Gratuities question

[ThirstyCruiser]

Bartenders get $1-$10 a drink depending what service they performed and drink and name recognition

 

Ten bucks tip for a drink?!

You aren't hiring for a personal bartender by chance? I can make myself available.

[Ocean Boy]

Ten bucks tip for a drink?!

You aren't hiring for a personal bartender by chance? I can make myself available.

 

And that is on top of the 18% that is automatically added.

[moopetguy]

What still rubs me the wrong way is that an 18% gratuity is added to "souvenir glass" purchases when they sell those from a table outside the WJ, or on the Promenade, etc. I wonder where that gratuity goes...also to the bartenders' pool, but for having poured no drinks?

 

It's a new glass with no beverage in it...a product, not a service...why should that have a gratuity? (Well, the non-answer is that it's a bar purchase, not a glass or mug from the Logo Shop.)

 

At least they are disclosing it upfront now in the Compass and on a sign at the tables (they did on Liberty). They didn't do that when I was on Grandeur.

[Merion_Mom]

What still rubs me the wrong way is that an 18% gratuity is added to "souvenir glass" purchases when they sell those from a table outside the WJ, or on the Promenade, etc. I wonder where that gratuity goes...also to the bartenders' pool, but for having poured no drinks?

 

It's a new glass with no beverage in it...a product, not a service...why should that have a gratuity? (Well, the non-answer is that it's a bar purchase, not a glass or mug from the Logo Shop.)

 

At least they are disclosing it upfront now in the Compass and on a sign at the tables (they did on Liberty). They didn't do that when I was on Grandeur.

 

This doesn't really answer your question, but..............

 

People have often asked, why is there a gratuity at the Bionic Bar???

 

On the Quantum, the hotel director told me that those gratuities go into the crew welfare fund, and all the crew can benefit as needed.

[moopetguy]

This doesn't really answer your question, but..............

 

People have often asked, why is there a gratuity at the Bionic Bar???

 

On the Quantum, the hotel director told me that those gratuities go into the crew welfare fund, and all the crew can benefit as needed.

 

You know, I'm totally down with that re: Bionic Bar gratuities. But if many people are asking "why", I assume RCI isn't advertising where the gratuities go -- and maybe they should -- it could make for some positive marketing/goodwill, instead of inviting speculation of it being a rip-off attempt.

 

The most important part to me is disclosure and an informed consumer. On Grandeur, I had signed for a $30 souvenir glass purchase. Nowhere on the Compass, the sign at the table, nor on the receipt was there a "+18% gratuity" so it was totally unexpected.

 

When I saw a charge of $35.40 on my account, I was so confused until I had Guest Services print out the charge audit which showed it as a gratuity being added without my prior consent. :mad: Oh yeah, and they would not remove the gratuity even after I spoke to the bar manager about the lack of prior disclosure. I had to take it to Guest Relations post-cruise to get some resolution on the issue.

Edited December 16, 2016 by moopetguy

[traveler279]

IIRC, everything I've purchased on board had 18% added to it. Since I'm used to 13% sales taxes here at home it didn't come as much of a shock.

 

 

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[moopetguy]

IIRC, everything I've purchased on board had 18% added to it. Since I'm used to 13% sales taxes here at home it didn't come as much of a shock.

 

Purchases in the shops don't have 18% gratuity or any taxes added to them (duty-free). What you see is what you pay.

 

I'm in Ontario, we have 13% HST on most goods and services. And the 18% on board is in USD...hurts just a bit more that way. ;)

[Ocean Boy]

Purchases in the shops don't have 18% gratuity or any taxes added to them (duty-free). What you see is what you pay.

 

I'm in Ontario, we have 13% HST on most goods and services. And the 18% on board is in USD...hurts just a bit more that way. ;)

 

RCI pretty much adds 18% to everything that has a charge for it that is not sold in a shop. On one cruise I bought a glass on the Royal Promenade to replace one that had broken at home. Not only did I get charged 18% for a glass that he did not even have to hand to me, he did nothing to pack it in any type of material that would help to ensure that the glass survive the flight home. I was a bit annoyed.

[troykahack]

Ten bucks tip for a drink?!

You aren't hiring for a personal bartender by chance? I can make myself available.

 

Yes, $10 above the pre paid tips. We like Blue Moon. On Serenade, none seemed to be stocked at any bar. A lead bartender checked stock and then had Blue Moon for us. Easy $10 cash tip.

 

We attended various tasting events while on the cruise. The bartender was outstanding and very knowledgeable, not to mention funny too. The tasting cost $25. He was so good I gave him a $20 tip. I had Blue Moon for the rest of the cruise. Happy Cruiser.

