% of guests who remove gratuities

[Ryder101]

21 minutes ago, jetlag69 said:

Now that RCCL has increased the Auto Gratuity amount and just recently announced reduced Cabin Services with once a day service. Why did they not Reduce the Auto Gratuity? Should less service not equate to less gratuity?

More chance of running into cabin attendant with twice a day service. Out of sight, is going to equal out of mind, for many passengers.

[grandgeezer]

5 hours ago, Rusty_lock said:

My investments are with an investment broker. BOA is strictly used for daily However, when we’re talking about the small amount that be the total of the auto grats and the interest that would generate. Investing it in CD’s with the intent of removing it pay your grats seems kind of silly. 

 

Where did you get the idea of taking money out of a CD to pay grats? My point was there are places that pay a whole lot more money on investments than B of A and the CD and Money Markets were examples.

 

 

 

 

[taglovestocruise]

23 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

Corporate trains no one. All training takes place onboard. 

Double think that, they have several crew training centers around the world. Here is one example. 

 

Royal Caribbean Cruises is operating a training facility in Maragondon Cavite, Philippines, managed by PHILCAMSAT - Philippine Center for Advanced Maritime Simulation and Training. The company currently employs around 11.000 Filipino crew members working on board the world’s largest cruise ships and plans to hire up to 30.000 Pinoy crew in the following years. Therefore Royal Caribbean is investing in state-of-the-art training facility in Maragondon Cavite. At this point of time Royal Caribbean training facility powered by Philcanmsat is able to train 2000 crew members each month. This is the only training center in Asia accredited by the Belgium Maritime Inspectorate proving the type of quality that is needed by the Maritime industry. Right now up to 90% of Filipino crew members working for Royal Caribbean are coming thru this facility.

 

I did find another example.

 

 

3. New crew members undergo months of training

New cruise ship employees will embark on a residential training course to equip them with all the tools necessary for a successful career at sea. Courses typically last 13 weeks and are filled with practical and classroom-based sessions, a full overview of the department in which they'll be working and job-specific training. During the course they will take part in individual exercises, activities in groups and in pairs, group discussions and role-play exercises.

These courses are held at a variety of training centers throughout the world that are focused on different aspects of crew training. For example, Royal Caribbean sends staff to a dedicated center for safety and hospitality and catering courses that is situated close to Manila. During the courses, staff are provided with on-site accommodation and all meals.

 

 Please excuse the large type, I may need to go back to a training center...

Edited March 4, 2023 by taglovestocruise

[dunrobbin]

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

[The Fun Researcher]

23 minutes ago, dunrobbin said:

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

Also, I know in years past if you chose MTD you HAD to prepay gratuities, but not sure where that stands now.

[Buckeyefrank100]

On 2/25/2023 at 4:33 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

To make passengers pay most of their compensation.

Passengers pay 100% of their compensation.  It may come through "revenue" or "cruise fare" or DSC or Tip...  Regardless, passengers pay 100% of the compensation.

[little britain]

1 hour ago, dunrobbin said:

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

It’s been like that in 🇬🇧 UK for several years. It was very quietly introduced with no announcements 

[Ryder101]

2 hours ago, dunrobbin said:

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

Surprise. Mine didn't say that.

[soremekun]

2 hours ago, dunrobbin said:

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

Can someone please explain the differences between the dining options and why there isn't an option to opt out when selecting one vs the other?

[TwoMisfits]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

Can someone please explain the differences between the dining options and why there isn't an option to opt out when selecting one vs the other?

 

My Time Dining rotates time and wait staff, while traditional dining does not.

 

So, it's probably 2 reasons why customers are not allowed to opt out.

1. There is no singular waitstaff to blame for bad service since patrons experience so many.

2. The percent who were opting out of automatic tips after choosing MTD was enormous, so to shut that down, they include the inability to opt out, as they do on some international cruises.

[springfire]

5 hours ago, dunrobbin said:

Just noticed in the app, under need to know, it says

"Please note that guests using My Time Dining, may NOT opt out of gratuities"

I did not know that.

Doesn't say that on our app!  

[John&LaLa]

On 2/27/2023 at 1:20 PM, dunrobbin said:

G'day,

Australia has a general no tipping policy.   Across all industries. Lowest rate of pay in Australia is  $21.38  Unlike some countries, very few people are on minimum wage.   Employers are expected to pay their employees and not expect their customers to make up wages.

 

FWIW, you're $21 in Australia converts to around $13 here.  Quite common to see fast food employees making that here now

[little britain]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

FWIW, you're $21 in Australia converts to around $13 here.  Quite common to see fast food employees making that here now

The UK minimum wage in 2023 will see further increases. Beginning on 1 April, 2023, the National Living Wage will stand at an hourly rate of £10.42, the rate for 21-22 year olds will be £10.18, for 18-20 year olds £7.49 and for 16-17 year olds it will be £5.28.
 

£10.42 is $12.34 !

 

Just for comparison! You guys earn more.  
 

Would Americas tip in a macDonalds? Just asking out of curiosity?

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

Would Americas tip in a macDonalds? Just asking out of curiosity?

