UNCFanatik

But why not tip these underpaid workers? Dont you realize its YOUR responsibility to make up for the low wages that the company is paying these workers? How can you be so cheap? How can you be stealing from these workers? What about the behind the scenes people that help fulfill your order? Of course, I am being sarcastic but just showing the lack of logic of some on here. Their concerns only extends to SOME low wage workers but not ALL

Because servers have to put up with customers who are inappropriate with them in order to get a tip. If, for example, a female server gets hit on by a customer is likely to tolerate it because if she speaks out, she will not get a tip. It encourages bad behavior by customers who treat servers poorly to begin with because they control the tip. I get that the drink prices on a cruise or a special event venue like a concert are inflated because of a captive audience and convenience but at least if I am at a Styx, I am dating myself..lol, I can just spend $8 on a beer and not get $1.44 tacked on top of the beer for a mandatory gratuity. The problem is that tipping in the US is becoming more "expected" even in quick service restaurants and as I mentioned before at self checkout kiosks

1. No one is subsidizing anyone else. I paid the fare that was advertised. No one is subsidizing my fare. 2. I do pay gratuities when I purchase a drink where Royal charges a mandatory 18% regardless of any service I receive. 18% to hand me a beer? Are you serious? And if one purchases a drink package, gratuity is charged before service is already rendered. So, if drink package is $80/day on 7 night sailing it comes to $560. But the mandatory gratuity on that is $100.80. The daily auto-gratuity is $16/day, $112 for the week. I am not paying $212.80 when those are added together which results in $30.4/day in gratuity. No thank you. And even moreso when the service has been cut.

I worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years in back of the house roles. I understand the service industry. And in my time with restaurants, I have seen sexual harassment and discrimination against the servers on my team because of the tipping culture. I have also seen the attitude of servers that didnt work as hard because they relied that they were going to be tipped regardless of the level of the service they provided. I have seen servers ignore tables where customers didnt spend as much to focus on tables where people bought drinks and more expensive menu items. This is human nature but if I go to a restaurant and get the least expensive menu options, I should receive the same level of service as people who spend more. On a cruise, I shouldnt be forced to pay an 18% mandatory gratuity if I buy a drink. Tipping should be optional. If I pay near $8 a beer, I shouldnt have to bay 18% extra for an already overpriced item for a mandatory tip. Which brings us full circle, if service is cut, the daily auto-gratuity should be decreased as well. Any argument to the contrary is just based on emotion and not logic.

of course, half the service would logically result in reduction of daily gratuity but people dont use logic in this discussion. They use emotion and they have been brainwashed/conditioned into the US tipping culture. Tipping is out of control in the US. Look at this article about being prompted for a tip on self service kiosk https://www.businessinsider.com/customers-are-hesitant-to-tip-at-self-check-out-2023-5 Somehow people believe that its ok for companies to pay employees low wages and the customer is supposed to be guilted into supplementing wages for an employer when consuming their product through tips. Just look at the insults being hurled by the tipping crowd here...Loser...Criminal...Cheap, ect. Again, people could care less about the working conditions of the people who make other goods in their life like clothing and smart phones but all of a sudden put them on a cruise and their Savior complex kicks in and their moral superiority begins by berating others. They just overlook the cruise lines that engage in this practice and dont see anything wrong with that. NO, its the people that remove auto gratuities that are the issue. They are the losers, criminals, cheapskates that are taking food out of the behind the workers.

As mentioned earlier, studies have shown that tipping doesnt always equate to better service. The tipping culture in the US also contributes sexual harassment, discrimination, racism and entitlement. But Americans have been brainwashed that they must leave 15-20% when dining out regardless of the service received because of the successful guilt campaign that someone Americans are responsible for supplementing wages of the company in which they dine. Thats why you find such poor service in many US restaurants because the servers know that most diners will leave some kind of tip regardless of the service they provide. This now extends to the cruise industry where a savior complex is added where people believe they are "saving" people from 3rd world countries by tipping them. Royal could change this practice any time they like. So people shouldnt whine when people remove a tip that the cruise line allows them to do.

Yes, and Americans tipping in countries with non-tipping cultures creates an issue

I agree. I liken it to Disney where I think there will be a tipping point because of how many cutbacks were made at the same time charging for things that were once free(fastpass). I think Disneys bubble is going to burst because they are pricing themselves out of the market for much of the desired demographic I think we have already seen some Royal loyalist start to explore other cruising options as more competition is coming on line and their competitors rolling out their new ships. But time will tell how all this plays out because as you pointed out, the cruise lines have a huge debt issue that has to be addressed and cut backs/price increases are an obvious first place to start

My room being cleaned is part of the fare that I pay and is cleaned by someone who has willfully signed a contract to do that job. I am getting nothing for "free"

So you equate removing auto gratuities to a criminal act? Seriously?

But there in lies the rub, cutbacks + increased pricing creates a problem. How to retain loyal customers who notice the cutbacks and are questioning the value proposition while at the same time attracting new customers

The gratuity system allows Royal to pay crew less and also be competitive with other cruise lines in their fares. If Royal thought their customer base could handle increased fares with doing away with auto gratuities, they would have done it by now. And who knows, maybe it will happen in future Virgin rolled out with their fare structure with no daily gratuities because they were a new player Taxes are not akin to gratuities. But since you made the analogy, wouldnt it be nice if you had no childrenyou could opt out of the portion of the taxes that went to schools?

