Shocking 60% of guests removed gratuities on NV Transatlantic

[nicksb]

While I disagree with tipping for the sake of it (and because we don't do it in Australia), gratuities are automatically included my cruise fare as I book through an Australia TA or on the RCI .au site, even for cruises I've done in Asia, so I'm ok with those, but don't give anything extra on board. 

 

I'm on a cruise at Christmas this year and someone on a Facebook page said a small gift would be appreciated so I'll do that.

[PCWalton1]

Shocking, just shocking. (I always wanted say that. 😈

[GTO-Girl]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

When I was in the DL on That Cruise with That Incident In Vigo.. I saw no one tipping in the DL. I also tipped $1 per drink as I always do.  

I'm not sure how to say this without sounding like a snob, but having seen my fellow cruisers on That Cruise it doesn't surprise me a bit that they didn't pay tips. Emotions and anger (and certain people fuelling and inciting action via other sites) was so high that they would take it out on anyone....they would not even think that removing the tips would effect the staff.

 

We are onboard now and trust me, between the horrible treatment of the crew on the transatlantic and then over 1000 kids on the 5 day right after that they are pretty wiped out.  Yet they are still smiling and gracious and giving us wonderful service.

 

i hope the next cruise will be kind to them just as we have.  They will be very grateful!!

[Mikew0805]

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

[springfire]

8 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

Agree with this!  

[GUT2407]

9 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

Not as funny as the one who was telling us for days about is new baby, due to be born any day, the 2nd last night so happy he had a new little girl, just wished he could send some money home to them.

 

but earlier in the cruise we heard him telling someone else that he hadnt seen his family for more than a year as he’d been working so hard to earn money for them.

 

guess he either couldn’t work out which story got the most tips, it couldn’t keep his lies straight.

[clean1owner]

NEVER in my cruising life have I had the desire to ask a crew members about their tips from a previous cruise, much less 3 separate ones. I mean, how would you even bring up the topic? "Hey Edwardo, how did you do on tips last week?" Like it's any of my damn business.

 

And if the crew member brings it up, they should be put off at the next port for misconduct.

 

So we have either someone sticking their nose where it doesn't belong, and being given a response that NOBODY can verify,  3 crew members that should be fired, or a Troll just trying to get a bunch of peoples panties in a wad by trying to come up with a different approach to start another tipping argument/thread.

 

As the saying goes, "There is something rotten in Denmark", and I can smell it all the way from Minnesota.

Edited November 29, 2018 by clean1owner

[Tom9486]

On 11/27/2018 at 11:18 AM, 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. 

 

On 11/27/2018 at 11:37 AM, cruisinfanatic said:

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

 

On 11/27/2018 at 12:13 PM, 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

 

On 11/27/2018 at 1:44 PM, setsail said:

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

 

OP Here.

 

My gosh, while I've been out enjoying Aruba and Curaçao, this thread seems to have become rather unfriendly. Not that I didn't expect some disagreement of course, I did not expect unfounded personal attacks, thankfully this reminded me why I stopped using CC quite some time ago.

 

I now realize that I should have explained that this information was NOT provided by tipped employees.

 

I have an 'old' (we're in our 20's) friend from home who works in theater production on NV, hence my numerous wonderful cruises on this ship.

 

Because of him I have also been introduced to numerous others over many cruises on NV. Theater cast for example (I've actually just got to bed after meeting up with a production singer for example, we even discussed this thread.)

 

I have no reason not to believe a very trustworthy close friend, or other friends and performers. They have no reason to lie, especially not to me.

 

I'm VERY happy to say that on the 5 night cruise before this 9 night which I was also on, following the transatlantic, the figure was back to around normal at 14% removals.

 

I don't appreciate the personal attacks, I'm not used to that, but I'm very aware that CC is renowned for this so I'll say no more about that.

 

I don't think I'll be returning to this thread, I stay far away from negativity, unless something "in my opinion" needs to be addressed. So thank you to everyone for some great ideas and suggestions, let's hope Royal really do read this forum.

 

"In my opinion" just like in Australia, gratuities should be included in the displayed travel agent or website price for EVERYONE. Not only Australia.

