What Does Prepaid Gratuities On A Cruise Mean?

Prepaid gratuities are included in the special deal of a cruise line, allowing passengers to budget their cruise expenses more accurately and avoid surprises at the end of the cruise. They can be prepaid at the time of booking or as part of the onboard bill. Prepaid gratuities cover the standard daily service charge added to your cruise account, which is distributed among the crew members who provide excellent service.

Royal Caribbean offers guests the choice of prepaying gratuities for select crew members on its ships. This option locks in the current gratuity rate and means that Cruise Specialists have negotiated a special offer for you, without you being expected or charged for tips. On most big-ship mainstream lines, the service crew members are dependent on the generosity of travelers for the majority of their salary.

Prepaid gratuities cover the per person gratuity for stateroom attendants and dining staff, as well as gratuities on purchases like drinks. Most cruise lines have an automatic daily gratuity amount that is charged on a per-person, per-day basis. Gratuities may be modified in the guest’s sole discretion.

In summary, prepaid gratuities are an option for travelers to pay the automatically added tips when they book the cruise, ensuring that service charges are settled. They cover the standard daily service charge added to the cruise account and do not cover any additional service charges. However, gratuities may be modified in the guest’s discretion.

Is there a benefit to prepaying gratuities on Royal Caribbean?

It’s easier to keep track. Royal Caribbean occasionally adjusts gratuity rates. By prepaying, you’re prtected from any increases before your cruise begins.

Are prepaid gratuities worth it on a cruise?

Just like you and me, they deserve fair compensation for the excellent services they provide throuhout the cruise. Prepaying gratuities allows you to settle your entire balance before embarking. No surprises during the trip. When you repay gratuity charges is clearly outlines in your booking.

What happens if you don’t prepay gratuities on a cruise?

What happens if you don’t prepay gratuities on a cruise?. If you do not prepay cruise gratuities before sailing, the cruise line will add them to your onboard bill. The cruise line will then charge your credit card for the gratuity amount at the end of the sailing — along with other purchases you made with your cruise card (drinks, souvenirs, spa treatments, tours, etc.).

The answer to this question is complicated, so bear with me.

If you have prepaid gratuities during the cruise booking process, you cannot remove them on board. The cruise line has had your money for months, and it won’t give it back.

Can you remove pre paid gratuities on Royal Caribbean?

Yes, just go to guest services and ask them to remove it. It’ll be credited to obc.

What if you don’t tip on a cruise?

To avoid issues, some lines that cater to passengers in regions where tipping isn’t customary the U.K. and Australia, for example simply roll any such service charges into the overall cruise fares. However, most cruise lines are based in the U.S., where the crew members’ pay structure is based on tips.

If you refuse to tip on principle, you are impacting the salaries of the people who have served you well onboard.

What Our Members Say: “I don’t tip. Do I feel bad for it? No… I’m British.” cruisefan2012.

Why You Might Keep Automatic Cruise Gratuities. 1. You’ve Received Great Service. This one’s a given. If you loved your sailing and feel the crew did a superb job, leave your tips as they are. (You might even want to give an extra tip to specific crew members who served you well.) Even if you had a minor grumble here or there, or you had a negative experience with a particular employee, seriously consider whether it warrants removing your tips altogether.

How do you avoid gratuities on a cruise?

Most lines allow passengers to adjust or remove automatic tips by visiting the front desk. The exception? Norwegian Cruise Lines, who requires cruisers to file a reimbursement request after the cruise ends.

But just because you can remove gratuities doesn’t mean you should. Below, we explore the pros and cons of tipping versus not tipping on a cruise, and consider times when passengers may or may not think about removing cruise auto-gratuities.

Why You Might Remove Automatic Cruise Gratuities. 1. You’ve Received Subpar Service. It’s rare that all areas of onboard service are lacking, but it’s certainly not out of the question. If you notice a problem that makes you think twice about tipping, be sure to speak with someone at the front desk who can try to resolve your issue before removing tips becomes necessary. If you truly feel as though the crew has performed below an acceptable standard, you reserve the right to ask for a refund of the amount charged to your account for tips or to decrease it as you see fit.

