Do you have to pay gratuities on Carnival drink package?

Bottomless Bubbles Beverage Package Enjoy the ease and convenience of paying one flat price for thirst-quenching fountain soda and juice all cruise long! Prices* are per day - an 18% gratuity will automatically be added at time of purchase of the program.



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If you have a drinks package, tips are included. Additional tipping is not required, even if there's a blank line for an additional gratuity on your check.

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(1). You have the right to refuse this automatic gratuity charge and may compensate cruise staff on your own terms. However, you will need to notify the front desk of this desire. Otherwise it will appear on your bill when your cruise ends and it will be charged to your credit card on file.

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Bottomless Bubbles Beverage Package Prices* are per day - an 18% gratuity will automatically be added at time of purchase of the program. Upon purchasing Bottomless Bubbles, a sticker will be placed on the guest's Sail & Sign card.

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Prepaying your gratuities just makes everything easier – you know how much you need to spend before you sail, and then you don't have to worry about it. Yes, if you have onboard credit it might make sense to put that towards gratuities instead.

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On booking there might be an option not to pre-pay gratuities before you sail. However, if you opt out at this stage, most cruise lines will add the gratuity to your onboard account daily. You can choose to either amend the amount or remove altogether by visiting guest services in most cases.

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For lines that do have them, service and gratuity charges are touted as a convenient alternative to the practice of cash tipping on cruise ships — something that once was common. Cruise lines say they pass the money collected from service charges to the shipboard crew.

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Do I Have to Pay Gratuity on the Drink Package? Gratuity is added onto the cost of the package. So when you purchase the package, you'll see an additional gratuity charge tacked on to the total (typically around 18%, depending on the cruise line).

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At the time of purchase, a service charge is added to the drink package cost. This 18% gratuity covers all drink package purchases made onboard the ship, so no additional cost is required by the guest when ordering a beverage.

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But, in nearly all cases, the price before your cruise will be cheaper than waiting until you are onboard. Drink packages cannot be shared, and in a road sense, all four cruise lines require that all adults 21 and over staying in the same room buy a package if one is going to.

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As mentioned above, not all members of the ship staff receive a share of the gratuities paid by passengers. Bartenders, main show entertainers and third-party shop employees are some of the more obvious ones, but they're not the only ones.

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The amount you pay will vary by cruise line, but they are all in the same ballpark. You can expect to pay about $15-$20 per person, per day. So a couple traveling together will see about $30-$40 per day in gratuities, or about $200+ over the course of a week-long cruise.

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If you buy a drink package on either cruise line, you pay an 18% gratuity that goes into the pool for all bar staff. The same applies when you buy an individual drink. If, however, you hand a specific bartender an added tip, they either keep it or share it with their coworkers at that bar.

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“Any extra cash tips you give a waiter is kept by them and shared only with their assistant waiter who also served you directly.” This means that all staff members get that extra monetary recognition through the automatic gratuities, whether pre-paid or added to guests' accounts during the cruise.

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There aren't any hard-and-fast guidelines for this type of tip since it's contingent on your experience, but $25 to $40 on behalf of a couple roughly works out to an extra $2 to $3 per person, per day, for a seven-night cruise.

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If you prepay your gratuities, you might be able to get a refund prior to your cruise; however, it depends on your booking terms. To book flexible dining, for instance, you may be required to prepay them. The best course of action would be to directly call the cruise line or speak with your travel agent.

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Carnival Cruise Line's service gratuities are currently $16 per guest, per day for standard staterooms and $18 per person, per day for suites.

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