Labadee: No tip, no chairs

[nyroadrunner]

Tip or not tip. . . expected or not expected--anyone that will not help a women dealing with 2 small children that was upfront that DH has the $$ and he is in the bathroom is plain rude. End of story!! OP sorry this happened to you.

 

This^^ It has nothing to do with whether she was willing to or not willing to tip. The man is there to do his job, and should not be refusing service no matter what the circumstance is.

[Charles4515]

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure they have RCI name tags.

 

A name tag does not mean they are employed by RCI. RCI has plenty of contractors who wear name tags. Onboard the ship, the shops employees, the Spa employees, Art Auction, I think the photographers and casino too, are contractors. A name tag does not mean they are RCI employees.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Charles4515

[nyroadrunner]

If this happened at a bar onboard, people would be losing their minds! Imagine: No tip, no bar service. Or, if someone had a soda card and was refused service because the bartenders knew they weren't going to tip. He is wearing a nametag with RCI's logo on it, therefore he is representing their brand. This is not ok. I would have complained right when I got onboard.

[Charles4515]

This^^ It has nothing to do with whether she was willing to or not willing to tip. The man is there to do his job, and should not be refusing service no matter what the circumstance is.

 

That is true. But she set up the fail by bringing up the tips. Even more so since a tip is not required. Let him set up the chairs and then mention that husband would be back and he had the cash if you want to give a tip. If there was no husband or you don't have the cash or you don't want to tip just shrug.

[Aquahound]

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure they have RCI name tags.

 

You are correct. One way or another, they are employed by RCI. This is RCI's private island (peninsula), they control the access, and these folks are paid to maintain, set up and clean RCI's property. So yes, they're employees.

[Artemis908]

I think Americans are so use to the idea of tipping because employers don't pay their employees enough. So I am just wondering if the island employees get paid fairly or are they living off of tips. I am guessing Europeans are even less likely to tip since it's not embedded in their lifestyle like ours.

 

I've worked in the service industry though and sure people make mistakes, things happen. But there is no reason for rudeness. I had bad days, but I still smiled and was polite. It doesn't take much effort.

[Rala]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I was told that the employees (some of them, at least) are housed and fed by Royal right there in the Labadee area. There are quite a few houses you can see off to the left when going to the beach areas from the ship on the ferry. So although they may not be "well-off" by our standards, they are not going "home", necessarily, to some tar paper shack. In any event, this particular employe was rude and should be reported IMO.

Bob(Clarea), do you have any input as to whether this housing info is true or not? :)

[Enforcer]

Tip or not tip. . . expected or not expected--anyone that will not help a women dealing with 2 small children that was upfront that DH has the $$ and he is in the bathroom is plain rude. End of story!! OP sorry this happened to you.

 

Hi All,

 

If this person was an employee of mine I would want to know that he wasn't willing to assist a lone parent with children. Maybe, not to dismiss him but to point out the error of his ways.

That is anyone who employs him, even if it meant RCI passing any complaint on to them.

What Dragon Of The Seas says is correct.

 

I am from the UK and tipping is very different to the other side of the pond. I wouldn't think that a tip would be expected by someone who gets a sun lounger from a pile. I have been to Labadee and I thought that all of the staff (apart from the market) were RCI employees either from the ship or based on the island.

 

Pete

[irontree]

No offense, Jacqueline, but this is an example of political correctness gone crazy.

This guy needed to be reported and if he loses his job... SO BE IT. Just because he has it worse than us, does not excuse poor behavior. An example needs to be set and that guy is just making it ok to alow a lower standard to be set.

 

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

[yogimax]

moral of the story for me is to remember to take cash off the boat with me.

 

 

 

At Labadee and Coco Cay, there is no need to take money to the island, unless you intend to purchase something.

 

To avoid the whole issue, we will get our own chairs and set them up. If we do buy something, it will be some metal art work on Labadee. We do like to support the local economy.

[Submariner]

So Irontree., we should excuse poor behavior and bad manners because they are poor? CMon give me a break! Manners and such are independent of wealth status. I have seen dirt poor people with fantastic manners and persona and I have seen rich people with rude, ugly manners.

 

Your logic lacks merit.

[BND]

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

 

That average wage has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion as these people are employed by/through RCI and I can guarantee are making more than $1.12 per day. The average wage you posted, if it's correct, is what the average Haitian makes on the island, not what those lucky one employed by RCI make. The biggest problem Haiti has is that good intentioned foreigner individuals and groups have created a culture of dependence.

 

We do tip and usually $5 for two chairs, but I can guarantee if someone refused to do their job unless tipped, something would be said. But, as others have said, their job is to set up the chairs. Somewhere along the line someone figured out if we wait til people arrive to set them up, then we can get tips for it.

[Ocean Boy]

Am I missing something? Am I the only one that remembers that RCI at one time posed a notice (I Cant remember where) that Labadee Staff were employees of RCI and no tipping was necessary.

 

On one of our cruises (I can't remember which one) there was flyer that came in the Compass addressing this very issue and actually discouraged people from tipping.

[FLACRUISER99]

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

Since you feel this way maybe you should be very generous when you visit Labadee. However don't imply that other folks should tip for nonexistent or rude service.

[Ocean Boy]

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure they have RCI name tags.

 

You are not wrong.

[poncho1973]

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

 

The comment has nothing to do with how much they make or how poor/rich someone is.

 

Straw man argument.

[js]

Wow! Thank you so much for posting!

