% of guests who remove gratuities

[Morecruisesplz]

5 minutes ago, 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.

No one is required to tip more in specialty restaurants. It's never been confirmed how much of the 18% tip in specialty goes to the server vs chef, headwaiter, girl at the door etc. We find if we repeat waiters in specialty the service is way over the top. So we always add to tip.

[latebuyer]

Thanks, i just wonder if i’ll feel guilty not tipping in the restaurant. I’d rather tip in the restaurant then do the auto gratuity. You are right, maybe the service will be spectacular and i’ll feel compelled to tip.

[resetjet]

1 hour ago, latebuyer said:

I think the 18% autogratuity is enough. However my concern is all that money really going to wait staff?

Absolutely.  In all cases that I have seen, the cruise line keeps none of that money.  It is however split by many positions in the restaurant not just waiter and assistant waiter.  I suggest you just treat it as I have decided to do and call it a resort fee or whatever you like.  Its not really tipping and thinking about it in that light will just drive you nuts.  Tipping is what you give on top directly to whom you want and in cash.

[Cruise5life]

37 minutes ago, resetjet said:

Absolutely.  In all cases that I have seen, the cruise line keeps none of that money.  It is however split by many positions in the restaurant not just waiter and assistant waiter.  I suggest you just treat it as I have decided to do and call it a resort fee or whatever you like.  Its not really tipping and thinking about it in that light will just drive you nuts.  Tipping is what you give on top directly to whom you want and in cash.

You do realize that when you go to a nice resturant and tip a waiter. That gets split with a bus person if they have one and a dishwasher.   
now the resort fee?   Who gets that?  Do they give a %  to the maid or the person that washes the sheets and towels?   🤷🤷🤷🤷.  

[cruiseboy89130]

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Question:  Can one remove only the portion of the gratuity that would go to the individual that gave poor service?  or is it all or none?

All or nothing

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

And then what? Why spend resources on it? For what reason?

This is a totally silly thought 🙄

I don’t know what you did, but you quoted me in a post that is not mine. Please edit your post 

Edited February 27, 2023 by not-enough-cruising

[cruiseboy89130]

20 hours ago, 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. 

Urban myth!

Do it late last night if you are afraid

[cruiseboy89130]

20 hours ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

It's not paranoid.  It's reality.  The bean counters know all this data.  And I'm sure management asks them for the info. 

 

All the tipping data is there b/c it's all electronic.  It would be bad management on Royal's part if they didn't know, and bad representation on the employee negotiator side if they didn't know.  So, they all know.

 

But, if you're tipping, you truly have nothing to be worried or paranoid about.

Name a valid reason why they would do that AND share it! BTW if they would do it by name - it would be a major data breach. A criminal offense against EU passengers!

[cruiseboy89130]

19 hours ago, Rusty_lock said:

I believe that there is some info circulated amongst the crew about this because one time I had our waiter acknowledge we had prepaid our grats when I handed him some extra after the last night.  I confirmed by asking if staff were aware of who removed autograts or not and he said yes.  I didn't ask more since i didn't want to seem rude.

They are trained to do exactly this - far from reality!

They don't get breaking news every time someone steps up to GS to remove 🙄

[Ryder101]

20 hours ago, PatricF said:

We recently booked a cruise on RC and have noticed there are significant expectations for tipping.  Most of the food and drink packages expect a tip of 18% over and above the cost of the package.  Also, we included the daily tip for our cabin crew and I hope we're not expected to tip them more.

 

All of our previous cruise experience is with Celebrity and we don't remember seeing anything like this.

 

Is there a major difference in tipping standards between cruise Lines?

The 18% for a drinks and food package is added on when you purchase them. Nothing you can do.

 

However, the automatic gratuities can be removed at guest services in person or by calling from your cabin at any point up until the morning of departure. I wouldn't wait past the last night of the trip. Guest Services can be hard to get morning of departure.

[Ryder101]

9 hours ago, resetjet said:

Absolutely.  In all cases that I have seen, the cruise line keeps none of that money.  It is however split by many positions in the restaurant not just waiter and assistant waiter.  I suggest you just treat it as I have decided to do and call it a resort fee or whatever you like.  Its not really tipping and thinking about it in that light will just drive you nuts.  Tipping is what you give on top directly to whom you want and in cash.

Your writing your own words and meaning. Automatic gratuities is tipping.

