Rather than guests tipping each member of staff, Royal Caribbean charges a set fee per day to reward crew members for their service. For example, you have worked with the XYZ company for a period of 15 years. Check your Cruise Planner and see if it comes up to purchase. I too pay in cash and at times have given extra. After that, you can cancel it when you first embark on the ship, but no later. Have our travel agency partner get you a free quote for a Royal Caribbean cruise. Simply enter the cruise line, length of trip, and the number of passengers and it will show you precisely how much youll be charged. I have a question Ive not seen answered. This occurs in the Australian cruise market. Is a drink package worth it for you? For this reason, a drinks package may be better value on a cruise with lots of sea days, such as a transatlantic sailing. Ive worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and now my blog helps over a million people to plan their cruises each month. Included here are the baseline (i.e. If you do absolutely nothing, then you can expect an automatic charge on your SeaPass account each day of the cruise. Royal Caribbean Drink Packages. When you take a Royal Caribbean cruise, as well as your cruise fare, youll be expected to pay a little extra to the crew members. For some cruise lines (usually luxury lines), gratuities actually are included in the fare you dont pay anything extra apart from your cruise fare. If you dont, then youll need to settle the account with a credit, debit card or with cash before you disembark at the end of your cruise. To begin with, the cruise line gave out paper straws which are sadly not fit for purpose when it comes to frozen cocktails. Hi Jeff. On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise, I bought the drinks package and got my moneys worth. The cocktails in the Bamboo Lounge are a little different to the poolside cocktails, the have fancier glasses and the ingredients may be different too. Why wouldnt they have the limit at $13 or do I have incorrect info? Here's how it works on Royal Caribbean: As of September 7 th, 2022, the automatic service gratuity of $16.00 USD per . A cruise which ordinarily costs 699 might go up to 999 with drinks included. The calculator will add the mandatory gratuity to the package cost in its calculations. Before you go ahead and buy the Coffee Card, here are some things youll want to consider: The tap water on Royal Caribbean cruise ships is perfectly safe to drink and tastes okay, although it may not always be very cold, depending on the weather. While steep on a percentage basis, the increase in gratuity charge at Royal Caribbean is the first at the line in more than four years. In the formula, the values are the following. These days, everything is automatic. They recognize that the staff goes above and beyond to make their vacation enjoyable. Copyright 2023 Real World Machine LLC. If you have a major issue, however, you can change your gratuity amount accordingly. You can usually pay your gratuities in advance of your cruise, or choose to receive a bill on the last day of your cruise. As a way to reward our crew members for their outstanding service, tips are shared . Yes, except if you are sailing in the U.S., then NCL tacks on the gratuities on the amount of the beverage package even though the package is free. I have another question. How Can I Know How Much I Will Be Charged in Tips? Im not sure actually. The formula used by our online gratuity calculator is: G = n*b*15/26. Who gets the tips? The gratuity is applied automatically to all average beverage costs and beverage packages, as well as applicable upcharges for beverages whose cost is not fully covered by a package. Add them on to the total cost of your cruise when you book, Log on to the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner before your cruise, Ask your travel agent to arrange to take a payment from you. Do we need separate soft drinks packages for the kids or can they share ours? Weve never bought a drink package, always paid per drinkbut are considering this trip. If you wish to reward one or two crew members in particular, you could pay the standard gratuity fee and also hand cash to any crew members who you feel are particularly deserving. As a thanks for their service, its customary to provide a tip. Disney Cruise Gratuity Calculator. b = Last drawn basic salary + dearness allowance. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Royal Caribbean Blog. If tips are not required, do their supervisors know about this up charge? On the cruise line side, that money gets cut up to be distributed. If you are uncomfortable standing, just let a staff member know and they will be sure to accommodate you. The exception is in certain markets where tipping is not as ingrained as part of their culture, so Royal Caribbean includes daily gratuities as part of the price of the cruise. Royal Caribbean Beverage Package Calculator: Instructions and Explanations . Royal Caribbean stipulates 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 up until the morning of their departure. You can still hand out cash to individual members of the staff that you appreciate, although its not required. Im Diamond and wondered what the upcharge might be since Ill be getting four free drink vouchers per day. N/n. Can I buy unlimited beverage package for 2 days only in a four days cruise , or it has to be for all days ? Let me know in the comments below. Finally, if you order anything from room service, then its expected that you give a couple of bucks to the staff member that delivers the food. Its a small 2.25 oz. This section of the Royal Caribbean Beverage Package Calculator advises you of the most cost-effective beverage package given your anticipated beverage consumption and pricing inputs. Want to tip more? My Cruise Line Calls it a Crew Incentive or Service Charge. Extremely helpful esp0ecially about tipping and what to do. Royal Caribbean does not require guests under the legal drinking age to buy any kind of drinks package. You may get reduced kids prices, included drinks or free gratuities. For example, a family of four who is taking a seven-night cruise would owe $406 for gratuities. With the acquisition of 80 points (equivalent to 80 nights at sea), guests become Diamond members. Instructions and details are included below the calculator. In Miami the worst place to board the ship. Have our travel agency partner get you a free quote for a Royal Caribbean cruise. In this section, Ill answer the most commonly-asked questions about Royal Caribbean drink packages. If purchasing beverages la carte (without a package) is the best option, the calculator will recommend Pay As You Go.. Second, any time that you purchase anything service related such as dinner at a specialty restaurant or a service at the spa expect there to be a tip added on to the cost. You can use the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner