Gratuities increase in 4 years - Royal Carribean

[gonole1972]

I see a lot of people complaining about an increase in gratuities so I went back and looked. In May of 2019 on Symphony, I paid $29/day for both of us.  In January 2024 on Symphony, I will be paying $36.50/day for both of us.  I can live with that -- compared to the price of gas, eggs, airfares, etc.  And we are glad to see the great hardworking staff who make our lives and vacations wonderful get more money.  (FYI - we also give a lot of cash out to the waiters, bartenders, room stewards too.)

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, gonole1972 said:

I will be paying $36.00/day for both of us

Fixed and that assumes RCI won't increase it again in the next 5 months.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Biker19

[rolloman]

2 hours ago, gonole1972 said:

I see a lot of people complaining about an increase in gratuities so I went back and looked. In May of 2019 on Symphony, I paid $29/day for both of us.  In January 2024 on Symphony, I will be paying $36.50/day for both of us.  I can live with that -- compared to the price of gas, eggs, airfares, etc.  And we are glad to see the great hardworking staff who make our lives and vacations wonderful get more money.  (FYI - we also give a lot of cash out to the waiters, bartenders, room stewards too.)

How long have you been employed by RCCL Corporate?

[gonole1972]

3 minutes ago, rolloman said:

How long have you been employed by RCCL Corporate?

Good one!  Diamond Plus though.

[mac_tlc]

3 hours ago, gonole1972 said:

I see a lot of people complaining about an increase in gratuities so I went back and looked. In May of 2019 on Symphony, I paid $29/day for both of us.  In January 2024 on Symphony, I will be paying $36.50/day for both of us.  I can live with that -- compared to the price of gas, eggs, airfares, etc.  And we are glad to see the great hardworking staff who make our lives and vacations wonderful get more money.  (FYI - we also give a lot of cash out to the waiters, bartenders, room stewards too.)

Valid comparison if they kept the service level the same too. That is not the case.

 

mac_tlc

[MommaBear55]

3 hours ago, gonole1972 said:

I see a lot of people complaining about an increase in gratuities so I went back and looked. In May of 2019 on Symphony, I paid $29/day for both of us.  In January 2024 on Symphony, I will be paying $36.50/day for both of us.  I can live with that -- compared to the price of gas, eggs, airfares, etc.  And we are glad to see the great hardworking staff who make our lives and vacations wonderful get more money.  (FYI - we also give a lot of cash out to the waiters, bartenders, room stewards too.)

The complaint I have is that they increased the gratuities one month and shortly thereafter dropped the cabin cleaning from twice to once a day. That also has to be considered an increase in gratuities because you were paying more but getting less. 

[apierson23]

I didn't really mind the current mandatory tip level on my recent cruise but I didn't give much more than the mandatory.  I know the people in my group that got the drink package tipped extra at the bars since they consumed a lot of drinks but in general the $36 tip per day seemed sufficient considering the 1 per day cleaning and the less employees I saw cleaning and serving drinks around the pools.  Stuff goes up in price including the tip but it did reduce any extra tipping for me.

[Mapleleafforever]

On our last cruise (May 2023) the line up for guest services on the last day was super long. Wonder why?

[smokeybandit]

4 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

On our last cruise (May 2023) the line up for guest services on the last day was super long. Wonder why?

That happens on every single cruise.

[LobsterStalker]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

Valid comparison if they kept the service level the same too. That is not the case.

 

mac_tlc

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

What he said !

[Mapleleafforever]

44 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

That happens on every single cruise.

True, and in all my cruises I have never seen the line ups that long. 

[J0Y0US]

Why doesn't Royal just pay them better and allow gratuities actually be for better service as our discretion? Ah its to avoid taxes and avoid making their cruises look more expensive.

 

I tip but I am squarely required anti-tip at the same time.

 

Also agree about service level possibly dipping. I wonder if total crew on board has possibly decreased or been repositioned to revenue generating locations instead?

[amby6063]

Agreed with others. It’s one thing for the price to go up. It’s another thing for the price to go up, while the service level goes down. Just sucks that this happens now with so many aspects of life. I guess at least they do daily cleaning of the rooms, unlike hotels now. 

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Fixed and that assumes RCI won't increase it again in the next 5 months.

 

1 hour ago, apierson23 said:

I didn't really mind the current mandatory tip level on my recent cruise but I didn't give much more than the mandatory.  I know the people in my group that got the drink package tipped extra at the bars since they consumed a lot of drinks but in general the $36 tip per day seemed sufficient considering the 1 per day cleaning and the less employees I saw cleaning and serving drinks around the pools.  Stuff goes up in price including the tip but it did reduce any extra tipping for me.

