Gratuties Compulsory All Sailings after 15 January 2017.

[Clarea]

Does anyone know how the percentage of the pooled tips are actually distributed?

Gratuity distribution:

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&snav=2&faqId=5523&faqSubjectId=415&faqSubjectName=Gratuities&faqType=faq

[MaritimeR&R]

Thanks, Bob.

[bloodymary]

I had $400 in OBC and could not take it out in the casino,they made me spend onboard Celebrity.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

This is the RCI forum!:rolleyes:

[Ocean Boy]

This is the RCI forum!:rolleyes:

 

So what? Her experience on Celebrity was interesting information. And often what happens on one RCCL brand starts happening on another.

Edited December 13, 2016 by Ocean Boy

[grapau27]

I always prepayment my tips as we always do my time dining. All the crew work hard and deserve more.We always give extra to cabin Steward and diamond waiters and any other staff who make our cruise special.

 

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[Thorben-Hendrik]

So what? Her experience on Celebrity was interesting information. And often what happens on one RCCL brand starts happening on another.

Well we do not know any details and can not even judge what ways there are with X to take out OBC - I am assuming there are ways on X also....

 

Maybe you have to book an excursion there and cancel it...or something like that....

 

And the whole thing is so peculate anyway just because they made this move in one region now people worry they can not use OBC in the Casino any-more...

I am more worried there will be travel restrictions in the US - just like there were when Fidel took over Cuba...:p

[Ocean Boy]

Well we do not know any details and can not even judge what ways there are with X to take out OBC - I am assuming there are ways on X also....

 

Maybe you have to book an excursion there and cancel it...or something like that....

 

And the whole thing is so peculate anyway just because they made this move in one region now people worry they can not use OBC in the Casino any-more...

I am more worried there will be travel restrictions in the US - just like there were when Fidel took over Cuba...:p

 

The difference being that any restrictions won't affect citizens of the U.S. only cantankerous people from outside of the country.;)

[FlashFire]

The system of tipping on cruise ships (and in USA dining) sucks, but it arrived at its current state for a reason. Including fair wages in the cruise price would add taxes -- ultimately costing more overall, and some people would still tip more on top of that. We're better off as-is.

 

I understand it that the tips are split between all workers in the departments that receive gratuity. So if somebody delivers poor service, what are you going to do? Remove your tips and stiff the whole crew? Remove one category and stiff a whole department? Remove one day of one category and stiff a whole department for one day? Remove all tips and give a cash reward to those who serve you directly, potentially stiffing the rest of the department behind the scenes (those who wash and fold napkins, take care of the common areas, etc)? None of those options are fair or make any sense.

 

Most of the crew are excellent. If somebody is really that bad, get their name and write a letter of complaint. It may affect their compensation or ability to receive a future contract. If it's not worth the energy to write the letter, it isn't worth the energy to linger on either.

[ChrisOz]

As an Aussie I appreciate that most of us are very uncomfortable and inexperienced with tipping. We would be more likely than others to remove tips.

 

Thus it I can see why tips are now compulsory.

 

But... in recent years there has been a move towards more honesty in travel prices. We no longer get all the extra charges after buying a $100 plane ticket for example. Instead we just pay $200 as advertised.

 

I suspect that the cruise line is covering themselves legally in this respect.

[hollykimalan]

The difference being that any restrictions won't affect citizens of the U.S. only cantankerous people from outside of the country.;)

 

 

Love it, "cantankerous people"...I am guessing that's the same as "Johnny Foreigner" that the (Little) Englanders go on about...

[Surfguyxxx]

I wish this applied on ALL cruise lines. I have seen people in line on the last night, not just on Royal Caribbean, but on other lines, removing their tips because they spent their money on other things, felt they shouldn't have to tip for kids, didn't know that they had to pay gratuities etc.

 

The biggest excuse is that I want to tip those who served me. From my experience, the amount tipped to the wait staff, cabin stewards etc is nothing near what the suggested amounts are.

 

If all cruise lines did the same thing, either including the tips in the price, or making them non-removable such as the hotels do with a resort fee, everyone would have to pay, not just some of us. I do feel that if there is a problem with service, if it's reported and not fixed, then a partial reduction should be possible. If not reported, no adjustment.

 

I am not the least bit empathetic to those who find excuses to not tip in full or at all. Sorry if you fit into that category.

 

I agree 100%.

[MrsPete]

I wish this applied on ALL cruise lines. I have seen people in line on the last night, not just on Royal Caribbean, but on other lines, removing their tips because they spent their money on other things, felt they shouldn't have to tip for kids, didn't know that they had to pay gratuities etc.

 

The biggest excuse is that I want to tip those who served me. From my experience, the amount tipped to the wait staff, cabin stewards etc is nothing near what the suggested amounts are.

 

If all cruise lines did the same thing, either including the tips in the price, or making them non-removable such as the hotels do with a resort fee, everyone would have to pay, not just some of us. I do feel that if there is a problem with service, if it's reported and not fixed, then a partial reduction should be possible. If not reported, no adjustment.

 

I am not the least bit empathetic to those who find excuses to not tip in full or at all. Sorry if you fit into that category.

Agreed.

What if someone experiences terrible service, why should they tip?

How often on these boards do we hear about bad service? It's not really an big issue onboard.

Most of the crew are excellent. If somebody is really that bad, get their name and write a letter of complaint. It may affect their compensation or ability to receive a future contract. If it's not worth the energy to write the letter, it isn't worth the energy to linger on either.

You mean ... address the problem? Surely it's better to take the passive-aggressive path and yank their tip without letting anyone know why!

Edited December 13, 2016 by MrsPete

[spookwife]

I believe each person has the right to tip or not.

