Gratuities to be added to sea pass account daily.

[bigeagle12]

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

 

Notice "does not receive satisfactory service" .. does not say anywhere that you can change or opt out for any or no reason at all :rolleyes:

[setsail]

setsail on the UK web site

 

What are Service Charges/Gratuities?Gratuities/Service Charge

On all our ships, it is customary to offer tips to staff members for their good service and personal attention. You can pre-pay your service charge as part of your booking and this will be shared among Dining Services Staff, Stateroom Attendants and Other Housekeeping Services Personnel. Beginning with all sailings commencing after 1st March 2013, if you have not pre-paid your tips/service charges, 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. Please note, we no longer provide vouchers for you to present to the staff at the end of the cruise to show you have paid your gratuities, but staff will be aware on the last evening which guests have already paid. A 15% gratuity is also automatically added to beverages, mini bar, spa & salon purchases on board. *For Grand Suites and above the daily charge is $14.25.

 

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

 

and the link

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

 

Thanks, that's already been posted and does not have the wording where one can just opt out for any reason as some are posting can be done.

[zekekelso]

Agree 100% stop playing price games. Your employees work for you, pay them a decent salary. They are worth more then fifyy Dollars a month.add it to the price of the cruise.You can't take money from me and call it a gratuity.

 

What is the difference between adding $13/day to the cruise price and paying employees a decent salary... and having $13/day in manditory tips and using that money to pay employees a decent salary.

[cruzincurt]

What is the difference between adding $13/day to the cruise price and paying employees a decent salary... and having $13/day in manditory tips and using that money to pay employees a decent salary.

The difference is that the published cruise price can be lower with the "hidden" up charge added once on board. It's like buying tires, oh, you want them mounted and balanced?

 

Mandatory Gratuities is an oxymoron.

 

So now, I will pay the mandatory "service charge" which I paid as a tip before, add additional tips if so desired, and bring my Steward back a ham sandwich from the LIDO.

[caddie1]

Result of a question i asked on live chat.

 

Chat Content:

Janice: [16:39] Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?

Mal: [16:39] If i wish to continue to pay my Gratuities in cash at the end of my cruise can i opt out of the mandatory system at the guest relations desk.

Janice: [16:39] Hello, thanks for trying our webchat service. Please wait a moment whilst I look at your message.

[16:40] Hello Mal, thank you for waiting,you only have to see the stewards on the Guest Relations Desk,as soon as you possibly can onboard to have them removed,that is correct.

Mal: [16:41] Ok thank you Janice

Janice: [16:42] You are welcome.

[16:42] I hope we were able to help you today and answer all your enquiries. Thanks for using webchat, feel free to visit us again. Enjoy the rest of your day, goodbye.

[bigeagle12]

Result of a question i asked on live chat.

 

Chat Content:

Janice: [16:39] Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?

Mal: [16:39] If i wish to continue to pay my Gratuities in cash at the end of my cruise can i opt out of the mandatory system at the guest relations desk.

Janice: [16:39] Hello, thanks for trying our webchat service. Please wait a moment whilst I look at your message.

[16:40] Hello Mal, thank you for waiting,you only have to see the stewards on the Guest Relations Desk,as soon as you possibly can onboard to have them removed,that is correct.

Mal: [16:41] Ok thank you Janice

Janice: [16:42] You are welcome.

[16:42] I hope we were able to help you today and answer all your enquiries. Thanks for using webchat, feel free to visit us again. Enjoy the rest of your day, goodbye.

 

And we all know how reliable their answers are :rolleyes:

 

Let us know how well this works once you are onboard.

[setsail]

Result of a question i asked on live chat.

 

Chat Content:

Janice: [16:39] Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?

Mal: [16:39] If i wish to continue to pay my Gratuities in cash at the end of my cruise can i opt out of the mandatory system at the guest relations desk.

Janice: [16:39] Hello, thanks for trying our webchat service. Please wait a moment whilst I look at your message.

[16:40] Hello Mal, thank you for waiting,you only have to see the stewards on the Guest Relations Desk,as soon as you possibly can onboard to have them removed,that is correct.

Mal: [16:41] Ok thank you Janice

Janice: [16:42] You are welcome.

[16:42] I hope we were able to help you today and answer all your enquiries. Thanks for using webchat, feel free to visit us again. Enjoy the rest of your day, goodbye.

 

That's great, but you did not ask for a copy of where it says that or a link to that policy. Call them back and ask for that and then post your link or a copy of that policy here. It's already been stated and everyone knows you can pay your SS with cash instead of a CC the last day, that would be paying the tips in cash that have been charged daily to your SS.

 

And also ask them who it applies too, everyone in the world or just UK guest sailing out of UK or anywhere in the world.

[caddie1]

Why not try it your side and see what reply you get.

[caribbean sailor]

The difference is that the published cruise price can be lower with the "hidden" up charge added once on board. It's like buying tires, oh, you want them mounted and balanced?

 

Mandatory Gratuities is an oxymoron.

 

So now, I will pay the mandatory "service charge" which I paid as a tip before, add additional tips if so desired, and bring my Steward back a ham sandwich from the LIDO.

 

 

thanks you said just what i feel.Can't add a thing to this.HAVE A GREAT DAY CRUZINCURT. :)

[setsail]

Why not try it your side and see what reply you get.

 

Did you read any of the post, that's already been done, we can only get "opt out for poor service"

 

At this point I am waiting for march 1 .

[caddie1]

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

 

As requested the link.

 

I hope you can open this in the Us as we cannot open or get on your site.

[bigeck]

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

 

As requested the link.

 

I hope you can open this in the Us as we cannot open or get on your site.

