Gratuities to be added to sea pass account daily.

[Sutho]

 

Exactly. Fact is RCI is not a Norwegian company.

 

As for the suggestion about tipping, if they went the Norwegian model and paid all staff $30 an hour, plus maternity benefits, education benefits and all the rest, RCL fares would be above lines like Crystal and Seabourne in cost. I wonder who on this thread would be sailing with them then!

 

More likely they'd be complaining about how expensive fares are.

 

Correction. It IS a Norwegian company. Founded by Norwegians and it has shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Oslo is in Norway.

 

There are subtle hints like Viking Crown - Vikings -Norway, Royal as in Royal Norwegian. Early ships included Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, Sun Viking.

 

It is a Norwegian company through and through. Despite the fact it has a base in the US and also on the NYSE, the company also has offices worldwide.

[seashells]

No, you won't. I have heard the same $50/month from several housekeeping and waitstaff and it's been verified by an onboard officer who was in a position to know. Call my a cynic, but I couldn't believe it the first time I heard it. I know it's not my business, and I didn't ask, but once the information was volunteered, I had to check it out.

 

 

 

I don't think that such information is publicized, so it's a matter of whose onboard "friends" one wishes to believe.:)

 

This is what "happens" when one takes a quote OUT of context.

 

I referred to having 'FRIENDS" who "work" OR retired from "work" in the industry.

 

That $50 a month, is a fallacy that has been around for 40 years that I know of.

 

I cruised on the original Queen Mary as a child, now berthed in California as a hotel.

 

I live in a port city and mingle due to what I do, with 'Crew" members when they have port days off.

 

I talk with baggage workers, crew members in their internet cafes and MOST 'cruising people' IN port notice little about the crew members who are ashore.

 

Take what you wish and believe what you wish from landlocked people who don't live in a port city.

 

For this thread......They are raising the tips, making the cruisers pay them upfront, because the waiters are receiving fewer patrons in the MAIN dining rooms.

 

All because they designed and built new ships with new 3 story dining areas and have NOT reduced the staff and caught up to the reality that people are choosing to dine elsewhere on the ship.

 

Suites, of which there are more and more of, can dine IN their cabins, order from ANY menu or something from all of them, from any venue on the ship and not get out of their robes, and there are now at least 3 to a dozen venues to dine, without going to the MAIN dining room....EVER.

 

As to why it might take until 2 or 3 p.m. for a cabin steward to make up a cabin?

 

Gamblers!......They may be in the casino until it closes and then hit the bar, then retire at 4 in the morning.

[setsail]

RCI is incorporated in the country of Liberia, not Norway or the USA

[TheMiz]

 

As to why it might take until 2 or 3 p.m. for a cabin steward to make up a cabin?

 

Gamblers!......They may be in the casino until it closes and then hit the bar, then retire at 4 in the morning.

 

 

This sure isn't my case, Not a gambler by any means we were in our cabin each night before 11pm ( except the night we were in San Juan and the night they moved the second show to 10:45) out of the cabin each day before 9am at the very latest.

[3dog]

RCI is incorporated in the country of Liberia, not Norway or the USA

 

And shares are traded on the NYSE.

[The_Big_M]

Correction. It IS a Norwegian company. Founded by Norwegians and it has shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Oslo is in Norway.

 

No, it's not a Norwegian company any more.

 

It was founded there as you say, and as you said earlier ships had Norwegian names in line with that.

 

However, likely to pursue growth it effectively relocated to the US moving its corporate headquarters there and its major listing. As others have posted, it has since incorporated in Liberia, making it truly a Liberian company.

 

It is a Norwegian company through and through. Despite the fact it has a base in the US and also on the NYSE, the company also has offices worldwide.

 

Having offices worldwide does not make it a Norwegian company. The listing in Norway is for legacy purposes, making it easier for original Norwegian holders to manage their holdings. Volume in Norway is around 5% of that in the US.

[seashells]

If you own 100 shares in Royal Caribbean you are entitled to on board credits for ALL their brands.

 

These are the benefits for RCI share ownership.

 

$250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 14 or more nights.

$200 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 10 to 13 nights.

$100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 to 9 nights.

$50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 5 nights or less.

[Charles4515]

No, it's not a Norwegian company any more.

 

It was founded there as you say, and as you said earlier ships had Norwegian names in line with that.

 

However, likely to pursue growth it effectively relocated to the US moving its corporate headquarters there and its major listing. As others have posted, it has since incorporated in Liberia, making it truly a Liberian company.