[Havingfun2010]

New to the royal Caribbean line.

How are gratuities removed? Will they remove them like carnival or do I need to request a form like ncl?

Before I get slammed I do tip generously just in cash.. my sister in law spent several years working on a cruise ship and based on her info I just prefer to do it myself..

Thanks for your help

 

Why would you want to go through all the issues of removing tips if you plan on tipping. Tips, regardless of how you tip, go to the people who get it.

 

Here is how it works:

Each employee is expected a certain amount of tips, which is a combination of Cash and Auto tips. That employee must turn over the difference between the Auto tips, and the expected cash tips into the pool. The behind the scenes people, that the guest stiffed by removing the auto tip, still gets the money. They get taxed on the total expected amount.

 

Everything over the the total expected amount, is kept by the individual.

 

What that means, is that any "games" a guest wants to play with their money does not affect the employee, or the behind the scenes employee. Are employees are protected in the cash pool.

 

This also means the guest that removes the tips, and "accidently" forgets the tip, which seems to happen often enough, affects the employee because they still are expected to place the expected amount into the tip pool.

 

Bottom line, make everyone's life easy on the ship. Leave those tips alone. Give an extra tip to whoever you want. THEY DO NOT KEEP ALL THE CASH, THEY ARE REQUIRED TO TIP BACK!!!!!!! Plus remember, they need that extra cash, to cover those that remove the tips and forget to tip......

[moopetguy]

RCI pretty much adds 18% to everything that has a charge for it that is not sold in a shop.

 

Or maybe another way of looking at it is that RCI adds 18% gratuity to anything that's a service such as food, beverage, and spa (with the exception of the bar souvenir glasses that we've both noted).

 

In addition to the duty-free shops, the photo gallery doesn't add 18% (unless you consider that a shop). Or you can buy Paradise Lotto tickets from the casino without an 18% gratuity ;)

 

Hmm, actually, in-stateroom babysitting is $19/hour and while that's a service, that does not have an 18% gratuity added, either. As an side, we've always found the babysitting to be awesome -- worth giving an "extra" gratuity to the sitters!

[Candleonwater]

I'm sure I will completely screw up my thoughts on this, but here goes. Since they went to automatic gratuities, overall, I find I pay a lot less in tips to the usual tipped staff (dining/stateroom host). Why? Because, since I've already paid tips, I just don't think about it. The last couple of cruises I've experienced subpar service in the dining room. Drinks not being refilled, rolls not being offered (or taking forever with this), SUPER slow service, etc. I'm not a picky diner, but I also don't like that they are getting "full" tips based on this new system, and THEN have the nerve to try to guilt me into rave reviews... Only have experienced this with dining room staff, never with stateroom host.

 

When deserved I tip cash in the DL and elsewhere.

 

My question is, do the staff have any idea who removes the auto grats? I know it's not a popular move, but I'm seriously considering removing this sailing.

[mollyeilis]

I believe that some know.

 

Not sure why it bugs you to tip a server and also review them.

 

 

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[Lionesss]

I am glad they have the automatic gratuities. One less thing to worry about.

 

And yes the service in the MDR has gone down hill, the number of tables the servers have has increased over the years with the cutbacks.

 

Working harder more tables, hopefully they are getting these (from more tables) tips for the extra load they carry.

 

Just saying

[troykahack]

I am glad they have the automatic gratuities. One less thing to worry about.

 

And yes the service in the MDR has gone down hill, the number of tables the servers have has increased over the years with the cutbacks.

 

Working harder more tables, hopefully they are getting these (from more tables) tips for the extra load they carry.

 

Just saying

 

Cutbacks..... We did the Galley tour on Serenade two weeks ago and the Sous Chef said he had 50 job openings but has a tough time filling them. He also said the Waitstaff had many openings.... and he said it was a huge number fleet wide. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.....

 

Our Assistant Waiter was on his first cruise... he learned a lot in those 11 days...

[Retired LEO]

My question is, do the staff have any idea who removes the auto grats? I know it's not a popular move, but I'm seriously considering removing this sailing.

 

Yes, they get a list of those who removed the gratuities.

[Candleonwater]

I believe that some know.

 

Not sure why it bugs you to tip a server and also review them.

 

It's not the review itself that bugs me, but rather the pressure from the wait staff to give them high marks, even when they don't deserve them.

