Gratuities

[DirtyDawg]

4 hours ago, Akkers said:

Sorry, just confused. What is it for? If you were to just sit and do nothing all trip, do you still have to ay? If so, then why dont they include it in the fare price?

 

Don't be confused, it's a North American thing. We like to have extra things added on in all sorts of areas of our lives. Sales taxes are added on, not like VAT which is included. Resort fees are added to the base hotel price. And in our football, we even have to add on an extra point after scoring a goal  to get the full points. You don't have to do that in your football! 🏈 ⚽

 

To you it's just Cheers! To us it's Cheers + 18%!  😁

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by DirtyDawg

[mom2tcdx2]

I have been unable to find where I could add in paying the gratuity on our sailing in March.  When I go to payment info, it says I am paid in full, I can edit guest info and I can add air 2 sea.  I have never seen anything about gratuities.  If you declined with the original booking, do you have to call to be able to add it back on?  

 

[taglovestocruise]

8 hours ago, brillohead said:

The auto-grat daily charge goes to the food servers and housekeeping staff.  It's the way that salary/wages have been allocated for sea-going servants/staff for ages and ages.  

Unless you intend to never eat or bathe or sleep for the entire trip, chances are that you will be utilizing that staff in some way.

There are some people who say that you CAN remove the charge from your account at Guest Services, and while that may be legal, it isn't ethical, IMO.  If you can afford to cruise, you can afford to pay for the service you receive.  

 

 

+1

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, mom2tcdx2 said:

If you declined with the original booking, do you have to call to be able to add it back on?  

Yes

[grandgeezer]

6 hours ago, brillohead said:

If you ever get service so bad that you would want to remove or reduce your gratuities, you should DEFINITELY be going up the ladder to the Housekeeping Supervisor or Head Waiter, or even the Hotel Director or Food and Beverage Director.

 

 

I don’t do that on land and I’m sure not going to do it on a ship. I vote with my wallet and stop frequenting their establishment. Too many choices to settle for subpar anything.

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

I don’t do that on land and I’m sure not going to do it on a ship. I vote with my wallet and stop frequenting their establishment. Too many choices to settle for subpar anything.

How can something be fixed if one does not let them know it is "wrong"?

[LaCal]

6 hours ago, mom2tcdx2 said:

I have been unable to find where I could add in paying the gratuity on our sailing in March.  When I go to payment info, it says I am paid in full, I can edit guest info and I can add air 2 sea.  I have never seen anything about gratuities.  If you declined with the original booking, do you have to call to be able to add it back on?  

 

You can call in and prepay the gratuities 

[mollygirl1]

I just tried to buy a 3 night dinner package and gratuities were added to the  price  listed. When you eat in a specialty restaurant, are gratuities added for you? I have always added the gratuity myself. Is this a change? 

 

[brillohead]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

I don’t do that on land and I’m sure not going to do it on a ship. I vote with my wallet and stop frequenting their establishment. Too many choices to settle for subpar anything.

 

You certainly are living up to your name.  

 

[DirtyDawg]

23 hours ago, molly361 said:

I've missed a good tipping thread😇

The world is indeed getting back to normal! 😉

 

[DUBIDUB2]

Think of it like this. When you get offered a job, with salary $x - you know you gotta pay tax. The "Price" you see is NOT what you get - you don't know exactly what you will get but you know it will likely be a lot less than the $x they offer you. This is true in most countries, even the UK! You know it goes towards services you may use, if not now, then later. But ultimately, the costs are variable and fixed for everyone to make their contribution regardless of whether services are used or not.

 

I know the analogy isn't perfect  BUTyou have the choice to go on a cruise. Cruising is upfront and well known - information is everywhere - it also tells you gratuity is expected, though NOT mandatory.

 

However, if you want to join the fun of CRUISING then I deplore you to investigate how that staff are hired, paid and motivated. They are mostly NOT from your culture, lifestyle or likely, affluence! Overall, after you've read that, unlike taxes YOU still have the choice. Go or not to go. Unlike taxes, again, you can cancel!

Edited February 8, 2022 by DUBIDUB2

[Hogbay]

I'm also so confused is covid over ? Can we unlock the doors ? Are the chairhogs back 🤔..🙃🇦🇺

[pcur]

On 2/7/2022 at 5:24 AM, Joseph2017China said:

Some areas of the world will give you an all inclusive price of an item (taxes/VAT) included in price.  Yes, it makes it easier, but unfortunitely, it is not the case many other areas.  

 

On a ship, your cruise fare, taxes, and port charges are separate items.  When booking, you can also include you daily tips, which covers all service personal, except individual drinks or spas.  So, although it is separate line items on your invoice, it is included, if you pay for it up front.  Some people don't like paying for it up front, but that is a choice.

 

So, book and select prepay everything, see the final price, and you are good to go. 

This is what I do now:  add prepaid gratuities when I book.  

[pcur]

On 2/7/2022 at 7:10 AM, Rusty_lock said:

You must be a very unusual traveler.  I have never met someone doesn't eat in the restaurants or have their room serviced for a week.  

Read the thread, please.  That's not what the person is saying.  They just need the gratuities explained.

[pcur]

On 2/7/2022 at 9:21 AM, LB_NJ said:

 

It really should be included in the cruise price since it really is part of the crew's salary.  I am waiting for the cruise line to NOT include meals as a way of showing a lower price.

 

FYI, some of the lines that include other things (eg, non-alcoholic beverages, wifi) don't include gratuities. Annoying.

