Carnival grats increasse to $12.95 & 16.50 respectively

[Computer Nerd]

I know the cost. I factor for it. I pay for it. I've never not paid it. I know it is expected. But I know I am not obligated to do so. The crew know I am not obligated to do so, and I think that keeps them motivated to provide good service. I just don't like the idea of it being mandatory and I have already explained why. I trust you're smart enough to see my point of view. You don't have to accept it or agree, but it won't do either of us any good to keep repeating our positions, we won't change anyones mind so we'll just talk in circles and argue, which wasn't what lead me to this thread to start with.

 

I was wondering where the $16.50 figure came from as I haven't seen it anywhere.

 

yes, i understand your point of view but i disagree with it. you seem to think that someone needs an external motivation.....effectively a carrot dangled in front of them.....to do their job properly. i disagree with that line of thought because we're not dealing with 5 year olds while on a cruise. i believe they are adults that volunteered to be away from family and friends because they make a better life doing these jobs than what they could earn back home and keeping that job safe along with their integrity is all of the motivation they need.....internal motivation. but, how the system works is up to neither one of us but i do feel we have an obligation to play by their rules since we are in their home.....so to speak. and i use the word obligated because we do have an obligation, which is the same as an expectation, to pay our gratuities. i have never insinuated you didn't but i have witnessed many that didn't and that irritates the heck out of me because i believe that service from the staff will suffer as more and more people decide not to pay. in effect, the staff will decide at some point in time to just say the heck with good service because they will feel they will probably get screwed over anyway. making it mandatory will alleviate that possibility.

 

btw, other than the dangled carrot theory, i really didn't see any other reason why you don't like the thought of mandatory gratuities but i may have missed it. if so, i apologize for not seeing it.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Computer Nerd

[Sitzmark]

Not at all. The steakhouse is $35 including gratuity for one meal. There are several choices to choose from for appetizers, main course, and dessert. They have a pretty good idea of the combinations of things that will be chosen. The rest of the meals throughout the ship could be thousands of mix/match combinations. Some people eat breakfast, some don't. Same for lunch. Some have pizza at midnight. Some order room service. The possibilities are endless.

 

I already said you could add extra gratuity if you wished but it isn't expected because it's included in the upcharge. The waiters in the steakhouse have gotten paid by you eating there. Unlike the people who go to dinner in the MDR and remove gratuities. Or the people that don't eat there but do eat in the buffet or order room service which are the same people that work the MDR at night.

 

If they manage to pay for it all, then I'm sure they have put a price on it. Just like the all you can eat buffet places manage to do, even though they don't know precisely what you will eat at any given moment. You are actually paying closer to $50 for that steakhouse meal once you consider the MDR meal you have prepaid but are not consuming.

 

Bottom line is that they can absolutely roll it in without you seeing it and it would not have to cost one cent more than it does now.

[Dave994]

I agree. If service is that bad then it needs to be addressed right then and there with a supervisor - mandatory service charge or not. I don't think service will suffer at all as a cash tip could still be an option and no one wants to lose their job for slacking off.

 

I prepay gratuities and I always get excellent service. They know that I have done so from the time I step foot on the ship and not once did I ever need to address any shortcomings in regards to service. There are other more effective avenues for weeding out poor performers besides withholding funds such as a talk with their boss and a dishonorable mention on the survey.

 

 

Do you call ahead to a restaurant and provide a tip to the waiter?

 

Prepaying gratuities makes no sense to me at all. I have never pulled my gratuities, but I sure as heck won't provide it before I have been given any service. And if I got poor service, I would pull the gratuities from those whose service did not meet my expectations.

 

Why I am tipping the dishwasher, cruise director and the musicians, ect....still escapes me but I will tackle that one another time.

[Computer Nerd]

Just curious....if your cruise fare went up by say 20-25% and carnival removed gratuities and paid their staff a better wage. Any issues?

 

the way i see it, the cruise fare didn't go up. if someone pays base fare 1,000 dollars for a cruise and then 100 dollars in tips......just hypothetical numbers......and on the next cruise pays base fare 1,100 for their cruise and no tips, did their cruise cost go up.... the crew gets the same wage, the customer pays the same, but the ability to remove the tips by nefarious people has been removed. so in essence, the crew would actually make more because all tips would have been paid instead of say 80 percent of the tips......just a random number. i don't see the need to pay a better wage, just pay the expected wage which isn't done if tips can be removed.

[Sitzmark]

Just curious....if your cruise fare went up by say 20-25% and carnival removed gratuities and paid their staff a better wage. Any issues?

