Gratuities Increasing

[prmssk]

56 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

What is the amount before the increase ? 
was it $17.50, $18.00 , $21.50 ? 

I believe it was $17.50, $18.00, and $21.00.  I know I recently pre-paid for an upcoming concierge class cabin at $18 pp/pd.  I tried to go back to my invoice for my cruise last month on the Eclipse in an interior cabin but it looks like I had pre-paid those before the last increase or two as I only paid $15.50 pp/pd.  When we were in the Retreat last November, we had AI as most people in the Retreat have.

[tserface]

It is a little in the face to raise gratuities right after they started reducing the service provided.  I know it’s only adding $.50/day, but since they’re only doing half the service they pretty much doubled gratuities recently too.

[prmssk]

4 minutes ago, tserface said:

It is a little in the face to raise gratuities right after they started reducing the service provided.  I know it’s only adding $.50/day, but since they’re only doing half the service they pretty much doubled gratuities recently too.

I've seen you post this comment over the last couple months.  Which ship has reduced the housekeeping service?  We had twice a day service that was excellent on the Eclipse in May.

[islabahia]

20 minutes ago, tserface said:

It is a little in the face to raise gratuities right after they started reducing the service provided.  I know it’s only adding $.50/day, but since they’re only doing half the service they pretty much doubled gratuities recently too.

What ship were you on with housekeeping once daily?

[soniam]

I am trying to figure out how many people in the dining rooms are part of the tip. We will be in Luminae. I like to write a personal thank you note to everyone and include additional tip. I need to know how much stationary to bring. Also, does anyone know what the gratuity breakdown is per employee? Thanks

[wrk2cruise]

In Luminae and Blu the tips are pooled.  I have no idea or care how they are distributed.

 

The Sommelier is not included.

Edited July 3, 2023 by wrk2cruise

[D. B.]

Once during a cruise I ask for and was given a breakdown of how the tips are distributed among the crew.

 I have lost it but it was very informative.

[mrgabriel]

Gosh, what a bunch of miserable sods.

 

I get that you’re angry with Celebrity for not spending its money the way you want them to, but to cut tips to people who are working their butts off because you’re mad at the company is ridiculous. If people hate the tipping economy that much then find another form of vacation. 

 

I have been a chambermaid, bus person, waitress, bartender. It’s crappy work but I admire the people who spend months away from their family to give me a good vacation. A bit of gratitude and humility go a long way towards a happy life. 

 

 

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, soniam said:

I am trying to figure out how many people in the dining rooms are part of the tip. We will be in Luminae. I like to write a personal thank you note to everyone and include additional tip. I need to know how much stationary to bring. Also, does anyone know what the gratuity breakdown is per employee? Thanks

You can get the breakdown at Guest Relations on any ship.

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, tserface said:

It is a little in the face to raise gratuities right after they started reducing the service provided.  I know it’s only adding $.50/day, but since they’re only doing half the service they pretty much doubled gratuities recently too.

Only half the service? In the MDR are you serving yourself every other day? When using the buffet are you clearing your own plates and washing them every other day? Are you washing your towels every other day? Thought not. All the people providing these services and more are included in the "tips scheme". 

[terrydtx]

Since Covid we only book the Retreat in a Sky Suite, so never paid attention to the amount of gratuities as they are included in the Retreat premium AI price. I do not believe that you can book a suite anymore without AI, so the increase for suite guests would only effect those who get a suite as a result of a move up offer. This whole thread seems to be much ado about nothing. I am more concerned that my flights to Europe for my September Apex cruise are double what I paid last year in business class, that's real inflation. Also much more concerned with Celebrity's future pricing of suites with as much as 40% increases.

Edited July 3, 2023 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

9 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

Gosh, what a bunch of miserable sods.

 

I get that you’re angry with Celebrity for not spending its money the way you want them to, but to cut tips to people who are working their butts off because you’re mad at the company is ridiculous. If people hate the tipping economy that much then find another form of vacation. 

 

I have been a chambermaid, bus person, waitress, bartender. It’s crappy work but I admire the people who spend months away from their family to give me a good vacation. A bit of gratitude and humility go a long way towards a happy life. 

 

 

I love your post from the standpoint of a Canadian who have a totally different tipping culture than its Southern neighbors.  Thank you for saying what needed to be said.

