kruzgal

Totally agree. There is no transparency at all with this decision.

Before it started sailing Iona did advertise Geiranger. That is what is so frustrating.

I am extremely annoyed as I booked this cruise a long time ago, when it was stopping at Geiranger. It was then announced it wasn’t going there but would be stopping at Hellesylt and doing a sail by Geirangerfjord. It is extremely bad form of P&O to now remove the sail by after final payment. How kind of them to offer us the opportunity to book a shore excursion with them and pay more money to go to the place they should have taken us in the first place! No thanks, we will book a private shore excursion, either rib ride or the ferry. I have messaged them with my complaint.

Royal Caribbean don’t just sail out of the US…..they go from Southampton!

Agreed. P&O UK have done this and I feel so much more comfortable with this arrangement. I feel sorry for Royal staff as when ships sail from the UK there are queues of people at guest services lining up to remove ‘gratuities’. We just don’t have the same tipping culture and it all feels so awkward. I really hate it.

Royal Caribbean should just pay their staff properly. Tips should be an extra for good service not what the staff need to live.

You are absolutely spot on with this. As soon as Anthem arrives in the UK there will be queues of people at the concierge desk waiting to remove the auto tips. I feel for the crew but our tipping culture is different and 18% is unheard of here.. It’s no coincidence that P&O, a UK cruise line, now includes ‘gratuities’’ within the fare and people tip extra if they want to. It’s a very popular move.

There is not the same tipping culture in the UK and I really wish Royal Caribbean would recognise this and include the wages (which is what they are) within the advertised fare. In fact I think they should do this everywhere. The fact is that people who pay tips are subsidising those who remove them. Time to make everyone pay within the cruise fare and pay proper wages. You could then tip extra for good service if you get it.

Clearly a marketing ploy then.

It’s frustrating as I checked the price this morning and it hadn’t changed but by the time I got home from work it had dropped and sold out.

The 3 night dining package on our cruise was dropped in price today and is now showing as sold out. Is it likely we will be able to buy it onboard or is that it?

How are the gratuities usually charged and how much are they? I think the gratuities might be included in the UK price but it isn’t mentioned at all in the cruise planner.

I have now decided to wait. It’s currently $134 for a UK cruise which seems expensive. Not sure if that includes gratuity or if that gets added on top when you book, but I suspect it gets added. I will keep monitoring but at that price it’s a bit too high.

They do for drinks but not for the actual cruise. Gratuities are still added but lots of people remove them. The worst of all worlds.

I wish there were no such thing as auto gratuities, like P&O. The staff are paid a salary and the costs are included within the fare. If you want to tip extra in cash to a member of staff who has been particularly good then you can. In the UK we don’t have such a tipping culture and it must create problems when Royal Caribbean ships home port here.

Thanks for your advice. Yes, I meant the 3 night package. I will go ahead and purchase now. I am still a bit confused by the $20 thing. Is that something you can have for lunch in addition to the dinner or is it instead of dinner, in which case it seems poor value given that the package works out at $45 per meal.

We are cruising for the first time in years and with RC for the first time in many years. I am thinking of buying the 3 day dining package but have a couple of questions. Does the price tend to fluctuate in the way the beverage package seems to, or is it pretty fixed? Also what does the $20 credit refer to? Is that towards lunch or something else? Thanks for your help.

I am also trying to understand this having just booked our first cruise post pandemic and returning to Royal after a long time. Can you have 3 speciality dinners and also $20 per day towards lunch in an a la carte speciality? If not then this doesn’t seem to make financial sense at all, but maybe I am confused!

I follow Emma Cruises on YouTube and she talked about starting to book US guests on P&O trips recently so might be worth contacting her to ask. There will be no price change if it drops after booking so make sure you are happy with the deal when you book.

It is my understanding that P&O have recently made it easier for US guests to book, which is good. The current exchange rate will go in your favour and you will find the drinks cheap onboard, plus no extra tips on top as it’s all included. Leaving from Southampton it will be largely Brits onboard. Not sure about the older ships, but generally it will be slightly better dressed in the main dining room in the evening than our most recent (pre pandemic) Royal cruise, where anything went. It won’t have ice skating rinks or rock climbing walls and in December getting up early for sun beds won’t be an issue.