When you sail with Royal Caribbean (RCL) Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) or Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) the cost of your ticket is not the full price of your journey.
Yes, paying for a cruise ticket gets you a lot: your room, a variety of included dining options, lots of entertainment, pools, and some basic drinks. But if you want to eat at specialty restaurants and drink sodas, adult beverages, or anything other than a very ordinary cup of coffee, you’ll pay extra.
Plus, you pay a bit more for things like cake or sushi-making classes, as well as arcade games, escape rooms, and other entertainment that aren’t included.
You don’t need to buy any of those things to enjoy your cruise. Fun on a Caribbean, Carnival or Norwegian cruise is possible without spending extra money on extra food, drinks or entertainment.
But again, that doesn’t mean your basic cruise ticket covers all your expenses. And Royal Caribbean has now followed Carnival and Norwegian in raising a headline fee that isn’t included in your base cruise fare.
Image source: Royal Caribbean.
Royal Caribbean Increases Tipping Rates
Onboard gratuities – daily tips per person that go to your room attendant, main dining room waiters and other onboard staff – can be paid before your cruise or will be added to your daily bill each day of your voyage.
These rewards are in addition to an additional 18% on a la carte beverage, spa and lounge purchases made on board.
If you pay in advance, you not only get the fee out of the way, but you’ll also have a lower fee if Royal Caribbean raises the fees to pay before your cruise.
An important tip: If you have significant credit on board, it may make sense to choose not to prepay.
Cruise passengers can obtain onboard credit in a variety of ways. Some get it when the price of their cruise drops after their final payment is set (you have to ask for this, so be vigilant) and others get it as a thank you from their travel agent.
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If you have a loan and don’t plan to buy much on board, using it to pay your rewards makes sense.
Royal Caribbean on Aug. 23 sent an email to passengers on upcoming cruises, telling them that toll fees were increasing.
As you prepare to set sail, we wanted to let you know about an update to our daily pay rates. Effective September 7, 2022, the automatic daily reward rate will increase from $14.50 to $16 per guest, per day for non-suite rooms and from $17.50 to $18.50 per guest, per day for suites. The daily allowance is split between dining, bar and kitchen staff, room attendants and other hotel service teams.
The cruise line noted that passengers can avoid the hikes.
“If you would like to pre-pay your rewards at the current rate prior to your cruise, we are happy to extend this option to you,” RCL said. “If you prefer to pay onboard, your reward fee will be applied to your onboard account at the new rate.”
Norwegian carnivals and rewards already set up
Both Carnival and Norwegian raised award fees earlier this summer.
Carnival made changes to its fares in May:
- Standard rooms: $14.50, per person, per day (from $13.99)
- Suites: $16.50, per person, per day (up from $15.99)
Norway raised its remuneration rates in April, Cruzely reported.
- $20 per person, per day for The Haven and Suites (previously $18.50)
- $18 per person, per day for Club Balcony Suites (no change)
- $16 per person, per day for all other cabins. (was $15.50)
Many passengers on all three cruise lines also choose to tip directly from crew members who provide excellent service. They can include your room attendant, waiters, bartenders and any crew member whose efforts go above and beyond.
Additional tipping is, of course, optional, but crew members generally work very long days, which have been made longer by pandemic-related staffing shortages.