**What Cruise Critic Messageboard Members Say: “**I withdrew the standard tip on a recent cruise due to horrible service. All I asked is that the restaurant where the horrible service occurred would not receive the tip and even asked that they reassign that tip to the cabin stewards. It was a point of principle. We were told no and we had to withdraw all. We did this but tipped individually the appropriate people as advised by guest relations and indeed to excess.” Pavovsky.

Do you tip on a cruise if gratuity is included?

Cruise lines are very upfront about their tipping policies. Unless you are on an all-inclusive ship that covers the majority of gratuities in the cruise fare, such as luxury cruise lines Azamara, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and Virgin Voyages, it is recommended that you tip the crew.

How much to tip on a cruise is actually easier to figure out than you may think, with major cruise lines providing precise tipping guidelines and even automatically adding a suggested gratuity amount to passengers’ onboard account. Some cruise lines even allow passengers to prepay gratuities before they board. Thus, there’s usually no need to determine how much to tip each individual crew member, such as the waiter or the housekeeper—you can often do it all in one lump sum at the start or end of the cruise.

Why are tips expected? The gratuities are supplemental income for the international crew, who often work for low base wages knowing that tips will help augment the amount they are paid—in a similar manner to the tips that waiters at your local restaurant receive. While not technically required, tips are generally expected when noted by the cruise line.

How do I avoid gratuities on Royal Caribbean?

Gratuities may be modified in the guest’s sole discretion by visiting the Guest Relations desk onboard at any time prior to the morning of disembarkation. Guests sailing in group reservations should check with their group leader or travel agent for additional details.

* Not applicable wherever expressly prohibited by law.

Can you decline gratuity on Royal Caribbean?

Gratuities may be modified in the guest’s sole discretion by visiting the Guest Relations desk onboard at any time prior to the morning of disembarkation. Guests sailing in group reservations should check with their group leader or travel agent for additional details.

* Not applicable wherever expressly prohibited by law.

Do cruise gratuities actually go to staff?

Cruise lines say they pass the money collected from service charges to the shipboard crew. They say the money is shared not just with front-of-house crew, such as room attendants and waitstaff, but also with behind-the-scenes workers. In that sense, the current system is more equitable than the old system of cash tipping, which favored certain workers, lines say.

Still, some critics see the charges as a sneaky way for cruise lines to make their fares appear lower than they really are. In this line of thinking, lines with these charges are essentially breaking out a good chunk of onboard labor costs as a separate line item on your bill.

How service charges are levied. At most lines, you can pay your service charges before sailing (at the same time you pay your cruise fare). Alternatively, you can have the charges added to your room bill on board.

Do I have to tip if I prepaid gratuities?

Pre-paid gratuities means that we {Cruise Specialists} have negotiated a special offer for you and you are not expected nor will you be charged for tips.

On most big-ship mainstream lines, the service crew members are dependent on the generosity of travelers for the vast majority of their salary. Luxury cruise lines often have no-tipping policies where the gratuities are already included in the fares.

VARIED POLICIES. Tipping is a source of some confusion (and much discussion among some passengers) because policies vary from line to line and often it is not sufficiently explained by the cruise lines once passengers are on-board.

Cruise line tipping policies generally fall into three different categories:

Can I refuse to pay cruise gratuities?

You have the right to refuse this automatic gratuity charge and may compensate cruise staff on your own terms. However, you will need to notify the front desk of this desire. Otherwise it will appear on your bill when your cruise ends and it will be charged to your credit card on file.

Suggested gratuities policies.Before the concept of automatic gratuities was put in place, cruise lines provided guests with tip envelopes and a suggested daily amount for the individuals they are served by every day.

For example, it might be suggested to give the cabin steward and main dining room waiters each $3 per day per person, the Maitre D a $1 a day, $5 for any tour guides, etc.