deleting automatic gratuities

How would you go about tipping the people who attend to your breakfast and lunch who are not your regular dinner wait staff?

by them you mean the individual who I don't interact with, and don't meet, as they only come after I'm gone to clean up my plates??

by them you mean the individual who I don't interact with, and don't meet, as they only come after I'm gone to clean up my plates??

wow. so the food magically appears? and the dishes miraculously clean themselves before you use them? and the iced tea machine is filled by elves?

FTR, on every cruise I have seen both members of my waitstaff in other venues: pouring OJ in the MDR at breakfast, loading cutlery in the WJ at lunch, squirting people with sanitizer

you INTERACT with a whole helluva lot more people even if you are too blind to see it.

by them you mean the individual who I don't interact with, and don't meet, as they only come after I'm gone to clean up my plates??

As a matter of fact, yeah, them!

What if one of them says "hello" to you at breakfast or lunch or offers to bring a beverage to you? Would that count as an interaction and therefore merit a gratuity for the services provided?

What if you eat breakfast or lunch in the dining room during the cruise. They take orders and service the tables much like dinner. Is that an interaction worth a gratuity?

Some of the best room stewards I have had barely interact. Their servicing of the room has been done very well and with stealth. He or she comes after I'm gone to service the room. Would the lack of interaction jeopardize deserving a gratuity?

Swore I would not get into a tipping thread ever again but, I confess, I was weak.:D:o:D

 

Carry on, everyone.;):)

Americans discussing the useage of the English language :rolleyes:

 

Wow! - This deserves a thread of it's own :D

Yes, USAGE often deserves a thread of ITS own!:)

Exactly! If the stewart is in my room and I give him some cash, who is going to know if I gave him a twenty, a ten, a couple of twentys or anything at all. What are they going to do, frisk them down everyday or do a raid of their lockers and personal belongings????

Most are going to turn it in because they are told to. And peer pressure. Plus the ramifications of getting caught are being sent home. In crew quarters where crew shares rooms someone not turning in tips would become known.

The cruise line is going to get that cash into the pool. We have had crew members put up videos of how it is done. They have a list of passengers with prepaid gratuities and automatic gratuities. Of the rest, those who removed them it is assumed that 85% pay cash and 15% stiff. The crew member has to turn in that 85% whether he actually recieved it or not. If on a sailing 25% stiff him he has to make up the shortage.

. The crew member has to turn in that 85% whether he actually recieved it or not. If on a sailing 25% stiff him he has to make up the shortage.

Wow! :(

Wow, LOL, what a cluster of a conversation! :eek:

I ONLY join in to say on our cruise on NOTS the first week of February this year, our MDR waiter (who was awesome and we handed cash to nightly) said the auto-grats go into the pool, but she and her assistant keep the cash they are handed. She also said if you add a tip to a sea pass receipt, in the MDR or elsewhere, that goes into the pool.

We do as many here do, pre-pay the grats then hand out cash to those who we feel deserve more. We believe the "pool" ensures that the guy (or gal) in the boiler room and the water recycling plant gets his cut.

That is all. ;)

Wow, LOL, what a cluster of a conversation! :eek:

 

I ONLY join in to say on our cruise on NOTS the first week of February this year, our MDR waiter (who was awesome and we handed cash to nightly) said the auto-grats go into the pool, but she and her assistant keep the cash they are handed. She also said if you add a tip to a sea pass receipt, in the MDR or elsewhere, that goes into the pool.

 

We do as many here do, pre-pay the grats then hand out cash to those who we feel deserve more. We believe the "pool" ensures that the guy (or gal) in the boiler room and the water recycling plant gets his cut.

 

That is all. ;)

I never really thought of who shares from the pre-paid gratuities as you have listed some interesting crew members (LOL), but we surely do give additional tips to those individuals that we have had more direct contact with on a cruise. I do recognize the numerous crew members who enable every breakfast/lunch, service from Café Promenade or Lattitudes (or anywhere else) and they need to be 'taken care of as well' and the pre-paid gratuities function to do that.

Most are going to turn it in because they are told to. And peer pressure. Plus the ramifications of getting caught are being sent home. In crew quarters where crew shares rooms someone not turning in tips would become known.

 

The cruise line is going to get that cash into the pool. We have had crew members put up videos of how it is done. They have a list of passengers with prepaid gratuities and automatic gratuities. Of the rest, those who removed them it is assumed that 85% pay cash and 15% stiff. The crew member has to turn in that 85% whether he actually recieved it or not. If on a sailing 25% stiff him he has to make up the shortage.

It's a fascinating idea but it sounds beyond belief.

