Daily Gratuity Increase?

[Ocean Boy]

Now it is a true tipping thread. Someone extolling the virtues of how they tip and informing everyone else why they should do the same.

[Dancingnurse79]

On 12/27/2019 at 2:44 PM, marci22 said:

That would be great. Stop calling it 'gratuities'. They distribute how they want anyway.

I, too, would like to see the gratuities included in the prices. But I know that defeats their goal of making the cruise look more affordable before all the additional fees get tacked on. 

[SRF]

8 hours ago, Dancingnurse79 said:

I, too, would like to see the gratuities included in the prices. But I know that defeats their goal of making the cruise look more affordable before all the additional fees get tacked on. 

 

Or, they could use the SouthWest model and advertise grats are FREE.  Making people think they are not paying for them, but still have higher fares that others. 😄

 

[Biker19]

15 minutes ago, SRF said:

Or, they could use the SouthWest model and advertise grats are FREE. 

No need to compare it to an airline, Virgin is doing that in the mainline cruise industry.

[vacationlover_mn]

9 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Now it is a true tipping thread. Someone extolling the virtues of how they tip and informing everyone else why they should do the same.

Lol!  I never feel like it’s a true tipping thread until someone breaks down how the grats are divided 😉

[papaflamingo]

On 12/27/2019 at 3:55 PM, notyours75 said:

Gratuities are a blight on the industry, staff should not be dependent on tips for the majority of their income, add the cost of the gratuities to the cruise fare and provide more transparency to the passengers.  We are traveling with a couple on their first cruise in Feb and I've had to explain to them about gratuities and it makes no sense to them.  I'm curious to see if the way Virgin Voyages prices their cruises will catch on. 

There are a number of cruiselines that include gratuities in their fares.  They don't tell you how much you are paying in gratuities, they don't tell you whom gets the gratuities, and they aren't optional, you can't have them removed.  So maybe you could explain how  adding  "the cost of the gratuities to the cruise fare [will] provide more transparency to the passengers."  

[ray98]

10 hours ago, eddeb said:

They DO NOT GET the $14.50 per day pp.

We do that and $$$$ as well. They grab

our folded gift for them like sea gulls, disappears in a second.

It is not fair for them.

We tip steward $50/60.

Waiters $30.

Maitred $20 Asst. head waiter $15

Helpers $5

Watching them smile for all their hard work makes it meaningful for us.

When you are at guest services, pick up some free tipping envelopes,

they are on the counter.

We also bring two full suitcases of snack size candy for crew which the really enjoy. 🙂

TIP TIP TIP You will feel good about it. I know we do.

We are the Moore's

 

 

 

👆👆👆This guy is seriously looking for a pat on the back.

[Iamcruzin]

Price increase  is a fact of life and I can accept any gratuity increase like an increase in taxes. What bothers me more is the condescending attitude towards the staff from those who tip above and beyond. They are professionals and should be treated as such. They are making an honest living and not begging or seeking government assistance.  Threat them with respect and pay the auto gratuity.

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, SRF said:

 

Or, they could use the SouthWest model and advertise grats are FREE.  Making people think they are not paying for them, but still have higher fares that others. 😄

 

Gratuities on Southwest?  Are you talking about the airline?  I've never seen them advertise anything about gratuities.

[Iamcruzin]

15 hours ago, Dancingnurse79 said:

I, too, would like to see the gratuities included in the prices. But I know that defeats their goal of making the cruise look more affordable before all the additional fees get tacked on. 

It also adds sales tax to the total amount of the cruise which will also have to be insured at a higher value if you purchase travel insurance. 

[ray98]

.....and the biggest thing is it eliminates the customers direct control over the quality of service received.  "I get paid the same either way" is a real obstacle.  Without gratuities as leverage your only recourse is complaining to a manager who hopefully tries to remedy your concerns.  Since this board seems to be full of complaints about about lack of responsiveness from those in customer service type position I am surprised some think that is the best option since the only positive is having the price lumped all in one.

[Seville2Cabo]

16 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

It also adds sales tax to the total amount of the cruise which will also have to be insured at a higher value if you purchase travel insurance. 

