Royal Caribbean offers guests the choice of prepaying gratuities for select crew members on its ships.

The option to prepay gratuities means locking in the current gratuity rate, along with spreading out the overall cost of the cruise by integrating it into the cost of the cruise.

How does gratuity work on Royal Caribbean?

Part of the overall cost of a Royal Caribbean cruise is a service gratuity for recognizing the hard work of crew members.

A daily automatic gratuity rate of $16.00 USD per person, per day for guests in Junior Suites and below, or $18.50 USD per person, per day for guests in Grand Suites and above, is applied to each guest’s SeaPass account on a daily basis. It is applicable to all guests, regardless of age.

These daily gratuities go towards your dining room staff, as well as your stateroom attendant.

If you do not opt to prepay gratuities, a daily charge will appear on your SeaPass account every day of the cruise for the daily gratuity rate per guest.

The daily gratuities is in addition to the 18% gratuity automatically added to all beverages, mini bar items, and spa & salon purchases.

Why should I prepay gratuities?

There are two good reasons to prepay gratuities before your cruise.

Prepaying gratuities before your cruise means you pay off that balance early, instead of accruing a higher balance that is owed at the end of the cruise.  For guests that like to budget their vacations and spread out the total cost of the cruise, this is a popular choice.

In addition, prepaying gratuities locks in the current gratuity rate, even if the rate were to go up later.

Every so often, Royal Caribbean adjusts the gratuity rate, but if you have opted to prepay, you will be grandfathered into the old rate.

The two common rationales for not prepaying are if you have a substantial amount of onboard credit that could offset your SeaPass account charges, or if you prefer to give crew members their automatic gratuity rate in cash.

Gratuities on Royal Caribbean are obligatory, so it is a matter of when you prefer to pay them.

How to prepay gratuities

You can opt into prepaying gratuities at any time, up to 48 hours prior to your sail date.

If you booked your Royal Caribbean cruise with a travel agent, you just need to contact them and ask for gratuities to be added to your reservation.

If you booked directly with Royal Caribbean, you can either call Royal Caribbean or log onto their website and access your account to prepay gratuities.

Royal Caribbean will be raising its automatic daily gratuity amount that guests pay night of their cruise beginning on January 2, 2018.

Beginning January 2, 2018, guests will pay a $14.50 per guest per day service charge to each guest's SeaPass account on a daily basis. For guests in a Grand Suite or above, the amount is $17.50.

Prior to this change, the daily gratuity amount was $13.50 and $16.50. Royal Caribbean last increased their daily gratuity amount in May 2016.

If you have already prepaid your gratuities, you will be grandfathered into the current rates.  Should guests opt not to pay gratuities until onboard, they will be subject to the newly suggested gratuity amounts.

Guests currently booked that have not yet prepaid their gratuities will have until the time of sailing to do so at the old rate. After January 2nd, 2018, gratuities paid while onboard are subject to the new, increased rates. If not prepaid prior to sailing, the new gratuity rate will be automatically applied to your account onboard.

The change has already appeared on Royal Caribbean's UK and Japan sites.

Note: we used Google Translate to translate the Japanese site.

December 26 UPDATE: Royal Caribbean has confirmed the change in gratuity.  Royal Caribbean described the increase as, "Royal Caribbean is constantly reviewing our competitive environment and this adjustment positions us in-line with our competitors. The additional gratuity collected will be disbursed to our onboard crew".

After January 2nd, 2018, regardless of when the booking was created, gratuities paid while onboard are subject to the new, increased rates. Pre-existing bookings confirmed prior to January 2nd, 2018 will not be subject to the increased guidelines as long as gratuities are paid in advance of sailing.

Should guests opt not to pay gratuities until onboard, they will be subject to the newly suggested gratuity amounts.

Royal Caribbean Australia announced today a new fare structure that includes gratuities for stateroom attendants and dining room staff in the cruise price.

With this change, guests will pay a single inclusive cruise fare incorporating all main meals, accommodation, kids club, entertainment and activities. Passengers will continue to have the option to provide a discretional additional gratuity.

The new cruise fares begin on new bookings made December 12, 2016 and onwards, on sailings departing on or after January 15, 2017.

The change means free gratuities will no longer be available as one of the perks included in the Go Big, Go Better, Go Best promotion.

"Guests will see no change to the published price of cruises via any Royal Caribbean point of sale, including website, advertising and call centre pricing," the company said.

Royal Caribbean has announced it will raise its recommended gratuities for sailings that depart on or after May 01, 2016.

Effective April 14th, 2016 for all sailings departing on-or-after May 1st, 2016, a gratuity increase of $0.55 USD per guest per day will be applied. 

The new daily gratuity rates will be as follows

• Junior Suite, Balcony, Ocean View, and Interior staterooms
  • $13.50 per guest, per day
• Suite guests (Grand Suite & Above)
  • $16.50 per guest, per day

Royal Caribbean last increased their daily gratuity amount in May 2015.

The reasoning for increasing the daily gratuity amount is because Royal Caribbean wanted, "to better align with industry standards."

Money saving tip: Any guest that a cruise reservation currently, can have Pre-paid Gratuities added to their existing reservation prior to April 14, 2016 (if you have not done so already) and lock in today's current rate of gratuities of $12.95 per day, per guest for Junior Suites and below or $15.95 per person, per day for Suite guests.

Royal Caribbean will be raising its recommended gratuities for sailings that depart on or after July 1, 2015.

The new recommended daily gratuity amount will be $12.95 per day, per guest for those occupying standard accommodations and $15.95 per person, per day for those in suites.

