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If I understand Celebrity's policy, you can bring two 750 ml bottles to keep in your cabin. Does anyone know if they'll let you bring just one 1.5 liter bottle?

The base meal cost is $38.14 and the 18% gratuity is $6.86. Not a big difference, just trying to be accurate.

 

In adding a further tip of 20% to the total of $45, you are now tipping on the original tip as well as the meal price. Your total tip is now $15.86, or 42% of the actual meal cost.

 

Bearing in mind that I've already paid for my MDR meals and that part of my daily gratuities go the dining staff, I'd not be inclined to give a 42% gratuity when dining in one of the specialty restaurants.

I kind of agree with you & to take it even further about 50% of the standard daily gratuities (13.50) are for dining room services. So add another $6.75 to your $6.86 & before you even add any extra tip. The problem is that we don't really know how that money is distributed or if the waiters see any of that $6.86 at all. My guess is they don't & the cruise line pockets the entire fee for specialty restaurants. I've seen a lot of the same waiters in specialty restaurants in the main dining room at different times. I'm starting to get a little disenchanted with cruising. I love being on the ocean but ever since they started with specialty restaurants it seems like the MDR & all the free places have been getting worse. I'm hoping Celebrity will be different but I've not been happy with RCL or NCL & I use to love them both.

I've always tipped at specialty restaurants in the past because they didn't add the tip on top of the service charge. It's no different than eating out at home. My kids worked in restaurants so I always like to leave a good tip but when the tip is added to the check I feel a little insulted so I never leave anything extra if they decide to do that. Last year we chose a dining package on Norwegian & they added 18% on top of the total cost of the package so I tipped less than I normally would but we got a deal to begin with so I felt it was fair. I have noticed that when I first cruised about 15 years ago the service was definitely better before they started adding standard gratuities to the bill & just gave envelopes at the end of the cruise.

You will be billed $90 total.

You should ask for a discount.

Depending on the cruise you can get up to BOGO depending on the night

 

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Thanks, if BOGO means buy one get one free who would you ask for the discount? I'll be on the Equinox in December.

I'm a little confused about what you are actually charged so please someone clarify because this is going to be my first Celebrity cruise. If my wife & I eat at a specialty restaurant that has a $45 cover charge, are we billed $90 or are we billed $90 plus 18% which equals $106.20? When I was on Royal Caribbean I always left an extra tip for the waiter but they didn't charge anything for gratuities, just the actual cover charge for the specialty dining.

Well me & my wife just got back from our cruise on Norwegian Epic & all i can say is by the service we got I don't think the waiters expected a tip at the specialty restaurants. On

only one night would I say we got really good service so I gave the guy $10 cash. The other three nights were average at best so i gave them $5 each. We had one waiter didn't even offer to serve us coffee after we finished our dessert & just brought us the bill. My kids worked as waiters so hate to not leave anything but I also hate when they already pre-charge the gratuities.

Sounds great, thanks

Hi

 

In Ocho Rios there is a nice beach within 10 min. walk from the port. It is gated, secure and safe, you can see it from the ship when you dock. Ocho Rios Bay beach...look on TripAdvisor for reviews. I submitted one myself a few years ago. You can do some souvenir shopping on the way back.

 

hope this helps

have a great cruise

Thanks, we have a little trouble getting around so would probably have to take a taxi. I assume that would not be a problem if we told him to take us to Ocho Rios Bay beach.

Also is there a fee to get into the beach?

My wife & I don't want to go on these 4 or 5 hour tours so we're looking to just grab a cab or something for about an hour or so to tour the islands. Does anyone have any recommendations & are the cabs safe in these places?

After reading some of the replies I think the idea of leaving an extra 5 or 10 bucks in cash sounds good. It may not be much but I don't see that we have any obligation to leave anything extra. I feel like the cruise line is already double dipping by charging a gratuity fee for the cruise which is supposed to cover the wait staff for every night of your stay then charging another fee for tipping for specialty dining if you don't eat in the main dining room. When I was on RC I saw some of the same waiters from the free main dining room in the specialty restaurants & I'm not sure how all those prepay or even extra tips get divided up. I'll bet the waiters would probably rather have us leave $5 or $10 cash than put more on our onboard account.

I used to work for tips in my younger days so i always like to leave about a 25% tip but whenever a tip is added to the check I never leave any more. I understand that the automatic tip takes away the possibility of a bad tip or no tip but I can't help feeling a little insulted by it also. It also takes away the added incentive for extra special service too.

