Tips going Up

[Ourusualbeach]

Current thread.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2576205

[Thorben-Hendrik]

It is more cost for some.... More savings for others!;p

[mxylpic]

That's buried in "other hotel services".

You're jumping to a conclusion. Could mean assistant steward and people who wash your sheets.

[mxylpic]

Same argument could be made for paying anything more than your deposit until final payment. Meaningless point. As other posters have said Grats are part of cost of cruising. I prepay. I actually prepay nearly everything I can to minimize my final bill. If RCI gets a buck or two in interest from fine - they still one of the least expensive lines around that gives a cruise product I like.

[Biker19]

I actually prepay nearly everything I can to minimize my final bill.

Virtually anything can happen on a cruise for which the line gives you some OBC - leaving the grats to be paid on the ship is the best use of such OBC.;)

[Clarea]

You're jumping to a conclusion. Could mean assistant steward and people who wash your sheets.

I'm sure those helpers are included, but that does not mean there's not a cut for the company.

[Ocean Boy]

Same argument could be made for paying anything more than your deposit until final payment. Meaningless point. As other posters have said Grats are part of cost of cruising. I prepay. I actually prepay nearly everything I can to minimize my final bill. If RCI gets a buck or two in interest from fine - they still one of the least expensive lines around that gives a cruise product I like.

You could accomplish the same thing by putting the extra money on you credit card. When the charges from the ship come in they go against the credit on the card so they are essentially pre-paid and you take no risk.

[Ocean Boy]

Virtually anything can happen on a cruise for which the line gives you some OBC - leaving the grats to be paid on the ship is the best use of such OBC.;)

That is very true. That way you get $100.00 worth of value for $100.00 of gratuities. That makes much more sense than using up $13.00 worth of OBC for a drink that cost RCI about $0.25.

[mxylpic]

Just want to make myself clear, the only "side" I am on in this discussion/debate is the side of facts. I care as a consumer and have an interest in knowing I'm not being lied to by the business I'm patronizing. I also care that the employees are being paid what we're being told they are being paid (i.e. the gratuities).

 

The trouble I'm having is trying to reconcile the information from various sources, not knowing exactly which ones are reliable. The math based on the gratuities breakdown for the cabin stewards is especially clear and suggests they're being paid much more than what other sources are telling us. I am not making a judgment on whether they're overpaid or underpaid. I'm saying there is a significant discrepancy between the information at hand and I'm not sure what to believe.

 

I am the poster who originally said (in a different thread), "$6.90/cabin/day x 19 cabins/day x 7 days/week = $917.70/week on gratuities alone?" The context of this is based on double-occupancy, and https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense telling us that the cabin steward receives $3.45 out of the $13.50 (soon to be $14.50, I guess) and one report of a steward being responsible for cleaning 19 staterooms (they must work really quickly on turnaround morning!). Mind you they don't necessarily make $917.70/week x 52 weeks/year ~= $47,700/year since I believe contracts are typically shorter than a year and the crew have breaks in between (e.g. to go home and see their families).

 

But at $917/week, the math does work out to roughly $3,700/month which is far more than other sources have suggested cabin stewards are paid. Again, I'm not sure what to believe. :confused:

 

They do not work 52 weeks a year. They work a 3 or 4 month contract and then are off for 1-3 months.

[mxylpic]

Virtually anything can happen on a cruise for which the line gives you some OBC - leaving the grats to be paid on the ship is the best use of such OBC.;)

I suppose. I use OBC to pay for drinks, gifts and gambling. :D

[moopetguy]

Mind you they don't necessarily make $917.70/week x 52 weeks/year ~= $47,700/year since I believe contracts are typically shorter than a year and the crew have breaks in between (e.g. to go home and see their families).

 

They do not work 52 weeks a year. They work a 3 or 4 month contract and then are off for 1-3 months.

 

You obviously missed the part where I acknowledged that...

[LuCruise]

This is such a con-artist move. I honestly NEVER understood why ANYONE would prepay their gratuities. I somewhat understand the perspective of peace of mind to know everything is paid for before you sail, but what if you get poor service and don’t want to tip the full recommended amount? Also, when you prepay, your cruise line get a hold of your money that much sooner, and they collect interest based solely upon your generosity to pay more money than you have to, well before your sailing. I would NEVER prepay for gratuity. In all of my sailings, I always ended up paying the full recommended amount of gratuity (and honestly, more often than not, even more than that)...but why pay early and give the cruise line your money early?!

 

 

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We don't pre-pay them but get them added to our invoice. That way, when they rise we are locked in at original cost. We would never do this, but from what I read you can still go to guest services and have them removed. Aside from being able to use OBC to pay for gratuities, I'm not clear on any other advantage of not adding them upfront.

[Clarea]

... Aside from being able to use OBC to pay for gratuities, I'm not clear on any other advantage of not adding them upfront.

Just putting off giving RC some money for another 90 days or so.

