Unlimited Dining Package "Service Charge"

[JoeFan]

I booked the UDP for our upcoming sailing. On the package, it says "*Service Charge Included".

 

So I guess I have 3 questions.

1.  I have read elsewhere that they do put an 18% Gratuity on top of the bill when you dine. Is this true?

2.  If I get UDP and don't plan on dining in the MDR am I double tipping with the automatic room gratuity?

3. Is it customary for specialty on the UDP to tip additional on top of the service charge included?

[steamboats]

13 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

1.  I have read elsewhere that they do put an 18% Gratuity on top of the bill when you dine. Is this true?

Yes, when you pay for a single visit but not with the package!

2.  If I get UDP and don't plan on dining in the MDR am I double tipping with the automatic room gratuity?

No, the automatic room gratuity will be the same whether you have the package or not. So technically you´re always double tipping unless you reduce the suggested amount of the automatic gratuity.

3. Is it customary for specialty on the UDP to tip additional on top of the service charge included?

Many people do so, yes. Technically the 18 % is sufficent as a tip.

 

steamboats

[MrFunInTheSun]

If you get UDP the tip is included with each meal. However I’d recommend giving extra as I’m not sure how much they really get. I usually give $2.00 with lunches and $4-$5 with dinners. 

 

The overall tips we pay each day, the $14.50, those cuts go to the MDR staff even if we with UDP never eat there as I understand it. 

 

I’ve bought and used what was the Ultimate Dining Package and now the Unlimited Dining Package many times. I highly recommend it. 

[katiel53]

We do tip extra for our meals in the specialty restaurants as we have no way of knowing what the tip amount is to start with as it does not specify 18% or 1% or any percentage when the package is booked online.

 

Even if I assume that there is an 18% gratuity already included in the price, that would come to less than $2 per meal when you think of 7 dinners and 3-4 lunches.  Would you tip $2 for a steak dinner?  We wouldn't,  so we tip our waiter for each lunch and dinner in the specialty restaurants.

 

The  dining tips that are prepaid/billed are not just for dinner in the MDR.  The amount is also divided between those in the MDR for breakfast, buffets , the crew working in Sorrento's, the Dog house etc.  So, as long as you are eating something, somewhere on the ship beside the specialty restaurant, you aren't double tipping.  If you eat nothing, drink nothing that is included, other than  in the specialty restaurants, then that part I guess may be considered double tipping.  Otherwise, you are tipping for what you've consumed.

[JoeFan]

  If I get UDP and don't plan on dining in the MDR am I double tipping with the automatic room gratuity?

No, the automatic room gratuity will be the same whether you have the package or not. So technically you´re always double tipping unless you reduce the suggested amount of the automatic gratuity.

 

Thanks

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

[awestover89]

1 minute ago, JoeFan said:

  If I get UDP and don't plan on dining in the MDR am I double tipping with the automatic room gratuity?

No, the automatic room gratuity will be the same whether you have the package or not. So technically you´re always double tipping unless you reduce the suggested amount of the automatic gratuity.

 

Thanks

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

 

Tipping is a very personal decision, and honestly no matter what you do some people on CC will likely see you as slime 😛 

 

My 2 cents, I would not reduce or remove the auto-gratuity. It is shared with a wide variety of people including workers behind the scenes. 

 

The UDP includes gratuities for the specialty dining venues. The daily auto-grats include tips for a number of other people on the ship. I personally encourage to leave those as is, and tip extra if and only if you desire to. But I never recommend tipping less than standard.

[MrFunInTheSun]

24 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

 

 

Thanks

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

 

Personally I would not reduce or remove the daily $14.50. There are other dining venues even with the UDP you will visit that get a potion of this. 

 

Breakfast in dining room

johnny Rockets Breakfast 

solarium bistro breakfast 

wipe out cafe snacks, breakfast

park cafe breakfast/ lunch 

Promenade cafe breakfast 

pizza at sorenatos  

 

 

Even with the UDP you will still visit other dining venues at some point.

Edited May 26, 2019 by MrFunInTheSun

[steamboats]

12 hours ago, JoeFan said:

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

 

I assume that you may use either the MDR or the Windjammer for breakfast and the waiters rotate anyway. So the automatic gratuity covers them too.