 

Do please remember that without gratuities/tips/auto-tips/the Australian system, very few of us would be able to cruise. The enormous cost of RCI paying a living wage their tens of thousands of tipped employees would obviously cause prices to become extortionate. So please let's all do our little bit if we can.

 

The current system works well "in my opinion".

 

The Navigator service is as wonderful as always. I have extremely deep respect for this crew.

 

Thank you everyone for your comments 🙂

 

Bonaire tomorrow!

[ldubs]

On 11/27/2018 at 6:41 PM, ShazM said:

 I still have no clue how much to tip and when.

 

Uh huh.  You definitely need a new TA.  

[ldubs]

11 hours ago, WorkerBee74 said:

 

 

 

A tipped wage is $2.13/hour.  

 

 

 

Wage + tip must equal or exceed the required minimum hourly pay.  

 

 

[ldubs]

On 11/27/2018 at 6:11 PM, 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! 😁

 

You can go to a restaurant in the US and refuse to include a tip for no good reason.  Some people do it all the time.  They are considered disreputable.  

[Board_Shorts]

On 11/27/2018 at 11:18 AM, 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. 

 

On 11/27/2018 at 11:37 AM, cruisinfanatic said:

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

 

On 11/27/2018 at 12:13 PM, The Fun Researcher said:

The line at guest services must have ran around the entire ship, maybe more than once!

 

On 11/27/2018 at 1:44 PM, setsail said:

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

 

18 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

First, I would never ask a person, how much money they make, or how is the tips.

 

4 hours ago, clean1owner said:

NEVER in my cruising life have I had the desire to ask a crew members about their tips from a previous cruise.

 

 

OP Here.

 

My gosh, while I've been out enjoying Aruba and Curaçao, this thread seems to have become rather unfriendly. Not that I didn't expect some disagreement of course, I did NOT expect personal attacks, thankfully this reminded me why I stopped using CC quite some time ago.

 

I now realize that I should have explained that this information was NOT provided by tipped employees.

 

I have an old (we're in our 20's) friend from home who works in theater production on NV, hence my numerous wonderful cruises on this ship.

 

Because of him I have also been introduced to numerous others over many cruises on NV. Theater cast for example (I've actually just got to bed after meeting up with a production singer for example, we even discussed this thread.)

 

I have no reason not to believe an old and very trustworthy friend, or other close friends and performers. They have no reason at all to lie, especially not to me.

 

I'm VERY happy to say that on the 5 night cruise before this 9 night which I was also on, following the transatlantic, the figure was back to around normal at 14% removals.

 

I don't appreciate the personal attacks, I'm not used to that, but I'm very aware that CC is renowned for this so I'll say no more about that.

 

I don't think I'll be returning to this thread, I stay far away from negativity, unless something "in my opinion" needs to be addressed.

 

Thank you to everyone for some great ideas and suggestions, let's hope Royal really do read this forum.

 

"In my opinion" just like in Australia, gratuities should be included in the displayed travel agent or website price for EVERYONE. Not only Australia.

 

Do please remember that without gratuities/tips/auto-tips/the Australian system, very few of us would be able to cruise. The astronomical cost of paying a living wage to tens of thousands of tipped employees would obviously cause prices to become extortionate. So please let's all do our little bit if we can.

 

The current system usually works well "in my opinion".

 

The Navigator service is as wonderful as ever. I have extremely deep respect for this crew.

 

Thank you all for your comments 🙂

 

Bonaire tomorrow! 🌴🏄🌞

[Board_Shorts]

4 hours ago, clean1owner said:

Someone sticking their nose where it doesn't belong, and being given a response that NOBODY can verify,  3 crew members that should be fired, or a Troll just trying to get a bunch of peoples panties in a wad by trying to come up with a different approach to start another tipping argument/thread.

 

Just wow. I have no words.

[little britain]

5 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

Well if 30% were not physically on board the ship because they had cancelled, and 30% of those who remained cancelled because they were upset with the itinerary changes, I can actually believe this. 