 

If the gratuity is not 20 to 25% of the cruise price, why do you feel they would be required to raise the price that much to cover gratuities?

[Computer Nerd]

Do you call ahead to a restaurant and provide a tip to the waiter?

 

Prepaying gratuities makes no sense to me at all. I have never pulled my gratuities, but I sure as heck won't provide it before I have been given any service. And if I got poor service, I would pull the gratuities from those whose service did not meet my expectations.

 

Why I am tipping the dishwasher, cruise director and the musicians, ect....still escapes me but I will tackle that one another time.

 

do you pay for a meal before you get to a restaurant :confused: no, yet you pay for a cruise months before you take it. so what's the difference if it makes someone happy to not have to worry about owing anything when the leave the boat by prepaying tips.

 

then again, land-based restaurants and cruises are two entirely different animals but you diced to compare them so let's compare them completely and not just one aspect of them. ;)

[Computer Nerd]

If they manage to pay for it all, then I'm sure they have put a price on it. Just like the all you can eat buffet places manage to do, even though they don't know precisely what you will eat at any given moment. You are actually paying closer to $50 for that steakhouse meal once you consider the MDR meal you have prepaid but are not consuming.

 

Bottom line is that they can absolutely roll it in without you seeing it and it would not have to cost one cent more than it does now.

 

you do know some people eat the steakhouse meal and then go to the mdr as well in the same night..... :eek: :D ;)

[firemanbobswife]

Do you call ahead to a restaurant and provide a tip to the waiter?

 

Prepaying gratuities makes no sense to me at all. I have never pulled my gratuities, but I sure as heck won't provide it before I have been given any service. And if I got poor service, I would pull the gratuities from those whose service did not meet my expectations.

 

Why I am tipping the dishwasher, cruise director and the musicians, ect....still escapes me but I will tackle that one another time.

 

 

Because once again it's not a tip, it's a service charge. It's no different to me than taxes and port fees. I don't sweat the small stuff and to me worrying that I might get "cheated" out of anything but excellent service is one of the last things on my mind. Again, if that were to happen I have other more effective avenues of getting this handled. A couple bucks isn't that big of a deal to

me.

 

And yes, I have pre tipped. Ever order pizza online and add the gratuity to your credit card when you check out? I do it all the time. I just have to trust that my pizza will arrive as ordered. If not, I will leave it in place and call the store.

[Sitzmark]

you do know some people eat the steakhouse meal and then go to the mdr as well in the same night..... :eek: :D ;)

 

If either are like my previous cruises they'd be wise to skip them both.

[Dave994]

If the gratuity is not 20 to 25% of the cruise price, why do you feel they would be required to raise the price that much to cover gratuities?

 

 

Just a number to point out many here claim to holier than thou folks about gratuities and yet suggest they raise the price of a cruise and they freak out.

 

If they raised it by the exact amount of gratuities now and paid that increase to staff and then let me tip based on who serves me, I would be happy. Many here would not

[firemanbobswife]

If the gratuity is not 20 to 25% of the cruise price, why do you feel they would be required to raise the price that much to cover gratuities?

 

 

Now this I agree with you on [emoji6]

[Dave994]

do you pay for a meal before you get to a restaurant :confused: no, yet you pay for a cruise months before you take it. so what's the difference if it makes someone happy to not have to worry about owing anything when the leave the boat by prepaying tips.

 

 

 

then again, land-based restaurants and cruises are two entirely different animals but you diced to compare them so let's compare them completely and not just one aspect of them. ;)

 

 

Ok. Let's. I don't have a choice ahead of time for a cruise. I either pay for the whole thing or I don't.

 

If there was a restaurant that charged me to book it and I thought it was worth it....food was great, ect...I have no problem with that.

 

But I have never eaten at a restaurant that auto adds a 15% gratuity and never will. And I worked in that industry for 8 years. I tip based on service at the end of said service.

[Dave994]

Because once again it's not a tip, it's a service charge. It's no different to me than taxes and port fees. I don't sweat the small stuff and to me worrying that I might get "cheated" out of anything but excellent service is one of the last things on my mind. Again, if that were to happen I have other more effective avenues of getting this handled. A couple bucks isn't that big of a deal to

me.

 

And yes, I have pre tipped. Ever order pizza online and add the gratuity to your credit card when you check out? I do it all the time. I just have to trust that my pizza will arrive as ordered. If not, I will leave it in place and call the store.

 

 

Ummm no. When I order pizza online I tip the driver when he shows up with it.

