Suggested Gratuities set to increase

[Ocean Boy]

Unfortunately, this happens a lot and it's been going on a long time. Just look around the dining room on the last night. A lot of people skip out of the DR so they don't have to tip.

 

And you know why someone is not in the dining room how?

[Maraprince]

If they didn't tip before, they will not tip now. They just have more to "justify" why they are not tipping.

 

MARAPRINCE

[cruisenfever]

Unfortunately, this happens a lot and it's been going on a long time. Just look around the dining room on the last night. A lot of people skip out of the DR so they don't have to tip.

Did you ever stop to consider that those that do not attend dinner in the MDR on the last night might have prepaid their gratuities and therefore don't need to show up.:)

[psupa]

Did you ever stop to consider that those that do not attend dinner in the MDR on the last night might have prepaid their gratuities and therefore don't need to show up.:)

 

I'm not here to argue the point. This was happening long before MTD and it's just our opinion.

[traveling1969]

I'm not here to argue the point. This was happening long before MTD and it's just our opinion and that's why it's called cruise critic.

I happen to agree with your opinion. :)

[psupa]

And you know why someone is not in the dining room how?

 

I never said I did. This is just our observation.

[cruisenfever]

I'm not here to argue the point. This was happening long before MTD and it's just our opinion.

MTD has nothing to do with my statement of "Did you ever stop to consider that those that do not attend dinner in the MDR on the last night might have prepaid their gratuities and therefore don't need to show up".

 

There are many people that do not sign up for MTD but still prepay their gratuities prior to their cruise either adding it to their final payment, getting a perk of pre-paid gratuities from their TA or signing up for it mid-way through the cruise when the form is delivered to their stateroom and they want to use up OBC.

 

Many people do this and they should not be accused of skipping out on the last night of a cruise because they wanted to dine at Chops/Portofino or any other Specialty Restaurant on Oasis or Allure.

[bigque]

The food and beverage division is responsible for all of the dining rooms, restaurant - bars, bars, the galleys (kitchens), clean up and provisions. The Food and Beverage Director runs this department. The dining room manager, or maitre d', takes care of seating arrangements, service, and oversees the wait staff for the main restaurant (dining room). Under the maitre d' are the head waiters, and each of them is responsible for several waiters and busboys. Even though waiters and busboys are considered entry level positions, many cruise ships prefer those with previous experience from a restaurant or hotel dining room on their resume / CV. Depending on the size of the cruise ship, there may be several bars, and the service of drinks is a popular job on board. Bartenders, wine stewards and cocktail waitresses/waiters must usually have prior experience. The Food and Beverage Department on a cruise ship offers the following restaurant jobs: Maitre D' / Restaurant Manager, Dining Room Head Waiter / Waitress, Dining Room Waiter / Waitress, Dining Room Assistant Waiter / Waitress, Dining Room Junior Waiter / Waitress , Cocktail Waitress / Waiter, Bartender, Buffet Steward / Stewardess.

• Buffet Steward / Stewardess (serving meals, drinks, cleaning tables) - No experience required, some experience preferred. Basic English Language knowledge required. Salary range: $900-1300 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities (tips) from passengers. Strong possibilities for promotion to Bar Steward, Junior Waiter, Assistant Waiter and Waiter.
  
• Bar Accountant (responsible for accounting procedures of the bar department) - accounting background and / or education required. Salary range: $1600-1900 U.S. per month.
  
• Bartender (responsible for serving alcoholic beverages to passengers inlounges and on decks) - Some experiencerequired. Good English Language skills required. Salary range: $1700- 2400 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers.
  
• Bar Stewards/ Stewardess (responsible for serving alcoholic beverages to passengers in lounges and on decks) - Some experiencerequired. Good English Language skills required. Salary range: $1400- 2200 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers. Possibilities for promotion to Bartender.
  
• Bar Boy / Bar Utility (responsible for cleanliness of lounges and re-stocking bar supplies) - no experience required, entry level position. Very basic English Language skills required. Salary range: $600-900 U.S. per month, depending on percentage of tips (gratuities). Possibilities for promotion to Bar Steward.
  
