Removing auto gratuity and paying at end.....question

I just read on here a post about having the tips removed and paying at the end may cause not so great of service by the steward. Really??? Has anyone actually experienced that? I would feel to be the opposite honestly. Do a great job and get a wonderful tip at the end. If they do a not so great job then I would think at that point people would try to stiff them. Im wondering if anyone has actually experienced this??

No, because we always leave the autotips in place and tip extra in cash at the end if warranted which is the best of both worlds. If I were a room steward and knew someone had removed the tips from their account (yes, they know), I'd be thinking, uh oh, this cheap yahoo is gonna stiff me no matter what I do. Since it takes some effort to remove he tips, why else would someone do it unless they wanted to pay less? With our way, they know they will not be stiffed and might try harder to get something more at the end.

No, because we always leave the autotips in place and tip extra in cash at the end if warranted which is the best of both worlds. If I were a room steward and knew someone had removed the tips from their account (yes, they know), I'd be thinking, uh oh, this cheap yahoo is gonna stiff me no matter what I do. Since it takes some effort to remove he tips, why else would someone do it unless they wanted to pay less? With our way, they know they will not be stiffed and might try harder to get something more at the end.

I agree completely, The tips that are automatically taken are what I would consider minimal at best. Taking the time to remove them and then getting envelopes at the end is far too much time away from my time on the cruise. I have always tipped extra. That's just me though. Everyone has their own opinions and feeling about tipping or not.

No, because we always leave the autotips in place and tip extra in cash at the end if warranted which is the best of both worlds. If I were a room steward and knew someone had removed the tips from their account (yes, they know), I'd be thinking, uh oh, this cheap yahoo is gonna stiff me no matter what I do. Since it takes some effort to remove he tips, why else would someone do it unless they wanted to pay less? With our way, they know they will not be stiffed and might try harder to get something more at the end.

100% agree with everything above ^^^^^^^^

I don't mind the "auto" gratuities while we are cruising, I just mind RCI making you pre-pay the gratuities before final payment. My TA said that since first and second seatings were unavailable, we had to sign up with MTD and be waitlisted on first seating. With MTD, gratuities had to be pre-paid. A couple months later, first seating became available. I've read from other boards about this happening to others and feel this is RCI's way of making sure they get gratuities. We have always given more than the minimum, but we would rather use our OBC to pay the gratuities than have to pre-pay months before we even step on board!

I just read on here a post about having the tips removed and paying at the end may cause not so great of service by the steward. Really??? Has anyone actually experienced that? I would feel to be the opposite honestly. Do a great job and get a wonderful tip at the end. If they do a not so great job then I would think at that point people would try to stiff them. Im wondering if anyone has actually experienced this??

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a half-hearted attempt once the auto-tips are removed. The auto-tips are guaranteed income. Once removed, there is a chance they will get an equal (or better) tip but a much larger chance that they will get NOTHING.

I think the staff actually LIKES the 'autopay", as many folks forget how much they've already paid in tips...so many people will tip much more than they normally would, if they had to divy up the cash in envelopes, like in the old days!

I just read on here a post about having the tips removed and paying at the end may cause not so great of service by the steward. Really??? Has anyone actually experienced that? I would feel to be the opposite honestly. Do a great job and get a wonderful tip at the end. If they do a not so great job then I would think at that point people would try to stiff them. Im wondering if anyone has actually experienced this??

First don't pay any mind to the tip police.We have been on twelve Royal cruises only auto tip once.Out of all our cruises never had a problem with a room steward. Someone said tips are personal,and i agree.Some people seem to have a problem with how other people tip.It is your Money tip as you please.Some of these sick minded people will lie to scare you into auto tips.Had a person tell me if i don't auto tip,i should watch my toothbrush.Have a great cruise, never worry about the crew they are great.

First don't pay any mind to the tip police.We have been on twelve Royal cruises only auto tip once.Out of all our cruises never had a problem with a room steward. Someone said tips are personal,and i agree.Some people seem to have a problem with how other people tip.It is your Money tip as you please.Some of these sick minded people will lie to scare you into auto tips.Had a person tell me if i don't auto tip,i should watch my toothbrush.:)

Just curious, did you actually remove them?

First don't pay any mind to the tip police.We have been on twelve Royal cruises only auto tip once.Out of all our cruises never had a problem with a room steward. Someone said tips are personal,and i agree.Some people seem to have a problem with how other people tip.It is your Money tip as you please.Some of these sick minded people will lie to scare you into auto tips.Had a person tell me if i don't auto tip,i should watch my toothbrush.Have a great cruise never worry about the crew they are great.

We also do not auto-tip and have always received great service. In fact, last year on the MS Zuiderdam (HAL) we did pre-pay due to some confusion in the booking of the cruise and we received the worst room steward service in our 5 cruises.

A lot of people will jump down your throat and call you cheap for not auto-paying, but it's your money and until the cruise industry finds a way to pay their staff properly without hidden charges to the customers they'll need to deal with them not being paid a fair wage. Working on a cruise ship is a choice.

