Great Experience but spent more than expected

Item: Carnival Freedom
Rating: 4.2
Author: michelleramos99

Carnival Freedom Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

michelleramos99

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 9

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 21, 2018

Ship: Carnival Freedom

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6228

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

During my cruise I tipped my dinners and my room service so I was taken back when I was charged the gratuity per person. I now know better in the future as I will no add additional tips if I choose to take another cruise.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

4 out of 5

Montego Bay, Jamaica

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

1 out of 5

14 Comments

sheenarn 6 years ago

I always prepay and tip those who go beyond and make the cruise memorable. I tip 1-2 dollars when i buy a drink... always get fast service. I have been on a few cruises and love Carnival the best!!

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PamelaJackson 6 years ago

An expensive lesson for sure. I always prepay my gratuities and then tip extra to those who have earned it...ie go the extra mile to treat me extra good. I don’t extra tip on rude staff but the good ones get lots of extra

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lollysfolly 6 years ago

Zann1 room service is not included in the prepaid gratuities.

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katiej512 6 years ago

We always include the tips when we book our cruises. Most of the time we also give a tip while onboard the ship. When you figure out how many people the tips go to we like to make sure that the people we feel deserve it will get a good tip.

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SpaceCityVoyage 6 years ago

We always prepay our gratuities when we pay off the cruise. We also tip additional on last night to our room steward & dining staff according to their service throughout our trip.

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badlcho 6 years ago

Zann1 the gratuities are shared amongst the crew even some of the crew that you don’t see. Carnival website explains how the gratuities are divided. We usually tip our steward cash at the end of the cruise. This is in addition to the automatic gratuities. You can ask guest services to remove the gratuities but I don’t like doing that because the amount the crew receives is pretty low and they work really hard.

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Summerholiday 6 years ago

Just pay your gratuities then if you feel you have great service from an individual then you can tip extra but you do not have too all up to you .. no set rules enjoy hope your hooked as we are .. enjoy 😉

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TheSnoMan 6 years ago

We always tip extra when services are good

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IkeDeb 6 years ago

We do tip extra at times

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zann1 6 years ago

Is there anyone not included in the prepaid gratuities that we need to tip? This is my first cruise and kinda confused about who to tip.

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chadley77 6 years ago

Or remove the gratuities completely and pay your cabin steward cash at the end of the cruise.

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chadley77 6 years ago

You can tip extra at the end of the cruise if you want to do that.

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dawnprince40 6 years ago

Pay gratuities when you book. Then you don't have extra when you go again. Paying prior also allows you anytime dining

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funboomer47 6 years ago

I guess you didn't research cruising before you went. As long as you gave tips daily then you could have had guest services remove the gratuities from your onboard acct. There are choices as to how to do gratuities.

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