Gratuities when Booking a Cruise from Singapore

[resordanis]

Hi all,

If I book a cruise on Royal Caribbean from Singapore and return to Singapore are gratuities included in the price?  I think no, but thought I would ask here.

Thanks

[Big Kev]

If you book on Australian website (or AU agent) in the Australian $ pricing, gratuities are built into the total price shown.. Gratuities will not be shown as a seperate item.  This applies for wherever in the world the cruise  may be .

Hope that helps.

Sue and Phil

[resordanis]

1 minute ago, Big Kev said:

If you book on Australian website (or AU agent) in the Australian $ pricing, gratuities are built into the total price shown.. Gratuities will not be shown as a seperate item.  This applies for wherever in the world the cruise  may be .

Hope that helps.

Sue and Phil

Thanks, yes would be booking via Royal in Australia.

[Over from NZ]

On 8/24/2022 at 5:52 PM, Big Kev said:

If you book on Australian website (or AU agent) in the Australian $ pricing, gratuities are built into the total price shown.. Gratuities will not be shown as a seperate item.  This applies for wherever in the world the cruise  may be .

Hope that helps.

Sue and Phil

I don't think that's the case. Have seen plenty of indignant Aussies lining up to have their "grats" removed when cruising outside of down under.. 

[lyndarra]

1 hour ago, Over from NZ said:

I don't think that's the case. Have seen plenty of indignant Aussies lining up to have their "grats" removed when cruising outside of down under.. 

Depends on the cruise line. Holland America do not include gratuities. I have a cruise booked next January Singapore/Sydney. Also have done New Guinea and NZ cruises with HAL and grats were not included in fare.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, Over from NZ said:

I don't think that's the case. Have seen plenty of indignant Aussies lining up to have their "grats" removed when cruising outside of down under.. 

I agree with you. I can recall a cruise around South America on the Grand Princess that we booked in Australian dollars while on board the Sun Princess (when it was cruising in Australian waters). We had the auto gratuities added to our account on the Grand. We expected it, so we paid them.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[OzKiwiJJ]

50 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree with you. I can recall a cruise around South America on the Grand Princess that we booked in Australian dollars while on board the Sun Princess (when it was cruising in Australian waters). We had the auto gratuities added to our account on the Grand. We expected it, so we paid them.

I think the rule of thumb with Princess is if the onboard costs are USD then you pay grats unless they are included as a perk. If the onboard costs are AUD and you book through an Australia or NZ  booking you don't pay additional grats but people booking overseas do.

 

I'm not sure what the Royal Caribbean situation is, especially from Singapore. My guess is the grats would be extra.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think the rule of thumb with Princess is if the onboard costs are USD then you pay grats unless they are included as a perk. If the onboard costs are AUD and you book through an Australia or NZ  booking you don't pay additional grats but people booking overseas do.

 

I'm not sure what the Royal Caribbean situation is, especially from Singapore. My guess is the grats would be extra.

For Royal, it is as detailed early in the thread. If you book with Aussie dollars on their site or with an Australian T/A, the grats become part of the fare and detailed in the fare break-up. As with how Royal's cruises used to be in Australia, they can't trust Aussies to leave the gratuities on anywhere in the world - so they include it in the fare, regardless of the destination.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

I don't think that's the case. Have seen plenty of indignant Aussies lining up to have their "grats" removed when cruising outside of down under.. 

For the Carnival brands, yes. For Royal & Celebrity, it used to be.

Royal got sick of seeing them line-up too, so if it is booked via Royal's Australian office, the grats are paid as part of the fare, regardless of the destination.

[Aus Traveller]

7 hours ago, arxcards said:

For Royal, it is as detailed early in the thread. If you book with Aussie dollars on their site or with an Australian T/A, the grats become part of the fare and detailed in the fare break-up. As with how Royal's cruises used to be in Australia, they can't trust Aussies to leave the gratuities on anywhere in the world - so they include it in the fare, regardless of the destination.

That how it was for us when we booked a Celebrity cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale. The gratuities were included in the fare. 🙂

[Aus Traveller]

9 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think the rule of thumb with Princess is if the onboard costs are USD then you pay grats unless they are included as a perk. If the onboard costs are AUD and you book through an Australia or NZ  booking you don't pay additional grats but people booking overseas do.

 

I'm not sure what the Royal Caribbean situation is, especially from Singapore. My guess is the grats would be extra.

Yes, you are correct. When Princess ships come to Australia on a trans-Pacific voyage, I understand that the ship still operates in US$ and gratuities apply. Some Aussies have been very surprised to find this when they get on board without doing their research. 🙂

 

As for the cruise from Singapore, I don't know but it could be like the Celebrity (owned by RCI) cruise we did where it is included in the fare. It should be pretty clear on the booking documents. Alternatively, phone whoever the cruise was booked through.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[arxcards]

Just now, Aus Traveller said:

That how it was for us when we booked a Celebrity cruise from San Diego to Fort Lauderdale. The gratuities were included in the fare. 🙂

Same for us on Celebrity from Hawaii to Vancouver.

 

I remember back to the transition with Royal, and that was back for a booking in 2008. Then you were booking with the daily AU equivalent of $US and pre-paid gratuities weren't compulsory, but being heavily pushed. Back then if you  pre-paid, they had a token effort of vouchers in your cabin which you placed in envelopes to give to your waiters and stewards at the end of the cruise. They were already paid, but Aussies were seen to be handing out tip envelopes in the eyes of international guests.

[resordanis]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated. The cruises I am looking at are a total of 24 nights, so gratuities on top of the fare are quite a lot, considering we tip all as well for their service. Will double check if book.. If we have to pay, we have to pay, just want to factor all in before actually booking.

