clean1owner

9 hours ago, parrotfeathers said:

 

Two males don't necessarily mean they are a "couple."  I travel with either my sis or sis-in-law and I cannot imagine people thinking we are a "couple."

 

Ummmm...... In his post he stated "Why:  being a male couple, the looks from fellow passengers is still disturbing and it's just not worth the aggravation."

On 4/12/2019 at 12:14 PM, firefox247 said:

And the tons of people who are going to want into Chops for late night dessert options but not a real meal.  I have no idea how they are going to handle that.

Are the desserts in Chops that great as to go there specifically for one?  On our recent Adventure cruise, I found the best desserts in the Windjammer.

On 4/12/2019 at 11:48 AM, ShillyShally said:

LOL at what point do you lose money on pancakes?

 

I think it's when the customer starts eating their 74th.

On 4/12/2019 at 10:59 AM, Tree_skier said:

 

 

It seems the new program has more questions than answers.

 

As is the case with pretty much every program RCCL introduces.

On 4/11/2019 at 9:44 AM, Surfguyxxx said:

I usually do specialty dining every night so this is right up my alley.  Why:  being a male couple, the looks from fellow passengers is still disturbing and it's just not worth the aggravation. You would think in this day and age, it wouldn't happen, but it does.   You get better service and the food is of higher quality.  On top of that, we're now saving $$$$$.  Win win for us!

 

 

So you posted a completely irrelevant comment, and went out of your way just to let everybody know you are a male couple, which nobody here could give a rat's tail about.

8 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Not a Broadway show, just a typical cruise ship production show.

And a horrible one at that.

I guess I should have pointed out it was a very sarcastic post.

On 3/22/2019 at 10:36 AM, flowerlady said:

What Broadway show is on Adventure of the Seas?

 

Invitation to dance.

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

  
Serious question, I worry about having large amounts of cash on me when I travel.  Any tips on the most secure way to carry it? 

I split mine up between my checked bag, my carry on, and my front pocket.

Most of the larger ports have taxis that are handicap accessible. They can take you to wherever you want to go.

3 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

 

I would be worried about getting caught off guard if the ATM is not working.  It has happened.

The lady doth worry too much, methinks.

12 hours ago, Lady Hudson said:

  I remember the days of sitting on the bed with various envelopes trying to get the right amount in each envelope.  The memory is not a fond one.  Katherine

I remember it taking less than 2 minutes and no problem whatsoever. 

13 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I fully admit that I stopped reading around page 4.  But I only have one question...and I don't really care what you tip or how you tip.... but WHY does anyone want to carry hundreds of dollars in cash around to tip the crew when all you need to do is keep it on your account, or prepay?  I mean, when I go to a cruise and fly, I always go a few days early.  I have to carry enough cash for other expenses, why carry an extra $200 or more for tips when you don't have to?    And then if you end up not bringing enough, do you pay the high ATM fees on the ship?  Spend your last shore day searching out a bank to get extra cash?  Take an advance on your credit card?  And why spend ANY of my cruise in the Guest Services line when not needed?  

We cruised prior to AutoTips.  It was a total pain to make sure we carried enough cash to cover all the tips.  But, to each his own.  

A couple $100 bills takes up virtually no space in my pocket. If I'm already carrying $500-$1000 in cash for the trip, another $200 is nothing.

I don't schedule my time so tightly that I can't afford 1-2 minutes at Guest services. I probably walk past the desk 50 times over the coarse of the trip. Also, on the last night, they have piles of tipping envelopes just sitting on a table. Might take all of 5 seconds to grab a few.

Maybe they just roll you out on the table and continue the massage during Muster.

7 hours ago, stevendom57 said:

 It's a good thing I am not traveling to  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales.

 

My daughter was there!  Has the obligatory picture standing in front of the sign.

4 hours ago, mr walker said:

 

You totally missed the point. In an effort to support your view, you lost all objectivity to the 'evidence' the other poster provided, which was clearly wrong, and just quoted it holus-bolus as 'proof'.

 

Then you try to cover your tracks by diversion from the subject of misguided belief of 'facts' that support your position, to a bunch of side points.

 

Anyway, we all should choose, and live with, what we do with tipping on cruiseships & elsewhere - you need to justify it seems, but it's not necessary, well not on an internet forum at least.

I may never be able to show my face on CC again.

12 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Bob answered the question in post #2 - $14.50 per day/per person.  You may ignore the other 6 pages of silliness as people will tell you that you have to tip every single crew member on the ship.

