Royal Caribbean

j.t

Any advice would be gratefully received, in respect of tipping and if it's worth paying for a drinks package on board Royal Caribbean

Neil49

Royal Caribbean are very expensive for drinks so if you plan to have more than a couple a day it could be worth considering. Also take into account that they add on a large percentage to the price of drinks as tips and you have no say in that. I think you may be able to download a copy of bar prices from their website.

Overall tipping is down to you but the cost you paid for your cruise is kept low by the cruise company paying very low wages and they expect you to tip a reasonable amount to make up the difference. Usually, tips are added to your shipboard account automatically and although you can ask for this not to happen it is unfair on the crew, who work really hard, not to get paid for what they do.

You can tip staff individually if you wish but if this is your first cruise I wouldn't get involved in that kind of option. We tend to go with P&O who charge something like £5 per day but Royal Caribbean charge quite a lot more per day but have lower initial prices for their cruises.

Take a look on specialist cruise websites such as https://www.cruise.co.uk and https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk for more advice.

Have a nice holiday.

daveyjp

Check small print in drinks packages. Its often not a free for all, you need to see which drinks are included, then do the maths.

Also be aware that even with a drinks package you may well still be charged the tip on the value of the drinks.