Celebrity Gratuities

[zoncom]

Swigso is right. Either go with the plan or go elsewhere. Celebrity pricing is as low as it was maybe 10 years ago. BEWARE, Celebrity gives staff lists of passengers, including if you remove tips and how many X cruises you have been on. Room steward told me that is taken into consideration for his level of cabin service. He implied those who remove tips usually stiff them . I know you Europeans appreciate an excellent product at a good price. My last 2 cruises had 300 Brits on one and 400 Germans on the other. The tips are minimal; if you can afford to travel over to cruise just pay the tab.

[Jo and Rob]

I agree that it is as it is and if you don't like the system, you don't have to cruise.

 

I think included tips in the advertised cruise fare from TAs will soon become a thing of the past, unless the actual price is inflated. Cunard/P&O have changed their commission rates to TAs (from 2012, I think) from 15% to 5%, leaving very little room for pre paid tips/ OBC.

 

I think the reduction to 5% was to stop passengers jumping from one TA to another trying to get the best deal. They have set the price and want everyone to quote the same price. However, I disagree that this has an impact on OBC. We have £400 OBC for our 11 night cruise to the Canaries on P&O next April and £250 OBC for our 7 night cruise to the Fjords August 2012. Even on our first cruise with P&O this April we got £130 OBC which is more than we are getting for a fortnight on Eclipse ($200 / £122) but any OBC is extremely welcome!! ;)

 

I have a question about prepaid tips. If you had to cancel / change the date of your cruise would you get this money back or would it be lost?

[shertwo]

Not to get anyone upset with my response -- however tipping has always been a very American thing, we have American friends who when asked at one point or another why they tip, especially to someone just doing the job hired for, the reply is "because we can". When was the last time you were tipped for "doing your job", bet it was never! I have no issue or problem with rewarding/acknowledging over and above service, or outstanding customer service. Do not appreciate being told have to anti up another $24.00 (Celebrity, two people in cabin, per day) -- always tell the desk to remove the automatic charges (you do not have to explain why), you can ask for envelopes to give to anyone you feel is warranted or if you want to. Cruise lines need to pay their staff a decent wage and if it raises the cost of the cruise so be it! By the way has anyone ever talked to staff (those that will talk without fear, they do quite well, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!!) Again this is my experience and opinion I am sharing so please don't feel you need to debate it. You can disagree however respect the experience and opinion. Thank you.:)

[Lois R]

Not to get anyone upset with my response -- however tipping has always been a very American thing, we have American friends who when asked at one point or another why they tip, especially to someone just doing the job hired for, the reply is "because we can". When was the last time you were tipped for "doing your job", bet it was never! I have no issue or problem with rewarding/acknowledging over and above service, or outstanding customer service. Do not appreciate being told have to anti up another $24.00 (Celebrity, two people in cabin, per day) -- always tell the desk to remove the automatic charges (you do not have to explain why), you can ask for envelopes to give to anyone you feel is warranted or if you want to. Cruise lines need to pay their staff a decent wage and if it raises the cost of the cruise so be it! By the way has anyone ever talked to staff (those that will talk without fear, they do quite well, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!!) Again this is my experience and opinion I am sharing so please don't feel you need to debate it. You can disagree however respect the experience and opinion. Thank you.:)

 

Hi, but it is a message board so there will always be debate:);)

I guess we have different views of what "quite well" is.....I am

not upset with your response, I just disagree with it. And we

are both being cordial about it too:D

[djmutters]

Book your holiday/cruise include tips and look at it has part of the cost and just enjoy your holiday why worry about a few £/$'s and after paying just think of sitting on your balcony sipping a cocktail or two

 

Priceless :)

[kelmac]