 

steamboats

[marci22]

17 hours ago, katiel53 said:

The  dining tips that are prepaid/billed are not just for dinner in the MDR.  The amount is also divided between those in the MDR for breakfast, buffets , the crew working in Sorrento's, the Dog house etc.  So, as long as you are eating something, somewhere on the ship beside the specialty restaurant, you aren't double tipping.  If you eat nothing, drink nothing that is included, other than  in the specialty restaurants, then that part I guess may be considered double tipping.  Otherwise, you are tipping for what you've consumed.

 

To be fair, in the past, tips were directly allocated to one's waiter, asst waiter, and cabin steward.

 

In the last few years,  Royal has discovered that it's better to say you're tipping everyone you can't see, in order to persuade people to pay auto grats in addition to specialty grats. It's really just a money grab marketed in a way to make you feel obligated and shamed if you don't pay it. 

 

 

[marci22]

17 hours ago, JoeFan said:

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

 

No. You may get onboard and feel that you should tip more, or less. 

 

Tip as you see fit.

[SantaFeFan]

3 hours ago, marci22 said:

 

To be fair, in the past, tips were directly allocated to one's waiter, asst waiter, and cabin steward.

 

In the last few years,  Royal has discovered that it's better to say you're tipping everyone you can't see, in order to persuade people to pay auto grats in addition to specialty grats. It's really just a money grab marketed in a way to make you feel obligated and shamed if you don't pay it. 

 

 

 

It is not a money grab. It is a convenient way to reward the support staff that you never see. 

 

In the past the people you gave cash tips to would pass a portion of those tips to the people who support their work. So it is no different than in that past you so fondly cling to.  Without those people supporting them, the work load of the people you come into contact with would have been much more difficult, and in some cases, near impossible. This is consistent with how shore based tipping works. I worked in the restaurant business when in college. Although I was not a front room waiter, I did prepare the plates for those waiters. In turn, for my support, I was given a portion of their tips for providing that support. 

 

Amazing how cynical people can get, and how much misinformation they pass along to support that cynicism. 

Edited May 27, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[Cru1s1ng2009]

21 hours ago, JoeFan said:

  If I get UDP and don't plan on dining in the MDR am I double tipping with the automatic room gratuity?

No, the automatic room gratuity will be the same whether you have the package or not. So technically you´re always double tipping unless you reduce the suggested amount of the automatic gratuity.

 

Thanks

Would I be seen as a slime to reduce the automatic gratuity and move it to the specialty servers who actually serve me?

unless you are signed up for MTD the wait staff in the MDR cannot use your table therefore will not get tips from anyone else. If it were me I would leave it on. 

[marci22]

19 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

It is not a money grab. It is a convenient way to reward the support staff that you never see. 

 

In the past the people you gave cash tips to would pass a portion of those tips to the people who support their work. So it is no different than in that past you so fondly cling to.  Without those people supporting them, the work load of the people you come into contact with would have been much more difficult, and in some cases, near impossible. This is consistent with how shore based tipping works. I worked in the restaurant business when in college. Although I was not a front room waiter, I did prepare the plates for those waiters. In turn, for my support, I was given a portion of their tips for providing that support. 

 

Amazing how cynical people can get, and how much misinformation they pass along to support that cynicism. 

 

How is it misinformation? It is my opinion. That is how 'tips' were allocated in the past. I'm not fondly clinging to it, just describing how 'tipping' has changed into something that is not really a tip. 

 

Not sure why you are so willing to accept Royal Caribbean allocating your 'tips' as they like but that's your prerogative. Doesn't mean everyone else thinks it's a great idea.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

unless you are signed up for MTD the wait staff in the MDR cannot use your table therefore will not get tips from anyone else. 

On some ships, the MDR is used as overflow for MTD guests, so, MDR tables do get used by MTD.

[Cru1s1ng2009]

37 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

On some ships, the MDR is used as overflow for MTD guests, so, MDR tables do get used by MTD.

I agree with you but if you are assigned a table (not using MTD) and you don't use it, they don't sit anyone there except for the off chance of a MTD here and there. 

[JoeFan]

I don' think there is a more hotly debated topic than tipping.

I have been doing some research and it sounds like everyone is all over with this information.

Especially with the cruise lines paying non-tipped positions with pooled tips.

