Hey Carnival! If you are going to hike up the price of cruises, why don't you....

[Drew B 58]

8 minutes ago, silvercrikhix said:

 ok. So would you agree that 1/2 of these folks in line are removing the grats?  Would that make one believe that the other half of those lines are people who have billing errors or complaints…that’s would be interesting, that is an awful lot of mistakes. Or real issues. I’m doing a line poll in 2 weeks on next cruise and find out!!!  I’m JUST KIDDING. Hmmm….we’ve never had an errors ever. Someone want a make a poll asking how many passengers have had mistakes on their bills?  

 

 

I have absolutely no way to know if people removing tips accounts for 50% of the people in line on the last 2 days or 5% or 95%.  And neither do you.

 

and I’m not sure why you seem to think that the only two reasons to visit guest services would be a billing error or removal of tips.  There are many other possibilities. The most common reason I would go on the last two days would be to pay down/off my account with cash I won (or at least did not lose) in the casino so I don’t have a huge credit card bill.  But I’ve even gone just to ask for a print out of my folio because I find it much easier to go through it on paper than on my phone screen.  I don’t tend to do this, but people could be visiting GS to complain about any possible problem they’ve had.  Or they could be trying to get a problem resolved.  It could be that they are trying to locate a belonging that has been lost since GS would serve as a lost and found.  Guest services doesn’t only exist to deal with your folio account…

[Stick93]

6 hours ago, Drew B 58 said:

I’ve paid a visit to guest services on the last day or two of probably at least half of my cruises.  I’ve never reduced/removed tips.  I find it bizarre that you assume that is the reason for the lines when there are literally hundreds of other possible explanations!

You are correct… but as this is a hot topic and we know this happens. I have been there too and witnesses some stuff as well! 

[Stick93]

18 minutes ago, thunderingherd11 said:

I took an inclusive two years ago.  Tried booking it for this year.  Twice, I repeat, twice the cost.  

 

There are deals everywhere including cruising if you know how to navigate. However there are more all inclusive and  so a deal is much easier to find. 

[silvercrikhix]

18 minutes ago, thunderingherd11 said:

Name one change that has been significant.  I started cruising 8 years ago.  None of the changes affect  anything for me.  Things change.   

A CCL super fan might have a list of exactly what’s changed and what’s been added. Ain’t me. 
in 13 years of cruising it’s changed because the things that made it a special occasion have been eroding. You can do a different line or roll with it. CCL is basically a floating hotel now. Like someone said, a bit ago.…Take or leave it, whatever. What the Market bears is the cost. Period. Doesn’t mean everyone likes every change. But there are A LOT gone, some significant some not. Sweaty cabin attendants?!  Ewww…

 

[aborgman]

On 8/5/2023 at 7:01 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Wow, you have found the secret…. Wait, it has only put on here 2000 times.  This has been rehashed just as many times.  There is absolutely no proof of anything other than what Carnival tells us….it goes to the people they say it does.  

 

Is reading comprehension really that bad? Not once have I said the money goes anywhere other than Carnival says it does.

 

I'm just saying that gratuities do not go directly to crew members.

 

Carnival could be giving crew 110% of the gratuities that passengers pay, and it still wouldn't be directly.

 

Directly means:

passenger -> crew member

 

If the scenario is

passenger -> Carnival -> crew member

 

... it ain't directly, no matter what percentage goes to the crew member.

 

 

Edited August 7, 2023 by aborgman

[aborgman]

17 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

 

Agreed. I’m no accountant but I’m pretty darn sure that the people who oversee these things would notice if Carnival was reallocating money from an area it is supposed to be in to another area instead. That sounds like fraud to me and not worth the risk. 

 

I guess it's a good thing I never said anything about Carnival re-directing money, and merely pointed out that gratuities don't go directly to crew members.

[2wheelin]

39 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Is reading comprehension really that bad? Not once have I said the money goes anywhere other than Carnival says it does.

 

I'm just saying that gratuities do not go directly to crew members.

 

Carnival could be giving crew 110% of the gratuities that passengers pay, and it still wouldn't be directly.

 

Directly means:

passenger -> crew member

 

If the scenario is

passenger -> Carnival -> crew member

 

... it ain't directly, no matter what percentage goes to the crew member.

 

 

No one said “non stop”. A direct flight can go from Seattle to Miami with a stop in St Louis for example. It is referred to as direct rather than non stop which would eliminate the stop in St L.