Not to get anyone upset with my response -- however tipping has always been a very American thing, we have American friends who when asked at one point or another why they tip, especially to someone just doing the job hired for, the reply is "because we can". When was the last time you were tipped for "doing your job", bet it was never! I have no issue or problem with rewarding/acknowledging over and above service, or outstanding customer service. Do not appreciate being told have to anti up another $24.00 (Celebrity, two people in cabin, per day) -- always tell the desk to remove the automatic charges (you do not have to explain why), you can ask for envelopes to give to anyone you feel is warranted or if you want to. Cruise lines need to pay their staff a decent wage and if it raises the cost of the cruise so be it! By the way has anyone ever talked to staff (those that will talk without fear, they do quite well, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!!) Again this is my experience and opinion I am sharing so please don't feel you need to debate it. You can disagree however respect the experience and opinion. Thank you.:)

 

Celebrity does not pay it's service employees -- the passengers pay their salary through the Tip System. That's the way the game is played. If you don't want to play the game by the rules, find another vacation outlet.

The staff does just fine, when everyone plays the game!! :)

 

Off to NYC tomorrow; boarding the Summit Sunday!!

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[Lois R]

Celebrity does not pay it's service employees -- the passengers pay their salary through the Tip System. That's the way the game is played. If you don't want to play the game by the rules, find another vacation outlet.

The staff does just fine, when everyone plays the game!! :)

 

Off to NYC tomorrow; boarding the Summit Sunday!!

Enjoy!

Kel:D

 

Hi Kelly, hope you and Lauren have a wonderful cruise:D, I have no

doubt because you always do!:)

[Texed]

Off to NYC tomorrow; boarding the Summit Sunday!! Kel:D

 

Have a nice trip. :)

[kelmac]

Hi Kelly, hope you and Lauren have a wonderful cruise:D, I have no

doubt because you always do!:)

 

 

Thanks Lois!! Let the summer begin!:D

 

Kel

[kelmac]

Hi Kelly, hope you and Lauren have a wonderful cruise:D, I have no

doubt because you always do!:)

 

Have a nice trip. :)

 

Ed and Lois,

 

Thanks so much!:) NYC here we come!!

 

Kel

[brfan]

Not to get anyone upset with my response -- however tipping has always been a very American thing, we have American friends who when asked at one point or another why they tip, especially to someone just doing the job hired for, the reply is "because we can". When was the last time you were tipped for "doing your job", bet it was never! I have no issue or problem with rewarding/acknowledging over and above service, or outstanding customer service. Do not appreciate being told have to anti up another $24.00 (Celebrity, two people in cabin, per day) -- always tell the desk to remove the automatic charges (you do not have to explain why), you can ask for envelopes to give to anyone you feel is warranted or if you want to. Cruise lines need to pay their staff a decent wage and if it raises the cost of the cruise so be it! By the way has anyone ever talked to staff (those that will talk without fear, they do quite well, don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!!) Again this is my experience and opinion I am sharing so please don't feel you need to debate it. You can disagree however respect the experience and opinion. Thank you.:)

 

Except you are trying to fit your beliefs into a company who has a system in place that likely works well for everyone involved. If it didn't crew would be going elsewhere.

 

You state you don't care if the cruise price goes up, then a simple solution would be to prepay the tips, so it is in your final payment and you won't need to worry or think about it during the cruise (at least the Housekeeping/Dining portion).

 

However if you really don't believe in Celebrity's way of doing business and compensating their crew. Then simply write them a letter telling them until they pay their crew a living wage and increase the fares to cover the increased wages, you will be spending your vacation dollars elsewhere. Then you choose a company that fits with your beliefs instead of trying to force your beliefs into an existing company's policy.

 

As for what crew members have told you, keep in mind they will tell you anything that they think you want to hear so as not to upset you as long as it fits with whatever their bosses have trained them to say. In other words you will likely get the "truth" Celebrity wants you to hear, which may or may not be the way it actually is.

[4774Papa]

Except you are trying to fit your beliefs into a company who has a system in place that likely works well for everyone involved. If it didn't crew would be going elsewhere.

 

You state you don't care if the cruise price goes up, then a simple solution would be to prepay the tips, so it is in your final payment and you won't need to worry or think about it during the cruise (at least the Housekeeping/Dining portion).

