Are Royal Carribean Cruises all inclusive?
I am looking into going on the liberty of the seas cruise but my family needs an all inclusive vacation, because meals/drinks add up!
please let me kn!
I have been on many Royal Caribbean cruises, including the Liberty, and here’s a complete listing of what is included and what you have to pay for. The only one of these that is considered pretty much mandatory is the gratuities.
The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service), free admissions to all shows, disco, and entertainment, and free use of all facilities (except spa services) on ship like the pools, hot tubs, gym, and recreation activities like the rock climbing wall and the FloRider, mini-golf, etc. You do have to pay to play video games but the kids programs in Adventure Ocean are also free. The things that you will have to pay for over and above your fare are:
GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice. So everything on ship except the casino is cashless; everything you buy goes on your account. These gratuities cover your cabin steward, your waiter and assistant waiter, and MatreD in the main dining room. Those are the only person you are required/requested to tip at the end of the cruise; these should be considered pretty much mandatory although you can ask the purser to adjust them if you have a problem with any service received from these persons.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided FREE but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15 percent gratuity to each alcoholic drink and soft drink order. Drinks on the ship are generally in the range of $7 to $9 plus the 15 percent gratuity that is included in each tab. Beer and wine are slightly less, maybe $5 to $7. The ship sells a soft drink card that allow you unlimited soft drinks for the duration of your cruise. These you must buy the first day of the cruise and they cost about $6.00 a day for adults; $4.00 a day for kids. The cost of the soft drink card also goes on your on-board tab.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise ship employees will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, between $15 to $25 for most and the cost of them goes on your on-board tab. You can save yourself a lot of money by taking your own photos and asking other passengers to take photos of you; they generally always will.
TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and you can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are NOT included and are expensive.
SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.
CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.
OTHER: The ship has two of what they call "specialty" restaurants (Portofino and Chops) where there IS a gratuity/service charge of between $20 and $25 per person per visit. And there is a fee of $3.95 per person to eat at the Johnny Rockets diner. However, all other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available.
SPA SERVICES: If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. Spa fees start at about $70 to $80 and they go on your on-board tab if you use the spa services. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.
INTERNET SVCS: The ship has an internet cafe and WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (about $50 an hour, a little less if you buy a plan). I always recommend that you skip the high priced internet on ship and wait for port stops where you can usually find an internet cafe where the charges are about $2. to $5 an hour. Just ask the cabin steward and/or your wait staff where the internet is at the port. They know because they use them when they can get off the ship.
ROOM SERVICE/MINI-BAR: You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for anything you take out of the mini-bar.
You will have free room service (24/7) ; order by phone or on the TV on some ships. There is a fee of $4.99 for room service deliveries between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM only; all other times its free.
Meals are all-inclusive, unless you go to one of the few "premium" restaurants, where you’ll be charged a "per-head" price ($10 and up, typically). Alcoholic drinks are never all-inclusive, and are not cheap. Tap Water, Milk (white only), Tea and Coffee are usually included. Drinks like Coke, 7-Up, etc are not included, but you can buy a "Coke Card" at the beginning of your cruise, which entitles you to free refills for the length of your vacation. Most of this will hold true for most cruise lines, I believe.
References :
Cruised RCI and NCL myself
Remember that cruises will have a lot of optional shore excursions which are invariably expensive.
References :
I have been on many Royal Caribbean cruises, including the Liberty, and here’s a complete listing of what is included and what you have to pay for. The only one of these that is considered pretty much mandatory is the gratuities.
The price of your cruise includes your cabin, all meals (including breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks and free room service), free admissions to all shows, disco, and entertainment, and free use of all facilities (except spa services) on ship like the pools, hot tubs, gym, and recreation activities like the rock climbing wall and the FloRider, mini-golf, etc. You do have to pay to play video games but the kids programs in Adventure Ocean are also free. The things that you will have to pay for over and above your fare are:
GRATUITIES: They will amount to about $10 per person in your cabin per day. When you check in at the pier they will set up an on-board charge account for you to cover any and everything you may buy on ship. They will issue you a "cruise card" which will also serve as your room key and pass to get on and off the ship. At the end of the cruise they will add the gratuity to your tab and you can pay with a credit card or cash, your choice. So everything on ship except the casino is cashless; everything you buy goes on your account. These gratuities cover your cabin steward, your waiter and assistant waiter, and MatreD in the main dining room. Those are the only person you are required/requested to tip at the end of the cruise; these should be considered pretty much mandatory although you can ask the purser to adjust them if you have a problem with any service received from these persons.
