For decades, cruisers have casually grabbed cookies, pizza, coffee or dessert from the buffet and taken it back to their cabin, the pool deck or their balcony.
One cruise line says that may now cost you. 😬
Cruise lines have long been known for their buffets. They’re an easy way to feed hundreds (or thousands) of people at once, and even the pickiest eater can usually find something they’ll eat.
And part of the whole buffet vibe on cruises has always been that it’s basically all-you-can-eat. Want to grab a cookie for later? Bring dessert back to your cabin? Take a slice of pizza to the pool deck? Cruise lines have generally never cared all that much.
Until now, apparently.
Costa Cruises has reportedly started warning passengers that they could be charged a €60 fee — about US$70 — if they take food from the buffet or restaurants and eat it somewhere else on the ship.
Crew Center was the first to report the news. Costa — which is owned by Carnival Corporation — recently told guests that food from the buffet and restaurants must only be eaten in designated dining areas. So if you grab a plate and head back to your cabin, the pool deck, a lounge, or somewhere else on the ship, you could get hit with the charge.
The exact wording:
“All food must be consumed exclusively in designated dining areas.”
So if you wanted to enjoy coffee and a muffin on your balcony in the morning? Nope.
Take a burger back to your cabin after a shore excursion? Not anymore.
Grab pizza and eat by the pool? Apparently that’s a no-go too.
Heck, if you want fries while hanging out in a lounge, Costa says forget it.
Costa says the policy is about health and hygiene. According to the cruise line, restricting where food can be eaten helps reduce contamination, keeps ships cleaner, and lowers the chances of pests and parasites showing up onboard.
“On a limited number of specific sailings, onboard communication was shared as a preventive and deterrent measure, in line with our existing policies, to encourage guests to [have] responsible behavior,” a Costa Cruises spokesperson told a local news outlet.
“Costa Cruises remains committed to ensuring a high-quality, safe and enjoyable experience for all guests on board.”
Why Now?
Costa hasn’t really explained what specifically prompted the crackdown. But cruise ships are heavily inspected, and outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses are publicly reported. Plus, leftover food sitting around the ship can become a problem really quickly.
Food left in hallways, lounges, pool areas, stairwells, elevators — I could never understand that one — or cabins can attract pests, create smells, leak onto carpets, and generally make a mess.
And let’s be honest: we’ve all seen those room service trays sitting in cruise ship hallways for WAY too long.
There’s also the issue of food safety. Most cruise cabins don’t have real refrigerators; they usually have coolers that don’t get cold enough to safely store perishable food for very long. So if someone grabs buffet food, leaves it sitting around for hours and then eats it later…well, that’s probably not ideal either. It’s also a good reason to ALWAYS bring Pepto with you on a cruise.
Meanwhile, cleaning up abandoned plates and utensils creates extra work for crew members, especially in places where food technically wasn’t supposed to be eaten in the first place.
Cruisers’ Response
Needless to say, cruisers have had opinions about the new policy — and a lot of them aren’t thrilled.
Some pointed out that buffets can get crowded, and if there’s nowhere to sit, taking food elsewhere is sometimes the only practical option.
Others mentioned medical conditions such as diabetes, where having snacks or carbohydrate-rich food available in the cabin can be important in case of hypoglycemia.
And while Costa reportedly suggested using room service instead, that solution comes with its own issues. On many ships, unless you’re staying in certain premium cabins or suites, room service costs extra. So, according to critics of the policy, passengers are being told they now have to pay to enjoy coffee and a pastry on their balcony.
Meanwhile, plenty of people pointed out the irony that room service trays often wind up sitting in hallways anyway, which still creates cleanliness and pest-control concerns.
That said, not everybody hates the idea.
Some cruisers applauded the policy, saying they’re tired of seeing random abandoned plates and half-eaten food all over ships. Others said they liked the idea of stricter cleanliness standards and fewer mystery dishes sitting around public areas.
At the end of the day, Costa Cruises is probably betting that most passengers will adapt pretty quickly.
But considering how common it is for cruisers to grab a snack for the pool deck, bring dessert back to their cabin, or enjoy breakfast on their balcony, this definitely feels like one of those policies people are either going to love…or absolutely hate. 😬
At the very least, this might finally put an end to those random abandoned plates of half-eaten nachos sitting in cruise ship hallways for six hours.
On the other hand, charging people $70 because they wanted to eat a muffin on their balcony may be a tad aggressive. 😏
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