I don't remember the policy in specialty restaurants on NCL because it's been quite a while since our last NCL cruise & now with the free dining package I'm a little confused. On Royal Caribbean we always tipped because they didn't add any surcharge to the cost of specialty restaurants but on NCL they add 18% for the dining package. I don't want to be a cheapskate but I feel if they're already charging an 18% service fee on top of the daily gratuity fee we are charged for service on the ship that the staff shouldn't expect another tip. I'm curious to hear other opinions on this but i haven't totally made my mind up yet.

I just did call & talk to someone at NCL & they told me that taxes & fees are refundable. I'm always a little nervous though when something is not in writing because a lot of times you never know until the time comes what the policy really is.

When I look at NCL's cancellation policy there is nothing in writing that confirms that so that is why i asked the question. I'm trying to figure out what add-on means in their policy also.:

I posted this on another forum & didn't realize it was a cruise line specific question so since I'm booked on NCL here it is:

Assuming I don't buy insurance I'm wondering what if any part of the cruise cost is refundable if say the day before the cruise we couldn't go. I know the actual cruise fare is not refundable but what about taxes or port fees, prepaid tips etc... Royal Caribbean states in their agreement that taxes & fees are refundable but NCL does not. Does anyone know a definitive answer?

You might ask on the NCL board. You will probably get more accurate information there. Wish I could help more, but I can really only tell you about Carnival's cancellation policy, because that is what I am familiar with.

That's a good idea. My last cruise was with Royal Caribbean & they spelled it out that taxes & fees were refundable but NCL does not so they may be different. I should have noted the cruise line i was using in my OP but I thought there might be a standard for all cruise lines. I guess not.

it's all spelled out in your contract with the cruise line. Note as well that insurance has limitations on what are acceptable cancellation reasons even "cancel for any reason" coverage can have exceptions. Read your docs!

I'm booked on NCL & it doesn't say anything about taxes & fees or prepaid tips etc.. on their cancellation policy. It does say add-ons are not refundable but I don't know what they consider add-ons. That's why I asked the question because I had heard some things may be refundable. It's one of those things you won't know for sure unless it actually happens to you or someone else you know.

Assuming I don't buy insurance I'm wondering what if any part of the cruise cost is refundable if say the day before the cruise we couldn't go. I know the actual cruise fare is not refundable but what about taxes or port fees.

I'm assuming the reason for the tipping charges being automatically added to the bill or being prepaid is simple. Not everyone was tipping the staff what the cruise lines figured they should. No different than when you go to a restaurant with a large party & the 18% or whatever is automatically charged to the bill. The staff is guaranteed a decent tip. That also brings with it problems because the incentive for good service is not as much either. I think service has dropped off on cruise lines a little since automatic tipping has been in place.

I guess only someone who is privy to the actual cruise line internal workings would really know the answer to the question but my guess is that it doesn't matter. It was different In the days when you actually handed cash envelopes to each of the crew you were tipping.

Now I don't see why it would make a difference pre paying or adding it to your tab at the end of the cruise.

Thanks for all the great advice,

I was just trying to decide between Best Western & La Quinta in Cocoa Beach. It looks like they both have 40% off port parking. The pricing is comparable so it's really a matter of which one is cleaner & safer.

Lots of parking available at PC - drop your bags first (and maybe other members of your party) and then head to the parking garage.

Thanks, that was my biggest concern.

Is there any particular time that is better than another to arrive? Also I noticed on the Port Canaveral site that some hotels/motels give a discount for port parking. I'm going to check into that also since we plan to stay around the port the night before. We've always done the hotel shuttle route but this year we're going to park at the port.

I know there are a lot of park & cruise places near the port but I want to park my car at the port. I'll be going on the Norwegian Epic in December & I was wondering if i have to worry about parking space availability at Port Canaveral. Last year I went out of Ft. Lauderdale on the Oasis & parking there was available right by the ship. Any input appreciated.

Again I want to thank every one for their input,

Just a follow up since I returned from my cruise on the Oasis this weekend. The parking at the port worked out perfectly. There was no problem finding a space in the lot right next to terminal 18 where we needed to check in. It cost $105 for parking so it's a matter of personal preference whether you think it's worth the extra money to not have to worry about shuttles. We were off the ship & on the road by 7:30 am. If I planned to make the drive from home in one day I would look for a park & cruise deal at a hotel like I do when going out of Port Canaveral. The extra few hours drive to Ft. Lauderdale was a little more than i wanted to tackle so we stopped a few hrs. away & drove to the terminal in the morning.

Thanks for all the replies. When I saw that they were adding more parking spaces at Port Everglades I assumed I might have a problem finding a spot. I'm sure that's possible but it doesn't sound like anyone here has had that problem yet.