Baggy178

Doing our first TA with Celebrity this Autumn. Looking forward to not purchasing the Wi-Fi package and spending our days at sea having a digital detox, reading copiously, a few early sharpeners and then not getting dressed up for dinner in the OVC. Might play a bit of bingo, go to the odd lecture and maybe take in a show. Generally in bed early. Basically doing sweet Fanny Adams.

Talking of wine how closely do Celebrity inspect the two wine bottles pp that are allowed on embarkation ? I presume they go through x-ray but are they checked individually as well ? Asking for a friend ...

A couple of years ago we did a TA with P&O where tips were included plus a return flight from Barbados to the UK. It was about £100pp more expensive than the cruise we have booked on the Silhouette for Oct 2023.

We've only ever travelled with hand-luggage all over the world for the past 25 years or so. There's been a trail of disappointed porters in our wake as we declined their offers of carrying our rucksacks to room or cabin. Tightwad tourism is the name of the game. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail ...

If that was the case I would be keeping our OBC as well as cancelling the pre-paid gratuities. I may be a cad but I'm not a rotter old boy 😉

I understand your point entirely about how the system works in the US. But Celebrity purposely registers itself in Liberia to avoid that American system and you can bet your last dollar their gratuity system is in place to benefit the company first, employees second. As a result we have no idea on what basis gratuities are distributed - who gets what and the criteria this is based on. I think 15% of our fare is much fairer than 27% and will explain this to Customer Service without any remorse. The tail should never wag the dog.

15% would be towards the top end of gratuities in the UK where hospitality staff are paid a legal minimum wage. In our case the automatic gratuities would amount to 27% of our fare. As we've already established US cruise lines are registered elsewhere precisely to avoid US labor and salary laws so I'm not sure why US gratuity levels are relevant here. Why encourage multi-national corporations to avoid paying their staff a decent salary ? And tipping someone just because they're away from home for a few months ? Hey sailor, welcome to life at sea. At the end of the day gratuities are voluntary - I wouldn't allow a restaurant to tell me how much to tip so why treat cruise lines any different ?

You only pay them if you pay them because of course they are entirely voluntary. We have decided to have them removed from our account and replace them with a figure of 15% of the cost of our cruise rather than an arbitrary figure of $36 a day and use part of our OBC to do this. It seems to us a much more realistic gratuity and this way Celebrity actually uses its own money to pay its crew. A fantastic compromise - I should have been in the diplomatic service 🤣

Cruising must be one of those rare occasions where folk will blithely hand over $400+ to a total stranger with absolutely no idea who is receiving the cash or what it's used for beyond a rather bland and vague statement that it goes to the crew. What's remarkable is how other cruise lines have abandoned gratuities altogether yet still manage to attract crew and not be any more expensive than other lines. On our last P&O cruise the crew still got plenty of tips on top of their normal wages and everyone seemed very happy with the arrangment. Who'da thunk it ?

I think what concerns me is the lack of clarity about it all. Celebrity say here's the automatic gratuity payment we've decided. There's no detail on who gets what or how much. Why should Celebrity's figures be amongst the highest in the business - is that because they pay the lowest wages ? Is there an admin fee recovered by Celebrity ? What happens to the interest on the account where these gratuities go - do the staff get it or the company ? I also dislike the fact that I can't individually rewarded a member of staff who has gone above and beyond the call of duty whereas those who are less forthcoming in the manners department get rewarded come what may. What does surprise me is how supposedly rational people become insulting on here when someone has the temerity to question the whole system - I mean whereas in life would you willingly hand over $400 without knowing EXACTLY what it was for and where it's going. Going toe-to-toe with someone on the customer service desk to use some of our OBC for gratuities WE decide are appropriate doesn't bother me in the slightest although I'm wondering whether to do it at the beginning of the cruise or towards the end - maybe a couple of days out.

Interestingly I came across this from a 2019 blog when automatic gratuities stood at $14.50 ' Daily service fee/gratuity – $14.50 per passenger is automatically added to onboard accounts each day. The breakdown is: Dining Services Team = $9.39 per person per day; Stateroom Attendant = $3.59 per person per day; Housekeeping Services = $1.51 per person per day. '

The service charge on drinks is 20% not a dollar rate. If that is how bar staff receive their gratuities why shouldn't other staff who are meant to receive gratuities as part of their salary be paid in exactly the same way ? Pre-paying gratuities for service good or bad that you haven't yet received is absurd. Paying an extra 27% simply because Celebrity have magicked up a figure is even dafter.

So you can understand why I object to 27% ...

Drinks carry a seperate 20% service charge - the suggested automatic gratuities would add a further 27% to our bill. They're not even consistent in their pricing. I rarely tip a hotel chambermaid for doing the job they're paid to do - maybe an extra bung at the end of the vacation if they've been very friendly. On our last cruise which had tips included in the price we left some dough for the chap looking after our cabin as he was top notch. I only ever want to tip people who we have personally interracted with. On this cruise we'll leave some cash in our cabin on departure - whether it's kept or put in the general pot is entirely up to them. We only eat in the buffet never the MDR because we prefer very casual and we only ever travel with hand luggage anyway which thankfully precludes any formal attire. We have another three week road trip after our arrival in the States. We would also never dream of coughing up extra moolah to eat in a ' speciality ' restaurant so we're basically low maintenance cruisers. The idea we should pay extra for services we have either already bought or will never use is ludicrous. As is the idea we should feel sympathy for large corporations who refuse to pay their crew a decent wage. Their whole MO is to seperate passengers from their money at each and every opportunity - in the spirit of healthy competition our MO is to resist them at every opportunity. I'll use our OBC to pay what we consider to be a reasonable amount for our cruise - $100 - but if Customer Service attempt to give us any grief for doing so we'll withdraw that amount as well. We've been around this particular block a few times. My wife is even more hardcore than me ... And as for McDonalds we never eat fast food but anyone spending 40 bucks there for a couple of burgers and fries need their head examined.

