What is the reason for prepaid gratuities on select dining?

[alfiemom]

We've always done late seating and are doing NE/Canada in 2014 and were thinking of doing Select. Is there someplace that I can find the "per day" tipping recommendation so I have an idea of what will be pre-paid? Also, are the "pre-paid" grats only for food or does it also include cabin steward, etc.?

[cruisestitch]

the daily gratuity covers both the dining room and stateroom staff

 

the amount depends on the stateroom class -- which type of stateroom are you booking?

[alfiemom]

On this one, a cat. 6 - outside.

[miched]

It may be a to discourage Select dining and insure that enough will choose traditional dining. :D

 

Could also be a way to satisfy those that just want the gratuities included in the base price. :rolleyes:

 

Either way you no longer have envelopes to pay the servers individually. You are charged daily on your ship board account so you end up paying it now or later.

 

The only time that I sailed on RCCL we had anytime dining and prepaid our gratuities. We were then given coupons with envelopes to distribute to the servers and cabin attendant. I was concerned becasue we never had the same server and asked at Customer Relations. Was told don't worry as it is all distributed equally and those coupons didn't mean anything. Thought the envelopes with coupons were very lame and after hearing that we filed them.

 

 

.

[cruisestitch]

Here you go: from the Celebrity website: your cat 6 room will be $12 per day:

 

 

"For your convenience, we automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard SeaPass® account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion:

 

• $12 per person per day in staterooms

• $12.50 per person per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms

• $15.50 per person per day in suites

This gratuity is shared by your stateroom attendant, dining services staff, and housekeeping staff members who help enhance your vacation experience.

 

At your discretion, the gratuity payments may be adjusted onboard at Guest Relations, in which case they will not automatically be added to your onboard SeaPass® account.

 

A 15% gratuity will be automatically added to all beverages, mini bar purchases, spa and salon services. Additional gratuities may be added at your discretion."

[alfiemom]

Thanks. Tried to find it on Celebrity, but couldn't.

 

Bobbie

[cd]

If one requests select dining is the charge added to the initial reservation payment or to the final payment ?

 

Thanks

[Lsimon]

If one requests select dining is the charge added to the initial reservation payment or to the final payment ?

 

Thanks

Final payment. It is added to the total cruise invoice and the entire balance, less the deposit, is due at final payment time.

[alfiemom]

Thanks, Larry. Hi to Susie.

 

Bobbie

[tserface]

My wife and I talked to one of the Celebrity people on board and asked about this since, I told her, I wanted to be the one who finally answered this on Cruise Critic (it comes up all the time). The very nice young lady said, basically, that originally it was thought that it would be convenience for people since it's difficult to know who to tip. She didn't know why it wasn't just charged daily like the other dining tips would normally be. She thought that maybe there was some fear that the tips wouldn't get paid since typically people who dine in Select also use other venues more than traditional diners and they tended to reduce the tips based on days they were not in the dining room.

 

I mentioned that I thought it was more of a service fee, and she agreed and said that in some markets they are starting to call it that.

 

I can believe that they may have thought it was convenient. It's not a lot of $$$ and it is nice to have it all paid ahead of time. I can also believe there is less likelihood of people canceling the gratuities if they paid a couple of months ago.

 

At the end of the day I believe it was more of a business decision (fear of not getting paid) than it was a convenience for the customer, but it is convenient and something that doesn't show up on your bill during the cruise. I think even if we went back to Traditional (which we probably wouldn't) I'd prepay the tips just because it is more convenient.

 

It really is a service fee for having the Select style of dining experience. Thankfully, it's not something we wouldn't pay anyway in Traditional so no harm no foul.

 

BTW, it's worth it to do Select. We just go "whenever" and always get in within a few minutes. It really makes the cruise a ton more convenient. Some days we felt like going early and other days weren't hungry until a little later. We never waited more than a few minutes and usually got the waiter we wanted. We were also able to sit with other people some nights and at a table for 2 other nights. Super nice.

