WOW ! Up To 400 People Remove Gratuities

[George C]

I do not understand why people pull up 3 year old threads. But I also do not like the auto tipping it was not like that for most of my cruises, now all the major lines do the same thing, its not just RCCL. Many of the other lines had the auto tipping in place before RCCL.

[knittinggirl]

Making gratuities voluntary means they're not taxed. If they increase the fare to include what we'd cover w/ gratuities means since they are part of the overall fare, they're taxed.

 

We had a waiter on one of our cruises tell us that after everyone gets their cut, he only gets about 5 cents of a write in tip. He actually crossed it off, and we started tipping him in cash.

 

On a recent cruise, someone in financial phoned me and asked if we wanted our prepaid gratuities refunded. We said "no." Apparently, they thought I'd visited Guest Relation and asked them be refunded on day 2. I guess they typed in the wrong room number.

[ryano]

 

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.

 

Exactly.

[ryano]

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.

 

Honest question here :) Do you really think that the crew on board a RC ship would continue to renew contract after contract if they were getting shafted by RC on their gratuities? I mean really. I saw many of the same crew members on Freedom last April that was on that ship in April 2012. All of them with the same big smiles on their faces, ready to serve us.

 

Everyone wants to RC to "pay a good wage and fold it into the cost of the voyage" until they actually see the bottom line figure of what their cruise will cost them. :eek:

Edited January 27, 2016 by ryano

[ryano]

I do not understand why people pull up 3 year old threads.

 

Likely, had the OP started a new thread, he would have been chastised, told there are a gazillion threads on tipping and to use the search feature. People cant win for losing around here :cool:

[Charles4515]

I do not understand why people pull up 3 year old threads. But I also do not like the auto tipping it was not like that for most of my cruises, now all the major lines do the same thing, its not just RCCL. Many of the other lines had the auto tipping in place before RCCL.

 

 

RCCL was the last to have auto tipping.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[knittinggirl]

I think our cabin steward on our last cruise was trying for extra tip when he said he needed a crown and how much it would cost. I wondered about the logistics of how he'd line up the crown prep, then return a month later for the final visit to seat the crown. Would the cruise ship be visiting the island where he had the dental work a month later. Also, w/ crowns, the dentists often insist on a root canal first.

 

He asked me how much a crown cost, and I said $1,000 in the states. That shut him up. He knew no way would he get $1,000 out of me.

[John&LaLa]

Likely, had the OP started a new thread, he would have been chastised, told there are a gazillion threads on tipping and to use the search feature. People cant win for losing around here :cool:

 

Yep

[queenL]

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.

 

Absolutely! We do this too. At the risk of sounding suspicious of big business, I always wonder if the crew gets the exact amount of money we leave when we auto tip. I like to give it staff personally.

[Big_G]

Honest question here :) Do you really think that the crew on board a RC ship would continue to renew contract after contract if they were getting shafted by RC on their gratuities? I mean really. I saw many of the same crew members on Freedom last April that was on that ship in April 2012. All of them with the same big smiles on their faces, ready to serve us.

 

Everyone wants to RC to "pay a good wage and fold it into the cost of the voyage" until they actually see the bottom line figure of what their cruise will cost them. :eek:

 

We kept running into the same bartender once on Oasis and then twice on Allure. Our last cruise on Allure, she said it was her last contract and she was heading home to take care of her 10 year-old. My wife kept in contact with her on Facebook and apparently she has returned to the company but I'm not sure which ship. There has to be a reason for that.

 

Anyway, that aside call it what you want but I don't concern myself with what others earn. I tip the recommended amount and then extra to those that make a difference. It's not my problem who gets what from the prepaid gratuities.

[ryano]

 

Anyway, that aside call it what you want but I don't concern myself with what others earn. I tip the recommended amount and then extra to those that make a difference. It's not my problem who gets what from the prepaid gratuities.

 

I totally agree! :)

[Paul65]

Absolutely! We do this too. At the risk of sounding suspicious of big business, I always wonder if the crew gets the exact amount of money we leave when we auto tip. I like to give it staff personally.

 

The reason people think those who remove automatic gratuities are doing it to avoid tipping is probably similar - they are suspicious of people's motives and doubt that these people are really going to give it to the staff personally.

 

I'd say that the chances that the "big business" are really doing what they say are somewhat higher than the chances that random people on an internet forum are really doing what they say. The big businesses at least have to go through audits. ;)

[geoherb]

Once again, a zombie thread, or a Lazarus thread, comes back to life. I wish Cruise Critic had a way to lock threads after a certain period of time without a response.

[Cruise_Christy]

Honest question here :) Do you really think that the crew on board a RC ship would continue to renew contract after contract if they were getting shafted by RC on their gratuities? I mean really. I saw many of the same crew members on Freedom last April that was on that ship in April 2012. All of them with the same big smiles on their faces, ready to serve us.

 

Everyone wants to RC to "pay a good wage and fold it into the cost of the voyage" until they actually see the bottom line figure of what their cruise will cost them. :eek:

 

I actually do, because the people doing your laundry and making the salads and cleaning the ship do not have better chances of employment back home. Just because they are willing to do what work they can for their families, and understand that they have to be cheerful to keep their jobs, doesn't mean they're not getting shafted by the business employing them. It just means that they take what they can get and losing their job completely is not a good option for them!

[ryano]

I actually do, because the people doing your laundry and making the salads and cleaning the ship do not have better chances of employment back home. Just because they are willing to do what work they can for their families, and understand that they have to be cheerful to keep their jobs, doesn't mean they're not getting shafted by the business employing them. It just means that they take what they can get and losing their job completely is not a good option for them!

