Is Celebrity increasing the "suggested" tips amount?

[c-legs]

 

How in the world do they justify these price increase in light of the severe US recession ?

What '' price increase '' ????:confused::(

We're talking ''tips'' here, and it still remains discretionnary.:cool:

[Project_gal]

What is your source for that number?

 

I know that salaries aren't much by our standards, but I haven't seen a source that suggests anything as low as $ 50.00 a month.

 

We were told by one of the Speciality Restaurant maitres d' last year that the waiters in these restaurants only receive US$40 an month in basic salary. Tips, both the element in the speciality restaurant charge and any extra tips paid, make up by far the majority of their income.

 

Hi Lois,

I wondered about that...whether they knew who autotipped (isn't it everyone?).

 

They are provided with a list of who has pre-paid their gratuities or have autotipped. We know, because we have been thanked for our pre-paid tips and we asked how they knew.

 

Sue

[sofi]

To answer the question about what "clearly angling" for a tip meant, it means that for the only time on the cruise the attendant was hovering near our door after dinner on the last night of the cruise and used his card to open our door for us. I sensed that he was disappointed that nothing was given at the time. Previously, he had given us the survey with a post-it with his and his assistant's name on it (so we would be able to use those names in our comments) and had handed it to us with a request to fill it out. We did this and wrote very complimentary things about him. But the door thing caught us off-guard because he had never done it before. There have been cabin attendants who would open our door for us when they saw us coming down the hall in the past, so that was not totally out of the blue, but this one had never done it before the last night, even when he was in the area.

But my point is that we really like to have the issue of tipping removed from our minds as it is a stress that we would prefer not to deal with on vacation. And when they add auto tips but we get a subliminal message that we still should be tipping then the whole exercise makes no sense.

[TelecasterPlayer]

For us it is a very simple equation.

 

If service is really good, we give extra on the last night -- waiter, busboy and room steward. Our rationale: we are so much more fortunate than they are. A few extra bucks won't kill us and it could make a world of difference to the employees.

 

I totally agree with pacheco18. We can afford the extra $10/$20 and they work their butts off!

 

When we receive excellent service we always tip more - room stewards, waiter, asst waiter, bartenders, specialty restaurant waiters etc.

 

You have the option to reduce your automatic gratuities if you feel the service you have been provided was not adequate. On our last cruise the deadline for this was Tuesday before noon and we disembarked on Friday morning.

 

If you don't want to give extra cash tips because it feels awkward, you can also have the extra tips added to your SeaPass. Go to the Guest Relations desk and they will give you a card to fill out. You can choose to give whatever amount extra you like. We do this so the management will see we are giving extra tips to these crew members for their excellent service, we don't have to carry as much cash, and we have it all charged to our credit card.

[PS90]

You just did !!!! :D:rolleyes: ( lol.....)

Tks for comment; a natural rpogression would indeed for ==X== to keep the same ''distance'' as before between it and her sister brand.:)

 

Yeah, I agree with that, but it's possible that they will go in "baby steps", or stagger these increases, so it doesn't reflect poorly on the corp.'s PR.

[natshala]

Thanks, all, for the comments. Very helpful!

[wrk2cruise]

I believe Celebrity raised the amounts slightly around the time when they started the auto tip process. I think RCL is just catching up.

[hoppysmom]

Hi everyone,

 

I don't want to start the 1,945,623,154th thread about whether or not we should tip adequately :(, but I just read a thread reporting that RCI is increasing the suggested tip amounts as soon as this weekend.

 

I couldn't find any info pertaining to X, but since they are owned by the same corporation, I thought I would ask if anyone else knew anything.

 

Thanks!

 

 

they're not increasng thembecause they are already $11.50 per day. i was on century last month and tips were automatically deducted at that rate. 2 weeks ago on RCL and found that tips of $9.50 per day were not taken out, and you had to sign a sheet 2 days before departure if you wanted them deducted. just another inconvenience i find with RCL.

