UNCFanatik

Again, so much hyperbole and overreaction. Its ironic that the OP has "wise" in his username...

Royal pays the Haitian government $12 per guest. Employs Haitians and have Haitian vendors onsite selling their wares. Poverty is at every tourist destination.

Here we go again with calling people who can afford to travel at these increased fares, cheapskates... And nowhere did I call for a boycott. I merely pointed out the economics. And again, do away with the auto gratuities and raise the fares....all for it. Let the free market decide but we know royal will not do that Yes, demand is very high right now but like anything else, demand will drop again

I understand economics just fine Its been my position all along to let Royal do away with auto-gratuities and pass along the extra cost to be included in cruise fare and let the free market sort it out. But they never will because they know economics as well. Its better for them to have customers to spend for example $5000 on a cruise for a family of 4 and remove their auto gratuities than have that same family choose another form of vacation and spend $0 with Royal. Cruise line math is $5000>$0. Also, if less people cruise then what happens to crew levels and hiring additional crew? No one if stiffing anyone. Royal charges mandatory tips on many of their products on board. Drink packages that are bought include a mandatory gratuity of 18% before service is even rendered. Why should I be charged a mandatory 18% tip on a $8 beer for someone just to hand it to me. Thats $1.44 If you can afford a cruise, you have already spent a considerable amount of money with Royal and part of your cruise fare goes to crew wages. Royal keeps raising prices because of high demand and no one should feel obligates to pay anything beyond their cruise fare

Because they are trying to block the current PM from returning to Haiti. That is why the PM is currently in Puerto Rico. The DR also denied the PM entry Attacking the airport aligns with their stated goals

Its also foolish to be scaremongering as well and presenting all these far fetched scenarios. Stay grounded in reality. Yes, Haiti is in turmoil and Royal is fully aware of the situation.

Yes, any travel warning to any country is a concern to some cruisers but its important for cruisers to see why there is a travel warning and the likelihood it would affect them.

From what I have read, it seems the main goal of the gangs are to force the current PM to resign and have open elections. The current PM is in Puerto Rico and the gangs do not want him to return and are threatening Civil War. Looks like airlines are stopping flights into Haiti as well Storming Labadee or Cruise Ships do nothing to advance the gangs goals and be detrimental to their cause as the US is pressing the current PM as well to transition into elections for new PM. Storm Labadee and/or cruise ships and anger the US. Not what the gangs want Not to say that its not a big mess in Haiti right now and anything could be possible but its a low probability anything would happen at Labadee or cruise ships.

I fully understand that. That is not what I was referencing. I was referencing how it works on the bartender side from described in an earlier post; Bartender side NOT customer side

Understood The only thing is that you cant remove gratuities when purchasing drink package

Wait a minute someone said that on FB Royal was skipping Labadee....how could they ever be wrong...🤣

I would want to see official word from Royal on if they are planning on skipping Labadee rather than a message on a FB group

' Let me make sure I understand this. All drinks have a mandatory 18% gratuity. If I get the drink package and order a $14 drink then 18% equals $2.52 The bartender would be eligible for $1 per drink after $1400 drinks in a month so we have $1.52 remaining from the $2.52 and we are not sure were that $1.52 goes?

WOW, as I am seriously embarrassed of your understanding of economics. Me paying my cruise fare goes towards the compensation of the crew and the other operational expense of the cruise thus enabling the cruise lines to operate.

Dont forget the MANDATORY 18% "gratuity" fee that will be tacked on. Paying before service before its rendered. What a concept! Should call it service charge

Yup, Its about how can the cruise lines pay the least for labor and expect the passengers to add to the overall crew compensation.

Weird but the last I checked Cruise Lines, like any other customer forward companies would do well to listen to their customer base. There are several examples out there where companies have ignored their customer base much to their financial peril. Do this little mental math exercise: Would it be better for the cruise lines and their employees for: A. People to remove their auto-gratuities and still choose to go on a cruise B. People who remove their auto gratuities just stop cruising and choose to spend their vacation dollars elsewhere You can accept reduced service and increased gratuities, but I dont have to. Nothing Elitist about that. Lord knows if I was an Elitist, i surely wouldnt be taking cruises with the unwashed masses....🤣

I dont know how "frequently" tourists are caught up in the crossfire in Mexico but there is cartel related violence in Mexico, to be sure. But even in the US, innocent people "frequently" get caught up in the crossfire as random shootings are on the rise. But with Labadee, as other have said, I dont think the gangs want to attack that area and have to deal with the response that would surely follow.

I think Royal has lease until 2050 and pays the Haitian Government $12 per tourist. Its interesting that Haiti shares the same island as DR but DR is more prosperous.

When I cruise, I typically purchase the drink package in cruise planner before I sail. Of course, Royal deems it necessary to add a mandatory 18% "gratuity" on top of that purchase months before service is ever delivered. And what happens to this 18%? Who gets it? Do they track every where I get a drink and distribute that "gratuity" to those bartenders? What happens when I am at Coco Cay using drink package with 2 ships in port the bartenders are from different ships? Who gets that money? What has happened to Cruise Lines that charge you a mandatory fee before service is delivered? Used to be the Cruise lines delivered more service, like cleaning room twice a day. What has happened to the cruise lines where they cut service and raise the daily auto gratuity? There is no air of elitism here. Cruise passengers work hard as well in order to afford to cruise. Demand for cruising is at an all time high. Royal keeps raising pricing in response. Choosing to cruise over another form of vacation is showing my kindness and generosity. No one is "stiffing" anyone. Again, take that up with the cruise lines. Petition them to change their business model and do away with auto gratuities and just bake them into the cost of a cruise and let the free market sort it out

Yes, servers tip out to different people in some restaurants. With Credit cards, a bill is presented, the server swipes the credit card in the POS system and then when the customer leaves the tip, the server pulls up the check on the POS system and enters the tip. The server gets a printout of their Credit card tips and the company pays them their tips. If the company doesnt pay them their tips then the servers can take legal action. Not "Just like on a Cruise"

The whole point is that not everyone that takes a land vacation will spend $18/day per person per day. And at certain times a year, disney offers free dining to entice people to stay on property and those are hotel tiered based and for lower tiers do not include table service restaurants where you would tip. They are snack and quick service credits where they will not leave gratuities. And again, even if a family of 4 is staying on property it doesnt mean that they didnt bring food with them to eat in their rooms for breakfast before heading off to the parks. Last time I went to Disney, I stayed on property at Caribbean Beach Resort with my family of four and we had free dining which were just snack credits and quick service. We brought breakfast bars and pastries to eat for breakfast and we took snacks into the park along with water bottles. We came NO WHERE close to $72/day in gratuities. Maybe you and your family does but that is not everyone else's experience on a land vacation EVEN going to Disney

Yup, I think you will see more and more of this as Royal continues to raise fares

Yup, and many people that go to Disney stay off property in a house. They buy foods for breakfast at Supermarket, take snacks into parks and only do quick service meals where gratuity is not a thing. And then there are those at Disney that get free Dining and have the lower tiers where it just includes snack and counter service credits. And lets say that you eat out for dinner at table service at a sit down restaurant for 4 on a land vacation not named Disney. We will go on high end here and say $20/plate max per person. 20x4=80, 20% = $16.00. A far cry from cruise of $72 for family of 4. Not every family eats at table service restaurants for every meal.

Exactly! It depends on a family. And some families may stay in a hotel on a land vacation where breakfast is free. Point being is that a family of 4 isnt necessarily going to spend $72 on gratuities each day of their land vacation