Gratuities to be added to sea pass account daily.

[beachnative]

I have just had an email from RCI stating that from1st March, gratuities will increase to $13 per day (up from $12.65). They also say they will now be automatically added to sea pass accounts on a daily basis.

 

Actually, it is $12 according to the email that I received from Royal Caribbean.

[beachnative]

I'm sure this has already been said, but I am STEAMED!

 

I don't think they should be changing policy on cruises that it is too late to cancel.

 

I always tip the recommended amount, and extra if I feel the service deserves it. BUT I don't like a corporation telling me how much I MUST pay.

 

Steamed over such a small amount, especially when you ALWAYS tip the recommend amount?????

[CruisinDawn]

Actually, it is $12 according to the email that I received from Royal Caribbean.

Mine too! That is why I thought it was lower for some reason. I always prepay so not a number I think of as a daily number :D

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[marielco]

While I'm pleased that hard working crew members will be fairly compensated and not get stiffed by some passengers, the truth is it's NOT a "tip" if it's mandatory. It is a daily service charge.

.

 

I have no problem with the new rule but i agree with this poster it is not a gratuity it is a service charge, why not call it that?

[micro yaya]

after 35 cruises i am used to this especially on carnival. i simply go down to the purser, tell them to take off my gratitues, and give me envelopes. i am old school, and i believe a tip is for services rendered, not because someone told me to. we have always tipped the servers in the lido, and our cabin attendents get a tip before during and after. never had a problem, and don't plan to start now. p.s. ncl calles their tips service charge, and you can have them removed too......

[uksimonusa]

I'm sure this has already been said, but I am STEAMED!

 

I don't think they should be changing policy on cruises that it is too late to cancel.

 

I always tip the recommended amount, and extra if I feel the service deserves it. BUT I don't like a corporation telling me how much I MUST pay.

 

They're not telling you how much you MUST pay, you are free to have the Automatic Gratuities, reduced or increased at any time. This is just RCI aligning itself with the rest of the industry that has been doing it this way for years

[dwgorg]

RCCL's defense to this policy as, "it's what everyone else does in the industry" is EXACTLY why I have always sailed RCCL because you are NOT like everyone else, you're better! How shortsighted of you Royal.

[CaribbeanCrush]

I agree it's about time... but this makes it sound more like a service charge than a tip !

 

don't know why they can't just pay thier employees a decent wage to start with.... I wonder how much of this will actually go to the staff

 

wendy

 

It does feel like we are losing control of the amount we choose to tip. We usually tip the minimum and extra for good service, but we have had some bad service and decided to do less a couple of times. Seem like it will be a big hassle to get that rectified if we feel we need to!

[karena1]

We always prepay our tips with MTD and we always leave extra so to us, this is no big deal at all. I love that I don't have to take the extra cash with me as I did in the past.

 

Staff works so hard, in 50 cruises I cannot say once have we had bad service. Yes, some better than other, some exceptional like Serenade, but never bad. They take care of me, keep my cabin clean, bring me ice, feed me. I am thankful.

[Majestic-NJ]

I don't like the fact that the gratuities are being collected by the ship account and we don't know where that money is going. In the past we could've always left our envelopes on our table or in our state room at the end of our cruise but I always took some measure of pride in handing those crewmembers the envelopes and thanking them for everything they did to help make our vacation special. If they worked hard for it I made sure they were rewarded for it.

[Candleonwater]

What is so difficult to understand about that? Learn to read... It has nothing to do with the AMOUNT.

 

 

 

Steamed over such a small amount, especially when you ALWAYS tip the recommend amount?????

[MAJ]

[

 

The following cruise we told our attendants we would be paying at the end of the week. We stated take care of us and we take care of you. Our service was AWSOME!

 

 

 

Would someone please tell me what is this Awesome service ?

 

I fell I get good service from my stateroom attendants ,but what am I missing out on ? Is there a lot more I could be demanding ?

[cruisenfever]

Are you going to make a big deal about $1.40 a day? If it makes that much impact on your budget, skip ONE DRINK during the cruise and you will be covered.

I don't understand where you got $1.40 when the increase is $.35 pp per day or a total of $.70 for two people.

[dwgorg]

Well, I never "demand", but i ask my attendant to fill my ice bucket twice a day. Always clear dishes, where to put schedule, additional cleaning stuff. And I tip extra as well.

[k9x8]

If Royal follows the procedure on X, removing the auto-paid gratuity will be a black mark against the intended recipients. Additionally, if you remove the gratuity, those to whom you give cash are supposed to turn in those tips for pooling. Leave your gratuity in place, and any extra cash is the recipient's to pocket.

 

I still don't get why this is such a big deal. Tip, service charge, gratuity- it's semantics. As I've said previously, it's no different than the compulsory service charge we pay in European restaurants and in many American resorts.

 

It is indeed obvious that the outrage is not confined to "non-tipping cultures."

 

Note to self: stick a few dollars in an outside pocket before dining out with American in-laws next week.

 

P.S. Hey, Pete. I'll buy you a drink come October!

[Coochuck]

Wow....so glad I"m going on a 7 day cruise starting this coming Sunday...I get to save a few bucks...no biggie really. Our upcoming Transatlantic cruise...all tips were included in the price...again...no biggie. The Staff work hard and we always tip accordingly. I do have to question....'WHY NOW'...right after the Carnival Triumph Bad Press...stupid move as far as marketing goes. The timing of this is just SOOOO BAD...really stupid!

[bigeagle12]

I don't like the fact that the gratuities are being collected by the ship account and we don't know where that money is going. In the past we could've always left our envelopes on our table or in our state room at the end of our cruise but I always took some measure of pride in handing those crewmembers the envelopes and thanking them for everything they did to help make our vacation special. If they worked hard for it I made sure they were rewarded for it.

 

See post #221

[Charles4515]

While they may "pool" the MTD service gratuities because you may not have the same service team each night, they do not divide the total amount you pay per day any differently, so I have no clue why they would use this as the logic behind maintaining two systems for payment

 

There is no logic and Carnival, HAL, Princess don't make you pre pay. I think the difference is we can't take it off if we prepay.

[Snookum]

I'm sailing in May and I got this notice in my email today and I'm from Maryland.

[Ocean Boy]

Sailing in two weeks and got the notice today.

[Charles4515]

Well, I never "demand", but i ask my attendant to fill my ice bucket twice a day. Always clear dishes, where to put schedule, additional cleaning stuff. And I tip extra as well.

 

Hmm. I never ask them to do that yet they do it anyway!

 

I am not bothered by the new policy because in 43 cruises I never felt the service was not worth the standard gratuity amount. Sometimes it was worth more. I doubt that will change. So nothing really changes and if someone deserves more I will add to the auto collected or prepay amount.

[Bobbie John]

Sailing on Feb 25 and we got the email today.

[EmJakeBubbie]

so it is a Service Charge and not a Tip.

two different definitions.

the price increase is small, but will there now be a yearly COLA for the Crew? We always "tipped" $1 from each at our table, to anyone who gave us table side service in the WJ - probably won't, in the future.

People will forget what you say.

People will forget what you do.

People will never forget how you made them feel. :)

[joe6666]

It's a service charge. I can no longer give cash and know that all of it will go in the pocket of the person I give it to.

 

I'm not giving anything above the amount the cruise line deducts.

If the crew wants to lower the quality of service, I'll live with that,

but I'll be damned if I'm going to give any extra to make up for what the cruise line steals from the crew.

[Bobbie John]

Double post