Zou Bisou Bisou

Could be interesting.........

Maybe they plan on using these private venues (DL's) for private groups, private parties. We had several areas on recent cruises blocked off for private parties. For instance the Olive & Twist was used several nights on one cruise. Not fun if you go up there only to find out you have to go to another bar or the DL/CL instead, even with the drink package.

I am sure there is money to be made by having groups with private events. There are a lot of big groups that cruise now. If they used the DL's they would be private and not taking bars away from all other guests. JMO

So, If you are using the beverage package don't the servers get a prepaid

gratuity? I have heard comments from others that the service seems slower

when they used the beverage package. Does anyone know how the servers get

the tips?

The service is absolutely not slower. Have used it twice on two different ships, Navigator and Liberty. Service was great!

For a standard bar tip, $1 per drink per round. Maybe extra if the bartender is really attentive or there are a lot of specialty drinks involved. I really wouldn't calculate 15% exactly.

 

As for getting off topic, there is a certain segment that wants to argue against tipping in general. Why do I have to do it, I don't do it at home. Why can't they be paid a 'fair wage'. I don't take pride in playing Lord Bountiful. I have paid for my cruise, why should I tip. and on and on and on. I have been reading CC for years and years. This discussion will never go away.

Good point. I haven't been here as long as you and don't regularly post. I also don't read all the tipping threads. What I have learned is that it seems to be people from the UK and some Americans who because they don't eat in the MDR think they are entitled to make up their own tipping rules.

Oh well, until they come up with a different tipping system at Royal Caribbean I will follow the current system. It is there for a reason.

This is a poor comparison, as servers (and those in like occupations like bar tenders) expect their wage to fluctuate depending on customers level of happiness with the service provided. A constant level of income is not expected and customer satisfaction is an agreed variant.

 

This is a different paradigm to salaried workers.

 

I am paid a yearly amount (this is the most common system in Australia) and yes it can go down if I fail to perform. I could be demoted to a lower pay grade, or in very serious cases i can be put on leave without pay if my conduct needs to be investigated. These are the agreed variants.

Actually it is a rather good comparison. When you are being served it is not always the servers fault if the service is sub par or bad. Sometimes it is the kitchen, sometimes the server has too many tables because they are short on

staff and maybe in that particular moment the server is having a bad time for some other reason.

If a server is usually sub par or bad then yes of course they will eventually be demoted or let go. Just as you say you would be. But you wouldn't immediately lose pay and a non-tipped server would immediately lose pay. And I do not think a server takes a job with the expectation that customers won't tip.

I guess I am getting a lesson in how others treat servers. And I will go back to the Karma thing. What goes around comes around. I would rather error on the side of being generous to someone than error on the side of not being generous.

I'll catch up on the whole thread tomorrow when I am back in the U.S., but.....

 

I ordered and received a can of soda during "happy hour" and was not charged for it, in the Schooner Bar.

 

I ordered and received a lemon drop (which is a kind of martini, for those who aren't familiar with it) during "happy hour" and was not charged for it, in the Schooner Bar.

 

Perhaps because they know that I tip......

 

;)

Our Diamond friends ordered the high end drinks and they were covered in the Pub the first night. Their server did not know whether they would tip extra or not.

I have no intention of getting into this ridiculous, and never ending, debate but why don't you stop posting incorrect information. All one has to do is go to guest services and tell them that you will take care of your own tips by cash as was done in the past. That is it. Its done. So stop posting about mandatory tipping, RCI telling you what you are going to do, or having to say you had bad service every day by each employee.

And when was the last time you did this? Have you done this since the mandatory gratuities policy has been in place?

And do you make sure your main dining room staff assigned to your table know you won't be eating there and they won't be receiving a tip from you? Because if

you don't choose MTD you have a table assigned to you in the MDR unless you let them know once on board. And even then, those seats will most likely remain empty. So those unfortunate waiters have empty seats for those tables and if you don't tip them then they are out the money.

That is the way the system is set up on Royal Caribbean. I know you and others advocate tipping only those you choose to and not adhering to the system.

