Why haven't daily gratuities gone down?

[lovesthebeach2]

15 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

Yeah i last sailed on NYE and it was wonderful. I go again this week. I really hope it is still good. 

I think it depends on the ships. The one I quoted was noticeably not as good as in the past, but 2 weeks later we were on a different ship and it was great…the difference between the two was like night and day. Enjoy the cruise!

[Engineroom Snipe]

13 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

we can only beat that dead horse for so long, LOL! 

This horse started fast out-of-the-gate and still has plenty of furlongs left. It is already being whipped by the jockey. Just count the amount of entries in such a short time period.

 

😁

[Cru1s1ng2009]

45 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

This horse started fast out-of-the-gate and still has plenty of furlongs left. It is already being whipped by the jockey. Just count the amount of entries in such a short time period.

 

😁

oh I was def one of the jockeys then! I think i made half the comments last night. 

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/7/2023 at 5:40 PM, shof515 said:

the crew still needs to be paid and the gratuity you pay helps pay for the crew. if royal needs to pay more for a crew, royal will pass that extra cost to you

Have you priced cruises recently? 

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/7/2023 at 6:41 PM, firefly333 said:

Carnival raised theirs too and went to once a day housekeeping.

 

Are you over there telling them too it's unfair. Get over it. Prices are increasing. I'd rather they cut housekeeping than food. Each has something important to them. I was already telling them just do me once a day but I didnt cut tips. I personally dont like someone in my cabin twice a day, so your whining is lost on me. I was already asking for once a day, leave me alone. I dont like to be fussed over.

Telling someone to "get over it" or calling their concern "whining" is just rude,  dismissive and accomplishes nothing. What is important to you may mean absolutely nothing to someone else. That doesn't make your concerns invalid.

[cello56]

Keep in mind also that while RCI may have started some of these cost cutting measures to help them recoup losses they incurred during COVID, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will NEVER, EVER revert back to the old ways once their financial situation is back on a more even keel. Corporations will never return to the old more expensive practices. As long as their ships sail full, there is really little concern on their part for guests being unhappy with day to day changes. If you chose to leave their brand there is always a new customer willing to take your place. The new customer also does not get any free drinks, free internet etc. and is willing to shell out big bucks for excursions and photos.

[Ret MP]

7 minutes ago, cello56 said:

Keep in mind also that while RCI may have started some of these cost cutting measures to help them recoup losses they incurred during COVID, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will NEVER, EVER revert back to the old ways once their financial situation is back on a more even keel. Corporations will never return to the old more expensive practices. As long as their ships sail full, there is really little concern on their part for guests being unhappy with day to day changes. If you chose to leave their brand there is always a new customer willing to take your place. The new customer also does not get any free drinks, free internet etc. and is willing to shell out big bucks for excursions and photos.

I don't disagree with this at all.  However, I have a little bit of a different look at it.  Yes, they will never reduce their costs/fees/fares.  But, as they start to get caught up with the debt and IF passenger counts go down, they will allow inflation to catch up and incomes to rise (not holding my breath for that, much) and not raise their costs/fees/fares.   It may take years for cruise fares to become reasonable again.  But, as long as folks are willing to keep the ships full and pay those over-inflated prices and reduced amenities, not much will change.  I'm guilty!  I'll still cruise because I love it so much.  However, I won't be cruising as often and not in the upper-tier classes as much as I'd like.  

[BND]

28 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

I don't disagree with this at all.  However, I have a little bit of a different look at it.  Yes, they will never reduce their costs/fees/fares.  But, as they start to get caught up with the debt and IF passenger counts go down, they will allow inflation to catch up and incomes to rise (not holding my breath for that, much) and not raise their costs/fees/fares.   It may take years for cruise fares to become reasonable again.  But, as long as folks are willing to keep the ships full and pay those over-inflated prices and reduced amenities, not much will change.  I'm guilty!  I'll still cruise because I love it so much.  However, I won't be cruising as often and not in the upper-tier classes as much as I'd like.  

"Reasonable"?  What do you consider reasonable?  Cruises 30 years ago weren't necessarily cheaper than today.  You have to look at today's dollars vs then.  I've seen posts by people who cruised in the 80's and 90's and paid as much as today.  Yes, they got more, but the cost of everything has gone up, from food to employees.  As people demand more things to do on cruise ships and they continue building floating amusement parks with Broadway shows, costs will continue to go up more on those ships.  Remember when a vacation was a once a year at most for most families?  Heck, when I was growing up, we only took one family vacation that wasn't to visit family in another state and that was to the beach with another family to share costs. I don't think that prices are going to go back to pre-pandemic prices.  Everytime people demand lower prices and get them, they then complain about what they're getting (or not getting anymore) for their money.

