gratuities, this is how they are officially spread out

[mjkacmom]

Have been in excess of 20 cruises mostly with RCI. First stop after boarding is to Guest Relations to cancel auto tips. Not a miserable Scot and give appropriate small tips to who deserves. Worked for over 40 years in service and industry and never received a tip and why should I.

Because you were paid an amount that didn't factor tips into the equation. My daughter is a waitress (plus a full time college student and works 3 full days as an intern). Her paychecks are around $2 for 3 shifts. On the ships, the service charge is used to pay staff wages. This way the cruise lines can publish lower fares. I guess ifenough people remove the service charge, they will just have to raise prices.

[harz99]

Have been in excess of 20 cruises mostly with RCI. First stop after boarding is to Guest Relations to cancel auto tips. Not a miserable Scot and give appropriate small tips to who deserves. Worked for over 40 years in service and industry and never received a tip and why should I.

Very simply, your 40 odd years would have been at the rate paid for the job you did, and under British or other non American employers. No such protections as you received exists for the majority of lower ranked cruise ship staff who work under American conditions. The gratuities you pay, in turn pay the staff their wages, what you do is depriving hard working people the semblance of a living wage.

 

When in Rome do as the Romans do is an old saying, in this instance when on an American owned cruise ship do as the Americand do!

 

 

 

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[pcur]

Because you were paid an amount that didn't factor tips into the equation. My daughter is a waitress (plus a full time college student and works 3 full days as an intern). Her paychecks are around $2 for 3 shifts. On the ships, the service charge is used to pay staff wages. This way the cruise lines can publish lower fares. I guess ifenough people remove the service charge, they will just have to raise prices.

 

 

You know we live in a "connected" world. By now you'd think the adult population in Europe and Australia/New Zeland would understand that their basic wage for a service position is MUCH higher (even with currency conversion taken into the accountig), so there is no need to tip.

 

It's cutural, not informational. I've been saying this for 15 years on CruiseCritic, and only seen 2 people actually say they "got it": one is my Aussie friend I met on the Rhapsody, and the other is a member of this CruiseCritic board.

 

In CA we now have a state law that tipped employees must be paid state minimum wage, now $10.50/hour, before tips.

 

I found this map interesting: only the purple states pay minimum wage; all the others $2.13/hour

 

https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

[Ourusualbeach]

You know we live in a "connected" world. By now you'd think the adult population in Europe and Australia/New Zeland would understand that their basic wage for a service position is MUCH higher (even with currency conversion taken into the accountig), so there is no need to tip.

 

It's cutural, not informational. I've been saying this for 15 years on CruiseCritic, and only seen 2 people actually say they "got it": one is my Aussie friend I met on the Rhapsody, and the other is a member of this CruiseCritic board.

 

In CA we now have a state law that tipped employees must be paid state minimum wage, now $10.50/hour, before tips.

 

I found this map interesting: only the purple states pay minimum wage; all the others $2.13/hour

 

https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm

 

Actually it's only the 18 states shaded in blue that are paying the federal minimum of $2.13.

 

The states shaded in green do have reduced minimum wages for those that get tipped but they are above the federal minimum by varying degrees.

 

Still an eye opener.

[mjkacmom]

Actually it's only the 18 states shaded in blue that are paying the federal minimum of $2.13.

 

The states shaded in green do have reduced minimum wages for those that get tipped but they are above the federal minimum by varying degrees.

 

Still an eye opener.

Yes, we are in NJ, one of the highest COL states in the country, $2.13 an hour.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Have been in excess of 20 cruises mostly with RCI. First stop after boarding is to Guest Relations to cancel auto tips. Not a miserable Scot and give appropriate small tips to who deserves. Worked for over 40 years in service and industry and never received a tip and why should I.

 

 

How sad. You choose to stiff the staff based on your own salary. As has been explained numerous times, gratuities are part of their salary. Same thing for service workers in the US. I sincerely doubt that you worked for $2.13 an hour.

 

You might not like it, but obviously after 20 plus cruises you know how the system works, and choose to ignore it.

[pcur]

Actually it's only the 18 states shaded in blue that are paying the federal minimum of $2.13.

 

The states shaded in green do have reduced minimum wages for those that get tipped but they are above the federal minimum by varying degrees.

 

Still an eye opener.

