TODAY, Cruise Weekly’s guest expert, Adam
Armstrong from Royal Caribbean answers
some of your cruising-related queries.
If you have a question you’d like answered,
send it to expert@new.cruiseweekly.com.au and
some of Adam’s responses will be exclusively
published in CW over the next three weeks.
Will there be a coke freestyle machine on
Rhapsody of the Seas by the end of the year?
We are currently rolling out Coke Freestyle
machines on six of our ships based in Florida
and New Jersey, USA (Majesty, Explorer,
Freedom, Oasis, Allure and Enchantment of
the Seas). Unfortunately we don’t currently
have plans to add the machines onboard
our ships in Australia – but we’ll certainly be
monitoring how they perform.
With the new gratuities policy, are we
able to remove the gratuities and pay staff
individually in cash at the end of the cruise?
In a word – yes. We offer three ways of
paying gratuities. Firstly, many of our guests
pre-pay them when they book their cruise –
it’s a convenient and stress-free way to do it
and we ensure that all gratuities are shared
amongst the great crew members onboard
Secondly, you can pay for them with your
onboard account. We recommend a daily
amount per guest – and you can adjust the
amount as you wish. Finally, if you prefer,
you can request to have all charges removed
from your onboard account and pay your
waiters and cabin attendant in cash. The
choice is yours.
I am taking a Royal Caribbean cruise in
March. I have been told you may bring
two 750ml bottles of wine or champagne
onboard with you on embarkation day
and this should be packed in your carry-on
luggage, but can only consumed in your
cabin. Is this information true?
Yes, that’s right – we’ve just changed our
policy and you are allowed to bring personal
wine or champagne onboard on embarkation.
You can consume them in a public area,
subject to a corkage fee of US$25.00 per
bottle. Any additional bottles of wine or any
alcoholic beverages purchased in ports-ofcall
or from shops on board will be stored by
the ship and delivered to your stateroom on
the last day of the cruise.
