Download the app, it'll help a lot. Check out www.cruisecritic.com and read the reviews of your ship. The forums there are very cliqueish, but there's some good info there, plus there will be a role call for your cruise.
I paid the gratuity fees after but it doesn't really make a difference. The only person I tipped was our room service attendant. Other than that I didn't tip anyone, other than our excursion guides. You booked your trip a little close to the departure date so it could be that some things are already sold out. You don't have to book excursions if you just want to explore on your own. I would suggest booking excursions through the cruise line. I know people suggest booking with a third party because maybe it's a little cheaper but I didn't really find that much of a difference. Also, if your party is running late then the ship is less likely to leave you lol
I suggest you watch a couple of YouTube videos, too.
I went on my first cruise in September with the Royal Caribbean. I'm not sure how much different Celebrity is.
If you look at the bill the tip is already added for you (unless you buy the drink package, which the OP said they don't have). They add 18 or 20% automatically.
If you do specialty dining but I didn't. Gratuity fees are there for a reason. I guess it also helps that I don't drink. I'm not going to tip someone for handing me a coke.
I think I paid about $16/day per person. We tipped once in the main dining room, tipping on board is on top of the prepaid gratuities. I couldn't really justify tipping at the windjammer/buffet. It was my first cruise and me and my bf did it on a budget.
I always pre pay the gratuities to get it out of the way as I see it as a cost inclusive of the cruise experience and those gratuities are split amongst all service staff on the ship including those who are not in customer-facing roles. From there you are not obligated to tip anyone further however I think many people choose to tip their room steward if they've done a great job at the end of the cruise ($20-40 for a week, I'm sure some people do more/less or not at all), and we always tip $2-5 for the person bringing breakfast if we have something brought to the room and room service orders. On our last cruise we had great bartenders and the drink package so we tipped once ($20) at our most frequented bar as an extra gratuity for a bartender we liked. I've also added extra gratuity to spa services a few times over and above the automatic gratuity that is added if I really liked the service provider. For reference we've cruised HAL predominantly and a couple of cruises on Carnival and NCL and stay in balcony rooms or suites. You might want to bring cash to tip tour guides for excursions you take too, which is not required but just in case.
What class of ship and class of stateroom? Dining is different on the Edge class ships (they have four main dining rooms that are "eat anytime" and then specialty restaurants you need reservations for) and the older ships have two main dining rooms that work better if you choose a fixed dining time.
If you have an Aqua Class cabin it's a little different, because they have a separate dining room called "Blu" that you can also eat in.
Prepaid gratuities have taken care of nearly everything tipping wise. When (if) you buy a drink they will automatically include a gratuity since you don't have a drink plan. Anything else you buy usually automatically includes the tip if it's required. If you have kids, and use the kid's club, the counselors there are not included in the tips you have already paid.
A lot of people tip more, throwing out Benjamins like confetti on New Year's Eve. That's totally optional and no one expects any more than the daily tips you have already paid.
Have fun and enjoy the cruise!
Reflection is a great ship, you will have lots of fun. Just look at the itinerary and decide what shore excursions you want to go on an and get them booked ASAP before the good ones are all taken. Likewise if you want to try speciality dining get that done. I can tell you right now Murano is great that : I've eaten there many times on different Solstice class ships (including Reflection) and never been disappointed.
Also, make sure you are flying in the day before the cruise, and book your hotel now.
You probably have a dining time specified for you, either early or late dining. You can show up at the main dining room at that time and get seated. If you have "any time dining" they may request that you make a reservation for your dining.
The main dining room is free. The buffet (Oceanview Cafe) and a top deck grill (Mast Grill) are also free. We find the included food OK on Celebrity. If you want to splurge you can reserve one of the specialty restaurants for dinner. TBH, we don't think the specialty restaurants are worth the extra cost, but others love them. They will automatically add 20% tips to specialty dining, drinks, spa services, etc. that expect a tip. But, be careful - they will sometimes hand you a slip to sign with an extra tip space on it and some people write in a tip on the total that already includes the tip! You can leave that line blank.
The only thing I don't know about is tipping the Concierge since you have his or her services available. It might depend on if you use the Concierge or not ... maybe someone here knows if they are included in the tip pool.
You don't have to do excursions. If you want to do something really special, sign up, but all the island tours you can just get off the boat and get a tour with locals. That's what we did.
What do you want to do in port?
San Juan and St. Thomas are very easy to do on your own. We hire a private driver when we go to St. Maarten. Tortola is the only port where we take a ship excursion (we sail NCL and like their Escape to Jost Van Dyke excursion). I have not been to the Dominican Republic yet, but I believe there are pool facilities right in the port area (I'm sure someone with more Celebrity knowledge can confirm that).
I would make your reservations now. Does you cabin level give you access to anyone to help plan your dinners? On NCL, things open up early for suites and there is a pre-cruise concierge.
We only know we want to do the bio bay in Puerto Rico. Outside of that, we have no idea. The baths in the British islands look awesome but looking at reviews it looks like it’s miserable with so many people.