Honest question...why would the cruise line even CARE if a crew member keeps cash or pools it? The agreed pay to that worker is the same to the company. That's in their contract

For a particularly helpful task on the third day of a 10 day cruise I gave our attendant $5. I do not for a moment believe she was forced to turn that in. I hope she was not required to. I am sure other people may tip small amounts of cash along the way as well and genuinely expect that those tokens of appreciation stay with and benefit the recipient at the recipients choosing, not the companies.

I've seen my waiters getting off the ship and handed them each a $10 bill and said to enjoy some lunch on me. Are you telling me they had to hold that $10 until they got back on board and put it in a pool to get 75 cents at some future date? That's preposterous to me. It doesn't pass the sniff test. I simply do not believe they have the man power to have collection agents handling this. How often do they shake down the crew for cash? [emoji57]

Why must the cruise line get it into the pool if, as I said, they pay an agreed contract price no matter what? If a large portion of people stiff a server why do they have to pay into the pool when they already have less to start with? Doesn't that defeat the definition and purpose of a pool? So let's say a room steward gets stuck with a section where everyone has to remove auto grats and provides no cash; by the meaning of a pool that steward would still collect something from all the pooled money. Your explanation makes it sound like the cruise line demand $XYZ every week as a minimum and he has to dig into his previous earnings to pitch in to participate. That makes no sense. If everyone had to do that wouldn't they just all get back what they put in? It's absurd. The pool never actually benefits a shortfall. This is something I'd love to see something that corroborates what you are saying, such as a video you mentioned.

Yes, USAGE often deserves a thread of ITS own!:)

Ohhh! I also thought this but did not post it. :p tee hee

Swore I would not get into a tipping thread ever again but, I confess, I was weak.:D:o:D

EVER? But that's such a long time! :D

.

I think this is what RCI is hoping for with the prepaid gratuities. We pay gratuities over 2 months in advance since we like MTD. When we get on the cruise the "gratuities" paid are kind of like a distant memory and we typically feel inclined to add to it during the cruise. I wouldn't be surprised if that's part of the plan. I hear a lot of people saying they do this as well.

 

That's why many of us think of it more like a service fee. I don't know anyone who pays over 2 months in advance for service at a restaurant on land.

 

I'm a little more confused about automatically adding to drinks as you buy them. Not enough that I don't drink and it is more convenient than having to tip for each drink. I'm less inclined to tip more for drinks since the auto gratuity is right on the slip so I feel more like it's taken care of.

 

I've never purchased a drink package, but I'd imagine they charge you that gratuity like with MTD so it's way in advance so people with drink packages probably feel more inclined to tip more as well.

 

It's a logical strategy.

 

Tom

I agree with you. I'm sailing in a couple months in my first suite and I am SO glad that gratuities are all paid for already. It will help keep my end of cruise bill down, and on a 13 night cruise that's quite a lot in gratuities to not worry about.

If I receive excellent service from the cabin attendant, I will probably tip a bit extra at the end of the cruise. Based on my last couple cruises, I don't have high expectations for the waitstaff, but the same goes for them. For drinks, I don't always tip extra on each drink, but if I've been in the same bar for a while and ordered a few drinks from the same bar server, I'd probably tip extra on the last drink of the night, a couple dollars over and above the 18%.

I received terrible cabin service on my last cruise but still left the auto tips in place. I didn't think it was fair to punish the rest of the crew for one person's bad attitude. He didn't get any extra from me, and I addressed the problems in the post-cruise survey.

The OP has mentioned a few times not trusting that RCI will disseminate the auto gratuity correctly/as stated. If you really think this why are you having anything to do with RCI at all? If I felt a company lied to me (which is what you're saying) I would never give them my business!

Viperrtblck, you come across as being cheap. If you want to feel superior to the working class of the ship then just hand additional cash to those you want to at the end of the cruise!

If you've ever wondered why you rarely (if ever) see a waiter or room steward from the U.S., it is because most U.S. citizens aren't willing to be away from their families for months and months at a time, working hard for long hours, 7 days a week. I'm sure that even those of us who scrimp to be able to take a cruise once every few years are "rich" by the standards of those who serve us onboard. I figure that every dollar I tip means way more to the recipient than it does to me. I feel the same way at home if I eat out or get my hair cut, etc.

Ummm, like those in the military maybe?:rolleyes:

It's a fascinating idea but it sounds beyond belief.

