Paying Cash Gratuities Directly to Staff?

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

My wife was delighted as she no longer had to take her card into the cashier, explain the situation, wait as I filled the tank and then pay. It's always has been a pain but worse now as we also have to unload her walker so she can get to and from the cashier. 

If you ever do get caught at a gas station where the pump doesn't accept your card, you can just walk in and give them cash, then fill up and go collect any change.

 

Just say '$60 on pump #4 please' or whatever, then go back for the change.

[Pinboy]

1 minute ago, mcrcruiser said:

When will this tip /gratuity issue ever stop .

LOL-- As soon as someone books a cruise for 2027 and wants to know " Who is the---- etc etc ".

Also, the threads on " Gratuities " attract more Trolls than :

" What's your favorite appetizer " ?

" What time is Bingo " ?

" How long should it take to replace a light bulb in our suite--- I reported it 4 minutes ago and still waiting for service " ?

" Anyone notice the size of the $%^#& lobster tails lately " ?????

" $ 9.95 for room service delivery ----- what would you do at 3 am when you're hungry " ?

 

 

[mcrcruiser]

14 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Fun fact…People have been asking if this “issue” with tipping with cruising will ever stop for over five decades

Who starts these types of threads   needs to rethink what they re started ,It is a can of worms always

[mcrcruiser]

7 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

LOL-- As soon as someone books a cruise for 2027 and wants to know " Who is the---- etc etc ".

Also, the threads on " Gratuities " attract more Trolls than :

" What's your favorite appetizer " ?

" What time is Bingo " ?

" How long should it take to replace a light bulb in our suite--- I reported it 4 minutes ago and still waiting for service " ?

" Anyone notice the size of the $%^#& lobster tails lately " ?????

" $ 9.95 for room service delivery ----- what would you do at 3 am when you're hungry " ?

 

 

The $9.95 charge that X introduced for room service is   way over the top imo. We always tipped well for room service but to be forced to pay this outrage fee is the crowning blow  for us   ,back to other cruise lines after these 2 cruises are completed  .This is pure greed imo 

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Who starts these types of threads   needs to rethink what they re started ,It is a can of worms always

Don't read or contribute to these type of threads. 🙄 

[Guppy99]

6 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

The $9.95 charge that X introduced for room service is   way over the top imo. We always tipped well for room service but to be forced to pay this outrage fee is the crowning blow  for us   ,back to other cruise lines after these 2 cruises are completed  .This is pure greed imo 

why on earth would it be cost-free? There are numerous venues to get your own food. Having a multiple people load a tray and hand deliver to you is costly. Why shouldn't you pay for the convenience. Also, why should the cost be rolled into higher cruise fares for everyone, when only a few get room service?  There is also a problem with people ordering room service and then falling asleep before it comes.  Wasted effort, wasted time, wasted food.  About time they charged for it imo

[JSR]

Hi. We always leave the prepaid gratuities but then supplement them in cash to those whose service we thought was very good or above. The prepaid to us is insufficient especially for our cabin attendants, concierge if applicable, dining staff, etc However, we do base this on quality not on routine.  Just how we do it. 

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

why on earth would it be cost-free? There are numerous venues to get your own food. Having a multiple people load a tray and hand deliver to you is costly. Why shouldn't you pay for the convenience. Also, why should the cost be rolled into higher cruise fares for everyone, when only a few get room service?  There is also a problem with people ordering room service and then falling asleep before it comes.  Wasted effort, wasted time, wasted food.  About time they charged for it imo

You are what X wants as their spokesperson  .There are many lines who don't charge that outrageous fee & how many people you know who fall asleep before the delivery ?  LOL 

[mcrcruiser]

When does X charge for towel service at the pools  & how about  charging for towels in the gym  .We can go on & on but you all get the drift 

Edited February 6, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[the penguins]

9 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

If you ever do get caught at a gas station where the pump doesn't accept your card, you can just walk in and give them cash, then fill up and go collect any change.

 

Just say '$60 on pump #4 please' or whatever, then go back for the change.

Thanks. Even that presents us with "issues".

Firstly we have no idea how much fuel we need. Remember our fuel is 3 times the cost of fuel in the US, we have a rental car that uses roughly 3 times the amount of fuel our car does at home (on a run we get 60mpg) and the US gallon is smaller than ours.

The situation was made easier when a helpful cashier told us that if we pre authorized say 💲50 on our card we would only be charged for the amount we put in - not something we can do in the UK so we presumed we would be charged the 💲50 regardles of how much the tank took.

None of these things worry us unduly, we enjoy the challenges, and our "fun at the pump" is nothing compared to the chaos we caused when we did our first school run in Dallas.