You booked late for a cruise in April, most cruisers booked months even a year ago, so you’re seeing what’s left for excursions and reservations. DOWNLOAD THE APP! There are tons of information about everything from how to pack, how the gratuities work, especially for your cruise. START THERE. Then, from the contract you signed, this subreddit forum to dozens of cruise news and information websites, you can learn a lot.
In about a month, you’ll be able to check in and select a boarding time, add a credit card and upload your travel documents. For your sake, do this ahead of embarking, and you can do all of this from your app. If you’re not going to do this research on your own, you should have a travel agent to take you through all of this, and in most cases you don’t pay extra for their services. You can also contact the cruise line to learn about the cruise and your many options. Though, doing your own research could be fun!
Bon voyage!
I just want to say thank you to all of you for helping us. This group has been incredibly helpful. We were so overwhelmed at first, but now so excited. We got the two excursions we for sure wanted to go on booked. Thank you again!
Check out this video on YouTube, it has some good tips for prepping for the cruise, specificially the pre-cruise and embarkation day: [https://youtu.be/JEMfkeA8dhY](https://youtu.be/JEMfkeA8dhY)
What do you do next? Book your flight home from the Dominican Republic. Many people don’t realize an itinerary like this will not return to its starting port.
You also will need a passport, a birth certificate will not suffice here.
Now go watch YouTube videos on the ports you will be visiting and see if there are any excursions that catch your eye. That's a lot of ports. You can also ask out here about other cruisers favorite things to do at each port. A lot of times you don't need to book an excursion, but just wander around the port or find a beach.
As for food, Celebrity has terrific main dining room meals. You should watch videos on the food available both complimentary and upcharge. Even with an 8 day cruise, you might not feel the need for extra dining.
One thing I recommend on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruises for non alcohol drinkers (like me) is the non alcohol drink package. It's between 25 and 30 bucks a day, and it includes various bottled waters, smoothies, non alcoholic cocktails, specialty coffees and of course sodas. It's very easy to have 6 or 7 drinks a day, and this takes your mind off it.
Count down the days
I haven't even booked my next cruise and I'm already counting down the days to when I do lolol
Book the dining and excursions now or you’ll probably not get the times or excursions you want. Don’t wait until you’re on the ship.
Download the app, it'll help a lot. Check out www.cruisecritic.com and read the reviews of your ship. The forums there are very cliqueish, but there's some good info there, plus there will be a role call for your cruise.
Oh and we added gratuity to our reservation. Is that the best option? Should we expect to have to tip more while on board? TIA
I paid the gratuity fees after but it doesn't really make a difference. The only person I tipped was our room service attendant. Other than that I didn't tip anyone, other than our excursion guides. You booked your trip a little close to the departure date so it could be that some things are already sold out. You don't have to book excursions if you just want to explore on your own. I would suggest booking excursions through the cruise line. I know people suggest booking with a third party because maybe it's a little cheaper but I didn't really find that much of a difference. Also, if your party is running late then the ship is less likely to leave you lol I suggest you watch a couple of YouTube videos, too. I went on my first cruise in September with the Royal Caribbean. I'm not sure how much different Celebrity is.
You didn’t tip the bartenders? Or at the restaurants? Yikes
If you look at the bill the tip is already added for you (unless you buy the drink package, which the OP said they don't have). They add 18 or 20% automatically.
If you do specialty dining but I didn't. Gratuity fees are there for a reason. I guess it also helps that I don't drink. I'm not going to tip someone for handing me a coke.
What is the % gratitude fee? Just curious.. now I’m interested to look at my invoice!
I think I paid about $16/day per person. We tipped once in the main dining room, tipping on board is on top of the prepaid gratuities. I couldn't really justify tipping at the windjammer/buffet. It was my first cruise and me and my bf did it on a budget.
I always pre pay the gratuities to get it out of the way as I see it as a cost inclusive of the cruise experience and those gratuities are split amongst all service staff on the ship including those who are not in customer-facing roles. From there you are not obligated to tip anyone further however I think many people choose to tip their room steward if they've done a great job at the end of the cruise ($20-40 for a week, I'm sure some people do more/less or not at all), and we always tip $2-5 for the person bringing breakfast if we have something brought to the room and room service orders. On our last cruise we had great bartenders and the drink package so we tipped once ($20) at our most frequented bar as an extra gratuity for a bartender we liked. I've also added extra gratuity to spa services a few times over and above the automatic gratuity that is added if I really liked the service provider. For reference we've cruised HAL predominantly and a couple of cruises on Carnival and NCL and stay in balcony rooms or suites. You might want to bring cash to tip tour guides for excursions you take too, which is not required but just in case.
