Am i obligated to pay the gratuity fee on the cruise?

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You don't have to tip. It's just like if you went to a restaurant, or got your hair cut. It is really based on the service that was offered. They do provide you with "suggested tipping" to assist you in your decision. But, in all reality, I think you should tip based on the service provided. We cruised in January with Royal. We had a top notch room attendant who went out of his way to do anything and everything for us. We tipped him over the "suggested" tip rate. But, on the flip side, we didn't tip our dining attendants because we never ate in the dining room, always at the buffet.

kaisatsu

No, you are not obligated to pay the gratuity. If they are not discretionary, then they should be clearly outlined as mandatory or labeled as service fees rather than gratuities. However, the situation is very similar to restaurant wait staff in the US, where the staff depend in large part on the gratuities to make up a large part of their salaries.

The cruise line sets out guidelines for how much you should tip various crew members including your wait staff, cabin steward, etc. This is usually fully outlined by the cruiseline in their information and can often be found on the website.

Many cruiselines have moved to an automatic gratuity system, and the suggested amount is automatically added to your ship account to paid with your other onboard expenses. If this is the case, in the event that you receive bad service or do not feel that the full amount is warranted, you can go to the purser's desk and request to have the automatic gratuity adjusted. (You can also have an additional amount added for exceptional service.)

Since the gratuities are discretionary, I've found that it's one of the easiest places for travel agencies to add in extras. Since cruise fares tend to be fairly fixed and it's difficult for one agency to sell an itinerary for less than others, I often see that cruise specialists will include pre-paid gratuities during sales and promotions. On a long cruise, the gratuities can really add up, so taking advantage of the travel agent's offer to pay them can save quite a bit.

Tivogal

they suggest and recommend gratuities. I dont' believe you are obligated

However the tips that people give are suppliments to lower wages that the cruise lines pay most of their staff.

cruisecritic.com is helpful on this issue.

have a good cruise.

cruise junkie

you do not have to pay any gratuity's if you don't want to . I have a couple in my group that never pay it. But they do wait until the last night to have it taken off there bill, as there room steward who gives you your bill in your cabin will see it if you take it off too soon , and if there not getting a tip , your not getting very good service .. personally i leave it on and also give cash to any one that goes above and beyond . but if your on a tight budget don't let tips stop you from doing something. they really get enough your not going to break them.. tip who you want and enjoy your self

Mary L

You are not obligated to pay the fee, and can have it removed or adjusted. As to traditional tipping, you can certainly do that. I generally do daily fee bit, but do something additional for my waiter and assistant waiter in the dining room, and for steward. I had a cabin steward on the QE2 who made sure to have fresh ice available at all times (rather than the usual once-a-day), found some extra clothes hangers for me, and who always brought fresh towels twice a day -- she was absolutely excellent, and I left her $300 extra at the end of the 2 weeks on board.

1Cheapcruise

Some on-line agencies offer pre-paid gratuities ...

Kevin L

Unlike what Amy says even if you don't eat in the Dining Room, you are still supposed to tip the servers in whatever venue you do eat in.

You are not obligated to pay gratuity. But, the crew depends on their tips for income. They wait staff gets a very small salary about $50 a month if that. Without tips from passengers they wouldn't make any money. So, their tips are very important to them. They also work very hard at what they do, and to not pay them for their service just so you can try and save a few bucks is kind of sad.

So, while you are not obligated to tip, it would show what kind of person you are if you chose not to.

sweetescapes_travel

You do have the option to tip in cash at the end of your cruise if you would like as well on a lot of cruise lines, which would give you the option to give what it is you think is a fair amount. However, the "set amounts" that the cruise line has is very minimal and it is known that the service you receive is awesome on most cruises and generally you will end up wanting to tip more than the recommended amount. It adds up to right at $10 a day on most cruise lines and that covers your cabin attendant, waiter, head waiter, assistant waiter. Room service is paid cash like you would at any hotel.

Amy

Every cruise I've been on I've nixed the gratuity for the dining room staff because I never eat in the dining room, so it is possible to lower or eliminate it. But I was on Carnival, so other lines may have different policies. If you call and ask, they should give you an honest answer.

captchrista

if it does not say you have to then you do not. but just to let you know the people on these ships don't get paid well at all. that is why they do not hire americans. it is really sad. and they have a contract that if they do not stay the whole time they receive even less. lets just say they are not even close to what we consider minimum wage. but no you don't have to tip and should not if its not warranted. good luck and have a great time.,

wellmaintained

best site to check out, www.vacationstogo.com lots of information, and you can call them also

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