Gratuities increasing from Jan 2nd.

[Bo1953]

WOW!!!! You're spending somewhere between $1800.00 and $10,000.00 on a cruise, and you're worried about $1.00 pp per day? Why don't you do the crew a favor, and stay home.

 

Well, maybe just maybe those who have an issue with it need not stay home but sail to see the example many others set?

 

Odds are they may not get the lesson, but maybe, just maybe they will understand a bit better... :halo:

 

bon voyage

[teltrainer]

Actually, you mean «*once in a while the wealthy cruiser pulls one over on the crew, yet demands the same level of marvellous service.*» I truly pity them for having to serve some of you.

 

 

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[dkjretired]

Another question is if you have as a perk, pre paid gratuities, will the Celebrity pay their employees based on when you booked.

[El Crucero]

My son at the age of 5 found $1,100 dollars on the Constellation.............We proceeded to walk around that night and found 11 of our favorite crew members who were not already tipped and gave them each $100. The smiles, appreciation and hugs we received that night was worth more than that $1100.

Not only did you receive smiles, appreciation, and hugs, but you taught your children a very valuable lesson. Congratulations on exhibiting outstanding parenting skills!(y)

 

I once lost my wallet in the Skylounge aboard Infinity on the first day - before the ship had even left port! Our departure port was San Diego and there is a fabulous view of the city skyline from the Skylounge and we were enjoying a glass of wine. Honestly, I didn't have much money in it, maybe $30, because the first thing I do is put cash in the stateroom safe and just leave a few dollars in my wallet for 'emergencies'. About an hour later, I discovered the wallet was missing and I had no idea where I had lost it, but I knew it was aboard because I had used it to check in. I went immediately to Guest Relations and asked them to let me know if someone turned it in. They then asked me some personal questions to identify myself including how much cash I had in the wallet. They said they had it right here for me. I asked who turned it in and they said the bartender in the Skylounge. I immediately went there, found the bartender who had served us, opened my wallet, and gave him the cash in it. I thanked him and told him he had saved me hundreds of dollars in aggravation, expense, and time to replace all the credit cards, driver's license, medicare card, etc. He was very appreciative then and for the rest of our cruise. He always seemed to "forget" to ask for my Seapass card when I ordered anything! ;p

Edited December 24, 2017 by El Crucero

[Bo1953]

So often the way.

 

No idea why.

 

Each OP has their own 'twist' on the same topic, to wit beverage packages and dress code as to two (2) others.

 

bon voyage

[Marelaine]

The whole gratuity increase is irrelevant to us. We always leave our gratuities in place and give additional gratuities in cash to those who have provided outstanding service to us during the cruise. The crew aboard Celebrity is outstanding. I don't mind rewarding them with a few extra dollars. I once gave the men's bathroom attendant (Indonesian) in the Ensemble Lounge an extra cash tip because he always was waiting with a hand towel for me after I washed my hands and always had a positive attitude in the men's restroom, not the most glamorous job. He was moved to tears. He said it was the first extra recognition he had ever received. It's all good.

 

On the last night of our cruise, the restroom attendant near the MDR was the same attendant I had seen working in the OCV cafe restroom during the day. She was always pleasant. I usually don't have cash on hand on the ship, but I happened to have $10 that night. I handed it to her and thanked her for doing such a good job. She was delighted.

[richsea]

So often the way.

 

No idea why.

So what? Read one, read all of them, or read none of them. Completely your choice. Or maybe we could just have 5 or 6 stickys at the top; be less pages then.

[oskarNZ]

All celebrity cruises departing from Australia from Jan 18 will have gratuities included in the price

I think this is because we don’t have a tipping culture and many people asked for the gratuities to be removed

 

 

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Just thought I’d mention that this applies to all cruises booked in Aus or NZ, regardless of where they depart from. I just booked a Caribbean cruise and gratuities are included in the price.

I really like this change as it fits the way we pay for most other services here.

 

From the Ts and Cs

 

“ 22. Service Charge

Onboard service charges for stateroom attendants and dining room staff are included in your voyage fare.

Please note: An 18% service charge will be automatically added to beverages, mini bar items, spa and salon purchases. Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to adjust the recommended daily service charge amounts.”