Eating in the windjammer all the time is fine and it is great to tip those that assist you in the WJ, but the system is set up the way it is for a reason. That is why MTD requires prepaid tips. We choose MTD and then rarely eat in the MDR. We have prepaid our tips so the servers are covered the way the system is set up to cover them. And then in the Specialty restaurants we pay the service charge and

tip extra.

You are saying I could go to guest services and have my tips removed and say I will pay in cash. And then not tip the MDR servers because I did not eat in there? Why would I do that? Those servers work hard for their money and just because I make other choices on board doesn't mean they should loose a portion of their livelihood. If the system were set up differently fine, but it is not.

With regard to the topic originally started on this thread, do we Diamonds and above know if when using one of the complimentary drinks whether or not the waiter receives a tip automatically per drink or doesn't receive one at all?

In our case, we don't use the coupons as we purchase the drink package and our tips are paid through the package and then we tip extra to those who give us extra special service during the week and there are usually several who do just that.

So you reward bad service the same as good service? This doesn't make sense to me.

No I don't reward, I give the customary expected tip. So I just don't punish. If you want to punish go ahead.

So in any other occupation, if you are paid by the hour or salaried (not tipped) you don't get your wages cut if you have a bad moment or day in your job do you?

I am not talking about those tips. You will see I cruise regularly with RCL. I am talking about other people telling me I HAVE to tip.

If I wasn't clear, I apologise

No apology necessary. But I must have missed something. If not the usual tips then what tips were you talking about?

Tipping your stateroom attendant and waitstaff is only mandatory if you have My Time Dining. If you have traditional dining, you can have the tips removed. Although I would say that service would have to be truly horrid to justify doing so.

Well I think Royal Caribbean was smart in charging (other than MTD) people their gratuities on a DAILY basis. You may get them removed, but you would have to say you had bad service EVERY day by each employee to get them all removed. If someone is willing to do that....well...Karma can be a b*tch. haha!

Precisely people should tip what they want! You want to tip the 15% and then add more, no problem. Go ahead, you don't want to tip because the service is appalling? No issue , you have the right.

 

I prefer to tip an appropriate amount dependent upon the service received, I don't think that should be a problem.

 

I just don't think anyone has the right to tell me to tip and how much that should be.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you order a drink from a bar server on a Royal Caribbean Ship you have to tip the 15% because it is immediately put on your sea pass card and it cannot be removed.

You do not have to order the drink, but if you do, they can and do tell you exactly what you have to tip.

Also, tipping for Cabin Attendants, Dining Room Waiters, Asst. Waiters and Head Waiters is now mandatory as well and is charged daily to your sea pass account.

So not only does Royal Caribbean have the right to tell you to tip and how much to tip, they actually force you to tip.

More and more frequently I walk into restaurants who flatly state they want 18% - 25%. Those are often the places I get the worst service. Go figure. 15%, IMO, is adequate for good service. Prompt but nothing spectacular. A good baseline.

 

If you get lousy service in a restaurant deducting from that doesn't mean you are cheap or undertip. It wasn't so long ago that 10% was considered adequate and 15% generous. Now they demand 20% and don't want to work for it. It's an issue and it's very dismissive to blame the customer.

 

By the way, not all wait staff in the U.S. are compensated poorly to start with. Federal law will guarantee a minimum take home wage; more often than not workers uninformed of their rights or working for owners that are not fair to them are more to blame for not earning their fair share than are the tipping habits of the clientele. If service were up to par it would never be an issue, would it?

 

I have tipped everywhere from 0% to 100%. And if it's not fair, so be it, I pay money for services rendered.

But it is not dismissive to blame the server as you are?

Most of the time my servers in restaurants are good to very good. Sometimes they are not so good. But I have to say, I have never deducted anything from the customary tip. But hey, that's just me. You do what you want.

We had our balcony dividers opened on Allure between two balcony cabins (non connecting), however were denied on Navigator with connecting balcony cabins.

 

 

I have heard the way the dividers on Navigator/Mariner are designed they do not stay open well leading to potential injury so this is why they do not allow them to be opened, however that is at best 3rd hand information.

 

Supposedly that flaw has been fixed with Freedom and newer ships :confused:.

They opened our dividers on Navigator last month. They do not stay open or closed well so we put a chair in front of the door and that did the trick. On the newer ships the dividers slide in instead of opening outward. So yes, they did correct the design flaw.