Nor to the look of disbelief when, on being asked to produce ID at our Grandson's school, we produced passports. The Receptionist just couldn't comprehend how my wife didn't have a driving licence.

Or try explaining to a Bank Teller that, although your Driving Licence doesn't have a photo, it is still a valid document (that problem has now been resolved).

Even our Nursery Rhymes have different words and when our grandson was younger one of our cruise friends happily supplied us with the US versiond - Happy days.

Now we are way of subject but "that's life".

[mcrcruiser]

The hardest working crew members are your cabin stewards & dining waiters & their assistants .This is where we feature xtra tips 

[britestar]

Agree.

[Pinboy]

39 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

The $9.95 charge that X introduced for room service is   way over the top imo.

OH NO--- What did I start ??

This was discussed ( Challenged !! ) a while ago.

Ya wanna talk about " way over the top "---go get a Free 5 minute massage and see what happens.

It'll cost you much more than room service and without any --------food !!

 

[Guppy99]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

You are what X wants as their spokesperson  .There are many lines who don't charge that outrageous fee & how many people you know who fall asleep before the delivery ?  LOL 

 

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

You are what X wants as their spokesperson  .There are many lines who don't charge that outrageous fee & how many people you know who fall asleep before the delivery ?  LOL 

Happens all the time, which is why the charge after 11pm was originally implemented.  Further, towel service is a ridiculous analogy.  Of course I am pro-Celebrity more times than not, which is why I still cruise on Celebrity.  On the other hand, I find it questionable when people do nothing but complain but still cruise on the line.  Some people just complain without any critical thinking behind it.

[D C]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Must be reprogramming as during our trip to the Dallas area in November our chip and pin cards were accepted at every gas station. My wife was delighted as she no longer had to take her card into the cashier, explain the situation, wait as I filled the tank and then pay. It's always has been a pain but worse now as we also have to unload her walker so she can get to and from the cashier. 

Imagine the opposite.  Being from the US in the UK when your credit card doesn't even have a chip on it! Standing in Waterloo station in London, wanting to buy a train ticket from a machine that can't read a magnetic stripe was good fun.  😲 Thankfully my brother happened to have a chip card with him (this was 2014).   It was amusing though, showing the young restaurant servers where the magnetic swipe slot was on their handheld.  Most had never even realised it was there.  😅

Edited February 6, 2023 by D C

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, radarcruiser said:

Cheng- Thanks for weighing in.  I've heard the crew may not get the full amount of the automatic gratuities, that the company keeps a certain percentage.  Can you confirm that all the money designated as gratuities goes directly to the crew and is additional to their salaries?

 

Thanks in advance.

Some lines keep a percentage back from distribution to crew, but it goes into a crew welfare fund, which pays for crew parties, improvements to crew facilities, etc.  I've heard that Viking keeps a good bit, but uses it for things like repatriating crew who have family emergencies before the end of their contracts, and even for education.

[JustCruzin77]

This is quite the heated debate!

 

I hope no one else has asked this question yet. I am new to Celebrity Cruises, but I noticed when booking during the "Free All Inclusive Sale", when you add All Inclusive the price jumps up by $1000+ dollars per person because they have added extra gratuities for the drinks and WIFI. If we are already paying gratuities that are divided equally among staff, why add extra when you book a drinks package or a WIFI package, especially the WIFI package, who is putting in extra work to deliver the WIFI? And are these additional gratuities also divided equally when they are added as a drinks or dinning package?

 

I am fine paying the initial gratuities cost and even tipping extra cash to a few bartenders and staff, but I opted out of the All Inclusive because I am not a big drinker and I would be paying Gratuities for drinks that I have not consumed.

 

I do believe in tipping 20% in most cases, but it does seem to be a little excessive when anything you add in also increases the gratuities. I can't think of any time where I've tipped my internet service provider for their unbearable slow connection.

 

 

 

 

[davekathy]

13 minutes ago, KevinB1977 said:

This is quite the heated debate!

 

I hope no one else has asked this question yet. I am new to Celebrity Cruises, but I noticed when booking during the "Free All Inclusive Sale", when you add All Inclusive the price jumps up by $1000+ dollars per person because they have added extra gratuities for the drinks and WIFI. If we are already paying gratuities that are divided equally among staff, why add extra when you book a drinks package or a WIFI package, especially the WIFI package, who is putting in extra work to deliver the WIFI? And are these additional gratuities also divided equally when they are added as a drinks or dinning package?

 

I am fine paying the initial gratuities cost and even tipping extra cash to a few bartenders and staff, but I opted out of the All Inclusive because I am not a big drinker and I would be paying Gratuities for drinks that I have not consumed.

 

I do believe in tipping 20% in most cases, but it does seem to be a little excessive when anything you add in also increases the gratuities. I can't think of any time where I've tipped my internet service provider for their unbearable slow connection.