 

However if you really don't believe in Celebrity's way of doing business and compensating their crew. Then simply write them a letter telling them until they pay their crew a living wage and increase the fares to cover the increased wages, you will be spending your vacation dollars elsewhere. Then you choose a company that fits with your beliefs instead of trying to force your beliefs into an existing company's policy.

 

As for what crew members have told you, keep in mind they will tell you anything that they think you want to hear so as not to upset you as long as it fits with whatever their bosses have trained them to say. In other words you will likely get the "truth" Celebrity wants you to hear, which may or may not be the way it actually is.

brfan and kelmac, I completely agree. The idea that somehow the crew is not earning a living wage indicates social engineers are at work. The system is working. The crew have accepted jobs with X and earning wages that are acceptable to them. If their skills merited higher wages, they have the option of moving on to another job.

[woodofpine]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

Less than 10% (of the per diem) is "far too much"??

 

Yes there are lines that include all gratuities in the fares... They ALL charge 50-100% (or more) higher per diem fares!! So put your money where your mouth is and patrononize them.

 

The fact is that administrative accounting that keeps service compensation 'off the books' works greatly on 'the bottom line' thus benefitting passengers (fares are much lower - much much lower than the <10% gratuity). Be happy world labor markets and creative cruise line accountants run it this way... or your choice would solely be the 50-100% higher product cost model.

[Greghouseo]

I am astonished at the apparent ignorance some of my compatriots have shown over the course of this thread.

 

Someone posted that it is the TA and Celebs responsibility to draw attention to the very important issue of Grats, and technically they are absolutely right, however some of the weaker sales people in both direct sales and via a TA are taught not to introduce any negatives into a conversation where there is a potential booking as it might frighten the client off.

 

As for the person who says that some agents give Grats free as part of the booking.

BS they've added it in to give the illusion of you getting something for free.

 

I have always tended to pre-pay and happy to do so, but my experience on my last cruise, ironically RCI lead me to question it as we had bad dining service, brought it to the attention of the head waiter, but progressively the service got worse and worse as the cruise progressed, so the concept of giving them the opportunity to improve didnt really work in this case, however, I'm putting this down to a one off and not going to lose faith in the current tipping system.

 

For the lady who thinks that £1.25 roughly per day for your assistant waiter and £2.50 per day for your waiter per person is far too much, you are an utter disgrace. If you went out for a meal of the quality that you get on board at home it would cost you about £60 - £100 per couple (and that is without lunch and breakfast service). If you give, approximately 10% as a tip it equates quite reasonably to the £7.50 you are giving.

Might I very disrespectively suggest you stick to the type of crusing that you are well suited for............Thomson Dream, Louis Cruises, Cruise and Maritime.

[Flcruiser46]

Swigso is right. Either go with the plan or go elsewhere. Celebrity pricing is as low as it was maybe 10 years ago. BEWARE, Celebrity gives staff lists of passengers, including if you remove tips and how many X cruises you have been on. Room steward told me that is taken into consideration for his level of cabin service. He implied those who remove tips usually stiff them . I know you Europeans appreciate an excellent product at a good price. My last 2 cruises had 300 Brits on one and 400 Germans on the other. The tips are minimal; if you can afford to travel over to cruise just pay the tab.

 

I would hope this is rumor and not fact. I for one would never sail Celebrity again and in fact would lodge a strong complaint if my privacy were violated this way! I have no problems with gratuities but if in fact it is not a gratuity (given for service above and beyond the norm) but a service charge, then it needs to be labeled as such. And the idea that a room steward would adjust his service according to whether he "thought" he would be "stiffed " really disturbs me.

 

I love cruising and our last Celebrity cruise was taken with my husband's guide dog Popi. ( Hi, Don) It was his first cruise and after a couple of minor bumps, I cannot give Celebrity enough stars for the extra mile the staff went to accommodate Popi's basic needs. We chose not to do the prepaid gratuity route but I can assure you it was not because we "stiffed" any of the staff. Just the opposite.

 

We are going on the Azamara Journey in Oct and will let you know how the gratuities included works for us. I agree with previous posters that part of the problem is the terminology used. "Gratuities" are discretionary - Service charges are not.

