Rci auto tipping

Good day cruisers, I have a question with regard to the mandatory daily tipping added to your seapass card. I'm fine with that. Everyone who works so hard deserves their fair share....

Why then, if tips have now become "mandatory'', do people using My Time Dining, need to pay in advance of the cruise? :confused: I could understand it before the auto daily tipping, so no one gets cheated out of a tip. But now, no one will since it's automatically added to the seapass. Makes no sense whatsorever...

The Matre D' comes by once in a while except the last night. Why does HE need to be included in the tip pool? I'm sure he gets a good salary.

OK, I've vented. All feedback is appreciated.

Have a good day:)

I believe the tips for MTD cannot be removed, at least without making a huge deal. The auto tips can easily be removed by filling out a form at Guest Services.

You can remove the auto tips so they arent really "mandatory". Thats probably the reason My Time Dining still requires prepaid gratuities that cannot be removed.

Its not the Maitre'D that comes by your table on RCI ships gnerally. Its the Head Waiter and Im not sure if he is still included in the auto tips or not. Im guessing probably so. He/she has a tough job Im sure and most people look at it that if they have to come by your table all the time, things are running smoothly with the wait staff. He or she also generally has other assignments than the MDR of an evening as well.

My head waiter on Freedom worked in the Windjammer for breakfast and lunch and would help me with my plate since Im in a wheelchair every day. He got more from me than the piddly .75 cents a day or whatever it was alloted to him back then :)

Good day cruisers, I have a question with regard to the mandatory daily tipping added to your seapass card. I'm fine with that. Everyone who works so hard deserves their fair share....

 

Why then, if tips have now become "mandatory'', do people using My Time Dining, need to pay in advance of the cruise? :confused: I could understand it before the auto daily tipping, so no one gets cheated out of a tip. But now, no one will since it's automatically added to the seapass. Makes no sense whatsorever...

 

The Matre D' comes by once in a while except the last night. Why does HE need to be included in the tip pool? I'm sure he gets a good salary.

 

OK, I've vented. All feedback is appreciated.

 

Have a good day:)

Good day cruisers, I have a question with regard to the mandatory daily tipping added to your seapass card. I'm fine with that. Everyone who works so hard deserves their fair share....

 

Why then, if tips have now become "mandatory'', do people using My Time Dining, need to pay in advance of the cruise? :confused: I could understand it before the auto daily tipping, so no one gets cheated out of a tip. But now, no one will since it's automatically added to the seapass. Makes no sense whatsorever...

 

The Matre D' comes by once in a while except the last night. Why does HE need to be included in the tip pool? I'm sure he gets a good salary.

 

OK, I've vented. All feedback is appreciated.

 

Have a good day:)

Cruising Pet Peeve #1

Maitre D' that only comes by once with a fake smile and makes small talk only because he has to... then stands with his hand out on the last night of the cruise!! :cool:

Good day cruisers, I have a question with regard to the mandatory daily tipping added to your seapass card. I'm fine with that. Everyone who works so hard deserves their fair share....

 

Why then, if tips have now become "mandatory'', do people using My Time Dining, need to pay in advance of the cruise? :confused: I could understand it before the auto daily tipping, so no one gets cheated out of a tip. But now, no one will since it's automatically added to the seapass. Makes no sense whatsorever...

 

The Matre D' comes by once in a while except the last night. Why does HE need to be included in the tip pool? I'm sure he gets a good salary.

 

OK, I've vented. All feedback is appreciated.

 

Have a good day:)

Because somewhere it is financially beneficial to RCI. No other reason.

I believe the tips for MTD cannot be removed, at least without making a huge deal. The auto tips can easily be removed by filling out a form at Guest Services.

Thanks for this, I do not anticipate poor service but I'd like to know how to remove the auto tip if I need to adjust it. Can you remove it any time and it removes the accrued gratuities?

I actually prefer to leave a few dollars each day for housekeeping. I know if I give cash it goes to who I want to reward. I always do this in hotels. They are really the hardest working folks.

We also will eat at each specialty restaurant once and probably WJ as well once for supper. We tip these folks as deserved but on each trip. I leave cash on the table at WJ dinners for the help. But an additional $168 service charge on top of that is over the top. And if it is truly a gratuity and not a service charge then it is my choice.

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Thanks for this, I do not anticipate poor service but I'd like to know how to remove the auto tip if I need to adjust it. Can you remove it any time and it removes the accrued gratuities? ...

Guest Services will do whatever you want. If you would like to keep total control of the tips, just visit Guest Services early on the first day and tell them to discontinue auto-tipping.

Cruising Pet Peeve #1

Maitre D' that only comes by once with a fake smile and makes small talk only because he has to... then stands with his hand out on the last night of the cruise!! :cool:

On what ship and sailing date did this happen on??I have been on 82 cruises and this never has happened to me!

