Carnival increasing gratuity rates and prices of onboard services

[RobertL88]

I just received an e-mail from Carnival, stating that for cruises departing on or after May 1st, the gratuity will be increased to $14.50 per person per day for standard staterooms and to $16.50 per person per day for suites.

At the bottom there was also a section indicating that Carnival will increase the prices for several onboard services (Drink Packages, WiFi, Specialty Dining and Gratuities) and that they suggest purchasing them prior to May 1st, to lock in the current rates.

 

E-mail from Carnival:

April 4, 2022 Dear Carnival Guest, Effective with all cruises departing on or after May 1, 2022, we are making adjustments to our recommended onboard gratuity guidelines, as follows:   -    Standard staterooms: $14.50, per person, per day -    Suites: $16.50, per person, per day These amounts are automatically added to your onboard Sail & Sign® account as a convenience. However, while on board, you are free to adjust gratuities at your discretion. No adjustments will be made after the cruise. Our shipboard team members work hard to provide exceptional and friendly service, so we hope you will agree that this slight increase is well deserved. Guests may pre-pay their gratuities at the current rates, and save on other onboard services, by accessing My Cruise Manager using the reserve now button below. We look forward to welcoming you on board!   Sincerely,

Neil Palomba Chief Operations Officer

[soremekun]

I have OBC.  Please let me know the process to pay for my gratuities online using my OBC.  If that's not possible, should I call in?

[cmp03]

I see the specifically list the changes in gratuities but do they list the difference for the other increases anywhere?  I tried looking and couldnt find it listed anywhere

[Matco]

Just got the same email. Glad we pre-paid gratuities and have already purchased our drink packages for our June sailing  

[RobertL88]

1 minute ago, cmp03 said:

I see the specifically list the changes in gratuities but do they list the difference for the other increases anywhere?  I tried looking and couldnt find it listed anywhere

Not in their e-mail. And the 'Manage my booking' part of the website is down at the moment 😂

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 minutes ago, RobertL88 said:

Not in their e-mail. And the 'Manage my booking' part of the website is down at the moment 😂

 

Yep - they've brought about the crash of their website - as people rush to get in under the wire !

[Matco]

I was just trying to log in too, lol looks like a bunch of people are going to prepay and purchase all their onboard stuff. 

[BlerkOne]

I'll prepurchase some items, but won't be cheap with gratuities and pay whatever the prevailing rate is and then some.

[shof515]

The gratuity is being increased by about 50 cents a day. NCL also recently increased their gratuity rate too. Seems to be normal for the rates to increase across the board 

[Hoosierpop]

2 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I'll prepurchase some items, but won't be cheap with gratuities and pay whatever the prevailing rate is and then some.

Agree with this. It’s one thing to lock in a cheaper wifi. But gratuities, I put in a different category.

[maxandmolly]

We prepaid for the soda package and steakhouse. Just went and prepaid gratuities too. Website was a little wonky, it’s not down but it’s not working right either. 

[Indytraveler83]

Any word on the other increase amounts?  I'm not sweating $4.00 in gratuities for our next cruise, but curious about the other price changes.

[scoobysnacks70]

So does this mean that the actual prices of individual drinks would be going up as well?

[pc_load_letter]

I don't mind the gratuities increasing. The drink package would be a tough one though. I'd rather a temporary fuel surcharge frankly.

[cruisingguy007]

I predict that the guest services lines will be longer on the last night and smuggling booze will increase exponentially as drink package rise to $60 per day (really $75 or more when you factor in additional tips on top). It will be interesting to see the effects of this long term; short term, it's a great revenue generator, sparking panic buying is a brilliant marketing strategy.     

[txcruiser1234]

Cheers pricing (current and post May 1) from Carnival FAQs:

 

Our CHEERS! beverage program includes a great variety of non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a wide selection of high quality brand-name spirits and wines by the glass.  

 

Before your cruise:  $51.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for cruises 5 days and longer, including Europe and transatlantic cruises (to/from the US and Europe); $54.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge for 3 day and 4 day cruises. CHEERS! can be purchased at www.carnival.com/Funshops or by contacting The Fun Shops department at 800-522-7648, Monday - Sunday, 9:00am - 9:00pm ET. Cut-off for pre-purchase online is 11:59pm ET, the evening prior to the cruise departure. Although we are not able to process the Carnival Gift Card for Fun Shop orders by telephone, you may use a Carnival Gift Card when purchasing CHEERS! online.