 

Anne:)

[Albert Ross]

 

I have a question about prepaid tips. If you had to cancel / change the date of your cruise would you get this money back or would it be lost?

In England they charge £75pp to change ship/date. If you cancel outside of the 57 days prior to sailing you lose your £150pp deposit. So no you do not lose the money because you have not paid in full for the cruise. If you cancel inside the 57 days then it is a sliding scale of charges depending how close to sailing it is.

[techwatcher]

 

I have always tended to pre-pay and happy to do so, but my experience on my last cruise, ironically RCI lead me to question it as we had bad dining service, brought it to the attention of the head waiter, but progressively the service got worse and worse as the cruise progressed, so the concept of giving them the opportunity to improve didnt really work in this case, however, I'm putting this down to a one off and not going to lose faith in the current tipping system.

 

If ther service hadn't improved after complaining to the head waiter I would have been asking to speak with the F&B Manager; no excuse for poor and declining service.

 

For the lady who thinks that £1.25 roughly per day for your assistant waiter and £2.50 per day for your waiter per person is far too much, you are an utter disgrace. If you went out for a meal of the quality that you get on board at home it would cost you about £60 - £100 per couple (and that is without lunch and breakfast service). If you give, approximately 10% as a tip it equates quite reasonably to the £7.50 you are giving.

Might I very disrespectively suggest you stick to the type of crusing that you are well suited for............Thomson Dream, Louis Cruises, Cruise and Maritime.

 

Ouch..! That's a bit harsh; you may not agree with the lady but there's no need for name calling.

 

Also, a little off-topic, but assuming you are referring to food in the MDR, no way would equivalent food at home cost £60-£100 per couple. MDR food is OK, but at the end of the day it's mass-produced, decent wedding banquet quality and nothing more.

[Greghouseo]

If ther service hadn't improved after complaining to the head waiter I would have been asking to speak with the F&B Manager; no excuse for poor and declining service.

 

 

 

Ouch..! That's a bit harsh; you may not agree with the lady but there's no need for name calling.

 

Also, a little off-topic, but assuming you are referring to food in the MDR, no way would equivalent food at home cost £60-£100 per couple. MDR food is OK, but at the end of the day it's mass-produced, decent wedding banquet quality and nothing more.

 

Calling someone an utter disgrace is not name calling it is using an adjective and a noun to describe someone who's words have simply discredited myself and the people from the country that I reside in.

 

The $60 - $100 a head is the approximate cost of a half decent meal in a restaurant. I've been in enough restaurants throughout the US to believe that what I have received there is nothing more than mass produced wedding banquet food for which I have been charged between $60 and $100 for that meal for two of us.

[jaybird from SC]

Just don't understand why tipping/service charges are such a big issue. If you're going to cruise, tipping/service charges are to be expected and if you're not willing to pay them then don't go but chances are that wherever you go you will be paying tips and fees which will equal or surpass those of the cruise lines. If you want service, be willing to pay for it or stay home...

[techwatcher]

Calling someone an utter disgrace is not name calling it is using an adjective and a noun to describe someone who's words have simply discredited myself and the people from the country that I reside in.

 

Pedantics about grammar aside, it was still unnecessarily harsh.

 

The $60 - $100 a head is the approximate cost of a half decent meal in a restaurant. I've been in enough restaurants throughout the US to believe that what I have received there is nothing more than mass produced wedding banquet food for which I have been charged between $60 and $100 for that meal for two of us.

 

You've changed the currency from GBP to USD and that makes a difference. I am not sure what you are trying to say with your second sentence?

[Jo and Rob]

Calling someone an utter disgrace is not name calling it is using an adjective and a noun to describe someone who's words have simply discredited myself and the people from the country that I reside in.

 

 

Funny how you use grammar to defend your comment and then write "who's" instead of whose! Sorry, I couldn't resist! ;)

[brfan]

I would hope this is rumor and not fact. I for one would never sail Celebrity again and in fact would lodge a strong complaint if my privacy were violated this way! I have no problems with gratuities but if in fact it is not a gratuity (given for service above and beyond the norm) but a service charge, then it needs to be labeled as such. And the idea that a room steward would adjust his service according to whether he "thought" he would be "stiffed " really disturbs me.

