GRATUITIES

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, Loujul said:

You are absolutely right. I’m sure Celebrity stockholders are loving the fact that we’re now supplementing salaries, which in turn means greater dividends. On a ship with 3,500 passengers at $15.50 per day for gratuities, you do the math.  Then add in the 20% gratuity for drinks.  On the last cruise we never saw our steward.  There used to be a steward and an assistant.  They cut that and the cleanliness of the room has suffered. Take a look under your bed. 

My stateroom attendant was ok but not great. Room was cleaned bed was made but he did forget to leave a roll of TP one evening there was not even any left in the little cupboard and he left an old cleaning cloth on the desk in the room. Just happened the one time. He did mention that since they no longer have assistants they only look after 10 cabins. 

[az_tchr]

24 minutes ago, Loujul said:

You are absolutely right. I’m sure Celebrity stockholders are loving the fact that we’re now supplementing salaries, which in turn means greater dividends. On a ship with 3,500 passengers at $15.50 per day for gratuities, you do the math.  Then add in the 20% gratuity for drinks.  On the last cruise we never saw our steward.  There used to be a steward and an assistant.  They cut that and the cleanliness of the room has suffered. Take a look under your bed. 

Have recently taken 2 cruises and have 2 more late spring. We had wonderful service from our cabin steward. Everything clean and tidy. Saw him every morning and probably a few times in the evening. Had a couple requests and they were accomplished promptly.

[ghstudio]

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Helpful but really would be helpful to know how many night cruise this would be.  

per cruise....if it's back to back, we do each separately......

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, ROYALBOY said:

.. my reservation was made prior to Jan 6 and my automatic gratuities are 15 pp x 2 is 30 per day or 300 for a 10 day cruise. MY EXTRA HUNDRED IS GIVEN BY ME TO THOSE WHO PERSONALLY PROVIDE A SERVICE FOR ME EACH DAY.

So yeah my numbers do jive...maybe you should take a class.

 

 

Maybe you're the one who should take the class regarding protocall when it comes to yelling online when you type in caps. 

Your original post mentioned 400 over 10 days and did not mention that it was 300 under the old grat rate plus 100 extra that you were adding to the pot. You were upset about paying 400, yet it was an extra 100 of your own valiction.  And yes, your numbers do jive since you decided to paint the entire picture and connect all of the dots.

[ONT-CA]

A gratuity is a gift from a customer to a server

The amount of the gift  is determined by the customer

There can be no suggestions as to the amount of gratuity without the knowledge and appreciation of service

There cannot be a rate applied to a gratuity nor a charge 

There cannot be a collection of a gratuity by the third party without knowledge of final distribution

There cannot be a collection of gratuity for distribution without first having the service rendered.

 

...OTHERWISE  IT  IS  NOT  A  GRATUITY.

 

 

 

 

 

[ONT-CA]

17 hours ago, Pinboy said:

The Cruise Line is only providing a " guideline " --- Not " extorting " anything from you.

They will not know what you leave or don't leave .

However, the staff members that did their best to ensure you had a good time will.

You are free to do whatever you think is fair .

 

 

In no longer falling for the collection game, we decline upon embarkation.  Our gratuities are we feel appropriate and adequately appreciated by the recipients.  Those who have declined the collection game will find at the foot of their beds a notification that says; "Tipping with cash is also a great way to say thanks to the crew for making your vacation special". This notification recommends an amount of $5.19 per day for Housekeeping Services and is placed there by the room steward at turn down.  Extortion might be too strong a word, but not by much

[Pinboy]

52 minutes ago, ONT-CA said:

 

In no longer falling for the collection game, we decline upon embarkation.  Our gratuities are we feel appropriate and adequately appreciated by the recipients.  Those who have declined the collection game will find at the foot of their beds a notification that says; "Tipping with cash is also a great way to say thanks to the crew for making your vacation special". This notification recommends an amount of $5.19 per day for Housekeeping Services and is placed there by the room steward at turn down.  Extortion might be too strong a word, but not by much

Every time we go into a restaurant there are staff ( servers ) who rely on tips .