On the few times my tips have been prepaid, the Service was bad, the waiters know thier tips are in the bag. They also know you cannot cancel them.

Before, when we gave the tips at the end of the cruise the Service was much better. They earned them and GOT THEM. Funny, my experience was the exact opposite. those that already knew we had prepaid were very appreciative because they were assured of at least that much and thus were able to earn additional by their over and above service. whereas at the ones who haven;t pre paid they have ZERO assurance that they will in fact be paid at the end of the week so have no incentive to go out of their way to provide exceptional service

 

Why can´t cruise lines pay the crew a decent wage instead of using cheap - untrained - staff from Eastern Europe - Asia and India. Tips would be a Bonus and we would all receive the super service we were used to !!!! because people like you would bitch about the major increase your cruise fare to cover it. Untrained?! WRONG. even the most junior newbie in the MDR is better trained than your average server at Chili's.

 

On some 5 * ships the waiters and head waiters have no idea what they are doing.

 

Happy cruising

 

or maybe your expectations are too high and you treat the staff like they are beneath you( picture any snobby Aristocrat on every English period piece on the BBC)

[spookwife]

I had $400 in OBC and could not take it out in the casino,they made me spend onboard Celebrity.

 

see I wouldn't have ANY problem spending $400 on board( celebrity or Royal) without doing anything I wouldn't normally do( for instance I would not get a massage just to use up $150)

 

in fact last cruise even being a tad more free with my spending( splurged on some high end glasses of wine, ate at a favorite specialty twice instead of only once, etc) I still had about $30 left over which of course was non refundable

[gazruss]

Good to hear - sadly, people from countries where paying gratuities is not the norm often remove their gratuities and pay what they "feel" is right, usually to the detriment of the workers.

 

What if the lack of work/service carried out by said "workers" leads to their own detriment by not receiving gratuities . Don't know what "Country" your from but in my country if i don't do a good days work my boss does not pay me......

 

Just saying

[Aboat1]

I for one am happy to see this. I personally know crew members that bailed on assignment to Ovation because they simply could not afford the reduction in pay they would incur working that route.

 

Another said she would be forced to quit RCCL if she was sent to the Ovation.

 

In both cases Royal worked with the employees and assigned them to other ships.

[time4u2go]

... From my experience, the amount tipped to the wait staff, cabin stewards etc is nothing near what the suggested amounts are...

What experience? Do you actually watch and count how much money someone is handing to the staff or are you part of the crew on a ship?:confused:

 

I was wondering the same thing.

Edited December 14, 2016 by time4u2go

[grapau27]

I always prepay tips and if anyone is extra nice to us I would feel guilty not giving them extra.On the flip side I think although it has never happened to us in 42 cruises I would report that person to their manager rather than penalise everyone else by removing gratuities.

 

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[lucymorgan]

I for one am happy to see this. I personally know crew members that bailed on assignment to Ovation because they simply could not afford the reduction in pay they would incur working that route.

 

Another said she would be forced to quit RCCL if she was sent to the Ovation.

 

In both cases Royal worked with the employees and assigned them to other ships.

 

I am quite surprised to read this. I haven't seen any difference around the world on the different RCI ships and have talked with many crew who have worked happily on ships sailing from Australia, even when they have moved on to other ships. It would be interesting to see actual figures on this.

 

I see lots of opinions on gratuities and lots of people from all over the world who remove them and then apparently pay in cash.

 

(We leave ours on and add some cash where we think it is warranted)

Edited December 14, 2016 by lucymorgan

[FLACRUISER99]

This is not a great idea. Remember Gratuities/Tipping should not be mandatory. Im not saying that the crew does not deserve it, I always tip deserving crew member. I prefer the old way in cash.

 

What if someone experiences terrible service, why should they tip?

 

I have cruised on lines where the tip was mandatory and I can say that the service is no where near as good as lines where they have to work for it.

 

People should as why this is being done, its most certainly not because too many people remove the tips. It benefits the cruise line. They hold the tips back if they feel performance and service is not what they want

Evidently you have never cruised in Australia. One room steward on RA had 16 rooms and 11 of them removed their tips. BTW service was excellent on this ship I never heard a complaint about it in the entire 40 days I was on the ship!

[troykahack]

As an Aussie I appreciate that most of us are very uncomfortable and inexperienced with tipping. We would be more likely than others to remove tips.

 

 

Why is it this way?? Many Europeans are also uncomfortable tipping??

[Thorben-Hendrik]

I hate to tip to a pool of people that are not even front line employees that I get into contact with - it does not make sense to me!

 

I think the whole tipping thing - the way they handle it - is a scam by the cruise line and I refuse to be part of that scam.

 

The whole thing is a black-box nobody knows what is really happening with their tips - if I tip somebody I want to give it to THEM and not into a pool of people....

Since that option does not exist on RCI - I just remove my tips and use the money elsewhere...

[AussieVisi2r]

Not quite. The advertised price will still be deceptively lower than the real (total) price.

 

Not in Australia. It is illegal to advertise a price that is not the FULL price - ie taxes and service charges must be included in the price.

 

I think it's a brilliant move!

 

Well done Royal.

[JVilleGal]

I hate to tip to a pool of people that are not even front line employees that I get into contact with - it does not make sense to me!

 

I think the whole tipping thing - the way they handle it - is a scam by the cruise line and I refuse to be part of that scam.

 

The whole thing is a black-box nobody knows what is really happening with their tips - if I tip somebody I want to give it to THEM and not into a pool of people....

Since that option does not exist on RCI - I just remove my tips and use the money elsewhere...

 

 

Wow just wow

 

 

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