Confused by gratuity

[Micnvic]

New cruiser here...please be gentle with me 😜😜

 

we are cruising around the Med in July. We have pre booked the adults drink package and booked on the The My Time Dining.

 

i am struggling to understand the gratuity options, if we are better to pre pay or pay on the ship. I believe the drinks package includes gratuity, I believe we would then pay the $17 gratuity per person on top of that. Does that cover all tips, or would we still be expected to provide any additional tips??

 

i understand that we could tip exceptionally good service on our own accord if we felt it was deserved.

 

many thanks 

[Ashland]

Welcome...We prefer to pre-pay our gratuities and then know everything is taken care of ahead of time. 

 

What you're understanding about additional gratuities is absolutely correct...as well as the fact that your purchased drink package included them.

 

Enjoy your cruise !!

[kernow]

In your situation if you pre pay your tips (or leave the onboard auto tip in place, same price) you are not expected to tip anymore. Most people tip a small cash amount if they order free items from room service (continental breakfast) and some people give an additional cash tip at the end to individual staff members they feel have given exceptional service but if you choose not to do this no one will say anything. If you use any spa services or speciality restaurants they will automatically add gratuity to the price onboard so no additional cash expected either.

 

We always pre pay, saves having to worry about it!

 

Julie

[JBSteelerfan]

4 hours ago, Micnvic said:

New cruiser here...please be gentle with me 😜😜

 

we are cruising around the Med in July. We have pre booked the adults drink package and booked on the The My Time Dining.

 

i am struggling to understand the gratuity options, if we are better to pre pay or pay on the ship. I believe the drinks package includes gratuity, I believe we would then pay the $17 gratuity per person on top of that. Does that cover all tips, or would we still be expected to provide any additional tips??

 

i understand that we could tip exceptionally good service on our own accord if we felt it was deserved.

 

many thanks 

 

We also like to prepay tips, to not have to carry as much cash with us.  If not prepaid, Royal can/will bill it to your stateroom account each day as well.  Then you can just leave that on your credit card.  

 

As far as additional tips, really depends on the service you receive and how your interaction is with your dining staff and room steward.  We always give our cabin steward extra, and many times, if we have the same dining staff, will also provide additional tips.  When you see how hard they work, it is well worth it.  

 

Have a great trip!

[Bloodgem]

Hi we prepay our tips. We also leave the cabin steward an extra tip. 

[cruiseguy1016]

The drink package does include the 18% gratuity for your drinks. When you order a drink that is included in the package, you will not be charged anything extra. The daily gratuity covers the rest of the services you will receive i.e. your stateroom attendant and your wait staff. Not other gratuities will be expected.

[Micnvic]

I just wanted to say a big thank you for all of the replies. I feel like I have a better understanding now of how the tipping process works. 

 

We have today added the pre pay gratuities to our package. For me, it seemed like the easiest option, and it means we can have less cash with us onboard the ship.

 

once again, thank you 

 

edited to say, we also had a huge result with our drinks package yesterday. We had already pre booked this back last year, but noticed yesterday that the cost had gone down by a lot! So we cancelled and then rebooked at the cheaper price. It's a great feeling when that happens 👍🏻

Edited February 27, 2019 by Micnvic

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 2/25/2019 at 7:08 AM, JBSteelerfan said:

We also like to prepay tips, to not have to carry as much cash with us.  If not prepaid, Royal can/will bill it to your stateroom account each day as well.  Then you can just leave that on your credit card.  

We don't want to prepay, and it has nothing to do with cash - we don't pay daily service charges aka gratuities in cash.... We charge everything to a credit card, so we are fine with gratuities being charged to the CC at the end of our cruise.

We bring cash for ports of call and if any additional tips are warranted.

Edited February 27, 2019 by Itchy&Scratchy

[nelblu]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 2:10 AM, Micnvic said:

New cruiser here...please be gentle with me 😜😜

 

we are cruising around the Med in July. We have pre booked the adults drink package and booked on the The My Time Dining.

 

i am struggling to understand the gratuity options, if we are better to pre pay or pay on the ship. I believe the drinks package includes gratuity, I believe we would then pay the $17 gratuity per person on top of that. Does that cover all tips, or would we still be expected to provide any additional tips??

 

i understand that we could tip exceptionally good service on our own accord if we felt it was deserved.

