Prepaid Gratuities

[kruzgal]

10 hours ago, paulfoel said:

 

Jeez don't embarrass us Brits please - we're not all like that.

 

I don't care if you never tip at home, how many times YOU'RE IN SOMEONE ELSES COUNTRY. RESPECT THAT.

 

Its not hard. It does my chunk in when people from the UK go to the USA and try and tell them how it should work. 360 million people in the US do this all the time, let we visit from the UK and want to tell them how wrong there are.

 

We might think its strange or weird but hard luck. If you'd like it don't visit.

 

 Royal Caribbean don’t just sail out of the US…..they go from Southampton! 

[Tree_skier]

6 minutes ago, kruzgal said:

 Royal Caribbean don’t just sail out of the US…..they go from Southampton! 

True but it is only one ship for half a year.  Not exactly a extensive piece of their market upon which build their business model.  Same thing goes for the Australia.  The North American Market makes up the vast majority of their business.  Basing your practices and procedures on that large share makes the most sense.  

[Mikamarii]

6 minutes ago, kruzgal said:

 Royal Caribbean don’t just sail out of the US…..they go from Southampton! 

Not only that but most cruises departing the US spend little time in American waters, have few American staff members, are usually captained by a non-american, and are not registered in America.

So the idea of adhering to the American way of life on a cruise doesn't (sorry for the pun) hold water. 

[Ret MP]

1 hour ago, Mikamarii said:

Not only that but most cruises departing the US spend little time in American waters, have few American staff members, are usually captained by a non-american, and are not registered in America.

So the idea of adhering to the American way of life on a cruise doesn't (sorry for the pun) hold water. 

I beg to differ just a little.  RCCLs, and others, that cruise out of American ports are loaded with the vast majority of their passengers being Americans.  I'd give a percentage but it would be a SWAG, that's old Army for Scientific Wild A$$ Guess.  But, my SWAG is about 80 - 90%.  So, I'd hope that cruises that leave American Ports and return (Closed Loop) would "adhere" or cater to "the American way", American tastes, American Customs, and American Culture, regardless of the make-up of the crew and captain.  My experience is that they have catered to the American way, although they do try to cater to other cultures as well.  Being a born Canadian and now a Naturalized American, and realizing that Canadians are also "North" Americans, RCCL does a good job of catering to our way of life with a sprinkle of foreign ways of life mixed in (think Indy food in the WJ or other cultural foods in the MDR.  Behind the scenes, how employees are catered to is none of my business and doesn't affect how well my American way of life has been catered to/experienced on an RCCL cruise.  

 

So, Tip Often and Tip Generously when cruising out of American ports.

 

That's my experience and my belief.  YMMV.

 

[Mikamarii]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

 RCCLs, and others, that cruise out of American ports are loaded with the vast majority of their passengers being Americans. 

 

I don't doubt that at all. It's prob is north of 90% American passengers. 

 

Just replying to the comment (and similar I've seen from time to time on these boards) That when in America follow their rules. Just pointing out The cruise ship isn't in America the majority of the time.

 

I'll follow the rules the business sets out. I sure as heck won't leave a 40% tip to open a bottle of beer because American servers don't get paid well on land; because that's what they do in the USA and the ship is full of American passengers. 

 

Crap. I sucked myself in to a tipping thread haha. 

 

[BekkaW]

On 6/5/2023 at 12:41 PM, OHagan said:

...also...if you don't want to pay gratuities, then the cruise line can not enforce this. Many Australians cancel their gratuities onboard as we are not used to paying tips or such.

No we don’t? It’s been rolled in as part of the fare since 2016 and there is no way to remove it. It’s not a seperate line item and literally impossible to split out 

 

 

[OHagan]

This has not been my experience. All gratuities have been a separate item in our cruises. Not sure if this is because we book directly in Australia. Cruises booked through Australia usually have their gratuities separate or do not need to pay. I did forget to mention in my original post though that we do tip for exceptional service.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

22 hours ago, paulfoel said:

 

Jeez don't embarrass us Brits please - we're not all like that.

 

I don't care if you never tip at home, how many times YOU'RE IN SOMEONE ELSES COUNTRY. RESPECT THAT.

 

Its not hard. It does my chunk in when people from the UK go to the USA and try and tell them how it should work. 360 million people in the US do this all the time, let we visit from the UK and want to tell them how wrong there are.

 

We might think its strange or weird but hard luck. If you'd like it don't visit.

 

Last time i checked royal ships are not american soil, i believe they are registered in the Bahamas?  So in essance people are not visiting america whilst on board. Maybe just to get to the ships, but not whilst cruising. 

[Ret MP]

19 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

I don't doubt that at all. It's prob is north of 90% American passengers. 

 

Just replying to the comment (and similar I've seen from time to time on these boards) That when in America follow their rules. Just pointing out The cruise ship isn't in America the majority of the time.

Ooooooookay

19 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

 

I'll follow the rules the business sets out. I sure as heck won't leave a 40% tip to open a bottle of beer because American servers don't get paid well on land; because that's what they do in the USA and the ship is full of American passengers. 

 

Crap. I sucked myself in to a tipping thread haha. 

 

"I sure as heck won't leave a 40% tip to open a bottle of beer because American servers don't get paid well on land".  Who says that American Servers don't get paid well?  I'd bet those that work hard, earn a good reputation, and keep their nose clean are earning far above the "living wage", some are doing damn well.  Not all servers work in a Waffle House!  And in America, at least the U.S.A. portion of America, you can tip $0.00 or that 40% you talk about, that's entirely up to you.  At least you aren't paying for crappy service like you would be if the gratuity was mandatory/compulsory.  

 

My granddaughter worked at a little diner as a server in Plainfield, Indiana right after graduating from High School and went to school to be an electroencephalogram Tech (free to her as the University paid for her certification/training).  That was her very first actual job other than babysitting.  She made a lot more than $15.00 an hour with tips.  But, she doesn't do drugs, has a clean record, works hard, and was there if management called and asks her to come in, she just did and does everything right, and customers loved her.  Now she is 19, and a certified electroencephalogram Tech at the University of Indiana, Riley Hospital for Children, making much more money than her peers, with no debt. 

 

 

 

 

 

[PugM0m]

On 6/4/2023 at 8:26 PM, CynBeth6 said:

We just got our cruise documents at 30 days before the cruise and noticed it said we did not prepay gratuities even though we thought we did there was a lot of confusion when booking using FCC from a few years ago so there might have been a miscommunication. I went on the website to add this and am not seeing an option. Is it possible to do this on the website and if so where would I go or do I have to call?

Just an fyi, I had the same thing happen last year when I did the lift and shift on my covid cruise. Found out just like you did on my cruise documents.  After calling, they told me they had refunded my gratuities when I did the lift and Shift. Just mine not any of the other 3 couples I did the same thing. After checking my CC I found they had in fact refunded my credit card. So I just called and repaid.