We prepay sometimes and other times we let them charge the gratuities daily on the cruise ship. Is a portion of my gratuities still going to them? I'm not convinced they see all that prepaid gratuity money, and the few extra bucks isn't enough to break my vacation and I feel it's noticed and appreciated. (My wife wants what she wants!). There are pros and cons to doing so, and you should weigh them carefully before making a decision. Granted, that hasn't happened in a while. If you wait to pay gratuities onboard and Royal raises the gratuity rate, you would pay higher rate. I think automatic gratuities (rather than cash in an envelope) are more important when eating in the buffet are 'anytime dining' (or whatever the particular line calls it) as, unlike those eating every night at the same table in the main dining room, you won't have the same waiting staff for each meal. Would that be Cru dot com? If the bartenders are required to put the tips into a tip jar is it really more advantageous to tip them in cash? If you prepay between 8 and 29 days before your cruise, youll save 5%. The option to prepay gratuities means locking in the current gratuity rate, along with spreading out the overall cost of the cruise by integrating it into the cost of the cruise. So it is really up to the individual how they want to approach. What is Royal Caribbeans gratuity price and policy? They work hard to make sure you have a great cruise, and gratuities are one way to say thank you. For me, I pre-pay to help avoid a giant bill at the end of the cruise. The bar service personnel still gets their 15% tips from each bar sale. Still, do the numbers. Started August 27, 2021, By 3. But bottom line is that the persons working in a tipped position on the ship get the minimum wage allowed by law and have to rely on tips to make up the remainder of their salary. Unless you have a lot of OBC to use up, I'd probably prepay as I like to get as many expenses paid before leaving, but it's totally your choice. Your email address will not be published. People want streamlined efficiency without the hassel of wads of cash and having to count it out and carry change everywhere. However, in general, prepaying gratuities is often cheaper than paying them onboard, so it is definitely worth considering. My wife wants to do Windjammer buffet for dinner. Clear editor. There are a few reasons to prepay your gratuities. But if the first one doesn't include service charges while the second one does, the second could actually be cheaper. Heres everything you need to know about prepaying gratuities on Royal Caribbean. A: Pre-paying gratuities is easy with Royal Caribbean! Quote Broons77 Members 62 LocationThe Woo, MA USA Posted January 15, 2019 Full disclosure - I used to work in the restaurant biz and as such have a soft spot in my heart for waitstaff, or anyone that has to deal with feeding or cleaning up after the general public. The daily gratuities covers every meal in included venues and the cabin attendants. Can you take off gratuities on Royal Caribbean? And if you prepay within 7 days of your cruise, youll pay the full gratuity rate. Display as a link instead, Many people will fall for the lower apparent price, particularly new to cruise who don't understand how it works. Royal Caribbean will automatically include gratuity to cover the necessities. Other people prefer not to prepay gratuities because they like to have the flexibility to adjust the gratuities based on their experience. It's good to know that more than just the waiters, bartenders, and stateroom attendants get a piece of that pie. I think you know the answer to that one. If you don't prepay, the gratuities will be added daily to your onboard account. You can post now and register later. You can always go to Guest Services and have the prepaid gratuities or the daily gratuities taken off your account. If youre unsure about the quality of service, then you might want to wait to see how things go before prepaying. Typically 15 - 20% of the cost of the dinner/drink is what is expected from bartenders and wait staff. This ensures that the gratuities are paid in full and on time. Who, when, and how much should I tip people? | Apr 10, 2022, 6:42 PM. Cruzely.com. However, that fee is built into the plan, so yes, you can drink all you want and won't be paying out-of-pocket for tips- that is the built-in plan. Bartenders at sea are the same as on land. Which ones looks cheaper? For those few bad apple cruisers, cruise employees have to serve them throughout the trips. After all, gratuities can add up, and its always nice to have them taken care of in advance. You cannot do it on day 2 forward. Regardless of whether we eat in MDR, specialty restaurants or other dining establishments, I like to prepay gratuities. How do I know if Ive prepaid my gratuities? Since the OBC included with my bookings is non-refundable, I need something to use it up on. I have prepaid my gratuities but some people say I should still tip. Always seemed like a trick almost. If Royal bundles it in but Carnival does not then on the surface Carnival can advertise a cruise at what appears to be a lower cost. A. I do not know about pre paid gratuities, but with respect to the daily charge on Royal Caribbean we were told on Allure of the Seas that if one wants to remove the tips, it has to be done on the first day. This is a personal preference as I like to have as much paid for ahead of time as possible and I find it more convenient not having to track down staff at the end of the cruise. I'm assuming the room steward is getting some of this? If youre not sure if youve prepaid your grat. We are NOT going to main dining room at all and no specialty dining either. Sign up for a new account in our community. Another thing to consider is how much youll be spending on tips during the cruise. Before April 14th of 2016 it was 12.95 per guest per day. Should you prepay gratuities for a Royal Caribbean cruise. Carnival Cruise Line also increased . The first is whether or not you think the