[The_Big_M]

On 5/9/2023 at 12:12 AM, PWP-001 said:

Give them a chance to publish a new gratuity allocation where the amount paid per room has decreased and Other Hotel Services has increased. 
 

I bet you’ll see the math works out the same.

 

I'm skeptical whether that's genuine. Normally you break down your largest category, not have the largest category a vague one. Further, why have tips for the named categories (e.g. room attendants) gone down over time, yet tips for the remaining categories e.g maitre d' gone up? And thridly, why would staff (room attendants) stay on if they're actually getting paid less AND doing more over time? 

 

 

[Ret MP]

34 minutes ago, BND said:

"Reasonable"?  What do you consider reasonable?  Cruises 30 years ago weren't necessarily cheaper than today.  You have to look at today's dollars vs then.  I've seen posts by people who cruised in the 80's and 90's and paid as much as today.  Yes, they got more, but the cost of everything has gone up, from food to employees.  As people demand more things to do on cruise ships and they continue building floating amusement parks with Broadway shows, costs will continue to go up more on those ships.  Remember when a vacation was a once a year at most for most families?  Heck, when I was growing up, we only took one family vacation that wasn't to visit family in another state and that was to the beach with another family to share costs. I don't think that prices are going to go back to pre-pandemic prices.  Everytime people demand lower prices and get them, they then complain about what they're getting (or not getting anymore) for their money.

For me, reasonable means the rate of increase in a short period of time.  If cruise fares go up at the inflation rate or a little below or a little above, no big deal.  But, my own wish to cruise and purchase a cruise in the categories that I want has gone way up beyond inflation rates and amenities/services have gone way down.  Especially compared to what I'm getting from my Military Retirement and Social Security (8% increase this year which doesn't reflect the REAL cost of living increases).  Thankfully I have more than just those two. -  And as stated, I don't think they are going down to pre-COVID prices either.  I just hope they stay the same so that the economy can catch up and make things more "reasonable" compared to not too long ago. 

 

"Everytime people demand lower prices and get them, they then complain about what they're getting (or not getting anymore) for their money".  Well, we are paying high cruise fares now and getting a lot less for it, fact, not fiction.  

 

BTW, 30 years ago, many things were more expensive, comparatively speaking than they are today.  How much were TVs 30 years ago, especially when Plasma first came out?  Now you can get a LED TV, a much larger TV for under $1000.00s and it has a whole bunch of bells and whistles.    

Edited May 9, 2023 by Ret MP

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/7/2023 at 7:59 PM, BirdTravels said:

So, some people really don't understand how the world works. Around my home town in the good 'ole USA, minimum wage is $15/hour. If you are a service worker who receives tips, your employer can pay as little as $5/hour. This assumes that the first $10 per hour in tips goes to getting you up to minimum wage. And you need to earn a lot more tips to make a livable wage. That is hard at the local diner where people leave loose change or a buck as a tip on a $20 breakfast, after taking up a table and nursing a coffee for 3 hours. Same is true of crew where some of the gratuity is used to get them up to their minimum contract value before they really start earning "tips". And that doesn't even account for the fact that they work 7 days a week, 10+ hours a day for that minimum contact value. 

It is good that you know how the world works or who would enlighten the rest of us? Of course, you assume the world works like the U. S.

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/7/2023 at 9:37 PM, Ret MP said:

 

Anyway, I'm sorry I got involved in this thread.  It's ridiculous.  

Could not agree more.

[PWP-001]

2 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 And thirdly, why would staff (room attendants) stay on if they're actually getting paid less AND doing more over time? 

 

 

Hypothetically speaking....

 

BEFORE:

 

Twice a day housekeeping service with 20 rooms with $3 gratuity is $60

 

CURRENT:

 

Once a day service means less time daily allocated to room and capacity to service 30 rooms with a gratuity of $2 per room is still the same $60

 

Justification to rooms stewards for reduction of gratuity from $3 to $2:  less service and time spent in each room since it's once daily service

 

Change is intended to have no impact on room steward compensation while reducing labor costs through service/staff reduction and an increase to labor cost offset with the increase to Other Hotel Service portion of gratuity..

 

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:57 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

There are people behind the scenes that depend on tips to make a decent wage. When you remove gratuities, you are directly impacting these crew members because you can’t tip people you never see.  

Yet, somehow, those "behind the scenes" people had a income before autogratuities were invented... or... maybe they worked just so they could be on a billion dollar cruise ship. 

