Gratuities are NOT included in RCI prices

[ckrobyn]

After reading all of the boards on whether or not RCI is now including gratuities as part of their cruise fare, my T.A. assures me that it is NOT the case! Gratuities are only included in the fares of Group Passengers, not for individuals. Oh well, guess I'll be utilizing those tip envelopes on the last night of the cruise! :cool:

[TexasTwoSteps]

Its not all that bad....many times people view the issue of tipping thinking they have already paid for everything in the cruise fare, but just like at a restrurant, the menu price doesn't include tips unless your a group of six or more and they sting you with the line "15% automatic gratuity will be added to the total bill" as if when your a large group you are assurd of good service, so the tip should be automatic.

 

If you enjoyed yourself and the service, you won't feel the pain in spreading the tips around on the last day. Thats called good service.

[BURNS1]

I went on RCCL.com this morning and looked at my Voyager cruise on 01-03-05 and it did say gratuities were included. However, later in the day it was moved from icluded to not included. They must be listening to us and found that they made a typo.

[springtxbill]

Very few cruise lines include the tips in their price. :)

[hstrybuf]

After yesterday's thread, I'm betting they got a lot of phone calls this morning pointing out their error.

[Blizzard54]

It was an error on the site. I am sure they were flooded with calls today.

 

It is all fixed now.

[hotspur]

I'm not aware of any mass-market cruise line that includes tips in their cruise fares.

[Toto2Kansas]

hotspur, Yesterday RCI had the info on their website that gratuities were included. It got everyone wondering what was going on. That is where this is coming from. They received several calls and now have changed their website to show that gratuities are NOT included.

[reggierail]

Gratuities are only included in the fares of Group Passengers, not for individuals. :cool:

Gratuities can be prepaid for groups or individuals.

 

They are not included in the fares of either!

A TA can price in the tips, hotels, transfers, sightseeing and anything else they choose.

 

The fare quoted by the cruise line is for the cruise, tips are not included for either individuals or groups.

 

Reggie:D

[hotspur]

hotspur, Yesterday RCI had the info on their website that gratuities were included. It got everyone wondering what was going on. That is where this is coming from. They received several calls and now have changed their website to show that gratuities are NOT included.

I understand what's behind this discussion. I was responding to springtxbill's posting above saying "[v]ery few cruise lines include the tips in their price." The only ones I'm aware of that do fall in the "luxury" category, not "mass-market." [HAL's deceiving "tipping not required" tag-line has thankfully been relegated to the dustbin.]