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Royal Caribbean just hiked a fee some cruisers already find shocking

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Bad news, Royal Caribbean fans: You’re about to pay even more in fees to cruise with the line.

The world’s largest cruise company this week began notifying customers that the automatic service charge it adds to passenger bills would soon rise to as much as $21 per person, per day.

In emails sent to passengers booked on upcoming voyages, the line said the daily gratuity charge, as it calls the fee, would jump to $18.50 per person, per day on Nov. 1 for those staying in most cabins. Passengers in suites will pay $21 per person, per day.

The rates are about 3% higher than Royal Caribbean’s current service charges of $18 for standard cabins and $20.50 for suites.

While relatively modest on a percentage basis, the gratuity charge increase is the second at the line in just under a year and brings the cumulative one-year increase to nearly 14%. At this time last year, Royal Caribbean was charging just $16 in service charges for passengers in most cabins.

With the increase, a family of four in a typical cabin will pay more than $500 in automatic gratuities on a seven-night cruise — one of the highest levies in the business.

Among other major lines, Carnival Cruise Line, MSC Cruises, Princess Cruises and Holland America add $13.50 to $16 per person, per day in service charges to passenger bills for most cabins. Celebrity Cruises adds an $18 levy per person, per day in such gratuities to passenger bills.

Related: Tipping on a cruise: What to know about cruise ship gratuities

Royal Caribbean’s gratuity charge is up a significant 54% since early 2015, when it was at just $12. The line has hiked rates five times since then.

The 54% increase in Royal Caribbean’s gratuity charge since early 2015 is about 19 percentage points greater than the rate of inflation in the U.S. over the same period.

Since early 2015, inflation in the U.S. has run at a cumulative rate of about 35%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, as measured by its Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

Most of the biggest cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC Cruises, automatically add some sort of service or gratuity fee onto passenger bills. Passengers often have the choice to prepay the service fees when booking or have them added to their bill for onboard expenses, paid at the end of each sailing.

That said, the total number of lines with a service fee has been shrinking over the years. Many smaller and higher-end cruise operators have been folding these charges into their base fares.

Lines that now cover gratuities in their fares include Azamara, Ponant, Explora Journeys, Crystal, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, Seabourn, SeaDream Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises and Virgin Voyages.

For those lines that do have them, service and gratuity charges are touted as a convenient alternative to the practice of cash tipping on ships — something that once was common.

The cruise lines with such charges typically increase their rates every year or two.

Royal Caribbean told customers with existing cruise reservations that they could lock in the current, lower gratuity rates by prepaying gratuities before Nov. 1.

Note that, in some cases, passengers who are unhappy with the service they receive on Royal Caribbean ships can adjust the amount of daily gratuities posted to their accounts while on board by visiting the Guest Services desk, according to the line.

Adjustments are only allowed when gratuities are being charged to onboard accounts during sailings. Passengers who prepaid gratuities cannot adjust the amount they paid while on board.

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