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Another Increase in Gratuities.

SadmanCruiser
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SadmanCruiser

SadmanCruiser

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So, daily service charge, note not using the words tips or gratuities, have risen again to $14.50 per person, per day.

 

I have always prepaid in the past but am beginning to wonder.

 

Next year we do 23 nights on the Adventure of the Seas. Daily charge of $29 per day equals $667. Add to this approximately $250 in DL/SL and other bars (yes, I know it's my choice) during the cruise plus a little extra for the stateroom attendant, waiters and speciality restaurants (again, I know my choice), my total tips will exceed $1000 on a cruise costing a little over $4000 - that's almost 25%.

 

A lot of us have seen guests removing tips at guest services and we probably know lots of guests who remove tips. What I would like to know is the percentage of guests who remove tips.

 

Recently, at a table of 8 in the MDR, I was the only person who pre-paid (solo traveller), one couple intended to tip waiters and stateroom attendant, but less than the recommended amount which they thought was excessive, one couple the stateroom attendant only, one couple were not paying anything as they thought 'the cruise line should pay them' and the other solo chap was going to tip in cash to the people who served him.

 

I am sure if tips were included in the fare, as a non removable service charge, Royal could afford to half the amount charged. It seems at the moment, I am subsidising those who remove tips which seems unfair.

 

Pete

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SRF

SRF

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All the tip money is paid to crew.

 

Not pre-paying is not the same thing as removing the auto gratuities.

 

Pre-paying just means you pay before you cruise. If you do not pre-pay, the gratuities are added to your cruise account daily.

 

Yes, you can, and people do, remove the auto-gratuities. Mainly because they are cheap SOBs. They say they will tip the people that serve them, but rarely tip as much as the grats, and also, do not tip the behind the scenes people who also serve them.

 

But I have heard, that if the passenger removes the auto-grats, then teh crew members have to turn in their tips to the pool to be distributed. If the auto-grats remain in place, they get to keep the extra tips.

 

I don't disagree that it would be better to have non-removable "resort fee", maybe for half or 2/3 of the current amount, and leave the rest as gratuities. There are times you may want to remove gratuities for poor service.

 

BTW, the gratuities went up 6 months ago. :D

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SadmanCruiser

SadmanCruiser

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Molly, Bob & Ken, sorry, didn't realise it was that long ago.

 

As I have always pre-paid and usually book our cruises way in advance, it was only when pricing some cruises up last night that I saw the increase.

 

Pete

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nelblu

nelblu

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RCL is running a special for any Oasis class booking in 2018 with free grats. Booked mine a few months ago for Harmony sail in 2020 and got free grats from my TA. In addition, $100 in obcs for a non refundable fare and the neighborhood promo.

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

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From 189.00 to 203.00 in a JS for a seven night cruise...no problem.

 

Problem for me: Tried to prepay for 2020 Rhapsody seven night out of Tampa, two in a JS cabin...online showed to be 386.00. Whaaaaattt???!! Thanks IT tech demons. :evilsmile: Yet another glitch on the booking website. :mad:

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molly361

molly361

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RCL is running a special for any Oasis class booking in 2018 with free grats. Booked mine a few months ago for Harmony sail in 2020 and got free grats from my TA. In addition, $100 in obcs for a non refundable fare and the neighborhood promo.

 

Do you have the link for that promo? I just priced a couple of cruises and do not see any free grats

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ndabunka

ndabunka

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From 189.00 to 203.00 in a JS for a seven night cruise...no problem.

 

Problem for me: Tried to prepay for 2020 Rhapsody seven night out of Tampa, two in a JS cabin...online showed to be 386.00. Whaaaaattt???!! Thanks IT tech demons. :evilsmile: Yet another glitch on the booking website. :mad:

 

So it should have been $406 then for two of you in the JS, right?

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HaraldOslo

HaraldOslo

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Thanks for the tip, I did not know gratuities increased. I think cruise lines should just include the gratuities in the base fare.

 

In some markets they do, ie scandinavia.

 

I love it, the price you see is what you pay.

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regent218

regent218

Posted
Posted
RCL is running a special for any Oasis class booking in 2018 with free grats. Booked mine a few months ago for Harmony sail in 2020 and got free grats from my TA. In addition, $100 in obcs for a non refundable fare and the neighborhood promo.

is this for Symphony of the seas also? I have two cabins booked for 5 people including 3 kids

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taglovestocruise

taglovestocruise

Posted
Posted
So, daily service charge, note not using the words tips or gratuities, have risen again to $14.50 per person, per day.