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 7:21 AM, BND said:

 If you want to be cheap, be cheap, but quit complaining about it on here.

Or stop reading their complaints....

[BND]

29 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Or stop reading their complaints....

😏

[sowhat]

This once  a day  cabin  service  is not very good
I am on the Explorer of the Seas  now, elected  for morning  cabin service
After getting  ready  for the evening  we clean the shower/ bath with the towels as we think it is disgusting  to leave the bathroom wet, thus leave wet items in the bathroom  over night  with no place to dry them
We are doing 50% of the cabin stewart work and paying more for the privilege.

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 9:55 AM, topnole said:

 

They are either charging more up front and not leaving it to passengers to tip.  Either way the customer is paying it.  This isn’t even something to debate. Anyone who took basic economics in middle school knows this. 

However, RCI is charging more up front, hundreds of dollars for cruises I've been watching, and the tipping continues anyway. I priced one cruise and the supplement alone for a refundable deposit was over $900. I just laughed and closed the browser.

[bigque]

A lot of businesses post pandemic have reduced manpower and have not been able to get back up to pre pandemic levels. It’s not just the cruise industry. Restaurants, department stores or whatever kind of business have not decreased their prices because they are short of help neither but no one ask why they haven’t decreased menu prices or whatever. These cruise lines still have boards they have to answer to and at the end of the day it’s all about the bottom line. These room stewards are still working and having to do a lot more with less but people want to be upset over having to give up 17 or 18 dollars a day which is spread around. 

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:09 AM, taglovestocruise said:

If it is part of the cruise fare everyone is paying, system now allows the losers to opt out requiring the cruise line to bump up grats on those that pay. 

You think if everyone payed into the system RCI would not raise the gratuity rate?

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:57 AM, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

 

But i agree, they should make it where people cant remove them. And i dont want them to just add it into the fare, i want the non-tippers to see it and be mad. 😂

Seems a bit childish....

[Pandamonia]

22 hours ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

so much to unpack here. 

 

Mediocre food? It isnt amazing but it is always a decent, filling meal. 

I dont know what Invicta tat watches mean but i guess you mean fake or old styles? Dont buy them. 

cocktails made of syrup in plastic cups? Sure they are plastic on the pool deck (safety) but i have never had a watered down drink on a cruise. 

 

Cruising is a budget holiday but it is definitely not priced as a premium one. 

 

I used to love going to the beach in my state (Ocean City, MD) even though everyone has jokes about OCMD. It is fun, full of places to go and things to do. However, going there for a week in summer costs 3 x as much as a cruise. So I can cruise 3 times a year instead of one time at the beach. 

 

Where are you finding a vacation that is cheaper than $100 pp per night? I truly want to know. When I am on a cruise i feel like I am getting the very best deal for my money in my price range. and my price range is low. 

 

And finally, why do people who complain about cruising still cruise? Or are they just on CC being antagonistic?

 

Not sure what cruises you do but in Europe it aint 100$pp per night. the drinks package is now like 80$ a night on its own. Food is pretty poor unless you upgrade and even then it's not always good. 

 

Im talking about the crappy junk they sell to guests on the ships. Such as Invicta watches. 70-80% discounts, gold coloured chains and other junk being passed off as "luxury" Is this the upper class guest royal is coveting with its one room clean per day policy?

 

Royals game is to charge as much as it can for as long as it can until its guests realise they are being over charged for a less than great experience.

[Ret MP]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:57 AM, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

But i agree, they should make it where people cant remove them. And i dont want them to just add it into the fare, i want the non-tippers to see it and be mad. 😂

Totally disagree.  But first, I am a good tipper, I tip extra a lot, and I've never removed or adjusted my auto tips.  

 

However, I do believe people should be able to remove a portion of their tips if they received less than excellent service or at least less than expected/customary.  I don't think making people mad just for the sake of making them mad is a civilized thing to do.  

[Ocean Boy]

On 5/8/2023 at 1:39 PM, cello56 said:

If the DSC was rolled into the cost of the cruise, how long do you think it would take for the white envelopes to show up at the end of the cruise just in case you wanted to give additional tips? 

They already show up at the end of the cruise in cabins that pay the autograts.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

7 minutes ago, Pandamonia said:

Royals game is to charge as much as it can for as long as it can until its guests realise they are being over charged for a less than great experience.

Isn't that the point of ANY business?  Charge as much as the market allows for a product.  AND Royal is selling ships at 100%+ capacity.  So, please tell me, as a business owner, what are they doing wrong?