Gratuities to be added to sea pass account daily.

[niko40]

Would you care to translate that for me?

I am not entirely sure myself:confused: maybe one or two many glasses of wine lol:D

[niko40]

post this again with the link

 

Onboard Gratuities

 

How can I pay tips?For the convenience of guests, pre-paid tips may be arranged online or added to your booking by your travel agent or Personal Cruise Specialist, before your sailing date. If you have opted not to pre-pay your Service Charge before your cruise, then for all sailings that commence after 1st March 2013, for your convenience we will automatically add a $12.00 per guest per day* service charge to each guest's SeaPass account on a daily basis. * For Grand Suites and above the daily charge will be $14.25c. Alternatively, you may pay in cash at the end of your cruise directly to the crew members you wish to recognise for their service (If you require an envelope for the crew member concerned, please see the Guest Relations Desk).

Please note, we no longer provide the pre-paid gratuity vouchers at the end of the cruise.

 

Please note gratuities are discretionary so in the unlikely event that a guest on board being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, our guests may request to modify (increase, decrease or remove) the daily amount by visiting Guest Services during their cruise.

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/onboard/onboard-gratuities/

[new seekers]

Wow, this is fun. Now watching countrymen (from the nation where the tipping culture is such an intrinsic part of day to day life) bickering with each other about mandatory gratuities. At least it's taken the heat off us Brits and shows quite clearly that it isn't just us who allegedly stiff the staff (not that we do anyway which has been proven). :D JMHO.

Well said..

What most of them dont realize is that the lines at reception will be big as you will have a large % of them removing grats from there accounts and asking for the envelopes.

By making you go to reception will give the staff more work and iritate the guests.

[Merion_Mom]

I am not entirely sure myself:confused: maybe one or two many glasses of wine lol:D

 

There's no such thing as too much wine! ;)

 

HIC!

[trojan3000]

From RCL UK

 

Dear Mr *********

 

Many thanks for your email.

 

As you are aware if the gratuities are not pre paid then they will now

automatically be added to your onboard account. If you are unhappy with the

amount that has been added then it can either be increased, decreased or

removed. However this will need to be done once onboard the ship, we can

not do this in advance of the sailing. This new policy is a global policy

and will impact guests across all markets.

 

Kind Regards

 

James

Guest Support Unit

Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises & Azamara Club Cruises

 

 

Watch the link on cruiselaw

 

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2012/12/articles/worst-cruise-line-in-the-world/are-crew-members-receving-the-tips-you-pay-watch-royal-caribbeans-screw-the-crew-scheme/

[bigeck]

I don't have a budget for alcohol, but thanks for asking. And I am not the planner for this cruise, just the person that belongs to this forum. Step down off of your high horse and stop chastising others for how they choose to spend their money.

 

Had you read my original post, you would have seen that I said no one was planning on stiffing anyone on tips. I said a family member wasn't going to be able to pay the full suggested amount. Now its a required amount.

 

Tips should NEVER be required. If they were, then they should have been included in the original price for the cruise, not sprung on us 17 days out.

 

Its people like the members of your group that has caused the change.

I wouldn't book anything if I cant pay my way.

Just as well your group didnt book Mtd

Doesnt matter to us as we book Mtd and will probably slip the waiter and room attendant another few $$ over and above.

 

Alex

[lucymorgan]

We got the email too, adds almost $900 to our b2b Panama Canal cruise, actually will cost us less as we tend to over tip for excellent service! Feel sorry for the room stewards who will probably get stiffed when they don't get their generous envelope each week. Has to be done, though. Too many foreigners don't tip at all and the staff works for free. Just came back from Adventure out of PR. The woman room steward was in tears. Had a block of cabins of Europeans, nobody tipped at all.

 

 

Oh - it must be the fault of those 'foreigners'. It would be interesting to work out how much of the world tips to make up for inadequate wages and how much just pays adequate wages to all workers. As the world gets smaller, we all need to understand and respect different cultures. I think RCI is introducing this to make things easier for everyone.