 

 

I was "fast" (vs speed) reading, and saw the word minimum and the amount $2.13. My error.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

They not give "your" gratuieties to "your" waiter the auto-grats go into a big pool and then they mess with it - including the 10's and such to calculate the % everybody gets .......so forget about YOU having any impact on the pooled grats!

[Thorben-Hendrik]

I seriously dislike the "tipping-system" and it is everybody's choice to ignore it and not tip....

I like how some cruise-lines with mainly European clients have abolished the system and it is illegal to have un-removable auto-tips in a lot of European countries...

[easyboy]

Very simply, your 40 odd years would have been at the rate paid for the job you did, and under British or other non American employers. No such protections as you received exists for the majority of lower ranked cruise ship staff who work under American conditions. The gratuities you pay, in turn pay the staff their wages, what you do is depriving hard working people the semblance of a living wage.

 

When in Rome do as the Romans do is an old saying, in this instance when on an American owned cruise ship do as the Americand do!

Well said!

[rimmit]

I find it interesting that so many of us are concerned about the living wage of cruise line employees. Apparently many of us feel the cruise lines themselves are not too concerned about them.

 

Perhaps before the Automatic Prepaid System was enacted, many cruisers either did not leave enough or any at all. Due to this failure of some cruisers to tip, the cruise lines are trying to ensure that they receive a gratuity. They have set what they feel is a fair amount.

 

I also wonder what percentage of hotel guests truly leave a tip for the room attendant?

 

From talking with the crew, the crew initially was all about going to automatic gratuities and gratuities veing paid with a CC as they felt many people didnt tip because they didnt have cash. However, the crew found that their tips went down once they enacted auto gratuitites. Most likely because it was now really easy to remove gratuities and not have the embarassment of not having an envelope to give on the last night as now no one had envelopes. Then they brought out the automatic gratuity vouchers so you would still have the envelope to give on the last night. That did not improve the situation, so they got rid of the gratuity vouchers. This is a classic case of be careful what you wish for.

 

Ultimately, service has suffered tremendously because of autogratuities. Before the staff was super motivated as they received what was theirs in an envelope. Now it is a pool of money that everyone gets a piece of. Much less stress on the staff, but sadly the service has jusg never been the same.

[Scotty G]

How sad. You choose to stiff the staff based on your own salary. As has been explained numerous times, gratuities are part of their salary. Same thing for service workers in the US. I sincerely doubt that you worked for $2.13 an hour.

 

You might not like it, but obviously after 20 plus cruises you know how the system works, and choose to ignore it.

In actuality these listed gratuities are the stated crew salaries.

 

Until recently RCI paid them around $25 twice a month. Under recent crew contracts that has been removed and they only get the amounts shown by the OP (based upon their own, individual contract specifications), room and board, insurance and paid company arranged airtravel to start their contracts.

 

The crew members pay their way home at the end of their contract. They also do not get free internet, laundry or cabin attendants. When not scheduled for duty they can have 4 hours off the ship each week.

 

No crew on board work under US employment laws. Any reference to minimum wage is misleading since they just don't apply.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Scotty G

[Scotty G]

 

Ultimately, service has suffered tremendously because of auto gratuities. Before the staff was super motivated as they received what was theirs in an envelope. Now it is a pool of money that everyone gets a piece of. Much less stress on the staff, but sadly the service has just never been the same.

 

This has not been the case with us on the cruises we have taken since the implementation of auto gratuities! Service has never been better!!!

[Biker19]

Any reference to minimum wage is misleading since they just don't apply.

Assuming their contract follows maritime/seafarer laws, they do get the $614+ monthly min (if enough people remove the tips) specified under those rules.

 

http://www.itfseafarers.org/what_wages.cfm

[camofwilliamsburg]

I have always been told that they are paid to go home if this happens at the end of their contract.

 

Also, back home for most of these workers they would be earning minimum dollars per week. When contrasting wage info they are making enough money to justify being away from home. I was told by a wait staff that they make much much more on a ship than if they stayed home to work.

 

And the discussion here about the minimum wage for tip earning workers is a bit skewed. The tips that these workers are making more than make up for the low wages. The tips are under reported for tax reasons and the low minimum rate keeps their income low enough to avoid a higher tax rate. These servers are not working for 2.13 an hour.

