UBP Gratuity

[Keith.W]

We have the upcoming beverage program on our September getaway booking as part of the freestyle choice offer sailing in the Haven. I have noticed in some reviews that people had to pay the gratuity on the drink with the beverage program, is this correct? the reason i ask is that when i pre purchased my UBP on my last cruise which was on the Epic Western Med, i noticed no extra bar charges even tho the gratuity showed i was never charged it.

 

I know its a small charge, but i tipped accordingly

[cliffd64]

We have the upcoming beverage program on our September getaway booking as part of the freestyle choice offer sailing in the Haven. I have noticed in some reviews that people had to pay the gratuity on the drink with the beverage program, is this correct? the reason i ask is that when i pre purchased my UBP on my last cruise which was on the Epic Western Med, i noticed no extra bar charges even tho the gratuity showed i was never charged it.

 

I know its a small charge, but i tipped accordingly

 

No... your gratuity is all paid with your UBP promotion. You will not have to pay anything additional with each drink (unless you wish to give an additional tip to your bar server).

[Keith.W]

Thanks for the Reply, was just reading a review and they said they had to pay the gratuity, even though they had the UBP so it got me wondering.

[cliffd64]

Thanks for the Reply, was just reading a review and they said they had to pay the gratuity, even though they had the UBP so it got me wondering.

 

This doesn't apply to your cruise on the Getaway, but there are certain cruises where you may have to pay certain taxes (not gratuities) while in certain ports or waters. The Jewel comes to mind while in Texas waters...

[Keith.W]

Thanks was just going by this review, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2175919

[cliffd64]

Ultimate Drink Package (UDP) Observations

This was included with our booking. I believe it's $59/day to buy it (and all of the people in the cabin have to get it).

You have a sticker on your key card marked UDP

When you order drinks you get a regular check showing the value of the drinks and the automatic gratuity but then the value of the drinks is removed from your onboard account (the gratuity stays - we'd usually leave a couple of extra $1 bills too)

You don't both have to go to the bar to get a drink but you need to show the two cards - they'd then just take one and charge it.

If you're ordering with other people - we would often be with my parents who were in a separate cabin) - then you can show all 4 cards and they'll charge just one but then that means just one of you is paying all of the gratuity. It's not a big deal I just mention it as if my Mom and I ordered a drink they always seemed to take her card and I felt bad she was paying my gratuity!

You can get wine by the glass but if you get a bottle then that's not included. So if the 4 of us were at dinner and we ordered 4 glasses of Shiraz or Prosecco it was included in the UDP but if we'd ordered a bottle we would have had to pay extra.

Room service drinks and the wine machine drinks and any drinks over $10 are not included. Water (in bottles) in not included but we didn't have a problem getting glasses of ice water (and it didn't taste at all funky and I'm super fussy about water, there were also nice sugar-free flavored waters from the dispensers in The Garden Cafe and also the Flamingo bar - Tropical Mango and Strawberry Kiwi)

We ordered a bottle of champagne a couple of times at dinner (knowing it wouldn't be included and were pleasantly surprised to see we got a 20% discount on it)

Soda is included (Pepsi products)

 

Yes, it will list the auto tip that is on every drink receipt but you never have to pay it, it is not charged to your account. :) It's there to show you what you WOULD have been charged. I like to save the receipts to see what I would have had for a bar bill once the cruise is over :)