• Dining Room Junior Waiter / Waitress (assisting dining room assistant waiters, serving meals and drinks) - Some experience required. Fare English Language skills required. Salary range: $1200-1800 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities (tips) from passengers. Possibilities for promotion to Dining Room Assistant Waiter.
  
• Dining Room Assistant Waiter / Waitress (assisting dining room waiters in thefood and beverage service, serve passengers as directed by the waiter) - Experience required. Good English Language skills required. Salary range: $1400- 2100 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers. Possibilities for promotion to Dining Room Waiter.
  
• Dining Room Waiter (serving passengers, explain the dishes, make recommendations, supervise assistant waiters assigned to their tables) - lots of experience and fluent English Language skills required. Salary range: $2200-3800 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers. Possibilities for promotion to Dining Room Head Waiter.
  
• Dining Room Head Waiter (responsible for a certain serving station in the dining room, supervises all waiters) - lots of restaurant and prior cruise ship experience in related position required. Fluent English Language skills required. Salary range: $2600-4800 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers.
  
• Maitre D'/Restaurant Manager - takes care of seating arrangements, service, and oversees the wait staff for the dining room. Under the maitre d' are the head waiters, and each of them is responsible for several waiters and busboys. Fluent English Language skills required. Salary range: $3400-5200 U.S. per month, depending on the cruise line and gratuities from passengers.
  

· Cabin Steward / Stewardess, males and females (daily cleaning of passenger cabins) -no experience required, some experience preferred. Basic EnglishLanguage skills required. Salary range: $1800-2200 U.S. per month, depending on gratuities from passengers. Possibilities for promotion to Head Room Steward.

[NordicPrince]

RCI should just do what HAL does - they charge you 11.50 per passenger per day prepaid on your cruise fare. No ifs, ands or buts. Consider it a service charge. Passengers are under no obligation to tip more than that but can at their own discretion.

 

It just makes it easier for all involved. The staff knew they were getting a square deal and work hard to keep it. The passengers felt right about not shorting hard-working people. There was no hounding for extra tips. I also felt the problem of trying to make sure I had available cash to tip at the end of the cruise was solved.

 

As one poster stated HAL staff positions are sought after year after year and some generation after generation. This may be one reason.

 

The other reason is on my one sailing with HAL I got the general impression that the staff just gets treated with more respect. They had their own bar/recreation area ( we could see in the porthole) and they voluntarily put on their own cultural experience show for the guests. The show highlighted Malaysian culture which the staff did with great pride.

 

As for posters who use the example of airline fares and cruise fares, people have become smarter and have learned to include the cost of baggage fees when comparing airline fares, in the same way they have learned to include tipping in the total cruise fare for those lines which don't have included gratuities.

[Ocean Boy]

Unfortunately, this happens a lot and it's been going on a long time. Just look around the dining room on the last night. A lot of people skip out of the DR so they don't have to tip.

 

I never said I did. This is just our observation.

 

Ok, if it is your opinion is fine. But your statement reads as if you are putting forth a fact. Personally I think, with the exception of my family, it is none of my business where anyone else is or why they are there... or not.

[Ocean Boy]

As one poster stated HAL staff positions are sought after year after year and some generation after generation. This may be one reason.

 

The other reason is on my one sailing with HAL I got the general impression that the staff just gets treated with more respect. They had their own bar/recreation area ( we could see in the porthole) and they voluntarily put on their own cultural experience show for the guests. The show highlighted Malaysian culture which the staff did with great pride.

 

 

Staff areas on RCI newer ships, Radiance class and up, also have fairly extenstive staff amenities compared to older ships.