[Chicago Boy]

See cruise critic news .RCCL as of July 1st will recommend the tips be at $11.65 pr pax . Besides substantial cruise price increases now they want the pax to pay even more of their staff wages . Next to add is the fuel supplement charge

 

How in the world do they justify these price increase in light of the severe US recession ?

 

To be blunt, if you can afford to cruise then you can afford to tip. We just came off a 15 day Trans Atlantic cruise.... Rome to Fort Lauderdale. We were charged $11.00 per day per person or a total of $22.00 per day. We tiped our cabin steward extra as well as the waiters, bartenders,the fellow who stood by the men's room to open the door for us as well as anyone else who was of service to us. Admittedly the world is in financial crisis but if you can afford to cruise then you can afford to tip. These people work extremely hard and have long hours. They are away from their families for long periods of time. If I were a betting man I bet most of staff sends their money home to help support their families. So be a good sport and don't worry about a few extra dollars.

[djjoe]

On recent cruises aboard the Mercury and Summit, I informed guest services that I wanted to use cash. No problem, just sign the form, and you are on your own. I don't like the system of no vouchers (RC style). It seems strange to walk out of the dining room on the last night and just say goodby. We usually use their suggested amounts and round them up if the service was good. Average service equals the suggested amount or less. We always give the room stewart more. He or she has to split it with their assistant. As far as the tip for the chief housekeeper or the head waiter, You can decide on them, I think their monthly salary is more than the waiter, asst. waiter and room stewart.

[Christine Frances]

We need a "tipping" "Sticky":D

[Senga]

Don't know if it's just us but, since the inception of automatic tipping, we feel the level of service has deteriorated. On our October 31st Solstice sailing we had the worst dining room service ever. No automatic tipping for us, we use the envelopes provided.

[cl.klink]

How does one "leave" auto-tipping in place, or not?

- Joel

[Bobbie John]

How does one "leave" auto-tipping in place, or not?

- Joel

 

If you do nothing, Celebrity automatically puts the tips on your account each day. If you do not want to tip this way, go to Guest relations and ask that the automatic tips be removed. You then can get envelopes and tip who and how much you wish.

[cl.klink]

If you do nothing, Celebrity automatically puts the tips on your account each day. If you do not want to tip this way, go to Guest relations and ask that the automatic tips be removed. You then can get envelopes and tip who and how much you wish.

 

Thanks

- Joel

[brfan]

Don't know if it's just us but, since the inception of automatic tipping, we feel the level of service has deteriorated. On our October 31st Solstice sailing we had the worst dining room service ever. No automatic tipping for us, we use the envelopes provided.

 

I believe autotipping also coincided with cruiseline cutbacks, so there are fewer crew to do the work. I believe it is the cutbacks that have caused service to deterorate and not autotipping, unless you believe service people can only perform good service or have a good work ethic only if a carrot is under their nose. Why do service people need an incentive to do their job well, but salaried people do not?

[LV2COOK]

We leave a week from tomorrow for our Christmas cruise on the Equinox; and, we are bringing Christmas cards for extra tips over and above the auto tips.

 

We are also on this cruise...and it is our custom to bring Christmas cards and put some money in and hand out on Christmas Day ....with a Merry Christmas! The crew really seems to appreciate the card and cheer!

[PS90]

First, thanks very much to everyone who offered an opinion/information about any increases in suggested gratuity.

 

Second, I don't mean to offend or to start a fight, but I wasn't really asking for opinions on whether or not people should tip "above and beyond" the suggested amount. Posting on CC that you "always tip more" doesn't do anyone any good - because there is no way to prove that you actually do what you post on an anonymous forum, and also, IMO, that should be a private transaction between you and the crew member, not to be used as a boast on CC.

 

Thanks very much to everyone! :)

[Ruthk]

First, thanks very much to everyone who offered an opinion/information about any increases in suggested gratuity.

 

Second, I don't mean to offend or to start a fight, but I wasn't really asking for opinions on whether or not people should tip "above and beyond" the suggested amount. Posting on CC that you "always tip more" doesn't do anyone any good - because there is no way to prove that you actually do what you post on an anonymous forum, and also, IMO, that should be a private transaction between you and the crew member, not to be used as a boast on CC.