to cancel your drink package online up to two days before your cruise and receive a full refund. However, if you want to choose the flexible My Time dining, rather than having a set dining time, you must pre-pay your gratuities. You have entered an incorrect email address! She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 20 cruises. This reduces the price of each coffee from around $4 to around $2. You can expect to pay about $15-$20 per person, per day. This calculator is not endorsed by Royal Caribbean Group. You should think about how much time you plan to spend on the ship. One of the benefits of a drinks package is that if you dont like a drink you dont have to drink it. Kids Sail Free Guest 12 & under SAIL FREE: (select 3 night or longer sailings) Extra Instant Savings up to $650 Instant Savings: per stateroom on select sailings & categories. Norwegian Cruise Lines doesnt charge gratuities for kids under three. Hi Natalie. We have two kids. In addition to this, an 18% gratuity is automatically added to all drinks, spa and salon services. We want the people who earned the tip to receive, not the lousy,greedy, uninvolved government! There are some exceptions to this rule. #36. When you take a Royal Caribbean cruise, one of the costs to passengers are gratuities (tips) to crew members during, Royal Caribbean will be raising its recommended gratuities for sailings that depart on or after July 1, 2015.The new, Royal Caribbean will be raising its automatic daily gratuity amountthat guests pay night of their cruise beginning on, Royal Caribbean has announced it will raise itsrecommended gratuities for sailings that depart on or after May 01,, Royal Caribbean provides excellent service to guests of all ages, and with that service comes an automatic gratuity, Royal Caribbean Australia announced today a new fare structure that includesgratuities for stateroom attendants and. Use this section of the Royal Caribbean Beverage Package Calculator to adjust assumptions and default pricing for beverage packages. These are: Some drinks are free all the time. How to prepay gratuities. I had it on a 4-night cruise. Tap the for Winter 2024 Caribbean sailings. Some people like to give gifts such as chocolates or wine to the crew members. I Agree, we always opt out and give tips to our steward and waiter/waitress at the end of the cruise. That means people like the room steward who cleans your cabin and the dining staff. There are two ways to buy a Royal Caribbean drink package: Royal Caribbean drink package sharing is not allowed. If you have a package, gratuities are already included in that, you wont pay any more per drink. hi.We leave from Southampton next month.We can only bring 2 bottles of wine at first day,not allowed any after that apparently.Also for 14 nights for the drinks package for my wife and i is nearly 2000!! The calculator will also treat nights as equivalent to days for the purposes of per-day beverage calculations. When entering the number of beverages per beverage type, the number entered can either be per day or for the entire length of the cruise for each beverage type. !I just cant afford that and i dont see how its justified. The previous Suite gratuity rate of $17.50 will increase to $18.50 per day per person. Were booked on the Liberty of the Seas cruise in November 2020. This may be a Kids Sail Free offer, free gratuities or buy one cruise fare get one half price. It comes with fancy coffees, smoothies etc as well as alcohol. Overpayment of gratuities is allowed but is not expected. I hope that helps! If Im a simple coffee and tea drinker. Current gratuities breakdown - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community. Ive worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and now my blog helps over a million people to plan their cruises each month. Some ships may cover up to $13 per alcoholic beverage. The advantage is that you get your payment out of the way ahead of time. You definitely dont need a drinks package. Theres not a time limit between drinks with Royal Caribbean, but you can only order one drink per person at a time. If you wish to recognise outstanding service by adding extra gratuities onboard the ship, you are welcome to do so. Keep in mind that Royal Caribbean generally requires that if one adult purchases the Deluxe package, that all other adults over the age of 21 traveling in the same cabin purchase . You can also take a quick look at the Royal Caribbean Beverage package prices: Deluxe Beverage Package - $44 to $55 per day ($63-$70 for 2019 sailings) Premium Refreshment Package - $26 per . You would think that paying a hefty daily tip would cover everyone on the ship. Suggested read: How to pay for a cruise in instalments. I gave always given them money to take my bags to the ship. We are sailing on Anthem of the seas June for two weeks going for the de lux drinks package offered us 43 per day is that fair price or should I wait in case prices go down. No votes so far! 53 euros per day, 856 for my wife and for 8 nights. The calculator will account for these upcharges. If gratuities show on our account when we settle at cruise end, we ask for them to be removed. We always hand our tips in cash to the person whose service we wish to commend. recommended) gratuities, and the ability to increase or decrease the amounts as you desire. However, the feedback from them is that they always prefer cash. Typical increases are around $1 per person, per day and seem to happen about once a year. One other thing. To work out if a drinks package is worth it, you need to work out how many drinks you would need to drink each day to break even. This depends on your muster station. When you are a salaried employee, your employer pays you an amount of money when you either retire from the company or quit after 5 years of service as per the Payment Gratuity Act of 1972. Wines are available to purchase by the bottle. They will still go out of their way to make your cruise comfortable and enjoyable. The drinks prices vary slightly by ship, with around a $1 difference on some ships. Gratuity = n*b*15 / 26. The default average cost is per beverage and beverage type and can be edited. Tipping on Royal Caribbean Cruises is straightforward - a standard daily rate is charged for all guests (no matter the age). Royal Caribbean charges a gratuity of $16.00 per person, per day. Dont do this. If you paid $13 for a cocktail and didnt like it, youd be pretty annoyed at yourself for choosing it. But, the cup doesnt seal so you have to keep it upright. For guests staying in Grand Suites and above, the fee is $18.50 per person, per day. Use this section of the Royal Caribbean Beverage Package Calculator to enter general information about the cruise. This figure reflects the maximum per-alcoholic-beverage cost that is covered with a Deluxe (alcohol) package. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. So no, you wouldnt have to pay any extra gratuities on drinks.