 

Tom

 

There is no reason. It's just X's policy. If you choose Select dining, you pre-pay gratuities. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out "why" a company policy is what it is. Someone, somewhere, thought it was a good idea... and enough people agreed.

[tserface]

It's still easy to grab some envelopes at Guest Relations to pay some extra tips. Our servers were so excellent that we felt inclined to give extra (since I believe service is half the experience). When you think about it about $3-4/day for tips is pretty minimal considering how incredible the dinners are in the MDR sometimes.

 

Tom

 

It may be a to discourage Select dining and insure that enough will choose traditional dining. :D

 

Could also be a way to satisfy those that just want the gratuities included in the base price. :rolleyes:

 

Either way you no longer have envelopes to pay the servers individually. You are charged daily on your ship board account so you end up paying it now or later.

 

The only time that I sailed on RCCL we had anytime dining and prepaid our gratuities. We were then given coupons with envelopes to distribute to the servers and cabin attendant. I was concerned becasue we never had the same server and asked at Customer Relations. Was told don't worry as it is all distributed equally and those coupons didn't mean anything. Thought the envelopes with coupons were very lame and after hearing that we filed them.

 

 

.

[Julie MacCoy]

I'm going on the Celebrity Summit on June 2, and thank you guys, I've learned so much from you by lurking. I booked Select Dining, and I understood why the tips had to be prepaid, because it would be too much trouble to remember to bring some money to each meal so that I could tip the waiter and busboy. But I did wonder why I had to prepay my tip to my cabin steward, too, since it's not like I would get a different one each day. Celebrity couldn't give me a good reason for tipping the cabin steward ahead of time.

 

But now I see that other lines just bill the passengers each day on the cruise for dining that is the equivalent of Celebrity Select. It never occurred to me that that was possible. So I must agree with whoever posted upthread that the tips are billed ahead of time so that Celebrity can earn interest on that money. Even though someone scoffed that the amount of interest was merely peanuts, when you add up all of the peanuts that hundreds of people spend, it adds up to quite a lot.

 

It reminds me of a job I used to have when we received our paychecks right before 5:00 PM on Friday, meaning that it was too late to go to the bank to deposit them. The company refused to do direct deposit. I figured that the company wanted to earn the extra bit of interest they could by having us wait until Saturday or Monday to deposit our checks. Hey, maybe the people who told that company to do this also told Celebrity.

[shipshape sam]

There is no reason. It's just X's policy. If you choose Select dining, you pre-pay gratuities. You'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out "why" a company policy is what it is. Someone, somewhere, thought it was a good idea... and enough people agreed.

 

Good explanation. I would add that it could be a test to migrate to prepaying all gratuities.

 

For me, I have never not paid, even paying more for great service. I am sure many people have not paid though, even though it is "suggested", meaning either staff did not make as much money as they thought they would or Celebrity had to cover the difference, which I doubt.

 

This is a good way for Celebrity to give raises to staff without increasing prices. Prepaying ensures payment. Finally, I am sure the tendency to not pay would be higher if you did not have contact with specific people for the full time of the cruise.

[KruzPrincess]

Celebrity does auto-tips like all the other cruise lines. If you choose to add more for exemplary service you can. Celebrity, however, is the only one who makes you pre-pay if you choose the anytime or select option. It's clear to me that they didn't really want to offer Select Dining, but did so to be competitive. This is their way to discourage people from choosing that option. I know some people say they like to pay in advance, but I do not. I like to keep my money as long as I can so it's gaining interest for me. This way, Celebrity gets to put the money in their bank instead of leaving it in yours. There's is no logical reason to make Select Dining people pre-pay gratuities except for discouraging people from choosing the option.

[k9x8]

RCI collects prepaid for their select dining.

I absolutely resent losing that 8¢ interest!

[tserface]

If you're getting 1/2% interest on your savings (pretty typical these days) then if the tips are $350 each ($700 for a couple) for two months you would pay make about $.30 in interest. Let's say you were really lucky and got into a 2% CD. That would jack the interest lost all the way to $1.17. That's not "nothing", but it's certainly not worth making a fuss about.

