Tips charged to sea pass daily?

[k1cobra]

Since when did RCI start charging your sea pass daily for tips? Due to my wife's disability we dont even eat in the dining room but we have to tip the waitstaff? What's wrong with this picture? If that is going to be the way it's done, wrap it up in the price of the cruise.:(:mad:

[delirious9876]

Hi, if you do a search you will get lots of threads up about this which will tell you a lot more than I can :-)

 

Do you eat in the WindJammer as tips cover this as well ??

Edited June 20, 2014 by delirious9876

[DonnaK]

If you sincerely believe that you are not using dining services at all during your cruise, then by all means, go to customer services and ask to have the daily service charge removed from your account.

[Scotty G]

Since when did RCI start charging your sea pass daily for tips? Due to my wife's disability we dont even eat in the dining room but we have to tip the waitstaff? What's wrong with this picture? If that is going to be the way it's done, wrap it up in the price of the cruise.:(:mad:

 

Sorry you are coming late to the game. The gratuities (not tips) go to waitstaff that work in all venues - not just the Main Dining Room, the cabin stewards; and, housekeeping folks (that clean the ship including cabins on turn around day).

 

This subject has been beat to death and we will not change it no matter what we say here!

[LMaxwell]

The auto-gratuity amount ensures all service staff, dining, stateroom, and behind the scenes receive their fair portion.

 

It can be modified at guest services if you are not agreeable to the amount or find service lacking. You can add additional amounts via guest services or with cash (the old fashioned way) if find service exceptional.

[k1cobra]

We do eat in the Windjammer, were we serve ourselves. I cannot see tipping the head waiter, waiter and asst. waiter, when we get our own food. Thanks Donna

[k1cobra]

Sorry you are coming late to the game. The gratuities (not tips) go to waitstaff that work in all venues - not just the Main Dining Room, the cabin stewards; and, housekeeping folks (that clean the ship including cabins on turn around day).

 

This subject has been beat to death and we will not change it no matter what we say here!

 

Tips, Gratuities...same thing different wording. Tips stand for To Insure Proper Service! And Just because you feel i am late to the game and it has been beaten to death does not mean I get the answer I was searching for!

[LMaxwell]

We do eat in the Windjammer, were we serve ourselves. I cannot see tipping the head waiter, waiter and asst. waiter, when we get our own food. Thanks Donna

 

You may modify at Guest Services and tip only those that you wish to. Royal Caribbean provides this option for you.

 

This thread is probably going to get really nasty; I will not be nasty to you. You have the factual information with which to make your decision.

 

TIPS does not stand for To Insure Prompt Service. You are not "insuring" anything. The word you are looking for is ensure. And no such word as "Teps" although I do understand your point.

Edited June 20, 2014 by LMaxwell

[k1cobra]

Not sure I understand why it should get Nasty? I had a legitimate question and wanted to find the answer......NOT public opinion. And it is insure....The same way you pay to insure your car or home etc....

[delirious9876]

Because many people on CC get VERY passionate about the subject of tips/gratuities and seem to lose all sense of logic, respect and rationale sometimes - lol.

[Langley Cruisers]

Hmm... maybe we should provide an explanation instead. That might make more sense. I know these threads may get tedious, but obviously OP doesn't quite understand the big(ger) picture.

 

Not sure I understand why it should get Nasty? I had a legitimate question and wanted to find the answer......NOT public opinion.....

 

k1cobra, I understand that the whole tips thing can be frustrating and even confusing. The way you see it, you do not eat in the dining room, therefore you do not see why you would leave the auto-tip in place at all. The auto-gratuity covers more than the dining room staff - it also covers your cabin steward. The daily amount is divided up between the steward and the dining room staff. Now - having said that, the dining room staff we are talking about all work their turns in the Windjammer buffet. I have seen our waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter in the Windjammer - we've said hello to all of them. They work there when they are not in the main dining room. Whether or not you think you may get your own food and not use their services, they are there to provide you with drinks (cold and hot), cutlery if you drop yours, to clear your dishes and wipe the table between courses and after you leave... they are there, working. The daily tip/service charge was implemented to ensure that all crew are paid for the job they do, which includes their time outside the main dining room.

 

You may absolutely leave a little something for them on the table when you leave. It will surely be appreciated.

 

Having said all of this, yes, you may remove or adjust the gratuity/service charge if you want. Tipping is still optional. But these days, the tips make up so much of the crew's wage, I would hate to think that any passenger would feel the crew didn't work hard enough for it.

 

Hope this helps. :)

 

.

[Scotty G]

Hmm... maybe we should provide an explanation instead. That might make more sense. I know these threads may get tedious, but obviously OP doesn't quite understand the big(ger) picture.