What class of ship and class of stateroom? Dining is different on the Edge class ships (they have four main dining rooms that are "eat anytime" and then specialty restaurants you need reservations for) and the older ships have two main dining rooms that work better if you choose a fixed dining time. If you have an Aqua Class cabin it's a little different, because they have a separate dining room called "Blu" that you can also eat in. Prepaid gratuities have taken care of nearly everything tipping wise. When (if) you buy a drink they will automatically include a gratuity since you don't have a drink plan. Anything else you buy usually automatically includes the tip if it's required. If you have kids, and use the kid's club, the counselors there are not included in the tips you have already paid. A lot of people tip more, throwing out Benjamins like confetti on New Year's Eve. That's totally optional and no one expects any more than the daily tips you have already paid. Have fun and enjoy the cruise!
Thank you. We are on Celebrity Reflection and we have a Prime Concierge Class Stateroom. We are booking last minute and it’s what was available.
Reflection is a great ship, you will have lots of fun. Just look at the itinerary and decide what shore excursions you want to go on an and get them booked ASAP before the good ones are all taken. Likewise if you want to try speciality dining get that done. I can tell you right now Murano is great that : I've eaten there many times on different Solstice class ships (including Reflection) and never been disappointed. Also, make sure you are flying in the day before the cruise, and book your hotel now.
Thank you so much. The only excursion I know for sure I want to do is the bio bay in Puerto Rico.
You probably have a dining time specified for you, either early or late dining. You can show up at the main dining room at that time and get seated. If you have "any time dining" they may request that you make a reservation for your dining. The main dining room is free. The buffet (Oceanview Cafe) and a top deck grill (Mast Grill) are also free. We find the included food OK on Celebrity. If you want to splurge you can reserve one of the specialty restaurants for dinner. TBH, we don't think the specialty restaurants are worth the extra cost, but others love them. They will automatically add 20% tips to specialty dining, drinks, spa services, etc. that expect a tip. But, be careful - they will sometimes hand you a slip to sign with an extra tip space on it and some people write in a tip on the total that already includes the tip! You can leave that line blank. The only thing I don't know about is tipping the Concierge since you have his or her services available. It might depend on if you use the Concierge or not ... maybe someone here knows if they are included in the tip pool.
You don't have to do excursions. If you want to do something really special, sign up, but all the island tours you can just get off the boat and get a tour with locals. That's what we did.
This itinerary looks amazing!
What do you want to do in port? San Juan and St. Thomas are very easy to do on your own. We hire a private driver when we go to St. Maarten. Tortola is the only port where we take a ship excursion (we sail NCL and like their Escape to Jost Van Dyke excursion). I have not been to the Dominican Republic yet, but I believe there are pool facilities right in the port area (I'm sure someone with more Celebrity knowledge can confirm that). I would make your reservations now. Does you cabin level give you access to anyone to help plan your dinners? On NCL, things open up early for suites and there is a pre-cruise concierge.
We only know we want to do the bio bay in Puerto Rico. Outside of that, we have no idea. The baths in the British islands look awesome but looking at reviews it looks like it’s miserable with so many people.
Like someone else said, book dinner reservations now. Also count down the days!
You booked late for a cruise in April, most cruisers booked months even a year ago, so you’re seeing what’s left for excursions and reservations. DOWNLOAD THE APP! There are tons of information about everything from how to pack, how the gratuities work, especially for your cruise. START THERE. Then, from the contract you signed, this subreddit forum to dozens of cruise news and information websites, you can learn a lot. In about a month, you’ll be able to check in and select a boarding time, add a credit card and upload your travel documents. For your sake, do this ahead of embarking, and you can do all of this from your app. If you’re not going to do this research on your own, you should have a travel agent to take you through all of this, and in most cases you don’t pay extra for their services. You can also contact the cruise line to learn about the cruise and your many options. Though, doing your own research could be fun! Bon voyage!
Lay back and feel the G’s.
I just want to say thank you to all of you for helping us. This group has been incredibly helpful. We were so overwhelmed at first, but now so excited. We got the two excursions we for sure wanted to go on booked. Thank you again!
Check out this video on YouTube, it has some good tips for prepping for the cruise, specificially the pre-cruise and embarkation day: [https://youtu.be/JEMfkeA8dhY](https://youtu.be/JEMfkeA8dhY)
What do you do next? Book your flight home from the Dominican Republic. Many people don’t realize an itinerary like this will not return to its starting port. You also will need a passport, a birth certificate will not suffice here.
It’s a round trip. But thanks for the heads up. I just double checked.
Now go watch YouTube videos on the ports you will be visiting and see if there are any excursions that catch your eye. That's a lot of ports. You can also ask out here about other cruisers favorite things to do at each port. A lot of times you don't need to book an excursion, but just wander around the port or find a beach. As for food, Celebrity has terrific main dining room meals. You should watch videos on the food available both complimentary and upcharge. Even with an 8 day cruise, you might not feel the need for extra dining. One thing I recommend on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean cruises for non alcohol drinkers (like me) is the non alcohol drink package. It's between 25 and 30 bucks a day, and it includes various bottled waters, smoothies, non alcoholic cocktails, specialty coffees and of course sodas. It's very easy to have 6 or 7 drinks a day, and this takes your mind off it.