WOW ! Up To 400 People Remove Gratuities

[grandgeezer]

On my last few cruises I've noticed the bartenders throwing cash tips into a tip jar or bucket. I don't know if I just wasn't that observant before or they've always done that. Although I'm thinking that really doesn't answer your question regarding other service workers.

 

I've also been told by one cabin attendant that they are 'forced' to pool cash tips. He spent most of our cruise trying to convince us the system wasn't fair. After a while I tuned him out to point where my DW was mad because I made it so obvious. She's a little too caring sometimes. Take it for what it's worth.

 

We sit at the bar all the time, for the Loyalty drinks, as we usually have early dining so we only get less than an hour there and we can get our 2-3 drinks faster before we have to go to dinner. We don't go back after we eat.

I have noticed bartenders throwing a buck or two tip in the jar BUT if it's more than that, it finds the way into their pocket. We've seen this multiple times over different cruise lines and multiple ships.

This is just our observation, not judging one way or the other.

[squadron]

I would like to see the daily tips become non-removable!! Then those who are cheap will either have to pay the tips or not cruise with Royal Caribbean.

 

Agreed. I can't believe that people don't realize how much service is given to them for a very small gratuity.

[PNW Traveler]

Removal of tips - the one very glaring experience we had was on a long 17 day Mediterranean cruise out of Southampton. There were big fare discounts as the cruise was a Nov-Dec. cool weather cruise. It was a perfect storm - a clash of length of cruise/17 days of calculated tips and discounted fares. There were long long lines of passengers requesting tip removal from their accounts. The staff was aware of the situation and that awareness impacted morale.

[Morecruisesplz]

Why jump to the conclusion that everyone who has pre paid gratuities removed does it to avoid paying any tips? We had ours removed from our Sea Pass on our recent cruise because we preferred to give the cash directly to the crew members who had served us personally. They got the recommended tips plus a little extra.

 

Exactly! And in another situation, if the onboard dining staff remove your early seating in MDR from your booking and tell you that you have no choice but to go to MTD (as we have on several of our cruises recently) then we prefer to tip specialty dining waiters in addition to the meager amount they receive from the fee. In that case we also tip Windjammer staff as we dine there and tip our cabin attendant in cash also. When we use our Diamond + drinks in the bars we tip a minimum $1.00/drink on the free ones. (When the bartender is attentive all week and makes a point of taking good care of us -- as they almost always do -- then we tip additional the last night of the cruise to them in cash.)

 

Don't assume that everyone who has tips removed is "cheap" or trying to avoid gratuities. It might be a way to get tips directly to those who have provided service during a cruise and not "automatically" those who refuse to listen, make arbitrary decisions without caring about your needs and/or make your cruise less than it could have been.

[printingchick]

My son works at port everglades and got talking to some RCI crew and bartenders about the new auto pay gratuities. The crew actually do not like this because they say that even the slackers (crew) get tipped. The good ones feel slighted now. Just reporting what was said.

 

I travel quite a bit, and know when I go into countries that do not tip, there isn't a lot of incentive for great customers service.

 

I'm a little surprised at this because I assumed that most people give EXTRA tips to those staff member who go above and beyond. On our recent cruise, our cabin steward was adequate, but fell short of the kind of personal service I've come to expect from Royal. While I didn't REMOVE his gratuity, I didn't tip extra either.

 

On the other hand. our dining room staff was outstanding and we tipped our waiters and head waiter $20-$30 extra. For some of you, that may not seem like a lot on a 7-day cruise, but for people like us, for whom a cruise is a HUGE expense that we look forward to (and save up for) for 2-3 years, it's significant. Ironically, we paid out more in gratuities than to satisfy our final on-board account bill!!!

 

The ship staff works SO HARD! The same person who brings your dinner is probably handing you your coffee in the morning! Special service deserves to be recognized!

[tahqa]

 

Thank you for your work as an unsolicited moderator.

 

And thank you for yours! :D

[Cinders411]

My son works at port everglades and got talking to some RCI crew and bartenders about the new auto pay gratuities. The crew actually do not like this because they say that even the slackers (crew) get tipped. The good ones feel slighted now. Just reporting what was said.

 

I travel quite a bit, and know when I go into countries that do not tip, there isn't a lot of incentive for great customers service.