[Mark_K]

Not really. Because money is infinitely fungible, the reality is the crew can easily be paid from funds that were collected as much as 90 days before the people who made those deposits ever get on the ship. There will be approximately $300MM in constant cash flow. When a paycheck's worth is withdrawn, another paycheck's worth is added almost instantaneously. That's how float works.

Your 52 week number used as a multiplier is incorrect, it should be the average number of weeks between receipt and payment, which I would estimate as 4-6. You could estimate longer, someone else could estimate less.

 

By your theory, if you had $10k in the bank and I gave you $1k each week, which you had to give back to me the next week, you would get paid interest on $62k instead of $11k.

[petesweet]

What RCCL and th eother shoudl do is just raise everyone's fare by $12.00 per day and quietly give this to staff in same distribution manner and no longer call it out as a service charge, tip, or anything else. It is part of your fare and cannot be changed/deleted. It would be a done deal and part of the cost of your cruise - only choice is book and pay or walk away. end the constant whining, complaining, and debates.

Well, that is exactly what they will be doing, only they are calling it whatever they want to.

Happy sails.:)

Kathy

[janetz]

OMG its starting to sound like the Carnival board. You can go back and forth about this but it is what it is. Its a done deal. I received my letter a few days ago for our Allure cruise in May. The difference in cost is not that big a deal. :)

[petesweet]

I'm also not happy that I booked this cruise over a year ago and I find out about mandatory tips being added 17 days before I leave.

Do you mean you did not budget for tips? Whether they are collected daily or whether you distribute them personally at the end, surely you were planning to reward the wonderful staff who served you all week.

 

Kathy

[ctcruiser1721]

When you check in - the kids will be linked to your account. You can shut their passes down but their grats will be added to their sea pass folio and the credit card linked to the cabin will pay for the grats. You can assign that during online check in. I have my kids passes shut down but I have their grats added to my folio so I pay for them.

 

And yes - I always pay for kids. And yes, you are expected to budget that in when you cruise. Will you have a drink budget? A photo budget? A souvenir budget? Take from THAT and pay for the auto tips.

 

I think it's ridiculous that the crew fall all over children for the week and then get stiffed by people like you. And it makes my life harder as I try to tell cruisers that people who cruise with kids bring just as much money to the cruise line. Then you post that you intend not to tip for the children.

 

My children get MORE service than I do. They walk on water when they come into the dining room. Their chairs are pulled out. Their drinks are waiting for them when we arrive. They have appetizers WAITING for them as we arrive. We have towel animal ZOOS in our cabins. The crew go above and beyond for my children - if anyone SHOULD tip - it's parents of children.

 

So please don't make any excuses. Over a dozen cruises with my girls and counting. Tipping is part of my budget.

 

I agree. We always book in suites. We used to do per-paid gratuities with kids included and tip extra at the end and as we went along if we had a special request.

 

I am in the "if you can't afford to tip the suggested amount, you can't afford to cruise" camp.

[ctcruiser1721]

Yes, not an increase enough to worry about.

 

I guess my point was that RC is a business with a goal to make as money as it can. They wouldn't be implementing this policy unless it made them more money.

 

There are a lot of people who like this policy just so they feel better that they don't have to see people who don't pay full tips now have to pay their share. These people felt that the non-tippers are forcing them to pay an unfair burden of the tips.

 

I'd feel a lot better about the new policy if they lowered the amount or provided some assurance that the extra amount collected was all going to the employees (and that RC wasn't instituting a corresponding pay cut to negate the increased tips).

 

Clearly there's going to be a pretty big jump in total tips collected and clearly it's not all going to the employees.

 

I call that a hidden price increase to their customers.

 

Cost of living for the crew does not go down. Would you accept a salary decrease for the reasons you are stating? They should have been receiving appropriate tips all along.

 

Not to mention RC will now incur credit card fees associated with every passengers tips now as opposed to only those electing to do pre-paid gratuities.