$36 a day for two people is excessive. Cruising is no longer the preserve of the rich. It's not 1950 any more.😉

I rarely tip people just for doing their jobs - after all I don't slip my postman coin when he delivers a letter. Or the fellow who packs my bag in a supermarket unless it's being done by a charity. The business I sold was in the service industry and my staff never expected a gratuity and I paid them well. If it's voluntary I generally add 10% to a restaurant bill and occasionally a taxi driver if he runs a clean car unobtrusively. I never ever tip people who ask for or suggest it. Otherwise where do you draw the line ? I've been offered a restaurant bill in the US that suggested a 40% tip - I laughed at them and left nothing. I'm happy to tip for good service on board but reject the notion that passengers should be responsible for making up crew wages. That ain't my job.

Using OBC for gratuities seems a reasonable compromise particularly as it means the cruise company is paying the wages of its own staff. However $18pppd is an excessive and unjustifiable amount. Which is why we won't be paying it. $100 for an 11 day cruise is quite sufficient.

I think in your rush to be obnoxious you overlook certain things. I'm not visiting another country - I'm cruising on a ship that flies under a flag of convenience - Liberia - to avoid American labor laws in order to maximise profit. It's why you don't hear many American accents on board cruise ships. So gratuities become a financial rather than cultural decision. Gratuities are not mandatory merely a suggested level if you wish to have them automatically added to your bill - i.e this is an option which a passenger is free to ignore. I don't visit the casino, gym or beauty salon whilst on board so why should I be tipping staff who work in these places. The automated gratuities amount to around 27% of my fare - why should I pay 27% to staff I don't interact with yet only pay an automatic 20% when I order a drink at the bar ? As I mentioned before I'm happy to pay 10% into the slush fund perhaps using part of our OBC so no-one loses out. And a final thought - if you think I lie awake at night worrying about anonymous people I haven't tipped for work I don't know what they do you're very mistaken. Celebrity Cruises should pay their crew a decent wage and not attempt to coerce passengers into doing it. Having cruised on a ship where no automatic gratuities were imposed there were no staff shortages and still a healthy voluntary tipping culture. Go figure.

I've already paid for their services. And I'm happy to reward those who offer exceptional service - that is, after all, the whole meaning of the term gratuity. Adding another 27% to my bill because Celebrity refuse to pay their staff a decent wage is not my problem - their automatic gratuities are already amongst the highest in the industry. However I'd like to reward the staff who I do interact with something if they're not allowed to keep cash tips. 10% is what I normally tip a cab driver so that seems more appropriate in this case. $150 seems far more reasonable than $400 - about 11 bucks a day plus a 20% automatic service charge on drinks. That's plenty.

You sense wrong. I've been visiting the US for half a century and owned property there for 20 years so I'm familiar with the tipping culture. My rules are simple - unless it's a mandatory service charge I decide on whether to tip or not and also the exact amount. Sometimes it's more and sometimes it's less than the recommended amount but it all depends on the service I have received. For truly bad service I pay nothing and will happily explain to a manager why I'm not paying. In this instant I'm uncomfortable with a tipping culture that only rewards certain members of the crew and implies it's the passengers' responsbilities to pay decent wages rather than the company itself. And $400 is an outrageous amount to add to the cost of a cruise - be honest and upfront about it and add it to the bottom line when you sell the product.

Not really. I booked my cruise because it was cheap and by not handing over $400 to be distributed amongst some of the crew I keep it cheap. I really don't see an ethical or moral problem with withholding gratuities - a gratuity should be a gift for excellent service not a way of improving wages of people I have nothing to do with. Why should I tip a croupier when I never go into an onboard casino ? I much prefer to slip some coin to people who have gone above and beyond - whether they choose to keep it or throw it into the crew pot is up to them.

Apologies - I meant $18 a day pp. There's no way I'm going to pay gratuities of $400 which adds another 27% to the cost of the cruise - I'll be paying the 20% on drinks at the bar. Quite happy to explain my reasons to Guest Srevices too - particularly as I will leave something for the housekeeper. Has anyone any experiences of having gratuities removed ?

Presumably it's fine to ask Guest Services to remove auto-gratuities from your account. I'm unhappy with 18% gratuities that only go to certain members of the crew, not least because I don't see why I should be made to cover Celebrity's unwillingess to pay a decent living wage. I prefer to give cash tips to people I interract with for good service - why should I reward some anonymous crew member who might be rude and lazy ?

Hi all, Paid £750pp for a balcony cabin with restricted view on Deck 6 from Soton-Fort Lauderale. We plan on spending another three weeks in the States after that. We're travelling light - hand luggage only - and looking to do it as cheaply as possible. Any advice or observations would be appreciated. The drinks package is the one thing we're not sure about particularly as we don't know bar prices on board - if we're light drinkers is it worth just getting one package and sharing it between two ? And what sort of weather/crossing can we expect in late Ocotber ? Thanks in advance.