Who knows what the truth is.

 

I know that the numbers don't jive, with what portion of your $14.50/PPPD says goes to the room steward. I have read half goes to the dining staff, $4 goes to the room steward and the rest to alternative services. Based upon these numbers $4PPPD going to the steward and assistant, they should be making a hell of a lot more than reported. Unless half opt out and stiff the staff.

 

I think me handing the steward $100 for my family of 4 would be far more than what he/she is going to get from my $400 I give to RCI.

 

[sloopsailor]

1 hour ago, marci22 said:

 

How is it misinformation? It is my opinion. That is how 'tips' were allocated in the past. I'm not fondly clinging to it, just describing how 'tipping' has changed into something that is not really a tip. 

 

Not sure why you are so willing to accept Royal Caribbean allocating your 'tips' as they like but that's your prerogative. Doesn't mean everyone else thinks it's a great idea.

 

“You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”  ― Daniel Patrick Moynihan

It always amuses me when people selectively don't trust how a cruise line runs part of their business, but place full trust in how they navigate the ship, how they prepare meals, how they handle safety. That they pool the tips for distribution has been understood for quite sometime. It isn't new, and it isn't a "money grab" as you accuse them of, but a fair distribution of gratuities in concert with how it is done at most businesses that have a gratuity based compensation system. 

 

THIS IS OLD NEWS!!!! 

 

PS: the specialty gratuities, whether included in the price, or added on, is no different than the gratuities you pay for alcoholic drinks. You must think that is also a money grab to shame people! LOL!

 

 

[SantaFeFan]

25 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

I don' think there is a more hotly debated topic than tipping.

I have been doing some research and it sounds like everyone is all over with this information.

Especially with the cruise lines paying non-tipped positions with pooled tips.

Who knows what the truth is.

 

I know that the numbers don't jive, with what portion of your $14.50/PPPD says goes to the room steward. I have read half goes to the dining staff, $4 goes to the room steward and the rest to alternative services. Based upon these numbers $4PPPD going to the steward and assistant, they should be making a hell of a lot more than reported. Unless half opt out and stiff the staff.

 

I think me handing the steward $100 for my family of 4 would be far more than what he/she is going to get from my $400 I give to RCI.

 

 

$100 for a family of four for a 7 night cruise is only $3.57 PPPD. That means, based on your figures, you would be stiffing the cabin steward and assistant $.43 per person, or $1.72 per day, or $12.04 per cruise. You saved a few buck at the expense of the crew. Good for you!

 

People always think they are giving more when cash tipping, but in reality, I suspect that most end up tipping less than the suggested amount provided for by auto grats when they do so. 

 

And yes, some opt out and do stiff the staff. That is why many sailings in the UK and Australia now incorporate gratuities in the base fare. Too many locals would remove the gratuities. Now, because of that pervasive opt out behavior, the locals have to pay the gratuities they hate as part of the fare and can no longer remove it, even in the rare case of substantially poor service levels. Karma! 

Edited May 27, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[spookwife]

The daily charge Covers both your cabin steward and all venues that provide included food and beverages. Somewhere there is a detailed breakdown of the division.  There is no reason to reduce that amount no matter what dining plan you have

[JoeFan]

34 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

$100 for a family of four for a 7 night cruise is only $3.57 PPPD. That means, based on your figures, you would be stiffing the cabin steward and assistant $.43 per person, or $1.72 per day, or $12.04 per cruise. You saved a few buck at the expense of the crew. Good for you!

 

People always think they are giving more when cash tipping, but in reality, I suspect that most end up tipping less than the suggested amount provided for by auto grats when they do so. 

 

And yes, some opt out and do stiff the staff. That is why many sailings in the UK and Australia now incorporate gratuities in the base fare. Too many locals would remove the gratuities. Now, because of that pervasive opt out behavior, the locals have to pay the gratuities they hate as part of the fare and can no longer remove it, even in the rare case of substantially poor service levels. Karma! 

 

Wow how snippy. I was rounding because I think that at even $100 per stateroom is way more thank what automatic gratuity gets them. I read they make less than $3000/month but take care of 25 to 30 cabins per pair. This math doesn’t make sense. At $75 average (some 2 and some 4 per cabin) times 30 = $2,250 a week by 4 weeks in $9k. 