[tserface]

6 hours ago, the penguins said:

Only half the service? In the MDR are you serving yourself every other day? When using the buffet are you clearing your own plates and washing them every other day? Are you washing your towels every other day? Thought not. All the people providing these services and more are included in the "tips scheme". 

Why so defensive?  I wasn’t directing this to you personally.

 

on our recent cruise they did make the room twice a day, but the steward told us that was going to change.  There were days that our room wasn’t made up until after lunch.  He did a nice job, but just hade way too many rooms to do alone.  On our kid’s recent cruise they were told they could have morning or evening service.  The service in the MDR, for us, was so slow, and the food not good enough for the wait, last time we ended up eating in the buffet so we could make it to shows.  Bar service was also slower.  Yeah, I know, I sound entitled.  Well, I kind of am in this case.  I paid the price for the promised luxury experience and…

 

 My opinion, based on my experience, is the service is about half what it used to be pre pandemic.  We used to always put 10’s on the surveys and now, begrudgingly, we’ve scored some things lower.
 

No, that doesn’t mean we don’t like and won’t cruise Celebrity and, no, we don’t stop paying gratuities (in fact we often prepay them).

 

I apologize if I made it sound like this was somehow your fault.  It was just my opinion.  I think, many people agree that the prices are rising and the quality diminishing.  I know all the excuses, some perhaps valid, but it is what it is…

[terrydtx]

10 hours ago, mrgabriel said:

If people hate the tipping economy that much then find another form of vacation. 

We stayed in the Hilton Ft Lauderdale Beach resort for 3 nights before our Equinox cruise last month and they charged a $45 per day resort fee for services we never used but, had no choice but to pay so even other forms of vacations will have hidden add on fees. 

[prmssk]

3 minutes ago, tserface said:

on our recent cruise they did make the room twice a day, but the steward told us that was going to change.  There were days that our room wasn’t made up until after lunch.  He did a nice job, but just hade way too many rooms to do alone.  On our kid’s recent cruise they were told they could have morning or evening service.

Which ship were you on?  Which ship was your kid on

 

[the penguins]

22 minutes ago, tserface said:

Why so defensive?  I wasn’t directing this to you personally.

 

on our recent cruise they did make the room twice a day, but the steward told us that was going to change.  There were days that our room wasn’t made up until after lunch.  He did a nice job, but just hade way too many rooms to do alone.  On our kid’s recent cruise they were told they could have morning or evening service.  The service in the MDR, for us, was so slow, and the food not good enough for the wait, last time we ended up eating in the buffet so we could make it to shows.  Bar service was also slower.  Yeah, I know, I sound entitled.  Well, I kind of am in this case.  I paid the price for the promised luxury experience and…

 

 My opinion, based on my experience, is the service is about half what it used to be pre pandemic.  We used to always put 10’s on the surveys and now, begrudgingly, we’ve scored some things lower.
 

No, that doesn’t mean we don’t like and won’t cruise Celebrity and, no, we don’t stop paying gratuities (in fact we often prepay them).

 

I apologize if I made it sound like this was somehow your fault.  It was just my opinion.  I think, many people agree that the prices are rising and the quality diminishing.  I know all the excuses, some perhaps valid, but it is what it is…

I wasn't meaning to sound defensive just challenging your post in which you said " since they are only doing half the service they pretty much doubled the gratuities ....

Now you say your cabin was serviced twice a day.

Yes Cabin Stewards now work alone (this was introduced before the lock down and every Steward we have asked prefer the new system because now they are totally responsible whereas before they could and did get the blame if their assistant messed up.

X has been offering a reduced cabin service in exchange for Captains Club points, take up the offer if you want it's not compolsary.

What time you get cabin service is more often down to the habits of the "group" your Cabin Steward is serving. For example we are "creatures of habit" eating breakfast and dinner at the sametime every day. We always tell the Cabin Steward our habits so they know when they can fit us in. Other passengers are not so "regular" and you will often see the Cabin Stewards hanging around waiting to try to service those cabins.

Food quality has nothing to do with "grattuities" and should be raised with the Maitre D at the time. Slow service is a matter of opinion we dine at 6.30 and aim to finish by 8.15 which works well with a table of 6..

If you want to eat quicker tell the waiter when you arrive and they will be happy to help.