[lexluthor]

Cost of living for the crew does not go down. Would you accept a salary decrease for the reasons you are stating? They should have been receiving appropriate tips all along.

 

Not to mention RC will now incur credit card fees associated with every passengers tips now as opposed to only those electing to do pre-paid gratuities.

Who said I'm suggesting a salary decrease? The overall amount of tips that will be collected under the new policy will be significantly more than with the old policy. That should already be generating a nice raise for the crew without also increasing the recommended tip amount.

[phish tales]

i don't like what they are doing to us.

i don't want to play with RCL anymore.

i am telling my mommy.

 

GROW UP---

pay the well deserved gratuities or stay the he** at home....

[BND]

Does anyone who is up in arms over this charge ever stay in a resort hotel? They all charge a surcharge for hotel services which is exactly what RCI has done. The only difference is, you can't have it removed at these hotels. It's a mandatory charge.

 

As I said previously, we prepay and also give additional tips and have budgeted for it. I can't imagine not having the money to tip. I think I'd have to think twice about cruising if the budget wast that tight. And I think that's the problem, people who can just barely afford to cruise are the ones most of the time that don't tip. And someone with 5 children needs to quit complaining. No one made them have 5. I love kids, but DH and I made the decision to have 2. But, that's not the point, when you have a large family, you have to plan on spending more. It's just a fact for everything.

[Sutho]

It is more convenient to include it as a pre paid option. Itemise it alongside the initial fare and pay for it when the cruise fare is due.

 

None of this garbage about taking back tips or making the staff work harder for more money as that is a very low form of exploitation.

 

The daily collection is ridiculous and complicates credit card transactions. Most cruise lines do an authorisation daily on your credit card then charge in full at the end of the cruise so when you get home not only do you have the full charge on your card but a weeks worth of authorisations that wont dissapear until a certain time period expires.

 

Too many countries in the world do not tip and pay a decent wage. Now that the cruise industry has boomed and is selling to cultures that do not tip it is time to make the pay as part of the initial cruise fare.

[VK3DQ]

All prepaid charges paid via RCCL in Australia incur an additional 10% GST Tax

 

so we pay a tip and then pay a tax on the tip :D

 

 

What I want to see is a price for the cruise : Which I can pay for in the normal manner

 

I want to see the crew being paid a proper living wage.

 

 

When I am on the cruise I receive service which is "special" and above the normal expected Level I will tip well for it...

 

 

But I'll not be told how much i have to tip ...

 

 

The concept of paying less than a living wage to anyone is a total disgrace

 

I dont mind paying a fair price for my cruise ,but I want the cruise lines to be up front about the costs... IE put ALL the costs of a cruise on the invoice.

 

 

 

 

regards

 

John

[Sutho]

Does anyone who is up in arms over this charge ever stay in a resort hotel? They all charge a surcharge for hotel services which is exactly what RCI has done. The only difference is, you can't have it removed at these hotels. It's a mandatory charge.

 

As I said previously, we prepay and also give additional tips and have budgeted for it. I can't imagine not having the money to tip. I think I'd have to think twice about cruising if the budget wast that tight. And I think that's the problem, people who can just barely afford to cruise are the ones most of the time that don't tip. And someone with 5 children needs to quit complaining. No one made them have 5. I love kids, but DH and I made the decision to have 2. But, that's not the point, when you have a large family, you have to plan on spending more. It's just a fact for everything.

 

That is exactly what hotels do. It is named as part of the initial cost of the accommodation and given to you in writing at time of booking.

 

Cruise lines tend to slap it on people by surprise and get extra bookings by making the cruise look cheap. I think it is about time cruise lines did exactly the same as hotels and put the cost as an up front fare rather than hide it.

 

So yeah your right but its the cruise lines that have to make the change otherwise this problem will never go away.

[Debde]

i don't like what they are doing to us.

i don't want to play with RCL anymore.

i am telling my mommy.

