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Gratuities for Dummies - New Cruiser

OvR8d1

By OvR8d1,
in Royal Caribbean International

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OvR8d1

OvR8d1

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Please don't remove the automatic gratuities. It's such a small amount and is spread amount many. If there is someone you wish to reward additionally do so. But you are not requires to. I always give extra to room steward and main dining room staff. $50 each for a 7 day cruise

 

Don't worry, others have already advised that the automatic gratuities are included in the fare when you book in Australia and they cannot be removed. Please understand that I would only have been looking to remove them if they were an additional charge, over and above our fare already paid.

 

Just to address part of your comment though ... the amount is certainly not 'small' ... not in my eyes anyway. I calculated that for a 10 day cruise for the three of us, we would have been up for an additional $400.00 (if tips had been an additional charge). Luckily, they're not additional ... and we'll be purchasing beverage packages so I understand the tips are included there as well. I'm just thankful that it's one less thing we'll have to worry about.

 

Thanks so much to everybody for your helpful advice. I'm sure it won't be the last time I'll need to pick your experienced collective brains! ;)

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Hey Tina

Hey Tina

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Don't worry, others have already advised that the automatic gratuities are included in the fare when you book in Australia and they cannot be removed. Please understand that I would only have been looking to remove them if they were an additional charge, over and above our fare already paid.

 

Just to address part of your comment though ... the amount is certainly not 'small' ... not in my eyes anyway. I calculated that for a 10 day cruise for the three of us, we would have been up for an additional $400.00 (if tips had been an additional charge). Luckily, they're not additional ... and we'll be purchasing beverage packages so I understand the tips are included there as well. I'm just thankful that it's one less thing we'll have to worry about.

 

Thanks so much to everybody for your helpful advice. I'm sure it won't be the last time I'll need to pick your experienced collective brains! ;)

 

To play devils advocate, if you can afford a beverage package, can't you afford tips, if they had been added after? Meaning, couldn't you leave the tips in place and forgo your beverage package?

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geomancer

geomancer

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Just to address part of your comment though ... the amount is certainly not 'small' ... not in my eyes anyway. I calculated that for a 10 day cruise for the three of us, we would have been up for an additional $400.00 (if tips had been an additional charge). Luckily, they're not additional ... and we'll be purchasing beverage packages so I understand the tips are included there as well. I'm just thankful that it's one less thing we'll have to worry about.

 

It would be $405 USD. That's $504 AUS.

 

And you're correct, it *isn't* a small amount. Since it's already paid, don't worry about it and enjoy your cruise!

 

For people from tipping countries (like the US) it feels 'wrong' to not leave anything (even though they have in fact paid something on their bill). Being from a non-tipping country though, you can rest easy that you're doing nothing wrong :)

 

Be aware if you're flying to the US, the cab/private car driver will expect a tip if you didn't get the airport transfer with your cruise. The porters at the pier will also expect a tip. Then of course any sit down restaurants before or after your cruise (we don't tip fast food, like McDonalds).

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Grandma Dazzles

Grandma Dazzles

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Don't worry, others have already advised that the automatic gratuities are included in the fare when you book in Australia and they cannot be removed. Please understand that I would only have been looking to remove them if they were an additional charge, over and above our fare already paid.

 

Just to address part of your comment though ... the amount is certainly not 'small' ... not in my eyes anyway. I calculated that for a 10 day cruise for the three of us, we would have been up for an additional $400.00 (if tips had been an additional charge). Luckily, they're not additional ... and we'll be purchasing beverage packages so I understand the tips are included there as well. I'm just thankful that it's one less thing we'll have to worry about.

 

Thanks so much to everybody for your helpful advice. I'm sure it won't be the last time I'll need to pick your experienced collective brains! ;)

 

I agree that $400 is not "small" but if you were on vacation in the USA, or lived in the USA, you would need to budget, or spend that amount. For three people tipping for three meals a day would cost more than $400, and that also includes your room steward. Just trying to put things in perspective.

