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7 minutes ago, NJCruisers said:

As a newbie, can you tell me if your rates are locked in from when you booked or do they go up by sail date?  

From what I understand, your rate is locked if you choose to prepay gratuities, but not if you choose to wait until you are on board to pay. If you used a travel agent, just ask them to tack gratuities onto your invoice as you would like to prepay them. If you booked directly with Royal, I'd imagine you could call them to have them do it, but I don't have experience with that as I've always used a TA. 

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38 minutes ago, spiralqueen said:

From what I understand, your rate is locked if you choose to prepay gratuities, but not if you choose to wait until you are on board to pay. If you used a travel agent, just ask them to tack gratuities onto your invoice as you would like to prepay them. If you booked directly with Royal, I'd imagine you could call them to have them do it, but I don't have experience with that as I've always used a TA. 

Thanks - I did book with a TA and have prepaid my gratuities.  

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For those that are curious, the following is the email I received the last time RC raised gratuities:

As you prepare to set sail, we wanted to notify you of an update to our daily gratuity charges. As of January 2, 2018, Royal Caribbean will be increasing the automatic daily gratuity charge from $13.50 to $14.50 per guest, per day for regular staterooms and from $16.50 to $17.50 per guest, per day for suites. The daily gratuity is shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams.
 
We’d like to extend the opportunity to pre-pay your gratuities before your sail date at the current rate. If you’d like to pay onboard, your gratuity charge applied will be at the new rate.
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I saw this posted on facebook today.  I did not prepay my gratuities when I recently booked my cruise.  Would it be a good idea to pay them now so I don't see the increase if it happens?  I know its a small amount, but per person per day all adds up.  Less money to spend on vacation, when its going towards vacation.

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I personally enjoy the ease of prepaying gratuities, however, the premise of fixed gratuities is greatly flawed as the definition of a gratuity is 'something given voluntarily or beyond obligation'. I find it amusing that they chose to continue to use the term gratuity rather than call it a service charge or something like that.

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13 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I personally enjoy the ease of prepaying gratuities, however, the premise of fixed gratuities is greatly flawed as the definition of a gratuity is 'something given voluntarily or beyond obligation'. I find it amusing that they chose to continue to use the term gratuity rather than call it a service charge or something like that.

I agree with you about the gratuities really being a service charge.  If it is a true gratuity, it is optional.  Anything required is a charge.  Period.

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