 

 

[prmssk]

Do I wish we could do a way with the current tipping structure?  Absolutely!  It would be so much easier to compare apples to apples if published prices included all fees, taxes, and tips.  But I'm not sure I understand the arguments against increases in tipping especially as it relates to expecting companies to pay their employees salaries.  Whether the crew of have a salary only contract or a salary plus tipping contract, all of their income from Celebrity is paid by passengers.  There isn't some exec paying employees out of the goodness of their heart.  They are setting prices (including these gratuity rates) with the expectation they will receive enough money from passengers to pay for the crew, supplies, insurance, debt they carry, etc. with money left over for a profit.

 

To me, these gratuities are just part of the price of cruising.  And I don't see this structure changing (at least in certain markets like the US) because the average consumer isn't taking the time to compare the all in price when they compare cruises.  So to stay competitive, Celebrity needs to keep their published price as low as they can.

 

[markeb]

3 hours ago, prmssk said:

Do I wish we could do a way with the current tipping structure?  Absolutely!  It would be so much easier to compare apples to apples if published prices included all fees, taxes, and tips.  But I'm not sure I understand the arguments against increases in tipping especially as it relates to expecting companies to pay their employees salaries.  Whether the crew of have a salary only contract or a salary plus tipping contract, all of their income from Celebrity is paid by passengers.  There isn't some exec paying employees out of the goodness of their heart.  They are setting prices (including these gratuity rates) with the expectation they will receive enough money from passengers to pay for the crew, supplies, insurance, debt they carry, etc. with money left over for a profit.

 

To me, these gratuities are just part of the price of cruising.  And I don't see this structure changing (at least in certain markets like the US) because the average consumer isn't taking the time to compare the all in price when they compare cruises.  So to stay competitive, Celebrity needs to keep their published price as low as they can.

 

That was a feature of AI. That went over great around here…

[publicpersona]

A practical on-topic question for the thread:

 

When making a booking, adding pre-paid gratuities is an option before reaching the payment page. It also says "You can always add this later" or something to that affect.

 

But how? Yes, I want to go ahead and add the pre-paid gratuities but only partially so I will get the rates that were in effect when I booked. Actually, we ended up with much more OBC than expected and I want to go ahead and pay for things now because I can.

 

I don't see any option in Cruise Planner for adding pre-paid gratuities, even in Gifts and more .. or whatever.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

That was a feature of AI. That went over great around here…

But not great with a sizeable number of passengers  including us which is why it was dropped for most cabin grades.

Personally a basic price including: port charges, taxes and tips would be perfect. 

[Captain-John]

Can someone explain in plain English why my post was removed?

[Travel-and-See]

6 hours ago, prmssk said:

To me, these gratuities are just part of the price of cruising.  And I don't see this structure changing (at least in certain markets like the US) because the average consumer isn't taking the time to compare the all in price when they compare cruises.  So to stay competitive, Celebrity needs to keep their published price as low as they can.

I'm hoping that Virgin can help change the structure - if they continue to take customers away from other lines then the other lines will be forced to adapt and include gratuities, internet, etc. 

 

On my recent Celebrity cruise, I was happy that my OBC covered the gratuity and left me with some to spare. 

[RichYak]

37 minutes ago, Captain-John said:

Can someone explain in plain English why my post was removed?

You get used to it after a while.

[prmssk]

1 hour ago, publicpersona said:

A practical on-topic question for the thread:

 

When making a booking, adding pre-paid gratuities is an option before reaching the payment page. It also says "You can always add this later" or something to that affect.

 

But how? Yes, I want to go ahead and add the pre-paid gratuities but only partially so I will get the rates that were in effect when I booked. Actually, we ended up with much more OBC than expected and I want to go ahead and pay for things now because I can.

 

I don't see any option in Cruise Planner for adding pre-paid gratuities, even in Gifts and more .. or whatever.

If you log into your account on the Celebrity website.  Under "Manage Trip", click "Manage Reservation", then for the cruise you want to pre-pay, click "Manage Reservation".  You might have to click "Reservation Details" to see more options.  Under the dining time, there should be "Gratuities" where you can pre-pay.  The amount you see, is the amount gratuities were at the time of booking.  In my experience, they generally don't adjust to current rates until you board.

 

Note - if you booked through a TA, you will not see this option.  You will need to contact your TA who can easily make the change to prepay for you.  I also am not aware of any way you can pre-pay gratuities with OBC.  If you want to use OBC, you need to wait until you board and pay current rates.

[shandryl]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

You get used to it after a while.

True Story! 😄👍