Royal Caribbean

When on your cruise do you pay for tips during your cruise or on your way off the boat? I have been told by my sister and father that in order to get off the boat you have to make these payments. Does anyone have any insight on this to clear my worries about how this works beforehand.

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Tips will be added to your account daily...your bill is settled when you leave. The tips cover your cabin attendant, waiters, ass't waiters, and head waiters.

Bar tabs will have 18% added to the cost of any drink (or package).....no further tips are needed.

Room service isn't covered by the tips they charge...so if you use room service, $1-5 is common, depending on how much they have to carry!

This isn't unique to RCI...all of the major cruise lines do it like this nowadays.

Tips will be added to your account daily...your bill is settled when you leave. The tips cover your cabin attendant, waiters, ass't waiters, and head waiters.

Bar tabs will have 18% added to the cost of any drink (or package).....no further tips are needed.

Room service isn't covered by the tips they charge...so if you use room service, $1-5 is common, depending on how much they have to carry!

This isn't unique to RCI...all of the major cruise lines do it like this nowadays.

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You need to rewrite the last question so we can figure out what your asking.

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You need to rewrite the last question so we can figure out what your asking.

 

 

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MY last question is I paid for tips and gratuity with my cruise there is a option on Royal Caribbeans site to do so. I am not asking if I do that does that cover me a tips and gratuity for the cruise or will I still need to pay a bill getting of the boat at the end.

I assume you mean if you prepaid your tips and gratuity when you paid your final payment. If so, you will get receipts to give to the MDR and cabin staff the day before disembarking. Put them in the proper envelopes provided (with any extra tips you may want to add) ,and give to the wait staff etc the last evening at dinner. Give to Cabin attendants or leave the envelopes in your cabin when you leave. Should you eat at other venues beside MDR, We usually give cash tips at each meal.

I assume you mean if you prepaid your tips and gratuity when you paid your final payment. If so, you will get receipts to give to the dining and cabin staff the day before disembarking. Put them in the proper envelopes provided (with any extra tips you may want to add) ,and give to the wait staff etc the last evening at dinner. Give to Cabin attendants or leave the envelopes in your cabin when you leave. Should you eat at other venues beside MDR, We usually give cash tips at each meal.

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I assume you mean if you prepaid your tips and gratuity when you paid your final payment. If so, you will get receipts to give to the MDR and cabin staff the day before disembarking. Put them in the proper envelopes provided (with any extra tips you may want to add) ,and give to the wait staff etc the last evening at dinner. Give to Cabin attendants or leave the envelopes in your cabin when you leave. Should you eat at other venues beside MDR, We usually give cash tips at each meal.

HUH?

Whether you pre-pay your gratuities or have them added to you bill, there is nothing to give to the crew.

The tips are automatically distributed to the proper people based on the info posted on the RCI site.

ALL wait staff are compensated from the auto gratuities. You do not need to tip in any eating venue, unless you feel you want to, typically based on service above and beyond the normal level.

Normally, you put a credit card on file when you check in (online or at the port). The last night, they charge your card for any charges on your account.

You can set up cash account, and then you have to go to Guest Services before you get off the ship and pay your account. Or they will not let you off the ship.

Your account will include you daily gratuities (unless you pre-pay them), plus any other charges on board. Drinks (if you did not buy a drink package), dining in the specialty restaurants, photos purchased on board, items from the shops, excursions, etc.

Basically, on board the ship, you will not pay directly for anything with cash or credit card. You room key (called a Sea Pass on RCI) is your "charge card" for all on board purchases. The only cash you will use onboard would be for additional tips or to use in the casino.

Hi,

We are sailing on Allure of thr sea in January, 2019. We have booked the Ultimate dinning package and Ultimate drink package. Do you still have to tip the wait staff?

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Hi,

 

We are sailing on Allure of thr sea in January, 2019. We have booked the Ultimate dinning package and Ultimate drink package. Do you still have to tip the wait staff?

 

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Thanks so much

 

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Please ignore that explanation given by Missymo. It refers to a process that Royal Caribbean discontinued several years ago. Today, guests who have prepaid their gratuities are no longer given chits/receipts to be placed in envelopes. Nowadays, the prepaid gratuities are distributed directly to the staff by Royal Caribbean. As someone else mentioned, you can give extra gratuities to those staff that you think deserve them. Towards the end of the cruise, the stewards may leave envelopes in your stateroom for this purpose. You are free to ignore these envelopes.

When on your cruise do you pay for tips during your cruise or on your way off the boat? I have been told by my sister and father that in order to get off the boat you have to make these payments. Does anyone have any insight on this to clear my worries about how this works beforehand.