 

I dont make it a point to ask any of the crew anything about their pay. It is absolutely none of my business. I have, however, had a few of them divulge information about it to me voluntarily. I have yet to come across one that said anything about getting shafted by RC. In fact, the very few ones Ive talked to absolutely love the auto gratuities, even though there is a % of those cruisers that remove them.

 

If you want to choose to believe that RC shafts their employees, by all means, its your right to do so :) I totally disagree with you though. If I thought for even a nanosecond that was going on, RC would never get another penny of my money again.

[George C]

Once again, a zombie thread, or a Lazarus thread, comes back to life. I wish Cruise Critic had a way to lock threads after a certain period of time without a response.

 

I agree , at least a warning asking if you want to respond to a thread that is a few years old

[John&LaLa]

Once again, a zombie thread, or a Lazarus thread, comes back to life. I wish Cruise Critic had a way to lock threads after a certain period of time without a response.

 

 

 

 

I agree , at least a warning asking if you want to respond to a thread that is a few years old

 

Why, it seems to have started a fine new conversation.

[Biker19]

Why, it seems to have started a fine new conversation.

Plus, it is good to see some context and how the issue has changed (or not) over the years.

[The_Big_M]

I dont make it a point to ask any of the crew anything about their pay. It is absolutely none of my business. I have, however, had a few of them divulge information about it to me voluntarily. I have yet to come across one that said anything about getting shafted by RC. In fact, the very few ones Ive talked to absolutely love the auto gratuities, even though there is a % of those cruisers that remove them.

 

If you want to choose to believe that RC shafts their employees, by all means, its your right to do so :) I totally disagree with you though. If I thought for even a nanosecond that was going on, RC would never get another penny of my money again.

 

Agree completely.

 

Further, with the thousands of employees under tips they've had, including those who have since left, if they were "getting shafted" wouldn't at least _one_ of them publicised it, as others have done before elsewhere?

 

RCL may have done some unreasonable deals in respect of its customers, but I believe that what they say about tipping for their employees is accurate.

[QE2_Fan]

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 :)

 

 

There are a lot still cruising but so many are having gratuities removed as they do not believe they should be 'paying the staff'. Don't get me wrong it is not in our culture to tip here in the Same way as the US and many do not appreciate that these ships operate on that system.

 

There is also ALOT of noise on local social media sites where people have had an unexpected experience with tipping on their first cruise or had to pay an extra $500-1000 for prepaid gratuities on top of their fare for anytime dining (now not mandatory). A family of five for example on a 14 day cruise with 3 children under 12 are still expected to pay $250 per person (x5)in gratuities. That adds up!!

 

I not putting a case for or against, whether I personally agree with the program we always prepay our grats as respect it is a different culture to our own and work with it. But there is sufficient noise locally on this topic to know not every Aussie feels the same way!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DrD]

Once again, a zombie thread, or a Lazarus thread, comes back to life. I wish Cruise Critic had a way to lock threads after a certain period of time without a response.

 

disagree.

 

It's better than multiple threads over and over on the same topic. It's be nice to have ONE thread on tipping, ONE on dress code, etc.

 

And it shows that someone did a search and found the right post for the discussion, rather than just ask the same old question again and again.

 

This behavior is encouraged on many forums, I've never been clear on what it's not the case here.

[Naomigruis]

We are going on a 25 night cruise later this year from the USA back to Australia.

 

Being Australian tipping is not really a norm for us and we only do it at restaurants if service was better than normal and only about $10 to $20 at most. Minimum wages in Australia are very good.

 

Having said that we have always just paid the auto tips on cruise and then given the cabin attendant a bit more if they where good.

 

This trip the auto gratuities are well over $800 so I will be removing them and tipping those that have given us good service. On a longer cruise like this we will most likely get to know the staff well.

 

This way I know that the money is going to those that I think deserve it the most which I believe is what tipping is all about.

 

To me this has always felt like a not so 'hidden' cost and I would much prefer to just pay one amount for a cruise and tip exra if I feel it's warranted not feel guilted into it by low wages.

[Aquahound]

Anyway, that aside call it what you want but I don't concern myself with what others earn. I tip the recommended amount and then extra to those that make a difference. It's not my problem who gets what from the prepaid gratuities.

 

Thank you!!!

 

What a cruise ship crew member makes is between them and their employer...not us.

 

But hey, that's the way this country seems to be going lately. Some people just think they know what's best for others. :rolleyes:

Edited January 28, 2016 by Aquahound

[gkbiiii]

the new 18% auto gratuity on bar purchases really chaps my ass and makes me purchase less drinks as a direct result of this, as well as huge drink prices!!

Edited January 28, 2016 by gkbiiii

[LadyShiva]

We are going on a 25 night cruise later this year from the USA back to Australia.

 

Being Australian tipping is not really a norm for us and we only do it at restaurants if service was better than normal and only about $10 to $20 at most. Minimum wages in Australia are very good.

 

Having said that we have always just paid the auto tips on cruise and then given the cabin attendant a bit more if they where good.

 

This trip the auto gratuities are well over $800 so I will be removing them and tipping those that have given us good service. On a longer cruise like this we will most likely get to know the staff well.

 

This way I know that the money is going to those that I think deserve it the most which I believe is what tipping is all about.

 

To me this has always felt like a not so 'hidden' cost and I would much prefer to just pay one amount for a cruise and tip exra if I feel it's warranted not feel guilted into it by low wages.

 

How are you planning on tipping the laundry workers? Tip envelopes always seem like more work to me... to have to run around tipping all the behind the scenes people who contribute to my fabulous cruise makes me tired just thinking about it!