, and Wi-Fi
The three add-ons that move your total the most are the Deluxe Beverage Package, daily gratuities, and Wi-Fi. Together they add about $820–$890 per person on a 7-night sailing, before any specialty dining.
Gratuities are $18.50 per person, per night in standard staterooms, charged for every guest including children — see how the daily gratuity works across the industry if the whole idea is new to you. The Deluxe Beverage Package runs $49–$90 per person, per day plus 18% (fleet median about $75), and pays off for steady daily drinkers — rarely below that. Wi-Fi is about $20 per device, per day pre-cruise. Each add-on has its own terms, break-even math, and ways to pay less; the companion guide below covers all three in full.
The islands: what's free and what costs $37 to $159
Perfect Day at CocoCay is Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas, included as a stop on most Caribbean sailings from the East Coast.
If you've purchased the Deluxe or Refreshment Beverage Package, it works fully on the island — every bar, including the swim-up bar at Oasis Lagoon. Your Wi-Fi package extends there too.
The island visit is included in the fare. Free: all beaches, Splashaway Bay kids' water park, Oasis Lagoon freshwater pool, beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, tram service, and the Chill Grill buffet. Charged separately: Thrill Waterpark ($37–$159 per person full-day pass, averaging around $75), zip line, Up Up & Away helium balloon, Coco Beach Club, Hideaway Beach (adults-only), and cabanas. Book the Thrill Waterpark pre-cruise — peak-season pricing approaches $159 per person and it sells out.
For comparison: Carnival's CHEERS! package does not cover beverages at any of Carnival's private destinations — Half Moon Cay, Celebration Key, or Princess Cays. Every drink is a separate purchase. For a couple with two or three drinks each on a warm afternoon, that's $50–$75 in extra costs that Royal Caribbean guests with a package won't face.
Royal Beach Club Nassau
Opened December 2025.
You board a dedicated water taxi from the Nassau cruise port — the ride is included in the pass price — and arrive at a 17-acre beach club on Paradise Island. Unlike CocoCay, access is not included in the fare. It's a purchased day pass, capacity is capped at 4,000 guests, and it sells out. Book in advance.
Day pass pricing as of May 2026: open bar, dining, and Wi-Fi (21+) from $169.99 per person; non-alcoholic drinks, dining, and Wi-Fi (13+) from $129.99; children 4–12 from $109.99; under 3 complimentary. If you hold a Deluxe Beverage Package, a bundle rate starts at $140 per person instead of $169.99 — check this before booking the standard day pass at full price.
Newer ships price at the top of every range
Icon and Star of the Seas cost the most. The older classes carry most of the same activities for less.
Icon and Star of the Seas carry the newest hardware and the highest prices — the drinks package, the stateroom and the fare all sit at the top of their ranges. What you get for it is the neighborhood design, the included waterpark on Icon class, Crown's Edge, the AquaDome and the newest Broadway productions.
Freedom and Voyager class ships, built 1999–2008, carry most of the same included activities at substantially lower fares. The trade-off is an older stateroom aesthetic and fewer restaurant options. Radiance class is the choice for scenic sailings — Alaska, Europe, repositioning — where the destination is the point: smaller, quieter, and able to dock at ports the mega-ships can't enter.
What a 7-night sailing actually costs: the full picture
A realistic 7-night Caribbean sailing, two guests, standard balcony stateroom — package-heavy scenario with main add-ons bought pre-cruise:
| Item | How it's calculated | Approximate cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cruise fare | Varies by sailing | Use the calculator |
| Port fees & taxes | $175–$195 per person — added at checkout | $350–$390 |
| Gratuities (US/UK) | $18.50 × 7 nights × 2 guests | $259 |
| Deluxe Beverage Package | $75/day × 7 × 2, plus 18% service charge | ~$1,239 |
| Wi-Fi (VOOM Surf + Stream) | ~$20/day per device, pre-cruise | ~$280 |
| Two specialty dinners | $45–$70 per person plus 18% gratuity | $106–$165 per couple |
| CocoCay Thrill Waterpark | Pre-booked, if applicable | $37–$159 per person (average ~$75; peak prices at the top) |
| Everything except the fare | Adds up the rows above, minus the optional waterpark | ≈ $2,230–$2,330 for two |
Skip the drinks package, drink selectively, and eat in the main dining room most nights — the total drops significantly. The fare gets you on the ship; the table above is what a week costs if you say yes to most of what's offered.
When Royal Caribbean makes sense, and when it doesn't
It earns its fare if you'll use the ship, and reads as poor value if you won't.
It makes sense if you want the ship to be the vacation. Royal's newest hardware carries a lot of included entertainment, and a family that uses the pools, the shows, the sports decks and the kids' clubs gets more out of the fare than they would on a smaller ship.
It makes less sense for a light drinker who wants a quiet week. The Deluxe package only pays off for steady daily drinking, the waterpark is a separate ticket, and the $18.50 daily gratuity is the same whether you use the ship hard or barely leave your stateroom. On that trip you're paying for capacity you won't touch.
The verdict
Royal Caribbean's fare buys more than most mainstream fares do, and its extras cost more too.
Both are true at once, which is why the line reads as expensive to some guests and good value to others.
The number that matters isn't the fare. On a 7-night Caribbean sailing for two in a standard balcony stateroom, everything beyond the fare comes to roughly $2,230 to $2,330 if you say yes to most of what's offered. The three big add-ons — gratuities, drinks and Wi-Fi — account for about $820 to $890 per person on their own.
Decline the drinks package, eat in the main dining room most nights and skip the waterpark, and that figure drops by more than half. Neither version is the wrong vacation. What goes wrong is committing to the fare before you know which one you're booking.