[spookwife]

I'm sure I will completely screw up my thoughts on this, but here goes. Since they went to automatic gratuities, overall, I find I pay a lot less in tips to the usual tipped staff (dining/stateroom host). Why? Because, since I've already paid tips, I just don't think about it. The last couple of cruises I've experienced subpar service in the dining room. Drinks not being refilled, rolls not being offered (or taking forever with this), SUPER slow service, etc. I'm not a picky diner, but I also don't like that they are getting "full" tips based on this new system, and THEN have the nerve to try to guilt me into rave reviews... Only have experienced this with dining room staff, never with stateroom host.

 

 

 

When deserved I tip cash in the DL and elsewhere.

 

 

 

My question is, do the staff have any idea who removes the auto grats? I know it's not a popular move, but I'm seriously considering removing this sailing.

 

 

A master list of everyone that removes the tips is posted in crew areas and I have seen it on the housekeeping carts.

 

I too have found that no one has really earned 'extra' either

 

 

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[Candleonwater]

A master list of everyone that removes the tips is posted in crew areas and I have seen it on the housekeeping carts.

 

I too have found that no one has really earned 'extra' either

 

I may use this sailing as an experiment then. Will dining room service get worse? I am not cheap, by any means. My daughter survives on tips, so I get it. I even tip in Windjammer, when warranted. Question now, if I decide to do this, do I give them a heads up?

[moopetguy]

The way tipping is done is strange to me. You can look at it from many perspectives. If gratuities are prepaid, will the crew work hard in appreciation of that, and/or try to earn more? Or will they see the gratuities as in-hand already, and put in minimal effort? And this may vary from one crew member to the next.

 

Conversely if you don't prepay the gratuities, will the crew think you're a cheapskate and won't work hard for you, or will they think they have to work hard to earn those gratuities?

 

At a restaurant in general, the tips are given at the end of the meal with payment of the bill. Nothing is discussed upfront and the wait staff have no idea how much you'll give whether they work hard or not. Most will work hard hoping you'll tip well, but there's no guarantee. It defies social convention but I'd rather set my expectations upfront and establish tipping levels based on those. That would also let the wait staff know what the service level expectations are. Seems to make more sense to me to put everyone on the same page, but might be tacky to some people.

[mollyeilis]

It's not the review itself that bugs me, but rather the pressure from the wait staff to give them high marks, even when they don't deserve them.

 

 

 

The fact of the matter is that the reviews are like the surveys after car dealership work. Anything but the max is a bad mark. It simply is what it is.

 

(With dealerships if you answer "yes" to a yes or no question and add on "they were exemplary" or anything like that beyond the "yes" they are dinged for that as if you'd said "they were horrid and stole my baby". Not sure if it's like that with cruise servers though.)

 

What's rotten for us is that we don't love the food. And we grow tired of having the servers try to mitigate that. We need a way to let the kitchen know that their veggie food needs massive changes while not harming the servers.

[Rogueperson]

The way tipping is done is strange to me. You can look at it from many perspectives. If gratuities are prepaid, will the crew work hard in appreciation of that, and/or try to earn more? Or will they see the gratuities as in-hand already, and put in minimal effort? And this may vary from one crew member to the next.

 

Conversely if you don't prepay the gratuities, will the crew think you're a cheapskate and won't work hard for you, or will they think they have to work hard to earn those gratuities?

 

At a restaurant in general, the tips are given at the end of the meal with payment of the bill. Nothing is discussed upfront and the wait staff have no idea how much you'll give whether they work hard or not. Most will work hard hoping you'll tip well, but there's no guarantee. It defies social convention but I'd rather set my expectations upfront and establish tipping levels based on those. That would also let the wait staff know what the service level expectations are. Seems to make more sense to me to put everyone on the same page, but might be tacky to some people.

 

Good point. There's also this controversy where there is allegations that the staff are aware of those who withheld tips and those who did not. I've heard both that they do and they don't know.

 

What does seem consistent is that the staff do not receive these tips until the end of the cruise whether or not you prepay.

 

I would say that if the tips are there, but can be mitigated at any time, I would think the staff would work for it.

[Candleonwater]

In my case, I'm looking at it as, since TIP stands for "To Insure Promptitude", I would understand that to mean tipping up front. If that's the case, and as far as I'm concerned, prepaying or auto grats is basically up front, I have not experienced "Promptitude"... at all, from the dining staff.

[nolesrule]

In my case, I'm looking at it as, since TIP stands for "To Insure Promptitude", I would understand that to mean tipping up front. If that's the case, and as far as I'm concerned, prepaying or auto grats is basically up front, I have not experienced "Promptitude"... at all, from the dining staff.

 

 

That would be TEP, because the correct word would be "ensure", not "insure".

[Candleonwater]

That would be TEP, because the correct word would be "ensure", not "insure".

 

While I agree with your grammar correction, it's not how the history of TIPS is explained.