[funji1]

I tend to agree with bluegirlum. My questions is ...when was the last time RCI gave their employees a raise? We personally do not do the automatic tipping. We tip those who have given us exceptional service privately. I know there are others who work behind the scenes that we never see and for them I think putting it on our bill is the only way to repay them. However, I have spoken to many personnel on our cruises(8) and most of them told me they never see 1/2 of if any of the gratuities. My husband was a limo/airport driver for awhile and the passengers were told the driver's gratuity was built into the final total price. He never got that money from the company. I hope cruiselines can start paying their hard working staff a fair salary without using their raises as a reason to unfairly raise the cost of travel. Enough said.:confused:

[Ocean Boy]

I tend to agree with bluegirlum. My questions is ...when was the last time RCI gave their employees a raise? We personally do not do the automatic tipping. We tip those who have given us exceptional service privately. I know there are others who work behind the scenes that we never see and for them I think putting it on our bill is the only way to repay them. However, I have spoken to many personnel on our cruises(8) and most of them told me they never see 1/2 of if any of the gratuities. My husband was a limo/airport driver for awhile and the passengers were told the driver's gratuity was built into the final total price. He never got that money from the company. I hope cruiselines can start paying their hard working staff a fair salary without using their raises as a reason to unfairly raise the cost of travel. Enough said.:confused:

 

Unless someone is planning to go to work for RCI how are either one of those things any of our business? I would never ask someone either how much they are paid, when they got a raise, or how well other people tip them. And I tend to doubt that RCI employees tend to go around just offering the information without first being asked.

[mets550]

RCI should just do what HAL does - they charge you 11.50 per passenger per day prepaid on your cruise fare. No ifs, ands or buts. Consider it a service charge. Passengers are under no obligation to tip more than that but can at their own discretion.

 

It just makes it easier for all involved. The staff knew they were getting a square deal and work hard to keep it. The passengers felt right about not shorting hard-working people. There was no hounding for extra tips. I also felt the problem of trying to make sure I had available cash to tip at the end of the cruise was solved.

 

As one poster stated HAL staff positions are sought after year after year and some generation after generation. This may be one reason.

 

The other reason is on my one sailing with HAL I got the general impression that the staff just gets treated with more respect. They had their own bar/recreation area ( we could see in the porthole) and they voluntarily put on their own cultural experience show for the guests. The show highlighted Malaysian culture which the staff did with great pride.

 

As for posters who use the example of airline fares and cruise fares, people have become smarter and have learned to include the cost of baggage fees when comparing airline fares, in the same way they have learned to include tipping in the total cruise fare for those lines which don't have included gratuities.

 

I always do the auto-tip and usually end up giving a little bit extra in cash throughout the cruise. I also agree that the crew lives off of tips, and when people are too cheap to tip for good service, that really does hurt the crew.

 

That being said, I disagree that gratuity should be made mandatory. Just as tipping 15-20% at a restaurant is expected but not requiring, so should tipping on a cruise. If the tips are automatically charged, you should always have the option to reduce or increase. If the cruiselines want to raise prices to pay their workers more, that is fine. However, tipping is expected (unless otherwise stated)--the amount that you tip should be based on the type of service you received.

 

We have always received excellent service, and we tip accordingly. I would probably never go through the pains of reducing a tip, but pax should have the option to do so if the service was not up to par.

 

I think that raising the "recommended" amount is the best way to go. This way, most people will just do auto-tip and pay a little more. If you are dissatisfied, you can always reduce the amount, and if you are happy then you can increase. This is a bit more difficult a system that Holland America's, but it is more in line with the purpose behind tipping.

[plumber22]

We don't find this offensive or anything. We sail in suites and have been paying the $12.00 a day for quite awhile. Raising it to $13.90 is not going to make much of a difference, we always add on top of the $12.00 anyway in cash. We also pay the butler and concierge extra and will consider the raise for them also.

 

Also, as for the passengers not showing up for dinner on the last night of the cruise, we never even associated that with not paying tips??? We just know that is a rough night for everyone and maybe they don't want to be seen in the clothes they are wearing home the next day or maybe they decided to have a nice dinner in the room that night. Why do people always have to see the negative in things??? And think the worst????

[Ocean Boy]

Also, as for the passengers not showing up for dinner on the last night of the cruise, we never even associated that with not paying tips??? We just know that is a rough night for everyone and maybe they don't want to be seen in the clothes they are wearing home the next day or maybe they decided to have a nice dinner in the room that night. Why do people always have to see the negative in things??? And think the worst????

