Breaking News !! RCCL to review Gratuities

[temple1]

I really couldn't follow all of your post, I'm sorry, perhaps I'm not as well educated and travelled as you, but I don't get your hostility towards service people doing their jobs. Good food service personnel are welll trained and make an excellent living. To provide excellent service is a skill.

If you cruise anyothe line, guess what, you're going to prepay tips. Many people who liked their service team the first night of MTD ask for them again on following nights. I think you may also have some confusion about who is who in the dining room, because the Maitre 'd is no longer receives an envelope. If you stop by the main dining room on the last night of the cruise all the servers will be there. On our last cruise we chose MTD and I stopped in just before dinner service and gave the host our envelopes. I consider tipping on the ship like a catering tip. It all gets pooled anyway. Many on the boards choose to give additional tips along the way. Much easier if that is what you choose to do.

As far as I'm concerned the headwaiter is doing his job if the wait staff can handle the large parties and keep the service going smoothly for the other diners in the section. Even if he never comes by my table, if I see he is out on the floor assisting, he has made service for me better.

You seem to be a little confused about tipping. If I'm told that in Canada I do not need to tip because it is not the custom and staff receive a salary - then great, I don't tip - I expect my meal will probably cost more to cover the cost of the waitstaff.

But if the custom is to tip, then I tip. It is really not that difficult. I may not like it that I should be expected to tip in an establishment that charges me $50 for a steak and $10 for the knife to cut it, but that is how it is.

[Hlitner]

I think the cruise lines have created this problem by their so-called "tipping" policies. Once upon a time tips were truly tips on cruise ships. This was in the days when most folks who cruised were somewhat "upper class" types and they were always generous to those who provided direct service. As the industry expanded and attracted folks from all classes the cruise lines issued "tipping guidelines" which were followed by a majority of folks. Again, these were gratutities that passengers gave directly to only those who provided direct service. But now, partially because of mutiple dining options that do not fit the old tipping mold, most of the mass-market lines have gone to "auto tips" which are generally charged to your on-board account. However, these tips no longer go to folks who provide you direct service, they are now divided among many more crew members who you do not even meet. So, they are no longer tips (or gratuities) but now a hidden price increase that allow the cruise lines to market lower prices and than add-back various fees such as tips. Some of the current policies make no sense! If you pay autotips on a per diem basis, than why should you be charged a "gratuity" for dining at one of the speciality restaurants (tips on top of tips). And than there is my favorite "tip" which is the tip given to the stateroom steward's supervisor! We have spent about 2 years on various cruise ships and have yet to even meet a steward supervisor. But, on many cruise lines, a portion of the "autotip" goes to this supervisor. I figure the next step will be that we have to tip the guy who steers the ship and the folks who work on the tenders. The solution is for the cruise lines to stop playing these tipping games and simply include the real personnel costs in the cruise fares and enforce a "no tipping" policy similar to what we have on some of the luxury cruise lines.


Hank

[RetireeWannabee]

[quote name='teralin']Tagsalong, I am sorry I just can't resist. You have spelt grammar incorrectly. Just a bit of fun.[/quote]
spelt?

[SherriZ366]

[quote name='temple1']That would get my vote![/QUOTE]

We'd love a Radiance Class Ship in Port Canaveral. Or a Vision class.

[temple1]

British alternative.

[drarill]

[quote name='Tagsalong']On a lighter note and a bit off topic; I know we do not generally comment on spelling and grammer on cruise critic, but, I sure wish you would have called him an asst. waiter rather than an ass. waiter. :D Sorry I just couldn't resist.[/quote]
You are right, I'm also sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. English is my second language...;)

[aqhacruiser]