Edited August 25, 2022 by resordanis

[nnps]

Australian consumer law stipulates that the price you pay HAS to be the complete price, no extras or add-ons (including GST). 

[Aus Traveller]

31 minutes ago, nnps said:

Australian consumer law stipulates that the price you pay HAS to be the complete price, no extras or add-ons (including GST). 

That is the case with GST, but gratuities are considered optional even if they aren't really.😁 GST became law in July 2000 but the cruise lines still had the auto gratuity for several years. The first to get rid of it was P&O in 2009-10 and Princess in 2011. They stated that it was because Aussies aren't accustomed to tipping and would rather have a total fare. That was a nice way of saying that too many Aussies were removing the tips.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[Cascade1]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that in respect of Princess you don't pay extra gratuities if the cruise is round trip to and from Australian ports. I am pretty certain as I have done cruises from Asia to Sydney and you pay extra gratuities, but having cruised numerous times on Princess round trip from Sydney and also Brisbane you just pay the A$ cruise fare. with no extra for gratuities. Must admit though that my experience has all been pre-Covid - maybe things have changed. Will shortly start cruising again.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, resordanis said:

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated. The cruises I am looking at are a total of 24 nights, so gratuities on top of the fare are quite a lot, considering we tip all as well for their service. Will double check if book.. If we have to pay, we have to pay, just want to factor all in before actually booking.

You are all good. The gratuities are in your fare. From Royal's Aussie office, the T&C's you are booking with in Australia for any of their cruises worldwide.

 

4. WHAT’S INCLUDED AND NOT INCLUDED

What’s included?

All prices shown on our website and quoted in our brochures are per person in Australian Dollars and are based on two people sharing the specified stateroom grade. Cruise prices include the following where applicable: full onboard accommodation, onboard main meals, entertainment* onboard ship, gym, some fitness classes*, service charges to stateroom attendants, port charges and taxes.

[Aus Traveller]

52 minutes ago, Cascade1 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that in respect of Princess you don't pay extra gratuities if the cruise is round trip to and from Australian ports. I am pretty certain as I have done cruises from Asia to Sydney and you pay extra gratuities, but having cruised numerous times on Princess round trip from Sydney and also Brisbane you just pay the A$ cruise fare. with no extra for gratuities. Must admit though that my experience has all been pre-Covid - maybe things have changed. Will shortly start cruising again.

That's exactly how it is. Princess says if the cruise starts and ends in Australia, then the gratuities are included. One-way cruises (from Asia to Aust or from USA to Aust) are under the American system - US dollars and auto-gratuities.

[resordanis]

My cruise is 24 nights, but from Singapore to Tokyo and return to Singapore, but I will be booking via the Australian Royal Caribbean site. I haven’t rung Royal as yet!

Edited August 26, 2022 by resordanis

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Cascade1 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong but I am pretty sure that in respect of Princess you don't pay extra gratuities if the cruise is round trip to and from Australian ports. I am pretty certain as I have done cruises from Asia to Sydney and you pay extra gratuities, but having cruised numerous times on Princess round trip from Sydney and also Brisbane you just pay the A$ cruise fare. with no extra for gratuities. Must admit though that my experience has all been pre-Covid - maybe things have changed. Will shortly start cruising again.

That is correct as long as you have booked through an Australasian booking site which, of course, includes directly with Princess. As I mentioned earlier, for us the easy way to remember is AUD onboard = no extra gratuities, USD onboard = gratuities are extra.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

That's exactly how it is. Princess says if the cruise starts and ends in Australia, then the gratuities are included. One-way cruises (from Asia to Aust or from USA to Aust) are under the American system - US dollars and auto-gratuities.

But from about 2017 Aust to Asia was AUD and no extra grats. We did a repositioning cruise to Japan in 2018 with AUD onboard. The previous repositioning cruise we did, on Golden in 2016 was still USD. 

[resordanis]

Thanks all for the replies. We have decided not to proceed with this cruise at the moment as it is not until July 2023. We are going to wait and see if cruising has changed since our last in 2020 and see whether we prefer Princess as Elite or Royal Caribbean a little better as Diamond plus. As we have 6 between now and Christmas we should have an idea if there are any changes.

 

[Relaxing Robbies]

11 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

That's exactly how it is. Princess says if the cruise starts and ends in Australia, then the gratuities are included. One-way cruises (from Asia to Aust or from USA to Aust) are under the American system - US dollars and auto-gratuities.

With Princess the USA - Aust repositions are USD, but many of the Aust-Asia repositions are AUD. We are booked on Royal Princess Sydney to Yokohama in April 2024 and the currency onboard is AUD.

[kwofperth]

On 8/24/2022 at 1:54 PM, resordanis said:

Thanks, yes would be booking via Royal in Australia.

Hot tip: if booking via the Royal website, use the Singapore version, as the prices are often a lot cheaper, even when you factor in gratuities. e.g. I just booked a 9 nighter for a family of 4 and saved $1,000.

When stepping through the booking process there is a box that you tick if you wish to include gratuities in your fare.

[resordanis]

58 minutes ago, kwofperth said:

Hot tip: if booking via the Royal website, use the Singapore version, as the prices are often a lot cheaper, even when you factor in gratuities. e.g. I just booked a 9 nighter for a family of 4 and saved $1,000.

When stepping through the booking process there is a box that you tick if you wish to include gratuities in your fare.

You are most definitely right. Just did a dummy booking and the 24 nights was over $3000 cheaper on the Singapore site including gratuities. $2000 deposit for both legs has me still hesitating though.Thanks for the information.

Edited August 28, 2022 by resordanis