 

And again, I have never removed my tips in 4 cruises. I just don't prepay them.

[Computer Nerd]

Just a number to point out many here claim to holier than thou folks about gratuities and yet suggest they raise the price of a cruise and they freak out.

 

If they raised it by the exact amount of gratuities now and paid that increase to staff and then let me tip based on who serves me, I would be happy. Many here would not

 

that's the thing, the price of the cruise isn't being raised, the money is just being collected in a different way. but instead of putting it in the base fare, collecting it like port charges would be better. if someone must cancel a cruise say 5 days out, they would lose the gratuities as well if included in the base cruise price but they would get them back like port charges and tax if the cruise had to be cancelled. but either way, the actual cruise price doesn't increase unless someone is already planning to remove them which couldn't be done if they changed how the money was collected.

[Thorncroft]

yes, i understand your point of view but i disagree with it. you seem to think that someone needs an external motivation.....effectively a carrot dangled in front of them.....to do their job properly. i disagree with that line of thought because we're not dealing with 5 year olds while on a cruise. i believe they are adults that volunteered to be away from family and friends because they make a better life doing these jobs than what they could earn back home and keeping that job safe along with their integrity is all of the motivation they need.....internal motivation. but, how the system works is up to neither one of us but i do feel we have an obligation to play by their rules since we are in their home.....so to speak. and i use the word obligated because we do have an obligation, which is the same as an expectation, to pay our gratuities. i have never insinuated you didn't but i have witnessed many that didn't and that irritates the heck out of me because i believe that service from the staff will suffer as more and more people decide not to pay. in effect, the staff will decide at some point in time to just say the heck with good service because they will feel they will probably get screwed over anyway. making it mandatory will alleviate that possibility.

 

btw, other than the dangled carrot theory, i really didn't see any other reason why you don't like the thought of mandatory gratuities but i may have missed it. if so, i apologize for not seeing it.

 

I've got a tip for you. Just worry about your obligations, and let everyone else worry about theirs.

[Computer Nerd]

Ok. Let's. I don't have a choice ahead of time for a cruise. I either pay for the whole thing or I don't.

 

If there was a restaurant that charged me to book it and I thought it was worth it....food was great, ect...I have no problem with that.

 

But I have never eaten at a restaurant that auto adds a 15% gratuity and never will. And I worked in that industry for 8 years. I tip based on service at the end of said service.

 

you've obviously never been to disney world where an 18 percent gratuity is already added to your bill and it is non-negotiable.......even at buffet restaurants where the server only brings your drinks. yes, just like a cruise, a person has the option of not going to disney but if you want to go there, that's how they do business.

[Computer Nerd]

I've got a tip for you. Just worry about your obligations, and let everyone else worry about theirs.

 

thanks for the tip but i'm old enough to decide for myself what i will and won't worry about. ;)

 

of course, the great thing is i don't have to worry about trying to change anyone's opinion here. i just need to change the opinion of management at carnival. :p

Edited May 13, 2016 by Computer Nerd

[firemanbobswife]

Ok. Let's. I don't have a choice ahead of time for a cruise. I either pay for the whole thing or I don't.

 

If there was a restaurant that charged me to book it and I thought it was worth it....food was great, ect...I have no problem with that.

 

But I have never eaten at a restaurant that auto adds a 15% gratuity and never will. And I worked in that industry for 8 years. I tip based on service at the end of said service.

 

Gratuities aren't even close to 15% of your cruise fare, but OK. What about people who buy Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles? They ARE charged 15% on the package cost upfront before they ever get a drink.

 

That's what I have a hard time understanding. It's OK for Carnival to automatically add gratuities to bar bills even if you get sucky service (which I would say happens a LOT more often than in the MDR or from your room steward). But when it's added to your account for the people who take care of you night and day, some people freak out and demand not to pay it. It shouldn't be an option just like it's not when you order a drink. Why is there not a million threads on this and people demanding to have them removed every time they sign a bar receipt?

[Computer Nerd]

Gratuities aren't even close to 15% of your cruise fare, but OK. What about people who buy Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles? They ARE charged 15% on the package cost upfront before they ever get a drink.

 

That's what I have a hard time understanding. It's OK for Carnival to automatically add gratuities to bar bills even if you get sucky service (which I would say happens a LOT more often than in the MDR or from your room steward). But when it's added to your account for the people who take care of you night and day, some people freak out and demand not to pay it. It shouldn't be an option just like it's not when you order a drink. Why is there not a million threads on this and people demanding to have them removed every time they sign a bar receipt?

