Why Prepaid gratuities?

[felice345]

from what i was told...the MTD staff are the most experienced on the ship... its a harder job being that tables come in and out at different intervals...not like an early or late seating where everyone is there at same time...during those seatings all appetizers, main dishes etc are coming out together and thus staff able to bring out extra of favorites in case true orders get mixed up...not the case during MTD

we had an awesome waiter during MTD...same one every night on Oasis:) he had been with RCCL for 12 years

[fischymom]

This has me really torn in two directions. On one side it is much simpler to have them prepaid. No extra cash needed to be handled. I don't have to worry about budgeting for it or having to pay at the end for them. Clean no mess. BUT on the flip side it feels somewhat like a punishment because I want to switch from MDR to MTD.

I would personally like to see it added as a "fee" of some manner added to the cost so that all you have to worry about is those who you feel went above and beyond.

Interesting to see everyones take on this. Thanks everyone for all the info! Really do appreciate it.

[hubofhockey]

This has me really torn in two directions. On one side it is much simpler to have them prepaid. No extra cash needed to be handled. I don't have to worry about budgeting for it or having to pay at the end for them. Clean no mess. BUT on the flip side it feels somewhat like a punishment because I want to switch from MDR to MTD.

I would personally like to see it added as a "fee" of some manner added to the cost so that all you have to worry about is those who you feel went above and beyond.

Interesting to see everyones take on this. Thanks everyone for all the info! Really do appreciate it.

 

I don't view it as punishment as much as I do RCI taking care of their employees. I suppose I would feel better if ALL service charges were charged upfront to all passengers. The reason they won't do that is because the comparative base price of the cruise would be more in comparison to what other lines charge who don't put tips in as part of the base price. I would rather pay upfront tips than be subjected to traditional set dining times. That's my choice and I know the rules going in.

[mcatmcat]

I did in my 1st cruise but I never do it now, I feel like they know if u pre paid

[temple1]

I did in my 1st cruise but I never do it now, I feel like they know if u pre paid

 

So you think the waiters are going to ignore you and your cabin steward is going to skip cleaning your cabin? :confused:

[mcatmcat]

So you think the waiters are going to ignore you and your cabin steward is going to skip cleaning your cabin? :confused:

coincidence maybe? but

 

I was in the imagination- pre paid - bad service

ncl- no pre paid - good service

navigator X2- no pre paid , grea

liberty - no pre paid - awesome

adventure royal - pre paid my TA- bad service

majety X2 - no pre paid - great service

you be the judge :eek:

 

maybe they dont skip but when you find a pill from the previous travel and the pill stay there for the week, can I say that he is skipping?

[lady_cruiser]

We have used MTD since that option came out and we are lucky enough that we always have the same table and servers throughout the cruise. It is easier done because on our way out of the dining room we always ask the staff manning the front to reserve that same table and waitstaff for the next night and they happily accommated us. This way we know that the main dining staff that has served us throughout the week gets the extra tips that we also give out at the end of our cruise.

[joe6666]

The wait staff obviously works for tips.

The wait staff know what to do in order to serve the food and make the customer feel that they deserve a good tip.

They do the job day in and day out for years.

They know what they are doing.

So when they see a customer who hasn’t pre paid, they know how to get that tip.

They have to work for it if they want it.

And when they see a customer who has pre paid, they know that they will at least get that recommended tip.

Are we to believe that the wait staff are not human?

Are they not going to go for the money?

When the staff knows they already have the money are they, at least sometimes, going to direct their special treatment to the customer who still has to decide how much to tip?

The wait staff know if you have pre paid. Why would they need that information?

What would the wait staff do with that information?

And I always pay at least the recommended amount, so you can skip the part where you ignore my question and call me cheap.

Again… The wait staff and cabin steward know if you have pre paid. Why would they need that information?

What would the wait staff do with that information?

[Aquahound]

I did in my 1st cruise but I never do it now, I feel like they know if u pre paid

 

They do know, but conspiracy theories aside, they have to know because administratively, room attendants are the ones who deliver envelopes, vouchers, etc to your room. Therefore, it is necessary for them to know.

 

That said, I think your bad experiences were coincidence. I don't blame you for feeling that way based on your own experience. But in contrast, I always pre-pay, mostly because I book MTD, and I have never had bad service. In fact, just 3 weeks ago, my room attendant on Majesty thanked me for pre-paying.

[SEEUATSEA]

So, if I am to understand this correctly, if I choose to tip my MDR staff additional dollars for outstanding service at the end or during the cruise, it will be evenly distributed among the entire staff? If the is case the extra tip essentially becomes worthless among hundreds of staff. I believe strongly if someone goes out of their way to make your experience great, they should receive THE tip. Just my thoughts.

