Cruise lines, especially Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) have a lot of added fees in addition to your base cruise fare. Some are mandatory. You have to pay your port fees and there's no getting out of taxes.
Other fees are not technically required but are generally expected. That's true of daily gratuities, which technically you can opt-out of, but it's sort of a pain (and kind of a jerky move.) A lot of other things on both cruise lines cost extra. Some are obvious like the internet, and alcoholic beverages, while others like having to pay extra for soda or certain coffee drinks surprise some newer cruisers.
Similarly, most people aren't shocked that certain restaurants come with extra fees but are surprised when a cupcake-making or wine-tasting class comes with an added fee.
It's a lot for people to deal with and it can become confusing as some higher-end onboard experiences like bumper cars, indoor skydiving, and water slides don't cost extra while escape rooms usually do. Arcades also come with a per-game fee while mini golf, pool, and ping pong are usually free.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival also both offer added-fee chat features in their apps. This allows groups, families, and anyone else who wants to stay connected onboard to chat with each other through the app, but at the moment, both cruise lines charge small fees to use it.
For Royal Caribbean passengers, that's about to change.
Image source: Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean Upgrades its Internet
Royal Caribbean recently decided to add Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink Internet to all of its ships. That has been happening slowly with passengers reporting much faster speeds and the ability to actually stream video.
Passengers, often families with kids, need a way to stay in touch while onboard, and buying each member of the family an internet package is a pricey way to do it. Some families opt for walkie-talkies, which don't work that well on a large ship, while others use whiteboards left on the outside of their cabins.
None of those solutions is ideal and the only one that works well -- buying an internet package for each person, costs around $20 per person, per night.
To give people an option Royal Caribbean and Carnival offer chat through their apps. Carnival's costs $5 per person, per trip, while Royal Caribbean charges $1.99 per person, per day to use its chat feature.
The cruise line's likely aren't looking to these modest fees as a revenue source, instead, the fee is meant to limit usage because ship internet only has limited bandwidth.
That soon may not be an issue for Royal Caribbean as Starlink gives it significant added capacity, which may mean an increase in text messages sent through the app won't be an added cost for the cruise line or impact internet service.
Royal Caribbean Dropping its Chat Charge
Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley told a group of travel agents sailing on Wonder of the Seas that the cruise line intended to make the chat feature free beginnig in 2023, the Royal Caribbean Blog first reported. That's roughly in line with the timetable for the cruise line to have Starlink installed across the fleet.
Offering free chat provides families with peace of mind in addition to making it easier for anyone onboard to communicate. Parents will be able to ask their kids where they are and people can make plans without having to physically try to find each other, something that's not always easy on Royal Caribbean's Oasis Class ships, which are the largest cruise ships in the world.
The chat feature requires being on the ship's WiFi and using the Royal Caribbean app (which does not require an internet package. The chat feature can be used for group or individual chats.
Guests on linked reservations will already be connected in the chat app (if they choose to pay for it, for now) and other guests can be added onboard.