 

The money is tied up for the 2 months prior, but if you cancel the cruise the prepaid tips and taxes are fully refundable even though the cruise price is on a sliding scale.

 

There's something about calling it "tips" that still bugs me when really it's more like a service fee for doing Select. I suspect they add in the other tips because it just makes it easier for their accounting system (it's likely set up to do a certain amount per person based on the room and not easy to split that up by Select). But I don't really know. Still, the amount of money I lose in interest is pretty insignificant.

 

Tom

 

Celebrity does auto-tips like all the other cruise lines. If you choose to add more for exemplary service you can. Celebrity, however, is the only one who makes you pre-pay if you choose the anytime or select option. It's clear to me that they didn't really want to offer Select Dining, but did so to be competitive. This is their way to discourage people from choosing that option. I know some people say they like to pay in advance, but I do not. I like to keep my money as long as I can so it's gaining interest for me. This way, Celebrity gets to put the money in their bank instead of leaving it in yours. There's is no logical reason to make Select Dining people pre-pay gratuities except for discouraging people from choosing the option.

[shipshape sam]

I agree the interest rate argument is kinda weak, but with a lot of money over time, it could buy a cup of coffee.

 

I think they should get rid of the pre-pay requirement and just charge to each folio the appropriate gratuity whether anytime/select dining or MDR. This would eliminate the confusion.

 

If the prepayment is to discourage this option, that would seem counter intuitive as they are promoting Speciality Restaurants, another goal of cruise lines. A growing number of people are not eating in MDR at all. With the newer ships having even more dining options, MDR dining will be lessen. I do understand there is NO way everyone can eat elsewhere, but they could over time, take the upper levels and make a couple more speciality restaurants out of them or even do the lower level of the MDR.

 

We have tried eating only at Speciality Restaurants on Allure of Seas cruise (7 day cruise) and it was fun and it did cost $$$, so that is an issue, but the trend will be to eat at a variety of locations and I think fixed seating is actually going to go the way of formal nights. The cruise lines have lots of years to migrate to their customers tastes and Celebrity is seeking a younger upscale demographic that I think would like choice of time/location vs fixed MDR.

[KruzPrincess]

I'm not worried about interest on my money. I didn't mention interest in my post. The point is that there's no logical reason to have to pre-pay gratuities. It's not a fee or a service charge. They are gratuities. They charge auto-tips for people who have traditional dining. They can do the same for select dining. Other cruise lines do it. Fact is that I like to use my OBC to pay my gratuities. I like my money in my bank account until I cruise. They are using all this money for their purposes and there's no reason to do it. I actually find it offensive that they're implying that people who choose select dining are less likely to pay gratuities so they have to bill them in advance. Do it the same for everyone. Bill everyone in advance or bill everyone on the ship.

[Oville]

JulieMcCoy and Kruxprincess,

 

Here is what I wrote in post 19 on May 3rd:

 

"It may be a systems issue. RCI was the first to implement open seating, MTD. Until recently gratuities on RCI were not added to your sea pass account daily so it made since to have MTD prepaid gratuities as you are not guaranteed the same wait team every night. Celebrity piggybacking off their system may be the answer to why."

 

Also, even though Celebrity does charge your SeaPass account daily for gratuities, you are allowed to opt out of this at the beginning of the cruise, therefore creating a tipping problem in Select (and potentially tipping problems in general;) ).

[KruzPrincess]

JulieMcCoy and Kruxprincess,

 

Here is what I wrote in post 19 on May 3rd:

 

"It may be a systems issue. RCI was the first to implement open seating, MTD. Until recently gratuities on RCI were not added to your sea pass account daily so it made since to have MTD prepaid gratuities as you are not guaranteed the same wait team every night. Celebrity piggybacking off their system may be the answer to why."

 

Also, even though Celebrity does charge your SeaPass account daily for gratuities, you are allowed to opt out of this at the beginning of the cruise, therefore creating a tipping problem in Select (and potentially tipping problems in general;) ).

 

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I must have missed this post earlier. When you say RCI was the first to offer this option, you must mean within the realm of RCI/Celebrity. Other cruise lines have done it for a longer time. I see your point and if this is the case that it was a system issue it sounds like it could be changed now if all the ships are doing auto-tips. My single Celebrity cruise was over two years ago and they charged auto-tips then so that was my only frame of experience. Hypothetically, I suppose they don't want to restructure how they pay tips. Princess, for example, does a pool so all workers get paid even if someone decides to withdraw their auto-tips. Perhaps RCI/Celebrity have chosen not to figure out a fix for this. If that is the case, I wish they would figure out a way that treats clients the same. Thanks, again.

[Oville]

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I must have missed this post earlier. When you say RCI was the first to offer this option, you must mean within the realm of RCI/Celebrity. Other cruise lines have done it for a longer time. I see your point and if this is the case that it was a system issue it sounds like it could be changed now if all the ships are doing auto-tips. My single Celebrity cruise was over two years ago and they charged auto-tips then so that was my only frame of experience. Hypothetically, I suppose they don't want to restructure how they pay tips. Princess, for example, does a pool so all workers get paid even if someone decides to withdraw their auto-tips. Perhaps RCI/Celebrity have chosen not to figure out a fix for this. If that is the case, I wish they would figure out a way that treats clients the same. Thanks, again.

 

You are quite right, I was referring to RCI and Celebrity.

 

Until RCCL stops allowing passengers to opt out of automatic tipping, I can't see them changing the current policy. We often chose Select or MTD when we cruise and don't ask for same table or waiters each night. It would be a royal pain, excuse my pun, to have to make sure we have cash each evening to leave tips.

 

We're probably in the the minority, but not alone, as we prepay our tips always. Hate to see the OBC dwindle each day for the gratuities. :eek:;)

[shipshape sam]

Would think cruise lines would get rid of opting out of gratuities. What a shame. I would get rid of that option in a heart beat. If there is a problem, then go to concierge and document issues and then get an adjustment if warranted, but to opt out without any reason is a way to side step compensating staff via a gratuity that INHO should be a fixed cost and move on. Like airlines, cruise lines don't want to be the first to do something like this as then uninformed passengers searching for cruise prices would not understand comparing oranges and apples.

 

Cruise lines are just causing themselves, staff, passengers problems and wasted time/energy over it. Like right now :rolleyes:

[dread_pirate]

Would think cruise lines would get rid of opting out of gratuities. What a shame. I would get rid of that option in a heart beat. If there is a problem, then go to concierge and document issues and then get an adjustment if warranted, but to opt out without any reason is a way to side step compensating staff via a gratuity that INHO should be a fixed cost and move on. Like airlines, cruise lines don't want to be the first to do something like this as then uninformed passengers searching for cruise prices would not understand comparing oranges and apples.

 

Cruise lines are just causing themselves, staff, passengers problems and wasted time/energy over it. Like right now :rolleyes:

Cruise lines should just add the autotip to the price of the cabin and be done with it!

[FLACRUISER99]

Cruise lines should just add the autotip to the price of the cabin and be done with it!

 

Your opinion, not mine. I'm happy with the way it's done now!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[Miaminice]

I have read many posts here giving a good and just explanation for the prepaid grats. I understood and exepted this system ever since we first encountered it on a cruise.

 

What I dont understand is the many people here initially answering a question and then arguing every single reasonable answer.

 

(Some) people here e.g. complain and suppose it's all about the cruise lines adding interest for the prepaid grats to their revenue (which granted is a good sum in total of all their passengers)... bad cruiseline :)

 

Every single one here obviously enjoys cruising. Every single one enjoys outstanding service, clean ships, clean staterooms, new features on ships or even new types of ships... and yet I always read posts (in any threat) were people appear to be opposed to the cruiselines trying to make money.

 

Hmmm, I recently heard the rumor that RCI or Celebrity are not charities - shocking !!!

 

Come on people - get off your "let's fight the system" attitudes...

Enjoy the fact that you are obviously able to pay gratuities for a cruise at all.

There are many people never having to deal with this kind of problem - because they simply could never afford a cruise at all.