[DrProfessor]

On 2/25/2023 at 11:06 AM, kruzerci said:

Not a tipping debate thread. But curious to know if anybody had ever heard an approximation of what percentage of guests remove the automatic gratuities on Royal sailings. I overheard a number of requests on the last day of our most recent sailing. Please keep the debate and thoughts on why this should not be done out- that topic has been beat to death. 

 

It took only 5 or so responses before it went back to the usual...

[Ryder101]

11 hours ago, 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.

You can remove the automatic gratuities any time up until the morning of departure at guestservices or by calling guest services from your cabin. I would do it on the last night as guest services are hard to get the morning of departure.

[graphicguy]

Quick search regarding this topic found this…

 

So, in other words, wait staff, cabin stewards, and behind the scenes staff that provide hotel services split the onboard gratuities/service charges.  It covers a wide range of staff, both seen and unseen.

 

 

“If you are paying gratuities you may want to know how they are broken down and split between the staff members. What is this? Stateroom attendants receive approximately 25% of cruise gratuities paid by guests. Dining room staff receive 43% and the remaining 32% is split between other hotel services.”

[Mum2Mercury]

11 hours ago, Bateau_de_croisiere said:

Man, this is pretty rich bringing politics into this tip thread. You realize the entire world is dealing with inflation beyond the good ol' USA.

The USA has nothing to do with cruise ships; well, except that the USA provides most of the passengers.  

[Ryder101]

4 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

The USA has nothing to do with cruise ships; well, except that the USA provides most of the passengers.  

No, but that's not what he is referring to. And inflation is worldwide.

[Toddcan]

Quick Q:  We booked through a TA, but I just noticed that we did not prepay gratuities.   We sail in 13 days.  I know if I do nothing, they will add the amount to my on board account, and it gets settled at the end of the cruise, but if I want to prepay it now, do I have to go through my TA? 

[latebuyer]

When i think about my cruise, tips only work out to a bit over 10% on cruise amount. That doesn’t seem like a lot.

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, Toddcan said:

Quick Q:  We booked through a TA, but I just noticed that we did not prepay gratuities.   We sail in 13 days.  I know if I do nothing, they will add the amount to my on board account, and it gets settled at the end of the cruise, but if I want to prepay it now, do I have to go through my TA? 

I would as that is who owns your booking. 

[latebuyer]

Do we have right until the beginning of the cruise to avoid the tip increase or is it before final payment?

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Do we have right until the beginning of the cruise to avoid the tip increase or is it before final payment?

Do you have prepaid gratuities? The gratuity amount you will be charged will be at the rate it was when you booked the cruise, not at the new rate. 

Edited February 27, 2023 by davekathy

[Biker19]

48 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Do we have right until the beginning of the cruise to avoid the tip increase or is it before final payment?

Neither -RCI usually sets a cutoff date by which you have to add the "old" amount as pre-paid to a booking (and you pay it at final payment). After that date, you pay the "new" amount (unless a TA can somehow manage to still get you the old rate). 

[jencruzin]

I would think that this would depend on how many people are not satisfied with quality of service; it would probably occur closer to the end of the cruise if people are thinking the quality of service is lower than expected.

 

[cruiseboy89130]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:47 PM, rolloman said:

The crew are made aware if the auto gratuity has been removed. They are allowed to check this for themselves. I have been told this several times over the years from crew and recently John Heald Loyalty Ambassador for Carnival replied directly to this specific question by saying YES. In fact they know towards the end of the cruise how much they will receive in total and the first Tuesday after the voyage is completed they are paid the sum. I would therefore suggest if someone wants to remove the tips early on and just pay cash I would complete both steps sooner rather than later during the voyage. 

Problem is what you have been told and what you THINK you have been told are 2 different stories!

All they tell you is they can check that 257 out of 3578 passengers have removed auto-grats!

What you THINK you have been told is that they know that John Smith in cabin 45673 removed his auto-grats!

Totally different thing....you just assume thing's that are not there!

To be sure and safe just remove after 9pm on the last day and all is good 👍

Edited February 27, 2023 by cruiseboy89130

[rolloman]

35 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Problem is what you have been told and what you THINK you have been told are 2 different stories!

All they tell you is they can check that 257 out of 3578 passengers have removed auto-grats!

What you THINK you have been told is that they know that John Smith in cabin 45673 removed his auto-grats!

Totally different thing....you just assume thing's that are not there!

To be sure and safe just remove after 9pm on the last day and all is good 👍

Please share your source? I gave a source who says they can (albiet a non-royal cruise line).