Future booked cruises with All Included? Tips no longer included.

[Zacb]

I really dislike how these changes are justified by the “customers want flexibility” excuse. To me extra flexibility leads to extra stress. I loved the 3 perk all inclusive product with OBC because it reduces the constant drip drip drip of extra charges. I don’t go on holiday to spend it making dozens of purchasing decisions every day, monitoring my folio and managing costs. That’s about as not relaxing as I can think of. 
 
In the end Celebrity can charge what they like but it does make me wonder if there are any operators out there offering true Relaxed Luxury™️

[Gracie115]

Just another move to become more "Royal" like.  Royal doesn't include gratuities except possibly on their very top suites, which are very few.  Every move that's been made just makes the 2 lines more and more alike.  Still waiting for the one that states "We are now proud to present our new company, Royal Celebrity, with all ships from both companies included" 

 

Celebrity is just SO disappointing, we have nothing booked with them for the first time in 25 years.  I keep sticking around here hoping to read about some positive changes but the opposite just keeps happening.......

[Cruise till you drop]

8 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

I think the alarming thing is that something is truly changing on a daily basis. I’ve only been actively posting here again for a couple months in advance of my cruise and all the “issues” are piling up in just the short time I’ve been paying attention. The only one that truly impacts me so far is the reduced MDR offerings and I’ll see how I feel about that in person. DH tires of the MDR on a good day so we’ll see how problematic it becomes. But it really is making me think twice about booking our next cruise. 

It’s happening daily and happening now as Celebrity is taking advantage of the increased bookings condition and people’s fear that if they don’t book, they’ll be left out.  Celebrity is truly exploiting the increased bookings and thought is it’ll all be forgotten once we get to a new normal

 

But for me, my bigger question is WHY take gratuities out of all inclusive packages.  What is the logic for WHY do this

 

The crew rely on these tips and the more you lessen the chance of the crew getting tips, the more difficult it’ll be to keep staff happy and harder to get staff in future to work on cruise ships, which directly affects cruise lines

Edited August 29, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Lena11033]

4 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

But for me, my bigger question is WHY take gratuities out of all inclusive packages.  What is the logic for WHY do this

 

The crew rely on these tips and the more you lessen the chance of the crew getting tips, the more difficult it’ll be to keep staff happy and harder to get staff in future to work on cruise ships, which directly affects cruise lines

 

This I don't get. By taking tips out one it's not AI but I agree about the staff there.

 

Honestly when AI was forced on certain categories I remember it wanting to be optional because people had perks for wifi and drinks but tips were never a discussion to be removed. AI most of the time doesn't make sense for me as I travel alone but I prepay tips but if I do AI I want the tips there.

 

I just can't get my head around why take out the tips, because pretty much aren't they going on anyway at some point whether you prepay or end of the cruise (unless you are someone that asks for it to be removed).

 

Really this is 'somewhat inclusive' not all inclusive - quite frankly I don't want to be thinking about what I'm going to be owing at the end of a trip

 

[phoenix_dream]

Why are they taking out tips?  Because tips don't benefit the passengers and that way they can keep the same pricing and hope people don't figure out that they in essence just raised the prices again and hope you don't think about it that way.  I am very concerned about the staff also.  It will be much easier for people to identify the tip amounts and try to eliminate or reduce them, especially perhaps people from other countries whose traditions do not include tipping.  I know experienced cruisers realize how the tip situation works, regardless of their own traditions, but I'm concerned that the brand new cruisers won't know much about how pricing and tipping works on cruises and will end up shorting the staff.  I hope I am not offending anyone, as I don't mean they would deliberately try to hurt the staff, but they may not take the time or make the effort to understand the cruising process enough to realize how much the staff depends on that money for income.

Edited August 29, 2023 by phoenix_dream

[Cruise till you drop]

32 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I just can't get my head around why take out the tips, because pretty much aren't they going on anyway at some point whether you prepay or end of the cruise 

 

I don't want to be thinking about what I'm going to be owing at the end of a trip

Exactly.Spot on.

