Royal Caribbean’s New Rules: What Returning Cruisers Should Know

Travelers returning to Royal Caribbean after a few years away will find a cruise experience that feels familiar but runs under a notably updated rulebook, touching everything from room service charges to loyalty perks and where guests can light a cigarette.

Room Service Is No Longer a Simple Free Perk

One of the clearest changes for returning Royal Caribbean guests is how in-cabin dining is handled. Publicly available information on the line’s website shows that room service is now framed as a 24/7 convenience product, with most orders subject to a fixed delivery fee per order rather than being treated as a broadly complimentary extra. Continental breakfast options may be priced differently from daytime and evening orders, but the core message is that late-night snacking to the cabin is no longer a cost-free habit on many sailings.

The shift reflects a broader industry trend toward recouping the labor and logistics costs of round-the-clock in-room dining. Cruise reviews and recent coverage of individual ships describe a model in which guests can still order familiar items such as burgers, sandwiches and salads, but will see a service charge added to the bill once the tray arrives. Some reports also note an automatic gratuity component applied to these orders, which effectively raises the total cost beyond the headline delivery fee.

Suite guests may find a somewhat different landscape. Published guides for select ships indicate that passengers in higher suite categories often retain more generous in-room dining privileges, including expanded menus or waived fees for certain meals. For most standard cabins, however, room service has shifted from an included indulgence to a convenience that needs to be budgeted for in advance.

For travelers used to ordering coffee and breakfast to the balcony every morning or relying on late-night snacks after the shows, this policy change is likely to be one of the first practical differences they notice when they return to the brand.

Main Dining Room Menus and Service Have Been Streamlined

Royal Caribbean’s main dining room has also evolved since the late 2010s and early 2020s. Coverage by cruise-focused outlets and fan resources documents a major menu overhaul introduced in 2023 and now standard across the fleet. The new structure emphasizes fixed nightly themes, such as Italian, French or Caribbean nights, with fewer total menu items offered each evening than in the past.

The company has publicly presented these changes as a way to improve consistency and speed of service, with a tighter menu allowing galleys to focus on producing dishes at more predictable quality and temperature. Reports from recent sailings in 2024 and 2025 suggest that this streamlined approach is now firmly in place, and many repeat guests comment on faster pacing at dinner, even if some miss the longer, more eclectic menus of earlier years.

Another quiet change that returning cruisers may notice is the upsell of premium items within the main dining room. Current reviews of specific ships point to the continued presence of complimentary entrees alongside a small selection of higher-grade steaks or seafood offered at an additional charge. This hybrid model, blending included choices with optional paid upgrades, is now deeply embedded in the dinner experience.

The reservation structure has also settled into a more standardized pattern. Most ships continue to offer early and late traditional seatings alongside a flexible “My Time Dining” option, which functions more like a shoreside restaurant with suggested reservation slots. Guests returning after several years of sailing on other lines may find the system more app-driven and time-specific than they remember, as dinner times and menus can now be reviewed and adjusted in the line’s app ahead of each evening.

Smoking Rules Tighten Around Casinos and Public Spaces

Smoking policies across Royal Caribbean ships have been refined, especially in and around onboard casinos and indoor venues. The line’s latest guest conduct and smoking policy materials describe the fleet as effectively non-smoking indoors, with designated outdoor smoking zones on specific open decks and, on some ships, in cigar bars. Smoking in staterooms and on private balconies is prohibited and can incur cleaning fees for violations, a rule that has been tightened and more prominently communicated in recent years.

Within Casino Royale, the policy has become more complex and itinerary-dependent. Official guidance states that smoking is permitted only in designated casino areas and that some sailings now operate smoke-free casinos, particularly on ships homeported in markets where public sentiment or local regulations favor smoke-free environments. On other itineraries, the casino may still allow smoking during specific hours or in cordoned sections, while non-smoking guests are directed to separate gaming zones.

The definition of smoking now explicitly includes electronic cigarettes and vaping devices in addition to traditional cigarettes, cigars and pipes. That clarification, highlighted in the latest conduct documents, matters for guests who previously assumed that vaping might be treated differently from combustible tobacco. Under the current rules, vaping is generally restricted to the same designated areas, and using devices outside these zones can be treated as a policy violation.

For returning guests accustomed to more permissive casino smoking or balcony smoking on older ships, the shift toward tighter controls and clearer penalties represents a significant behavioral adjustment, one that can influence cabin choice and evening routines.

Loyalty Benefits Extend Across Brands Through Points Choice

Royal Caribbean’s loyalty landscape is also changing in ways that may surprise guests who last sailed with the brand before the mid-2020s. The long-standing Crown & Anchor Society still grants status based on cruise nights and spending with Royal Caribbean International, but the parent company has introduced new cross-brand features that reshape how points work for multi-line travelers.

In January 2026, Royal Caribbean Group announced a program called Points Choice, which allows guests to earn points when sailing on any of its three major brands and then apply those points to the loyalty program of their choice. Public reporting on the initiative explains that a cruise taken on Celebrity Cruises or Silversea can now be directed to support a traveler’s status with Royal Caribbean or vice versa, offering more flexibility to guests who move between brands.

This change builds on an earlier “status match” initiative launched in 2024, which recognized equivalent loyalty tiers across the group. While the day-to-day onboard benefits for a Crown & Anchor member may look familiar to returning Royal Caribbean guests, the underlying structure has become more interconnected, with a single cruise portfolio now able to accelerate progress across multiple lines.

For travelers who were once firmly “loyal to Royal” but have recently experimented with Celebrity or Silversea, this new framework can make it easier to come back without feeling as if previous voyages on sister brands were loyalty dead ends. At the same time, it signals the company’s strategy of keeping high-value guests within the wider Royal Caribbean Group ecosystem, regardless of which logo appears on the funnel.

Digital Planning and Included-Extras Messaging Have Been Reworked

Beyond specific policy changes, returning guests will notice a more digital and more segmented approach to what is included in the cruise fare. Royal Caribbean’s most recent “what’s included” materials, along with ship-specific brochures for new vessels entering service in 2025 and 2026, present dining, entertainment and activities in distinct tiers, separating standard offerings from paid add-ons with clearer labeling.

Meals in the main dining room, buffet and select casual venues remain promoted as included in the base fare, but room service, certain late-night food options, specialty restaurants and premium experiences are now highlighted as chargeable. This more explicit framing is intended to help guests understand where additional spending is likely, yet it can come as a surprise to cruisers who remember a less segmented onboard economy a decade ago.

The Royal Caribbean app has become central to that experience. Travelers are encouraged to use it to reserve dining times, check daily menus, manage show reservations, monitor onboard accounts and even see which extras carry fees. Cruise discussions and recent reviews indicate that guests who last cruised with the brand before the pandemic era may face an initial learning curve, as more of the planning is now expected to happen on a phone rather than at the guest services desk.

Taken together, these updates mean that returning Royal Caribbean guests in 2025 and 2026 will encounter a product that still emphasizes big ships, high-energy entertainment and varied dining, but within a more structured, fee-conscious and app-driven framework than in previous years.