Royal Caribbean revises tipping guidelines

Saying it was the first time in 13 years that they had an increase in their guidelines, mega-line Royal Caribbean today raised the amount of suggested gratuities for on-board staff members on all it’s ships.

Beginning July 1, 2011 the line is revising tipping guidelines to suggest that guests pay $11.65 per person per day, up from a suggested $9.75.

Tipping on Royal Caribbean is not required but the line offers a number of ways to get it done. Guests can either prepay gratuities for their entire cabin in advance of sailing, elect to have that amount automatically added to a guests on-board charge account or choose to use envelopes provided by the line to present cash gratuities to crew members at the end of the cruise.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said “Gratuities will continue to be given at the discretion of each guest, except for guests who choose My Time Dining, which require prepaid gratuities”

Tipping guidelines vary among lines. Compared to most other cruise lines, the Royal Caribbean plan offers the most flexibility. Carnival Cruise Line, for example, automatically adds gratuities to guest accounts, requiring them to visit the Pursers desk when on board to have them removed should they choose to present tips directly to crew members.

Flickr photo by Uhuru1701