Shocking 60% of guests removed gratuities on NV Transatlantic

[MyNameIsGermy]

You should worry about what you do.

Let others worry about what they do.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

-germ

[Thorben-Hendrik]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

 

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.

Passengers are not responsible to pay the crew! 🙄

It is between the employer and the employee! 👍

[chengkp75]

17 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Passengers are not responsible to pay the crew! 🙄

It is between the employer and the employee! 👍

Not saying whether I agree with the policy or not, just stating the facts, and the fact that the crew sign their employment contract knowing that a portion of their wage is based on customer satisfaction (just like wait staff in the US), but when their salary is reduced for something outside their control, it is doubly unfair.

 

What is unfair is the cruise lines calling this a gratuity, when it most certainly is not.  If the lines want to keep advertised fares as low as possible, advertise this as "service fee", and keep it separate, but don't make it removable.  Then do what some lines do, and say "tipping is not expected, but tipping for great service is accepted".

[asalligo]

33 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Passengers are not responsible to pay the crew! 🙄

It is between the employer and the employee! 👍

Exactly, I pay the gratuity and always have, but this is what it really boils down to. What we are paying is not a gratuity, it is salary assistance for the cruise line.  

[smplybcause]

Your entire fare is salary assistance and employee pay for the cruise line.  Not sure why everyone gets their panties twisted up because it's split up in a different way on a cruise. 

[sam49]

One thing to bear in mind when you criticise us Brits is that we pay a hell of a lot more for our cruises to start off with and we cannot take advantage of any price drops.

[asalligo]

13 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

Your entire fare is salary assistance and employee pay for the cruise line.  Not sure why everyone gets their panties twisted up because it's split up in a different way on a cruise. 

That is not the case, no one calls my cruise fare a gratuity. If you bought a meal at McDonald's and then looked at your receipt and 18% had been added without your knowledge, but you could remove it if you wanted to. Then the man behind you said, Dumb@ss, you should have read your burger contract, it was clearly stated there. That is what a cruise line does. 

[Biker19]

41 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Not saying whether I agree with the policy or not, just stating the facts, and the fact that the crew sign their employment contract knowing that a portion of their wage is based on customer satisfaction (just like wait staff in the US), but when their salary is reduced for something outside their control, it is doubly unfair.

We don't know that RCI didn't pony up more than their min required to make up for the loss.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

57 minutes ago, asalligo said:

Exactly, I pay the gratuity and always have, but this is what it really boils down to. What we are paying is not a gratuity, it is salary assistance for the cruise line.  

Exactly!👍

They gamble on the gratuities..... sometimes they win.... sometimes not so much! 🙄

It is up to the passengers to decide if they want to join the game or not! 👍😎

[smplybcause]

43 minutes ago, asalligo said:

That is not the case, no one calls my cruise fare a gratuity. If you bought a meal at McDonald's and then looked at your receipt and 18% had been added without your knowledge, but you could remove it if you wanted to. Then the man behind you said, Dumb@ss, you should have read your burger contract, it was clearly stated there. That is what a cruise line does. 

 

Actually it's more in line with restaurants that add 18% or 20% to the bill of any table with 6/8 or more. It's clearly stated on the menu that restaurants do it, same with cruises. If you had a really bad experience you can talk with the manager at a restaurant to remove it. Both employees take the jobs on the assumption of the gratuities being a chunk of their earnings. 

 

But, whether it's a separate line or folded into the cost - you're still in effect paying the employees' wage either way. And, from what I've seen posted of other lines that decide to fold the gratuities into the price in some markets the prices go up by more than the gratuity amount. I'd rather keep it as a separate line item and pay a little less overall than to roll it all up into one line but pay more overall. 

[Hoopster95]

3 hours ago, asalligo said:

What we are paying is not a gratuity, it is salary assistance for the cruise line.  

 

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

What is unfair is the cruise lines calling this a gratuity, when it most certainly is not. 

 

Cheng, I've been saying this over and over for years.... in a few posts and over to the next page on this thread, no one will ever read your response again and continue to complain about "gratuities"... you and I know they are not gratuities" at all. 

 

Bottom line, all cruise lines should be mandated to include "gratuities" into the base cruise fare, so that those cheap cruisers on $499 TA's don't get their ginches in a knot when they miss one port out of 3 on a 13 day sea day TA (yep they chose that 10 sea day sailing for the ports... not!) and remove the crew's well earned wages. In effect their $499 cheap cruise fare would be increased to $702 if RCL simply included the grats. I'd make you a bet they'd still book the cruise at that price.

[GUT2407]

Funny I don’t read many complaints that the line allows people to remove them,

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

Actually it's more in line with restaurants that add 18% or 20% to the bill of any table with 6/8 or more. It's clearly stated on the menu that restaurants do it, same with cruises. If you had a really bad experience you can talk with the manager at a restaurant to remove it. Both employees take the jobs on the assumption of the gratuities being a chunk of their earnings. 