 

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Ship, not boat.

all cruise lines that charge daily gratuities/service charge operate essentially the same way. they are added to your account daily unless you pre pay. you must have a zero balance before you can leave at the end of the cruise. doesn't matter if the balance is due to a large bar tab, or the $15-ish per per person per day gratuities.( More if you are in a suite)

Royal, specifically, allows you to run up $250 a day in charges before cutting off your on board spending privileges unless you have a credit card on file( never use a debit card)

pre paying allows you to take all the worry about who should be tipped and how much. they did all the thinking for you. furthermore, that is ALL you need to pay. anything else should only be given out of you feel it is truly warranted. the daily charge covers all meals or snacks in included venues( MDR, Windjammer Buffet, Poolside, etc) and your cabin steward.

Hi,

 

We are sailing on Allure of thr sea in January, 2019. We have booked the Ultimate dinning package and Ultimate drink package. Do you still have to tip the wait staff?

 

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yes you are still charged the daily fee. this covers ALL options for meals/snacks. you will still be eating breakfast lunch and the occasional snack, right? then you need to leave the daily fee alone.

I assume you mean if you prepaid your tips and gratuity when you paid your final payment. If so, you will get receipts to give to the MDR and cabin staff the day before disembarking. Put them in the proper envelopes provided (with any extra tips you may want to add) ,and give to the wait staff etc the last evening at dinner. Give to Cabin attendants or leave the envelopes in your cabin when you leave. Should you eat at other venues beside MDR, We usually give cash tips at each meal.

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HUH?

 

 

Whether you pre-pay your gratuities or have them added to you bill, there is nothing to give to the crew.

 

The tips are automatically distributed to the proper people based on the info posted on the RCI site.

 

ALL wait staff are compensated from the auto gratuities. You do not need to tip in any eating venue, unless you feel you want to, typically based on service above and beyond the normal level.

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Short and simple- if you paid gratuities when you booked, you are not required to pay anything additional at the end of the cruise. If you do not buy anything in the shops, or get any extra drinks, etc, you can walk off the ship without anything on your bill. If you buy extras, they are scanned to your Sea Pass card, that you get upon boarding. You can pay cash for any of these extras at the end, or let them go to whatever credit card you may have attached to your Sea Pass.

If there was exceptional staff that you want to tip extra, you do so as you wish.

Regarding gratuities and how they are paid, t's very simple:

1. If you prepay you gratuities prior to the cruise, there are no more gratuities required on board. Drinks have the gratuity automatically added as part of the drink bill.

2. If you wait to pay them on board, they are automatically charged daily to your stateroom account, which is then charged to your credit card on the last night of the cruise.

3. If you do not prepay them or want to opt out of having gratuities paid automatically, you must do so by requesting this directly with Guest Services on board on the first day, then you will be expected to pay the recommended amount in cash at the end of the cruise to your stateroom attendant and wait staff. If you choose this route, please be sure and pay the gratuities - envelopes will be provided.

Additional gratuities can be paid at your discretion or option in cash but are not required.

It is customary to tip in the Specialty restaurants

Who's custom?

If you read the info, the specialty restaurant charge INCLUDES gratuity.

I will tip extra, if the service above and beyond.

Who's custom?

 

If you read the info, the specialty restaurant charge INCLUDES gratuity.

 

I will tip extra, if the service above and beyond.

The cruise lines I've been on present a bill at the end of a meal in a specialty restaurant and leave room for a gratuity after the total charge (fee and any beverages), so the cruise line kinda makes the tip a customary item.

The cruise lines I've been on present a bill at the end of a meal in a specialty restaurant and leave room for a gratuity after the total charge (fee and any beverages), so the cruise line kinda makes the tip a customary item.

In the same manner as when you order a drink there is an additional space for a gratuity and then a total line. This would be an additional one as the gratuity is shown and included in the total charge above the gratuity and total lines.

It is the same with the specialty restaurants in terms of adding a gratuity there. While it may not display the gratuity as part of the total, at least with RCI and Celebrity, the up charge includes the tip.

So your point is valid in terms of the cruise line kind of making the tip a customary item when with drinks and specialty restaurants it is included in the charge. However in reality any additional would be optional.

Hi

we are going on a cruise on sunday and is it best to book for the shows as soon as we get on the ship also my mum is in a wheelchair so how pratical is it that we can all seat together when watching the shows as there are 7 of us

It would help to know what ship you are on as booking shows in advance only necessary and available to do on certain RCI ships such as Oasis class that have multiple entertainment venues, and some of the Freedom class ships, in particular those similar to the Oasis class that feature the Broadway based shows.

On those ships it is best to reserve theater times in advance through your on-line cruise planner to assure the days and times you want to see those productions. Similarly with Oasis class ships with the small Comedy Club venue and Aqua Theater water shows. You can also book on board through your stateroom interactive TV.

On the other ships simply show up 20 minutes or so ahead of the show time for seating and you should be OK with your group, and there is dedicated accessible seating areas as well.

Just because it is on the slip, doesn't make it customary.

It if your choice if want to tip EXTRA.

We always pre pay, Just have it rolled into the cruise cost. We never eat in the MDR so no reason to give any extra there. But we do tip extra a good room steward and bartenders well if we feel we get good service. Most times we do. We know we don't have to but we enjoy it.