Tips and Gratuity

One thing that may come as a surprise to some first time cruisers is gratuity on the ship. Unlike leaving a tip at a restaurant in the states, you do not leave a couple of bucks on the table when you are done. Not only that, but you are … encouraged to leave a tip for other people besides your waiter at dinner. Royal Caribbean has the following guidelines:

Stateroom attendant: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Dining Room Waiter: $3.50 USD a day per guest
Assistant Waiter: $2.00 USD a day per guest
Headwaiter: $.75 USD a day per guest

This totals up to $68.25 per person (or $136.50 pr couple). These suggested minimum tips can be paid in several different ways including prepayment when you pay for your cruise, purchasing tip vouchers while on the ship, or simply cash. If you pre pay or pay the purser on the ship, you will get voucher slips near the end of your cruise and everyone will get envelopes that they can put the vouchers, cash or a combination of both in.
In addition to these gratuities, each bar has an automatic 15% gratuity for every sale from water to whiskey.
On the ship, there is 24 hour free room service (Awesome!). When the person brings your food to the door, you are not obligated to tip them, but a small tip of a dollar or two would surely be appreciated.

This next bit is based on a conversation that my dad had with one of the crew members, and has not been independently verified, but it seems that there is something in addition that you can do for your servers or room attendants that money can’t buy. At the end of the cruise, there is a survey that you can fill out about your experience. Apparently if a crew member is mentioned by name then it can earn them extra days off and help them to advance in their jobs. If your attendants or waiters do a great job, be sure to mention them by name in the survey. These people do a lot more than what you see them doing. They work upwards of 16 hours a day and many of them double as firemen and other jobs that you will hopefully never have to see.