 

I love cruising and our last Celebrity cruise was taken with my husband's guide dog Popi. ( Hi, Don) It was his first cruise and after a couple of minor bumps, I cannot give Celebrity enough stars for the extra mile the staff went to accommodate Popi's basic needs. We chose not to do the prepaid gratuity route but I can assure you it was not because we "stiffed" any of the staff. Just the opposite.

 

We are going on the Azamara Journey in Oct and will let you know how the gratuities included works for us. I agree with previous posters that part of the problem is the terminology used. "Gratuities" are discretionary - Service charges are not.

 

Anne:)

 

Gratuities are included in the fair you paid for Azamara.

 

As far as the crew knowing someone removed the auto-tip, I'm pretty sure that is done on all cruise lines where auto-tipping is done. Why? Passengers who remove their auto-tip is considered a service issue and depending on the management style of the ship, department heads will ask for a report. They will then speak with the crew members involved to determine what or if there is a service issue. Plus for those cruise lines who expect crew members to turn in any tips they received from passengers who removed the auto-tips, their bosses will remind them of that requirement. In other words you should have no expectation of privacy when it comes to internal matters relating to service/policies of the cruise line. However, if a passenger, who removed their auto-tips because of preference (eg. not a service issue) and feels they are receiving poor service because of this, they should speak with the department head to work on improving the situation.

[Tenn4ever]

I think my question got lost in the 'melee' ;). Does anyone know(for a fact) if at the end of the cruise I choose to pay someone an extra tip(cash), for instance the room steward, does he have to split it with others?

[dzcruisers]

I would hope this is rumor and not fact. I for one would never sail Celebrity again and in fact would lodge a strong complaint if my privacy were violated this way! I have no problems with gratuities but if in fact it is not a gratuity (given for service above and beyond the norm) but a service charge, then it needs to be labeled as such. And the idea that a room steward would adjust his service according to whether he "thought" he would be "stiffed " really disturbs me.

 

I love cruising and our last Celebrity cruise was taken with my husband's guide dog Popi. ( Hi, Don) It was his first cruise and after a couple of minor bumps, I cannot give Celebrity enough stars for the extra mile the staff went to accommodate Popi's basic needs. We chose not to do the prepaid gratuity route but I can assure you it was not because we "stiffed" any of the staff. Just the opposite.

 

We are going on the Azamara Journey in Oct and will let you know how the gratuities included works for us. I agree with previous posters that part of the problem is the terminology used. "Gratuities" are discretionary - Service charges are not.

 

Anne:)

 

They do get a list. We prepaid our tips and on one of our cruises on X our cabin attendant thanked us for prepaying our tips and we had not mentioned anything. I saw the list on another line. Any money you give to them in cash if you do not prepay or have your tips removed goes into a pool. If you leave your tips on and give them cash they get to keep it. If you remove your tips, give them cash and they keep it they lose their job. There are books about how cruise employee are paid. I read $50. a week but someone whose son worked for X said no it was $50. per month. It's like wait staff in the USA where the minimum wage for them is around $2.50 per hour, about !/3 of what it is for anyone else.

[Greghouseo]

Funny how you use grammar to defend your comment and then write "who's" instead of whose! Sorry, I couldn't resist! ;)

 

Touche, however I was trying to make the point that I didn't feel that I had insulted per se. I felt a personal affront to be associated by nationality with her, and I was simply describing her, not insulting her.

 

To explain the other point I was making, for the self same person who thinks that $11.50 is far too much to tip, I was equating it to a normal meal that you would have out in a restaurant. If that meal cost you $60 - $100 and you tipped 10% you would tip for that one meal approx $8.

Now if you actually divide the $11.50 daily that X are suggesting it equates to about the same, for a vastly superior level of service in general....and that doesn't even take into account breakfast and lunch service, so I was trying to say, albeit badly that $11.50 is not far too much, it is quite reasonable, and usually fully deserved