I want to do MTD, but on one of my cruises I have a lot of ship board credit. I would never use it all so I want to use it for the auto tip. Since I would need to pay the gratuities in advance using MTD, I requested early dining. My plan is to request MTD when I get on the ship.

Do you think this will work?

Cruising Pet Peeve #1

Maitre D' that only comes by once with a fake smile and makes small talk only because he has to... then stands with his hand out on the last night of the cruise!! :cool:

Just to correct this as was done above, it is a Head Waiter not the Maitre'd (or Dining Room Manager - the new title) who supervises a group of tables in the MDR. If you get excellent service from your waiter and assistant it is directly due to the training and supervision skills of the Head Waiter. In our many years of cruising we have never experienced a Head Waiter with a hand out expecting a tip. We have experienced a couple of bad Head Waiters and addressed that to the Maitre'd (a ship officer) and / or the Food and Beverage Director.

I am waiting for new info on tips to be posted

He got more from me than the piddly .75 cents a day or whatever it was alloted to him back then :)

Your definition of "piddly" is a lot different than mine...do the math.

My plan is to request MTD when I get on the ship.

Do you think this will work?

You should be fine but I would go to the MDR as soon as you board. They will try to accomodate you into MTD if at all possible. Thats what I did on my last cruise and they just had me fill out a paper to charge my gratuitites directly to my seapass account. This was two years ago before the auto tipping was in place.

I've done that on several cruises because I had a huge amount of OBC. I figured as a solo cruiser it would be easy to just add one more person to MTD. It worked fine the first two times (even though I had to stand in those awful dining room lines the first afternoon) but the third time I could not get into MTD even though I had the concierge trying to get it for me.

So I've decided that I am going to book and pay for MTD and take the 5% hit on my OBC and withdraw the money in cash. For a seven day cruise that will cost $4.20/pp. IMO well worth the money for getting rid of the anxiety, being able to pre-reserve tables, and not wasting time the first day waiting in dining lines.

Your definition of "piddly" is a lot different than mine...do the math.

I did the math. I do believe the head waiters allotment of gratuities was .75 cents a day. Thats "piddly" to me considering the service i received hence why I tipped him extra.

I did the math. I do believe the head waiters allotment of gratuities was .75 cents a day. Thats "piddly" to me considering the service i received hence why I tipped him extra.

That is, on a six month contract, over $240,000 in tips alone on the smallest (based on number of berths) ships in the RCI fleet (Splendor and Legend)...and that is based on it sailing at only 100% capacity and RCI averages around 103% if I remember correctly.

I would be willing to bet there are millions of people who would gladly work 16 hour days, seven days a week for 6 months for that total on top of a small contract salary.

That is, on a six month contract, over $240,000 in tips alone on the smallest (based on number of berths) ships in the RCI fleet (Splendor and Legend)...and that is based on it sailing at only 100% capacity and RCI averages around 103% if I remember correctly.

 

I would be willing to bet there are millions of people who would gladly work 16 hour days, seven days a week for 6 months for that total on top of a small contract salary.

Maybe but I really dont know :) I have a really hard time believing a Head Waiter on a cruise ship rakes in a 1/4 mil a year but thats just me.

The man was a huge help to me. Its tough rolling around the Windjammer with no tray in a wheelchair trying to fix a plate of food. I thought he deserved extra than his .75 cents a day :)

Thankfully the staff always seem to want to help me but in this case it was my head waiter. They have other duties than just dinner time in the MDR.

Good day cruisers, I have a question with regard to the mandatory daily tipping added to your seapass card. I'm fine with that. Everyone who works so hard deserves their fair share....

 

Why then, if tips have now become "mandatory'', do people using My Time Dining, need to pay in advance of the cruise? :confused: I could understand it before the auto daily tipping, so no one gets cheated out of a tip. But now, no one will since it's automatically added to the seapass. Makes no sense whatsorever...

 

The Matre D' comes by once in a while except the last night. Why does HE need to be included in the tip pool? I'm sure he gets a good salary.

 

OK, I've vented. All feedback is appreciated.

 

Have a good day:)

Tips are given not taken. Feel free to tip as you please.I'M sure someone will say you are stiffing the Matre D.Maybe we should let Goldstein worry about the crew. :)

Maybe but I really dont know :) I have a really hard time believing a Head Waiter on a cruise ship rakes in a 1/4 mil a year but thats just me.

 

The man was a huge help to me. Its tough rolling around the Windjammer with no tray in a wheelchair trying to fix a plate of food. I thought he deserved extra than his .75 cents a day :)

 

Thankfully the staff always seem to want to help me but in this case it was my head waiter. They have other duties than just dinner time in the MDR.