[CHEZMARYLOU]

This is such a con-artist move. I honestly NEVER understood why ANYONE would prepay their gratuities. I somewhat understand the perspective of peace of mind to know everything is paid for before you sail, but what if you get poor service and don’t want to tip the full recommended amount? Also, when you prepay, your cruise line get a hold of your money that much sooner, and they collect interest based solely upon your generosity to pay more money than you have to, well before your sailing. I would NEVER prepay for gratuity. In all of my sailings, I always ended up paying the full recommended amount of gratuity (and honestly, more often than not, even more than that)...but why pay early and give the cruise line your money early?!

 

We prepay the gratuities for the convenience and so that we can use the OBC for important things, like wine. Same reason we pre book excursions, either through Celebrity or independently.

 

As far as the interest, we typically maintain a checking account balance in the range of $2,000 to $4,000. Interest on the balance is $0.02 per month. I can't imagine how much interest I am losing by paying gratuities 90 days before the sailing.

[bananawindnj]

There are many things that may change from the time of original booking to day of the cruise.

 

 

 

The drinks, liquors, and beers included in the drink package change.

 

 

 

In AQ some of the perks were changed or eliminated.

 

 

 

Cheaper bath products.

 

 

 

Change of ports.

 

 

 

Exercise classes that were free now have a charge or aren’t offered.

 

 

 

No grand buffet.

 

 

 

it can go on and on on how things changed.

 

 

 

Problem is that it is not unique to the cruise lines. Every restaurant, theme park , Vegas and etc have changed and are no longer the “bargains” or like the way we use to enjoy

 

 

 

Happy cruising and merry Christmas [emoji631][emoji924][emoji631][emoji560][emoji319]

 

 

 

Then if something changes up to the day of the cruise, then we should be able to cancel without a penalty. It us always OK for them to put exceptions in the fine print though, isn't it? I always gave extra tips to waiters and cabin stewards, but after a few years in a row of tip raises, I am done with tipping extra.

 

 

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[cruisestitch]

"" You can't fix stupid !""

 

 

Apparently not. Nor grinchiness (is that a word?).

 

 

As in "you're a mean one, Mister Grinch"

[sfaaa]

You know what? Cancel the cruise and don't go. That way, you don't have to put up with increased gratuities, inflated cruise price, reduced services, no more midnight buffets and other cutback complaints. It's that easy to fix.

[WpgCruise]

after a few years in a row of tip raises, I am done with tipping extra./quote]

 

The actual dollar amount of the increased TIP from when we started cruising 20 years ago until now is negligible.

 

You can look at the dollar amount as a % of what it was, or a % increase, but I look at it as what's the actual cost out of my pocket ?

 

 

We all understand that through the TIPs or whatever you want to call them is how the service crew are compensated. I don't have a problem paying for the service I receive and the minimal increases over the years IMO are more than justified.

[fizzy1]

We have a package through a travel agent but the deal comes from Celebrity for Med sailing next Sep,Package includes gratuities . Am i assuming that nothing changes for us then

 

 

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[Bo1953]

Then if something changes up to the day of the cruise, then we should be able to cancel without a penalty. It us always OK for them to put exceptions in the fine print though, isn't it? I always gave extra tips to waiters and cabin stewards, but after a few years in a row of tip raises, I am done with tipping extra.

 

 

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I Am sure you can cancel up to day of embarkation without penalty provided you have CFAR insurance.

 

The CTC and CoC are not in fine print if one reads them online and/or print them out one can get almost any size print required in order to read them...

 

I would think, based on the statements you made, you would have been finished due to the spate of cruise pricing increases, for which the gratuities and their increases pail in comparison...

 

 

Or have we missed something in your thoughts and its' process?

 

 

LOL - bon voyage

[Luvcrusn]

I honestly am flummoxed by the outrage over the gratuity increase to the hard working, unfailingly pleasant staff that work crushingly long hours daily for up 9 months at a time to make our vacations the wonderful experiences that we return to again and again. I will continue to say thank you for all that they do to make my vacations wonderful, I will pay the gratuities with a smile and a thank you and will tip additional. Especially in this holiday season, one that should be about caring and sharing, this outrage over $1 a day is mind boggling.

[Cruise or Lose!]

Amen, Lovcrusn. Merry Christmas.

 

 

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[Cruise or Lose!]

Merry Christmas to those on this thread who have restored my faith in humanity. Wishing you and your families a joyful 2018.

 

In fact, since I’m feeling generous, I extend the same sentiment to all of you. May the magic of the season grow your hearts by three sizes so that those of you who do not yet value the shining stars who make cruising wonderful learn to appreciate them.

 

 

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[Mynki]

LOL, c - I feel you on this one.