Welcome to CC. IMO, tipping is a personal preference that requires no justification. Also the AI gratuities include your dining staff and stateroom attendant. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by davekathy

[RichYak]

21 minutes ago, KevinB1977 said:

they have added extra gratuities for the [...] WIFI.

Check again. I've never seen such a thing on Celebrity.

[JustCruzin77]

It's our first time booking with Celebrity, I'm not sure if it allows you to modify the All Inclusive package on the Celebrity website, but I first tried booking through AAA Travel or CAA here in Canada, and after selecting the All Inclusive it would allow you to remove either the Drinks or the Wifi or both, when removing either "FREE" service it would lower the price of the cruise, by lowering the Gratuities, seeing how the packages are supposed to be FREE.  I didn't end up booking with AAA/CAA, we ended up booking through Celebrity as they gave us an additional Discount for being Ontario Residents. We  also didn't take the All Inclusive, maybe if they had some cheaper options, I'm good with 1 or 2 drinks in the evening, and if I had the Wifi package, my wife would give me heck for replying to work emails!

[JustCruzin77]

13 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Check again. I've never seen such a thing on Celebrity.

Sorry, the previous was suppose to quote your post!

I am new at Cruise Critic too! 🤣

[D C]

38 minutes ago, KevinB1977 said:

This is quite the heated debate!

 

I hope no one else has asked this question yet. I am new to Celebrity Cruises, but I noticed when booking during the "Free All Inclusive Sale", when you add All Inclusive the price jumps up by $1000+ dollars per person because they have added extra gratuities for the drinks and WIFI. If we are already paying gratuities that are divided equally among staff, why add extra when you book a drinks package or a WIFI package, especially the WIFI package, who is putting in extra work to deliver the WIFI? And are these additional gratuities also divided equally when they are added as a drinks or dinning package?

 

I am fine paying the initial gratuities cost and even tipping extra cash to a few bartenders and staff, but I opted out of the All Inclusive because I am not a big drinker and I would be paying Gratuities for drinks that I have not consumed.

 

I do believe in tipping 20% in most cases, but it does seem to be a little excessive when anything you add in also increases the gratuities. I can't think of any time where I've tipped my internet service provider for their unbearable slow connection.

 

 

 

 

Simple.  Without the beverage package you were either going to:

1) Order no drinks and thus pay no gratuity because nobody is serving you drinks.

2) Pay an added gratuity with each and every drink you order at the time of purchsase because you're being served drinks.  

The package is "all of your drinks" for one price, so you pay the added gratuity on "all of your drinks" at the time of purchase of the package. 

[RichYak]

47 minutes ago, KevinB1977 said:

Sorry, the previous was suppose to quote your post!

I am new at Cruise Critic too! 🤣

No worries. I can assure you Celebrity does not charge gratuities for wi-fi. They do for the beverage package as they should. Those gratuities are completely separate from the dining/stateroom gratuities. As you are learning, AI is a package that does NOT mean All Inclusive.

[clanger]

On 2/5/2023 at 5:26 PM, Dahani said:

Being from the UK we dont have the tipping culture of our American cousins. It is an alien concept to us and really rare that we tip anybody apart from giving cash to the cabin steward.

 

I have no qualms whatsoever in removing auto tipping and always have done on Princess and HAL, this is based on the opinion that having paid the company to provide a service, it is then up to the company to remunerate employees to provide said service to a satisfactory standard. 

 

We use P&O a lot where its not an issue, and yes we are fully aware its in the price. We will not go with lines that do not allow us to remove tips.

 

And, lets face it, not all the 'gratuities' finds its way to the staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[prmssk]

55 minutes ago, KevinB1977 said:

It's our first time booking with Celebrity, I'm not sure if it allows you to modify the All Inclusive package on the Celebrity website, but I first tried booking through AAA Travel or CAA here in Canada, and after selecting the All Inclusive it would allow you to remove either the Drinks or the Wifi or both, when removing either "FREE" service it would lower the price of the cruise, by lowering the Gratuities, seeing how the packages are supposed to be FREE.  I didn't end up booking with AAA/CAA, we ended up booking through Celebrity as they gave us an additional Discount for being Ontario Residents. We  also didn't take the All Inclusive, maybe if they had some cheaper options, I'm good with 1 or 2 drinks in the evening, and if I had the Wifi package, my wife would give me heck for replying to work emails!

What you describe I have only seen with NCL’s Free at Sea which doesn’t apply to Celebrity. 
 

Celebrity’s AI package is all or nothing. Either you get the beverage package, Wi-Fi, and included gratuities or you book cruise only and don’t get any of that included. The price difference between the two fares can be significant.