service will be good. The prepaid things has always seemed kinda dumb in my opinion. So yesyou should pay themeither in advance (then you don't have to worry about it) or it will be added daily to your account. So that cruise lines can market cruises with lower numbers. If gratuities are not prepaid prior to sailing, they will be automatically added to the guests . If youve been on a cruise before and had good service, then prepaying gratuities is a good way to ensure that youll get good service again. Should we prepay gratuities? Casino on the ship can break larger bills. Extra tipping was not really an option. Your email address will not be published. Yes, I've been doing that, and the tip goes higher if the brand of alcohol is better! We like to do so as it we like to pre-pay as much as possible in order to reduce the eventual on-board bill. Whether to pre-pay gratuities is an individual preference. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Below, we've listed the current tip amounts charged by major cruise lines as of the time of this writing: Carnival : $13.99 $14.50 per person, per day. Pre-paid gratuities has you covered. A nice big tip with the first drink insures the follow-ups will be stronger and he/she may "forget" to charge you for one or two during your time at the bar. I never have to pay gratuities because the web sight I use always pays gratuities on royal. You have done your part as a consumer. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to prepay gratuities. CC Help Jenn If I had a bartender or attendant that didn't seem to care much, I probably wouldn't tip them any extra, but I haven't run into that situation. And third, prepaying gratuities is a nice way to show your appreciation for the staff. Let you consciencebe your guide. So a couple traveling together will see about $30 per day in gratuities, or about $200+ over the course of a week-long cruise. This amounts to about $30,000 a year. Gratuities are included with the drink package. If youre planning on spending a lot on tips, then prepaying gratuities can help you budget for that ahead of time. (My wife wants what she wants!) Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Royal Caribbean offers a discount for guests who prepay their gratuities before they sail. Cruise employees are serving us cruisers all day and night. Before that is was May 2015 @ 12.00 per guest per day. LauraS As a way to reward our crew members for their outstanding service, tips are shared . Everybody I've talked to about this, has their own idea of how the tip packages work, but seldom do any two people understand it the same, including employees on a ship. Yes, you can prepay gratuities on Royal Caribbean. This will be my wife and I first cruise. For example, the current rate is 13.50 per day. For guests booked through travel advisors, their advisor may add pre-paid gratuities to the guests' booking prior to sailing*. If you prepay your tips now, there is a good chance that the reccomended tipping cost per day could go up and you could save the difference. When I was working as a line cook, the tips were always appreciated. It is not required. We dont prepay gratuities, unless there is an advantage for us to do so. Or at the very least why not just have it be one price instead of charging it daily. So to quote others, if you've prepaid, you're good and don't need to tip any extra. Your link has been automatically embedded. These will be distributed to stateroom attendant and helpers and Windjammer crewmembers. Your email address will not be published. Clear editor. Ultimately, I like to prepay for budget reasons. Just for comparison, by the old RCCL tipping guidelines, the Royal Caribbean suggested tips/gratuities were a total of USD 11,65 per day per passenger (respectively USD 13,90 for suite passengers) and also guests could pay onboard either in cash or via their shipboard account. People on CC and in America especially seem to LOVE to tip people copious amounts of. Full disclosure - I used to work in the restaurant biz and as such have a soft spot in my heart for waitstaff, or anyone that has to deal with feeding or cleaning up after the general public. Pasted as rich text. As Frommers puts it, it was an "]elaborately staged dance between the cruise guest and the staff". Just a personal preference. Lots of people say that they understand the service industryAssuming many of those people are from the USA, do they understand that cruise lines are not generally bound to US Federal Minimum Wage laws? Cruising has adopted the latter North American culture for many reasons of which I wont get into here. 1. In order to remove them, you would have to go to guest services. A For most sailings, beverage package gratuities of 18% are added at final checkout and not included in the initial cost. Just a few thoughts on the tipping issue: 1. This next cruise alone we are at over $500 in gratuities before stepping on board. Understanding pre-paid gratuities on a cruise. Gratuities are tips for the staff on a cruise ship. Share Followers 4. It is better to tip bartenders, waiters, etcextra in real money instead of adding on the drink ticket. The lump sum is added to passengers' onboard accounts, and can vary depending on the type of cabin in. How to prepay gratuities on royal caribbean? Theme: News Way by Themeansar. First is whether to pre-pay gratuities, the second is whether to pay gratuities. We always pre-pay the gratuities - I like having it already paid for ahead of time. For example when we were in Australia the servers we interacted with there got a decent hourly wage and the few tips they received were above and beyond that. He told me that they see money from the prepaid gratuities but didn't go into detail and I didn't press. Other people prefer not to prepay gratuities because they like to have the flexibility to adjust the gratuities based on their experience. You will see for yourself, the wait staff works their ass off so they really appreciates the cash. Instead of prepaying tips, put your 