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geomancer

geomancer

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For three people tipping for three meals a day would cost more than $400...

 

Depends where you eat, and how much you're eating... $40.50/day is $202.50 a day in food. Spending $67.50 per meal (for three people) in the US would be quite high. Remember, this is just food, not drinks.

 

 

If you include tipping housekeeping (which most people do not do, even in the US) that would be $34.50/day for food tips or $172.50 in food. Still quite high but possible if you did appetizers and deserts for each meal.

 

This gets skewed worse if you stay at any of the many hotels that include free breakfast (self serve, no tip).

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KelJ

KelJ

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To play devils advocate, if you can afford a beverage package, can't you afford tips, if they had been added after? Meaning, couldn't you leave the tips in place and forgo your beverage package?

 

OMG seriously? The OP's questions have been answered. :rolleyes:

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Grandma Dazzles

Grandma Dazzles

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Depends where you eat, and how much you're eating... $40.50/day is $202.50 a day in food. Spending $67.50 per meal (for three people) in the US would be quite high. Remember, this is just food, not drinks.

 

 

If you include tipping housekeeping (which most people do not do, even in the US) that would be $34.50/day for food tips or $172.50 in food. Still quite high but possible if you did appetizers and deserts for each meal.

 

This gets skewed worse if you stay at any of the many hotels that include free breakfast (self serve, no tip).

 

 

Gratuity breakdown per person is: Dining $6.35 per day. Cabin attendant $3.45. Miscellaneous $3.70. Total of $13.50 per day per person in a standard stateroom.

 

Even using a hotel with breakfast included, that still is only $6.35 per day in tips - I still think that is hard to do in US.

 

Your math does not take into consideration that parts of the gratuity goes elsewhere. Many people do tip hotel housekeeping if they are staying in a resort for a full week - not just an overnight stay at an airport/on the road.

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OvR8d1

OvR8d1

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To play devils advocate, if you can afford a beverage package, can't you afford tips, if they had been added after? Meaning, couldn't you leave the tips in place and forgo your beverage package?

 

If you're suggesting that we should have (hypothetically) diminished our enjoyment of a cruise that we've spent four years saving for by foregoing beverage packages (which is an expense we diligently budgeted for) ... so that we might supplement the criminally poor (IMO) wages of staff members on a cruise ship leaving from an Australian (non-tipping) port (an expense we were NOT advised to budget for), I'm sorry to say that my humanitarian instincts are nowhere near as strong as yours.

 

We traveled to the US around 8 years ago and while we did have several moments of forgetfulness and awkward smiling silences with various service staff, we did budget for tips and inevitably got the hang of things. This is not a US trip and therefore not an expense I had considered budgeting for. Hope that makes sense.

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SRF

SRF

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If from an Australian port and booked in Australian, you have already paid the tips, so you therefore budgeted for them, as they are part of the quoted cruise fare.

 

And I don't know if you have seen the threads, but there are reports of lists and pictures of non-tippers in crew spaces. Think about it.

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Wine-O

Wine-O

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Posted

 

And I don't know if you have seen the threads, but there are reports of lists and pictures of non-tippers in crew spaces. Think about it.

 

Really? Is that why so many people self-disembark? Afraid their luggage won't make to the proper location because of missing luggage tags? :rolleyes:

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ChinaShrek

ChinaShrek

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You've already received good information about tips being charged to your account. Nothing else to say on that subject.

 

Yes, you can go to guest services and remove your tips, but why? People say that they want to tip directly -- personally, I think some of the people who ask this question are just being cheap and are looking for how to skip tipping. Others say that they want to tip directly to the people who serve them, but reinventing the wheel this way doesn't make any sense. The tips you pay are distributed to the staff who take care of you for breakfast, lunch and dinner -- and also to the cabin stewards. They've "signed on" and have agreed to a system that gives them all a share of the tips that're paid directly -- why would anyone want to disrupt that system, especially since it would mean carrying cash around the ship and forcing the server to carry cash around. It's just easier for everyone if the passenger tips through the existing system and the servers receive their "whole week's tip" at the end of the week.

