Gratuities aboard Royal Caribbean

1) Wait until the last day/evening of your cruise.

 

2) Give your cash tips to whoever you wish to while the automatic tips are still in place.

 

3) Then go to guest services to remove the automatic tips charge.

 

4) Whoever you gave a cash tip to (will) get to keep it...

 

5) Don't worry about what people on a message board think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

:cool:

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Yeah right! That is not going to happen. The employees tipped in cash will not be tracked down, tackled by security, and told to empty their pockets! Hahaha!!:') Once that cash tip is in the pocket, it's staying there & not being turned in.

 

 

 

To: AutumnDaze,

 

Stick with my original reply below.

 

:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

 

:cool:

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The OP has stated they are British be kind everyone. Tipping is not part of the UK culture (or the majority of European countries) and takes a little bit of adjustment when travelling to the states. It would have been nice if people had explained the gratuities and how they work , without the aggression shown here by some. Many non USA people do not know how service staff are paid in the USA, where tips form part of their salary. In countries outside the USA service staff are not dependant on tips to make up their salary they are paid a living wage.

What would be even better would be if the cruise companies stopped calling them gratuities (which to a brit indicates discretionary parting with money) and called them a service charge which most people understand is compulsory. Better still why can't they just be included upfront in the cruise price.

AutumnDaze I hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise whatever you decide to do about the tips.

 

Do whatever you think is fair, but remember ship's crew are not rewarded for their service in the same way other service providers are in other places..

 

 

Fair???? What about all of the passengers sneaking water, soda & alcohol onboard simply to save a few dollars. That helps the passengers pocket, but screws over Royal Caribbean. Hmmmmmmm......

:rolleyes: ;p

I still dont get it. How is cash on day 1 different than day 11

 

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Some people simply have an obstructed view;):D

Fair???? What about all of the passengers sneaking water, soda & alcohol onboard simply to save a few dollars. That helps the passengers pocket, but screws over Royal Caribbean. Hmmmmmmm......

 

 

 

:rolleyes: ;p

That's just opening up another can or worms on the forum. One which is constantly nothing but beating a dead horse, since some think that is fine and others don't.

bosco

The OP has stated they are British be kind everyone. Tipping is not part of the UK culture (or the majority of European countries) and takes a little bit of adjustment when travelling to the states. It would have been nice if people had explained the gratuities and how they work , without the aggression shown here by some. Many non USA people do not know how service staff are paid in the USA, where tips form part of their salary. In countries outside the USA service staff are not dependant on tips to make up their salary they are paid a living wage.

 

What would be even better would be if the cruise companies stopped calling them gratuities (which to a brit indicates discretionary parting with money) and called them a service charge which most people understand is compulsory. Better still why can't they just be included upfront in the cruise price.

 

 

AutumnDaze I hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise whatever you decide to do about the tips.

I agree that they should be considered a service charge. The room stewards are cleaning the same size room whether there are adults or children in it. They are still providing the same service. Some passengers choose to leave extra tips at the end for outstanding service and that is of course optional.

If Royal allows passengers to cancel gratuities, then there will always be a few passengers who choose this option. Hopefully it all averages out between those who tip less and those who tip extra, just as any job that relies on tips for part of the salary.

You can, but any cash you give to staff will be turned in to the pool and split. If you leave the auto charge on, they can keep the cash.

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Can you opt out of these payments with Royal Caribbean and pay those people who provide great service individually?

 

AutumnDaze,

Not too many members here will answer your question directly, which of course the answer is YES. Just remember to tip cash (Discreetly) to the various employees (Prior) to removing the auto tips at guest services on the (last day/evening) of your cruise.

Once that cash tip is received, it will go into the employee's pocket like lightening & will stay there like glue. It will not be turned into a tip pool. The various employees that you discreetly gave a cash tip to will not be tracked down & forced to empty their pockets or have their crew cabin searched.

:cool:

OP, do whatever you feel is right but please don't use being British as an excuse not to tip. British rules do not apply on American cruise ships, there is no minimum wage and you can bet that whatever you earn per hour in your 'working class' job the staff included in the auto gratuities will earn less and probably work a lot harder. I left my first cruise in awe of them and have never changed my opinion!

Ms Jo UK, gratuities can be included in the upfront price, whether I book with a TA or RCL direct I always ask for a quote with gratuities included and that is what I use to compare prices.

Julie

Poster already posted on the New Cruiser forum.

A copy of my response is below. Unfortunately she did not like responses there and came to this board.

OP you need to realize that the majority of cruisers are working class and that's one reason they don't stiff the working class on the ship!

Gratuities /service charge, whatever you call them, are part of a cruise vacation. The majority of the lines have the same system in place. Some lines have a different charge for children, or a different system. If you don't like the way RC handles, respectfully suggest researching and booking accordingly.

My original response is copied below.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. You have picked a very touchy subject and will find many posters will be quite blunt with you. A search of the boards will reveal numerous threads on this subject. Anything specific to Royal Caribbean is better asked on the RC board.

