trueblue83

bid accepted at the minimum bid for an upgrade from a internal virtual balcony to a Central Park balcony room for our first cruise on Symphony in a couple of weeks. Absolutely delighted to get it for such a low price too.

Delighted I read through all the posts here as think Captain Bobs tour looks like a real winner for both of us when we are there in March.

Regarding Maho beach being a tourist trap, I couldn't care. It's something I always wanted to see and this will probably be my only time there in my life. Some things are inherently touristy but still worth seeing.

3 hours ago, Atlantix2000 said:

I see your location says Dublin.  Part of the confusion is that most answers here come from the US but the rest of the world gets shown things a bit differently.  Someone in the US, might see a daily price of $60 but when we go to check out, we are actually charged $60 * 1.18 = $70.80 per day.  International prices (generally) already include the gratuity so for that same cruise, you would only ever see ~$70.80 per day but in your currency.  That's the theory anyway because prices seem to fluctuate somewhat randomly.  But the good news is that if you have a package, you've already paid the gratuity.

That makes sense as when we were looking first then DBP was $68 per day but when we went to pay it converted to €73 which was one hell of a conversation rate!! Nice to know why that was. 

8 minutes ago, Pooch said:

When you purchase the DBP, gratuities are part of the final cost at check out.  Many like to tip a little extra to the bartenders but it is not necessary.  You have already paid the required 18%.

Thank you. The money for the DBP has come off the credit card already so good to know that included the 18%. 

Some people saying the DBP does included gratuities and others saying it does not. Can some please clarify this?

I have the DBP purchased (€960 for both of us) for our cruise in March and trying to figure out if we'll have any charges at the end (we pre-paid gratuities also).

Going on our first cruise on Symphony in March and added the DBP yesterday. €960 was what was charged to the credit card so can someone confirm this includes the 18% gratuities?

I hoped to get it cheaper than €480 each for the week but coming from Ireland where drinks are expensive (a pint of beer costs near €6 in Dublin) the DBP represents good value for us, but it really does depend on where you are coming from. As in, I have no idea how much a bottle of Heineken will cost me in Miami versus the $8 on the ship.

I still hope to get it cheaper before sailing!