 

I have always prepaid in the past but am beginning to wonder.

 

Next year we do 23 nights on the Adventure of the Seas. Daily charge of $29 per day equals $667. Add to this approximately $250 in DL/SL and other bars (yes, I know it's my choice) during the cruise plus a little extra for the stateroom attendant, waiters and speciality restaurants (again, I know my choice), my total tips will exceed $1000 on a cruise costing a little over $4000 - that's almost 25%.

 

A lot of us have seen guests removing tips at guest services and we probably know lots of guests who remove tips. What I would like to know is the percentage of guests who remove tips.

 

Recently, at a table of 8 in the MDR, I was the only person who pre-paid (solo traveller), one couple intended to tip waiters and stateroom attendant, but less than the recommended amount which they thought was excessive, one couple the stateroom attendant only, one couple were not paying anything as they thought 'the cruise line should pay them' and the other solo chap was going to tip in cash to the people who served him.

 

I am sure if tips were included in the fare, as a non removable service charge, Royal could afford to half the amount charged. It seems at the moment, I am subsidising those who remove tips which seems unfair.

 

Pete

We just pre paid tips for our 18 day Ovation in 2020 and it was $522.00 for two. And yes we are paying extra for all the non tippers. Be glad when all tipping is included in cabin price.

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pingpong1

pingpong1

Posted
Posted
RCL is running a special for any Oasis class booking in 2018 with free grats. Booked mine a few months ago for Harmony sail in 2020 and got free grats from my TA. In addition, $100 in obcs for a non refundable fare and the neighborhood promo.

 

Okay, being a "Yank", I fully understand and "know" the principal, history, and economics behind tipping for certain employment (service) sectors in the U.S. vs. other countries/regions (Europe, Australia, etc.). Over centuries, countries have evolved along different paths and what they individually "do" seems to work okay. But cruising is an "international business".

 

My question is.....We are always being assured that all the gratuities collected go to the crew. So if that's the case, during a promotion like that quoted above, where gratuities are "free", (i.e., the extra charge is not applied to cruiser's accounts and that extra money is not being collected for redistribution to the crew), would this actually lead anyone to believe that the service staff on those particular ships/cruises are going to experience a "decrease in their normal total compensation" for that cruise? Would that not be a be a logical conclusion? But we instinctively "know" that this probably won't really be the case.

 

So....If their "normal" total compensation does not change from what, for them, would be their "normal" total pay (even if cruisers are not contributing to a "gratuity pot"), does that mean that RCI is somehow otherwise "making up the pay difference" to all those employee's through separate/alternative corporate funding, instead? Even if added gratuities are not being collected for these promotional cruises, it's hard for me to believe that the service staff is going to have to take a "pay cut" on these ships during the times of this promotional offer.

 

So...If RCI can "do it" for this particular cruise or ship, why don't they do it for all cruises? Completely drop the extra and separately billed (gratuity) charge altogether - since it is so divisive, misunderstood, causes so much controversy among international passengers, and is unevenly collected (since it can be "opted out of at will" by any passenger who chooses to). The extra amount needed to pay total crew wages should just be "built into" the base fares that would be charged on all cruises, just like what's already done on "all-inclusive" lines (like Regent)?

 

Most people (except for the cheapskates who don't pay the extra grat now) would not see an increase in the "total cost of their cruise". Initially, cruise fares would look like they had gone up a bit. But once customers realize that they are not going to get "hit up" for an extra gratuity charge (like is the case now), things would quickly "settle out", and everyone would get used to it. Particularly when they realized that they weren't going to have to plan for that "extra charge" added to their bill at the end of the cruise. If what once was an "extra charge" (grats) was made a part of the base fare, there would also no longer be an opportunity (the "opt-out") for some cruisers to escape paying for what the rest of us see as a normal expense to cruising. Thoughts?

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island lady "Live from...." Rare

island lady

Posted
Posted (edited)
So it should have been $406 then for two of you in the JS, right?

 

203.00 total for two persons in a JS cabin is the going rate for that cabin.

 

 

245.00 if in a GS and above for two persons, 7 night cruise.

 

Website showing me 386.00 for one week cruise, 2 persons, JS cabin...was wrong. Another lovely glitch in the "new and improved" website booking. :(

Edited by island lady
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