[SIZE=3]I have pre paid the tips and also tipped the regular way on RCCL and there has never been a difference in service, it's always been excellent. I do not agree when someone says if tips are already billed to your account your service will go downhill as that has not been my experience with RCCL. I always add extra to the suggested amount that staff would receive as do many others and I just add cash in with prepaid tip vouchers as I've done in the past so the crew is still working hard for possible "extra" tips if you want to call it that. They have no idea of what you will actually tip until they get it the last night. If people are not going to tip the staff for the service they provide then RCCL will just add it to our accounts like the other cruiselines already do. It's really not fair to the crew when some tip and some do not as they lose out on much needed income when that happens so adding the " service charge" to everyones bills is the fair way to do it as the crew rotates constantly and one week they may be in the WJ buffet where people usually do not tip and the next week they may be in the dining room where they can only hope people will tip. [/SIZE]

[redbaroness]

[quote name='kyriecat']I don't disagree about UK cruisers being treated unfairly. It sounds like some of it is caused by governement regulations but I'm not positive on that.

I was actually going to make a comment about the costs of the cruises. I know last year when we were in Italy, the price of gas (converted) was around $8/gallon. In the US, it was around $2.50/gallon. Med cruises usually run more than Caribbean cruises. The other thing is the ship making the short trips is Independence so you're paying for all the new bells and whistles, whether you use them or not. The ships in the US that make the Bahamas runs are Monarch and Majesty, which are the two oldest of the RC fleet. They also have the smallest cabins so RC is packing in the passengers.

If there was enough interest, maybe RC could move Monarch to Southampton to make 3/4 night cruises more affordable for you and move a Radiance class ship to Port Canaveral for the Bahamas cruises. ;)[/quote]

And maybe RCI would realize there's a market on the west coast for 3/4 day cruises and give us a ship after removing Monarch a year ago.

[HeinBloed]

Sorry - but I think RCI has the most stupid system you ever can have...

I do not mind to give the service charge. I do not mind to tip extra for those walk extra miles or maybe even a marathon.

But I am disappointed on the RCI system:

E.g. you like to do anytime dining then you are forced to pre-pay the gratuities.

Especially if you decide to have it with your booking you have to pay it with your cruise fare.

Once you are onboard, you are more than surprised:

1. You are not listed to the anytime dining although gratuities are prepaid.

2. You get the stupid envelops with vouchers even you have no idea whom you should give it as you do not get the same waiters every night.

3. Some of the waiters do not understand that you have to pre-pay the gratuities and so you only get a very lousy service.

The best was on Celebrity Cruise:

For one cruise they decide all the ship must do auto-charging to board account...

... and they delivered envelops to get more money... for the worst case that you liked the service they did not provide on this cruise...

It works very well with NCL, Cunard, HAL, Princess - No discussion - if something is wrong I claim with the front desk and my problems are solved.

But as long as the crew does not understand how a pre-paid or auto-charged system works it does not make sense to think about.

By the way: it's always a question of good communication if the system works or not.

If the explanations what's behind the service charge is not well communicated it's no wonder that non-US-cruisers might not see a need to deal it like US-cruisers.

Regards,
HeinBloed

[BridgeMates]

[quote=G'ma;21566607]I see a mandatory service charge in the future....similar to NCL.....

Tipping is an expected part of cruising (indeed, travel almost anywhere). It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who books a cruise. All the information is on each website, on all documents, all enclosed cruise information. It is what it is. Those who choose not to tip make it tough on the rest of us. One way or another, those who wait on us and and foot throughout the cruise will get a gratuity....whether voluntarily or through the service charge.

And, they deserve it.

Frankly, I've traveled throughout the UK for years and have never had anyone turn down a tip.....

Methinks the only problem is paying a tip....not receiving one.[/quote]

You said it. We were on a Princess British Isles cruise earlier this year where over 1,000 passengers removed the automatic tip from their account. Our cabin steward only had 2 people (Americans) that did not take it off out of his 19 cabins. The morale was very low among the staff. Said they hardly made any money on that trip. Really, something has to be done. Soon, even people who normally tip over and above will feel "taken" if they are the only ones paying for service.

[Encyclopaedia2008]

Wow....I'm surprised that the reporter and editor didn't get all the facts. Yes, RCI doesn't automatically add the gratuities, but they don't tell guests to just put the money in the envelopes.

