New Gratuity Rate

[Ken the cruiser]

22 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

So if you tip your hard working room steward extra in cash it is shared by all?

We've always understood if you tip any of the crew separately for exceptional work, they get to keep it.

[Fouremco]

27 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

So if you tip your hard working room steward extra in cash it is shared by all?

Not if you leave your gratuities in place. But if you remove them, any crew member receiving a direct cash tip is obliged to turn it in to the pool.

[NMTraveller]

50 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Not if you leave your gratuities in place. But if you remove them, any crew member receiving a direct cash tip is obliged to turn it in to the pool.

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

54 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We've always understood if you tip any of the crew separately for exceptional work, they get to keep it.

OK.  Thanks.  That was what I was hoping for.

[NMTraveller]

50 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Not if you leave your gratuities in place. But if you remove them, any crew member receiving a direct cash tip is obliged to turn it in to the pool.

OK.  Now I think that I get it.  Thanks.

Edited January 4, 2020 by NMTraveller

[ano]

2 hours ago, mom says said:

Uh,no. That's not how it works. First of all, if you remove the autograts, your name is put on a list for all the crew to see. Second, those tips you give instead of the autograts have to be turned in and go into the tip pool, to be shared by all. So you aren't accomplishing a thing except to have your stinginess made known.

When I tip at a restaurant, many do NOT split the tip with other staff. Some do, most don't. Personally when I take a cruise I want to reward the people that provide ME with service. I really don't care about rewarding the Day Care Center Supervisor if I have no kids.

 

The definition of a gratuity is: "a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip. something given without claim or demand."  Hmmm doesn't sound like the cruise ship definition where gratuity pays for staff wages.

[omeinv]

38 minutes ago, ano said:

When I tip at a restaurant, many do NOT split the tip with other staff. Some do, most don't. Personally when I take a cruise I want to reward the people that provide ME with service. I really don't care about rewarding the Day Care Center Supervisor if I have no kids.

 

The definition of a gratuity is: "a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip. something given without claim or demand."  Hmmm doesn't sound like the cruise ship definition where gratuity pays for staff wages.

None of the auto gratuity goes to the Day Care Center Supervisor.  It is split out between the Housekeeping and Restaurant staff.  If you don't feel that your Stateroom Attendant and Waiters and Assistant Waiters, and the first line supervisors in those areas, provide you with service, you can take yourself down to Guest Relations, and have the automatic gratuities removed.  You use the example of a restaurant.  In the US restaurant waitstaff's wages certainly are paid - in large part - by tips.  Considering the level of service provided on Celebrity Ships, the gratuities are an absolute bargain, compared to the customary tip for similar service shoreside. 

 

Your post is proving my point that every argument used against tipping the staff on ships, at the recommended daily rate, using the automatic tipping system; says nothing about the service provided, and everything about the person excusing their own uncouth behavior.  Let me assure you, those excuses do not fool the hard-working crew, nor anyone who hears you make them. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[ano]

Unfortunately nobody knows exactly where gratuities go and how they are split.  If you can point to documents FROM THE CRUISE LINE that states this, please post for us. When Carnival raised their drink gratuity in 2018, there WAS a company memo that explained where the increase would go.  Its documented here in this post: Carnival Gratuity Increase Explanation

(Only 50% went to the staff.)

[omeinv]

7 minutes ago, ano said:

Unfortunately nobody knows exactly where gratuities go and how they are split.  If you can point to documents FROM THE CRUISE LINE that states this, please post for us. When Carnival raised their drink gratuity in 2018, there WAS a company memo that explained where the increase would go.  Its documented here in this post: Carnival Gratuity Increase Explanation

(Only 50% went to the staff.)

I've gotten to know countless staff members on 40 cruises on Celebrity.  The gratuities paid through the automatic system go 100% to staff.  As for the amounts, the only specific breakdown I've seen was years out of date, and frankly is none of my business. 

 

What Carnival cruise line does is properly discussed on that section of Cruise Critic.  Celebrity is an entirely different cruise line, under an entirely separate holding company. 

 

What I do know is that, when a passenger removes the automatic gratuities, that information is available to staff, and it causes management to look at the staff members involved with a eye toward whether it was done for a reason related to poor service.  So people being cheap should consider that they are not only punishing the crew member financially, they're having a negative impact on their career.  I can assure you that, while passengers don't see an ill effect, the crew member's ability to gossip would be the envy of Italian widows gathered at the water pump.  Don't think cheapness isn't recognized. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[RCLcruiser2012]

We always tip at restaurants (20%) so we have no issue with tipping. I feel obligated to do the automatic gratuities and then tip again on board. That seems excessive. Those who always tip 20% (think of envelope days) are now tipping twice to pay for those who don't tip! I would rather pay once and be done! 

