What is included in your Royal Caribbean cruise fare

If you are new to cruising or have cruised before but not with Royal Caribbean, you might be wondering what is included in the cruise fare.

With so many facilities and different dining options, it can be difficult to budget for your cruise.

I cruised in August with Royal Caribbean and was pleasantly surprised at what was included in the cruise fare.

The value for money is fantastic.

Your cabin facilities will differ depending on what type you book. We booked a cabin for 3 with a balcony which looked inside the ship over the central park.

We had a double bed and then a double sofa bed. To be honest the sofa bed took over the extra space in the cabin and you could not even get to the balcony without climbing over!

The storage space was fantastic. The bathroom was great and show gel and shampoo was provided if needed. The balcony was a good size with a table and 2 chairs.

Gratuities or tips – you can either prepay the tips or these will be added to your onboard account to be paid at the end of the cruise. You can choose to remove the gratuities and tip who you like. You will be given a slip to name the staff who wow you and you can tip those people how you wish.  

If you buy a drink at the bar or dine in one of the speciality dining rooms you will be charged an 18% gratuity.

If you purchase a drinks package or have a free drinks package included with your cruise fare, the gratuity is taken care of.

We had a free deluxe drinks package and a soda package for Ella – the package was fantastic and we did not spend a penny on drinks during the whole cruise!  

If you do not have a drinks package, you can help yourself to the following drinks throughout the cruise.. Tap water is safe to drink, milk, tea, coffee, lemonade, juice (at breakfast) and hot chocolate.

There are also so many dining options which are included in the price. The main dining room and buffet restaurant. You can also grab a snack at the cafe promenade. We enjoyed breakfast here many mornings to avoid the busy buffet! Sorrentos serve pizza and salad, The dog house on the Oasis class ships – I never knew there were so many types of sausage! And the park cafe.

All speciality restaurants have a cover charge.

Room service has a cover charge of $7.95 or continental breakfast is complementary

Kids clubs are free for children ages 3-17, there is a charge between 10 pm and 2 am of approx $7 per hour. There is also a charge for babies.

All the shows are included and most entertainments are included as standard.

Flo rider, ice skating, rock climbing, mini golf, zip line, the gym, water parks and slides are all included in your cruise fare.

If you book a class, for example, surf lessons or a treatment at the spa or a class in the gym, then you will pay extra for that.

The North Star also comes with a small charge.

Do you think cruising is a great value for money?

Have you been charged for something you thought would be free?

Thank you for reading

Love Rosie xxx