$36/day?  Gratuities are $16/day ($32 per couple) for non-suites, $18.50/day ($37 per couple) for suites.

 

A $16.00 per guest, per day gratuity will automatically be added to each guests SeaPass account for our dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to give you the best possible cruise experience. Suite guests will see a $18.50 daily gratuity.

 

Guests who prepaid gratuities prior to boarding their cruise will not see a daily charge onboard.

[cruiseboy89130]

2 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I didn't really mind the current mandatory tip level

It is not mandatory - you can call GS from your cabin and have it removed!

[LobsterStalker]

1 hour ago, J0Y0US said:

Why doesn't Royal just pay them better and allow gratuities actually be for better service as our discretion? Ah its to avoid taxes and avoid making their cruises look more expensive.

 

I tip but I am squarely required anti-tip at the same time.

 

Also agree about service level possibly dipping. I wonder if total crew on board has possibly decreased or been repositioned to revenue generating locations instead?

Clarify please... that one's over my head

 

Cheers

[Biker19]

55 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

$36/day? 

Oops - hanging out at the Celebrity boards a bit lately where they are $18/day.

[ONECRUISER]

I remember total per Day was less then $7 for both of us

[Subman738]

I think that Royal should just do the math and figure out how much everyone including the behind the scenes folks make from the "tips" if everyone paid and then increase their wages accordingly and get rid of the darn "gratuities" that are such a hot topic on any cruise board. People can still tip those front facing people additional if desired. 

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, Subman738 said:

I think that Royal should just do the math and figure out how much everyone including the behind the scenes folks make from the "tips" if everyone paid and then increase their wages accordingly and get rid of the darn "gratuities" that are such a hot topic on any cruise board. People can still tip those front facing people additional if desired. 

 

I heard it was a tax issue. Less tax is paid from collected gratuities than from cruisefare.  Also raising cruisefare Royal loses to competition unless all lines agree to do so.

 

Also people working in MTD will earn less than in Traditional.

Edited August 9, 2023 by Tatka

[rolloman]

3 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

I remember total per Day was less then $7 for both of us

Yeah...well I remember when the last night of a cruise you got a stack of envelopes and you put in what you wanted. There was no auto-grats. 

[Miloomar]

6 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

On our last cruise (May 2023) the line up for guest services on the last day was super long. Wonder why?

mostly people who have lost towel charges

[seasidemama]

8 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Valid comparison if they kept the service level the same too. That is not the case.

 

mac_tlc

Agreed. Service level and cruise pricing.  Service level has gone down, cruise prices (and every other upcharge old and new) has gone up.  If they want to compensate their crew more - they should take it out of the new "enhanced" dynamic prices.. (I pay gratuities plus extra so don't jump down my throat..)

[RKHOOKER]

2 hours ago, Tatka said:

 

I heard it was a tax issue. Less tax is paid from collected gratuities than from cruisefare.  Also raising cruisefare Royal loses to competition unless all lines agree to do so.

 

Also people working in MTD will earn less than in Traditional.

Not sure about that. In Australia all gratuities must be included in the advertised cruise fare.  This is the law. The rest of the world should follow suit. It it put an end to the gratuities debate. Service over & above what is expected will still be tipped by those who wish to do so.

[footzz]

7 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I didn't really mind the current mandatory tip level on my recent cruise but I didn't give much more than the mandatory.  I know the people in my group that got the drink package tipped extra at the bars since they consumed a lot of drinks but in general the $36 tip per day seemed sufficient considering the 1 per day cleaning and the less employees I saw cleaning and serving drinks around the pools.  Stuff goes up in price including the tip but it did reduce any extra tipping for me.

There was a time, not all that long ago when RCL left it up to the personal

7 hours ago, apierson23 said:

I didn't really mind the current mandatory tip level on my recent cruise but I didn't give much more than the mandatory.  I know the people in my group that got the drink package tipped extra at the bars since they consumed a lot of drinks but in general the $36 tip per day seemed sufficient considering the 1 per day cleaning and the less employees I saw cleaning and serving drinks around the pools.  Stuff goes up in price including the tip but it did reduce any extra tipping for me.

It's not mandatory, it's a suppositional amount concocted by RCL (and, in all fairness, not just RCL) to have their customers supplement the wages of crew and staff. The quaint notion of the 'olden days' where remunerating the crew and staff on a personal level for service(s) rendered has gone by the way side. It has since been appropriated, co-opted and repackaged under the guise of taking 'care' of 'the people behind the scenes. As long as RCL has is a solid value to us, we'll sail with them. When they aren't, we won't.