Shocking 60% of guests removed gratuities on NV Transatlantic

[Board_Shorts]

Currently on a Navigator B2B, which directly followed the transatlantic crossing from Southampton to Miami. I have now heard the figure of 60% from three completely different crew members.

 

That makes it difficult to believe that this figure is not correct.

 

I know the sailing had an itinerary change (to a far better one in my opinion) and an issue with a stabilizer, but surely this doesn't warrant punishing your stateroom attendant, waiters, and behind the scenes staff? They are certainly not to blame.

 

Any complaints should be dealt with by guest services or by contacting Royal after the cruise.

 

As much as I hate to say this, it does have to be said. The vast majority of guests were British. I sincerely hope they at least preferred to pay cash instead of auto, but still, everyone is not covered using this method.

 

I know tipping is not the same in the UK, and guests may not have realized the effect they had, but "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

 

When in Britain, do as the British do.

 

When on a cruise, do what cruisers are expected to do.

 

I never thought I would take part in a tipping thread, let alone START one.

 

But this upset me after experiencing the wonderful service on this ship.

[JAMESCC]

People make me sick with not tipping the crew. I have too many arguments on here to count over this. These people sacrifice so much for their families just to make your cruise/vacation a pleasant one. Treat them correct and tip them correct Don't act as if crew members are your personal assistant and slave either. I agree with you my friend. 

[grest]

How sad for the very hard working crew.

[CRZR58]

A few crew members say 60% of passengers removed the tips on a bad trip so it must be true! Outrage! Anger! Those poor crew members!

[voyager70]

Really hope this isn't true.  As OP said it wasn't the crew's (or anyone's) fault the itinerary was changed and they all still had to work just as hard.

 

[not-enough-cruising]

I really don’t think that a “tipped employee” is a good source of information regarding the compliance and/or distribution of gratuities. 

[little britain]

This figure certainly doesn't surprise me.

 

I was on The Vigo Stabiliser cruise and I suspect that the percentage that removed the tips was even higher on that one..... sadly.

 

However I don't think you can really say that an itinerary to the Canaries, and Port Canaveral is "better" than visiting Boston and overnight in NY? Especially for the Brits.

[cruisinfanatic]

16 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I really don’t think that a “tipped employee” is a good source of information regarding the compliance and/or distribution of gratuities. 

I'd like to know how this subject even comes up unless super nosy

[not-enough-cruising]

13 minutes ago, cruisinfanatic said:

I'd like to know how this subject even comes up unless super nosy

Agree

 

Or aggressively “trolling” for tips by preying on someone’s good nature. 

[Biker19]

Finally, a real tipping thread in which baseless info can be thrown around.

 

Biker, who is pretty sure that even 100% of the customers removed their tips, the crew still got their negotiated contract salary paid.

[The Fun Researcher]

60%?  Ship capacity of 3835 or so...  that means 2000+ passengers removed tips?  The line at guest services must have ran around the entire ship, maybe more than once!  😉

Dan

[davekathy]

If this is true the crew member(s) should keep their whining about it among themselves. None of my business and I don't care. 

Edited November 27, 2018 by davekathy

[Biker19]

4 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

60%?  Ship capacity of 3835 or so...  that means 2000+ passengers removed tips? 

A lot of people cancelled the cruise when she was rerouted - she sailed well below capacity.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Biker19

[Magnetchief]

As a Brit I can understand this. 

Most Brits do not tip in their own country, if so a very small amount.

I have British friends that cruise frequently this subject always comes up.

Invariably they remove the pre-paid gratuities. Prefering to pay as they see fit. 

It's a cultual thing. You won't change them.

 

Myself, I have become way too Amerian and follow the typical US tipping norm.

[little britain]

10 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

60%?  Ship capacity of 3835 or so...  that means 2000+ passengers removed tips?  The line at guest services must have ran around the entire ship, maybe more than once!  😉

Dan

Around 1200 cancelled due to the itinerary change (before the 2nd itinerary change which was announced at muster)  therefore she only had 2400 on her for the crossing.  So if the crew member was including those who 'should' have been on board as well as a percentage of those who were physically on board... the figure of 60% seems very feasible.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

2 hours ago, Board_Shorts said:

Currently on a Navigator B2B, which directly followed the transatlantic crossing from Southampton to Miami. I have now heard the figure of 60% from three completely different crew members.

 

That makes it difficult to believe that this figure is not correct.

 

I know the sailing had an itinerary change (to a far better one in my opinion) and an issue with a stabilizer, but surely this doesn't warrant punishing your stateroom attendant, waiters, and behind the scenes staff? They are certainly not to blame.

