% of guests who remove gratuities

[Ryder101]

3 minutes ago, Vibe said:

It kinda is my business because the cheap people that remove their tips cause the cruise line to raise that daily tip amount for the people that go with the system. 

Like that ain't gonna happen anyway. Didn't they just raise it because everything on planet earth went up? I must have missed the part about it being raised because of the 10% that choose not to participate. LOL.

[Vibe]

7 minutes ago, Ryder101 said:

I don't care. LOL. It's not my problem. And it's set up with the expectation that a certain % won't be participating. It disrupts nothing. They know it will happen.

Do what makes you happy. There are always those people who can justify trying to beat the system.  BTW. If I thought about it enough, I don’t like how the cruise line determines the tipping system, I still go with it because the employees are the ones to get screwed when that system is disrupted.  I just factor the tips into the total cruise cost and not obsess about it 
 

I just returned from a Princess cruise, they call it crew appreciation 

Edited February 28, 2023 by Vibe

[Ryder101]

1 minute ago, Vibe said:

Do what makes you happy. There are always those people who can justify trying to beat the system.  BTW. If I thought about it enough, I don’t like how the cruise line determines the tipping system, I still go with it because the employees are the ones to get screwed when that system is disrupted.  I just factor the tips into the total cruise cost.  
 

I just returned from a Princess cruise, they call it cruise appreciation 

I will. And you do you. 

[JeffT237]

Not taking a side but I'm just curious, to those who remove auto tips at GS what is the conversation like? Does the GS member try and discourage the practice?  It is my understanding from Royal's policy "is that in the unlikely event service is unsatisfactory auto gratuities can be modified", do they attempt to offer a remedy for the lack of service?  Or is the conversation something like "please remove the auto gratuities as we will be tipping in cash"? Legitimate question, I've never overheard it go down at GS although from these threads I know it happens.

 

Side note: I vowed to never comment on tipping threads, but a week of rain and cold in SoCal has made us all crazy out here

 

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by JeffT237

[A&L_Ont]

41 minutes ago, Ryder101 said:

I truly believe more remove on day one to begin with. Probably because they don't ever want it on their credit card for even a few days.

 

Possibly but know one knows for sure.

 

41 minutes ago, Ryder101 said:

For crew to then give less service would be shooting themselves in the foot. Up until the last day there is the chance of getting cash tips out of people's pockets, and they are fully aware of that possibility.

I guess the guests who drop their tips should not be worried, but one might muse that this could be used against the crew. I just noted what some have said for their reasoning above remove tips on the last night. Some even state that you can even do it over the phone if the line is long at GS. 
 

Just another reason to why I think it should just be rolled into the cruise cost. 

Edited February 28, 2023 by A&L_Ont

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, bucfan2 said:

That’s funny.  Rough guess?  About the same percentage of adults who still believe in Santa.

Reading the threads. 

[Ryder101]

59 minutes ago, JeffT237 said:

Not taking a side but I'm just curious, to those who remove auto tips at GS what is the conversation like? Does the GS member try and discourage the practice?  It is my understanding from Royal's policy "is that in the unlikely event service is unsatisfactory auto gratuities can be modified", do they attempt to offer a remedy for the lack of service?  Or is the conversation something like "please remove the auto gratuities as we will be tipping in cash"? Legitimate question, I've never overheard it go down at GS although from these threads I know it happens.

 

Side note: I vowed to never comment on tipping threads, but a week of rain and cold in SoCal has made us all crazy out here

 

 

You don't even need to say you will be tipping in cash if you don't want to. That's up to each individual. Once I was ask "May I ask if there was a problem or particular reason I could maybe help with". I said no. They said OK, and we both moved on. The rest of the times no questions. It's nothing new or unique to them. I've never ever been at guest services where either the person on my right or my left wasn't doing it. Can't help but hear the conversation/request. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, JeffT237 said:

Side note: I vowed to never comment on tipping threads, but a week of rain and cold in SoCal has made us all crazy out here

Seriously what’s up with that?!  We fly to LA on Friday for a solstice cruise and I’ve had to pack twice as much trying to cover both cold and warm weather!!

Edited February 28, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[Oceansaway17]

I would never EVER remove gratuity for any crew. Just plain mean for hardworking folks

[grandgeezer]

2 hours ago, Ryder101 said:

It's 10 to 15%. Crew members have quoted those numbers to multiple people on multiple occasions. 

I doubt seriously that it is anywhere near that high. Don’t you think this may just be a ploy to get extra cash from you to make up for the shortage? 

[Rusty_lock]

17 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Bingo !  Bump the fares up and charge everyone. Only way to get the opt out to pay. 

Yeah and they could also make it retroactive.  If you had removed gratuities on prior cruises you could be charged a premium, built in to the total price, until your debt from previous cruises was paid off. 🙂 

[Rusty_lock]

1 hour ago, JeffT237 said:

Side note: I vowed to never comment on tipping threads, but a week of rain and cold in SoCal has made us all crazy out here

 

33 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Seriously what’s up with that?!  We fly to LA on Friday for a solstice cruise and I’ve had to pack twice as much trying to cover both cold and warm weather!!

 

It's colder than a mother in laws heart!  I can't wait to get to Florida and board Oasis heading to the Caribbean. 🙂 

[soremekun]

2 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Biker, who wonders if Thor is grinning at all these tipping threads or returned under a new name.