John Bull in post #5 pretty much explained the system to you. If it helps think of it as a service charge that is applied to all passengers, including babies and children.

You do not have to prepay. RC bills to your cabin account each day if not prepaid and you can settle your bill at the end of the cruise.

If there is a problem with any service you can speak to the employee's supervisor.

The service charge/gratuities cover all eating locations, your cabin, and behind the scenes staff. Drinks, both alcoholic and nonalcoholic, that you pay for (not the ones included in your fare) have a separate 18% gratuity.

Your children still have beds to be made, towels used, dishes, etc. Most people agree that kids are more work than adults.

Please do the correct thing and pay the suggested gratuities.

Yes, I came here for advice. Not a lecture x

Don't know how much experience you have of travel forums,personally I have used them for years & if you are like me when you are unsure of something you visit one of these forums & ask a question in good faith & hope that somebody will give you helpful advice.

Well I found out very early on that while that may happen on most travel forums it certainly doesn't seem to happen on cruise forums,while you may think that you have asked a pefectly innocent & reasonable question the response is more than likely not going to be what you expect.

Not only will many of the replies not be helpful,they can also be not nice(to be very polite) & will more than likely end up with various posters trading punches in rival posts,often using abbreviations & terminology that probably means nothing to a new cruiser,in short these forums are rarely a useful tool when it comes to learning the ropes!

The subject you have picked,as you can tell,is a pretty hot one,it is a hot subject on other cruise line forums but can take a totally different line,if you visit P&O forums you will find some very different lines on the subject,there withdrawing the daily payment is quite common,even though it is only £7pppn(& you don't get hit with 18% on top of the price of drinks),many peoples view is that all the money does not go to the crew,or the cruise line should pay them a living wage & not expect the passengers to pay,very different to RCI forums where you are ridiculed for considering it.

Some years ago when we booked our fist cruise we didn't find out about this charge until after we have booked,IME this seems to happen to a lot of people & is IME hardly ever,if ever mentioned when booking(is it assumed you know or hoped you don't know?),I'm used to having daily charges for things like car parking or some form of city tax when vacationing in an hotel but not a daily payment for the staff,it did come as a bit of a shock.

So hopefully you will have learned from your experience on these forums & will think twice before coming on here asking for advice again,maybe like me you will hang around because they can be pretty entertaining,enjoy your cruise!

On Royal, Celebrity, HAL and others that have similar "gratuities" or "tips" charges that are part of the prepaid or daily added expenses in my opinion are basically part of the staff's expected SALARY.

Anything a passenger gives to the staff above the standard fees recommended is really a "Thank You."

I have almost NEVER felt like a THANK YOU wasn't well deserved, especially when travelling with young ones.

If you feel a THANK YOU isn't deserved, so be it, but at the least don't reduce the expected SALARY of those who work so hard to provide their services.

bosco

Totally up to the guest how much they pay and in what format. Staff keep anything that is handed to them. Everything else is opinion.

The OP has stated they are British be kind everyone. Tipping is not part of the UK culture (or the majority of European countries) and takes a little bit of adjustment when travelling to the states. It would have been nice if people had explained the gratuities and how they work , without the aggression shown here by some. Many non USA people do not know how service staff are paid in the USA, where tips form part of their salary. In countries outside the USA service staff are not dependant on tips to make up their salary they are paid a living wage.

 

What would be even better would be if the cruise companies stopped calling them gratuities (which to a brit indicates discretionary parting with money) and called them a service charge which most people understand is compulsory. Better still why can't they just be included upfront in the cruise price.

 

 

AutumnDaze I hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise whatever you decide to do about the tips.

However, since it is separate, it allows the TA's to sell at published rates and then offer defaca discount by including the grants for free.

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I agree that they should be considered a service charge. The room stewards are cleaning the same size room whether there are adults or children in it. They are still providing the same service. Some passengers choose to leave extra tips at the end for outstanding service and that is of course optional.

 

If Royal allows passengers to cancel gratuities, then there will always be a few passengers who choose this option. Hopefully it all averages out between those who tip less and those who tip extra, just as any job that relies on tips for part of the salary.

The steward does get shorted with a solo passenger in my opinion.

And the waitstaff is definitely working more for those third and fourth bodies

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AutumnDaze,

 

Not too many members here will answer your question directly, which of course the answer is YES. Just remember to tip cash (Discreetly) to the various employees (Prior) to removing the auto tips at guest services on the (last day/evening) of your cruise.

 

Once that cash tip is received, it will go into the employee's pocket like lightening & will stay there like glue. It will not be turned into a tip pool. The various employees that you discreetly gave a cash tip to will not be tracked down & forced to empty their pockets or have their crew cabin searched.

 

 

:cool:

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Totally up to the guest how much they pay and in what format. Staff keep anything that is handed to them. Everything else is opinion.