As most of you propably already now the answer, I'll repeat for Melissa (editor) and Sue (reporter).

They do not add the grats automatically, but they have the option for the guest to add the companies recommended amount of tips onto their account. They have till noon on the last day to add this to their Sea Pass account and tips are automatically given to the guests' dining room staff and stateroom attendant. At the same time, vouchers are given to the guests to put into envelopes to show the staff that they did tip them.

I've gone cruising on the Navigator OTS when they were out of the UK and the company did fallow UK tradition and add it on. I saw more UK guests get mad at the ship for automatically applying the tip as they want to decide what they tip.

Either way, you can't win no matter which way you tip. But make sure you put the right details in an article first. Unprofessional.

Joe

[dbowe5]

[quote name='Lynnees']Oh yes you can.[/quote]

Please provide me with the name of the TA if we can because it states on most you have to be a US resident.

Thanks
Darren

[Elizanessie]

[quote name='dbowe5']Please provide me with the name of the TA if we can because it states on most you have to be a US resident.

Thanks
Darren[/quote]

Hi Darren

We are not allowed to name TAs on here.

I book with a US TA, you dont need to be a US resident.

[beardedladies]

The classic trick that I had seen on the last cruises I went on was people eating every night in the MDR and then when it was tip night (last night) they didn't turn up to reward the staff for looking after them for the last so many days, very sad...
But the worse when I spoken to our waiter the previous cruise he served on when he got his tip envelope it had a tea bag inside it nothing else :eek:, some people are just so cruel... Mark

[welshboi]

As a travel agent I try to encourage all my customers to pay the gratuities upfront when booking the holiday, this means they don't have to worry about tipping onboard as it is already taken care of. I do think that another option would be to make it compulsory by including it in the cruise fare quoted in the brochures and not showing it as an add-on.

[Seawind10]

:mad:It's time to educate some folks. Stuffing money in an envelope on the last night is a fun and traditional way to say thank you to a wonderful crew.
Lets keep some enjoyment into cruising and shame to the people to cheap to tip the crew.

[xpcdoojk]

[quote name='Seawind10']:mad:It's time to educate some folks. Stuffing money in an envelope on the last night is a fun and traditional way to say thank you to a wonderful crew.
Lets keep some enjoyment into cruising and shame to the people to cheap to tip the crew.[/QUOTE]

I have a major problem with the blaming of entire piles of people. Individuals cruise, individuals tip or not, lumping everyone into a group is just wrong. I am not part of any damned group. I don't think any one of us wants to be labeled.

Earlier, I joked that the rules were changing because the British didn't tip very well, that appears to be the true based on a blog. Is it true? I certainly don't know. While we can compare a cruise with x people out of England with a cruise with x people out of Miami, it is a fallacy to say that any individual out of either port does what the statistical average is. It is very important to think logically and not emotionally. :mad:

jc

[marci22]

I waited tables for many years, and there were certain groups, some quite unexpected, who would invariably undertip, or not tip at all. We all knew, and probably still remember, who they were.

What it comes down to is that Royal cannot label something a "tip", which is something which is freely given, and then *expect* everyone to pay it. If they actually do want everyone to pay a fee to certain service people, it needs to be added into the cruise price from the beginning.

People are basing their actions on what they perceive is required. Some cultures will view it differently than others. Everyone has their own view. Royal needs to change their policy or accept that people have different interpretations and will or won't tip as they see fit.

[RM]

I'd be thrilled if RCI added the tips into the fare for all of their ships regardless of where they sail from.

I have seen way too many men and women get stiffed on the last evening of a cruise by cheap inconsiderate passengers. These crew members work 15-18 hour days, are away from their families, try to serve you to the best of their abilities and have a smile on their faces whether they feel like it or not. Some of these crew members are the sole providers for their extended families and deserve decent wages no matter who they are serving and where the ship leaves from.