 

Caddie, you have to go through a web proxy. try

 

www.uswebproxy.com

 

Type in www.rccl.com

[caddie1]

Hi Bigeck

It comes up as a dangerous page when i press the link for http://www.uswebproxy.com.

so i did not continue.

[cruisenfever]

Why not try it your side and see what reply you get.

Did you see this post that I did for you yesterday? http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=37222011&postcount=1056

[caddie1]

Yes i did i actually printed it off, so if you can open my link you will see there is a difference

in wording in how do i pay my tips.

 

UK

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.

 

US.

How do I pay for gratuities

For the convenience of guests, pre-paid gratuities may be arranged online or added to your booking by your travel agent, before your sail date. While onboard, daily gratuities are automatically added to guests’ SeaPass® account if gratuities were not prepaid before February 28, 2013.

[3dog]

I am still waiting for someone to post a link to or a full copy of the RCI new tip policy where it says you can opt out for any reason.:rolleyes:

 

Where does it say you have to give a reason?

 

The telling part here, is what it does not say. Though the FAQ is not the policy, there is a question "Is the gratuity required?" Nowhere in the answer is there a "Yes":

The gratuity is automatically added to each guest's SeaPass® account on a daily basis. In the unlikely event that a guest onboard being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services during their cruise. Guests who have elected to prepay gratuities will not see a daily charge during their cruise.

It does describe an unlikely event and mechanism that a passenger may modify the gratuity. It even states that prepaid guests will not see a charge. It does not state that the only way to reduce it is with poor service, nor does it say that there needs to be proof or a guest must give a reason.

 

Laws and policy are usually explicit, leaving everything else open to personal interpretation, such that your choice may be different than mine, and both are acceptable.

[egh170]

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.

 

The gratuities went from $11.65 to $12.00 per day per guest. Plus if you booked before March 1, 2013, you are grandfathered in at the old rate. I booked a cruise 3 days ago for August 3, 2014 on the Allure and was given the rate of $11.65 per day-pp. because the booking was before March 1.

[boo214]

Where does it say you have to give a reason?

 

The telling part here, is what it does not say. Though the FAQ is not the policy, there is a question "Is the gratuity required?" Nowhere in the answer is there a "Yes":It does describe an unlikely event and mechanism that a passenger may modify the gratuity. It even states that prepaid guests will not see a charge. It does not state that the only way to reduce it is with poor service, nor does it say that there needs to be proof or a guest must give a reason.

 

Laws and policy are usually explicit, leaving everything else open to personal interpretation, such that your choice may be different than mine, and both are acceptable.

but it also does not say you can opt out for any reason

[UNV-IT!!!]

The gratuities went from $11.65 to $12.00 per day per guest. Plus if you booked before March 1, 2013, you are grandfathered in at the old rate. I booked a cruise 3 days ago for August 3, 2014 on the Allure and was given the rate of $11.65 per day-pp. because the booking was before March 1.

 

This is incorrect. It's not for bookings before march 1st. It's for sailings before march 1st. If you sail after march 1st. Which you do. You pay the new rate.

[Merion_Mom]

This is incorrect. It's not for bookings before march 1st. It's for sailings before march 1st. If you sail after march 1st. Which you do. You pay the new rate.

 

Unless you pay them NOW.

[3dog]

but it also does not say you can opt out for any reason

 

Then you missed the point. Because it doesn't say the only reason is bad service (or not at all), it is at the guests discretion what reason they believe is valid.

 

Furthermore, since RCI at least significantly prefers this method of tipping (otherwise, they wouldn't have made the policy), they would not explicitly state this as I suspect they don't want to increase the incidence of "I want to opt out because I can."

[setsail]

Does anyone at this point think a bunch of RCI suits sat around a table in Miami and created a mandatory tip plan, plus a whole series of Q/A about the tip policy and posted all this info on its world sites plus sent out emails worldwide and then

 

 

Tells all their vp's to just tell people it really does not mean anything, if they do not like it, tell them to just ignore it:D:rolleyes:

[Charles4515]

Then you missed the point. Because it doesn't say the only reason is bad service (or not at all), it is at the guests discretion what reason they believe is valid.

 

Furthermore, since RCI at least significantly prefers this method of tipping (otherwise, they wouldn't have made the policy), they would not explicitly state this as I suspect they don't want to increase the incidence of "I want to opt out because I can."

 

Until some come back who actually go to guest relations to remove tips and post their experiences we won't know for sure how they are going to handle it. Also the first few months they may be more liberal about it than later as both customers and crew adjust.

[TheMiz]

The gratuities went from $11.65 to $12.00 per day per guest. Plus if you booked before March 1, 2013, you are grandfathered in at the old rate. I booked a cruise 3 days ago for August 3, 2014 on the Allure and was given the rate of $11.65 per day-pp. because the booking was before March 1.

 

 

 

The way I read it is, you need to have already pre paid by March 1st to be grandfathered.

 

"If you have already prepaid gratuities for your upcoming cruise, this policy change will not affect you. Accordingly, we will not apply the daily gratuity to your account while you are onboard. If you have not prepaid your gratuities, you will see the daily automatic gratuity applied to your onboard SeaPass® account during your upcoming cruise."

[cruisenfever]

The way I read it is, you need to have already pre paid by March 1st to be grandfathered.

 

"If you have already prepaid gratuities for your upcoming cruise, this policy change will not affect you. Accordingly, we will not apply the daily gratuity to your account while you are onboard. If you have not prepaid your gratuities, you will see the daily automatic gratuity applied to your onboard SeaPass® account during your upcoming cruise."

That's the way I'm reading it also. If you have cruises booked but not completely paid for, they can very easily update the gratuity amount.