CuseJeff44

No. I guess I am asking, can I call and just pay them now, 2 months before sailing? I'd like to be as done as possible with all but the fun stuff when I get on board.

I'm unclear about how pre-paid gratuities work. Are they really "pre-paid"? Or are they just automatically placed on your bill to pay on the last night of the cruise? Right now, my bill is zero. But I don't believe I have paid gratuities. I have looked on the site and cant find a place to.

i love hot tubs and will use them. i'll shower after and avoid getting the water in my mouth

I ended up having to call them because it was getting complicated finding a time that we could make all 3 reservations at the same time

thank you

I booked all 3 rooms, and have access to them in my account. But when I try to book at a specialty restaurant, its effectively forcing me to book 3 reservations for 2, 2, and 1 as opposed to just booking a table for 5. We have already linked the reservations for purposes of main dining room. Will this carry over into the specialty restaurants? Should I call and book this by phone?

glad I jumped on $69, its already up to $75. one convenient thing for us. My wife doesn't drink. Maybe she'll get 1 or 2 glasses of wine and a pina colada over the course of the entire week. but we also are booking 2 rooms because we want the kids separate. so we are juggling the rooms in a way that prevents me having to buy it for anyone else (although everyone else is getting the soda)...

7 nights yeah

I just paid $69 but we just booked this cruise for June and I didn't think it would drop much at this point. So, just figured I'd jump on it

We just were assigned 6274 on Oasis. Based on this thread it seems like a solid placement, but does anyone have any more specific feedback on this area of this ship?

Hi all. Does RCCL offer any vow renewal packages? I'm not looking for a big fancy event. Just maybe a ship officer and a venue. There's just 5 of us on the ship. I'd like to surprise my wife with it if possible. Thank you in advance.

Ah that makes sense. So we could each use it on our own devices, just only one at a time. Thanks!

Or is it one device per person? I feel like I am missing something.

I just wish it was one or the other. If there is still going to be an expectation, or even an environment in which that expectation can emerge, then just lose the auto tips entirely, or make them totally opt-in. Still creates a have or have not setup with some people toting around envelopes and some not. Just not a fan of that vibe.

I think my bottom line is this. I like auto gratuities conceptually if it means I am "done". I hate the idea of auto tipping and THEN being expected to tip more. And I got that pressure on my last cruise with another cruise line. But I am looking forward to this cruise on Celebrity as I have heard this is not a common occurrence here

My plan is to do the included gratuities, tip a couple bucks on things like drinks and spa, and then maybe have a very small supplemental tip (between $20-50 depending on who we are talking about) ready if the service is above and beyond for the other key staff. That's it. That's all I can budget for.

Thank you all again for your help. I plan on doing the auto tipping as usual. I'll probably have a small amount of cash on hand for extra, but as per all of you above, I appreciate that it likely won't be pressured as I experienced on my last cruise. Super excited to try a Celebrity cruise after having only sailed RCCL to date. 🙂

I completely forgot I posted that. The waiter on our last cruise was VERY pushy asking for an extra tip. Laying deep guilt trips about how his salary was cut and he needs tips to make up for it etc. I recall being pretty uncomfortable and I now recall posting it. It was one of the reasons that we strongly considered bailing on cruising altogether, but eventually decided to just try a different line. Based on the comments above I look forward to trying Celebrity. I apologize for bothering anyone with my post here. It was really more about trying to see what the norm was on Celebrity. I appreciate the info received.

I usually tip a small supplemental amount at bars and spas....couple bucks per drink, etc. ...the micro transactions. I am mostly referring to waitstaff and room attendants who I have always assumed were covered by the pre-pay/auto tip.

That's actually a fair point regarding the waitstaff.

But that doesn't solve for the fact there still seems to be an expectation of a cash tip. The pre-pay vs charge to room isn't the dilemma, I am fine with either. It's that it appears there is an expectation for 2 sets of gratuities which seems to make things more complicated than ever

Which thus lends me to wonder what the point of pre-paying is at all if I still need to ensure I have cash on hand for tips. Eh...I think that the process was so much easier when you just handed everyone an envelope at the end.

I just booked a Celebrity Cruise. I am asking about the process on Celebrity and how it varies from my experience on RCCL. I want to be prepared for my upcoming cruise and make the best choice possible.

Bear Down.

I'm saying that I got the impression on my last cruise that whether or not you prepaid there was an expectation of cash at the end. May as well give it all at the end, by hand, if this is the expectation. But again, this was on my last cruise which was RCCL. Not sure if this is the norm, or the expectation everywhere, thus the ask