[coldturkey247]

can you ask RCI to remove all auto gratuities from being added to account (even incl. when purchasing drinks package)? I would prefer to pay in cash to employees myself - it's a lot more personable than having money taken direct from account.

[rimmit]

Assuming their contract follows maritime/seafarer laws, they do get the $614+ monthly min (if enough people remove the tips) specified under those rules.

 

http://www.itfseafarers.org/what_wages.cfm

 

 

It seems as though according to their "look up a ship" option on the website, that RCCL ships do not appear to be covered by ITF. This does not surprise me, as I would be shocked if RCI or any mainstream cruiseline would pay that level of a salary.

[rimmit]

This has not been the case with us on the cruises we have taken since the implementation of auto gratuities! Service has never been better!!!

 

 

I must be on a different cruise line. Since 1991, service has only declined. At one point, your waiter, cabin steward, etc. would know your name before you even got on the ship. They would talk to you for a significant time in the dining room asking about your day, etc. Now they are so overworked in terms of number of tables, number of staterooms, etc. they do not have time for all the "little" details they used to have time for.

 

Cruising is significantly cheaper now, and I gladly give up those small "details" for the lower price, but that doesn't mean I don't miss it.

[Clarea]

can you ask RCI to remove all auto gratuities from being added to account (even incl. when purchasing drinks package)? I would prefer to pay in cash to employees myself - it's a lot more personable than having money taken direct from account.

You can stop the daily auto gratuity for stateroom and dining staff, but you cannot stop the gratuties on drinks or drink packages.

[Grandma Dazzles]

[quote=Scotty G;52330348

 

No crew on board work under US employment laws. Any reference to minimum wage is misleading since they just don't apply.

 

 

Agree. However, OP that I responded to was commenting on the fact that he/she had worked in the service field for over 40 years, I believe in either UK or Scotland and no one had ever tipped them. Service staff on cruise ships and restaurants in the US, for example, are tipped to make up their salary. He/she probably made a much higher minimum wage, hence the comparison.

[repo-cruiser]

on my oct cruise i tipped the haven steward 100 bucks. he was fantastic. helped make the trip what it was. went again in december and had to hunt him down as apparently when he came back from his month off he was moved one floor down. he remembered me and we had a very nice discussion which included the fact that he now had his wife on board. then he went to his stash and got me a bottle of bubbly, which was very nice. they do appreciate the extra $$ and being treated civilly for what literally is a 7 day a week job for months on end. not many of us can say we work that much nor deal with the variety of people on a daily basis.

 

i wouldnt do a stewards job for even 100K a year.

 

I bet you would if you came from a country where normal pay for working 16 hour days is 10 dollars a month.

[harz99]

I must be on a different cruise line. Since 1991, service has only declined. At one point, your waiter, cabin steward, etc. would know your name before you even got on the ship. They would talk to you for a significant time in the dining room asking about your day, etc. Now they are so overworked in terms of number of tables, number of staterooms, etc. they do not have time for all the "little" details they used to have time for.

 

Cruising is significantly cheaper now, and I gladly give up those small "details" for the lower price, but that doesn't mean I don't miss it.

I agree with all you say here, however none of it is due to auto gratuities! It's the cruise line cutting staff levels pure and simple. For example 2 staff used to clean 24 rooms between them, under the new method 1 person does 14 rooms so 2 do 28, 4 more, thus less stewards are needed. Same at bars and restaurants.

 

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[Biker19]

This does not surprise me, as I would be shocked if RCI or any mainstream cruiseline would pay that level of a salary.

RCI would have little exposure since that min ($614/mo) would only occur if the majority of some worker's customers removed the autograts - very unlikely.So while the ship may not be listed, RCI could still have some sort of min salary in their contracts.

[grapau27]

Credit to RCI.I spoke to a waiter on vision ots and he told me they really look after their staff and he has turned down offers from other cruise lines to keep coming back to RCI.

 

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[made in canada]

I notice that no one is talking about all the behind the scene people. What about the laundry, kitchen staff and cleaners... they too get a piece of the pre paid tips. Reversing your pre paid is talking away from them too. I bet no one ever goes up to the person you see in the halls cleaning and give them a little tip or go give the guy who hands you fresh towels as you leave the ship. I personally will tip extra to whomever if I get exceptional service. Exceptional service to me is just making my vacation all that more memorable. Its the little things like remembering my name or something I have told them or like. I see it a paying if forward.