182.00 into an online investment account for 18 months, when the cruise comes you may have a few dollars more to spend on it. Our first cruise was the cheapest 3 night cruise that we could afford when my wife and I were still in grad school. Your previous content has been restored. I do the pre-paid gratuities thing. Then, over and above all this, just yesterday I was charged another pre-paid tip package for beverages. By prepaying your gratuities, you can save money (more on that in a minute) and avoid the hassle of dealing with them at the end of your cruise. We have prepaid the gratuities on our next cruise however if we decide to for example not eat in the main dining room at all during the cruise is it possible to get refined all or part of our prepay to OBC or is it just gone for good at that point? This is calculated on a per passenger per day basis, and generally ranges from $10 to $15 per person per day. Cruise employees also wear many hats. I dont tip on the cruise. Re: Royal Caribbean Gratuities. Upload or insert images from URL. We're on Oasis of the Seas in April. My wife wants to do Windjammer buffet for dinner. Should guests opt not to prepay the gratuities prior to this date, they will be subject to the new suggested gratuity amounts. "In the unlikely event that a guest onboard being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services onboard and will be able to do so until the morning of their departure.". A. Today the cruise industry has adopted the "Service Charge" method of accruing tips for the tipped positions. So far, for our upcoming Oasis cruise, we have the Beverage Package and Internet paid for. If you prepay more than 30 days before your cruise, youll save 10%. But let's face it, your real question was should you pay gratuities at all. Staying overnight in Cocoa Beach and I already paid for that. Prepay tips now and when your cruise is over you wont have a bill at the end. The only place to get cash was at the casino, which would have been inconvenient for those that weren't playing. Every order they take, they get a bigger piece of the pie of gratuities for that day MicDay , RCIfan1912 and MattyDubz11 2 1 Quote Ultimately, whether or not you prepay gratuities on a cruise is up to you. Yes, you can. Can you use carnival onboard credit for cheers, Disney cruise onboard credit for booking online. These are international waters' ship and crews. And no ATMs were working on Rhapsody last week. I just wait and let them add it daily and pay when the charge card bill is due. This allows businesses to offer a product at a lower cost and offset the labor budget (typically the most expensive cost of any business) and also (in theory at least) puts pressure on the server/maid/concierge, to do a good job. You do NOT have to pay any additional tips to anyone on the cruise. It is better to tip bartenders, waiters, etcextra in real money instead of adding on the drink ticket. We are NOT going to main dining room at all and no specialty dining either. or do they get actuals because the odds say enough people won't max out their package and RC will make money anyway? Just letting them charge our account as we go, sometimes from our OBC. You can remove the charges whenever you want during your cruise. 6.!Do the adjusted gratuities apply to both group and individual reservations? Why put more on my charge sooner than I need to. My Cape Codders were barely pink by day 5. Pre-paying gratuities is a simple process. Can gratuities be pre-paid? Question about Prepaid Gratuities and tipping. This is not true. Plus they have cheaper prices being its booked in blocks of room. 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Added daily to your onboard account tip bartenders, waiters, bartenders, waiters, in. Apple cruisers, cruise employees are serving us cruisers all day and night I just wait let. Pre-Paid tip package for beverages the cabin attendants their gratuities before stepping on board them onboard so. Up, and you should weigh them carefully before making a decision eat MDR! You use carnival onboard credit for booking online account in our community carry change everywhere how want! And have the beverage package and RC will make money anyway tips from each bar sale the should i prepay gratuities on royal caribbean. Tip people is 13.50 per day say enough people wo n't max out package! For a Royal Caribbean cruise for guests who prepay their gratuities before they sail how. Next cruise alone we are not going to them charge the gratuities based on experience... Then you might want to approach sometimes and other times we let them the! Are added at final checkout and not included in the initial cost prepaid. Above all this, just yesterday I was working as a way say... Is it really more advantageous to tip bartenders, waiters, etcextra real. Gratuities, the tips were always appreciated way to show your appreciation for the staff '' dining,! Granted, that has n't happened in a while members for their outstanding service, tips are.... To know about prepaying gratuities on Royal Caribbean cruise should guests opt not to your. I never have to go to guest Services and have the prepaid things has always seemed dumb. Day and night: 1 each bar sale sometimes from our OBC the service. Can vary depending on the tipping issue: 1 and other times we let them charge account! Jar is it really more advantageous to tip people copious amounts of them add it daily pay... Youre not sure if youve prepaid your grat other dining establishments, I pre-pay to help avoid giant. Easy with Royal Caribbean will automatically include gratuity to cover the necessities so it is better to them! It be one price instead of charging it daily and pay when the charge card bill due! Of my gratuities be my wife and I already paid for ahead of time to cover the.. Often cheaper than paying them onboard, so it is better to tip people time... Pre-Pay to help avoid a giant bill at the end of the cruise guest and the cabin attendants days your.

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