 

k1cobra, I understand that the whole tips thing can be frustrating and even confusing. The way you see it, you do not eat in the dining room, therefore you do not see why you would leave the auto-tip in place at all. The auto-gratuity covers more than the dining room staff - it also covers your cabin steward. The daily amount is divided up between the steward and the dining room staff. Now - having said that, the dining room staff we are talking about all work their turns in the Windjammer buffet. I have seen our waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter in the Windjammer - we've said hello to all of them. They work there when they are not in the main dining room. Whether or not you think you may get your own food and not use their services, they are there to provide you with drinks (cold and hot), cutlery if you drop yours, to clear your dishes and wipe the table between courses and after you leave... they are there, working. The daily tip/service charge was implemented to ensure that all crew are paid for the job they do, which includes their time outside the main dining room.

 

You may absolutely leave a little something for them on the table when you leave. It will surely be appreciated.

 

Having said all of this, yes, you may remove or adjust the gratuity/service charge if you want. Tipping is still optional. But these days, the tips make up so much of the crew's wage, I would hate to think that any passenger would feel the crew didn't work hard enough for it.

 

Hope this helps. :)

 

Thanks Karen. I tried to give the abbreviated version. Your explanation tells the story better.

I particularly get concerned when crew lose out when they don't get the gratuities (which are their pay) they work so hard and long for.

[Langley Cruisers]

I particularly get concerned when crew lose out when they don't get the gratuities (which are their pay) they work so hard and long for.

 

I know, me too. :(

 

.

[wolfcathorse]

the auto-gratuities are being distributed to all who make your cruise memorable. This includes laundry services (you do want clean towels and sheets don't you?!) as well. In case you didn't know OP, waiters and head waiters work as supervisors in WJ while the assistant waiters work clearing the tables, serving you, etc. The assistant waiters are there on their free week, every 5 weeks they work for nothing in WJ. If a husband and wife team are on board together, RCI tries to make sure both aren't on their free week at the same time. Auto-gratuities alleviate some of this financial stress.

 

Anyway, your question started with "since when did..." and the answer is RCI has been adding auto-gratuities to seapass accounts for little over a year now (time seems to fly so it may only be a year...2013 was a year for me to forget). All the major cruiselines do it now, RCI was not the first. I could see the need when on the 3/4 night cruises, people would skip eating in the MDR to avoid handing their waiter and assistant waiter a tip. If you don't want auto-gratuities, go to Guest Services on Day 1 (the day you board) and ask to have them removed. You only need to do it once, they will remove them every day for the duration of your cruise. Then you can show your appreciation to your cabin steward at the end of the cruise ($3.50 per person per day). We take a bunch of $1's with us so that when we eat in WJ, we tip the worker cleaning the tables or the one who got us water or coffee, etc. I usually personally hand it to them.

[leaveitallbehind]

Since when did RCI start charging your sea pass daily for tips? Due to my wife's disability we dont even eat in the dining room but we have to tip the waitstaff? What's wrong with this picture? If that is going to be the way it's done, wrap it up in the price of the cruise.:(:mad:

 

Since 3/1/13.

[uksimonusa]

Not sure I understand why it should get Nasty? I had a legitimate question and wanted to find the answer......NOT public opinion. And it is insure....The same way you pay to insure your car or home etc....

 

If it was to Insure, then you would get paid if the service was not prompt, you would also tip before the service is received and not after.

[Wilda]

OP, I noticed that a few months ago you were asking how much to tip the porters that handle the bags. So I get a sense that you are not trying to skip out on the gratuity but are genuinely concerned about people getting a tip that "have done nothing for it". Folks on these boards get mighty touchy about tipping ;)

 

As others have said, it gets divvied up between the dining staff and your cabin attendant ( and these people all do plenty to deserve it). I too wish that RCI would just include it in the price and be done with it. Since they don't, you have a few choices; leave it and everyone gets a share, remove it altogether and tip as you go, or remove and don't tip at all.

 

Me personally, we do My Time Dining so we prepay our gratuities and don't give it a second thought. I don't want to have to worry about bringing cash with me. But that is me and what works for us when we cruise. Have a great trip:D

Edited June 20, 2014 by Wilda

[FLACRUISER99]

Folks make up all kind of excused not not to tip the great staff on RCI.

 

 

 

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[cb at sea]

You'll be eating SOMEWHERE....the tips cover all but the specialty eating venues...tip as if you were eating in the MDR...and you'll be good to go.