 

[bikerunner]

10 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Why are they taking out tips?  Because tips don't benefit the passengers and that way they can keep the same pricing and hope people don't figure out that they in essence just raised the prices again and hope you don't think about it that way.  I am very concerned about the staff also.  It will be much easier for people to identify the tip amounts and try to eliminate or reduce them, especially perhaps people from other countries whose traditions do not include tipping.  I know experienced cruisers realize how the tip situation works, regardless of their own traditions, but I'm concerned that the brand new cruisers won't know much about how pricing and tipping works on cruises and will end up shorting the staff.  I hope I am not offending anyone, as I don't mean they would deliberately try to hurt the staff, but they may not take the time or make the effort to understand the cruising process enough to realize how much the staff depends on that money for income.

This is my concern also, do I think most people will add them still into their cruise, hopefully.  But I see this as affecting the crew in the long run.  Which will have crew looking at other contracts with other lines in the long run.  Celebrity has a lot of crew who have been with them for a long time, there are a lot of options out there now with the lines.  I dont see this a short run problem but over the next cpl years I think service will be hit in ways not expected by Celebrity Management.  But then again I still remember back in the 2000 tips were not included nor drinks etc. and all seemed to go well.  Hard to say what will happen.  I think its a interesting numbers game now to watch.  With more fares going to cruise only most likely, in truth this will grow shipboard revenue with more people having to buy drinks, less OBC for people to use.  Really would be interested in seeing the model plan they used and how the numbers ran with these changes.  

[markeb]

They're taking out the tips so they're not locked into that rate on a cruise booked two years out. Their labor charges appear to be fairly unstable. If they don't include the tips in AI, they can raise the tips to offset labor (which is what the tips do anyway).

 

Now if they're stupid and allow you to pre-pay tips at the time of booking, they've defeated that benefit to the company.  They should hold off until final payment when their cost are fairly well locked. We'll see.

 

The whole notion of opening bookings 2-3 years out only worked with inflation hovering around 2% and stable labor costs. They need to seriously look at shutting down long range bookings until inflation comes down.

[deliver42]

While I've grown to love Celebrity due to my 2 cruise experience with them, this daily changing of charges and reductions of service, now the gratuities on what is no longer AI, not to mention their crazy prices. There is no way that I can see myself booking another cruise with them, nor in good concience recommend them to friends or relatives.

[Veinless]

12 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Now we have gratuitygate. Another sneaky takeaway by Celebrity's wonderful leaders.

 

12 hours ago, Cap_D said:

This is a "sensitive subject" for some reason, and I don't mean with posters.  Maybe we should just stick to worrying about cookiegate. 

Who is naming these hotels??

[mac_tlc]

I think it’s pretty obvious why they are taking the tips out—— so they can effectively raise the price without the number changing. I fully expect the listed price for an AI cruise to be no different on 10/4 than it was on 10/3. So Celebrity pockets the gratuity amount that was previously part of the fare. 
 

No different than shrinking the size of the potato chip bag, or ice cream container, or yogurt container and leaving the price the same. 
 

People notice the stated price. 
 

Hope I am wrong but Celebrity has brought out the cynic in me in the last 6 months.

 

 

mac_tlc

[Gracie115]

22 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

 

Hope I am wrong but Celebrity has brought out the cynic in me in the last 6 months.

 

 

mac_tlc

Don't think you're wrong at all.  Just another way to raise prices without actually raising prices........sneaky at best....

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

They're taking out the tips so they're not locked into that rate on a cruise booked two years out. Their labor charges appear to be fairly unstable. If they don't include the tips in AI, they can raise the tips to offset labor (which is what the tips do anyway).

 

Now if they're stupid and allow you to pre-pay tips at the time of booking, they've defeated that benefit to the company.  They should hold off until final payment when their cost are fairly well locked. We'll see.

 

The whole notion of opening bookings 2-3 years out only worked with inflation hovering around 2% and stable labor costs. They need to seriously look at shutting down long range bookings until inflation comes down.

If they take out the gratuities in AI for group rates they just grabbed another $300 to $500 in revenue.  I figure that the no grats in AI and OBC in group rates will cost me about $1k more for a lower room and more for a higher level room.

Edited August 29, 2023 by NMTraveller

[jelayne]

10 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

How much are gratuities on a Celebrity cruise?

• $17.50 USD per person, per day for Inside, Ocean View, and Veranda cabins.
• $18.00 USD per person, per day for Concierge Class and AquaClass cabins.
• $21.00 USD per person, per day for those staying in The Retreat.
•  
• dated April 2023

That has changed as well

 

[jelayne]

39 minutes ago, virginconvert said:

Laura Hodges Bethge is the issue, she must go just like Liz Truss.

