Engineroom Snipe

In my earlier response about wait staff being visibly upset, it was a specific time period when pre-paid gratuities did not exist. Please look at the time period of years that I quoted in my post. I was immediately judged as being presumptive and assuming guests did not leave a tip or gratuity. THERE WOULD BE NO REASON FOR ANY STAFF THAT WAS PAID GRATUITIES TO BE UPSET ON THE LAST NIGHT OF THE CRUISE IN MDR IF THEY WERE PAID EXPECTED OR ANTICIPATED GRATUITIES. Heck, if the gratuities were already paid, the staff were being given "the night off" if guests were not present and should be very happy serving a reduced workload. Why would I observe upset staff on the last night of MDR being noticeably dour, short, and otherwise unhappy if they were already compensated in the form of a tip or gratuity? If I was a waiter who received my gratuities, I would celebrate my last night off without guests. Maybe that is why I might infer that guests did not pay their gratuities when they visibly look upset on the last night of MDR at a table where guests did not appear. That would not be an unreasonable observation.

I will admit, you also bring up an interesting point: Do guest tip in advance as a bribe to get better service or more drinks at a lower or no price later in the cruise? One can only observe at many bars across the world if this is successful. The tipper is playing the odds that they will get more in return than they give. We might disagree with each other on endpoints but I can appreciate the discussion.

@Husky1987 I have witnessed this on MANY cruises long ago. There were many fuming wait staff and it was an uncomfortable environment on that last night. I mostly noticed this absentee last night from about 2002 to 2010 before My Time Dining but after they started to do Windjammer breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What were your time periods of observation?

Your experience aligns with what I would expect. Unless it affects the bottom line, RCI would "...shrug it off as expected." That is the reason I am holding on to my money for a while with current cruise pricing. Future bookings will only come down when future bookings do not meet their historical and projected quotas. By delaying my bookings, maybe I am helping others as well as myself. As you present your case, calling and complaining has limited effect and will not change RCI's course.

To add to my recent comment, if you order room service for breakfast that requires a room service fee and mandatory 18% included gratuity, you are completely covered and your logic is infallible.

Interesting, very interesting, you bring a new thought to the conversation. With the Unlimited Dining Packages charging 18% gratuity, you are being double charged for your lunches and diners if you pay the standard gratuity. Someone here might complain that you are not paying a gratuity on your breakfasts. If you do not eat breakfast, your logic sounds very plausible.

You raise a pertinent question: "Who in the 'other' gets that money?" It represents quite a large percentage of the charges. Similar to New Jersey State when they say a new tax or fee is "going into the general coffers." The General Coffers is a euphemistic black hole that lacks any specific reason except for the politicians to go to it for their pet projects.

Always amazing when long time posters try to present factual evidence only to be refuted by newly minted posters, without any type of references or evidence to back up their claim(s). The old "I am right, you are wrong, I do not have to prove anything because I know I am right and you are wrong." It is not a discussion, it is pontification at that point. @bonsai3s I have no reason to doubt that you did obtain the slip from an RCI ship from Guest Services. I have personally seen them being given out at GS to other guest while waiting in line concerning other matters. You shared with us what you received which is relevant to this discussion about "why the increase and where does it go?"

@iscruisingdunzo Agreed. So many times you will read in many threads about how RCI has to repay the loans using increased fees and prices as a reason. The CEO says for far too long, in so many words, cruises were being priced much lower than "comparable" vacation experiences. I am "comparing" vacation experiences and cruising is starting to not be very competitive. As I said, I am just going to wait on the sidelines for the dust to settle a bit before I book any more RCI cruises. I have been loyal to Royal since 1988.

Very interesting analysis and well presented. Thank you for your time and opinion on the matter. What I am seeing and listening on this particular thread is not the average complaining and moaning that some others threads contain. The opinions come from many thoughtful experienced cruisers who love cruising. We are banging the drum as loud as we can to say to RCI: "You are crossing the loyal repeat customer lines...." . I have only 7 days reserved for next year and none for 2025. Probably the first time in ten years where I did not have a minimum of 16 days per year booked well in advance. I will be doing a review of the 8pm MDR on the Jewel one week from now (not live). I have not been impressed with dining for many years. I keep hoping for the best. I hope it is not once again mediocre "SYSCO" provided foods and sauces. So far, the food except in a few circumstances has been maybe a 6 out of ten at best for the last few years. Reading these posts, I am not alone about "where is the money going" except to pay RCI shareholders after borrowing lots of money to survive the pandemic. I had to provide for my family during the pandemic. I am not going to pay what I think are additional fees for new cruises just to "help RCI survive." I am just standing on the sidelines for awhile to watch things unfold.

