Royal Caribbean to Raise Automatic Service Gratuity Rates

Royal Caribbean International announced that current automatic service gratuity rates would increase by more than 10 percent, starting on November 11.

According to the cruise line’s official website, automatic service gratuity will jump to $18 per person, per day for passengers in non-suites staterooms and Junior Suites, and increase to $20.50 per person, per day for guests in Suites.

Royal Caribbean currently charges an automatic service gratuity of $16 for standard cabins and $18.50 for suites.

The gratuity applies to individual guests of all ages and stateroom categories and is applied automatically to all beverages, mini bar items, and spa & salon purchases. Passengers who have pre-paid the gratuity will not see a daily charge during their cruise.

Other cruise lines charge similar prices, as Norwegian levies a $20 per person, per day gratuity fee, while Carnival, Celebrity, Princess and others charge $16-$18 per person, per day for most cabins.

As pointed out by The Points Guy, a family of four in a typical cabin traveling with Royal Caribbean once the gratuity rate increase takes effect would “pay more than $500 in automatic gratuities on a seven-night cruise, one of the highest levies in the business.”

The news of automatic service gratuity rate increases comes as the cruise line reported a total revenue of $4.2 billion, an adjusted net income of $1.1 billion and an Adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 billion for the third quarter.

This is a massive increase from the third quarter of 2022, when net income was reported at $33 million and adjusted net income was $65.8 million.

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