Gratuities to be included in RCI fares

[Ocean Boy]

There is always the casino or an excursion or the spa or a photo package or a new watch, or a piece of art (print).:D

 

Yeah, ok.

[Andyinmacksville]

OK I decided to test this for myself. I did a dummy booking for our same cruise on Ovation in April 2018 & found that the price difference (not exact same room but same category room) has gone up by $758.36 which is more than the Cost of Gratuities that we have deferred to pay onboard. That is for 2 adults & a 12 yo.

 

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Only problem with that comparison is as the available number of cabins in category decrease the base price increases, so even if the promotion is similar it is being applied to a higher base price.

 

 

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[MicCanberra]

Supply and demand in effect.

[Greatman61]

Well as far as I am concerned & however you look at it I am currently finacially to the better so would like to think that by the time we cruise we got the best deal possible.

 

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[MicCanberra]

Well as far as I am concerned & however you look at it I am currently finacially to the better so would like to think that by the time we cruise we got the best deal possible.

 

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That is the best way to look at it. If the prices drop then you can look to sweeten the deal.:D

[joandian]

But when you have a drink package there isn't much to spend OBC on that is of any interest to me. I have all the RCI Logo stuff that I could possibly need and I don't do specialty restaurants. I guess I could wait to buy the drink package until on board but I like to buy when I catch them on sale.

 

When we are fortunate enough to have an large OBC (my husband always get a drinks package) he just goes to the Casino and gets a $100 put on our sea pass card. Puts the voucher in a slot machine, plays one small cost game, pulls it out again and cashes it in. We fund days ashore and gifts for the grandkids like this.

[Beanb41]

When using non refundable OBC in the casino now one gets promotional credits which cannot be cashed in for money- only the winnings can be cashed up. Thus if one wants $200 to spend in the casino one has to spend that amount in the casino and any winnings received only can be cashed in

 

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[MicCanberra]

When using non refundable OBC in the casino now one gets promotional credits which cannot be cashed in for money- only the winnings can be cashed up. Thus if one wants $200 to spend in the casino one has to spend that amount in the casino and any winnings received only can be cashed in

 

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True, at least for Celebrity anyway.

We played $1000 of OBC through the pokies and cashed out the winnings and ended up with a return of around 95% $950 USD. Not bad when considering that we enjoyed playing the pokies over the three weeks as well.

Edited December 17, 2016 by MicCanberra

[joandian]

When using non refundable OBC in the casino now one gets promotional credits which cannot be cashed in for money- only the winnings can be cashed up. Thus if one wants $200 to spend in the casino one has to spend that amount in the casino and any winnings received only can be cashed in

 

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This is not yet happened on RCI I don't think. We did this recently on Mariner and had no issues.

[rkmw]

This is not yet happened on RCI I don't think. We did this recently on Mariner and had no issues.

 

hasnt happened with princess either

[MicCanberra]

This is not yet happened on RCI I don't think. We did this recently on Mariner and had no issues.

 

Good, I plan to get some of my OBC cashed out when on board the Ovation in two weeks time.:D

[MicCanberra]

hasnt happened with princess either

 

Yes, pulled out over $1000 in OBC via the casino when on the Caribbean Princess.

[volvof11]

I still get a kick reading the posts from the people that think the staff work for peanuts.

 

I agree, we met a friend of ours on board who actually was the officer accountant aboard Celebrity Constellation on an Alaska cruise and I asked him about the wages of the normal staff not the officers and he said most cruises the staff get more than some of the officers. He didn't say by how much or how much they get but he did say as well that get paid very well that's after the grats have been paid out.

But I agree grats should be included but it has to be across the board not just in Aust or NZ.

I can admit we didn't pay our grats to our dining staff as we didn't get good service from our waiters either of them, they were too interested hanging around the table of 10 Americans than our table of 10 Aussies, too the point of people from our table chose to eat in the buffet or changing tables. On the last night the waiters had shook hands with Americans and then chose to come to our table which by then was only us left, he didn't leave us all through dinner just about. We deliberated about paying the grats but in the end we went down and got them to take of the grats for the dining room off but left the other half for the others. And unbeknownst to us the girl on reception said that we weren't the only ones on our table to do that and they would look into it.

We have been on many cruises and its the only time we have done that. But that was a Carnival ship not Celebrity.

Just my experience

Thanks

Pauline

[MicCanberra]

Terrible service should not be rewarded, I would have mentioned something to the waiters themselves and/or the head waiter and the Maitre de as well.

