iscruisingdunzo

Exactly!!!!!! I have had lengthy conversations with at least 10 people over the last 10 years who had jobs I would never choose to do, and have yet to meet an UNHAPPY staff member. I am very confident it is not because of the prepaid gratuities some people pay to subsidize the poverty level salary from RCL LOL.

Wow. It should not be any customers care or concern what RCL pays their staff! We are just the cash paying customer that is supposed to be enjoying the vacation we are paying for. And again, RCL just recorded profits in the BILLIONS. If their staff is unhappy about their pay, and I would assume that they are not because they seem to be fully staffed, their frustration should be with their employer and not the paying customers. If they choose to provide service that is exemplary, I am sure the same customers will reward them for their service as well via tips. Now, it there is indeed a problem that we are not aware of regarding the ship staff's pay, they should be taking action with their employer who is walking away with BILLIONS! Tomorrow, if every passenger decided to not prepay their "gratuities'' for the services they have yet to receive the staff's problem should not be with the customers, but with RCL for their policies and procedures. Why so many on this board have such a vested interest in their well being is quite scary. This really should not be of our concern and is not our fight. If you choose to subsidize RCL and give them an interest earning loan to further line their pockets then so be it, but that does not make those of us with a little common sense bad people by any means. LOL

Yes, the DATA IS THEY ARE THERE WEEK IN AND WEEK OUT! If they were not paid accordingly, NOBODY would work on a cruise ship. This is clearly evident when you are on a ship. Next time you are ask a few of the more labor intensive positions how long they have been working on a ship. The vast majority will be 5+ years. You don't make this choice if you are not paid or treated fairly.

LOL. Not a single cruise customer is screwing ANYONE over regardless of how they treat gratuities. Nobody is holding a gun to the head of every staff member on a cruise ship. Nobody is forcing them to work for wages that they think are unfair. They only work for one contract at a time and have no obligation to sign on again if the wages, conditions, and duties are so so poor. gra·tu·i·ty /ɡrəˈto͞oədē/ noun plural noun: gratuities a tip given to a waiter, taxicab driver, etc. And you can bet that if the wages were that bad and conditions were poor, the cruise lines would have a far harder time staffing them. But they are not. There has never been a short staffed RCI cruise ship.

It's always nice to see some people still left in the world with a little common sense!

My mind continues to be blown. Gratuities are "optional" per everyone but RCI. What this means is that you can remove them completely ...which means you can REDUCE THEM. Why in the world would ANYONE waste any time on the phone to give a company free money with interest, when YOU DO NOT HAVE TO????

Huh!? RCI just posted profits in the billions. This is not about surviving by any means.

Lol, this is the most comical thing I have ever read. That is like stating that you are the employer for every person you do business with! No sorry, again, gratuities AKA tips, are funds people pay to reward someone or a group of people for their quality of work. By no means do I consider myself the employer for anyone I tip!

Lol, yet I would bet and guess over 75% of their paying customers have NO IDEA gratuities are optional since RCI is shady and doesn't communicate this information clearly.

Exactly, just like it should not be our (the paying customer's) jobs to subsidize their salaries!

Regardless, has anyone ever been on an RCI ship that is short staffed? If their wages were not fair I would presume they would be much more difficult to staff...and to retain staff after the original first contract. I would guess this gratuity hike was not to increase the salaries of the staff on ships, but to increase the salaries for the staff in FL.

Lol right. With a corporate HQ in Miami. Hopefully Desantis hits them hard like Disney!

Lol. Nice try. Nowhere do they state on that page that gratuities are optional. They state that the gratuities are "automatic" and can be "modified", but they do not state they are optional at any point before, during, or after the booking process. Just another point to prove where they lie on the ethical meter. https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense Please cite a reference and prove me otherwise.

Please show me anything that is communicated from RCI that states gratuities are "optional".

All the more reason they should not be forcing customers to pay any "gratuities" and certainly should not be raising them and cutting back services.

Officially paying ZERO gratuities, and tipping those that earn it separately.

Except this is an American company largely profiting off of international staff. Just a lil bit different than the majority of America...

But they shouldn't even be raising anything. They are making BILLIONS! They have cutback services. An ethical company that is proper and fair would provide their staff a fair wage with no increase to the customer. RCI is greedy, unethical, and continually try to take advantage of their staff and customers. If I worked on a ship, I would gather everyone, walk off the ship and not return until I received an appropriate wage.

Lol. It has never been about rewarding those that provide exceptional service. It has always been about subsidizing their salaries. This has never changed.

What kind of explanation do you need? The company just made profits in the billions. They think their customers are idiots...we will see if they continue to be right.

Just another blatant sign that they are a greedy unethical company. They made billions but don't even want to pay their employees accordingly, and require their customers to subsidize their employee's salaries. Hilarious stuff.

This is quite literally the most hilarious thing I have read about RCL in some time. They just released that they were a company that made BILLIONS, yet they still expect their customers to cover their employees salaries. Good luck with that RCL!

The parent is traveling with their child. There would be no reason for that.

What are all the tweakers confused about? RCL is operating a ship with known engine issues, and issues they have known about for some time. They were/are selling cruises with itineraries that they know they cannot make happen due to the performance issues. This clearly is a poor business choice and reflects on their ethical character. This is not right. AND If they are selling cruises and know for a fact they will be changing the itinerary BEFORE the final payment is due, they should be communicating this to their customers and provide full refunds if the customers request them. But they are not. Not the most ethical thing to do in my book, but to each their own.

My mind is literally blown about all the people that care so much about all the personal details that DO NOT MATTER. RCL clearly made a big mistake. Period. I am going to go back to my life off message boards once again, since clearly I am among people that do not have one. Thanks!