I certainly hope not!

[melbur]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:18 PM, latebuyer said:

Can you remove the auto tips for the specialty restaurants. Its not that i won’t tip but i dislike there is apparently an expectation that you tip on top of the auto gratuity in the restaurant. I’m canadian and we are cheaper than americans and there is no way i’d ever tip over 18% unless forced to.

Speak for yourself

[melbur]

On 2/25/2023 at 3:54 PM, molly361 said:

Kind of like those who always tip for their Diamond and above vouchers- just off the Indy and I guess all those folks tip at the end because more times than not when the bartender asked if they want to use a voucher and the person says yes no money changed hands when they got their drinks😇

Or like those who say they throw around extra cash tips, like a $1.00 for the voucher drinks - A DOLLAR - that's about a 7% grat for that drink. Folks should be  thankful they're not paying the $14 for that glass of wine, and pay the server accordingly.

Edited March 9, 2023 by melbur
grammar

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, little britain said:

The UK minimum wage in 2023 will see further increases. Beginning on 1 April, 2023, the National Living Wage will stand at an hourly rate of £10.42, the rate for 21-22 year olds will be £10.18, for 18-20 year olds £7.49 and for 16-17 year olds it will be £5.28.
 

£10.42 is $12.34 !

 

Just for comparison! You guys earn more.  
 

Would Americas tip in a macDonalds? Just asking out of curiosity?

 

I don't, but you are seeing tip jars on the counter of a lot of places now.

 

It also depends on the area, but staff historically working in pisitions that typically get tipped are still making less than half the minimum wage to my understanding. 

 

Minimum wage is an antiquated system anyway. Employers pay what the market demands

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, melbur said:

Or like those who say they throw around extra cash tips, like a $1.00 for the voucher drinks - A DOLLAR - that's about a 7% grat for that drink. Folks should be  thankful they're not paying the $14 for that glass of wine, and pay the server accordingly.

 

It's a symbolic gesture

[lovesthebeach2]

11 hours ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

My Time Dining rotates time and wait staff, while traditional dining does not.

 

So, it's probably 2 reasons why customers are not allowed to opt out.

1. There is no singular waitstaff to blame for bad service since patrons experience so many.

2. The percent who were opting out of automatic tips after choosing MTD was enormous, so to shut that down, they include the inability to opt out, as they do on some international cruises.

I see how hard most crew work on these ships. Without using the word “blame” which I don’t use, there have been some crew members in housekeeping and MDR that were either brand new and just needed more experience or where even though they tried their best, they still weren’t good at all in that particular job. I always pay auto gratuities, but have very rarely not given anything extra on the last night.

 

There  was only one occasion in all the cruises we’ve taken, where we almost removed the gratuity from a cabin steward whose service was so bad, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been let go. I didn’t complain or mention it, we just cleaned the room ourselves.

[melbur]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It's a symbolic gesture

symbolic of what?

[John&LaLa]

15 minutes ago, melbur said:

symbolic of what?

 

Acknowledging crew appreciation

[tunafish]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:15 PM, taglovestocruise said:

How wrong you are. When auto grats are removed the waitstaff and room stewards turn that amount you give them into the ships tip pool. Curious as how you get your cash to all the behind the scenes works who share in the tip pool. 

where do you guys get this concept? It goes to his/her pocket and stays there. just like anywhere else where you put money in somebody's hand and not in a common jar or something

[tunafish]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:53 PM, kruzerci said:

I do keep auto gratuities, but this argument is BS. More likely a thought process started on Cruise Critic or by the cruise line to keep people from removing.  I highly doubt people behind the scenes are receiving portions of the tips particularly since they shared the breakdown of what went to who until recently. 

no one gets any fraction of the tips. They get salary and they get some perks from good reviews and personal mentioning their names in a form of points that you accumulate and redden for perks from money to time off and such. Typical corporation. I am originally from the country where some food and beverage and occasional housekeeping crew is from and had this convo multiple times. Everyone is happy to get an extra buck and they get it a lot because americans love to spray people with money on vacations

[tunafish]

On 2/25/2023 at 4:13 PM, hotsauce126 said:

I always just leave the automatic tips but the real question is why do cruise lines think employees who don’t directly interact with guests are tipped positions 

cruise lines do not. people on the boards do. 15 years ago the same sentiment was for calling cards or some other trinkets pax were giving to the crew thinking this is the only way one can call home to get in touch with family

[tunafish]

On 2/26/2023 at 10:20 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

Crew members know who removes gratuities because when it happens, their boss will ask them if there was some issue with the passengers in cabin xxx. And if one cabin steward has several cabins that remove gratuities, that can be more detrimental than several lower scores on the end of the cruise. 

the boss would ask them if there is a constant complaining about full garbage bin and poor survey marks with a certain consistency pattern. You really do not know how this type of business works. please equally egocentric about themselves and their time on the ship. For crew it is just another week and even if you have a "Karen" who is always not happy she would be gone in a week. For you it is big surgery day and you are anxious for two weeks, for surgeon and a nurse it is just another case in a day between coffee and lunch.