[Beanb41]

I did a dummy booking for the March 13th cruise before the compulsory gratuities were included as part of the cruise fare. The cruise is a 12 day Great Barrier Cruise on the Solstice departing March 13th. Stateroom Oceanview:

Pre gratuities compulsory paid:

Beverage Package and $US300 OBC - $NZ6314.92

Gratuities paid, Beverage package and $US300OBC $NZ 6296.00 (One day sale 21 Dec)

Pre gratuities compulsory

Beverage package and free gratuities $NZ5836

Gratuities paid

Beverage Package $NZ5818 (one day sale 21 Dec)

 

These prices are for two people and are effectively the same. Differences are possibly currency fluctuations

[MicCanberra]

I did a dummy booking for the March 13th cruise before the compulsory gratuities were included as part of the cruise fare. The cruise is a 12 day Great Barrier Cruise on the Solstice departing March 13th. Stateroom Oceanview:

Pre gratuities compulsory paid:

Beverage Package and $US300 OBC - $NZ6314.92

Gratuities paid, Beverage package and $US300OBC $NZ 6296.00 (One day sale 21 Dec)

Pre gratuities compulsory

Beverage package and free gratuities $NZ5836

Gratuities paid

Beverage Package $NZ5818 (one day sale 21 Dec)

 

These prices are for two people and are effectively the same. Differences are possibly currency fluctuations

The AUD has dropped nearly 3 cents form the other week.:(

[shireboi]

"Guests will see no change to the published price of cruises via any Royal Caribbean point of sale, including website, advertising and call centre pricing," the company said.

The change means free gratuities will no longer be available as one of the perks included in the Go Big, Go Better, Go Best promotion.

The all-inclusive fares apply to new bookings effective 12 December 2016 onwards, on sailings departing on or after 15 January 2017.

 

 

gotta 'love' the RC website....

 

 

booked and fully paid for my cruise via their site directly last week for next weeks cruise....

 

and now.....looking today and add all the photos and printed off the Sail Passes... and had a relook tonight...

 

and RC have now 'got' Gratuities as being 'added' to the price - and 'outstanding'. (Outstanding Balance*: 491.54 AUD)

 

 

Honestly they can't get anything right online. It's taken 4 days just to sort out the bed config - 'error' message kept appearing. Since I was able to FIX THAT just now.........it looks like it has 'triggered something' with Prepaid Grats.

 

A call tomorrow will be my lot.

Edited January 3, 2017 by shireboi

[NSWP]

gotta 'love' the RC website....

 

 

booked and fully paid for my cruise via their site directly last week for next weeks cruise....

 

and now.....looking today and add all the photos and printed off the Sail Passes... and had a relook tonight...

 

and RC have now 'got' Gratuities as being 'added' to the price - and 'outstanding'. (Outstanding Balance*: 491.54 AUD)

 

 

Honestly they can't get anything right online. It's taken 4 days just to sort out the bed config - 'error' message kept appearing. Since I was able to FIX THAT just now.........it looks like it has 'triggered something' with Prepaid Grats.

 

A call tomorrow will be my lot.

So the grats will not now be able to be adjusted? Compulsory? You pay for the service before you get it. Not on. Tips should be dependent on service levels IMO.

[shireboi]

So the grats will not now be able to be adjusted? Compulsory? You pay for the service before you get it. Not on. Tips should be dependent on service levels IMO.

 

I found a 'bug' in the RC Online site :

 

- I attempted to modify the room setup. For several days it produced a blank screen. Then two days ago, it came up with a message unrelated to the transaction task being performed (issue with Crown member number)

- Once I found that a member number was duplicated on both passengers - I removed one - and was able to modify the room setup.

- Upon doing this - it 'triggered' the PrePaidTips (Gratuties) which had not been selected in my booking. It then stated this as an outstanding payment.

 

Reported and got error fixed on my booking - and posted here for any FYI

 

On my booking - it did still mention 'pre paid tips' as a selectable item - I was under the impression that RC was going to remove this - however it may not have been fully implemented.

[DianeandMark]

It's been that way on P&O, Carnival and Princess for some years now. The crew will now get appropriate wages.

 

 

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[The_Big_M]

On my booking - it did still mention 'pre paid tips' as a selectable item - I was under the impression that RC was going to remove this - however it may not have been fully implemented.

 

It's only effective for bookings after the December date. As you appear to have booked before this, the booking/gratuity arrangements aren't meant to have changed for your booking (nor any booking before that change).

Edited January 4, 2017 by The_Big_M

[shireboi]

It's only effective for bookings after the December date. As you appear to have booked before this, the booking/gratuity arrangements aren't meant to have changed for your booking (nor any booking before that change).

 

I booked my Ovation trip on the 30th Dec 2016 - it was still there then !!

Edited January 4, 2017 by shireboi

[The_Big_M]

If it's only a recent booking then yes, it should not be an option!

[springaussie]

It's been that way on P&O, Carnival and Princess for some years now. The crew will now get appropriate wages.

 

 

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Only for cruises from Australia.

The rest of the cruises follow the Royal Caribbean style tipping for P&O, Carnival and Princess.

 

 

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[swansnz]

Rebooked my 14 night Cruise to the Islands next January, on RCCL.

 

For the 3 of us, the cruise cost had gone up by about NZ$400, but now includes the gratuity which we would have paid, which was over NZ$800. So we've saved a bit over NZ$400 plus now have US$300 OBC, which we did not before.