On our balcony on the Navigator, it appeared that technically the dividers could open, just not sure if it is actually permitted. It was just my husband and I that cruise, so we didn't think to ask about it.

They opened our balcony divider for us on the Navigator last month.. We asked the cabin steward and it was done by the time we returned from Muster.

I for one don't like being told to "tip my servers". I have written several times over the years on CC about my feelings towards tipping and will repeat them here -

 

I believe in tipping for a job well done and when people go above and beyond, I tip very well. I do not believe in putting the tip on my bill i.e. "auto tipping" as I don't know where it goes or to whom it goes.

 

My frustration with tipping is that "we" the customers are making up the wages of the staff because they are not paid enough otherwise. I would cite myself as a capitalist - I have run my own businesses for the last 20 years - but I believe in paying a "fair" wage to my employees, which is well above any minimum wage.

 

In the UK we do tip for good service but we also know that the individuals are earning at least minimum wage - (having said that as a nation (yes I'm

generalising!!) we are not great at service as an industry and I put that down to lack of training.)

 

Whenever I visit the US (and on a cruise) I get great service more often than not, but I know it is because the "servers" are working hard for a tip because they are not paid well and rely on tips to make up the difference.

 

With good training people should be able to earn a good living and enjoy their tips when they make that extra effort, which is always appreciated.

 

I don't like having to pay a 15% service charge on every single drink I have on board a US ship, I would much rather tip the bartender or server at the end of the day or evening as we would on a UK ship.

 

But all that said - I enjoy the US ships and my cruises with all nationalities - "Vive la difference".

 

Gets down from soapbox.....

Obviously, you have the right to your opinion. But if they took the 15% tip off the drink bill they would have to raise the price of the drink by 15% to compensate the bar servers. So what's the difference? You can always tip more than 15%, no one is stopping you.

You say you are a Capitalist and pay your employees more than minimum so why would you think the bar servers on the ships should get paid 15% less because you don't like auto tipping?

And yes, you are correct, we the customers are making up the wages of the staff because they are not paid enough anyway. So as long as you know that, what exactly is your problem with the way it is done? It is done the same way in U.S. restaurants. Everyone knows that so everyone tips 15% or more. Well not everyone, there are certainly cheapskates who undertip or don't tip at all, but Karma will take care of them..haha!

I saw another post here on CC when someone mentioned that there is NO Diamond Lounge on The Explorer (on Diamond Event) and that they instituted the 3 drink voucher system for Diamond and above cruisers.

 

Does anyone know if they have instituted the 3 drink voucher system on the Jewel which also does not yet have a Diamond Lounge? I know that they have an event, but that only includes wine and champagne and a 25% discount on other drinks. Since I have been Diamond we have only been on ships that had Diamond Lounge. I enjoy mixed drinks which are not offered for free in a DL. It would be nice if they instituted this as it would also give cruisers options of other places to go.

I thought they instituted this on all the ships now. I could be wrong. But we did have the 3 drink voucher system for Diamond and above loaded into our sea pass card on the Navigator last month. You can't use the vouchers in the MDR or the specialty restaurants. We got the drink package so we didn't use the vouchers.

I wonder what happened with embarkation because when I got off the ship there was an organized line at the door, with two or three employees watching the line and telling folks it would be a while still.

Basically around 2 pm everyone showed up at the same time. It was just a mass of people. Once inside the terminal there were ropes to form lines which were short. They could have let more people inside the terminal to ease the crowding.

When you got off the ship there were probably far fewer people. I was there. Two woman at the door only letting in a few people at one time. Once inside the terminal the lines were very short.

Princess gave 100% refunds then took a shortened cruise earlier today.

Both Carnival ships sailed out today.

The only reason RC changed their mind was because they looked pretty foolish sitting in Galveston for no good reason...

And you know this because you were in contact with the powers that be at Royal Caribbean that made this decision? Right. The only one looking foolish here is you.

I was on the cruise on the Navigator last week. We didn't get off the ship until 8 pm and didn't know during the day if we would be able to get into the port at Galveston. Had we not been able to get in port we would most likely have had to go to New Orleans to disembark. So there was uncertainty for all of us.

People had to change flights, etc.