I am not saying he didn't deserve a little extra. It is just that many people do not extrapolate things out.

For example, we are in Weight Watchers. A couple of weeks ago someone was complaing that they only lost 0.8 pounds that week. I completely get the frustration (been there, done that) but asked them "If I could guarantee you that one year from now you would weigh 41 pounds less would you take it?" When they said yes I pointed out that was 0.8 pounds a week.

On what ship and sailing date did this happen on??I have been on 82 cruises and this never has happened to me!

I'm not making this up.....LOL

Carnival Glory, Carnival Dream were the worst for this.

This was before they stopped handing out the envelopes for the Maitre D' on Carnival.

The Head Waiter on our last Disney Magic sailing was the worse yet.

He didn't acknowledge our table (of 3) until the last night. Then he only came over and spoke for about 8 seconds and moved to the next table. It seems as if he hung around all the larger tables.

Some of you seem to be confusing the maître-d with the head waiter.

The maître-d oversees the entire dining room, arranges the sitting plan, assigns the wait teams, etc. He is not included in the tip.

A Head Waiter is assigned to a smaller section of the dining room, and is responsible for the tables and the wait teams in that area. He is very hands-on, although much of his work is behind the scenes facilitating the work of the wait teams in his area. He handles any issues or problems that arise. They do some of the set-up for your wait team. Etc. Some are more social than others, stopping by the tables nightly, and others just make a short appearance to ask if everything is to your satisfaction. They are also assigned to parts of the buffet for breakfast and lunch. If your dining service runs smoothly, then the Head Waiter did his job - even if it isn't totally visible to you. He is included in the suggested gratuities.

A ship may have 10-15 Head Waiters depending on its size. So, the person who did the math and determined that the Head Waiter gets 1/4 Million Dollars in tips a year did not take into account that there are many head waiters on a ship, and did not divide that total amongst them.

That is, on a six month contract, over $240,000 in tips alone on the smallest (based on number of berths) ships in the RCI fleet (Splendor and Legend)...and that is based on it sailing at only 100% capacity and RCI averages around 103% if I remember correctly.

 

I would be willing to bet there are millions of people who would gladly work 16 hour days, seven days a week for 6 months for that total on top of a small contract salary.

Since you are going to tell people to do the math, you should see how many head waiters there are on the ship.

There are a lot more than 1. Seems as if there are 6 or so on the main floor, and probably 4 more per large deck area. So on the Enchantment, call it around 10 of them. I seem to think there are more than that, though- but can't find the data of how many actual head waiters there are.

Which would put the tips at (Enchantment, 100%, all going to dinner)-

2446 passengers x $0.75 per day x 183 days/6mo / 10 = $33,517. While still very attractive of pay, that's not exactly $240k.

Some of you seem to be confusing the maître-d with the head waiter.

 

The maître-d oversees the entire dining room, arranges the sitting plan, assigns the wait teams, etc. He is not included in the tip.

 

A Head Waiter is assigned to a smaller section of the dining room, and is responsible for the tables and the wait teams in that area. He is very hands-on, although much of his work is behind the scenes facilitating the work of the wait teams in his area. He handles any issues or problems that arise. They do some of the set-up for your wait team. Etc. Some are more social than others, stopping by the tables nightly, and others just make a short appearance to ask if everything is to your satisfaction. They are also assigned to parts of the buffet for breakfast and lunch. If your dining service runs smoothly, then the Head Waiter did his job - even if it isn't totally visible to you. He is included in the suggested gratuities.

 

A ship may have 10-15 Head Waiters depending on its size. So, the person who did the math and determined that the Head Waiter gets 1/4 Million Dollars in tips a year did not take into account that there are many head waiters on a ship, and did not divide that total amongst them.

Very well put. Of course, one also needs to factor in those yahoos who don't know who the head waiter is or what they do so fail to tip them at all.

Just to correct this as was done above, it is a Head Waiter not the Maitre'd (or Dining Room Manager - the new title) who supervises a group of tables in the MDR. If you get excellent service from your waiter and assistant it is directly due to the training and supervision skills of the Head Waiter. In our many years of cruising we have never experienced a Head Waiter with a hand out expecting a tip. We have experienced a couple of bad Head Waiters and addressed that to the Maitre'd (a ship officer) and / or the Food and Beverage Director.

No I am speaking of the Maitre D'..not the head waiter.

I am aware of the difference.

Have you ever sailed Disney?

They give you nice little envelopes in your stateroom on the last night. One is addressed to the Head Waiter.

If you have prepaid your gratuities you simply put the preprinted slip in the envelope and add extra if you wish. Or the total tip in cash if you chose that option.

Our head waiter surely had his hand out for that envelope on the last night.