 

I also don't prepay because I would rather have the money in my possession in case something goes wrong (eg, cruise gets cancelled, they sell the ship, I cancel, etc.). This is in addition to the OBC reason.

 RCCL always refunds port taxes and gratuities under the circumstances you've mentioned.  It's a matter of personal choice.

 

I've been paying RCCL gratuities for over 48 years, so I just consider it part of the price of the cruise, and go on with my business.

[pcur]

On 2/7/2022 at 11:22 AM, mom2tcdx2 said:

I have been unable to find where I could add in paying the gratuity on our sailing in March.  When I go to payment info, it says I am paid in full, I can edit guest info and I can add air 2 sea.  I have never seen anything about gratuities.  If you declined with the original booking, do you have to call to be able to add it back on?  

 

Yes, you have to call after paying in full.

[pcur]

4 hours ago, Hogbay said:

I'm also so confused is covid over ? Can we unlock the doors ? Are the chairhogs back 🤔..🙃🇦🇺

HA!!  I was just thinking:  wouldn't it be fun to resurrect the 2 year old threads where we all were predicting, pontificating, etc. over what RCCL was going to do about COVID?  At the least it would be interesting reading.

Edited February 9, 2022 by pcur

[flamingos]

On 2/7/2022 at 10:21 AM, Akkers said:

 

I do eat in restaurants and have room cleaned. But what I am saying is that everyone is bound to use these services so why not include them in the base price. As others have said above that tyey do this to lower the base price to get customers and then hit them with these 'extras' which are not really extras but mandatory fees in effect.

I do believe that some cruise lines have all inclusive packages where gratituties, drinks and wi-fi are included in teh base price.

And in return, it is unusual (yet pleasant) for us to travel to England and have dinner cost the price it is going to cost, without having to calculate a tip at the end of the meal.   🙂

[UNCFanatik]

To the OP, don’t let others try to convince you it’s your job to makeup for the low wages cruise lines pay their crew. 
 

Go to guest services and tell them to remove the auto gratitudes and then if you chose to tip you can do so. Royal always charges 18% tip on alcohol that can’t be removed. 
 

Tipping is OPTIONAL and it’s not unethical to not leave a tip no matter what these pre conditioned ppl tell you 

[crazyank]

7 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

To the OP, don’t let others try to convince you it’s your job to makeup for the low wages cruise lines pay their crew. 
 

Go to guest services and tell them to remove the auto gratitudes and then if you chose to tip you can do so. Royal always charges 18% tip on alcohol that can’t be removed. 
 

Tipping is OPTIONAL and it’s not unethical to not leave a tip no matter what these pre conditioned ppl tell you 

Totally agree!

[Hogbay]

7 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

To the OP, don’t let others try to convince you it’s your job to makeup for the low wages cruise lines pay their crew. 
 

Go to guest services and tell them to remove the auto gratitudes and then if you chose to tip you can do so. Royal always charges 18% tip on alcohol that can’t be removed. 
 

Tipping is OPTIONAL and it’s not unethical to not leave a tip no matter what these pre conditioned ppl tell you 

Wow that will  Puñnish RCL .happy day. It was the sweeping statement " THESE PRE CONDITIONED PPL " 

[xxHadleyxx]

8 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

To the OP, don’t let others try to convince you it’s your job to makeup for the low wages cruise lines pay their crew. 
 

Go to guest services and tell them to remove the auto gratitudes and then if you chose to tip you can do so. Royal always charges 18% tip on alcohol that can’t be removed. 
 

Tipping is OPTIONAL and it’s not unethical to not leave a tip no matter what these pre conditioned ppl tell you 

See, I think it is unethical to choose to support a company that is paying unaccepatbly low wages.....by spending my money there and making sure the company turns a profit, I am encouraging it.  IF I refused to opt in to the "optional" but HIGHLY encouraged and clearly defined tipping structure which makes the wages reasonable for most cruise companies, then I would be the one, in the scenario of a cruise or  a US based restruant, etc contrubuting to a low wage situation.  Why on earth would I want to do that?  

[Rusty_lock]

10 hours ago, pcur said:

Read the thread, please.  That's not what the person is saying.  They just need the gratuities explained.

I did read the thread and that is what they said, quite specifically.  The OP, in their second post, posited the bizarre scenario where they would use no services aboard the ship.  That their future posts clarified their position doesn't grant you license to respond pedantically or in a condescending manner to me. 

[DirtyDawg]

On 2/7/2022 at 10:32 AM, orville99 said:

We must be getting back to normal...it's been a long time since we've had a tipping thread💲🛳️😷

 

On 2/7/2022 at 9:19 PM, brillohead said:

 

You certainly are living up to your name.  

 

 

10 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

Tipping is OPTIONAL and it’s not unethical to not leave a tip no matter what these pre conditioned ppl tell you 

 

Getting back to normal every minute. 😊

 

Just like Colonel Kilgore "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"  😁

[billslowsky]

3 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

See, I think it is unethical to choose to support a company that is paying unaccepatbly low wages.....by spending my money there and making sure the company turns a profit, I am encouraging it.  IF I refused to opt in to the "optional" but HIGHLY encouraged and clearly defined tipping structure which makes the wages reasonable for most cruise companies, then I would be the one, in the scenario of a cruise or  a US based restruant, etc contrubuting to a low wage situation.  Why on earth would I want to do that?  

Otherwise it will never change.