 

I can see that. There really is no incentive to go above and beyond now. Of course many crew are dedicated to bringing quality services and will continue to do so.

[tbill]

Agreed. I can't believe that people don't realize how much service is given to them for a very small gratuity.

 

Nobody can be "forced" to tip! That is ridiculous. Tipping is an optional reward for outstanding service. You can't force someone to do it... no matter what your opinion might be!!

[rjrice1]

I should of removed my tips but didn't... ate in the main dining room 2x on a 11 days...We had the same waiter in the Windjammer so I gave him a good tip.

Told us they do not pool their tips nor do they rotate to the main dinner room either like Carnival.

My room steward was okay... never had my room cleaned till after 2pm..

and 9pm.. never pull bed down (but I think that stop or change sheets in those days) even gave him a $20.00 the first day for extra towels every day, ice and etc.

The chef in the windjammer got us nice huge lobsters from the main dining room so I tipped him too...and shared it with table next to me..

I do miss the cash tips.. but automatic is so much easier..

[shipshape sam]

RCI needs to disallow stopping gratuities without cause. Other than "cause I don't want to". If this persists the recommended amount will go up and those of us that comply will get hit for higher charges. Enough of my money goes to those that don't pay their way now!!!

 

Would it still be a tip or would it now be a service charge? I think a fixed required charge has to be included in marketing materials and in your pricing disclosures.

 

I do think it will eventually go part of the required fees.

[YankeesFan224]

Just got off Anthem today 1/26 I removed my tips Had zero issues

 

Grand Loft Suite Guest

 

We paid 15,000 for our fare for a reference

 

The program is a joke. 15.95 a day my children are 6-3 plus I have no idea who they give that to. Had no issues removing it. There is no phantom list you show up on service did not changes at all after we removed it on day 3 but do the right thing and tip who directly helps you and deserves it.

 

Made my room attendant aware he had no issues we talked about it in great detail. Tipped him and his helper 60 each throughout the 11 days. Then at the end I gave the Main guy 200 and the helper 100. They are not forced to put anything into the pool that you give and RCCL has no way to patrol them or track what they get.

 

Managers in coastal kitchen were given 20each and every server that helped us was given a 20 I think 7 of them.

 

Also gave random tips to anyone who helped us while on board and I know it went who it was supposed to.

 

Every single time we had food it was in Costal Kitchen or a Specialty restaurant. Both of us had drink packages and Dinning Package so all of that was covered by the package.

 

I think The cruise industry has a big racket with these charges. Many people were removing them.

 

I am sure many feel different but we put a lot of thought into it and this is what is appropriate for us.

[beachnative]

I REMOVED TIPS FOR THE FIRST TIME before we disembarked the Grandeur yesterday.

 

We cruise a lot and have always left auto-tips in place.

For most services we tip additional and always tip for the complimentary drinks we get during "happy hour"…both in the DL, CL, and at the bars. We tip the concierges and a few others that do not profit from the tip pool.

 

However, we were so displeased with the service we received in the MDR that we removed our tips and quit going there.

 

We used cash (same amount as total that we had removed) and gave it to the excellent cabin attendant and the servers in Giovanni's where we ate breakfast (even though we had tipped them each morning during the cruise).

 

I never thought that I would be one to remove the auto-tips.

[John&LaLa]

Personally I would find it to be to much effort to remove them. Now if you could do it from the sometimes functional interactive TV. ;)

Edited January 26, 2016 by John&LaLa

[beachnative]

Personally I would find it to be to much effort to remove them. Now if you could do it from the sometimes functional interactive TV. ;)

 

It is very simple…or was for me. I went to Guest Services (no one was in line) and said that I wanted to remove my auto-tips. He asked for my card and slid it down the side of the computer and they were removed.

Edited January 26, 2016 by beachnative

[John&LaLa]

It is very simple…or was for me. I went to Guest Services and said that I wanted to remove my auto-tips. He asked for my card and slid it down the side of the computer and they were removed.

 

Sure, but sometimes there are lines at GS. I do love the D+ line on Freedom though. :D

[TubbyMrT]

The old-school method of tipping is the only method that works to reward those the provide superior service and have a continuous improvement in service. It works. These corporations will grow and prosper and retain the best service people.