 

good point.

[Dave994]

that's the thing, the price of the cruise isn't being raised, the money is just being collected in a different way. but instead of putting it in the base fare, collecting it like port charges would be better. if someone must cancel a cruise say 5 days out, they would lose the gratuities as well if included in the base cruise price but they would get them back like port charges and tax if the cruise had to be cancelled. but either way, the actual cruise price doesn't increase unless someone is already planning to remove them which couldn't be done if they changed how the money was collected.

 

 

You don't understand at all what I am saying and that's ok. Eliminate gratuities period. No service charge, no port like fees charge, just raise the price of every cruise and use that money to pay their staff a decent wage. And yes, they will be taxed on it (which is why they do it the way they do) but treat it like every other company does. I know when I go to a hotel the cost of the wages is included in my nightly rate, but I still get a choice to tip the bell hop if he takes my bags or whoever else I see fit.

 

I want to eliminate the word "gratuities" or "service charge" from my cruise experience period.

[firemanbobswife]

Ummm no. When I order pizza online I tip the driver when he shows up with it.

 

And again, I have never removed my tips in 4 cruises. I just don't prepay them.

 

Glad to see you at least pay them. I like to get as much out of the way ahead of time as possible. That's why I always add the tip for my pizza on the computer. Just hand me my pies and be on your way! :p

 

But just so you know, if there is an issue that you feel removing tips is necessary and you have prepaid, you can still go to GS and have them refunded. But unless someone seriously ticked me off, I wouldn't. I would, however, make sure that ALL the appropriate people were made aware while still on the ship. They can't fix problems if they don't know about them.

[Dave994]

Gratuities aren't even close to 15% of your cruise fare, but OK. What about people who buy Cheers or Bottomless Bubbles? They ARE charged 15% on the package cost upfront before they ever get a drink.

 

 

 

That's what I have a hard time understanding. It's OK for Carnival to automatically add gratuities to bar bills even if you get sucky service (which I would say happens a LOT more often than in the MDR or from your room steward). But when it's added to your account for the people who take care of you night and day, some people freak out and demand not to pay it. It shouldn't be an option just like it's not when you order a drink. Why is there not a million threads on this and people demanding to have them removed every time they sign a bar receipt?

 

 

Agree 100% I don't think the drinks should come with an auto 15% pre done. And I have a 4 day cruise coming up in August where I want cheers and really struggle with this because I don't agree with it.

[Dave994]

Glad to see you at least pay them. I like to get as much out of the way ahead of time as possible. That's why I always add the tip for my pizza on the computer. Just hand me my pies and be on your way! :p

 

 

 

But just so you know, if there is an issue that you feel removing tips is necessary and you have prepaid, you can still go to GS and have them refunded. But unless someone seriously ticked me off, I wouldn't. I would, however, make sure that ALL the appropriate people were made aware while still on the ship. They can't fix problems if they don't know about them.

 

 

I get that and if I had horrible service I would remove them. So far, it hasn't been bad enough for me to go to that length. But I am Canadian and complaining is not something we are good at :)

 

I believe in rewarding those who provide exceptional service. Our last cabin steward was amazing and he was given a good tip. Our waiters were not great at all and although I left the auto tip, I didn't provide extra like I have in the past.

[Computer Nerd]

You don't understand at all what I am saying and that's ok. Eliminate gratuities period. No service charge, no port like fees charge, just raise the price of every cruise and use that money to pay their staff a decent wage. And yes, they will be taxed on it (which is why they do it the way they do) but treat it like every other company does. I know when I go to a hotel the cost of the wages is included in my nightly rate, but I still get a choice to tip the bell hop if he takes my bags or whoever else I see fit.

 

I want to eliminate the word "gratuities" or "service charge" from my cruise experience period.

 

okay, but what does it matter how the money is collected :confused:

 

if you cancel a cruise you would stand to lose more if the money was buried in the basic cruise charge. while i think everyone should pay that amount of money that covers the wages if you go on a cruise why pay it if you miss the cruise. we're talking the same amount of dollars with the only difference being how it is collected.

[firemanbobswife]

Agree 100% I don't think the drinks should come with an auto 15% pre done. And I have a 4 day cruise coming up in August where I want cheers and really struggle with this because I don't agree with it.

 

Well if you'll get your money's worth, then preorder it. I think you save some cash by doing so. Either way though, if you don't get Cheers they will automatically add 15% gratuity to each individual drink you buy anyway and it's not negotiable. They get you coming and going! :cool: