masterdrago Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 To prepay or not to prepay. We're sailing on our first Alaska cruise next year (Grand Suite on Radiance 13 night Grand Mountain Marvels SB) but have done several LOS to Caribbean. Joy has always done our extras pre-cruise (specialty restaurants, our drink packages, etc). Our Alaska adventure will have a big OBC. I think I can use them to purchase stuff we did pre-cruise in past. My question is will the gratuities be the same if charged daily vs pre-paying. I know that drink packages will most likely be more purchased onboard. How much difference? Will gratuities be the same? One other question. Are the gratuities for the full 13 days or just the time on the ship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTLH Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 One question it the OBC Royal issued or TA issued. If Royal issued it can be used in the Cruise Planner. 2 minutes ago, masterdrago said: Are the gratuities for the full 13 days or just the time on the ship? Just the ship portion. 3 minutes ago, masterdrago said: will the gratuities be the same if charged daily vs pre-paying Will be the same 4 minutes ago, masterdrago said: I know that drink packages will most likely be more purchased onboard. How much difference? Will gratuities be the same? Based on current trends, I'd expect the Deluxe packages to be in the $60-62 range. Gratuity amount will still remain at 18% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 One benefit of pre-paying ship gratuity is in the event they increase in 2019. If you add them now to the booking, they are locked in at current rates but they aren't actually paid until final payment due date, typically 90 days prior to sailing. If the OBC is Royal OBC, then as @CGTLH eluded to, you will have the ability to apply that OBC towards cruise planner purchases such as shore excursions or drink packages. If the OBC is offered by a travel agency, it typically appears on your SeaPass account around day two of the cruise while on board. If the latter then using TA OBC to cover gratuity charges can be a smart way to use a large OBC so don't pre-pay gratuity in that event, but if there are increases in gratuity in 2019 you would end up paying the new 2019 gratuity rates. Maybe give Joy a call and ask her thoughts. As an experienced TA she will know the best approach given your past purchasing trends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 26, 2018 Report Share Posted July 26, 2018 12 hours ago, masterdrago said: My question is will the gratuities be the same if charged daily vs pre-paying. More than likely the same, but keep in mind every so often RC will raise gratuity rate. Not sure when your sailing is, but it is possible that between now and your sailing gratuity rate would go up and in that situation, prepaying would have grandfathered you into the old rate. If gratuity rate does go up, I'd post about it on the blog, but I wanted to let you know there's a possibility of a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted July 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 Thanks for the comeback. I thought I saw where the gratuity just went up in Dec. or Jan. Our room grat is $17.50pp/pd so $245 for the cruise. Have I got that right? And 18% on drink packages and excursions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTLH Posted July 28, 2018 Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 10 minutes ago, masterdrago said: 18% on drink packages and excursions? Just the drink package would have gratuity added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masterdrago Posted July 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 Has anyone seen the deluxe drink package for less than $42? Our cruise is still 300 days out but was just watching the price. It's now $48, was $42. Is it normal for it to slide around so much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGTLH Posted July 28, 2018 Report Share Posted July 28, 2018 1 hour ago, masterdrago said: Has anyone seen the deluxe drink package for less than $42? Our cruise is still 300 days out but was just watching the price. It's now $48, was $42. Is it normal for it to slide around so much? Best I've seen as of late is $47 +18% gratuity. Discount wise it is the claimed "Buy one, get one 50% off". Don't recall the last time I've seen the 30% off promotion ($43-44 range). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 16 hours ago, masterdrago said: Has anyone seen the deluxe drink package for less than $42? Our cruise is still 300 days out but was just watching the price. It's now $48, was $42. Is it normal for it to slide around so much? I've now seen $42 for both my Freedom cruise last April and my upcoming Anthem cruise in October. As far out as you are, it will definitely fluctuate a lot as sales come and go. Highest prices I saw were $48 for Freedom, and I believe $52 for Anthem (just the Deluxe package, not the combo Deluxe + VOOM offer); the Anthem price was at the beginning of the packages being offered, and the non-sale price has slowly dropped to $48/night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted July 29, 2018 Report Share Posted July 29, 2018 Also, given that your sailing is still 300 days out, I would suggest holding off using your OBC to pre-pay your gratuities until you're closer to sail date and the chances of a re-pricing in your favor are lower. If you used that OBC and then re-price on a new promotion that has less OBC, you could end up either unable to reprice or having whatever was purchased with the OBC auto-canceled (since repricing is really a cancel and immediate rebook). I've had OBC available for pre-sailing purchases twice now, and haven't used it either time. I know there's more than enough on the ship I'm likely to spend money on that I'd rather just pay on the credit card for all the pre-cruise stuff, including my tips. The most recent time that Royal raised the base tip rate, they did grandfather all bookings made before a specific date (Jan 1, 2018 in this case), provided they pre-paid the tips before boarding; those who still chose to pay at the end of their cruise were charged the new rate. Hopefully if the rates go up again for 2019, they will offer the same grandfathering for passengers like you who booked far in advance. Sweety 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.