[sweetcupcakegrl]

As an employee, they ask us if we have any suggestions. I repeated many times to just add the tips included into the price of the cruise. They would say yes that would be good but never do it. I also agree that the tips be part of the cruise because if you think about the price it is Never what you really paid for.

your price of the cabin. If you watch the cabins on 2-3 times daily it changes. price wise.

the tips would be not for 2 people cabin steward and dinner steward its for about 5 people plus. that would be the two stewards above his associate wait staff, the gal who brings your beverages and the matri'd.

so that when you think you paid for your trip for example a balcony cabin, example at 800.00 becomes more money... at 9.50 per person per day becomes alot of money plus.

so a family of 4 that becomes an extra about 300.00 more just in tips. Then you must figure out , your bar tab... if you are a big drinker, thats alot of genero so your cruise may cost you close to 1500.00 pp after buying wine, drinking booze and buying gifts and tour excursions.

 

So I made several suggestions last month to put the tips included and add the excursions to the room for a low fee. but they said No cause they do not do the tours its from the outside source who we get a kick back from. so I tried to explain to you why they must have the tips. I do not like it either but When I travel like I will be on thursday, I must pay the same as you all.

 

So there it is.

[P&C4/16/67]

As an employee, they ask us if we have any suggestions. I repeated many times to just add the tips included into the price of the cruise. They would say yes that would be good but never do it. I also agree that the tips be part of the cruise because if you think about the price it is Never what you really paid for.

your price of the cabin. If you watch the cabins on 2-3 times daily it changes. price wise.

the tips would be not for 2 people cabin steward and dinner steward its for about 5 people plus. that would be the two stewards above his associate wait staff, the gal who brings your beverages and the matri'd.

so that when you think you paid for your trip for example a balcony cabin, example at 800.00 becomes more money... at 9.50 per person per day becomes alot of money plus.

so a family of 4 that becomes an extra about 300.00 more just in tips. Then you must figure out , your bar tab... if you are a big drinker, thats alot of genero so your cruise may cost you close to 1500.00 pp after buying wine, drinking booze and buying gifts and tour excursions.

 

So I made several suggestions last month to put the tips included and add the excursions to the room for a low fee. but they said No cause they do not do the tours its from the outside source who we get a kick back from. so I tried to explain to you why they must have the tips. I do not like it either but When I travel like I will be on thursday, I must pay the same as you all.

 

So there it is.

 

Thanks for chiming in. We always tip extra but often wonder whether our stewart, waiter, etc. get's to keep that extra or does he/she have to put it into a pool? It wouldn't change our mind about tipping extra, but would like to know. Thanks.

[macruisefan]

So, if I am to understand this correctly, if I choose to tip my MDR staff additional dollars for outstanding service at the end or during the cruise, it will be evenly distributed among the entire staff? If the is case the extra tip essentially becomes worthless among hundreds of staff. I believe strongly if someone goes out of their way to make your experience great, they should receive THE tip. Just my thoughts.

 

True, but that's not the way it works in most situations. Go into a restaurant and the waiter is really fantastic and makes your night, so you give him a large tip. He still portions that out to the bussing staff, the kitchen staff, and possibly others.

 

People tend to WAY overthink this whole thing. Personally, I do not for one second believe prepaying tips in any way affects service. I do believe that when you KNOW you've prepaid, you might tend to perceive things differently. But, on this point, let's agree to disagree. It's very simple. If you aren't comfortable prepaying, then don't. And don't seek a service that requires it. If you want to do MTD, then prepaying is the price you pay. If you were unlucky and didn't have a choice and had to take MTD... well, consider it one of life's little tragedies, but it certainly isn't worth getting worked up over.

[summerdaisy0222]

So if I want to give my cabin steward or my waiter something EXTRA he/she has to pool it with everyone? That doesn't seem to give much incentive to go above and beyond?

[mcatmcat]

That doesn't seem to give much incentive to go above and beyond?

 

That doesnt seem to give me much incentive to pay extra:p

[uncleboo]

Hi all

 

i am from the old school a tip is a tip at the discreation of the customer

 

cruiser patron what ever you want to call us.

 

what incentive is there to do a good job if you already know your tip

 

NO I FEEL YOU MAY DO ALOT BETTER BASED ON THE SERVICE YOU GIVE

[Katana_Geldar]

People who work in the service industry in a non-tipping culture still do their job well. It's not all about money .