 

I do not understand the reason that current EU'ers and soon to be ex-EU'ers believe that X would do something which would be in violation or contravention of their law(s)? Maybe their natural law yet not business law as they have too much to loose.

 

It is brought up frequently here on CC as I have read, against UK or EU law.... well, challenge it in your courts or through the appropriate system to prove it to me and others... the sky is NOT falling on this one or other seemingly slights!!!

 

bon voyage

 

Bo, the realities are that consumers in the EU do have better consumer protection laws than those in the US.

 

But a very clear distinction needs to be made, if booking in the US then we're stuck with the US cruise contract etc. If booking at home, we're better covered.

 

X can choose whatever gratuity rate they want to as far as I'm concerned. But if a booking is made and they then choose to increase this I doubt any EU based TA or Celebrity office here would dare try and charge more. It's unfortunate that we're discussing gratuities as this is clearly a sensitive area, but the same would apply to any other charge etc.

 

Hope that makes sense.

[Mynki]

This is not something you have discovered with the president of a large travel agency. Anyone could go to guest relations and have the gratuities removed. We leave our gratuities in place because the crew deserve it, but I went to passenger services to get envelopes for a few crew members who had gone above and beyond the call of duty to make us comfortable. I was embarrassed to be waiting with the folks who were there to get their gratuities removed.

 

50 to 100 cabins per cruise will go to guest relations to have their grats removed.

 

This is why I've always said on here that if X simply had the cost of the gratuities included in the cruise fare then the crew would never end up being stiffed and would be remunerated accordingly.

 

What does raise suspicion to me is those people who then claim that if this was implemented that cruise fares would increase? I suspect it would increase for them as they are the ones likely stiffing the crew by having them revoked.

 

I wonder how much admin overhead the cruise line would save too if this happened? The cost of administering grats would be saved too which is surely something the likes of LLP should be looking into rather than making passenger facing cut backs.

[Mynki]

We don’t have a tipping culture in the UK either, but we seem to have to abide by the culture from USA.

I think that cruise prices will go up considerably if they are included in the price.

 

 

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Many times I've jumped off a bus at the end of the tour, tipped the guide and or driver a few dollars as many yanks have walked past and completely ignored them. :rolleyes:

 

But if a 10 day cruise costs $1000 and gratuities are $14 per day. Why do you think the cruise would go up by more than $1140 if gratuities were included? What basis do you have for this?

[hcat]

Personally, I do not mind disagreement, yet let us disagree on the facts as they are presented and not what we think the facts ought to be or how we want them to be.

 

 

bon voyage

 

Well said!

[StolidCruiser]

Completely agree with you.

Also I plan to use the OBC's that are not refundable. So there is no prepayment option for me.

 

They are violating contractual laws unless, it says somewhere in fine print that even after final payment, fees , taxes etc can increase without notice.

 

Perhaps you should read that “fine print” before climbing on the illegal/immoral bandwagon.

 

Comprehension is key and several on this thread are locked out of their house. Some permanently.

[Mynki]

First world problems...

 

 

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If people can afford to take a 3 night cruise on a 3* ship to the Bahamas they're already doing much better than a few billion others.

 

Is there an internet forum that epitomizes first world problems more than Cruise Critic?

 

Serious question....

[sanger727]

This is such a con-artist move. I honestly NEVER understood why ANYONE would prepay their gratuities. I somewhat understand the perspective of peace of mind to know everything is paid for before you sail, but what if you get poor service and don’t want to tip the full recommended amount? Also, when you prepay, your cruise line get a hold of your money that much sooner, and they collect interest based solely upon your generosity to pay more money than you have to, well before your sailing. I would NEVER prepay for gratuity. In all of my sailings, I always ended up paying the full recommended amount of gratuity (and honestly, more often than not, even more than that)...but why pay early and give the cruise line your money early?!

 

 

 

Why prepay? Well, in this scenario it’s easy. I can pre-pay my gratuities now. My highest earning interest account gets 1.25%. Our gratuities for 2 for a 12 night cruise are $324 if we prepay. We are prepaying 3 months ahead. So by my calculations we will lose $1 in interest; so total prepay cost is $325. If we do our gratuities on the ship under the new rate, the gratuities will be $348. So by pre-paying we will come out $23 ahead. What’s hard about that?

 

We do typically pre-pay just because I don’t like having them charged to my on board account. Makes budgeting harder. But normally wouldn’t pre-pay until a few days before we leave so the interest is mute. As long as we are still in the same CC cycle. It’s just like paying on the ship.

 

 

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