I understand that some restaurants (Toronto ) automatically add 18 % onto the bill where there is a large group.

When people make a function in a hotel, the Organizers must guarantee the number of guests plus a gratuity is added on to the price. 

It's no different with service on a cruise ship. 

 

 

 

[Denny01]

I took at bit of time before posting this to think it through. There have been many, maybe 100’s of threads on gratuities covering pretty much every avenue you could think of. But here is what I’ve distilled and what I think about the tone and content of gratuity posts:

 

1. The reason Celebrity, as with all other mainline Cruise Lines it competes with (not the all-exclusive truly luxury Lines), does not add the gratuity to our baseline charge is because prospective passengers look at various websites that compare costs and if Celebrity included the service charge into the baseline, it would show a higher cost, even though their final cost would be the same or lower. Most all of the Lines are based/focused on the US market which has a culture that accepts paying gratuities /service charges above the baseline bill.

 

2. The great majority of posts asking why someone has to pay gratuities are looking for an excuse to not pay. If someone posts they aren’t using the prepaid gratuity, didn’t select the gratuity perk and removed the daily gratuity charge are stiffing the full wait staff. I don’t care about all the ‘yes but’s’, and ‘gratuities are a gift’, what is really being said is: to heck with all the staff that made my cruise so enjoyable, I’ll just give a few bucks directly so I can get a direct thank you and I don’t have to pay the full amount. Or even more true, they say they give it in cash but don’t to save themselves at the expense of the staff. Either way, they are hurting the full staff and they know it and don’t care. They pretend they are taking the ‘higher road’ of not being forced to pay the set amount. Most of us know exactly what they are doing, and why.

 

2. The reason Lines have added gratuities to the baseline cost for certain countries is because that clientele aren’t use to gratuities / service charges and see it as something that shouldn’t be done and a larger minority take the gratuity off their account not realizing they are hurting the service staff. So the Line added it in. Too bad they don’t do it for all of us so we don’t have to listen to all the excuses of those that are knowingly stiffing the staff.

 

4. These threads also get edgy because it gets into the ‘what do you tip’. That’s a different issue and has nothing to do with gratuities. If you tip, great, if you don’t, great. Gratuities aren’t tips, they are service charges for the staff, and my view is tips are for an individual going beyond the norm. My experience with tipping is I get excellent service either way. Sometimes a waiter will identify me as ‘that tipper’ and walk directly over to get my order. Nothing more. I get the same level of service tipping or not, just maybe a bit quicker at a crowded bar/lounge.

 

Den

 

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Denny01

[Bo1953]

20 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Every time we go into a restaurant there are staff ( servers ) who rely on tips .

I understand that some restaurants (Toronto ) automatically add 18 % onto the bill where there is a large group.

When people make a function in a hotel, the Organizers must guarantee the number of guests plus a gratuity is added on to the price. 

It's no different with service on a cruise ship.

p - I, for one, appreciate your understanding of this 'sensitive' topic here on the X board.

 

Yet, when it comes to this topic, there is nothing which can be said or offered to those, which is logical or legitimate, on the reason for keeping the gratuities or service charges in place. No way, No shape, No form.

 

Personally, I find those who would spend the amounts we spend on sailings to begrudge and/or remove these charges are specious at best... especially when using the arguments we wit thus far.

 

I recommend humouring them and not responding after a bit, as it will go round in circles, to be sure. One cannot argue with this type of thinker and I recommend not doing so unless you enjoy doing so.

 

Our last sailing on The Edge, the night before the end there were lines of passengers asking to have their 'gratuities/service charges' removed for some of the most banal reasons... IMO. From the 'I did not know...' through 'We did not get the service we thought ....'

 

A few were valid, to be sure, yet the vast majority bogus, IMO!

 

Yes, we all want to 'save money' on our vacation, to be sure, yet in this manner I personally do not agree it is worth cutting, unless one chooses it as an included Perk.. Otherwise I can have one less drink to make up for it, oh no I cannot as I usually have to pay to upgrade to PBP... sorry.