 

So so how does RCI hand out the tips?

[Mikew0805]

9 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

$100 for a family of four for a 7 night cruise is only $3.57 PPPD. That means, based on your figures, you would be stiffing the cabin steward and assistant $.43 per person, or $1.72 per day, or $12.04 per cruise. You saved a few buck at the expense of the crew. Good for you!

 

People always think they are giving more when cash tipping, but in reality, I suspect that most end up tipping less than the suggested amount provided for by auto grats when they do so. 

 

And yes, some opt out and do stiff the staff. That is why many sailings in the UK and Australia now incorporate gratuities in the base fare. Too many locals would remove the gratuities. Now, because of that pervasive opt out behavior, the locals have to pay the gratuities they hate as part of the fare and can no longer remove it, even in the rare case of substantially poor service levels. Karma! 

I hardly think it is "Karma." Not every other culture revolves around the US way of paying low wages to certain types of employees, and expect it to be made up by the customer. 

[Mikew0805]

8 hours ago, JoeFan said:

 

Wow how snippy. I was rounding because I think that at even $100 per stateroom is way more thank what automatic gratuity gets them. I read they make less than $3000/month but take care of 25 to 30 cabins per pair. This math doesn’t make sense. At $75 average (some 2 and some 4 per cabin) times 30 = $2,250 a week by 4 weeks in $9k. 

 

So so how does RCI hand out the tips?

I agree, the numbers have never made sense but I find it easier to just leave the auto grats in place, as it is one less thing I have to think about. I do not tip above or below that threshold.

[SantaFeFan]

27 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

I hardly think it is "Karma." Not every other culture revolves around the US way of paying low wages to certain types of employees, and expect it to be made up by the customer. 

 

So, do you really think that the "wages" the crew is getting will be significantly more with gratuities incorporated in the base fare than with auto gratuities? They will still be making the same base salary, and will still rely on those gratuities for the majority of their wage. The only advantage is they won't lose out on gratuities that selfish people remove. 

 

Plus, you seem to miss a tiny little economics detail - ALL of the wages paid by a company that sells any product to customers will be paid by those very customers purchasing those products, whether through fixed hourly wages, fixed salary, commissions, or a combination of salary and gratuties. The majority of the cost of everything you purchase will go to salaries. All paid by the customer, NOT the company. All the company does is transfer enough of the revenue earned from customers to pay the salaries of their employees, in whatever method the company and employee have agreed to.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[SantaFeFan]

10 hours ago, JoeFan said:

I know that the numbers don't jive, with what portion of your $14.50/PPPD says goes to the room steward. I have read half goes to the dining staff, $4 goes to the room steward and the rest to alternative services. Based upon these numbers $4PPPD going to the steward and assistant, they should be making a hell of a lot more than reported. Unless half opt out and stiff the staff.

 

I was also curious as to who got how much on RCI, so I did a little digging. Here are two postings made a year ago on the subject of who gets how much on RCI ships. Click on the arrow in the top right corner of each window for the full post. 

 

 

 

[Mikew0805]

19 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

So, do you really think that the "wages" the crew is getting will be significantly more with gratuities incorporated in the base fare than with auto gratuities? They will still be making the same base salary, and will still rely on those gratuities for the majority of their wage. The only advantage is they won't lose out on gratuities that selfish people remove. 

 

Plus, you seem to miss a tiny little economics detail - ALL of the wages paid by a company that sells any products to customers will be paid by those very customers purchasing those products. The majority of the cost of everything you purchase will go to salaries. All paid by the customer, NOT the company. All the company does is transfer enough of the revenue earned from customers to the salaries of their employees.

 

Where in the world do you think the money for salaries comes from - the wage fairy or a tree behind the company's store that grows money? 

 

 

 

 

Did you bother to read what I quoted, and responded to... KARMA. I didn't say salaries were magically paid, I said that low wages are paid, and the customer makes them up. What part of that comment was so hard for you to comprehend? Yes, salaries are paid by the customer, but not at the customers discretion in non tipped wages. Customers do not decide how much I make. This was a response that other countries (especially those mentioned) do not do it the same way as here, they are not cheap... just different. Nothing argumentative, but that seems like that is all you want... an argument. If that is the case, I am not interested. 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2019 by Mikew0805