[BNBR]

This is such a con-artist move. I honestly NEVER understood why ANYONE would prepay their gratuities. I somewhat understand the perspective of peace of mind to know everything is paid for before you sail, but what if you get poor service and don’t want to tip the full recommended amount? Also, when you prepay, your cruise line get a hold of your money that much sooner, and they collect interest based solely upon your generosity to pay more money than you have to, well before your sailing. I would NEVER prepay for gratuity. In all of my sailings, I always ended up paying the full recommended amount of gratuity (and honestly, more often than not, even more than that)...but why pay early and give the cruise line your money early?!

 

 

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Because it's a relatively trivial amount of money. I prefer to just pay for the cruise and be done with it, gratuities included. I could care less about the small amount of interest.

[LuCruise]

Just putting off giving RC some money for another 90 days or so.

 

Ha ha...very true.

[BNBR]

You could accomplish the same thing by putting the extra money on you credit card. When the charges from the ship come in they go against the credit on the card so they are essentially pre-paid and you take no risk.

 

What risk are you referring to?

[Margy23]

Six pages later I'm still waiting for the post that says, "Gotcha!" but since we have seven cruises booked for next year, I had our TA prepay our gratuities this morning.

 

It was a decision made in haste, so I may regret it as I wander around the shops the last night of each cruise figuring out what to buy to use up OBC. At last count my husband had four blue logo shirts, three navy ones, and four white ones in excellent condition, I have enough Clinique to stock a small store and pashminas in every imaginable color.

 

Before long I'll probably be on these boards asking for specifics about refundable and non-refundable OBC.

 

Or I could just figure out how much we'd have to drink to use it up!

 

Waiting to see how this comes out!

 

Margy

[Clarea]

Six pages later I'm still waiting for the post that says, "Gotcha!" but since we have seven cruises booked for next year, I had our TA prepay our gratuities this morning.

 

It was a decision made in haste, so I may regret it as I wander around the shops the last night of each cruise figuring out what to buy to use up OBC. At last count my husband had four blue logo shirts, three navy ones, and four white ones in excellent condition, I have enough Clinique to stock a small store and pashminas in every imaginable color.

 

Before long I'll probably be on these boards asking for specifics about refundable and non-refundable OBC.

 

Or I could just figure out how much we'd have to drink to use it up!

 

Waiting to see how this comes out!

 

Margy

Remember, you can go to the casino and get a cahs advance against your onboard account for a 5% fee. One way to get 95% of your non-refundable OBC.

[moopetguy]

Remember, you can go to the casino and get a cahs advance against your onboard account for a 5% fee. One way to get 95% of your non-refundable OBC.

 

You can also complete the online (and subsequently, shore-side) check-in with no credit card, but operating on a cash account basis. You may have to remind the casino cashier that you have a cash account, and the 5% fee will not be charged. A credit card can always be added to the account later at Guest Services, if so desired. :)

 

I usually prefer a cash account to avoid spurious charges at the end/post-cruise...that used to be more prevalent when mini-bar items were still in every stateroom by default. But having a credit card on the account can be more convenient for some people.

[Saab4444]

They do not work 52 weeks a year. They work a 3 or 4 month contract and then are off for 1-3 months.

 

 

 

Not correct, contracts are longer for lower ranks in the hotel department. Usually about 9 months and then they are off for 1-2 months.

 

 

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[Ocean Boy]

What risk are you referring to?

Stuff happens. Something occurs that causes you to miss the cruise then I have to worry, or wait, to get my money back from RCI.

[Margy23]

Remember, you can go to the casino and get a cahs advance against your onboard account for a 5% fee. One way to get 95% of your non-refundable OBC.

 

Thanks Bob and Moopetguy! We are so fortunate to have knowledgeable and helpful people on this site so we're not dependent on Royal's poor communication.

 

Although it's easier to find something to complain about than it used to be (we try to avoid this when possible), Royal still does some things very well - unfortunately communication, including running a web site, is not one of them.

 

Thanks!

 

Margy

[Clarea]

Thanks Bob and Moopetguy! We are so fortunate to have knowledgeable and helpful people on this site so we're not dependent on Royal's poor communication.

 

Although it's easier to find something to complain about than it used to be (we try to avoid this when possible), Royal still does some things very well - unfortunately communication, including running a web site, is not one of them.

 

Thanks!

 

Margy

You're welcome, and I agree about the communications problems.

[Mooguy]

The service on the various cruise lines, not just RCCL continues to decline yet the gratuities keep going up. GO FIGURE!

[Paulette3028]

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Crew does NOT get all the money, the cruise lines takes out an administration fee and also takes out things for employess of the month and incentives.

Thanks for chiming in, that’s very interesting. $6.90/cabin/day x 19 cabins/day x 7 days/week = $917.70/week on gratuities alone? [emoji848]<br />

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Crew does NOT get all the money, the cruise lines takes out an administration fee and also takes out things for employess of the month and incentives

 

You are assuming that RCI takes any part of the grats - no one has ever shown any proof that happens.

 

If there is some proof or evidence to show that Royal takes some of the gratuity money for ADMINISTRATION costs that cruisers pay, SHOW IT, or for that matter for things like Employee of the Month and other incentives....IF there is NO proof, then the person saying it is just 'speculating' .