 

They don't even know the difference between an observation and an assumption. They OBSERVE that people are missing from the dining room. They ASSUME it is because they don't want to tip. It always amazes me how people can be on an incredible cruise ship and all they have to concern themselves with is what other people are doing and why they are doing it. If that were all that I could find to amuse myself with on a cruise I would find some other type of vacation to take.

[Bakincakes]

On the last evening of our last cruise I needed to ask a question about our bill...

 

The line was long and as I neared the front I could overhear the conversations of pax ahead of me. I was astounded by the number of pax requesting to lower gratuities.:eek:

 

I think far too many pax look for ANY reason to shaft the crew. Perhaps a few did have horrible service but am willing to wager that most of them overspent onboard and are looking to save themselves a few bucks.:rolleyes:

 

IMO I prefer the way HAL handles gratuities. I've never suffered from lack of service because the tips are mandatory. As a matter of act I think their Indonesian crews are one of the best at sea.

[deek72]

It's about time! It's still less than 10% of most fares.

 

I'm not quite sure that it's news worthy of celebration :confused:

[negc]

I never said I did. This is just our observation.

 

It was more than an observation, it was also an assumption. You may have "observed" that many people did not dine in the main dining room on the last night of the cruise and there is no disputing what you claim to have observed. However your post also assumed the reason for their absence is that they were avoiding paying gratuities. Unless you can show other evidence to support that assumption, I think your conclusion was unfounded and your comment was out of line.

[PRCruiser]

As have been said before: another reason not to sail with RCCL in the future!

 

Andres

[cruisenfever]

As have been said before: another reason not to sail with RCCL in the future!

 

Andres

Why is that.........because they increased the gratuity guidelines to $1.90pp more?:eek:

[Bakincakes]

Why is that.........because they increased the gratuity guidelines to $1.90pp more?:eek:

 

 

Evidently RCI sails with alot of "big time spenders".:rolleyes:

 

Most people probably P that and more away every day.

[negc]

As have been said before: another reason not to sail with RCCL in the future!

 

Andres

 

WOW, that would top my list of reasons for not cruising with a line in the future.:rolleyes:

If $1.90 per person/per day increase is a reason not to cruise on a particular line, perhaps you could further enlighten us by listing those other reasons so that we can put them in their proper prospective. Seems a bit of a stretch to use this to rationalize your choice of cruise lines.:rolleyes:

[bob123]

The increase certainly is bearable for absolutely everyone who cruises. If you are pinching pennies to that extreme, just drink one less cocktail and that will cover three days of the extra gratuity. But remember- these are suggested tips, not required. If they were required, you can bet your last dollar that RCI would include them in the price of your cruise. Tip what you want, more for great service, nominal for average, low or none for poor service. This subject is nothing to get your tightie whities in a wad about.

 

bob123

[sooty10]

From the P&O website......What about tipping? First of all, please do not worry about it. Who, when and how much you tip is at your discretion. Tips are usually given in cash at the end of your holiday to your stateroom Steward, Restaurant Stewards in the Club Dining restaurants, and to any other staff who you feel you wish to reward. The amount you tip is entirely up to you although, as a guide, we recommend a total amount per person (aged 12 and over) of £3.10 per day, which covers all staff who have looked after you during your holiday. The only exception to this is for passengers travelling on Oceana and Ventura who have opted to enjoy the flexibility of Freedom Dining as, with this style of dining, you may be seated at a different table and served by a different waiter on each occasion. We will therefore add an automatic service charge of £1.60 per passenger, per day to your shipboard account for the Restaurant Stewards. You will, of course, be able to increase or decrease this charge at your discretion by visiting Reception at any point during your cruise. You can also tip any other staff, including your stateroom Steward, as you feel appropriate. Further details of who and when you should tip can be found in your stateroom......Brian

 

 

Why the huge differance, and these are the 2010 recommended amounts.

 

Sooty