Edited January 4, 2020 by RCLcruiser2012

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

4 hours ago, omeinv said:

I've gotten to know countless staff members on 40 cruises on Celebrity.  The gratuities paid through the automatic system go 100% to staff.  As for the amounts, the only specific breakdown I've seen was years out of date, and frankly is none of my business. 

 

What Carnival cruise line does is properly discussed on that section of Cruise Critic.  Celebrity is an entirely different cruise line, under an entirely separate holding company. 

 

What I do know is that, when a passenger removes the automatic gratuities, that information is available to staff, and it causes management to look at the staff members involved with a eye toward whether it was done for a reason related to poor service.  So people being cheap should consider that they are not only punishing the crew member financially, they're having a negative impact on their career.  I can assure you that, while passengers don't see an ill effect, the crew member's ability to gossip would be the envy of Italian widows gathered at the water pump.  Don't think cheapness isn't recognized. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

This. And if the removal is done early on, there is a good likelihood the remover will be approached by the cabin steward and/or assigned servers (if on traditional dining) and/or housekeeping deck boss to find out what parts of the service can be improved. Because the assumption is if they have been removed, something is wrong. And if you do it early, they want to have the chance to make it right. I’ve seen cabin stewards asking people (on RCCL, so same general company) in a non-confrontational way what they can do to improve their service or what is being done that they are not happy with.

 

So if you are going to be stingy, either wait until the last moment or be prepared if they do ask you to explain exactly what they are doing or not that is not to your liking - or just fess up to your stinginess if asked.

[dogs4fun]

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We've always understood if you tip any of the crew separately for exceptional work, they get to keep it.

This has always been our assumption as well. We have never asked to have the daily gratuity charge removed and cannot imagine that would be a consideration - we do tip extra to specific servers/stewards for superior service.

Edited January 4, 2020 by dogs4fun

[deliver42]

I agree with dogs4fun. I also tip servers or bartenders a dollar per drink if I get fast service.

[The_Big_M]

18 hours ago, omeinv said:

I learned early in life, when someone says "It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing", it's always the money, and the volume with which they bellow about "principle" is inversely relative to the amount of money involved.  🙂

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

Which actually means it is the principle. If they were bellowing louder as the amount of money increased, then maybe it would actually be about the money. 🙂

[Globehoppers]

On 12/28/2019 at 3:04 PM, Bo1953 said:

LOL w, methinks it is time for some sipping bourbon or scotch to continue to read these posts...

 

bon voyage

 

Yep.  A very sad reflection on humanity and especially many of those who "cruise."

[Debbie Day]

On 12/27/2019 at 10:52 AM, hubofhockey said:

This entire thing is ridiculous because it now looks more like a service charge than a gratuity.  If you prepay, the room attendants and wait staff get less of a tip,  How does that make sense?  I took it as a perk.  What does that mean?  Does Celebrity deliver the higher amount to their workers or the old amount?  I'd like to know what I'm paying, and I do consider it MY PAYMENT since, one way or another, it comes from my payment to Celebrity.  

On Royal Caribbean you can opt not to pay the gratuities.  I go ahead and pay the gratuities, but without details on how the "charge" is being paid, I would consider reducing the "charge" and paying directly to the ones that are deserving.

[davekathy]

36 minutes ago, Debbie Day said:

On Royal Caribbean you can opt not to pay the gratuities.  I go ahead and pay the gratuities, but without details on how the "charge" is being paid, I would consider reducing the "charge" and paying directly to the ones that are deserving.

We cruise RC a lot and have never heard of this option (?) nor would we even remotely consider it. Unless you're talking about going down to GS and requesting the gratuities be removed. You do that on Celebrity also.  

Edited January 4, 2020 by davekathy

[Alsmez]

IMO all of this hand-wringing over tipping and auto-gratuities is entirely the fault of the cruise lines. By calling these fees "gratuities" and allowing people to remove them from their accounts, they imply that the staff receives a fair wage before these fees, which of course they do not. The auto-grats ARE their fair wage, and as such, they should be labeled a service charge (or similar title) and be a non-negotiable, non-removable part of the fare. This would make it clear to all cruisers, no matter their nationality or tipping custom, that this charge is there to pay the BASE WAGE of the staff on the ship, and that if they wish to reward people for exceptional service they may do so with an actual tip.