The new gratuity rate takes effect on sailings that depart on or after July 1, 2015.  Guests that pre-pay their gratuities for existing reservations before June 1st will be able to lock-in the current rate of current guideline of $12.00 per day, per guest in standard accommodations, and $14.95 per day, per suite guest.

Royal Caribbean says the new gratuity amount, "will help recognize the exceptional work that Royal Caribbean's staff and crew does to deliver unforgettable vacations every day."

Tip of the hat to Katina Bradley for alerting us to this change.

EDIT: For clarification, any reservations that you have already made you can have Pre Paid Gratuities added prior to June 1, 2015 if you haven't already and still pay today's current rate for Junior Suites and below of $12.00 per person per day or $14.95 per person per day for suite guests.

Royal Caribbean notified its passengers via email today that as of March 1, 2013, all passengers would be charged an automatic daily gratuity for the crew members in the dining room and housekeeping that serve are traditionally tipped.

Royal Caribbean will add an automatic daily gratuity of $12.00 USD ($14.25 USD for Suite guests) to the onboard account of each guest to be shared by Dining Services Staff, Stateroom Attendants and Other Housekeeping Services Personnel. This new gratuity replaces the previously optional gratuity guidelines.

Passengers who had previously prepaid their gratuities for their upcoming cruise will not be affected by the change.

This change to force all passengers to automatically pay for gratuities can be viewed from two major viewpoints.  First, proponents of the automatic gratuities will point to the fact there have been passengers in the past who do not tip at all and thus, this will guarantee the hard working Royal Caribbean crew members a fair wage.  On the other hand, critics complain that automatic gratuities will lead to sub-par service if crew members are aware they are getting a tip already.

Royal Caribbean's change mirrors what competitors Carnival , Princess, Cunard, Holland America and Norwegian have already instituted.  

All of the competitor cruise lines do allow passengers to go to the guest relations desk onboard the ship and ask to change the automatic gratuity charges if they feel service is not up to the expected levels.

What do you think of the new automatic gratuities on Royal Caribbean cruises? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Royal Caribbean raised the amount it suggests its guests tip its staff onboard its ships to 20%

Royal Caribbean will start the new gratuity recommendations for cruises that depart on or after July 1, 2011.  At that time, passengers will be asked to tip $11.65 per day, up from $9.75 that was previously recommended.

Gratuities onboard are optional, but passengers who choose to prepay their gratuities will be forced to pay the higher rate.

One of the most debated topics when it comes to cruising is gratuities, or tips.  Tips are found throughout your cruise vacation and differ in the amount to give as well as the frequency to give.  Gratuity is general is a very subjective matter but it's something you need to know about before you cruise so you can better plan your budget for your trip.

Obligatory Gratuity

Of all the tips you may or may not hand out, there are a few people on the ship that everyone should tip at least something to.  These are...

• Stateroom attendant
• Waiter
• Assistant Waiter
• Head Waiter

These four people are the crew members you will have the most contact with during your cruise.  While there may be some discussion of how much to tip them, there's little doubt that they all should be tipped at the very least. Because there's so much confusion as to how much to tip, Royal Caribbean provides a list of suggested gratuity amounts.

• Suite attendant: $7.25 USD a day per guest
• Stateroom attendant: $5.00 USD a day per guest
• Dining Room Waiter: $3.75 USD a day per guest
• Assistant Waiter: $2.15 USD a day per guest
• Headwaiter: $0.75 USD a day per guest

These suggested rates are just that...suggestions.  Basically, if you feel the service you received was within your expectations, these amounts are fitting.  If you feel the service was better than you expected, you could always tip more.  Every person has their own ideas of how much tip is "right", so it's up to you but at least these figures will give you a good starting point.

Other Gratuities

You will quickly find gratuity opportunities elsewhere on your cruise.  If you order a drink from a bar or wait staff, a 15% gratuity will automatically be added to your bar bill or wine check when you are served.  There is also an option for tipping more, but generally the automatically included tip will suffice.

Even before you board your cruise, there are porters at the cruise terminal to help you check in your luggage.  These folks tend to be very helpful and it's customary to tip them $1-$2 per bag. It's not required and if you opt not to tip them, your bags will still make it on the ship, however, many opt to tip these people for the prompt service they provide

If you take an excursion, the decision to tip can be less obvious.  Some excursions do include gratuity in the cost of the excursion, so be sure to check the description of any excursion you take to see if that is the case.  It's hard to give a general answer for if it's right to tip on any excursion as it's less clear.  Personally, I recommend tipping if someone gives you or your family service above and beyond what's reasonable.  A good example may be if you are doing a parasailing excursion and the staff gives you or someone in your party a few extra minutes, or perhaps lets your daughter "drive" the boat.  Special things like this are good reasons to tip the staff a few extra dollars.

How to tip

The gratuities for the wait staff and your stateroom attendant can be prepaid either before you book your cruise, added to your SeaPass account during your cruise or paid in cash at the end of your cruise.  Regardless of how you pay for them, labeled envelopes will be delivered to your stateroom during your cruise to allow for an easy exchange of gratuities.

Tipping others is less formal, as you will either be giving them cash or amending the bill you receive after getting a drink.  When you're off the ship, tipping by cash is the preferred method and it's best to bring a lot of $1 and $5 bills with you to have on hand for tipping.  Don't worry about carrying local currency, nearly every destination you visit will be people more than willing to accept United States currency.

When to Tip

In addition to how much to tip, there's a great deal of discussion of when to tip.  Everyone has their own preferences.  Some people like to tip a little at the beginning of the cruise to ensure great service for the rest of the cruise.  Others prefer to tip at the conclusion of the cruise to reward good service.  There isn't a right or wrong way to tip, it's a completely subjective decision.  For your waiters and stateroom attendants, it's most common to tip them on the last night of the cruise.