Costa Cruises is serving up a side of sticker shock alongside the shrimp cocktail.
Passengers aboard the Italian cruise line are fuming after learning they could get slapped with a roughly $70 cleaning fee just for hauling buffet food back to their cabins — because apparently enjoying a croissant on your balcony is now considered maritime misconduct.
The cruise company recently warned guests on select sailings that buffet grub must stay put in designated dining areas, according to cruise industry site Crew Center. The policy threatens a €60 fee for anyone caught ferrying plates, snacks or coffee back to their room — a move that instantly triggered a food fight online.
The cruise line says the crackdown is all about hygiene, sanitation and keeping the ships pleasant for everyone. A Costa Cruises spokesperson insisted “guest safety and well-being are our top priority” and said the notices were sent on only “a limited number of specific sailings” as a “preventive and deterrent measure” to encourage “responsible behavior.”
The company also stressed that only trained room service staff are authorized to transport food to cabins under onboard sanitation protocols. In other words, your late-night pizza run from the buffet now makes you a rogue food smuggler.
Costa Cruises — a Genoa-based brand owned by Carnival Corporation — sails across the Mediterranean, Caribbean and South America. But online commenters were far less interested in the scenery than the possibility of getting fined for carrying a muffin down the hallway, Fox News reported:
Some travelers actually applauded the rule, saying cruise ships already look like frat houses by the end of the night. “One thing I hate to see is plates [and] cups in the hallways by room doors,” one commenter wrote. “If you bring them there, [carry] them back or just eat in eating areas!”
Another passenger piled on: “I don’t blame [the cruise line] … if you’re gonna go get food from the buffet, bring the dirty plates back to the buffet. I mean try to have some class.”
Others, however, were ready to mutiny over the idea of getting billed for breakfast in bed. “Zero chance I’d pay that fine,” one cruiser fired back. “Make breakfast in bed for my wife every morning by bringing food back. Who cares where you eat the included food.”
Another passenger chimed in with what may become the official slogan of irritated vacationers everywhere: “Cruise lines have enough problems without having more charges.”
And perhaps the most relatable response of all came from a traveler who simply wanted to sip coffee in peace: “We love to take our food and coffee to enjoy on our quiet balcony.”
For now, Costa says the policy isn’t fleetwide. But if other cruise lines decide passengers can’t be trusted with a plate of buffet ravioli, vacationers may soon need a hall pass just to carry cheesecake back to their room.
