Hot Tipping Topic

Once upon a time if you was sailing with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity and wanted their option of anytime/select dining you had no choice but to pre pay the gratuities for a service yet to be received.

The only choice not to pre pay your gratuities was to opt for a set dining time. If the dining time was already full and the only choice was anytime dining, you was forced to pay these gratuities.

For some this was acceptable and for others not so, as they felt they shouldn’t be forced to pay for a service they where yet to receive.

Last year Royal Caribbean decided to allow guests the choice to either pre pay or remove gratuities at time of booking from all dining options. Great news for us Brits whom are still not quite on board (forgive the pun) of paying gratuities. Lots of requests was made for bookings already made for gratuities to be removed and guests was then given the choice to have them added daily to their on board account automatically or remove them completely and pay as they see fit at the end of the cruise.

Royal Caribbean

This week Celebrity cruises announced that they will now also allow their guests to remove gratuities from all their dining options. Following in the footsteps of their sister company Royal Caribbean. Hooray I hear guests shouting as already this week, I have taken calls asking for their gratuities to be removed from their select dining option.

Celebrity Cruises

Our Cruise Bulletin posted on this earlier in the week (see below) and as you will see there have been lots of comments made.

As I advise all my guests, gratuities is always a topic for conversation and everyone will have their own preference of how they wish to pay for the service they receive.

So whats your opinion to pre tip or not to pre tip?

Dawn

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Cruise Line Reverses Position On Compulsory Tipping