Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean change to tips policy

Passengers of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will no doubt be rejoicing at the change of tipping policy.

It has now been confirmed that passengers will not have to pre-pay their gratuities if they wish to take the flexible dining option.

I am really pleased to hear this as well, not because it has ever bothered me personally as I prefer to pre-pay my gratuities, but because I know a lot of my clients feel very strongly about the subject and have had occasions in the past where cruisers will refuse to  book if there is only flexi-dining left and they would have been forced to pre-pay the gratuities.

I was always led to believe that this policy was in place as on the flexi-dining option passengers would be potentially be seated at different tables on different nights and pre-paying would mean everyone got their fair share.

I know most passengers that don’t pre-pay say that they don’t allow them to be added to their on-board accounts and like to tip people personally. I can’t imagine all of the waiters in the open dining room now getting a fair share although I should imagine it will make the crew try harder to gain tips from people that haven’t pre-paid.

I wonder what reason Royal Caribbean have for this u-turn in policy ?

I personally think that the tips should be included in the cruise price and not optional like Thomson or Azamara Club Cruises for example, this sort of thing never seems to be an issue then.