They would have to raise the cruise price to cover not only sales tax, but also Agent commission and payroll taxes.  So the cruise probably goes up $20pp/pd versus the grats of $14.5pp/pd

[Saab4444]

21 minutes ago, ray98 said:

.....and the biggest thing is it eliminates the customers direct control over the quality of service received.  "I get paid the same either way" is a real obstacle.  Without gratuities as leverage your only recourse is complaining to a manager who hopefully tries to remedy your concerns.  Since this board seems to be full of complaints about about lack of responsiveness from those in customer service type position I am surprised some think that is the best option since the only positive is having the price lumped all in one.

Same issue applies if you prepay gratuities.

[ray98]

5 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Same issue applies if you prepay gratuities.

 

Nah....they can be removed.

[not-enough-cruising]

8 minutes ago, ray98 said:

 

Nah....they can be removed.

Removing pre paid is almost impossible, opting out of the daily automatic is very easy. 

[not-enough-cruising]

37 minutes ago, ray98 said:

.....and the biggest thing is it eliminates the customers direct control over the quality of service received.  "I get paid the same either way" is a real obstacle.  Without gratuities as leverage your only recourse is complaining to a manager who hopefully tries to remedy your concerns.  Since this board seems to be full of complaints about about lack of responsiveness from those in customer service type position I am surprised some think that is the best option since the only positive is having the price lumped all in one.

100%, I hope the staff knows I have opted out; helps to set expectations. 

[Iamcruzin]

50 minutes ago, Seville2Cabo said:

They would have to raise the cruise price to cover not only sales tax, but also Agent commission and payroll taxes.  So the cruise probably goes up $20pp/pd versus the grats of $14.5pp/pd

Yep! I'm good with the dollar increase and a chance for the a TA or Cruise line to pay the gratuity as a bonus.

[Iamcruzin]

6 hours ago, ray98 said:

 

 

👆👆👆This guy is seriously looking for a pat on the back.

And apparently he has no issue with the airline luggage restrictions since he packs 2 full suitcases of candy to hand out.  Hope the staff has a good dental plan.

[truckswain]

5 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

Price increase  is a fact of life and I can accept any gratuity increase like an increase in taxes. What bothers me more is the condescending attitude towards the staff from those who tip above and beyond. They are professionals and should be treated as such. They are making an honest living and not begging or seeking government assistance.  Threat them with respect and pay the auto gratuity.

I just want to say KUDOS for this post!  Best one I have read on tipping.  People need to stop second guessing about the auto grats.  They are there for a reason.  I have always prepaid the gratuities, never tipped additionally as I have already paid the tips.  The service received  from all the staff on all my cruises has been exceptional.

[davekathy]

16 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Now it is a true tipping thread. Someone extolling the virtues of how they tip and informing everyone else why they should do the same.

...and how much. 🙄🙄

Edited December 29, 2019 by davekathy

[Seville2Cabo]

20 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Yep! I'm good with the dollar increase and a chance for the a TA or Cruise line to pay the gratuity as a bonus.

I don’t care either way as it is really not a lot of money compared to total cost of cruise.  But, it will not stop the “expectation” that you tip extra (we do) and may make the staff more attentive to cruisers that tip extra.

I do think it is funny that a lot of Australians are trying to book overseaS so they can get a fare without gratuities  and then remove them and save money after the argument they wanted them included.  

[davekathy]

We already consider the gratuities part of the total cost of the cruise.  Separating the gratuities out from the cruise fare just gives those the option to stand in line at GS to remove the gratuities (for whatever reason 🙄). Those same people would stand in line at GS and ***** up a storm if the gratuities were included in the cruise fare and couldn't remove the gratuities. We don't concern ourselves with how much the cruise lines pay their employees. 

[ray98]

57 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Removing pre paid is almost impossible, opting out of the daily automatic is very easy. 

 

 

Filling out a form is not impossible.

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, ray98 said:

 

 

Filling out a form is not impossible.

 

Filling out the form only removes "automatic" gratuities.  Removing prepaid gratuities is not a routine matter.

[SRF]

2 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Gratuities on Southwest?  Are you talking about the airline?  I've never seen them advertise anything about gratuities.

 

Free bags.

 

When many times the fare, plus bag fees on other airlines total less.