 

many thanks 

 

For a normal cabin it's $14.50 per day.  In addition to the 18% on the drink package, you would also incur an 18% for Specialty Restaurants, unless you book on line via the cruise planner.

 

Add'l grats. is at your discretion.

[leisuretraveler223]

Prepay and never give it another thought.  The only additional tips you will need will be the following possibilities:

 

Porters if they handle your bags at the pier.

Room Service if you order it.

Any gratuities tied to excursions or other activities off the ship.

If you get a spa or salon treatment and opt to add gratuity.

 

Once the cruise lines started automatically charging the tip, they took the customer out of the equation.  So much easier!

[Merion_Mom]

18 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Prepay and never give it another thought.  The only additional tips you will need will be the following possibilities:

 

Porters if they handle your bags at the pier.

Room Service if you order it.

Any gratuities tied to excursions or other activities off the ship.

If you get a spa or salon treatment and opt to add gratuity.

 

Once the cruise lines started automatically charging the tip, they took the customer out of the equation.  So much easier!

 

 

18% is automatically added to those treatments.  Just be aware.

[LeeW]

Your MyTime waiters will ask for your room number when you sit with them.  That is how they get the tips associated with your cabin.  So even if you don't sit with the same waiters every night they still get the appropriate share of the daily gratuity.

 

Note also that non-US folks seem to prepay more than US.  Apparently your exchange rate is locked in when you book and if it is lower than when sailing it is advantageous to prepay.

[leisuretraveler223]

4 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

18% is automatically added to those treatments.  Just be aware.

 

Good to know! I haven't had a service on board in probably eight or nine years.  But my wife goes to the salon regularly.

[leisuretraveler223]

32 minutes ago, LeeW said:

Note also that non-US folks seem to prepay more than US.  

 

Huh?  This is the first I've heard of this.  Care to share where this info is coming from?

[Thorben-Hendrik]

10 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Once the cruise lines started automatically charging the tip, they took the customer out of the equation.  So much easier! 

Gratuities are optional and can be removed at guest services any time - no question asked! 👍

You can call guest services from your cabin phone and have it done in 15 seconds! 👍

[snaefell]

This is something that seems to bring such different responses from different forums.

In March last year we were on a Transatlantic with P&O,the daily tip amount for that cruise was £6 pppn,all hell was breaking out on the P&O forums as they had just increased the amount to £7 pppn,the second rise in a year apparently,as a result people were witholding the payment en masse in protest,P&O have since withdrawn the daily tip payment.

OK so that was normal on the P&O forum but having booked a JS on Quantum for our first RCI cruise I asked about withdrawing or reducing the $17 pppn payment & I got some serious grief,I was 'stiffing the crew',people would be sacked on the spot if we withdrew or reduced it,the response was so different accross the 2 forums.

I don't know how cruises are marketed in the USA but in the UK there is a fair chance that the first time you realise that the payment for tips exists is after booking & paying your non refundable deposit,it cetainly isn't made clear & takes many by surprise,I mean if you stay in an hotel you don't get charged a fixed amount per day for tips!

[Clarea]

12 minutes ago, snaefell said:

 .... I don't know how cruises are marketed in the USA but in the UK there is a fair chance that the first time you realise that the payment for tips exists is after booking & paying your non refundable deposit,it cetainly isn't made clear & takes many by surprise,I mean if you stay in an hotel you don't get charged a fixed amount per day for tips!

 

It's been so long since I booked a cruise directly with the cruise line, I don't recall if they clearly state before the purchase that gratuities will be automatically added.   Perhaps because gratuities are technically not mandatory they can get away with not revealing their automatic addition prior to purchase.

[nelblu]

7 minutes ago, snaefell said:

This is something that seems to bring such different responses from different forums.

In March last year we were on a Transatlantic with P&O,the daily tip amount for that cruise was £6 pppn,all hell was breaking out on the P&O forums as they had just increased the amount to £7 pppn,the second rise in a year apparently,as a result people were witholding the payment en masse in protest,P&O have since withdrawn the daily tip payment.

OK so that was normal on the P&O forum but having booked a JS on Quantum for our first RCI cruise I asked about withdrawing or reducing the $17 pppn payment & I got some serious grief,I was 'stiffing the crew',people would be sacked on the spot if we withdrew or reduced it,the response was so different accross the 2 forums.