 

This! ^

:cool:

This! ^

 

 

 

:cool:

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But your contention is they keep money you give at the end of cruise

 

I didn't think I had to spell it out for you, but waiting until the last evening of the cruise to remove auto tips will avoid the chances of a spit sandwich, drink, or other things to occur.

;p

Obstructedview that’s great! Perfect in fact. Excellent advice, thank you xx

 

Yes you can save and save and not book until you have every penny which is very sensible but you could be like my poor father who got brain cancer young and died. Healthy man, life cut short. Live life while you can, I say. Xx

No it isn't perfect. It is both false and despicable.

A) if you remove the grats the steward and waiter get a black mark which can affect their ability to get their next contract

B) crew members are not as dishonest as Obstructedview, if for no other reason that when the crew live in such close proximity for months everyone knows everyone else's business, and would regard any crew member doing as Obstructedview thinks would be regarded as stealing from them

C) despite being working class, you are still way higher up in the global heap than the crew members you would be cheating. Yes cheating, since you knew or should have known about the auto-grats when you booked.

You can justify it however you want, but it is still unjustifiable. 'Living life while you can' on the backs of hard working crew members who also would like to live THEIR lives is a particularly obnoxious rationalization.

I too come from a country that does not tip. I too have to work hard for my cruise money.

I have never removed my tips and sometimes leave extra.

The staff (waiters, stewards, cleaners, bar staff) work 14 hour days every single day. No days off for 6 months plus (depending on their contract). This you can find out just talking to the staff.

I also currently work with a former cruise steward and I asked him how much he got paid and it was $1900 per month which doesn't sound to bad, but when you consider they work 98 hour working weeks it is not that much (under $5 an hour) . The 1900 includes their tips. I asked what it was before the tips were added and it was only $800. The kitchen staff got only $400.

So they work hard with no time off for the money they get. I think they work damn hard.

I think it is outrageous that cruise companies make huge profits and pay their staff so poorly.

But that is how cruise fares are structured. If you truly disagree with this policy then the fair thing to do is not cruise this company and sail with another company who do include the tips in the fare.

If you do go on the cruise and you genuinely feel the service was sub-par and you brought it the staff attention it was not rectified you are perfectly entitled to reduce or remove the daily gratuity.

Sorry I don't agree with removing the gratuity just because you want to save money. I hope I have given you some idea of the hard work the staff does, how long they work and how little they get paid.

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I too come from a country that does not tip. I too have to work hard for my cruise money.

 

I have never removed my tips and sometimes leave extra.

 

The staff (waiters, stewards, cleaners, bar staff) work 14 hour days every single day. No days off for 6 months plus (depending on their contract). This you can find out just talking to the staff.

 

 

I think it is outrageous that cruise companies make huge profits and pay their staff so poorly.

 

But that is how cruise fares are structured. If you truly disagree with this policy then the fair thing to do is not cruise this company and sail with another company who do include the tips in the fare.

 

 

 

Sorry I don't agree with removing the gratuity just because you want to save money. I hope I have given you some idea of the hard work the staff does, how long they work and how little they get paid.

 

 

 

 

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I would imagine most,if not all ,of us work hard to get the money for our cruise,I know people remove the payment because they feel they are being fleeced,surely the passengers should not be making up for the cruise line paying poor wages,on top of that already high drink prices carry an 18% top up also for tips,along with IMO inflated prices for things like 'behind the scene tours',on board photography,dining with the chef & heaven knows how many other things there are to tempt you to part with your money on board,people don't see it as trying to be cheap,they just think the cruise lines are too greedy IMO.

You say it yourself about the cruise lines paying their staff poorly,they will carry on doing it as long as others are helping pay the crews wages!

OP, do whatever you feel is right but please don't use being British as an excuse not to tip. British rules do not apply on American cruise ships, there is no minimum wage and you can bet that whatever you earn per hour in your 'working class' job the staff included in the auto gratuities will earn less and probably work a lot harder. I left my first cruise in awe of them and have never changed my opinion!

 

Ms Jo UK, gratuities can be included in the upfront price, whether I book with a TA or RCL direct I always ask for a quote with gratuities included and that is what I use to compare prices.

 

Julie

What are American rules ?

I would imagine most,if not all ,of us work hard to get the money for our cruise,I know people remove the payment because they feel they are being fleeced,surely the passengers should not be making up for the cruise line paying poor wages,on top of that already high drink prices carry an 18% top up also for tips,along with IMO inflated prices for things like 'behind the scene tours',on board photography,dining with the chef & heaven knows how many other things there are to tempt you to part with your money on board,people don't see it as trying to be cheap,they just think the cruise lines are too greedy IMO.

 

You say it yourself about the cruise lines paying their staff poorly,they will carry on doing it as long as others are helping pay the crews wages!

The cruise line only collects money from the passengers and then pass it along to the crew. Ultimately, the passengers pay all the costs associated with the cruise.

Accusing the cruise line of greed is only another way to justify cheapening out and stiffing the crew of the earned income.