Gratuities Are Going Up Again, Effective 11.11.2023

[Ocean Boy]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

They were unclear when we called this morning, but were working with the assumption of Final Payment dates as the cutoff. One thing that was a bit confusing was when I asked about our 11/7 cruise. The response seemed to suggest that our gratuities would go up mid cruise to the new rate.

In most instances it seems to me that the date of departure determines which policies are followed and they apply to the entire cruise.

[OSUZorba]

2 hours ago, cmich068 said:

 

I suspect the email was specifically targeted at people who haven't prepaid.

 

If you've already prepaid then the change doesn't affect you at all, you're already locked in at the old rates.

I've prepaid all my upcoming cruises and I got it.

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

I mean thanking for the feedback and caring about the feedback are two different things.  Customer service reads from a script then the complaint goes nowhere.

 

I hate that I have to call to prepay. Why can't I prepay them online like every other cruiseline?

You can when you initially make the reservation. In the past you could make many changes yourself to an existing reservation, even change your cabin. RCI has evolved backwards taking away many self serve options.

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, marci22 said:

Lots of people complaining about the increase but also lots of people running to call RC and prepay their tips!  All those execs high-fiving each other in the break room around now.

The same people who talk about how hard working and deserving the crew are will then turn around and hand RCI money 90 days before a cruise as compensation for service that they have not yet received all to save $2.00 per day.

[Ocean Boy]

24 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Auto grats have been around as long as I can remember. Why dont you ask guest services? Oh maybe they will say its none of your business.

Autograts did not exist when we started cruising. And I would never get that answer from Guest Services as I would not ask a question that is none of my business in the first place.

[Ocean Boy]

25 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

That’s always was that way for the majority of airlines: you cannot adjust or remove pre-paid gratuities, but you can do that for gratuities applied per-day basis on- board (you will see daily gratuity charge per person on you on-board account) - at the end of the cruise you may go to the service desk and remove those charges and pay by cash to whoever you want from the group of workers who topically getgratuitues (as in old days).

What does tipping have to do with airlines?🤔

[tottenhamfc]

Just now, Ocean Boy said:

Autograts did not exist when we started cruising. And I would never get that answer from Guest Services as I would not ask a question that is none of my business in the first place.

Well I have been cruising 11 years with RCL and to the best of my recollection it has been that model from the first cruise. 

[kirtihk]

36 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Airlines? Had no clue there was tipping on airlines.

A simple typo: cruise lines

Edited November 2, 2023 by kirtihk

[RD64]

40 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Auto grats have been around as long as I can remember. Why dont you ask guest services? Oh maybe they will say its none of your business.

Maybe not forever… NCL started it all with their “Freestyle Cruising” back in 2000-2001. All of the other cruise lines - seeing how beneficial this could be - eventually followed suit. I think that come January other cruise lines will follow suit to bring their grats in line with RCL. NCL is already at the $20 daily mark, and there does not appear to be any pushback.

[exm]

I agree that the crew deserves the gratuities, period. However, with inflation being a problem, Royal had 2 options:

1. Raise the gratuities;
2. Raise the (minimum) wage of the crew.

Option 1 is on the customer, option 2 on the company. So this has nothing to do with appreciating the crew or how much money to leave them. It's Royal dumping the inflation problem (in this case, the crew) onto the customer.

[tottenhamfc]

Just now, RD64 said:

Maybe not forever… NCL started it all with their “Freestyle Cruising” back in 2000-2001. All of the other cruise lines - seeing how beneficial this could be - eventually followed suit. I think that come January other cruise lines will follow suit to bring their grats in line with RCL. NCL is already at the $20 daily mark, and there does not appear to be any pushback.

You dont call this thread pushback? Its changing my mind for sure. My next cruises are on Celebrity and I am seriously considering pulling and paying as I see fit. 

[RD64]

Just now, tottenhamfc said:

You dont call this thread pushback? It’s changing my mind for sure. My next cruises are on Celebrity and I am seriously considering pulling and paying as I see fit. 

This particular thread yes - but on NCL it seems to be a non issue.

[tottenhamfc]

Just now, RD64 said:

This particular thread yes - but on NCL it seems to be a non issue.

Possibly because their fare prices are lower than RCL. 

[tottenhamfc]

Just now, exm said:

I agree that the crew deserves the gratuities, period. However, with inflation being a problem, Royal had 2 options:

1. Raise the gratuities;
2. Raise the (minimum) wage of the crew.

Option 1 is on the customer, option 2 on the company. So this has nothing to do with appreciating the crew or how much money to leave them. It's Royal dumping the inflation problem (in this case, the crew) onto the customer.

100% And at some point they will reach a limit to customers aggravation level. If its a three day or a four day cruise nobody cares about an extra 10 bucks but extended B2B cruisers do care about the excess. I have 35 days coming up and that equates to $1500 Canadian in tips. IMHO that is high when you add it uap.

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Possibly because their fare prices are lower than RCL. 

