Royal Caribbean Increases Automatic Gratuities AGAIN

Royal Caribbean just announced an increase in its automatic gratuities. Starting November 11, 2023, the automatic gratuities per person per day will be:

• Standard cabins: $18/person/day (up from $16)
• Juniors suites and above: $20.50/person/day (up from $18.50)

The last time Royal Caribbean raised gratuities was September 2022.

Guests who already booked a cruise or who book prior to November 11 can pre-pay gratuities at the old price. Otherwise, guests will pay the higher prices at the time of sailing.

These gratuities are automatically charged to each stateroom daily. Guests have the option to go to Guest Services onboard to remove or reduce these charges.

As a reference, gratuity for standard cabins on other cruise lines is:

• Disney: $14.50
• Carnival: $16
• Celebrity: $18
• Norwegian: $20

My Thoughts

There is no doubt that the crew works really hard. They work 7 days a week for 6 months without a break. I usually tip them extra on top of the automatic gratuity anyway.

However, I feel this is a greedy move on Royal Caribbean’s part. Their stateroom attendants switched to 1X daily cabin cleaning (down from 2X daily cleanings pre-pandemic). The menu choices in the Main Dining Room have decreased. So essentially, we’re paying more for less service.

For my family of five on a 7-night cruise, the price of gratuities is now $630, up from $560. That’s only a $70 increase, which is not a deal breaker.

However, that increase is on top of HUGE prices increases that I’m seeing for cruises on Royal Caribbean’s new ships. My son keeps suggesting we cruise on the new Icon of the Seas. For Spring Break 2025 dates, the cost for my family of 5 in 2 balcony rooms is outrageously high:

We’ve never spent even close to that amount on a cruise, and that includes our Alaska cruise on Disney and our Greek Island cruise on Royal Caribbean earlier this year. Ouch!

I understand that all the cruise lines struggled during the pandemic and after it as well. However, Royal Caribbean just announced $1 billion net income this past quarter. In my opinion, they can afford to absorb an increase to crew member salaries, as they are already passing along costs to us in the form of higher cruise fares.

Bottom Line

The increase in gratuities on Royal Caribbean isn’t a deal breaker for my family. However, combined with the sky high cruise fares on newer ships, the cost of cruising for my family of five is just too much right now. I’m glad my family got to experienced two cruises together with all five of us earlier this year and that I get to enjoy a total of 6 cruises this year (3 of them free from status matching). It might be a while before we book another cruise.