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND SOFT DRINKS: Coffee, tea, milk, juice, and lemonade and punch will be provided FREE but you must pay for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages and they will add a 15 percent gratuity to each alcoholic drink and soft drink order. Drinks on the ship are generally in the range of $7 to $9 plus the 15 percent gratuity that is included in each tab. Beer and wine are slightly less, maybe $5 to $7. The ship sells a soft drink card that allow you unlimited soft drinks for the duration of your cruise. These you must buy the first day of the cruise and they cost about $6.00 a day for adults; $4.00 a day for kids. The cost of the soft drink card also goes on your on-board tab.
PHOTOGRAPHS: Cruise ship employees will take plenty of photographs of you all over the ship, in the dining room, and as you exit the ship in ports. These will cost a lot, between $15 to $25 for most and the cost of them goes on your on-board tab. You can save yourself a lot of money by taking your own photos and asking other passengers to take photos of you; they generally always will.
TOURS/EXCURSIONS: You are not required to book any tours and you can get off and on in the ports as much as you want. But the cruise line will offer a lot of tours and these are NOT included and are expensive.
SOUVENIRS: Anything you buy on ship from a gift shop or duty free shop goes on your on board account. Things that you buy on shore you pay cash or credit card for.
CASINO: If you plan to gamble on ship you will need cash for that.
OTHER: The ship has two of what they call "specialty" restaurants (Portofino and Chops) where there IS a gratuity/service charge of between $20 and $25 per person per visit. And there is a fee of $3.95 per person to eat at the Johnny Rockets diner. However, all other food on board is free and its not really necessary to budget for food; you cannot eat all of the FREE FOOD that will be available.
SPA SERVICES: If you want/need to have your hair done, get a massage or wrap, or any services from the spa, you will have to pay for them. Spa fees start at about $70 to $80 and they go on your on-board tab if you use the spa services. You can use the gym free but the spa stuff cost big bucks.
INTERNET SVCS: The ship has an internet cafe and WiFi but the there is a fee for internet access and it is very expensive (about $50 an hour, a little less if you buy a plan). I always recommend that you skip the high priced internet on ship and wait for port stops where you can usually find an internet cafe where the charges are about $2. to $5 an hour. Just ask the cabin steward and/or your wait staff where the internet is at the port. They know because they use them when they can get off the ship.
ROOM SERVICE/MINI-BAR: You cabin will likely have a minibar with soft drinks and munchies; you have to pay for anything you take out of the mini-bar.
You will have free room service (24/7) ; order by phone or on the TV on some ships. There is a fee of $4.99 for room service deliveries between 1:00 AM and 5:00 AM only; all other times its free.
References :
Experience of many Royal Caribbean cruises
Here is some FAQ annd answers about food and drink on RCCL
References :
http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/subject.do;jsessionid=00003UFUfogIvi5QhKZQx1foAQM:13hldcgo7?snav=2&faqSubjectName=Food+%26+Beverage&faqSubjectId=336&pnav=5
yea it should be going on freedom of seas in august
References :
I would call it an all-inclusive vacation. That is because when I go on a cruise I don’t feel the need for the "extras". Gratuities or tipping is the only must- and that comes to about $10 per day per person.
It is possible not to spend any money in port, but it would be difficult. I’d advise not to sign up for any ship sponsored excursions. Walk around the port. Take public transportation or a cab. Or get together a group of people and find your own excursion. Don’t do any shopping.
On the ship all the food in the dining room, the buffet, and some other food venues are free. You can eat an unlimited amount of food all day long. There’s even an icecream and frozen yogourt machine. There’s free pizza.
For people who want to, there are specialty restaurants where you do pay. Just don’t go there.
The following beverages are free- water, juice, milk, coffee and tea, iced tea, lemonade, cocoa.
The following are not free- bottled water, soft drinks (soda), alcoholic drinks. I would not give up going on a cruise because I couldn’t have soda for the duration.
I wont list all the activities, but suffice it to say that there are an endless amount of free activities and entertainment all day long. You wont get bored. And make sure you sign up for the free ice skating show. It’s fabulous, but you must get a ticket. And on off hours you can go skating yourself.
The fitness center is free, but the SPA is not. That means you can’t get your hair done, or your nails or get a massage.
Of course the casino cost money. And bingo does. Just don’t do those things.
Don’t buy professional pictures from photographers. I bought a one time camera from rite aid, and everyone is asking what kind of a great camera did I use.
Don’t use the laundry. Buy travel packs of detergent, and do your own.
That about summarizes it. If you and your family must drink, gamble, go for SPA treatments, go to fancy restaurants, shop, and go on all the excursions, then it will be expensive.
Think about it, and decide whether it’s worth it for you to go, and limit your expenses. I hope you do go. I know you’ll have fun.
References :