 

GROW UP---

pay the well deserved gratuities or stay the he** at home....

 

So where do the folks fit in that have no problem tipping, no problem tipping what is required and just want to hand cash?

I am going to stand on line-ask that they be removed so I may do the 'tipping' myself. Not fighting a money amount at all.

Now call it a surcharge or raise cruise fare-then your above statement is spot on!!!

 

People-I have really learned that some of you would drink the kool aid!!:cool:

 

Raise the cruise fare-fine with me. Just don't tip for me-that's all I ask.

[crusinpeg]

I did, as its just my husband and I. However there's a party of 7 in my group, that's almost $1000 in tips.

 

And before everyone's head exploded, they did plan on tipping but not that much. Yes I know the common thought arund here is don't go if you can't afford to go.... I get it. But there's 5 children. How will they charge the tips to the seapass of children that don't have a credit card attached?

 

Why should you tip any less for children? They still eat in the food venues and sleep in the beds and are cleaned up after.

[Paulxyz2004]

It is more convenient to include it as a pre paid option. Itemise it alongside the initial fare and pay for it when the cruise fare is due.

 

None of this garbage about taking back tips or making the staff work harder for more money as that is a very low form of exploitation.

 

The daily collection is ridiculous and complicates credit card transactions. Most cruise lines do an authorisation daily on your credit card then charge in full at the end of the cruise so when you get home not only do you have the full charge on your card but a weeks worth of authorisations that wont dissapear until a certain time period expires.

 

Too many countries in the world do not tip and pay a decent wage. Now that the cruise industry has boomed and is selling to cultures that do not tip it is time to make the pay as part of the initial cruise fare.

 

I have never had any daily authorisations from any cruiseline I´ve been on.

 

I´m not opposed to charge it with the cruisefare, as I mostly pay it at that point anyway given the choice, but the point about the credit card is not true in my experience.

[BND]

That is exactly what hotels do. It is named as part of the initial cost of the accommodation and given to you in writing at time of booking.

 

Cruise lines tend to slap it on people by surprise and get extra bookings by making the cruise look cheap. I think it is about time cruise lines did exactly the same as hotels and put the cost as an up front fare rather than hide it.

 

So yeah your right but its the cruise lines that have to make the change otherwise this problem will never go away.

 

They did send an email to notify everyone. Hotels up their charges all the time and notify by email the same way RCI did. I wish people would get as worked up over where their taxes are going every year. Costs for everything are going up. I'm really surprised since other cruise lines do this that it's taken this long and a lot of posters have asked for this.

[VK3DQ]

It is more convenient to include it as a pre paid option. Itemise it alongside the initial fare and pay for it when the cruise fare is due.

 

None of this garbage about taking back tips or making the staff work harder for more money as that is a very low form of exploitation.

 

The daily collection is ridiculous and complicates credit card transactions. Most cruise lines do an authorisation daily on your credit card then charge in full at the end of the cruise so when you get home not only do you have the full charge on your card but a weeks worth of authorisations that wont dissapear until a certain time period expires.

 

Too many countries in the world do not tip and pay a decent wage. Now that the cruise industry has boomed and is selling to cultures that do not tip it is time to make the pay as part of the initial cruise fare.

 

 

Agreed 100%

[phish tales]

:confused:

So where do the folks fit in that have no problem tipping, no problem tipping what is required and just want to hand cash?

I am going to stand on line-ask that they be removed so I may do the 'tipping' myself. Not fighting a money amount at all.

Now call it a surcharge or raise cruise fare-then your above statement is spot on!!!

 

People-I have really learned that some of you would drink the kool aid!!:cool:

 

Raise the cruise fare-fine with me. Just don't tip for me-that's all I ask.

 

why would you stand in line (if you plan to tip the recommended amt) and want to do the same thing. just let them do it for you. if you plan to tip more, just add the extra in a separate envelope and hand it to him or her..

unless you have an alternative motive. :confused::confused::confused: