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WOW ! Up To 400 People Remove Gratuities

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
Absolutely. I have a friend, whose uncle works with somebody who has a cousin who went on a cruise and was told by somebody in the Concierge Lounge that their waiter told them that he knew who removed their prepaid tips.:eek:

 

Oh good - first hand information. :rolleyes:

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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The crew you tipped in cash would have had to hand over the money to be put in the pool.

 

I keep checking the pool for tips. I haven't found any yet, but I keep checking just in case. :)

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
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Royal Caribbean has switched over to the same gratuity collection system as Celebrity. Despite what those who deny it in this threa claim... tips are pooled now on Royal Caribbean.

 

They are not pooled :-)

 

Well, I'm glad we got that straightened out. :rolleyes:

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DisnyMik

DisnyMik

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On our FOS in May we went to GS in the middle of the cruise and had them removed. The only person that waited on us that really did a fantastic job was our cabin steward. MDR wait staff left a lot to be desired. This was the first cruise that we were disappointed with the wait staff. NCL, DCL and our first RC were all by far much better than the service on FOS.

 

We gave cash to everyone that waited on us and they were tipped well, even our wait staff. We did give our cabin steward more because he was genuinely nice and went out of his way. And no, we were not going to tip the Head Waiter. Had he done what he should have done the first day we probably wouldn't have had an issue with him. That's another crazy story for another thread.

 

As far as RCCL goes, Oasis in 2010 was a much different cruise, much better wait staff, etc. We paid our gratuities and tipped extra at the end. I agree with an earlier poster that mentioned perhaps they are slacking because of the new policy? I also don't believe that if they are given cash in person that the tips are pooled. Who's going to voluntarily say "oh, here's $100 I just got tipped, let's share it!" Especially if there's no one around to see it. Nope, not a chance.

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Ifoundmydream

Ifoundmydream

Posted
Posted
Yes don't take things to heart on here

It's a den of opinion!!!

What cruise are you going on ? Guessing ex uk ?

 

Hi :) We're going on Indy from Southampton in August. We started cruising on Thomson then we went on Ventura last year and loved it. It will be DD 14th birthday the day we go she is so excited, she didn't come on the Ventura so I am sure she will be amazed.

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ticktoneer

ticktoneer

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Hi :) We're going on Indy from Southampton in August. We started cruising on Thomson then we went on Ventura last year and loved it. It will be DD 14th birthday the day we go she is so excited, she didn't come on the Ventura so I am sure she will be amazed.

She WILL be amazed. You are going to have such a great cruise.

 

:-)

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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I can now see from other threads what a huge topic I decided to join in on so early in my cruise critic career! Typical of me :D

 

Once your nerve endings have all been burned by the fire it becomes fun.:)

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KevinKruzer

KevinKruzer

Posted
Posted (edited)

If folks are removing their automatic tips for the purpose of dispensing the cash straight to their own wait staff/steward- then it should be GOOD news for those wait staff/stewards that offer great service, therefore if the rumor about tips being pooled is accurate the staff should look at the rumored list of those removing their names (if true) with GLEE as they will rake in more....

 

If folks are removing the tips for the purpose of stiffing the crew and stuffing the money back in their own pocket- that won't be known until they get off the ship. So for the crew their ONLY option is to give EVERYONE top notch service in the hopes that they get more cash tips. It would be a terrible unintended consequence of the pre-paid tipping program if staff was viewing those who remove as potential cheapskates because it would surely, even if only slightly, poison their attitude toward them and affect the service level.

 

While prepaying is nice as a convenience..... in a way it is counter to the spirit of tipping which is to reward GREAT service. Tipping everywhere, in general these days, is now seen as an entitlement rather than a special reward.

 

I will do as always- pay the prepaid tips and give a little extra to the steward and our MDR waiters.....

Edited by KevinKruzer
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boo214

boo214

Posted
Posted (edited)
If folks are removing their automatic tips for the purpose of dispensing the cash straight to their own wait staff/steward- then it should be GOOD news for those wait staff/stewards that offer great service' date=' therefore if the rumor about tips being pooled is accurate the staff should look at the rumored list of those removing their names (if true) with GLEE as they will rake in moreb

 

If folks are removing the tips for the purpose of stiffing the crew and stuffing the money back in their own pocket- that won't be known until they get off the ship. So for the crew their ONLY option is to give EVERYONE top notch service in the hopes that they get more cash tips It would be a terrible unintended consequence of the pre-paid tipping program if staff was viewing those who remove as potential cheapskates because it would surely, even if only slightly, poison their attitude toward them and affect the service level.

 

While prepaying is nice as a convenience..... in a way it is counter to the spirit of tipping which is to reward GREAT service. Tipping everywhere, in general these days, is now seen as an entitlement rather than a special reward.

 

I will do as always- pay the prepaid tips and give a little extra to the steward and our MDR waiters.....

It’s kind of ironic that the folks who think they will get bad service if they allow auto tipping because there is \no incentive\ essentially not trusting the implied agreement between them and their server think the servers should just trust that everyone that has auto tips removed will have an envelope full of cash to reward their hard work when the server has been stiffed many times before.

Edited by boo214
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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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Posted
It’s kind of ironic that the folks who think they will get bad service if they allow auto tipping because there is \no incentive\ essentially not trusting the implied agreement between them and their server think the servers should just trust that everyone that has auto tips removed will have an envelope full of cash to reward their hard work when the server has been stiffed many times before.

 

But those servers keep signing new contracts and comming back for more. Something must have been working right all of these years.

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boo214

boo214

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But those servers keep signing new contracts and comming back for more. Something must have been working right all of these years.

i dont disagree. i was simply pointing out what in my opinion is a flawed argument that auto gratuities = bad service.

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suzyed

suzyed

Posted
Posted
I keep checking the pool for tips. I haven't found any yet, but I keep checking just in case. :)

 

LOL!!!

 

Love your fire boat pic! Many years ago, my Dad worked on a fire boat in NYC!:)

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KevinKruzer

KevinKruzer

Posted
Posted (edited)
i dont disagree. i was simply pointing out what in my opinion is a flawed argument that auto gratuities = bad service.

 

Not everything is black and white (except it seems so on internet message boards).

 

I haven't ever gotten "bad" service on a ship. I wasn't making the case of auto-tipping = "bad" service.

 

But, "IF" tips are always prepaid and if they are pooled..... basic human nature states that it will affect the behavior (ie service) if the incentives for individual excellence is watered down or taken away.

Edited by KevinKruzer
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