I haven't been on RCCL in a few years and the last time I was at Labadee (maybe even longer) it was not as built up and the chairs were already out. The Dragons Breath, where you would hear/see the water come through the rocks was the big deal back then LOL

 

So, I would not have even thought to bring cash with me to Labadee! When I was there last, the only thing I would need cash for was the little straw market that we would walk through back by a fence.

 

I am a big proponent for tipping but I'm also a New Yorker and can handle my own self and if someone had said that to me, you bet I would have NO problem getting my chairs (as many as I needed) and placing where I want them.

 

If anything, thank you for making me realize we need to bring cash.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

#1 you not comparing apples to oranges. Castaway Cay is a private Bahaman island. To compare properly, you would mention RCCL's own Bahaman island CoCo Cay at which the chairs/umbrellas are set out and waiting just as Disney does it. Just saying.

 

#2 Labadee is part of Haiti, and has a large populace that RCCL helps subsidize by letting them do the loungers.

 

I very clearly stated that my only experience was with Disney.

 

I was not familiar with RCCL's system in the Caribbean - and likely will not be from personal experience as for the Caribbean I'd definitely rather have Disney's level of service and their environment (plus ship size). That is why I asked.

[Big_G]

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

Well then if he wants to keep his job then he should do his job.

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[4cats4me]

No offense, Jacqueline, but this is an example of political correctness gone crazy.

This guy needed to be reported and if he loses his job... SO BE IT. Just because he has it worse than us, does not excuse poor behavior. An example needs to be set and that guy is just making it ok to alow a lower standard to be set.

 

 

I agree with you. We always tip for everything, but this attitude of the guy would have put a very sour taste in my mouth. Princess cays the chairs are set up ready to go

Bottom line, they don't really like us down in the Caribbean. They only like our money. .

 

 

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[north29]

I tipped the guy well, that is their major income, I assume, he did carry them a fairly long way to where we wanted. One chairs was covered with Bird poop and it was like we were bothering him to get another one. He treated us like poop, for asking, I told him to get lost and I will never, well maybe, use that service again.

[Godsonsafari]

A) Ignorance of locally accepted customs isn't really an excuse re: tipping or anything else. I respect that many places don't tip like Americans do because the structure of their service based economy is significantly different. But you should come prepared when traveling in the US or on cruise ships departing the US filled with Americans using the US dollar to adjust your activity. We do it there. You can do it here.

 

B) Tipping for getting a chair is entirely reasonable, especially in a country swathed in crushing poverty that's established a well protected safe zone for tourists. Considering the major powers of the world have spent most of the last century screwing up Haiti for their own benefit, the least you can do is give a resident $2 for putting an umbrella in the sand.

 

C) If they refuse to, you know, do the job they're supposed to, then obviously they don't get a tip. If they're actively aggressive towards you, they don't get a tip. You're fully in your right to talk to a supervisor or manager there about this so that corrective action can be taken.

 

Truthfully though, none of us really knows what the labor situation is there. Given the incredibly low wages and the utter lack of opportunity in a country that's basically been ruined several times over by earthquake, war, hurricanes, and pollution, I sincerely hope that whatever agreement exists between the Haitian government and the employees is truly beneficial and not merely exploitative for the purpose of giving us a cheap holiday retreat. If it isn't, I guess I can't act surprised that they might be rude. I also might not be surprised that corruption and cronyism would be rampant there in terms of hiring and management that would allow that to happen. This concludes your balanced take.

[Beachcampin]

The average wage in Haiti is $ 1.12 per day

Who are you? When was the last time you went to bed hungry ?

These poor people live day by day and you question $ 1.00 tips

and you want them to live up to your standards

Live a week or even a day in their shoes

 

You don't need to live a day in their shoes to understand that this is a customer service job and if he has a rude personality then he shouldn't be in that position. There are plenty of folks on the island who can do the job and be nice who need to job more than this individual. Labadee has many great local employees, I've seen and talked to them. If this fellow can't understand that, then he must not need the job, wasn't trained properly, or is just an overall bad fit for the position.

 

It's customer service oriented position; the first requirement ought to be to be nice. You can do it slow, but if you're nice it will be frequently be overlooked. You can do it incompetently, but if if you're nice it will often be forgotten. But if you're rude, creepy or menacing, it doesn't matter how efficiently or perfectly the job is done.

 

Personnel on the islands also represent the brand whether they work for RCI or not. They reflect on RCI. This behavior would never be tolerated on the ship and shouldn't be tolerated on shore either. Personnel on the ship come from economic depressed areas as well, and this is never used as an excuse to tolerate rude behavior; it shouldn't be used to tolerate rude behavior from Haitians either.

[rafinmd]

Am I missing something? Am I the only one that remembers that RCI at one time posed a notice (I Cant remember where) that Labadee Staff were employees of RCI and no tipping was necessary.

 

I don't remember that but my recollection (Grandeur in March) is that on the morning show the CD said "You might want to take some small bills in case you want to buy something at the straw market". No mention of taking money for tips.

 

Roy

[Who Cares?]

If this happened at a bar onboard, people would be losing their minds! Imagine: No tip, no bar service. Or, if someone had a soda card and was refused service because the bartenders knew they weren't going to tip. He is wearing a nametag with RCI's logo on it, therefore he is representing their brand. This is not ok. I would have complained right when I got onboard.

 

Why would you think that? The tip has already been paid when purchasing the soda card (or other drink package).

Edited November 18, 2015 by Who Cares?