 

 

 

Having offices worldwide does not make it a Norwegian company. The listing in Norway is for legacy purposes, making it easier for original Norwegian holders to manage their holdings. Volume in Norway is around 5% of that in the US.

 

The founders were Americans who got the idea of selling cruises to wealthy Floridians. They got their initial investment from Norweigan shipping interests. That was the Norweigan connection, they were the financial backers. It is not a Norweigan company! I don't think it ever was, just the initial investors were from Norway. The largest stockholders now from what I can tell are the Pritzkers of Chicago who own the Hyatt Hotels, the Ofers, Israeli industrialists.

[3dog]

RCI "assumes" that everyone is going to pay the "recommended" amount to the cabin attendant.

 

Sorry, for out of order, but RCI probably doesn't "assume". This is usually a bad word where policy and laws go. Like "assuming" that folks not in the dining room on the last night are cheap and haven't tipped (both of which are tough to prove from simple observation of empty chairs, and has been disproved by my account).

 

They might "presume", as they probably have data to support that the recommended is most common, and there is a percentage that significantly reduce or don't tip, such that the common scenario is that a typical worker actually receives 85% of the full recommended cash tip (some combination of guests that don't tip or tip a lessor amount).

 

Out of the $5.00pp per day that the cabin attendant receives he gets 85% of that amount. 15% goes to other Housekeeping Staff. Those that help clean rooms on turnaround day or any other time during a 7 day cruise.

 

If the form that was recently presented is an accurate indicator, it is 20% that goes to other staff (1$ out of $5)

 

If the cabin attendant services 10 cabins with 2 people occupying each cabin and they all prepay for a 7 day cruise he would get $595 a week which is their salary and can be paid weekly or bi-weekly. His wage from RCI is $50 per month. Any additional gratuity that is received is theirs to keep.

 

Now let's reverse the picture and say that the 10 above mentioned cabins all payed in cash. RCI "assumes" that everyone is going to pay the "recommended" amount to the cabin attendant.

 

If they did he would receive $700 for the week and out of that amount he must give back 15% or $105 to cover the "other" housekeeping staff leaving him with $595. Anything over and above the recommended amount is his/hers to keep.

 

If he doesn't receive a total of $700 for the week, he still must give back 15% and thatt money would comes out of the "over and above" that he might have received or might not have received.

 

The math is mostly sound if the shared is 15% (doesn't account for sharing only on 85% of cash tips), though there seems to be ambiguity of the values shared and what basis is used for cash tips.

 

Again, if the form is accurate, they will give up 20% of prepaid/onboard-paid tips (15% if your numbers are correct, but the form seemed pretty convincing). However, they will only give up 20% of the 85% from "presumed" cash tips (it would be up to the employee to prove that the value was much less, and that channel of defense might be hard to engage).

 

Based on the form in the video a couple days ago, at the 20% value, if all guests pay though the line, the $700 gets reduced by $140, and is $560 paid directly to the employee. Simple, easily traced, and there really cannot be a disagreement as to a tip disposition; accounting is easy, and disagreements are hard to support (assuming that the $140 all goes to the support staff, and none is kept by the cruise line - though, they do get a cash forward that they might be able to use elsewhere till the employees are actually paid).

 

If, however, they receive half by cash (assuming the recommended amount), then they withhold from the net prepaid tips ($280) the 20% that should come out of 85% of the cash tips (~$60), leaving the total net of $220. If they got just 85% of recommended cash, then their total tips will be $518 (they get to keep all the cash, but shared tips are all pulled out of the prepaid money), if they get no cash, then they only get the net of the prepaid. However, if they get any more in cash, they will get to keep it (takes only $32 to get to the base of the prepaid).

 

For waiters, assistant waiters and head waiters in MTD, if one signs up for MTD, prepays their gratuities, but never shows up, those gratuities are channeled to the WJ and Specialty Restaurant Servers. So their weekly/bi-weekly salary can fluctuate also.

 

I have no information whatsoever either way that tips for MTD are all-or-nothing based on a guest showing up or not. It would seem biased to if a guest only went once to MTD, and spent the rest of the time in the Windjammer, but as I have nothing to offer otherwise, I will take it (at least for the time being) on assumption.

[hubofhockey]

I agree with you totally and that this simply slams hubofhockeys drivel !

 

RCI is based in Miami. That's in the US, not Oslo.