I think the changes are being driven above Laura, she is there to implement Jason Liberty’s plan.

[CruisinBanka]

59 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

I think it’s pretty obvious why they are taking the tips out—— so they can effectively raise the price without the number changing. I fully expect the listed price for an AI cruise to be no different on 10/4 than it was on 10/3. So Celebrity pockets the gratuity amount that was previously part of the fare. 
 

No different than shrinking the size of the potato chip bag, or ice cream container, or yogurt container and leaving the price the same. 
 

People notice the stated price. 
 

Hope I am wrong but Celebrity has brought out the cynic in me in the last 6 months.

 

 

mac_tlc

Totally agree! No other reason to do it. Total price of the cruise will increase when they automatically load the tips daily when onboard. 

[hankandteri]

11 hours ago, tigervixxxen said:

I think the alarming thing is that something is truly changing on a daily basis. I’ve only been actively posting here again for a couple months in advance of my cruise and all the “issues” are piling up in just the short time I’ve been paying attention. The only one that truly impacts me so far is the reduced MDR offerings and I’ll see how I feel about that in person. DH tires of the MDR on a good day so we’ll see how problematic it becomes. But it really is making me think twice about booking our next cruise. 

I feel exactly the same way and for exactly the same reasons. The only thing I’m sure of is that we won’t be booking a future cruise on our upcoming sailing. If they fix their broken MDR menus between now and our October trip, I might consider X again, even with all of the other price hike shenanigans. But the dinner offerings I’m seeing on the app right now are inferior to any prior cruise I’ve been on with any line and that makes Celebrity a total non-starter for us going forward at any price.  

[tiggypooo]

I am so disgusted by this. The AI pkg is what we sell our Group rates with. 

Passengers are just so tired of being nickel and dimed, especially after COVID, that they don't want to cruise anymore.

Why don't they just raise the price, so that it's buried in.

I'm a very loyal Celebrity cruiser and I sell them to all my clients.

Princess is looking very good today, although how long will it be for them to remove them from their pkgs?

 

[maxsales]

Just the continued deterioration of a once great product.  Sad to see (sea?)

Edited August 29, 2023 by maxsales
clarity

[The_Big_M]

28 minutes ago, tiggypooo said:

 

Why don't they just raise the price, so that it's buried in.

 

 

 

Uh... they have raised the price.

 

They just want... MOAR!

[rachiem]

Have just seen that the "all inclusive" fare if booked after the 4th Oct will no longer include gratuities 😞

One more cut back!

 

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/CEL_08_22_23_All_Included_One_Pager.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1EmoLRFxu24KZfCzGHgbql8pMQBZIMHCaVYWznPTtv5rxUiyhxZWi6PUU

Edited August 29, 2023 by rachiem
x

[wrk2cruise]

It looks like they back peddled on the group rates.  Now they are saying they will include Bev and Wifi packages (no tips).   Yesterday info said no AI on unnamed groups.  I guess the TA's revolted!

[jelayne]

21 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

It looks like they back peddled on the group rates.  Now they are saying they will include Bev and Wifi packages (no tips).   Yesterday info said no AI on unnamed groups.  I guess the TA's revolted!

Seems like a lot of hitting the gas pedal, only to shift into reverse.  

[terrydtx]

After reading this you are correct the daily gratuities will no longer be included even for the Retreat. This seems to be outrageous and just another cut or addon cost. At $23pp per person for a suite that adds $552 to the cost of a 12 day cruise. This could be the final straw for many here who are already upset with Celebrity. This is much bigger than cookiegate, at least they are not making it applicable to those like us who already have cruises booked.

[Suite Susie]

31 minutes ago, rachiem said:

Have just seen that the "all inclusive" fare if booked after the 4th Oct will no longer include gratuities 😞

One more cut back!

 

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/CEL_08_22_23_All_Included_One_Pager.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1EmoLRFxu24KZfCzGHgbql8pMQBZIMHCaVYWznPTtv5rxUiyhxZWi6PUU

Gosh, they are making way too many cutbacks. Their prices for next year are outrageous anyway. We are sailing on Edge soon, our 12th Celebrity cruise, but am pretty sure we will be voting with our feet and cruising other lines in future.