[omeinv]

3 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

Which actually means it is the principle. If they were bellowing louder as the amount of money increased, then maybe it would actually be about the money. 🙂

But that your theory would be correct.  In my experience they bellow in an effort to distract from the fact they are cheap chiselers.  Look at the example we're dealing with here:  People claiming a willingness to cancel their automatic gratuities, thus negatively impacting hardworking people, over an increase of $1.00 per day, when they're being given a chance to avoid the increase by pre-paying.  The related bellow:  "If I pre-pay, the company gets to 'use my money' all the time between now and the cruise.  

 

I stand by my assertion.  The louder the bellow, the less the amount involved, ergo the cheaper the bellower. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

 

[Vacationcheese]

On 12/29/2019 at 1:34 PM, alcman said:

If you actually read what I wrote, I didn't allege anything.  I merely responded to the assertion that the increase is going entirely to the crew, an event I would be happy to see happen.  I only pointed out that there was no proof of that and that Celebrity could just as easily have conformed its contract in many ways.  Nobody o this board has any proof of where the charged gratuities are going and what effect they have on Celebrity's bottom line.

BTW, not that I owe you any explanation, I always tip substantially beyond the required gratuities and appreciate how hard the crew works.

 

 

YES - crew gets the extra tips  (we were told by an employee - to offset increases in the crews insurance, medical, etc.)

 

YES - the passengers are basically paying to help keep Celebrity's bottom line.

 

Sounds like everyone is right. 🙂

 

It may or may not be true.???????  Who knows??? However, the casino bar and wait staff story we were told seems to be true. I'll let someone else comment on that....

 

Edited to add...we also tip above and beyond but find that we are a bit more picky in who we feel truly deserves the extra $$$. Our cabin steward really should have gotten all of the extra $$$ but we did share a bit to others. 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by Vacationcheese
tips

[shipshape sam]

On 12/27/2019 at 8:09 AM, lorimay said:

I just received this in my email. We have a cruise booked for February with no perks, but I guess I will be prepaying the gratuities now. Not a huge difference in price, but interesting that they are giving you an option to pay at the lower rate.

 

 

It is interesting that they are going to HONOR your booking date ONLY if you prepay them.  

 

It is also a great  business model that when you want to get employees a raise, you just raise the  'suggested' gratuity!!!

 

 

[Vacationcheese]

21 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Not if you leave your gratuities in place. But if you remove them, any crew member receiving a direct cash tip is obliged to turn it in to the pool.

We were told the same (tips must not be removed) and hope that is the case as our cabin steward was excellent. The specialty restaurant (Murano)  did tell us if we left cash they received the entire tip. If we left it on the bill (signed on the tip line) they had to split it with other crew members.  

 

They have stacks of envelopes at the guest relations desk - no need to wait in line. 

[shipshape sam]

55 minutes ago, Vacationcheese said:

We were told the same (tips must not be removed) and hope that is the case as our cabin steward was excellent. The specialty restaurant (Murano)  did tell us if we left cash they received the entire tip. If we left it on the bill (signed on the tip line) they had to split it with other crew members.  

 

They have stacks of envelopes at the guest relations desk - no need to wait in line. 

Interesting.  I am surprised that even an unspoken/unwritten rule where an employee would keep the whole amount where others also counting on tips may have supported the effort are excluded.

Edited January 5, 2020 by shipshape sam

[Vacationcheese]

3 minutes ago, shipshape sam said:

Interesting.  I am surprised that even an unspoken/unwritten rule where an employee would keep the whole amount where others also counting on tips may have supported the effort are excluded.

Only the extra added tip.  It does Not include he daily suggested tips.  

[JaneStarr]

On 12/30/2019 at 8:41 AM, LMaxwell said:

I've entered a contract w Celebrity and paid them the full pricing on the invoice.  I see it as no choice at all selecting to part with money early before any services are received or paying a higher rate onboard.  True, I'll have OBC and the difference isn't massive, but it's a bit distasteful overall how it is handled.  It should simply be for new bookings made after the date of announcement; not applied retroactively to those who are already in penalty phase for cancellation. 

This is exactly how I feel. Celebrity needs to make clear the total cost and what’s included at the time of booking. That way consumers can make informed budgetary decisions.
 

As far as I’m concerned, the costs and cruise inclusions should not be changed once we’ve put down our deposit in good faith.
 

Celebrity needs to find a way to grandfather in those who booked prior to the changes. The lack of functional IT systems should not be their customer's problem. 
Jane