[negc]

Hi all

 

i am from the old school a tip is a tip at the discreation of the customer

 

cruiser patron what ever you want to call us.

 

what incentive is there to do a good job if you already know your tip

 

NO I FEEL YOU MAY DO ALOT BETTER BASED ON THE SERVICE YOU GIVE

 

Many people in the service industry seem to take such pride in the way they perform their duties that they need no special incentive to do a good job. Whether our servers and room stewards have known that we have prepaid our gratuities made no apparent difference in the quality of service they provided. Those who believe otherwise may be reflecting how they would behave in such a situation but our experience has been quite positive when we have prepaid our tips and had it not been there would be better ways to handle the situation than by simply reducing or withholding the tips.:)

[happy traveler69]

I also have MTD on my upcoming cruise on the Oasis.. we had to switch cruise ships due to timing... originally on the allure on 12-2-12, but switched to oasis on 12-1-12... by making the switch, the cruise was cheaper AND it included the gratuities!! since the tips are a necessary evil, it's fine with me! we saved about $500 between 3 adults!!!

[travelling fools]

I like the idea of pre paid but I think they should do it to everyone.We have been on cruises in the past where you tip on the last evening and you would be surprised how many decide on the last night to dine at the buffet.

If they pre paid tips for everyone it would be alot easier and your bill would not be as high when you leave the ship.But I must say there should be an option to go to purser at end of cruise to change things if somebody really objected to service.I for one would not want to work on a cruiseship as we have seen some of the petty things people complain about.I feel sorry for some of the staff that people treat so bad and are so rude to.

[Skyeblue13]

can I jump in here to help get some clarification, when we booked our cruise we opted for Traditional Dining and went for the prepaid gratuities - if we now want to switch to My Time Dining we apparently have to pay gratuities in advance for that - I am a bit confused, what do the gratuities we paid for when we initially booked cover?

 

I thought that when initially paid the gratuities that everything was covered, also if we dine in a speciality restaurant are the gratuities covered in the fee? sorry, hope that isn't too confusing lol

[138east]

You're booking from Australia, so the options your are offered may be packaged differently, but the bottom line is that if you have prepaid your gratuities, you have paid all the recommended basic gratuities. The only additional services you should tip for are room service deliveries (except for late night deliveries where there is an automatic charge) and any special services such as child care.

 

The charge for the specialty dining is supposed to cover the gratuities, but many people tip their servers a bit extra.

 

For those of us booking in the States, if we book MTD the gratuities are automatically added as a pre cruise charge but if we select traditional dining, we are responsible for the gratuties. I prefer to use my OBC to cover gratuities, so I don't like to book MTD because I have to prepay tips. I can't use OBC for MTD tips unless I swap into MTD after I board the ship.

[goodycruising]

can I jump in here to help get some clarification, when we booked our cruise we opted for Traditional Dining and went for the prepaid gratuities - if we now want to switch to My Time Dining we apparently have to pay gratuities in advance for that - I am a bit confused, what do the gratuities we paid for when we initially booked cover?

 

I thought that when initially paid the gratuities that everything was covered, also if we dine in a speciality restaurant are the gratuities covered in the fee? sorry, hope that isn't too confusing lol

 

I think...and I could be wrong...when we booked we had the opportunity to untick the prepaid gratuities, but not if you had chosen MTD. So the gratuities are the same ones, just that, to me, if you had chosen NOT to prepay then you would have had to change over to being prepaid. Not an extra charge for MTD. If you already did the prepaid, then you are covered :confused:

 

Also, I understand if you book a specialty dining there is the extra charge, and the extra gratuity is in the charge?

The whole MTD is a bit funny, we had some people we spoke to that could not chose their preferred time, as there was too many booked for the time they did want. They had to take 1/2 hour after the first sitting. Not sure of the ins and outs, but they were quite disappointed.

[ricardin]

. . . . are there any occasions onboard RCCL where you would tip directly to a member of staff using cash each time? Just curious as I want to know whether or not to be taking cash with me everytime I go out or can just use my account card. Thanks

[Maxiecat3]

. . . . are there any occasions onboard RCCL where you would tip directly to a member of staff using cash each time? Just curious as I want to know whether or not to be taking cash with me everytime I go out or can just use my account card. Thanks

 

Times you would tip cash would be: Room service, additional tip to your bar server can be added to your receit or given in cash, additional tips at the end of cruise towards your room steward and dining room servers are usually given in cash also. Some people also tip the Adventure Ocean staff if they have children in the program. Have never used the Spa services so I do not know if they are tipped.

 

Gregg