 

Thanks very much to everyone! :)

 

HipHip Hooray- you speak the truth - it makes me nuts when people constantly have to tell us that they tip over and above - meanwhile who is to check this? I have been on many sailing where people at our table are missing on the last night when you are suppose to hand out tips - those people never seem to surface on these boards.

 

Ruthk,

St. Catharines, Ontario.

[Pennysue]

On our very first cruise (about to do our 9th) we had a heated discussion one night with a couple from New York, as typical Brits, we feel that good service should be tipped, bad service not. They felt that good and bad alike should be tipped well. On the last night, they gulped their dinner then left, not a tip in sight, whilst we tipped our waiter well for exceptional service! I agree with RuthK!

[greeneg]

Just remember, that if the Company can raise the amount, it no longer is a gratuity or tip, no matter what you want to call it: it's a service charge. It is no longer being "given", you are being charged for it, and it has nothing to do with services received. If you do receive exceptional service ( in YOUR opinion) from someone and YOU CHOOSE to reward that person with something extra, then THAT is a gratuity or tip.

 

A Rose by Any Other Name.....

[Gonzo70]

HipHip Hooray- you speak the truth - it makes me nuts when people constantly have to tell us that they tip over and above - meanwhile who is to check this? I have been on many sailing where people at our table are missing on the last night when you are suppose to hand out tips - those people never seem to surface on these boards.

 

Ruthk,

St. Catharines, Ontario.

 

On Celebrity the gratuities/service charge are automatically charged to your account - nothing to hand over on the the last night. Even extra gratuities can be charged direct to one's account.

[negc]

First, thanks very much to everyone who offered an opinion/information about any increases in suggested gratuity.

 

Second, I don't mean to offend or to start a fight, but I wasn't really asking for opinions on whether or not people should tip "above and beyond" the suggested amount. Posting on CC that you "always tip more" doesn't do anyone any good - because there is no way to prove that you actually do what you post on an anonymous forum, and also, IMO, that should be a private transaction between you and the crew member, not to be used as a boast on CC.

 

Thanks very much to everyone! :)

 

Why limit your comments to posts by those who claim to tip more than the suggested amounts? After all, very few comments posted on here can be verified absolutely and yet we choose to believe some and disbelieve others depending on our feelings on the subject in question. Assuming that the absence of people from the main dining room on tip night is really fraught with peril. Since Celebrity automatically adds the gratuities to your account, the subject is moot anyway.

Since Celebrity is already charging $12 per person, per day, it seems that RCI is only following Celebrity's lead but still leaves guests with a certain degree of freedom to decide how much they tip and in what form.

[PS90]

Why limit your comments to posts by those who claim to tip more than the suggested amounts? After all, very few comments posted on here can be verified absolutely and yet we choose to believe some and disbelieve others depending on our feelings on the subject in question. Assuming that the absence of people from the main dining room on tip night is really fraught with peril. Since Celebrity automatically adds the gratuities to your account, the subject is moot anyway.

Since Celebrity is already charging $12 per person, per day, it seems that RCI is only following Celebrity's lead but still leaves guests with a certain degree of freedom to decide how much they tip and in what form.

 

People who comment that they "always tip more" may be trying to convey their actual philosophy on the subject at hand - and I respect that. But, even if that's true, it only serves to lead into a "religion and politics" argument - that no one will ever win. It is exactly the same end result as someone who says they never tip, I suppose, although that almost never happens on this board.

 

Other than that, I totally agree with you. Thanks. ;)

[Oceangoer2]

I always bring my own Thank You cards to which we add an additional amount of cash for each member of the staff who we think has given great service. I think they also have envelopes for that purpose at guest services - someone else may be able to confirm that.

Hi fellow Canadian....I've just spoken with 'X' re the gratuities I will pay automatically in Cdn $$. Apparently the $240 US now translates to $300 Cdn ($60 difference?) even though our $ is almost par. Last year, same economics, same concierge class, same 10 day cruise, I paid $242. What is your experience with the auto amount deducted?? PS: I know they use a rate established at the beginning of the year but $60 difference is gouging IMHO.