 

As for why you might opt to tip "above and beyond", sometimes a crew member will do something really great for you. For example, I remember a couple things that happened when my kids were still small: I remember a couple times my kids asked for peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches at lunch, though they weren't on the menu -- and we had a server who went and made those sandwiches for my kids. Another time my daughter was taken by a fit of shyness and wouldn't order her dessert -- our wonderful waiter said, "Don't worry -- I'll bring you the Shy Girl Special." It was a brownie sundae with hot fudge served in a fancy wine glass (again, not on the menu). She lit up when she saw it, and our other three girls all chimed, "We want the Shy Girl Special tomorrow!" And for the rest of the week, that's what they each had. Today at home, one of our kids will say, "Do we have the stuff to make a Shy Girl Special?" This is the kind of thing for which I'll tip "above and beyond".

 

One more tipping note for a first-time cruiser: The bartenders are not included in your daily tip, so it's "right" to add a tip when they serve you. You don't need to carry cash; rather, you can write in a tip on the receipt that you sign. UNLESS you have the beverage package; if so, you've already tipped when you purchased the package.

 

I will argue just the opposite. These people have chosen these jobs and I have no intention to subsidize the cruise ship industry by offering any additional tips (or extortion money as I call it). I am also tired of the guilt pushed on me by those who want tips or by those who tip. I have paid good money for the cruise. It should include exceptional service for the price I have paid. Tipping is evil.

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ChinaShrek

ChinaShrek

Posted
Posted
If from an Australian port and booked in Australian, you have already paid the tips, so you therefore budgeted for them, as they are part of the quoted cruise fare.

 

And I don't know if you have seen the threads, but there are reports of lists and pictures of non-tippers in crew spaces. Think about it.

 

What are they going to do with these lists? We should have photos and lists of crew members who have given poor service.

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Hey Tina

Hey Tina

Posted
Posted
If you're suggesting that we should have (hypothetically) diminished our enjoyment of a cruise that we've spent four years saving for by foregoing beverage packages (which is an expense we diligently budgeted for) ... so that we might supplement the criminally poor (IMO) wages of staff members on a cruise ship leaving from an Australian (non-tipping) port (an expense we were NOT advised to budget for), I'm sorry to say that my humanitarian instincts are nowhere near as strong as yours.

 

We traveled to the US around 8 years ago and while we did have several moments of forgetfulness and awkward smiling silences with various service staff, we did budget for tips and inevitably got the hang of things. This is not a US trip and therefore not an expense I had considered budgeting for. Hope that makes sense.

 

No, I'm not suggesting that at all, it was simply a question because I was a little confused when you said "Please understand that I would only have been looking to remove them if they were an additional charge, over and above our fare already paid."

 

UltimatelyI think everyone should do what they want. I pay the auto-gratuities, and some people don't. No big deal to me. It sounds like if you were to plan another cruise from a US port you would leave the auto-gratuities in place (because you know now they wouldn't be included in your fare), but hey, like I said, even if you wouldn't no big deal to me.

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mt82

mt82

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Automatic gratuiies will be added to your onboard account in the amount of $13.50 per guest per day. Add $3 per guest per day if you are in a GS or better stateroom. I believe cruises out of Australia have the gratuities incorporated in the basic cruise fare.

Hello Bob,

 

You have helped me on a few other threads, so I will jump in and ask you on this subject

it is my understand that with RC you CANNOT for go paying the 13.50 a day, before it was your discretion but no longer an option, do you know about this

BTW, I WOULD NEVER NOT PAY THE GRATUITIES, before anyone jumps me

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

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Hello Bob,

 

You have helped me on a few other threads, so I will jump in and ask you on this subject

it is my understand that with RC you CANNOT for go paying the 13.50 a day, before it was your discretion but no longer an option, do you know about this

BTW, I WOULD NEVER NOT PAY THE GRATUITIES, before anyone jumps me

Guest services will remove the daily gratuities upon request.

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