 

But, whether it's a separate line or folded into the cost - you're still in effect paying the employees' wage either way. And, from what I've seen posted of other lines that decide to fold the gratuities into the price in some markets the prices go up by more than the gratuity amount. I'd rather keep it as a separate line item and pay a little less overall than to roll it all up into one line but pay more overall. 

Coming from a large family, oldest of 11 kids who have 37 kids we frequently have to pay the Mandatory min tips at many Restaurants. Last time I went out with my Kids/Grandkids the Mandatory tip alone was $70

Edited November 27, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[ShazM]

3 hours ago, sam49 said:

One thing to bear in mind when you criticise us Brits is that we pay a hell of a lot more for our cruises to start off with and we cannot take advantage of any price drops.

Same here in Australia. Our gratuities are included in the fare as well and can't be taken off anyway. The original poster said when on a cruise, do what cruisers are expected to do. For those of us who are going on our first cruise how are we supposed to know what is "expected" when gratuities are already added in and our fare is way higher than anything US people pay. Tipping is not a way of life in this country and the UK is the same and I kind of resent being called cheap because I don't know.

[The_Big_M]

2 hours ago, ShazM said:

Tipping is not a way of life in this country and the UK is the same and I kind of resent being called cheap because I don't know.

 

Would that resentment be greater if you were not paid for work that you had done?

[Thorben-Hendrik]

6 hours ago, asalligo said:

 

 

Let's face it - at this point in time gratuities are totally optional at RCI.... they can be removed anytime... no questions asked! 👍

If you do not like that - you should choose another cruise line or stop cruising at all! 😁

Edited November 28, 2018 by Thorben-Hendrik

[GUT2407]

5 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

Let's face it - at this point in time gratuities are totally optional at RCI.... they can be removed anytime... no questions asked! 👍

If you do not like that - you should choose another cruise line or stop cruising at all! 😁

This....

[springfire]

29 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

Let's face it - at this point in time gratuities are totally optional at RCI.... they can be removed anytime... no questions asked! 👍

If you do not like that - you should choose another cruise line or stop cruising at all! 😁

Well said!

[ShazM]

If I work I expect to be paid. I have absolutely no problem with the gratuities being added to the fare. We aren't going on our first cruise until March and I am pretty much learning what I need to know by reading things on here and elsewhere. When I made the booking our TA said that tips were covered and it wasn't until I started reading that I realised they weren't. I have no problem either with tipping someone who gives me outstanding service. I'm just a bit bothered when people who tip as a way of life call others cheap when they don't tip as a way of life. I still have no clue how much to tip and when.

[davekathy]

31 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

Let's face it - at this point in time gratuities are totally optional at RCI.... they can be removed anytime... no questions asked! 👍

If you do not like that - you should choose another cruise line or stop cruising at all! 😁

End of discussion. 🛑

[GUT2407]

1 minute ago, ShazM said:

If I work I expect to be paid. I have absolutely no problem with the gratuities being added to the fare. We aren't going on our first cruise until March and I am pretty much learning what I need to know by reading things on here and elsewhere. When I made the booking our TA said that tips were covered and it wasn't until I started reading that I realised they weren't. I have no problem either with tipping someone who gives me outstanding service. I'm just a bit bothered when people who tip as a way of life call others cheap when they don't tip as a way of life. I still have no clue how much to tip and when.

With auto tips no need to worry.

 

if your an Aussie, book in Australia on an Australian cruise pretty much all lines now bundle it in the fare, and nothing else needed.

[Missusdubbya]

17 minutes ago, ShazM said:

When I made the booking our TA said that tips were covered and it wasn't until I started reading that I realised they weren't. 

 

As an Australian, your gratuities are prepaid within your cruise fare. You don't need to pay anything else.

If you would like to, $1 (usd) with a drink and 20-25% of cost at restaurants is the norm.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Missusdubbya

[pspercy]

11 hours 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.

 Yup

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, ShazM said:

If I work I expect to be paid. I have absolutely no problem with the gratuities being added to the fare. We aren't going on our first cruise until March and I am pretty much learning what I need to know by reading things on here and elsewhere. When I made the booking our TA said that tips were covered and it wasn't until I started reading that I realised they weren't. I have no problem either with tipping someone who gives me outstanding service. I'm just a bit bothered when people who tip as a way of life call others cheap when they don't tip as a way of life. I still have no clue how much to tip and when.

As far as I aware cruises booked in Australia have tips already included. No need to add anything else 

[EmilyJay]

Being British tipping is somewhat unusual here, if you tip it's usually a small amount.

 

We cruise often and ALWAYS do pre-paid gratuities, we've never opted out of this. We usually sail out of America, but even if we did a TA cruise or a cruise out of Southampton we'd still pay gratuities as it's a American company and that's how they do things. 

Part of me isn't shocked Brits opt out of the gratuities it's just how we are unfortunately. Obviously, not all of us, if for whatever reason we did opt out of paying, I'd take cash to tip instead.