I have never tried to do that. Looking forward to someone answering your question from experience. I dread giving "hypothetical" advice only to get you frustrated after you get onboard with bad information.

@EmmasNana On Oasis in September we did not prepay gratuities and were able to use OBC to pay for gratuities.

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.

@livingonthebeach You are correct, there is a money savings off the full price. I never remember having that card available at the beginning of any cruise. I do not think RCI is doing this to save the cruisers money. If they wanted to do that, they would offer it at the beginning of every cruise. The intent of my sarcasm was that RCI normally only makes it available when they are not making drink quotas beyond the drinking packages already bought and paid for. As some people have mentioned, not everyone uses all of the drinks punches before the cruise ends after they buy these cards. To the best of my knowledge, they are only offered about two days or less of the end of the cruise. Even at this discount, RCI must be making a reasonable profit or they would not offer it. If people who are not using drinking packages consume products at full price and the ship is meeting quota expectations, the cards are not offered. There have been discussions on many topics about after the first three days, cruisers with unlimited drink packages start decreasing their consumption. This was why the drink package per day price is higher on the three and four day cruises referred to as "booze cruises". They are drinking hard for most of their cruise. The seven days or more cruises tend to have cheaper per day prices because there is peak use during the first few days which declines afterwards. I can also see how C&A higher tier members might be prime targets for this card as it allows drinks to be shared and encourages them to buy a bit more than their daily tier quota which they enjoy at no cost.

Just an hypothesis: The cruisers who bought premium beverage packages on a seven day cruise are getting a bit "saturated" about three days into the cruise. The bars seem to have a bit of "free" time on their hands. The bean counters who get a computerized spreadsheet on every bar instantaneously realize they are not meeting quotas. Let us set some bait on the hook so people feel like they can save money and we can make money. Break out the discount card.

Oasis cruise, September this year, it was for sale. You could share the card. The ship occupancy was a few hundred short of rated capacity (to the point of exceeding double occupancy easily, many three and four to a room as I walked by stewards doing cabins). I do not know exactly what days it was offered but I saw people using them on Friday of a Sunday through Saturday cruise.

And some of them do not even face the ocean!!!!😁

Getting into NJ is free but you have to pay a toll or a tax to leave!!!! If you are passing through, we get you coming and going!!!!!! 🤣

There could be a "two tier system" with different pricing models for those who just like to "watch" and those who want to "actively participate". Similar to using the lounge chairs near the pool as compared to going into the pool water. 🤑

In the Navy, after a ship was overhauled or repaired, we would go for a "Shake-Down" cruise which would have every system heavily tested to see if the repairs could handle expectations. RCI is now doing "Shake-Down" cruises but they are testing your financial limits to see how much stress the consumer can handle. 🤣

BINGO! Maybe I save some of my cruise money for the down cycle a year or two away and make up for the cruise days I will miss next year. I enjoy cruising but I am not addicted to it. So much more to life, I will spend that time not cruising at some of my local beaches listening and looking at the waves. This is the same thing I do from the pool deck or my balcony. 🫠

So far, the CEO thinks things will not cool and he is trying to rake in as much additional profit as possible. This is great for the stockholders but not so great for experienced cruisers getting sticker shock going into next year. It will take some time to see how this really affects prices, maybe 2025 will be the turning point as many experienced cruisers book years in advance. As of now, RCI is enjoying high demand and getting premium prices. Absolutely no incentive for RCI to reduce what they charge until demand drops.

I am halfway through these responses and I have not seen the ever present standard answer of "it's the law of supply and demand, RCI has record occupancy this year......" I am with you. My bookings have stopped as of December 2022. I had 23 nights booked for 2023. So far, 7 nights for 2024 and none for 2025. I am going to wait on the sidelines for a while and try some other experiences with the money. The CEO was right that cruising was less expensive than other experiences and it was his mission to get cruise prices "more aligned" with other vacation experiences. In doing so, he is negating the advantages that cruising offered and opening up the door for people to look for other experiences that now cost the same due to increased cruise total expenses.

RCI is coordinating the balloon 'refurbishment" with the new adult only beach and ICON class ships arriving in January, 2024.

When MTD was originally introduced, your statement was the rationale. When there was only one dining room aboard the ship, for example, Nordic Prince, 1988, the only time you were not seated and served by your assigned waiter and busboy was Tea Time about 4pm and the Midnight Buffet. The introduction of the Windjammer and alternate free eating venues created a void where tips were not expected but service was still needed.