Dollars and Sense
While the cost of your cruise might appear to cover all onboard costs, sometimes there are ‘hidden’ extras that you might not have considered, such as various gratuities. You can go to the purser’s desk at any time and request an up-to-date printout of your account. I usually do this a couple of times during a cruise. Now let’s see what some of the ‘non-essential’ extras may cost.
Dining in one of the ‘premium’ restaurants could cost an additional US$25-$30 per person, plus drinks, of course. I usually dine once in the so-called premium restaurants and am often disappointed. On many ships the service is over the top – being asked if you are enjoying your steak four times by different waiters is overkill. I believe the service and food in the main dining room is usually excellent and having your regular waiters is a pleasant plus.
Every night you are hounded by the ship’s photographers, but learn to say no unless you really want that photo (which is usually very good, but not every night). Remember, there is no obligation to buy but it’s good to have a memento of the cruise so buying an occasional picture is not unreasonable.
Formal Night usually sees people lining up to have portraits taken against special backgrounds with additional model lighting. Americans love formal portraits. Aussies, less so. The price is much less than you would pay at home and you are under no obligation to buy the finished print.
Royal Caribbean recently added a $14.95 surcharge for passengers ordering a filet mignon in its main dining room and a $3.95 ‘late-night service charge’ for room service orders placed between midnight and 5am. If you’re still hungry at that time with all the food offered during the day, including midnight buffets, you deserve to pay the extra charge!
Laundry is relatively expensive and I always take a bottle of liquid detergent to wash my underwear and socks every few days. Most ships have self-service laundries that have a nominal charge. Others offer a bag wash – all you can squeeze into bag supplied for a reasonable fee; regular laundry and dry cleaning charges are similar to onshore hotel pricing.
The main out-of-pocket expense is alcohol (to which a 15 per cent tip is automatically added) and soft drinks. If you’re a big soft drink consumer you can buy a card on the first day for about $45 that will give unlimited sodas for the whole cruise.
Beauty salon treatments are another expense. The beauticians work on commission and will try to sell you every beauty potion under the sun. Finally, tipping. Until recently most cruise lines recommended how much one should tip at the end of the cruise to those staff that came into immediate contact with you. They provided small envelopes for your room steward, your waiter, assistant waiter, busboy, etc. This was a messy system.
Today, most ships add $15 a day to your room account that covers all your gratuities. This works well and most are more than happy to pay this at the end of a cruise. It is subtracted from your credit card and you receive a full statement in your cabin on the penultimate day of the cruise. Please remember that all staff below officer and manager levels are paid a low wage and depend on tips to survive. If you would sooner hand your tips directly to those looking after you, go to the purser’s office and they will delete the tipping fees. But remember these the $15-a-day tips are split between at least five crew and the dollar amount is very small for the service and the wonderful time had on board.
John Pond is News Editor of Cruise Passenger and www.cruises.com.au.