Its not "punishing" the crew by supporting an industry with 1000s of my dollars which in turn enables the cruise lines to hire crew in the first place. Why should I get punished by paying a mandatory gratuity to someone that just hands me a beer? If the cruise lines want to increase the amount of the fare and do away with mandatory and auto-gratuity and thus pay their crew more, I am here for it. But this isnt the model that Royal, in particular is doing at the moment. And you have to ask why and I think we know the reasons. And again, the logic is escaping you and others, that by supporting the cruise industry, we enable more jobs for more crew members and keep the current crew from losing their jobs Doesnt sound like punishment to me. Just curious, when you buy your goods in other areas of your life, are you concerned about the conditions of the workers of these companies that make said goods?

It also seems pretty simple that if you are worried about the crew, you wouldnt be advocating for people that remove gratuities to just stop sailing when those people generate income to a cruise industry that is still trying to recover from the shutdown. What you are suggesting hurts crew members who would be let go if we followed your suggestion. Where is your concern for the crew?

No, the crew still gets my money by me paying the published fare. Abd IF I buy a drink package that charges a gratuity BEFORE service is ever provided(foreign concept) the crew still gets my money. IF i buy a drink on board..same thing. SO, IF Royal is going to charge a mandatory gratuity for some services then ask yourself, why dont they do it for everything and do away with the daily gratuity charge? And by your logic, if people dont cruise then it hurts the cruise lines which in turn hurts the crew when the logical crew reductions that would follow the amount of people who are advocating to stop cruising I am thinking that you really dont care about the crew

Not a matter of being cheap. The cruise industry wouldnt collapse. They could move to a no gratuity based fare pricing any time they see fit and not skip a beat. Virgin cruise lines seems to be doing ok without the auto gratuities. How are they not collapsing? Its not up to consumers to ensure that the cruise lines engage in fair labor practices. The cruise lines publish a fare. I pay said fare which these days is not "cheap". I can remove auto-gratuities as I see fit. Its laughable to call people cheap who spend 1000s of dollars on taking a cruise in the first place

I fully agree. I pay a published fare for a cruise. That alone helps employ the crew. The cruise lines that include a daily auto-gratuity could "fix" this issue if they wanted. But they choose not to. It is amazing to see all these savior complex people who claim to worry about all the crew and their well being but they could careless about the low wage and often times slave labor that is used to make the clothing on their backs. They could careless about the wages of the dishwasher at their favorite restaurants. Could careless about the industries that use immigrants and pay them unfair wages that produce the daily goods they consume. They could careless about all the problems surrounding the tip culture in the US, for example, that have created terrible workplaces for their employees. Racism, sexual harassment, discrimination, etc..etc..etc,, Its only when these people go on vacation that they suddenly become altruistic and are ready to condemn others on the cruise that pay for the published fares that enable the cruise lines to operate in the first place But back to the OP. They are right. Cutting half of a service should result in lower gratuities. It is illogical to think otherwise. People are so ingrained in this tipping mentality and their savior complexes that they have lost all logic and reasoning. Save your gratuities. Give to a charity if you want to feel better about yourself. Otherwise you are just enabling unfair labor practices by the cruise lines

Its easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled is all you need to know about people who think you should pay the same gratuity for half the service. They think have a savior complex about their tipping and just give the cruise lines a pass on their labor practices. They think its more than reasonable to get charged an auto-gratuity of 18% just for a bartender to hand them a beer. PT Barnum said it best....

The price of the supposed premier package was per package NOT per guest. It was another mistake because RC started taking it back. Not pissed at all because I think its wrong to try to take advantage of other's obvious mistakes in order to try to get something for nothing.

Just find this all funny for those people who knew that the Premier Package was too good to be true but they bought anyway in order to try to get something for nothing by taking advantage of a mistake. AND to top that, when RC said you would get $50 OBC as a mea culpa but instead they sent $100 OBC per package, these same people went and spent the $100 OBC AGAIN taking advantage of a mistake. Now, RC is ultimately at fault but this sure is funny and ironic to see

Just find this all funny for those people who knew that the Premier Package was too good to be true but they bought anyway in order to try to get something for nothing by taking advantage of a mistake. AND to top that, when RC said you would get $50 OBC as a mea culpa but instead they sent $100 OBC per package, these same people went and spent the $100 OBC AGAIN taking advantage of a mistake. Now, RC is ultimately at fault but this sure is funny and ironic to see

Next thread will be how RC raise cruise planner prices so your $50 OBC will equate to about $10

yes, there should be some serious accountability for those responsible for this mistake. Do you really think Royal would offer this package for $89/pair regardless of sailing length? I agree, there have been instances of RC starting low but this was something different entirely especially as people mentioned, at a time where they are raising prices and cutting back. I want people to be made whole via a refund and restoration of any packages cancelled at rate they purchased them. I think that is more than fair

so which one is it? ALL supplier contracts are iron clad or they have clauses in them to allow for passing along increased costs? Cant have it both ways. The fact is that you have no idea whats in their contracts so you can state with certainty that part of RCs raise in prices is not only increased demand but higher cost of goods as well. AND with higher demand, staffing has to be increased which leads to higher labor cost but demand also could signal labor shortage and force RC to cutback in some areas because they cannot hire enough labor. Not everything is a "cash grab". It always comes back to basic economics and what the market/customers will bear when it comes to a product/service

Customers are not forced to purchase excursions from RC with exception of course to Labadee and Coco Cay. So you want us to believe that RC is not experiencing increased operating costs? OK..you can ignore basic economics if you like. Cruising demand is at a high right now. Inflation + higher demand=higher prices. People got used to low pandemic pricing.