Enjoy! Beverage packages can be used at CocoCay, Royal Caribbeans private island in the Bahamas and at Labadee, Royal Caribbeans private beach in Haiti. I'm so sorry that this post wasn't useful for you! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If it doesnt, then Im sorry I dont know about that particular drink. How many of each do you think you'll have a day? But I have one question. You can opt into prepaying gratuities at any time, up to 48 hours prior to your sail date. This costs $31 and gives you 15 specialty coffees throughout your cruise. 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. The tips are spread out between the room steward, dining staff, and others. The daily gratuities are shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes. Are you able to advise how much shots were roughly? Whilst you are free to do this, it isnt recommended. Every so often, Royal Caribbean adjusts the gratuity rate, but if you have opted to prepay, you will be grandfathered into the old rate. I gave always given them money to take my bags to the ship. Royal Caribbean regularly have promotions to encourage people to book cruises. You can get the charge out of the way early, or hold onto your money until you actually sail. So, you can get an alcohol or soft drink package for the adults without being required to buy any kind of package for your children. With MyTime dining you will sit at a different table each night and be served by different crew members. 3 ways to get free wifi on your Royal Caribbean cruise. It comes with fancy coffees, smoothies etc as well as alcohol. Current gratuities breakdown - Royal Caribbean International - Cruise Critic Community. There are several places where youll find free drinks during your Royal Caribbean cruise. Royal Caribbean is a trademark of Royal Caribbean Group. The calculator will auto-update as you enter information about your cruise. How much is charged? If gratuities show on our account when we settle at cruise end, we ask for them to be removed. Thanks! The breakdown of gratuities is carefully worked out to be fair for all crew members. I have cruised many times before and I always order the royal caribbean premium drink package. This is also known as a SeaPass account. Just for comparison, by the old RCCL tipping guidelines, the Royal Caribbean suggested tips/gratuities were a total of USD 11,65 per day per passenger (respectively USD 13,90 for suite passengers) and also guests could pay onboard either in cash or via their shipboard account. And when you leave the dining room, no need to drop down any money on the table. Royal Caribbean will be raising its automatic daily gratuity amountthat guests pay night of their cruise beginning on, Royal Caribbean offers guests the choice of prepaying gratuities for select crew members on its ships. To save you the headache, Ive created a handy tool that does the maths for you. Alternatively, you may get some free onboard credit to spend. The advantage is that you get your payment out of the way ahead of time. For example I drink a lot of water during the day so I will at least have 6 bottles of water. With millions of passengers sailing every year, theres inevitably going to be someone who feels they received poor service. So what will happen? You can expect to pay about $15-$20 per person, per day. RCCL currently applies an automatic gratuity amount on your onboard account, on a daily basis. If traveling with others, enter each guests information separately, resetting the calculator as needed. Is it true that each individual drink purchased an additional 18% is added? Are the drink prices in US dollars or Australian while on an Australian run. Cash isnt used on cruise ships, so all your purchases and gratuities (if not prepaid) will be added to your onboard account. 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. Are there ways to request a drink like a Bloody Mary but in a $12 or less version? Also, should I bring my own sweetener or do they supply that? Tap the for Winter 2024 Caribbean sailings. Royal Caribbean last increased gratuities in 2018 and, before that, was in 2016. Jenni. Norwegian just raised its gratuity rate to $16 from $15.50 in April. Their offerings range from classics like a mojito to daiquiri to new takes on traditional cocktails, like a New Fashioned at the Schooner . Yes, thats correct. MyTime dining is when you dont have a set dining time and instead, you can arrive at the main restaurant whenever you like. If you prepay your gratuities, youll only ever have to pay the lower rate. To decide whether a Royal Caribbean drink package offers good value for money or not, you need to consider three key questions: Once you know the answers to these, you can do the maths and work out Is the Royal Caribbean drinks package is worth it? It may be cheaper to pay for drinks individually on your cruise. I had the drink package so I didnt get the answer to this. If you do not opt to prepay gratuities, a daily charge will appear on your SeaPass account every day of the cruise for the daily gratuity rate per guest. Thanks for all the great info. I rarely drink specialty coffee and prefer a cup of hot tea to end my meals. Another drink package option for Royal Caribbean cruisers is the Classic Soda package, which includes fountain soda and refills at any venue, Coca-Cola Freestyle beverages and even a Coca-Cola souvenir cup. Typical increases are around $1 per person, per day and seem to happen about once a year. Royal Caribbean offers a discount when you pre-book your drinks package on the cruise planner before you sail. 