Buckeyefrank100

Their shortcomings are their food and beverage services. The reviews are not wrong.

Their private island is beautiful but make sure you know what you're getting into on the ship.

We just got off the Meraviglia and took the same approach... bad reviews? How bad could it be? Well we won't be back on MSC again, regardless of pricing. We ran into most of the issues that plagued the other posters... buffet stations closed... long buffet lines.... poor selection of food at times.... drinks and mixers out at various bars and not restocked..... no beer at the beer and wine bar the last day... long lines (30 minutes most times) at bars...

It wasn't smoky when we cruised last month on her, but good luck getting food and drinks on it if you go.

It's not going to change for the mass cruise lines, and honestly the only way it will change is if people don't cruise because of it. Then they may get the message... but that's not going to happen.... I mean, MSC still gets passengers.

That piece of paper could be a forgery, it could be real. Whatever it is, it is not on RCCL letterhead and is very much an internal document and is not for customer consumption. The fact that a customer service person gave it out, doesn't change that. Being an internal document, the language makes perfect sense and does not imply to me a single person.... and who cares???? That's between RCCL and the employee.

So right on their website are the terms and prices of service charges and what they are used for. It specifically says it goes to staff including non-customer facing positions. I cannot remotely see how that is shady or scam? As much as you would like it, the cat is out of the bag and will NOT go back to the old way of envelops. The crew was truly screwed during that time. Service charges were put into place because of the number of people who didn't leave any tips for anyone, not to cover up any shady business practices.

That's fair and I generally agree with the sentiment, but that is unfortunately not business or the way it's going. I get the frustration because I don't like when a routine hotel with a small indoor pool charges a resort fee. I don't like that at all, but it is disclosed and I can choose to participate or not. As far a the employee ratings, that is very wrong in my opinion. I have not been on Royal yet but have been on NCL and Carnival. Neither of those lines (to my knowledge) hold their employees to that standard. They seem to be the opposite. If someone is mentioned in a post cruise survey by name, the employee is actually rewarded by the line. It provided a pretty good incentive to make an impact. I've already decided that when we do cruise Royal next year that I won't be participating in their survey.

You do realize that regardless of how the fees are structured, you are in fact paying for the employee's wages, right? When you go to the grocery store, a portion of the cost of that food is literally to pay for the employees. Whether it's a tipped position or a salary, the customer is always paying for the employees.

I think you misunderstood me. I was replying to a comment as to why the service charge amounts are the same on each ship, not why the breakdown is different. I have no problem with the service charge and really don't care where it goes. It's a cost of cruising to me.

Nowhere in their literature does it state the tips go directly (and only) to the main steward or waiter. This is from RCL website: As of September 7th, 2022, the automatic service gratuity of $16.00 USD per person, per day for guests in non-suites staterooms, or $18.50 USD per person, per day for guests in Suites, will be applied to each guest’s SeaPass account on a daily basis. The gratuity applies to individual guests of all ages and stateroom categories. As a way to reward our crew members for their outstanding service, gratuities are shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to enhance the cruise experience It clearly spells out that funds will be divided among front line staff and support personnel. If you don't like it, stop cruising. Almost every line operates this way.

Again, just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's a scam... I think it's ridiculous that eggs cost over $4 a dozen... is it a scam? ... no. Is it a scam to give a $10 to the waiter at your local restaurant? No, but I guarantee they share that money with others in the back of the house, specifically the bus boy. That's not a scam either...... "but they don't tell me where the money is going..." please. Not a scam.

It's not a scam. A scam a thief steals from an unwilling participant. You may not LIKE the way they handle it, but it's not a scam. It's part of the cost of cruising. If you don't like it, don't cruise. Simple, but it's not a scam. There's already enough legitimate scams out there, we don't need to call legitimate business practices, scams.

Why wouldn't they be consistent across ships? A cabin in a ship from 2000 is not really different from a cabin in the Wonder...The rooms are generally the same size, take the same amount of time to vacuum, same size bathroom, same amount of towels, same number of beds.... so why should stewards get different amounts for being on a different ship? Same goes with the wait staff.

WHO CARES? Tip / don't tip... I don't care. Doesn't impact me at all. I have never adjusted the service charge because I consider it a cost of cruising. I don't care who gets it. That's between the line and their employee. I generally don't tip extra either unless someone has gone out of their way to make something special.

Where did he say that? Please present the article.

