hi there are six of us travelling and

i have just come off the INDO and would like to make a comment regarding the gratuities ..i paid for a party of six to travel...BALCONY.S...i also paid up front the gratuities which came to £462...i was not on ..mytime dining either.. not given the choice... can i just say that all of us felt that was far to much ..i would advise anyone else travelling not to pay the gratuities upfront and to wait until you are onboard and make your own mind up as to whome you want to tip and how much also, as at the end of the cruise you are just given slips of paper telling you who you are tipping and not how much either...not all persons on the slips of paper were due to be given a tip at all...people who do not pay gratuities ufront are not treated any differant from anyone else who have so make your mind up at the end of your trip as to whome you want to tip.. i am not saying dont tip but the price RC are advising you in our opinion is to much..where else do you get tips like this for doing your daily job..mags...x

The 15% on the drinks is a set service charge and not a gratuity! You have no choice in the matter to alter and is an integral part of cruising on all of the Royal Caribbean cruise ships.

Also just to add, iff you and your party think you will have more than 6-7 drinks per day,alcoholic that is, it might be cheaper for you to buy the drinks packages, they range I think from $39 to $55 each per day, both people per cabin have to buy them, only you can descide wether it will be worth it....Brian

These are two separate kinds of gratuities.

The ones you have paid are for those of the crew who serve you in one way or another and are not obligatory unless you are on My Time Dining

The ones on drinks and spa treatments and the like are mandatory and are added to your bill when you purchase certain items.

On Independence of the Seas, however, I do not think that they have reintroduced the extra gratuity on drinks yet so it looks like you aren't charged ( I just think they raised the price of the drinks to cover it so it looks like you don't pay, call me a cynic if you like

So after all that ....no I don't think you will pat 15% extra on drinks. Someone will correct me if it has changed I'm sure. ......Neil