Dining plan issue

[Cruiser3812]

I looked into purchasing the three night dining plan for our cruise on Icon. I noticed it says that Izumi Hibachi is a $15 surcharge. If purchased separately, Chops is $5 more than Izumi Hibachi, and Hooked is the exact same price. If that’s the case, why is there a $15 surcharge? I feel like maybe I’m missing something with this. 

[AshleyDillo]

Probably to deter the dining package folks from booking multiple nights of hibachi so they can sell those limited spots for full price.

It used to be able to be explained as you were getting a $35 credit towards Izumi regardless of it being hibachi or sushi, though it was never stated that way in writing anywhere.

[Ryan79]

Hibachi also has the highest demand so they can charge the premium price. They are already losing income to dining package purchasers, so why not try and make that back with charging more for something people will gladly pay full price for and will sell out every night? There is no rule or law that the price increase has to be proportional to the cost of the other specialty restaurants. They can make that upcharge be whatever they want with something in very high demand.

[Linda R]

Also limited seating in Hibachi.  Used to be they gave you a credit there, now is a surcharge.  And I have also been on ships where Hibachi is not in the dining plan at all.  

Some ships Hibachj has lunch also.  A better time to go I think.