[teralin]

Exactly RM - and we are not their employers. We are simply passengers on a cruise who have paid for our fare and expect a certain level of service. When I cruise, I am on vacation, I am not constantly analysing the financial circumstances of the crew. They are Royal Caribbean's responsibility.

And Seawind10, I take exception to your remark about British and German people. We are not all the same, nor would we want to be. Go educate yourself.

[aussiepom]

Like to add my little bit,like the UK we do not tip automatically in Australia but we do if we think it is warranted,in the USD you tip it seems because of poor wages,I take it you do not tip your doctor etc? but at times you seem to get carried away with the idea you must tip everyone in sight,e,g. you give your bag to someone who lifts it onto a cart and you think gee got to tip them,quite happy to place on cart myself and save a dollar.When it comes to cruising happy to pay the rate and extra as wages are poor and we know it,but a lot of people don,t know that tips are the main part of their wages( this is the problem) so they remove them,disquiet all around, happened on RCI cruising out of Sydney so they need another system other than the USA......

[Elaine0138]

We prepaid out tips once and our room steward did the bare minimum we often had to remind him about little things, our assistant waitress was off smooshing over another table who hadn't pre paid. so would never pre-pay again unless the whole ship has.

 

Seawind believe it or not not all Americans tip either, on several cruises tablemates never arrived on the last night, and on a Celebrity cruise on a table for 8 we were the only two there, the other 6 were all Americans. A lot of those bulging envelopes that get passed over often just contain a couple of $ and some folded up note paper.

 

 

Just include the tips in the total price of the cruise, and if you get exceptional service you can still reward the person concerened

[Hamburg Avon Lady]

:( I don't think there is any easy solution to the tipping quandry --- we have

cruised Princess where the tips were automatically added each day to our

bill (we then had them adjusted per service issues) - on Costa - we never

say the Maitre 'd until the last night with his hand out (of course, he probably was responsible to see the Head waiters and assistants did their jobs, properly) - on Celebrity - there was no tip required for the Maitre'd -

and on RCCL - you had a choice - either autotips or cash at the conclusion. THe Head Waiter visited our table every evening and was very accommodating to DH's requests/opinions.

 

My DH is a very generous tipper (he is in the food industry

here at home -- and knows how important that extra money is to the

staff). We prefer to tip according to the service received. Yes, the auto tipping is more fair and equal especially to the crew one never comes in

contact with --- much easier for the passengers, too, as they don't have

to worry about it ----------- but, we still will do it the "ole fashion way" --

minimum to most and more to the exceptional.;)

[NotWthOutablcony]

Okay, first and foremost, I love the automatic tips, its easy and makes sure no one gets left out behind the scenes, for jobs well done and going above and beyond the call of duty, we like to tip a little extra on the spot, so we always carry cash with us.

My issues with it is this:

1) They soon begin to "pool" allk freehanded tips together, so joe schmo who did nothing, or was that rude waiter you talked to, gets a share of it.

2) I did NOT like the statement from RCI explaining how it affects their remuneration!!! Excuse me? WE are NOT responsible for paying their wages!!! WE do NOT pay their paychecks (in a literal sense) WE do NOT configure who gets paid what and how much etc.!!! They CANNOT count (and I mean RCI, NOT the staff) on their tips, as part of their wages!!!! If a UK cruiser or anyone else for that matter, does not tip, and upsets the balance of wages accepted, then they (RCI) needs to pay their staff more and stop relying on cruisers to do so!!!

Okay, off my soapbox now :rolleyes:

Am I the only one who feels this way? I haven't read many responses and will do so after this post, but I just had to vent a little.

[dbowe5]

:mad:It's time to educate some folks. Stuffing money in an envelope on the last night is a fun and traditional way to say thank you to a wonderful crew.

Lets keep some enjoyment into cruising and shame to the people to cheap to tip the crew.

 

This guy is obviously a WUM - Wind up Merchant! Surely no educated person would put such a sweeping statement on a board other than to elicit responses!!:eek: