Do room stewards know that you prepaid gratiuties?

[yogimax]

18 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

What if it is greater than $203? You spend a lot of time wondering what other people are doing.

Interesting.  So far, no one has answered my question.  I wonder why?

[livingonthebeach]

Just now, yogimax said:

Interesting.  So far, no one has answered my question.  I wonder why?

 

Do you think anyone here knows?  We do know for a fact that before auto grats were introduced, RCI was paying their crew a guaranteed sum, exclusive of grats. 

[Ocean Boy]

8 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Interesting.  So far, no one has answered my question.  I wonder why?

I don't know. Same way I get no answer as to how the crew was taken care of before auto grats were invented.

[Tree_skier]

I honestly don’t care what other people tip. I respond to these threads  reds only to let people know what I do. You do what you want. You do what makes you feel good, or comfortable.

I’m on vacation 20 bucks here and there I’m gonna make that much of a difference in the overall scheme of things. If I end up with a little bit better service for it, I’m thankful.

You do you.

 

[Tree_skier]

8 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I don"t remember the year that auto gratuities started but I am quite sure it was later than 2003.

My first cruise was in 2007. We still had the slips you put in the envelope with any extra cash you wished. And then handed to the various people he wanted to give them to. 2003 isn’t even close to being reality

[livingonthebeach]

This article written in 2010 indicates tips were only suggested and not automatic at that time:

 

https://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/12/09/royal.caribbean.tipping/index.html

 

It's true some crew members receive low pay and work very long hours with almost no days off. But because the cruise ships and parent companies are registered outside of the US and not bound by the US labor law, they can get away with it.

 

These crew members whose salaries are way below US standards, are also lured by the promise of large tips. It's also true that the salaries they get are also way above what they would have earned in their home country. Essentially, the cruise lines pass on to their customers their moral responsibility to pay their workers decent wages through automatic gratuities. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by livingonthebeach

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

We do know for a fact that before auto grats were introduced, RCI was paying their crew a guaranteed sum, exclusive of grats. 

They still do. 

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

My first cruise was in 2007. We still had the slips you put in the envelope with any extra cash you wished. And then handed to the various people he wanted to give them to. 2003 isn’t even close to being reality

Surely the slip system was basically the same , just now you don't get the slips. Money was still charged to your onboard account

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Wrong.

Sorry, which part is wrong?

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Surely the slip system was basically the same , just now you don't get the slips. Money was still charged to your onboard account

 No it was not. Did you actually cruise back then or do you make this up as you go?

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

My first cruise was in 2007. We still had the slips you put in the envelope with any extra cash you wished. And then handed to the various people he wanted to give them to. 2003 isn’t even close to being reality

I don't recall any slips. We had envelopes and simply put money in them then handed them to the appropriate people.

[Tree_skier]

7 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I don't recall any slips. We had envelopes and simply put money in them then handed them to the appropriate people.

That was an option too. They gave you the envelopes and if you wanted they would charge your account their recommended amounts. They then give you several slips that said a certain amount was paid to a certain person. You put those in the envelopes and then handed them out like there was cash inside. You could obviously add different amounts of cash to the slips if you desired to tip more than their recommendations. 

[Ourusualbeach]

17 hours ago, the penguins said:

Technically it doesn't. Please go to Royals website and look up the auto grats rules which you accept by making a booking. Ships maybe allowing you do this which is probably because very people actually do so, but Royals actual terms do not permit it.

You are 100% mistaken on that.

 

This is from the FAQ's that were issued regarding the latest gratuity increase.

 

10. Are all guests required to pay gratuities?

 

Gratuities are at the discretion of each guest. Such guidelines serve as a recommendation to assist guests in expressing their gratitude for the outstanding service that our crew provides. The daily gratuity is shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams.

[Ourusualbeach]

8 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I honestly don’t care what other people tip. I respond to these threads  reds only to let people know what I do. You do what you want. You do what makes you feel good, or comfortable.

I’m on vacation 20 bucks here and there I’m gonna make that much of a difference in the overall scheme of things. If I end up with a little bit better service for it, I’m thankful.

You do you.

 

What happened to only visiting 2 threads....tiptoe.

[the penguins]

26 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

 No it was not. Did you actually cruise back then or do you make this up as you go?

Oh dear,

1994 Royal Majesty - Mexico cruise - tips added to account. This was for our Silver Wedding Anniversary and we expected it to be a one off. 

Then, as I posted, started regular cruising  2003 - Grandeur of The Seas - UK and Norway Cruise. On that we seem to recall we had printed slips and envelopes addressed to the Waiter, Cabin steward etc confirming we had paid the tips. We could add extra if we wanted. 

This sounds like "auto grats" to me.

So no I don't make it up.

Nor while I have a few minutes to spare do I make up Royals policy on auto tips which is as follows:

In the unlikely event that a guest on board being charged the automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services onboard...

That is what you, me and everyone else who books signs up for.

Of course if you or anyone else has a different offer please post it as I could be useful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[the penguins]

40 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are 100% mistaken on that.

 

This is from the FAQ's that were issued regarding the latest gratuity increase.

 

10. Are all guests required to pay gratuities?

 

Gratuities are at the discretion of each guest. Such guidelines serve as a recommendation to assist guests in expressing their gratitude for the outstanding service that our crew provides. The daily gratuity is shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams.

Please see post 369 where I have detailed Royals formal written policy.

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

That is what you, me and everyone else who books signs up for.

No it's not.  We sign up for what's in the cruise ticket contract, not the answers to the FAQs.

 

Even if that were the case, how is "satisfactory service" defined?

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by time4u2go

[Gatordad1967]

17 hours ago, yogimax said:

For all those who remove tips because they say they want to pay cash at the end of the cruise...

 

Does the total amount you tip for a seven night cruise for two equal $203?

 

I wonder how many who remove tips pay $0 at the end of the cruise.

What other people pay is of zero concern to me.

[Gatordad1967]

11 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I don't know. Same way I get no answer as to how the crew was taken care of before auto grats were invented.

people tipped individual crew members.  You had the same waiter at dinner all week.

 

[glentally]

On 8/18/2022 at 10:32 PM, Bird82 said:

I’m going to remove them. 

Me too.

[glentally]

On 8/18/2022 at 11:36 PM, rudeney said:

"Tip creep" is a real problem.   I'm not talking about traditional tipped positions like restaurant and bar servers, cruise ship crew, etc. but the almost endless line of people who have their hands out for a tip.  Fast food and counter service restaurants have "tip jars" or "tip buttons" on their pay pads.  What's next?  Will I have to tip my HOA representative?  My veterinarian?  The cashier at the Dollar General?  I've long been a proponent of tipping because I believe it puts the customer in charge of the service provider's compensation where it's the customer who is in the best position to evaluate performance.  But this expectation that every person who deals with the public "deserves" a tip is just ridiculous.  I think the pendulum will swing so far out that people will get "tip overload" and just stop tipping everyone.  

Leaving for Norway Monday, tipping is considered an insult.

[glentally]

On 8/19/2022 at 5:57 AM, Bird82 said:

I’m not squeamish. It will help strengthen my immune system. 

It might prevent Covid.

[Mikamarii]

21 hours ago, cruisegus said:

 

Absolutly NO pros to keeping the TIP culture the USA.

 

But the only way to get it changed is to remove the archic and redicoulus USA Bureau of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) rules for tipped employees that allows for them to be paid as low as ($2.13/hour)  which is much much lower than minimum wage and then make the customer make up the rest.  Yes if Tips don't bring that up to minimum wage the employeer has to kick in, but it still put the onus on the customer.  USA only civilized country that does this!

I came out of cruise critic jail (covid discussion haha) just to comment on this as I was waiting for someone to mention this.

I so agree with you; however, changing that act will do absolutely nooooothing.....

 

Our province used to be like that where restaurant staff was paid significantly lower than minimum wage because of tips. A couple years ago they changed that and now minimum wage is minimum for everyone....I think right now it is 15$ an hour here. Even though the price of a burger has doubled in the last few years the 'suggested tip' has gone from 10-15% to 18-21%. I'm even seeing some receipts where it is 20-25%. So not only are restaurant staff getting paid more they are making way more on tips (bill is more and tip amount is more).

A couple restaurants here tried the "pay a normal wage and remove tips". They were paying servers 25-30$ an hour....guess what....they couldn't get staff. Restaurant workers want to work for tips because they make so much more and it is tax free (they are required to claim but guarantee no one claims the full amount if any at all). So for everyone wanting tips to be included please think long and hard about that. Including tips won't change a darn thing. All it will do is raise the price of the cruise and people will still call you a horrid vile person if you don't leave the waiter an extra 1$ for bringing you an extra pop. 

 

Tipping is such a ridiculous notion where those with the means create a ridiculous criteria they deem fit to pass along their scraps to those they deem below them. Don't believe me? Look at who we tip. Teachers don't get paid well yet we don't send our kids with a five-er to school every day. Do we tip because because they work hard? Lot's of people work hard we don't tip. If I buy a can of pepsi at a gas station...no expectation....if i buy a can at the bar on a cruise....expectation....do we tip because of low wages? Lots of people make low wages that we don't tip. My wife works in education and only makes a couple dollars more per hour than a bus boy and makes significantly less when tips are factored in. If people truly cared as much for these workers as they tout on the internet they would fly him/her and their family to their home to live with them and support them.

 

Lastly, for those saying when in America do as Americans please remember that when outside your own country. Go to the Australian/New Zealand page and take about tipping....see the type of response you will get.

 

Alright mods....I had my day pass...send me back to jail!

 

 

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, Gatordad1967 said:

people tipped individual crew members.  You had the same waiter at dinner all week.

 

And the person working in the laundry? Lately, people around here seem to be very concerned about that person.

[rudeney]

My take on tipping is that it's for "personalized service".  This means that the service provider personally interacted with me and did something specifically for me at my request. I never see the people working in the laundry or the staff that washed the dishes in the dining room, and they are handling my needs in batch, along with everyone else's, so I would never tip them.  If the cruise lines give them a cut of the automatically added gratuities that I pay, then so be it.  That's between the crew and management.