[k1cobra]

I have been cruising And tipping on RC for years now, my goal was not to dip out on a tip but curious as to why it became part of the sea pass card as it never was in the past, Thank you to those that answered that simply. I see people are passionate about tipping their dining room waiters, however I still do not subscribe to the mass tip! Gratuities have always been and will always be for services rendered.....If I have a terrible waiter they get tipped appropriately, if I have a great one ditto! Thank You though to those that answered my question. Also you dont tip a server to bus your table the same as one who gives great service!!!

Edited June 21, 2014 by k1cobra

[leaveitallbehind]

I have been cruising And tipping on RC for years now, my goal was not to dip out on a tip but curious as to why it became part of the sea pass card as it never was in the past, Thank you to those that answered that simply. I see people are passionate about tipping their dining room waiters, however I still do not subscribe to the mass tip! Gratuities have always been and will always be for services rendered.....If I have a terrible waiter they get tipped appropriately, if I have a great one ditto! Thank You though to those that answered my question. Also you dont tip a server to bus your table the same as one who gives great service!!!

 

When they introduced MTD the gratuities become prepaid with that option. IMO that was to insure that gratuities in fact were paid with the MTD option of different servers, more flexibility with specialty restaurants, and the unfortunate fact that some people "opted out" of gratuities altogether by not eating in the MDR on the last night. It also simplified the gratuities payment. As others have said, more than just your direct servers are in the gratuity chain and this also assures the correct distribution to all.

 

For many of the same reasons, it was not too much of a leap to see the daily charge option coming as the method of payment for the standard dining options, and many people - myself included - don't have an issue as it simplifies things.

 

The option still remains to add more at the end of the week if desired, or to opt out through guest services and pay - or not pay - as one might wish.

Edited June 21, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[caribbean sailor]

Since when did RCI start charging your sea pass daily for tips? Due to my wife's disability we dont even eat in the dining room but we have to tip the waitstaff? What's wrong with this picture? If that is going to be the way it's done, wrap it up in the price of the cruise.:(:mad:

 

If you don't like Royal charging your sea pass for so called tips,stop by customer relations and tell them not to charge the twenty four Dollars a day to your sea pass.Tips are given,not taken. :)

[caribbean sailor]

Hmm... maybe we should provide an explanation instead. That might make more sense. I know these threads may get tedious, but obviously OP doesn't quite understand the big(ger) picture.

 

 

 

k1cobra, I understand that the whole tips thing can be frustrating and even confusing. The way you see it, you do not eat in the dining room, therefore you do not see why you would leave the auto-tip in place at all. The auto-gratuity covers more than the dining room staff - it also covers your cabin steward. The daily amount is divided up between the steward and the dining room staff. Now - having said that, the dining room staff we are talking about all work their turns in the Windjammer buffet. I have seen our waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter in the Windjammer - we've said hello to all of them. They work there when they are not in the main dining room. Whether or not you think you may get your own food and not use their services, they are there to provide you with drinks (cold and hot), cutlery if you drop yours, to clear your dishes and wipe the table between courses and after you leave... they are there, working. The daily tip/service charge was implemented to ensure that all crew are paid for the job they do, which includes their time outside the main dining room.

 

You may absolutely leave a little something for them on the table when you leave. It will surely be appreciated.

 

Having said all of this, yes, you may remove or adjust the gratuity/service charge if you want. Tipping is still optional. But these days, the tips make up so much of the crew's wage, I would hate to think that any passenger would feel the crew didn't work hard enough for it.

 

Hope this helps. :)

 

.

 

 

I would hate to think Royal would feel the crew did not work hard enough for Royal to pay them a decent salary.Don't charge my credit card without my permission.Have the guts to raise the price of the cruise,to show the real price of the cruise.:mad:

[leaveitallbehind]

I would hate to think Royal would feel the crew did not work hard enough for Royal to pay them a decent salary.Don't charge my credit card without my permission.Have the guts to raise the price of the cruise,to show the real price of the cruise.:mad:

 

The gratuity amount and payment methods are clearly indicated with RCI. And it is not just RCI that does this - most mass market cruise lines follow similar policies - somewhat "industry standard".

 

I believe the reasoning behind not including gratuities as part of the base stateroom rate has to do with flexibility with setting stateroom rates and promotions and raising or lowering prices. As gratuities are a separate and fixed amount is just may be simpler for this to keep them separate.

 

I also speculate that another reason has to do with accounting practices and how crew salaries are paid and taxed - or not taxed. But that is not an area I am well versed in - just a speculation.

 

As you mentioned previously you can opt out of the daily charge method if desired. The only method that is not optional is that with MTD whereby gratuities are prepaid.

Edited June 21, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Daghis]

Tips stand for To Insure Proper Service!

Regarding this, you may find this page interesting reading as it explains why it's actually not true.