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. So you would need to let someone else be served and then order again. Crown & Anchor Diamond status entitles you to attend an Exclusive Nightly Diamond Event between 5 pm and 8 pm each evening where you can receive three free drinks from a list of beers, wines, spirits and sodas. He would hardly be expected to buy the alcohol package too?? All service isnt created equally. I am curious why some of the same drinks are over $13 in one location and $12 or less in another. Ill be cruising in November on Oasis of the Seas. The newer Strawfish biodegradable straws are much better, but I would still recommend bringing your own metal straw, such as these collapsible straws that you can clip onto your bag or belt. The daily gratuities is in addition to the18% gratuityautomatically added to all beverages, mini bar items, and spa & salon purchases. For example, you have worked with the XYZ company for a period of 15 years. Instead of one passenger paying a lot and another paying hardly anything, these set amounts ensure that everyone pays their fair share. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. If you have the Deluxe Beverage Package, youll get a 40% discount on bottled wines priced up to $100 and a 20% discount on wines priced over $100. One other thing. Who gets the tips? ), Can You Work Remotely While Taking a Cruise? Does that include the 16.36% gratuity or will I be charged another 16.36% of 856, which would be another 140 approx ? Whilst it was nice to be able to fill up my drink from the machine, I didnt like that I had to carry the cup everywhere with me. Other major cruise lines already increased their gratuities this year. February 11, 2023 Randy Young Bar Menu, drink package, Royal Caribbean. On Anthem of the Seas and other Quantum-class ships you can order drinks from the robotic bartender. Under certain circumstances, you may be able to buy the Deluxe Beverage Package for one guest and the Refreshment Package for another guest. Great blog exactly the sort of information I was looking for to make in informed decision. However, the cruise line no longer offers these discounts. Royal Caribbean offers guests the choice of prepaying gratuities for select crew members on its ships. Then, contact one with a best-price guarantee and have them beat it! All rights reserved. Jenni. One thing which I noticed is that the bigger the freebie, the higher the base price. Guests that booked directly with Royal Caribbean can pre-pay gratuities by calling 866-562-7625 or logging into www.royalcaribbean.com before their sailing. Royal Caribbean no longer offers a wine package. Suite gratuity rate will change from $17.50 to $18.50 per day per person. Do you plan to buy a drinks package on your next cruise? In this section, Ill answer the most commonly-asked questions about Royal Caribbean drink packages. #36. In fact, we cant think of a place where gratuities are handled the same way as they are on a cruise ship. Guests who booked prior to September 7, 2022 can opt to prepay gratuities prior to sailing to take advantage of the current rates. Bottom line is that it comes down to personal preference. Royal Caribbean charges a gratuity of $16.00 per person, per day. For example, Carnival does not charge tips for kids under two years old. Really, do they get an hourly wage thats so low they need tip to survive? This reduces the price of each coffee from around $4 to around $2. Hi Kristin. Hi, I have harmony of the seas booked for next may but when I have tried to book a drinks package there is no option for this. Is Every Passenger Charged Gratuities? The calculator is powered by JavaScript. In addition, prepaying gratuities locks in the current gratuity rate, even if the rate were to go up later. The tipping rates charged change from time to time. This happens regularly for passengers feeling generous or thankful for the staffs work during their trip. With your support, we can create more exciting content and share with everyone! There are also lots of free drinks available including flavoured water, water and milk as well as fruit juices at breakfast time. Posted 3 hours ago. Where did you see the cheaper prices for the new cruise bookings? Why wouldnt they have the limit at $13 or do I have incorrect info? Is this due to the situation at the moment or have they stopped selling drinks package online. This calculator is not endorsed by Royal Caribbean Group. 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. Like what you see? As a thanks for their service, its customary to provide a tip. This occurs in the Australian cruise market. 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. If youd like to calculate exactly what your gratuity amount will be before you book your trip, then you can use our calculator here. Note that if you live in the UK, youll see your drink packages prices in GBP on the Cruise Planner. 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. That said, its unusual to adjust the gratuity amount, and the staff works extremely hard to make your trip enjoyable. Carnival Cruise Line also increased . I have a question about the free drinks thoughcan we bring our own reusable water bottles to fill them up with the free lemonade/ice tea or are cups readily available for us to use?