Except the man was likely in his 40s based on appearance and was seen on camera walking with another man in a field... And wrapping up a dead person in carpet and plastic (even if that person didn't kill him) is a crime in itself.

I appreciate that info. I'm getting ready to switch from an NCL cruise to the Icon tomorrow so I'll be able to see pricing hopefully for that. I've heard some people have had success in only buying 1 drink package for the room. My wife is on some important meds and alcohol interferes with them. She can drink 1 maybe 2 a day. My hope is being able to call them to buy a package for me and we would purchase her drinks. Not trying to go against rules by sharing either.

Not to argue, but I can't imagine a scenario in which they would qualify as an independent contractor. The cruise line dictates what position they work, their days off, the shift, the activity that needs completed. The only indicator would be a signed contract, however, that doesn't indicate employment status. There are lots of employees who have contracts. I know the IRS has been looking hard at IC vs EE and the company has a high burden of proof to label them as IC. I can see certain positions that might have a fighting chance to be IC, specifically entertainment staff, but wait staff, laundry, cooks, room stewards... they don't fit even one criteria. At the end of the day, I'm not sure any US reporting is required for these workers anyway. They shouldn't have any US tax liability I wouldn't think.

We are new to Royal and have not booked but do they run a 30-50% off for the 2nd person before the cruise or is that just onboard?

Carnival can say whatever they want to help with public relations. The FBI requesting search warrants do not lead me to think of a medical situation. In Ohio we just had a man go missing and was found dead wrapped up inside carpet and plastic. Authorities ruled his death natural causes. Not sure how a dead person can wrap himself up in carpet, but OK.

It wouldn't be a 1099. The workers don't qualify as independent contractors. If a US form is required it would be a W2.

You can stop with the 'corporations are evil' schtick. The ships are registered overseas (Bahamas I believe) and I agree it's a flag of convenience. They are a public company in the US and are required to have financial audits. I never said anything about taxes that the employees may or may not be paying or any documents they need or where the doctors are licensed in. I don't care. My point is that you or I have no idea how the "tip", "gratuity" or "service charge" works so you have no idea if it is fundamentally flawed. What does fundamentally flawed even mean? To me that would mean, they would have fundamental problems obtaining workers. Their ships are full of workers so I wouldn't say it's fundamentally flawed. If the asst waiter was mislead, he / she can simply leave the ship. I have no idea what you're point is that you're trying to make in the last paragraph. But revenue is not taxed differently because it is guaranteed or not.... and the DSC doesn't get counted as revenue for the cruise line. It goes to the employee. The fact that Royal Caribbean (or any other cruise line) doesn't tell you exactly how tips are distributed doesn't mean it's fundamentally flawed... Does Eddie Merlot Steakhouse or the Cracker Barrel tell you how the tips are distributed amongst the staff? Of course not. The servers are generally required to share that with other staff such as busboy, bar tending staff, cooks, etc. Is Eddie Merlot's tip process fundamentally flawed because they don't tell you who gets what of your tip? Nope.

Sorry, but that is impossible. They are a public corporation with operations in the United States. They are required to conduct an annual financial audit to ensure their financial statement, notes and supplementary disclosures are properly stated. When RCI collects payments under the name of Service Charge, Tips, etc and the literature states it is distributed to the crew, it certainly is. The auditor is required by GAAS to reasonably ensure of this. It may not show up on the employees paycheck as "tips", but 100% of that money is going to the employees. Some of it may be pooled for events, parties, special recognition, etc. but it all goes to the employees. There are hundreds of scenarios which would explain it not saying tip on their paycheck. They could be promised a minimum of tips per day and call it a draw. In that situation, tips collected by the CL less than guaranteed to the employee could be covered by the corp. It's a common sales setup in the US. The other possibility is that the asst waiter hasn't received gratuities yet because they may be distributed after a period of time... monthly, at the end of the contract, etc. My guess is, the employee you were talking to was either trying to make you feel bad for him / her to give an additional tip, misunderstood what you were asking or simply hasn't been there long enough to receive the gratuity payment. And even if you were correct and the corporation kept 100% (which they don't) of the gratuity, it still doesn't matter because the asst waiter agree to the wages before they started working. It's a contract between the employee and employer. I personally couldn't care less what they're making. I don't care what the cruise director or even CEO is making. It makes zero impact in my life. I keep the DSC on because that's what they're asking for. Simple.

Are you saying the crew doesn't receive the charged tips or am I reading your comments wrong?