 

Unfortunately,  Royal no longer provides the breakdown of how that tip is distributed.   It used to be for the 4 major customer facing crew members (minus bartenders) with the bulk of it going to the Cabin attendant, with the rest (in decreasing order) going to the waiter, assistant waiter and finally the head waiter (aka matre'd).  Some CC memebers have posted the breakdown in the past but I believe it's old info.

 

Now Royal just says it gets distributed to all who enhance your cruise experience.

I posted earlier in the thread what Guest Services says goes to Dining Staff ($6.25) and Stateroom Attendant ($3.55). It is from our February 24th Adventure cruise.

12 hours ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

I kinda agree with you except I know for a fact they do get a list of who paid their tips or not. I've seen this list on a steward's cart on 3 different cruises now.

 I guess I have never paid that close attention to what is on the Room Stewards cart.

6 hours ago, mr walker said:

 

There ya go where? Someone posted what you wanted to see to support your point & you go all in with them, even though the basis of their calculations & the data was easily shown to be totally wrong.

Objective reading and interpretation of facts is an art that can be learnt.

Nobody EVER posts incorrect information on Cruise Critic boards.

Just like knowing for a fact that all the auto-tip money goes exactly where RCCL says it goes...actually it covers everyone right down to the guy checking Sea Pass cards when getting off in port.

Or knowing for a fact that employees get to keep all the cash tips they are given, errr...they have to turn them into the pool anyway, so why bother. 

They get a daily printout stating who cancelled auto-tips.....no wait, they don't have a clue. 

The list goes on and on.......

1 hour ago, Waycoolrob said:

Ok lets look at this from a mathematical stand point, (my numbers are estimated here) We are sailing on Allure in in 11 days so I will use her numbers. 

First I purchase a drink package x2 for my wife and I,  in which gratuities are included in the price at 18% this is roughly $45.00 each in tips.

Now lets figure very low and say roughly 3000 of the  8565 passengers by the package.

Now we leave on the automatic tips as well. my wife and I at $14.50 per person per day adds up to $101.50 pp

Ok lets add this up

 The 3000 buying the drink package all pay $45.00 in tips automatically added to the price that adds up to.....$135,000.00

let also figure low and say 5000 of the 8565 people leave the auto tips on at $101.50 pp per week, that equals.... $507,500.00

so just with that many leaving the auto tips on and those buying drink packages that adds up too $642,000.00

in auto tips alone. 

So Allure which we will sailing on has a crew of 2384 that divided is roughly $2600.00 rounding down per person per week if every one on the crew got an equal share of the so called tip pool. So really where do you think your auto tip goes? Do you really think your average cruise ship employee makes over 10 grand a month in tips alone? I have a sneaky suspicion they do not. The cruise line is keeping your tip money folks. Lets also not forget every drink you buy is auto tipped at 18% at every bar. I am unsure is tips are automatically included in specialty restaurants or in the coffee shops but if so add even more the alleged tip pool.   Again my numbers of those who but the drink package or leave on auto tips is just me and what I think then I lowered it. I strongly feel these numbers are much higher. Again in my opinion hand it to them, let them put there money in there pocket in my opinion that is the right thing to do. 

 

There ya go.

33 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

How is this different from any restaurant in the U.S.?

31 minutes ago, ano said:

Its almost the same, actually. 

The only difference is that with the land based restaurant, the US Government is in the place of RCCL. They are the body that allows restaurants to pay tipped employees less of a base wage, therebye making the customer feel more obligated to leave a tip, regardless of the quality of service.

7 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

If I was tipping in cash, I'd give separate tips to the waiter and assistant waiter.

That is exactly what I do

8 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Sorry, I don't know about any tip pooling that may or may not occur with the wait staff.

Even "The Shadow" doesn't know that!

8 hours ago, The Sunset Glow said:

Curious - how do people who do My Time Dining and remove auto grats handle tipping the various dining staff? I genuinely want to know this as it seems impossible to me so I'm interested in how people do it.

I just had My Time Dining and had the same Wait Staff all week. I removed auto-grats on day 1 and gave cash tips in RCCL provided envelopes on the last night of the cruise. 

Worked perfectly fine.  I know who directly received the tip, and they appreciated it.

12 hours ago, springfire said:

 

 

Royal has shifted gratuities so much over the years, they now want us to pay so many other crew members besides the dining team and stateroom attendants.    Royal is telling us that our automatic service gratuity also includes paying bar and culinary staff,  and other hotel services teams who work behind the scene.  Nobody really knows what Royal is doing with the money

 

 

 

BINGO!!

a

18 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

That works for cabin stewards but how would it work for waiters in my time dining? Guests are no longer allocated to one table and server team. And the suggested amount for waiters is much higher than for cabin staff.

I just had My Time Dining and had the same server team all week.