I don't know how cruises are marketed in the USA but in the UK there is a fair chance that the first time you realise that the payment for tips exists is after booking & paying your non refundable deposit,it cetainly isn't made clear & takes many by surprise,I mean if you stay in an hotel you don't get charged a fixed amount per day for tips!

 

That is the reason crew members do not like sailing from the UK.  Also, many hotel/resorts introduce/charge a daily resort fee even though you will not use those services.

[snaefell]

2 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

It's been so long since I booked a cruise directly with the cruise line, I don't recall if they clearly state before the purchase that gratuities will be automatically added.   Perhaps because gratuities are not mandatory they can get away with not revealing their automatic addition prior to purchase.

I think you are probably right there,here in the UK years ago when USA fly drive holidays became popular there was much made of the 'free car hire' which was included,many turned up in the USA without funds for the insurance which wasn't included,something the travel companies were made to make clear in their pricing,then we had the budget airlines advertising super low airfares until they were made to include luggage,airport taxes,etc,as it can be a significant amount I really don't see how the cruise lines get away with not mentioning the tips in their adverts.

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, snaefell said:

I think you are probably right there,here in the UK years ago when USA fly drive holidays became popular there was much made of the 'free car hire' which was included,many turned up in the USA without funds for the insurance which wasn't included,something the travel companies were made to make clear in their pricing,then we had the budget airlines advertising super low airfares until they were made to include luggage,airport taxes,etc,as it can be a significant amount I really don't see how the cruise lines get away with not mentioning the tips in their adverts.

 

Companies will find any loophole they can use to be deceptive.  Sort of like calling a price on "sale", when they have never sold a stateroom at the inflated fake base price. 

[kernow]

3 minutes ago, snaefell said:

I think you are probably right there,here in the UK years ago when USA fly drive holidays became popular there was much made of the 'free car hire' which was included,many turned up in the USA without funds for the insurance which wasn't included,something the travel companies were made to make clear in their pricing,then we had the budget airlines advertising super low airfares until they were made to include luggage,airport taxes,etc,as it can be a significant amount I really don't see how the cruise lines get away with not mentioning the tips in their adverts.

They get away with not mentioning tips because they are not mandatory. I agree that it is confusing for first time cruisers in the UK, particularly as there are one or two well known cruise TAs who seem to encourage people not to pay them to keep the price lower. When you book direct with RCL they always mention the gratuities before the final price.

I think most people who have cruised before realise that the staff are very low paid and the gratuities are really part of their wages. I do hope that one day all cruise lines will do what P and O have done and effectively include the gratuities in the price.

[leisuretraveler223]

8 hours ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Gratuities are optional and can be removed at guest services any time - no question asked! 👍

You can call guest services from your cabin phone and have it done in 15 seconds! 👍

 

I am aware.  My point is that much like establishments on land that automatically add 18% to the bill, they've taken me out of the equation as in, I do not need to give it any thought.

 

At restaurants, I am generally a 20+% tipper.  But if they are automatically adding it to all bills, they have decided that is their best practice, and it saves me money!  So, I just go with it.

 

Same on cruises.  I used to hand out tips, to the stateroom attendant, bartenders, servers, etc...   But now that they are automatically charging me a certain amount, it means I never need to give it another thought, AND it's saving me money!

[mayleeman]

In the Bahamas, restaurants automatically add a tip (was 15% last I looked). At higher end restaurants like in the Atlantis, service is really good in our experience and usually we increase it to our normal 20% (or more if something unexpectedly good was done). But in streetside restaurants, I felt that service was lackluster, and have heard many people complain that the service throughout the islands fell after tipping became required (by law, I believe).

 

In contrast, I have not heard many complaints about service on cruises. I think the difference might be because they can be withheld and the crew knows poor performance even once can lead to no tip.

 

I am no fan of people withholding tips because they are simply cheap or unwilling to accept a tipping culture. But I wonder if building tips into the price would be detrimental.

[not-enough-cruising]

19 hours ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

 

Porters if they handle your bags at the pier.

Room Service if you order it.

 

The porters are WELL compensated for what little they do, no tip necessary. 

 

Unless ordering the free continental breakfast from room service, the gratuity is auto added to the $7.95 delivery fee. 

[mayleeman]

1 minute ago, not-enough-cruising said:

The porters are WELL compensated for what little they do, no tip necessary.

I have noticed my friends who do not tip airport curbside check-in skycaps tend to lose their luggage more often. Just sayin'.....