Not out of Galveston.  Ncl prices are much higher than rcl. I'd like to book prima but not at what ncl is charging. Ncl had earnings today and crashed big. Missed estimated, didnt deliver. At least rcl is hitting their numbers. 

 

Ncl was including grats in a bundle when you bought your cruise but took them out now. 

[Jetdriver787]

59 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What does tipping have to do with airlines?🤔

 

[pcur]

9 hours ago, skittl1321 said:

 

Does the crew actually get them? I was really surprised when the NCL cabin steward told me that his pay doesn't change at all if guests pay their service charge; and the only thing that matters to him is cash. (Granted- NCL's is a service charge, not a gratuity; but I'm distrusting that the staff get them at all...)

I've always paid them, but it is just a generally shady thing on how they are handled. 

I was referring to those who choose to remove their tips, RCCL "supposedly" compensates for the missed tips up to a guaranteed amount, and RCCL ends up with a LOT of people removing tips because of the increase on 11/11/23.  That's the "dry spell" I was referring to in my other post.  I just feel that removing tips from one's account may end up negatively affecting the crew, and they are not the ones we want to include in this struggle with RCCL over the tip increase.  The crew should not suffer financially in any way because of this business policy change by RCCL.

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, nelblu said:

Many aren't even aware of the envelopes or as they used to be called WOW envelopes for rewarding excellent performance.  Only time that I get an envelope presented to me is the cabin steward leaving the envelope on my bed a day/night prior.  I basically have to go to GS for any add'l envelopes.

 

I remember when they used to leave 4 - 5 envelopes in the cabin. Now they usually just leave 1. Since we often miss the cabin attendant we usually get extras from the D lounge. I don’t like waiting in the GS line.

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, Ashland said:

We're also D+ and very close to Pinnacle and sail in suites. We eat one maybe two meals a day in the WJ and tip per drink in the SL ... keep our cabin extremely neat and are low key and rarely ask for anything. I'm now considering to remove my pre-paid gratuities. But will certainly tip those that provide a service to us.

I tried removing my pre-paid gratuities and they wouldn’t let me. I used to always prepay and one time I ended up getting a couple hundred dollars of obc. I had no plans of buying anything on the ship so I thought I could remove them and then pay with the obc. They told me I couldn’t remove the pre-paid grats. There was no way I was going to lose the obc. Walked around the shops and didn’t see anything I wanted, not even for “free”. We ended up buying liquor with it. I tried removing them while on the ship so I don’t know if they can be removed before the cruise.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

24 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

I tried removing my pre-paid gratuities and they wouldn’t let me. I used to always prepay and one time I ended up getting a couple hundred dollars of obc. I had no plans of buying anything on the ship so I thought I could remove them and then pay with the obc. They told me I couldn’t remove the pre-paid grats. There was no way I was going to lose the obc. Walked around the shops and didn’t see anything I wanted, not even for “free”. We ended up buying liquor with it. I tried removing them while on the ship so I don’t know if they can be removed before the cruise.

So not sure how it works with american terms and conditions. In the uk you can, at time of booking, add the Graturites to your bill to be paid before your cruise or you can request to pay the daily amount once on board the ship, which is automatically added to your account each day. You also have the option once onboard to go to GS and remove the Graturites. 

 

Not sure how it works if you have pre paid before bording the cruise.

[nelblu]

49 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

I tried removing my pre-paid gratuities and they wouldn’t let me. I used to always prepay and one time I ended up getting a couple hundred dollars of obc. I had no plans of buying anything on the ship so I thought I could remove them and then pay with the obc. They told me I couldn’t remove the pre-paid grats. There was no way I was going to lose the obc. Walked around the shops and didn’t see anything I wanted, not even for “free”. We ended up buying liquor with it. I tried removing them while on the ship so I don’t know if they can be removed before the cruise.

If they were refundable you could have cashed the obc at GS. 

[harry0]

Do away with auto tipping-raise the wages of the employees- raise the cruise fare as needed and hand out envelopes and let us determine who gets tipped. Tipping has always been a bizarre mystery to me. 

[Pandamonia]

Great.

 

I dont pay them anyway. 

 

I take them off Day 13 of the 14 day cruise every time. Give my room attendant some cash. 

 

P&O doesnt charge them at all and their cruise fares are less also. Turns out you can run a company and pay the staff a wage that they find acceptable without emotionally blackmailing customers.

[Engineroom Snipe]

10 hours ago, tottenhamfc said:

Well I have been cruising 11 years with RCL and to the best of my recollection it has been that model from the first cruise. 

 I have been cruising since 1988 with RCI. The "pre-paid" gratuities started with the Introduction of "My Time Dining". Until then, one only tipped the cabin steward, your assigned waiter and busboy, and those who gave you face-to-face service if you wanted to do so.

 

The "behind the scenes personnel" were never mentioned in any tipping discussions onboard.

[marci22]

11 hours ago, tottenhamfc said:

My next cruises are on Celebrity and I am seriously considering pulling and paying as I see fit. 

It's actually not a big deal if you do. You are allowed to do this.