 

The new method rewards complacency. Service levels become lower and lower while tips remain the same. These corporations will suddenly loose all customers without notice once they reach the last-straw. These corporations loose their best people because they can make more money/tips elsewhere. It causes poor service people to remain as they can't earn more else where. Although it may take years, in the end, the business will die.

 

I always cancel my prepaid's and hand out $100 to each person who Wow'ed me on the last day.

Edited January 26, 2016 by TubbyMrT

[Charles4515]

The insight I get from this thread is that a mandatory service charge is coming in the future.

[rjrice1]

Had a chance to talk to a young gal.. from China. She was telling me it was her first cruise and last..

That rccl does are not always truthful about the tips.. they have cut their pay; and that they would rather have the cash tips..

She wasn't my waitstaff but made me ice cream every night... (real ice cream) in the Windjammer.. so I gave her a nice little tip for the great service.

[ccletzgo]

Why jump to the conclusion that everyone who has pre paid gratuities removed does it to avoid paying any tips? We had ours removed from our Sea Pass on our recent cruise because we preferred to give the cash directly to the crew members who had served us personally. They got the recommended tips plus a little extra.

 

That's exactly what I do too. Sometimes I have casino cash and I love to reward great service with a little wad of cash. :D

[suzyed]

I would like to see the daily tips become non-removable!! Then those who are cheap will either have to pay the tips or not cruise with Royal Caribbean.

 

Agree!

[springaussie]

Something needs to be done with tipping with Royal operating in so many countries that tipping is not the norm.

Royal needs to make it part of the fare like the Carnival companies do in Australia.

An Australian Cruise Travel Agent told me last week Royal Caribbean are losing so much business because Aussies do not want anything to do with tipping. Royal need to charge one fare to cover everything including all staff wages.

[Cruise_Christy]

I find it very frustrating that they do not simply pay a good wage and fold it into the cost of the voyage. It is honestly the worst aspect of cruising for me - never really knowing how much the employees are getting for their hard work, and feeling frustrated that the current "tipping" system is extremely flawed. Maybe it's because we don't have the same tipping culture in the UK as the USA, but I absolutely hate the system where they are paid peanuts and are expected to be reimbursed by those who choose to tip. I suspect that when we cruise out of Southampton (which is the only port I cruise out of) a lot of people remove tips not fully understanding the implications for this, and are assumed that people on board are at the very least paid a decent minimum wage. If I didn't use these forums I would never have found out that this is not the case.

 

 

I also wonder how many of my automated tips actually make it to the right places. Now this is not RCCL - but a few months ago I was in the Hilton hotel, we ordered room service, it was a lot of work for one guy at midnight, he took the order on the phone and brought it! We tried to write the tip on the receipt so it would come off our card, and these were his words "No no, don't waste your money. I don't know where those tips go, but we have never seen them." We did give him cash instead but he seemed very genuine. It's hard to trust that companies are doing the right thing these days. I can see why people would want to remove electronic tips and give cash, so they can guarantee it goes to the right place. The only reason I don't do this is I know that the tips go to places like housekeeping, and behind the scenes, and I don't know how I would get money to all the right people.

[mr walker]

An Australian Cruise Travel Agent told me last week Royal Caribbean are losing so much business because Aussies do not want anything to do with tipping.

 

5 ships operating this season, sailing at full (or close) capacity each time. Something is not adding up! And I am not an Australian Cruise Travel Agent, or even any sort of TA.

 

Most people's 'concerns' about RC are more about drink prices and the falling exchange rates. Just check out FB :)

[kontraxed]

If "Tipping" is required to be pre-paid or is mandatory, then it is not a tip. Raise the cruise fare and announce that there are no required tips. Same thing with drinks and any other products or services that the ship offers. Then, if a crew member does something for me or that I like, I can give them an actual tip - or not.

[IndyKid]

Wow, I see this thread is over 2.5 years old. Talk about staying power!

 

I find it rather disconcerting that RCI solicits additional payments from guests to subsidize the wages of their employees rather than pay them a decent wage.

 

I'm curious as to how the tip money is divided up amongst the help?

 

I would prefer to give our room attendant and MDR servers cash directly rather than through the cruise line, but then who else behind the scenes would get stiffed?

 

I guess I will leave the charges on the account and give them a little extra. Compared to what I'm shelling out for this trip, it's a pittance.