Just curious, did you actually remove them?

We always remove them and haven't had any issues or lack of service.We pay tips at the end of the cruise.

I don't mind the "auto" gratuities while we are cruising, I just mind RCI making you pre-pay the gratuities before final payment. My TA said that since first and second seatings were unavailable, we had to sign up with MTD and be waitlisted on first seating. With MTD, gratuities had to be pre-paid. A couple months later, first seating became available. I've read from other boards about this happening to others and feel this is RCI's way of making sure they get gratuities. We have always given more than the minimum, but we would rather use our OBC to pay the gratuities than have to pre-pay months before we even step on board!

You do not pre-pay gratuities before final payment. They are added to your bill and you pay them AT final payment time.

We always remove them and haven't had any issues or lack of service.We pay tips at the end of the cruise.

If it's a daily charge to your seapass, do you have to remove them daily or do you just go to guest services once at the beginning of the cruise?

We always remove them and haven't had any issues or lack of service.We pay tips at the end of the cruise.

Just not sure why you always remove them if you intend to pay them anyway? We have always received excellent service but if we did not, I believe that there are better ways to deal with such a problem and auto-tips, or pre-paying tips, simply removes one more issue to deal with at the end of our cruise. Most often we end up giving our wait staff and room steward an additional gratuity but not having to scramble to obtain the appropriate denominations of cash for the tips is extremely convenient.

If it's a daily charge to your seapass, do you have to remove them daily or do you just go to guest services once at the beginning of the cruise?

You only need to tell them once at the beginning of the cruise.

You only need to tell them once at the beginning of the cruise.

Thanks. Was kind of curious to see how much effort people put into it.

I've removed the auto-tips (once at the beginning of the cruise, did it when I was at GS to get a hole punched in my card for my lanyard) and I've always had great service from the cabin steward and dining room team.

Its about removing tips for babies:rolleyes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43078614#post43078614

Just not sure why you always remove them if you intend to pay them anyway? We have always received excellent service but if we did not, I believe that there are better ways to deal with such a problem and auto-tips, or pre-paying tips, simply removes one more issue to deal with at the end of our cruise. Most often we end up giving our wait staff and room steward an additional gratuity but not having to scramble to obtain the appropriate denominations of cash for the tips is extremely convenient.

I always wonder the same thing.

Its about removing tips for babies:rolleyes:

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43078614#post43078614

Yes, after responding here I saw OP's other post asking about paying less for the kids. So wrong on so many levels.

Just not sure why you always remove them if you intend to pay them anyway? We have always received excellent service but if we did not, I believe that there are better ways to deal with such a problem and auto-tips, or pre-paying tips, simply removes one more issue to deal with at the end of our cruise. Most often we end up giving our wait staff and room steward an additional gratuity but not having to scramble to obtain the appropriate denominations of cash for the tips is extremely convenient.

Could not agree more. It is one more than that is done and paid for before you leave. However, I do give a tip at the beginning of the cruise to my steward and tell them I will see them at the end and to "keep me in ice" and extra towels. I then give them something at the end and have always had excellent service. I always tip extra to the wait staff if I have the same waiter every night which we usually do which is why I prefer making reservations ahead even with MTD.

My only gripe with the pre paid is I am not totally on board with the portion that goes to parties other than my steward, waiter, and assistant waiter. I rarely if ever see those other people.

Leave your tips on and if warranted - give extra. You will make the crew very happy.

If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to cruise.

Auto tips only guarantee the minimal amount you should give.

Why would you take off the minimal amount?:confused:

You do not pre-pay gratuities before final payment. They are added to your bill and you pay them AT final payment time.

Which means, up until final payment, one can always switch back to traditional dining if it opens up. Take MTD, waitlist for traditional, no harm/no foul.

Wow, seems like everyone has taken this the wrong way. Not that I need to defend myself but I will anyways. The only reason the other thread is active again is because I posted my original question on this thread there first because I already had a tipping question thread started. Nobody answered on there because I was the last post and most people just see the first couple of posts. Hence why I started a new thread. Not sure why so many people get so bent out of shape about the way others tip. Sorry, but it is a little ridiculous and taken way to personal. If you read the other post I had a change of heart about the tipping of the babies due to others comments. This question has NOTHING to do with tipping for the kids. Someone else had a thread started about tipping and a lot of people mentioned the steward will give bad service because of it. I was curious if this happened to anyone because I found it kind of crazy if that was the case. My goodness, the tipping discussions on here are just taken way too personal in my opinion. I definitely will not start another thread about it nor respond to any more comments. I don't like discussions getting heated. You come on cruise critic to get opinions and thoughts and then discussions take this turn. So ridiculous AND over tipping.....really?????

Yes, after responding here I saw OP's other post asking about paying less for the kids. So wrong on so many levels.

But, if you keep reading, Geri, our OP changed his/her mind about it after having it explained that the wee ones make the biggest messes!