 

On board your cruise:  $56.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for cruises 5 days and longer, including eastbound transatlantic (the US to Europe); $59.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge for 3 day and 4 day cruises. $51.95 USD per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for Europe and westbound transatlantic cruises (Europe to the US).  CHEERS! can be purchased at a bar on board.

 

Effective May 1, 2022, the pre-cruise price will be $59.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge and the onboard price will be $64.95 per person, per day plus 18% service charge for all cruise departures.

[cruisingguy007]

23 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

I don't mind the gratuities increasing. The drink package would be a tough one though. I'd rather a temporary fuel surcharge frankly.

 

Not me, drink package pricing can be mitigated in other ways or simply avoided altogether, fuel surcharge, not so much. They will generate a lot of cash from this and people will see it as 'getting a deal' in the process. Fuel surcharges would be viewed as punitive with no advantage, just added cost. Same result but different "feelings" about it.  

Edited April 4, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[mondello]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

I have OBC.  Please let me know the process to pay for my gratuities online using my OBC.  If that's not possible, should I call in?

I haven't used it but, when you use the site to prepay items it offers you a choice to use available OBC against the charges at the last step before payment.

[bandjwayne]

48 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

I'll prepurchase some items, but won't be cheap with gratuities and pay whatever the prevailing rate is and then some.

I agree 100% with this.  While we all want the best deal to be had......if not for the hard work of all the men and women who take care of us all, the cruise would not be the same!  I will gladly pay more per day for gratuity's.  

[pe4all]

 I had already pre-paid my grats (as I always do) for my June cruise, along with purchasing bottomless bubbles and wifi package.  Will pre-pay same for my January cruise early tomorrow a.m. - can't get on CCL site now.  Too much traffic.

[bandjwayne]

7 minutes ago, txcruiser1234 said:

Cheers pricing (current and post May 1) from Carnival FAQs:

 

Our CHEERS! beverage program includes a great variety of non-alcoholic beverages, as well as a wide selection of high quality brand-name spirits and wines by the glass.  

 

Before your cruise:  $51.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for cruises 5 days and longer, including Europe and transatlantic cruises (to/from the US and Europe); $54.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge for 3 day and 4 day cruises. CHEERS! can be purchased at www.carnival.com/Funshops or by contacting The Fun Shops department at 800-522-7648, Monday - Sunday, 9:00am - 9:00pm ET. Cut-off for pre-purchase online is 11:59pm ET, the evening prior to the cruise departure. Although we are not able to process the Carnival Gift Card for Fun Shop orders by telephone, you may use a Carnival Gift Card when purchasing CHEERS! online.

 

On board your cruise:  $56.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for cruises 5 days and longer, including eastbound transatlantic (the US to Europe); $59.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge for 3 day and 4 day cruises. $51.95 USD per person, per day plus 18% service charge, for Europe and westbound transatlantic cruises (Europe to the US).  CHEERS! can be purchased at a bar on board.

 

Effective May 1, 2022, the pre-cruise price will be $59.95 USD, per person, per day plus 18% service charge and the onboard price will be $64.95 per person, per day plus 18% service charge for all cruise departures.

good thing I got ours purchased this past weekend then!  

[sgttami]

36 minutes ago, scoobysnacks70 said:

So does this mean that the actual prices of individual drinks would be going up as well?

I'm sure it will along with everything else!

[JT1962]

36 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Not me, drink package pricing can be mitigated in other ways or simply avoided altogether, fuel surcharge, not so much. 

I agree. We rarely purchase anything onboard (drinks, internet, ship excursions, etc), so increases on those won’t affect us, but a daily fuel surcharge would. The increase in tips is minimal and we usually give some additional to the room steward and waitstaff anyway.

[BlerkOne]

Looks like Internet will be going to $21.25/day if not purchased in advance, or approx $15.94 (14.45) if purchased in advance.

[RobertL88]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

I'll prepurchase some items, but won't be cheap with gratuities and pay whatever the prevailing rate is and then some.

Exactly my thought. I'll probably pre purchase Cheers, and that's about it, I think.