 

We each have our personal values and thoughts on this volatile topic, as you can read. I like yours. LOL

 

Enjoy your sailing and bon voyage

[Denny01]

BO 1954 - A perfect post! Maybe I’ll start identifying such posts with a ‘PP!’ Label! Nuff said because you know there will be the ‘you don’t know why I drop the gratuity......’. Yes we do.

 

Den

[Fouremco]

14 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

The reason Celebrity, as with all other mainline Cruise Lines it competes with (not the all-exclusive truly luxury Lines), does not add the gratuity to our baseline charge is because prospective passengers look at various websites that compare costs and if Celebrity included the service charge into the baseline, it would show a higher cost, even though their final cost would be the same or lower. Most all of the Lines are based/focused on the US market which has a culture that accepts paying gratuities /service charges above the baseline bill.

Another reason that has been raised in a good number of gratuity threads is the fact that many of the non-US crew pay taxes at a lower rate, if at all, on gratuities. Consequently, by keeping salaries and gratuities separate, the crew pay less taxes. If Celebrity was to build gratuities into the base booking fee and no longer maintain them as a separate entity, and was to pay the crew a salary equal to their former salary+gratuities, the crew members would lose out. 

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, MEcruzr said:

Yes... when did this happen? I'm... happy about it... in a way. It was always a mystery if the surcharge included gratuity or not. Some would say yes, others no. Even when you asked onboard they were very vague and often just replied that we were welcome to leave a gratuity for service. 

 

NOW... what if you're gifted a dinner or it's complimentary? Do they bill your for the gratuity? 

As far as I can remember it has been in place for at least the last 20 Years.   When specialty dining was first introduced on the M-Class ships (The Olympic) it was billed that the $25 pp surcharge was to cover the Gratuity with the inference that the meal was included in your cruise fare.

[Loracpin2]

34 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

BO 1954 - A perfect post! Maybe I’ll start identifying such posts with a ‘PP!’ Label! Nuff said because you know there will be the ‘you don’t know why I drop the gratuity......’. Yes we do.

 

Den

I agree!!!

 

[omeinv]

1 hour ago, Denny01 said:

I took at bit of time before posting this to think it through. There have been many, maybe 100’s of threads on gratuities covering pretty much every avenue you could think of. But here is what I’ve distilled and what I think about the tone and content of gratuity posts:

 

 

2. The great majority of posts asking why someone has to pay gratuities are looking for an excuse to not pay. If someone posts they aren’t using the prepaid gratuity, didn’t select the gratuity perk and removed the daily gratuity charge are stiffing the full wait staff. I don’t care about all the ‘yes but’s’, and ‘gratuities are a gift’, what is really being said is: to heck with all the staff that made my cruise so enjoyable, I’ll just give a few bucks directly so I can get a direct thank you and I don’t have to pay the full amount. Or even more true, they say they give it in cash but don’t to save themselves at the expense of the staff. Either way, they are hurting the full staff and they know it and don’t care. They pretend they are taking the ‘higher road’ of not being forced to pay the set amount. Most of us know exactly what they are doing, and why.

 

 

 

 

Den

 

 

Den,

 

I agree with your assessment of Samuel's (perfect) post. 

 

Speaking of perfect posts, yours would also qualify (specifically the part I quoted above).

 

Harris

Denver, CO

Edited January 31, 2020 by omeinv

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

I recommend humouring them and not responding after a bit, as it will go round in circles, to be sure. One cannot argue with this type of thinker and I recommend not doing so unless you enjoy doing so.

Thank you ,that's excellent.  I will take your advice and not reply to---- oops, still learning the rules. 

I find it extremely frustrating reading some of the responses from people that feel they are being , oops, can't say that ,  but, it's hard not to reply. 

As you see, I am new to posting ( to any site ), and probably fell into the " trap " of a few trolls.

Too bad I can't mention who they are but since you have been a long time poster, you will know exactly whom I am talking about.

 

 

 

 

[Mark_T]

On 1/29/2020 at 8:56 PM, Pinboy said:

Also, the automatic daily gratuity is split many ways , including to Staff that you might not have service from ( bar staff--non-drinkers as example ). 

That one is a crock, the bar staff only get the tips from the drink packages, or direct drink sales. They do not get any part of the automatic daily gratuity.

[Eglesbrech]

2 hours ago, Denny01 said:

The reason Lines have added gratuities to the baseline cost for certain countries is because that clientele aren’t use to gratuities / service charges and see it as something that shouldn’t be done and a larger minority take the gratuity off their account not realizing they are hurting the service staff. So the Line added it in. Too bad they don’t do it for all of us so we don’t have to listen to all the excuses of those that are knowingly stiffing the staff.

 

Den

 

 

I am from one of the countries that are not used to gratuities however that is not an excuse for being mean.
 

If you do your research in advance you know what to do to fit into the local culture. When we visit the  USA or Canada we add the local 20% for servers. I can’t say that I am happy with it however I know that it is the right thing to do in those countries - the same thing applies for cruise lines.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Eglesbrech

[Pinboy]

2 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

That one is a crock, the bar staff only get the tips from the drink packages, or direct drink sales. They do not get any part of the automatic daily gratuity.

Thanks, I thought they were included in the automatic daily gratuity. 

My Bad --

[woody14h]

On 1/29/2020 at 4:25 PM, hiccups said:

Do you not think the people that wash your dishes, sheets and towels, or stock the bars, or do the kitchen prep, or clean the public restrooms, deserve anything?  Because if you remove the gratuities, you will be hurting those crew members.

This is a very poignant point.  An unsung hero on board is the individual who cleans the restrooms and keeps it in pristine condition.  I feel that a little gratuity makes them glad that someone notices their effort over and above the daily gratuity charge.

[wrk2cruise]

Someone posted this quite about a year ago.   If you believe this document tipping is very common and expected around the world.

 

Etiquette 101 Your Guide to Tipping Around the World - Condé Nast Traveler.html

[Denny01]

4 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Another reason that has been raised in a good number of gratuity threads is the fact that many of the non-US crew pay taxes at a lower rate, if at all, on gratuities. Consequently, by keeping salaries and gratuities separate, the crew pay less taxes. If Celebrity was to build gratuities into the base booking fee and no longer maintain them as a separate entity, and was to pay the crew a salary equal to their former salary+gratuities, the crew members would lose out. 

What a great post and piece of info!  This is info I’ll use on the next “why does we have to pay Gratuities???” that will be started next week!

 

i guess I never saw this info since I’d give up reading through most of these type threads.  

 

den

Edited January 31, 2020 by Denny01

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

3 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

What a great post and piece of info!  This is info I’ll use on the next “why does we have to pay Gratuities???” that will be started next week!

 

den

 

Perhaps we should just ignore all such posts.  As you have previously pointed out, the posters are searching for reasons they can use to not pay their gratuities:  they're not fair, cruise line should pay its workers a reasonable wage, I never eat in the MDR, yada, yada.  One cannot reason with folks whose minds are made up and determinedly closed.

[ONT-CA]

The Petit Chef Restaurants added a service charge of 30% and we added the tip. Simple.  If the cruise lines will add a service charge of $15.50/day then that has to and will be paid.  We then can add our tips. But they won't do that do they for reasons I do not understand but suspect taxation. They call it the tip but then suggest that you do not have to pay it if you don't want to but you can pay it and pay extra if you wish.  Well is it or is it not the tip? 

Don't bad mouth the public who have had enough of this nonsense.  One can almost taste the KOOL-AID

 

 

[Swampbabe]

3 minutes ago, ONT-CA said:

The Petit Chef Restaurants added a service charge of 30% and we added the tip. Simple.  If the cruise lines will add a service charge of $15.50/day then that has to and will be paid.  We then can add our tips. But they won't do that do they for reasons I do not understand but suspect taxation. They call it the tip but then suggest that you do not have to pay it if you don't want to but you can pay it and pay extra if you wish.  Well is it or is it not the tip? 

Don't bad mouth the public who have had enough of this nonsense.  One can almost taste the KOOL-AID

 

 

And one can smell the cheapness.

[DUC950]

There will be 3 people in my stateroom.  I have a perk for prepaid gratuities for 2.  Will the gratuities for the 3rd person be added to my onboard account.