[aborgman]

11 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

No one said “non stop”. A direct flight can go from Seattle to Miami with a stop in St Louis for example. It is referred to as direct rather than non stop which would eliminate the stop in St L.

 

 

We're talking about payments, not airline flights.

Direct payments have a definition in law.

 

"A direct payment is one which is absolute and unconditional as to time, amount and the persons by whom and to whom it is to be made. A payment made directly to the obligee, not to an intermediary. "

Ancient Order of Hibernians v. Sparrow

 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

What difference does it make if it’s direct or passes through carnival?  Most tips at restaurants go on credit cards and not handed directly to servers.  Do I care? No, I leave gratuity and leave it up to the company to do what’s right.  If those servers don’t get their tips I’m sure they’d quit.  Same with carnival workers.  Im sure they get what they agreed to when hired. 

[thunderingherd11]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Price was changed on every cruiseline. So carnival should retroactively bill extra if the ship is going to nassau, grand bahamas .. wherever ? All bahamas ports?

 

I also last year wrote to a vp at rcl asking why carnival gives overage on port fees and if they miss a port and rcl can give 0. He said it's because they dont bill you if port fees go up. Lol I have it in writing. I like carnivals policy better.. of course.  

Yes, I like it better also.  But I wouldn't be upset if they upped the price when it is upped on them.  One of the many reasons I like carnival better than others.  

[jimbo5544]

21 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

What difference does it make if it’s direct or passes through carnival?  Most tips at restaurants go on credit cards and not handed directly to servers.  Do I care? No, I leave gratuity and leave it up to the company to do what’s right.  If those servers don’t get their tips I’m sure they’d quit.  Same with carnival workers.  Im sure they get what they agreed to when hired. 

It doesn’t.  The point is that the money goes to the crew.  Period.  Anything else is smoke and mirror or semantics.

[momof3cruisers]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:58 AM, aborgman said:

 

I guess it's a good thing I never said anything about Carnival re-directing money, and merely pointed out that gratuities don't go directly to crew members.

I apologize. I assumed there was some significance to the idea of it not going directly to the crew. 

[Robo1098]

On 8/3/2023 at 4:06 PM, Buckeye_Siggy said:

Make sure that the gratuities are now part of the new final price (port charges, taxes, etc).

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/travel-cruise-value/cruise-operators-plan-to-hike-prices-as-costs-rise-demand-swells-idINL4N38R3H6

 

If the prices are going up, they might as well include this added expense in.

Quit playing this shell game once and for all.

It is not shell game if everyone is playing the same way. None of the major cruise lines show pricing with the gratuities. If one of the lines did show pricing with the gratuity then theirs would seem higher than the others that don't. And please don't remove gratuities because you can't afford them or think they should be included in the price. You are not punishing the right people.

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 8/3/2023 at 4:06 PM, Buckeye_Siggy said:

Make sure that the gratuities are now part of the new final price (port charges, taxes, etc).

Going back to the OP:

 

Some folks have mentioned that if one cruise line does exactly that it will damage their sales, because the average consumer will not realize the differing pricing models, and just go for the cheapest.  I agree.

 

At one point, the same was true of airline tickets: taxes and fees were not included when you got initial pricing, and that $59 fare turned into $300 very quickly.  But nowadays the displayed prices do include all that - it is the full fare you will pay, excepting optional upgrades/baggage fees.

 

That was thanks to a US Gov't (DOT) regulation, enforced in 2012, not the market itself.

 

I imagine it will take a similar regulation for cruise lines to do the same.

[vwrestler171]

On 8/6/2023 at 5:18 PM, thunderingherd11 said:

Name one change that has been significant.  I started cruising 8 years ago.  None of the changes effect anything for me.  Things change.   

Since I started cruising in 2010, we have gained Guys Burgers(which seems to have gone downhill since COVID), Blue Iguana(both the bar and restaurant), Guys BBQ, and Alchemy Bar.  Lost free room service, twice a day cabin cleaning, which also cost us the mint/chocolate on the pillow, staff that had time to stop and visit(now the majority appear rushed).  Food that used to be excellent in the MDR are now available for purchase in the steakhouse, tablecloths went away.  Elegant night truly felt elegant

[jakeT]

You as a person must add up all those charges to figure out the total cost of your cruise then ASK  the question.  Do I really want to pay X for a Carnival cruise.  Is Y cruise line cheaper, free internet, free. Or is a land base vacation better deal 

[manmachine]

On 8/3/2023 at 6:04 PM, ChinaShrek said:

Because cruise lines continue to have "optional" gratuities unlike other businesses.