[little britain]

5 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

Well if 30% were not physically on board the ship because they had cancelled, and 30% of those who remained cancelled because they were upset with the itinerary changes, I can actually believe this. 

[little britain]

5 hours ago, Mikew0805 said:

Not buying that 60% removed the tips. I think it is hilarious that a crew member would say that, and even more hilarious that a guest would buy it. 🙄🤣

Well if 30% were not physically on board the ship because they had cancelled, and 30% of those who remained cancelled because they were upset with the itinerary changes, I can actually believe this. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

18 minutes ago, little britain said:

Well if 30% were not physically on board the ship because they had cancelled, and 30% of those who remained cancelled because they were upset with the itinerary changes, I can actually believe this. 

😁

[bigeck]

43 minutes ago, little britain said:

Well if 30% were not physically on board the ship because they had cancelled, and 30% of those who remained cancelled because they were upset with the itinerary changes, I can actually believe this. 

I agree. I was on the Ta and everyone had a good time. Crew didn't seem stressed. Probably to the low numbers. A lot of cleaning going on and staff training. 

I always eat in the windjammer at night and it did seem busier than other cruises. I have to say the choice at night was excellent as was the quality of the food. 

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, nicksb said:

I'm on a cruise at Christmas this year and someone on a Facebook page said a small gift would be appreciated so I'll do that.

As long as the small gift is cash.  

Crew quarters are VERY small, they have literally NO PLACE to put even a "small gift".  

A holiday card with some cash inside, however, will always fit.  

[L454S]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

As long as the small gift is cash.  

Crew quarters are VERY small, they have literally NO PLACE to put even a "small gift".  

A holiday card with some cash inside, however, will always fit.  

 

We were told that stateroom attendants/waiters were required to give cash tips in to be included in the "pool".

 

Anyone else told this or is this bad info. If true, why tip cash if the person intended does not keep the money.

Edited November 29, 2018 by L454S

[kernow]

15 minutes ago, L454S said:

 

We were told that stateroom attendants/waiters were required to give cash tips in to be included in the "pool".

 

Anyone else told this or is this bad info. If true, why tip cash if the person intended does not keep the money.

I believe they are only required to submit cash tips if the mandatory tips have been removed. If standard tips are left in place they can keep any extra cash given. At least I hope this is true.

 

Julie

[brillohead]

3 hours ago, kernow said:

I believe they are only required to submit cash tips if the mandatory tips have been removed. If standard tips are left in place they can keep any extra cash given. At least I hope this is true.

I've gotten confirmation from different staff on different ships that this is the case.  If the regular "gratuity" charge remains in place, that is divided up in the pool for all staff, and any cash received can remain with the person who received it.  

Cash only has to be turned in for pool-sharing if the guest has removed the daily service charge.

[springfire]

8 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I've gotten confirmation from different staff on different ships that this is the case.  If the regular "gratuity" charge remains in place, that is divided up in the pool for all staff, and any cash received can remain with the person who received it.  

Cash only has to be turned in for pool-sharing if the guest has removed the daily service charge.

Not even sure how Royal could begin to enforce such a rule.   If you tip in cash during your cruise and remove the auto gratuity the last night of your cruise, what possibly could Royal do about any prior cash gratuity the staff received.  

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, springfire said:

Not even sure how Royal could begin to enforce such a rule.   If you tip in cash during your cruise and remove the auto gratuity the last night of your cruise, what possibly could Royal do about any prior cash gratuity the staff received.  

 

The way it was explained to me, if guests remove the auto gratuity, the cruise line assumes the crewmember was paid in cash and charges them the standard gratuity.  So it comes out of their regular paycheck.   The crewmember does have the opportunity to submit a signed statement saying they were not given any cash tips from a list of guests to remove the deduction from their paycheck.

[springfire]

1 minute ago, Host Clarea said:

 

The way it was explained to me, if guests remove the auto gratuity, the cruise line assumes the crewmember was paid in cash and charges them the standard gratuity.  So it comes out of their regular paycheck.   The crewmember does have the opportunity to submit a signed statement saying they were not given any cash tips from a list of guests to remove the deduction from their paycheck.

So for people who do my time dining, this would only apply to the cabin steward?