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Gratuities Are Going Up Again, Effective 11.11.2023

ace1zoe2

By ace1zoe2,
in Royal Caribbean International

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moposh "Live from...." Rare

moposh

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Posted

I called to prepay gratuities.  I asked why the gratuities are going up.  He told me it's to give everyone the service they deserve.  It sounded like he was reading a script.  I asked him if it made sense to increase gratuities when service is being decreased.  He thanked me for my feedback.

 

I arranged to prepay gratuities.  He added it onto my reservations.  You do not pay now.  You have to pay by your final payment date.  He sent me new invoices with the gratuities added.

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orville99 "Live from...." Rare

orville99

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4 minutes ago, cmich068 said:

Called my agent and prepaid for my upcoming cruise in January.

 

Not sure it's worth giving Royal Caribbean a two month loan for $28 in savings, but more about the principle at this point anyways.

For us, the increase comes out to ~$31/cruise, or about 3 beers😱, which is about $3 more than we pay for a case at our local Walmart. Perspective….

Edited by orville99
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kirtihk

kirtihk

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35 minutes ago, moposh said:

I called to prepay gratuities.  I asked why the gratuities are going up.  He told me it's to give everyone the service they deserve.  It sounded like he was reading a script.  I asked him if it made sense to increase gratuities when service is being decreased.  He thanked me for my feedback.

You are lucky he is not in a group who would simply dismiss you (a typical tactic for last 3 years).

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orville99 "Live from...." Rare

orville99

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6 minutes ago, sofa.king said:

This change start 11/11/23.  So if we are sailing after that date, what is the last date we can prepay gratuities by under the existing $16 pp/day?  Is it still 48 hours before cruise?  Before 11/11?

They were unclear when we called this morning, but were working with the assumption of Final Payment dates as the cutoff. One thing that was a bit confusing was when I asked about our 11/7 cruise. The response seemed to suggest that our gratuities would go up mid cruise to the new rate.

Edited by orville99
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sofa.king

sofa.king

Posted
Posted (edited)
25 minutes ago, orville99 said:

They were unclear when we called this morning, but were working with the assumption of Final Payment dates as the cutoff. One thing that was a bit confusing was when I asked about our 11/7 cruise. The response seemed to suggest that our gratuities would go up mid cruise to the new rate.

Thanks @orville99

I've made final payment on my cruise for December.

I booked through an agency but figured since the money was going to RCI directly, that I'd call them.  They couldn't help me and told me to call my agent.  He did say that this would need to be done by 11/10/23 to get the existing rate.  Any prepayment on 11/11/23 or afterwards would result in being charged the new rate.

Edited by sofa.king
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nelblu

nelblu

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Posted
55 minutes ago, moposh said:

I called to prepay gratuities.  I asked why the gratuities are going up.  He told me it's to give everyone the service they deserve.  It sounded like he was reading a script.  I asked him if it made sense to increase gratuities when service is being decreased.  He thanked me for my feedback.

 

I arranged to prepay gratuities.  He added it onto my reservations.  You do not pay now.  You have to pay by your final payment date.  He sent me new invoices with the gratuities added.

Did the same.  Prepaid on 5 already booked.  Only 2 are in the final payment stage.

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njkruzer

njkruzer

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I prepaid 2 cruises affer the last increase after final. But before boarding.  The increase was effective for cruises leaving before I paid.  The only thing was I had to prepay prior to sailing.

 

On another note some restaurants have added a service fee to the bill that was separate from the gratuity.  It went to the restaurants.  People have asked why the restaurants didn’t just raise their prices.

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Joseph2018Baltic

Joseph2018Baltic

Posted
Posted

I see several things here.

 

First, people complain the auto tips up, buy then brag how much more they give

 

Second, People complain, but than remove the tips, and think that handing tips to employees themselves solve the issue

 

Third, the people who believe the staff and their sad stories

 

Fourth, people that think the cruise line steals from their employees.

 

My thought is this, I tip the recommended and customary amount, and I don't give extra, or take any of it away.  It is a customary amount, dictated by years of cruising, and I'm happy with it.  Oh, and my service is the same as the braggers.

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skittl1321 Great Review Rare

skittl1321

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42 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

You are lucky he is not in a group who would simply dismiss you (a typical tactic for last 3 years).

I mean thanking for the feedback and caring about the feedback are two different things.  Customer service reads from a script then the complaint goes nowhere.

 

I hate that I have to call to prepay. Why can't I prepay them online like every other cruiseline?

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pcur

pcur

Posted
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4 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:


No one knows the exact model Royal uses but it’s assumed they get a small base salary and that tips are the basis for their pay.  They all work hard. 
 

Because of that, we too have decided to continue to tip as it’s part of the price of cruising.  It’s not fair to hurt the staff who work to make your cruise more enjoyable. It doesn’t feel quite right though when cabin service has decreased and yet in 13 months the gratuity has increased by $7 a day for a couple.  
 

If Royal is having trouble with people removing them, they should made it a part of the fare. It might be easier to swallow.  

 As I see it, passengers who remove their tips are ENCOURAGING RCCL to include the tips in the cruise fare.

 

It was explained to me that tipped crew members are guaranteed a certain amount, and RCCL makes up the difference for the "tip-stiffers".  But, if that amount gets prohibitive, they can very likely move to including tips in the fare.

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pcur

pcur

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4 hours ago, iscruisingdunzo said:

Lol, yet I would bet and guess over 75% of their paying customers have NO IDEA gratuities are optional since RCI is shady and doesn't communicate this information clearly. 

 Nothing shady about this page in their FAQ's. Very clear in the second paragraph:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

 

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time4u2go

time4u2go

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4 minutes ago, pcur said:

 As I see it, passengers who remove their tips are ENCOURAGING RCCL to include the tips in the cruise fare.

 

It was explained to me that tipped crew members are guaranteed a certain amount, and RCCL makes up the difference for the "tip-stiffers".  But, if that amount gets prohibitive, they can very likely move to including tips in the fare.

It seems like most on here would be in favor of including the tips in the fare. If your supposition is true, then it seems like more people should remove the tips in order to force the cruise line in that direction.

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pcur

pcur

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Just now, time4u2go said:

It seems like most on here would be in favor of including the tips in the fare. If your supposition is true, then it seems like more people should remove the tips in order to force the cruise line in that direction.

My thoughts exactly, but I won't take the chance that the crew have any "dry spells" while this gets worked out.  So, I'll continue to pay them.  Actually, I just got all the invoice updates for all my cruises with prepaid tips.  I saved $196, but will pay that out in cash tips over the next 14 months.

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skittl1321 Great Review Rare

skittl1321

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3 minutes ago, pcur said:

My thoughts exactly, but I won't take the chance that the crew have any "dry spells" while this gets worked out. 

 

Does the crew actually get them? I was really surprised when the NCL cabin steward told me that his pay doesn't change at all if guests pay their service charge; and the only thing that matters to him is cash. (Granted- NCL's is a service charge, not a gratuity; but I'm distrusting that the staff get them at all...)

I've always paid them, but it is just a generally shady thing on how they are handled. 

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