Gratuities are ALWAYS optional.  Service charges are not.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, manmachine said:

Gratuities are ALWAYS optional.  Service charges are not.

You can pull at least some "service charges" on NCL.

[thunderingherd11]

On 8/8/2023 at 5:59 PM, vwrestler171 said:

Since I started cruising in 2010, we have gained Guys Burgers(which seems to have gone downhill since COVID), Blue Iguana(both the bar and restaurant), Guys BBQ, and Alchemy Bar.  Lost free room service, twice a day cabin cleaning, which also cost us the mint/chocolate on the pillow, staff that had time to stop and visit(now the majority appear rushed).  Food that used to be excellent in the MDR are now available for purchase in the steakhouse, tablecloths went away.  Elegant night truly felt elegant

Thanks for the reply.  This is where it matters on what type of person you are.  The gains are better than the losses for me.  Who needs service two times a day?  First world problems.  Who needs a mint?  I never do room service.  Guys burgers is great even after covid.  MDR doesn't seem to be as good as it was, but I am not expecting a five star meal and I certainly don't go hungry.  And we are talking about changes over ten years.  Name a business who hasn't made changes over ten years?  The things that bother me most on the ship are the customers.  But we all beat to a different drum.  

[thunderingherd11]

On 8/8/2023 at 8:54 PM, jakeT said:

You as a person must add up all those charges to figure out the total cost of your cruise then ASK  the question.  Do I really want to pay X for a Carnival cruise.  Is Y cruise line cheaper, free internet, free. Or is a land base vacation better deal 

I did a Norwegian cruise.  Special deal.  Talk about diming me to death.  Never again.  

[Saint Greg]

47 minutes ago, thunderingherd11 said:

I did a Norwegian cruise.  Special deal.  Talk about diming me to death.  Never again.  

 

What was the diming to death? I'm going on my first NCL cruise in a couple weeks. As far as I can tell it seems like the opposite. The free at sea gave me drinks up to $15, two specialty dinners, and $50 off of excursions. Then I paid a $300 upgrade for drinks up to $20, unlimited wifi, and 2 more specialty dinners. Just the Cheers alone would cost more than that on Carnival. 

 

I'm also now booked on Princess for November. With them I did a Princess Plus package for $400 which includes drinks, wifi, gratuities, and a couple of specialty meals. Again on Carnival just the drink package would cost more than that.

 

[Drew B 58]

3 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

What was the diming to death? I'm going on my first NCL cruise in a couple weeks. As far as I can tell it seems like the opposite. The free at sea gave me drinks up to $15, two specialty dinners, and $50 off of excursions. Then I paid a $300 upgrade for drinks up to $20, unlimited wifi, and 2 more specialty dinners. Just the Cheers alone would cost more than that on Carnival. 

 

I'm also now booked on Princess for November. With them I did a Princess Plus package for $400 which includes drinks, wifi, gratuities, and a couple of specialty meals. Again on Carnival just the drink package would cost more than that.

 

From what I understand, with NCL’s “Free at Sea”, you still get charged for the gratuities on the drink package.  And they aren’t optional (meaning you can choose to leave something each time or not).  They charge you upfront what the tip amount (not sure if it’s 18% or some other number) would be if you PAID for the given drink package…

[Saint Greg]

10 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

From what I understand, with NCL’s “Free at Sea”, you still get charged for the gratuities on the drink package.  And they aren’t optional (meaning you can choose to leave something each time or not).  They charge you upfront what the tip amount (not sure if it’s 18% or some other number) would be if you PAID for the given drink package…

I paid $152 for gratuity on the free drink package.

 

[Drew B 58]

7 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

I paid $152 for gratuity on the free drink package.

 

I’m not much of a drinker and don’t ever purchase a drink package.  When I looked at what “free” drinks would cost me on NCL, it came out to as much or more than I typically spend on drinks if I buy them a la carte.  I understand from reading your live threads that you get MUCH more benefit than I ever could…. 😉

[Saint Greg]

Just now, Drew B 58 said:

I’m not much of a drinker and don’t ever purchase a drink package.  When I looked at what “free” drinks would cost me on NCL, it came out to as much or more than I typically spend on drinks if I buy them a la carte.  I understand from reading your live threads that you get MUCH more benefit than I ever could…. 😉

Some of their free at seas have allowed you to pick which items you want. I think with the one I booked I got everything. When you figure the fare was 1/4 of what I paid on my carnival Alaska cruise last year and 1/5 of what it would’ve cost on carnival this year, it wouldn’t matter If I drank or not.