Can I remove cruise ship prepaid gratuities?

All passengers on a Royal Caribbean cruise are charged a daily gratuity rate during their time onboard, but can gratuities be removed?

Some passengers new to cruising may be confused with how gratuities work on a Royal Caribbean cruise: how much they cost, when you pay gratuities, and whether or not they’re mandatory.

Because gratuities are added as an extra cost on top of a Royal Caribbean cruise fare, we’re often asked whether or not you can remove these service charges. Perhaps the better question, however, is not whether or not you can remove gratuities, but whether or not you should.

Let’s take a look at the basics of Royal Caribbean’s gratuities, including how much they cost and when you’ll pay them, before discussing whether or not you can (or should) remove these service charges.

What are gratuities, and how much do they cost?

Gratuities are service charges that go towards various crew members on your cruise ship, including the dining room staff and stateroom attendants. They are a way to reward crew members for excellent service and hard work throughout the cruise.

Gratuities are not included in the base cruise fare on most sailings; instead, they come at an additional charge. The only exception to this rule is for cruises from Australia—gratuities are included in the fare structure when booking from Royal Caribbean’s Australia website.

For all other passengers, gratuities on a Royal Caribbean cruise are charged on a daily basis. The daily gratuity rate depends on the type of cabin you book for the cruise.

Guests in standard stateroom categories (interior, oceanview, balcony, and Junior Suite cabins) pay $16 USD per person, per day in gratuities. Those guests in Grand Suites and above pay $18.50 USD per person, per day.

When and how do I pay gratuities?

There are two options for paying gratuities on a Royal Caribbean cruise: prepaying before the cruise or incurring the daily charge once onboard.

If you choose to prepay gratuities, the total amount of gratuities for your sailing will be added to your cruise fare upon booking. Therefore, if you’re booking a 7-night cruise in a balcony room, $116 will be added to the total price of your sailing.

Related: Should you prepay gratuities for your Royal Caribbean cruise?

The second option is to incur a daily charge once onboard. If you opt not to prepay gratuities, your SeaPass account will be charged $16 or $18.50 each day of your cruise. You can see the daily amount added to your cruise charges in the Royal Caribbean app.

Once the cruise is over, the gratuity charges, in addition to any other purchases made onboard, will charge to your credit card.

While both options are allowed, we recommend prepaying gratuities for several reasons.

First, paying gratuities in advance allows you to pay off the entire balance of your cruise before the sailing begins. Most passengers find that seeing a $16 daily charge while you’re onboard is more noticeable than having that fee added to your overall cruise fare upon booking.

Plus, it allows guests to pay off as much as possible before their vacation begins, which can make budgeting much easier, especially when traveling with a large family.

The other benefit of prepaying gratuities is that you’ll lock in the current gratuity rate. Royal Caribbean occasionally increases gratuities by a few dollars; if you prepaid gratuities and the rate increases before your cruise begins, you won’t be charged the difference in price. If you wait to pay onboard, however, you’ll be charged the new daily rate.

Can I remove cruise ship gratuities?

Technically speaking, you can remove gratuities on a Royal Caribbean cruise, but you absolutely shouldn’t do this.

Although Royal Caribbean gives you two options for paying gratuities (prepaying or being charged daily once onboard), some passengers try to opt out of paying any gratuities whatsoever.

Related: Tipping on a cruise ship: what you should and shouldn’t do

If you do not prepay gratuities and are instead being charged a daily amount onboard, you can go to Guest Services and request to remove or modify this daily charge. Passengers can change the daily amount or opt out of gratuities altogether until the morning of departure.

Some passengers interested in removing gratuities want to do so in order to reward crew members individually with cash tips. Others, unfortunately, want to avoid paying an extra charge.

Regardless of why you would want to remove gratuities, you should think twice before doing so.

Crew members work extremely hard during their cruise contracts, and while they receive paychecks each month, gratuities are an additional part of compensation they come to expect. Removing gratuities takes away well earned compensation from these crew members.

And although you may not agree with how cruise lines handle gratuities, removing gratuities will not hurt anyone who can change the way crew members are paid. Ultimately, removing gratuities only hurts the crew members who rely on these service charges as part of their salary.

Therefore, if you want to tip crew members in person, you should do so in addition to prepaid gratuities as opposed to removing them altogether.

Even if you prefer tipping crew members individually after receiving excellent service, you won’t come into contact with the majority of crew members onboard during your sailing. Unfortunately, this means that, if you remove gratuities, you’re taking away gratuity from those crew members working behind the scenes who may have otherwise received part of the daily gratuity rate.

To put it bluntly, if you can afford a Royal Caribbean cruise, you can afford to pay gratuities and you should not remove them. Opting out of gratuities is not a way to boycott service charges and save money on your cruise. While many passengers would prefer gratuities be included in the cruise fare, that’s not the way it works for most cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean.

Is additional tipping expected after paying gratuities?

No additional tipping is required on a Royal Caribbean cruise after paying gratuities, although certain purchases will come with a service charge.

Drinks, specialty dining, mini bar items, and spa and salon purchases come with an 18% gratuity added on top of the listed price. This gratuity rate is charged automatically, and it’s also added to beverage packages and specialty dining packages.

Additionally, many passengers enjoy tipping crew members extra for service throughout their cruise. It’s customary to tip your dining room waiters, stateroom attendant, bartenders, and shore excursion guides.

Tipping is also common when ordering room service, when handing luggage to porters at the cruise terminal, and to reward the service of a suite concierge or Royal Genie.