 

Any complaints should be dealt with by guest services or by contacting Royal after the cruise.

 

As much as I hate to say this, it does have to be said. The vast majority of guests were British. I sincerely hope they at least preferred to pay cash instead of auto, but still, everyone is not covered using this method.

 

I know tipping is not the same in the UK, and guests may not have realized the effect they had, but "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".

 

When in Britain, do as the British do.

 

When on a cruise, do what cruisers are expected to do.

 

I never thought I would take part in a tipping thread, let alone START one.

 

But this upset me after experiencing the wonderful service on this ship.

They are part of the company!🤔

RCI guarantees their salary.... so it does make sense to hold if to your money of you are not happy with the vacation! 👍

It  always surprises me  the crew is part of the product and also part of the company - so I would never separate between the crew and the company product - it's ALL one thing! 🙄

Edited November 27, 2018 by Thorben-Hendrik

[gerif]

4 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

They are part of the company!🤔

RCI guarantees their salary.... so it does make sense to hold on to your money of you are not happy with the vacation! 👍

If people are unhappy with the changes on this cruise, to blame it on the hard working crew members and withhold gratuities makes for a total *sshole IMO. They are simply being cheap. I’ve always felt that there’s a special place in hades for people like this. 

[chengkp75]

52 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Finally, a real tipping thread in which baseless info can be thrown around.

 

Biker, who is pretty sure that even 100% of the customers removed their tips, the crew still got their negotiated contract salary paid.

 

6 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

They are part of the company!🤔

RCI guarantees their salary.... so it does make sense to hold on to your money of you are not happy with the vacation! 👍

The cruise line only guarantees the minimum wage set up by the ILO, which is $614/month for a 40 hour week, and then 125% of the calculated base wage as overtime for hours in excess of 40/week.  This works out to about $1200/month.  Most front line staff make more than this, and a good portion of the minimum is made up of DSC distribution.  So, say a crewmember gets $1600/month, but if the vast majority of DSC is removed, this can drop below the $1200/month minimum, and the cruise line only needs to make up the difference to the minimum.

[sh2738]

4 minutes ago, gerif said:

If people are unhappy with the changes on this cruise, to blame it on the hard working crew members and withhold gratuities makes for a total *sshole IMO. They are simply being cheap. I’ve always felt that there’s a special place in hades for people like this. 

 

This! 100% agree with this statement. The crew does so much for so little it’s the very least that you can do to do your part and treat them fairly with a basic tip. Thanks 

[Fortypluscruiser]

Tips should be included in the fare or prepaid at final payment if the cruise line does not want to raise prices to cover the tips.  If you buy a drink onboard, you don' t have the ability to remove the tip.  Nor would you try for an itinerary change or whatever other excuse amuses you.

[zdad59]

My perspective is...

 

"I don't believe in tipping.   I believe in over tipping."

                                  - Vincent Antonelli

[smplybcause]

49 minutes ago, Magnetchief said:

As a Brit I can understand this. 

Most Brits do not tip in their own country, if so a very small amount.

I have British friends that cruise frequently this subject always comes up.

Invariably they remove the pre-paid gratuities. Prefering to pay as they see fit. 

It's a cultual thing. You won't change them.

 

Myself, I have become way too Amerian and follow the typical US tipping norm.

 

Probably why NCL switched how they sell in the UK. They're now "all inclusive" and include the DSC/gratuities in the price (as well as the service charge for the free beverage package). According to the NCL boards though, the prices went up by more than just the cost of those items.

[kernow]

I have no idea whether this is true or not although 60% sounds very high when so many pre pay gratuities which I don't think can be removed.

 

I do get sick though of hearing people constantly accuse us Brits of not tipping. I'm British, was on the Jewel TA which also had a completely changed itinerary (and unlike the Navigator passengers we got absolutely no compensation whatsoever) and it never even crossed my mind to remove tips, in fact as usual we tipped extra in cash at the end of the cruise to those staff who impressed us.

 

Julie

 

[setsail]

Shocking you fell for this, one of the oldest stories in the book. Bridges for sale

[YlangYlangF9PB3E]

I was on the Nov. 18th Navigator, the cruise that followed the TA.  I heard that a huge percentage of the people booked on the TA cancelled their cruise - they had the option to do so without penalty when the itinerary was drastically changed from the northern route to Boston/NYC to the southern, Orlando. I'd hate to believe that of the remaining passengers, 60% cancelled their gratuities.  Sounds to me that the crew received 60% less gratuities due to so many cancellations.  I would hope that no one on that sailing blamed the crew for the captain's decision to avoid disastrous weather in the middle of the Atlantic -- 50+ foot seas.