 

Honest question...why would the cruise line even CARE if a crew member keeps cash or pools it? The agreed pay to that worker is the same to the company. That's in their contract

 

For a particularly helpful task on the third day of a 10 day cruise I gave our attendant $5. I do not for a moment believe she was forced to turn that in. I hope she was not required to. I am sure other people may tip small amounts of cash along the way as well and genuinely expect that those tokens of appreciation stay with and benefit the recipient at the recipients choosing, not the companies.

 

I've seen my waiters getting off the ship and handed them each a $10 bill and said to enjoy some lunch on me. Are you telling me they had to hold that $10 until they got back on board and put it in a pool to get 75 cents at some future date? That's preposterous to me. It doesn't pass the sniff test. I simply do not believe they have the man power to have collection agents handling this. How often do they shake down the crew for cash? [emoji57]

 

Why must the cruise line get it into the pool if, as I said, they pay an agreed contract price no matter what? If a large portion of people stiff a server why do they have to pay into the pool when they already have less to start with? Doesn't that defeat the definition and purpose of a pool? So let's say a room steward gets stuck with a section where everyone has to remove auto grats and provides no cash; by the meaning of a pool that steward would still collect something from all the pooled money. Your explanation makes it sound like the cruise line demand $XYZ every week as a minimum and he has to dig into his previous earnings to pitch in to participate. That makes no sense. If everyone had to do that wouldn't they just all get back what they put in? It's absurd. The pool never actually benefits a shortfall. This is something I'd love to see something that corroborates what you are saying, such as a video you mentioned.

Agreed that that makes no sense. People are delusional about all the supposed behind the scenes people auto gratuities benefit:

Wow, that was an interesting video. Thanks for posting!

Tom

Ummm, like those in the military maybe?:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Agreed that that makes no sense. People are delusional about all the supposed behind the scenes people auto gratuities benefit:

 

The OP has mentioned a few times not trusting that RCI will disseminate the auto gratuity correctly/as stated. If you really think this why are you having anything to do with RCI at all? If I felt a company lied to me (which is what you're saying) I would never give them my business!

I had a similar question: If I could not trust RCI to distribute money as they said they would, can I trust them with my life as they navigate a giant ship around the ocean?

I got to thinking... If this video is true, wouldn't the cruise lines need to know the total tips, including cash tips, so they'd know how much might have to be made up to reach the contract amount? Maybe that's why they like prepay so much? More visibility and control?

Tom

Ummm, like those in the military maybe?:rolleyes:

 

 

 

Agreed that that makes no sense. People are delusional about all the supposed behind the scenes people auto gratuities ...

Hey, C, it happens to the best of us! Hope you had a great birthday!

;):)

Ohhh! I also thought this but did not post it. :p tee hee

 

 

 

EVER? But that's such a long time! :D

.

Johnny Mathis is singing in the background......."until the 12th of never, and that's a long, long time.":D

Americans discussing the useage of the English language :rolleyes:

Lets face the fact that those that remove the auto gratuity do not intend to give as much in cash if anything.

 

They are mostly cheap and don't want to tip.

For our last cruise on Allure I decided to do it RCI's way. We chose MTD, paid the gratuities up front, and I decided that I was done with it. I did my part, didn't tip any extra as I have in the past and saved myself some money.

Lets face the fact some people on these boards make generalizations that make them appear pretty clueless.:)

Missed this comment earlier. There are many people (mostly outside the US) that would say that gas is an inaccurate term for petrol, because it is a liquid under normal conditions, not a gas.

 

So, in my mind, it's actually a pretty good comparison for those quibbling about whether the $12/day is really a "gratuity" vs a "service charge."

I'll be stopping at the petrol station later today.:)

Swore I would not get into a tipping thread ever again but, I confess, I was weak.:D:o:D

 

Carry on, everyone.;):)

The force is strong. It is hard to resist.

Haven't cruised since they started the auto gratuities, I think it's not $12/day and $14/day for suite guests...per person. They went away with the envelopes now? I read online that you could have the amount lowered if you're not happy with the service (http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqType=faq&faqSubjectId=415&faqSubjectName=Gratuities&faqId=5524). Has anybody ever done this? I don't trust where the money goes if it's just being automatically charged to me, I thought gratuities were optional? I feel more comfortable handing the envelope with cash at the end of my cruise to the individuals intended to receive them, instead of the cruise line hitting up my sea pass each and every day.

You must be very clever if you can remember the name and the face of every single person who has served you over the duration of the cruise, breakfast, lunch and dinner. I also have better things to do on my last day than walking the entire ship looking for these aforementioned people. :rolleyes:

Just so you know, if you choose My Time Dining, you are required to prepay gratuities. You will have to opt for traditional dining in order to avoid prepaid gratuities.

As long as this is still in vogue.