Royal Caribbean went out of their way to keep us informed. As it was a Spring Break cruise there were a lot of kids on board. They opened up the Arcade for free all day Sunday and all pay per view movies in cabin were complimentary. We were happy with the way it was handled.

Now the embarkation the Sunday before….another story entirely. A real mess. And I am not talking about the late embarkation due to fog, that was handled well with cell phone calls to us from Royal. But when they were ready for us to embark late they had a mass of people trying to get in one entrance door at the pier with no order, no lines, no employees helping, nothing. Royal Caribbean gets a D+ at best for that and it WAS under their control.

Great cruise though and weather in all 3 ports was awesome. New restaurants Sabor and Izumi as well as Giovanni's Table were great. Chops however, raised their price and dropped favorite menu items, not a very smart move. We found the food fine but missed the dropped items. I would much rather go to the other specialty restaurants than Chops now.

Come on Royal, what are you trying to do? De-perk yourself right out of business?

I think they are trying to win the business of the 90 percent of people who have never cruised, especially families. Notice the 3rd and 4th passenger free sale.

They still give nice perks to the Loyals but they are getting cut…just like the airlines. They make more profit on the Newbies.

Catch this wonderful gotcha in the fine print:

 

If the original ship and sail date selected while onboard is changed in the future, we reserve the right to adjust the onboard credit amount to the Open Booking model between $25 - $100 per stateroom based on length of cruise

Good catch. But is anyone really surprised? This is Royal Caribbean after all, they do tend to do things without regard to ANY loyalty toward their loyal customers.

I have sailed well over Twenty 7 night cruises on Royal Caribbean, I love the ships, the people who work on board, BUT….I can't stand the way Corporate treats their customers. I guess those of us loyal to Royal are gluttons for punishment.

You don't have to reach the top level to get anything of value. After your first cruise you get coupons to use. After about 5 week long cruises (Platinum) you earn a balcony discount which increases as you go up the levels. Other perks start adding up as your level increases.

But yes, you are basically correct that if you book a GS suite or above on a Royal Caribbean Ship you will get a Gold sea pass card for your sailing and that gets you perks. You do not get the coupons or balcony discounts until you earn them, but a suite will get some free drinks and additional perks.

For us being D+ now was absolutely worth joining C & A in the first place. We have received many thousands of dollars in balcony discounts alone. But we have been sailing Royal Caribbean because we want to sail Royal Caribbean, not because we are C & A members.

Our invite said nothing about telling others if we are going or what level we are:rolleyes:

..and yet you couldn't resist letting everyone know you received one…hahaha

According to an article in this months AAA magazine there will be 10 dining options.

That is a lot of options. Years ago I was against the pay to eat venues but as the food got worse and the service slower in the MDR (due to servers having too many tables) I jumped on board. Now we rarely go in the MDR.

I guess I don't mind paying extra for MUCH better food and better service because the price of a cruise today is actually lower than it used to be back in the day.

And remember, they don't force you to pay to eat. They still have the MDR, Windjammer, Room Service and on most ships the Promenade Cafe and Pizza Place.

In my opinion, a cruise is still a good value for the $$$ on Royal Caribbean.

OP here. We are D+ as well. We do not have a cruise booked on the Quantum. So it does look like these invitations are going out according to Crown and Anchor status.

the email said:

 

ROYAL CARIBBEAN IS ABOUT TO REIMAGINE THE CULINARY EXPERIENCE

 

You and a guest are invited to be the firsts to discover this delectable journey which will introduce the extraordinary dining experiences onboard Quantum of the Seas when she debuts in November 2014.

 

Join us as we embark on a new world of culinary exploration

Wednesday, March 26th

1 - 3 pm

 

Location 05

509 West 34th Street

New York, NY 10001

 

#QuantumoftheSeas

I just started a thread on the same subject. I received it also.

I just received an invitation to an event in New York City on March 26, 2014 from 1-3 pm regarding Culinary experiences on Quantum of the Seas.

Funny, because I live across the Country from New York. I don't think I will spend the money and time for a 2 hour event, especially with the cold weather up North. Why would they invite someone who lives so far away to a 2 hour event without even offering to pick up the travel expense? Seems a little silly.