I hope @thorben-hendrik is alive and well.  I really enjoyed his posts.

[Ryder101]

33 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

I doubt seriously that it is anywhere near that high. Don’t you think this may just be a ploy to get extra cash from you to make up for the shortage? 

No. Never. I've seen them make an entire separate line at guest services day 1 to handle the volume of people removing them. I've been ask at the start of the line why I was in line and sent to a line full of people just for this purpose. I've also had plenty of problems that have had me at guest services on various days and you can't help but hear what the people on either side of you are asking about. Read how many likes my posts have gotten. I really believe it is 10 to 15%. 

[JeffT237]

18 minutes ago, Rusty_lock said:

It's colder than a mother in laws heart!  I can't wait to get to Florida and board Oasis heading to the Caribbean. 🙂 

Yeah we leave Saturday for Florida, the 8 consecutive days of temps under 60 have broken us out here in the west, not to mention my solar production woes!  My brother in CT mocks us for our whining about the weather, and anyone coming out from the east coast be prepared for endless traffic on our roads driving can be a challenge for us in this weather!  I fear toilet paper hoarding all over again.

Edited February 28, 2023 by JeffT237

[bucfan2]

3 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Reading the threads. 

Concur...about the same %.

[rolloman]

15 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Seems you can't get the point - your source didn't say what you claim they said - but you just twist it the way you want it to be!

That's what I thought...unsubstantiated. Anyone out there onboard right now? A simple Q/A at the Captains show should clear this up...of course you will have to get your response notarized and signed by the officer who fields the question... or perhaps of video of the session would suffice. As for me, there is a famous blogger... la lido loca who put out a video on the topic...pretty much falls in line with what I have stated. The room steward, dining staff know. As someone else mentioned...might be a good idea to pack 7 sealed toothbrushes for your next week long cruise if you decide to pull those tips early lol....

[Morecruisesplz]

2 minutes ago, rolloman said:

7 sealed toothbrushes for your next week long cruise if you decide to pull those tips early lol....

This over used threat is really a rude comment about hard working cabin attendants. Do you really think that an employee would act so inappropriately... or just being a smarty? Additionally, your half baked theory ignores that those who remove auto grats DO tip in cash at the point of service and often tip above the auto grats. Read the threads and learn.

[The Fun Researcher]

3 hours ago, Ryder101 said:

 I've never ever been at guest services where either the person on my right or my left wasn't doing it. Can't help but hear the conversation/request. 

Interesting,  I've never had anyone to my right or left requesting them removed as far as I could tell.  I'm not at guest services very often to be fair.

[Ryder101]

1 minute ago, The Fun Researcher said:

Interesting,  I've never had anyone to my right or left requesting them removed as far as I could tell.  I'm not at guest services very often to be fair.

No, they pay me to make this up. LOL. It happened. Multiple times. 

[The Fun Researcher]

5 minutes ago, Ryder101 said:

No, they pay me to make this up. LOL. It happened. Multiple times. 

Same

[cruiselvr04]

Last night I called to add my auto tips for my March sailing.  Because I booked before the increase I paid the old gratuity of $14.50 pp per day.  I questioned it but that’s what happened.  I thought I had to pre pay by a certain date ( which I did for a couple late last year.) 

[Ryder101]

10 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Last night I called to add my auto tips for my March sailing.  Because I booked before the increase I paid the old gratuity of $14.50 pp per day.  I questioned it but that’s what happened.  I thought I had to pre pay by a certain date ( which I did for a couple late last year.) 

The problem I see with that is if you pre pay and get bad service, you have no recourse. Also Royal is making money on your money instead of it being in your bank account earning money till trip time.

[cruiselvr04]

2 minutes ago, Ryder101 said:

The problem I see with that is if you pre pay and get bad service, you have no recourse. Also Royal is making money on your money instead of it being in your bank account earning money till trip time.

I see your point but I don’t pay until about 3 weeks prior so they don’t keep it for long.

 

 I like to cruise without seeing all those charges on my account. It keeps it cleaner and less at the end.  

 

I’ve never had such bad service I’d remove the tips.  On Grandeur in December our server was awful but I felt sorry for her. She was either just back, exhausted, had something else going on, too many tables but she wasn’t all there. Removing her tips wouldn’t have changed anything.  She was polite but couldn’t get any order right and was very slow.  We didn’t let it ruin the cruise.  We did mention it in our survey as she needs help to not let it keep happening. 
 

[jacelyn]

 

On 2/25/2023 at 10:41 AM, lazygal said:

My husband had in depth conversations with the head waiter every night and on the last night we asked how many people removed their tips and he responded with an overwhelming  "over 1000 people this cruise".  It was an Oasis class ship in Sept. and chances are still more were at guest services that night to do the same. Plus the  nagging persistence to score everyone a ten on the after cruise survey.  If they don't get tens, they don't get their full share of the tip.  Our waiters have told us that if there is a problem with the food on the survey that also screws their tip.  So the surveys are meaningless and I get so tired of the panicked speeches every cruise to score them with 10's.  BUT, the cruise question that asks if anyone discussed the survey with you, answer no.  All of this information has come from staff on numerous cruises.

Thats illegal to keep tips, how do they manage that?