Not automatic. You can pre pay You can charge on ship. You can take cash. To prepay, contact your travel agent, or if booked direct, contact DCL. You get envelopes the penultimate night of the cruise and if prepaid or charged you will get 'tickets' to put in them, if you pay cash just put that in the envelope, hand over last night of the cruise.
I too had this question. If we pre-pay, how does the wait/room staff etc.. know that we did this? I don't want to leave them hanging or appear cheap. If we prepaid how do they know??
They know on the last evening of they cruise because you will present them with tip envelopes. The envelopes will contain 1/2 of the tip coupon that you will receive in your stateroom. They will also know when they get their check from DCL. Even if they don't have the coupon, your tip will appear in the check. One thing--do verify that the name on the coupon matches the person you intend to tip. Again, there is a "fall-back" system in place so that if they have a coupon they will get the tip, but it really makes life easy to have everything right!
and note that anything you buy from a bar will have a gratuity already added in ... you can change the amount or let it ride. the only time folks tip individually with cash typically is when requesting room service where a dollar or two is not uncommon. for the most part the ship is 'cashless' (as is Castaway .... really just an extension of the ship. all purchases on on the card except postage at the post office)
