Gratuities Are Going Up Again, Effective 11.11.2023

[moposh]

On 11/1/2023 at 4:23 PM, skittl1321 said:

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 asked him what he was going to do with my feedback.  He said every call is recorded and somehow the feedback gets back to people blah blah blah.  I can't remember his exact words, but this is the gist.

[skittl1321]

7 minutes ago, moposh said:

I asked him what he was going to do with my feedback.  He said every call is recorded and somehow the feedback gets back to people blah blah blah.  I can't remember his exact words, but this is the gist.

So even he doesn't know, which means he isn't reporting it.

Yeah, the calls get recorded; but the supervisors aren't listening to every single call to see what feedback was provided. So if the call representative isn't classifying and filing feedback, it's going nowhere.

And even when they do, it's often just 'noted'.  

Often there is a threshold of x% of calls are complaints about a single issue that a company then starts trying to figure out how to deal with that issue.  But often that is just better messaging around it, not fixing anything.

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, BK79 said:

The Grats for a family of 5, the price of the 7 cruise, a drink package, 1 specialty dining, airfare, hotel the night before the cruise, 2 excursions. Should have gone to Hawaii for 2 weeks.

So, you think Hawaii is cheap.  Are you going to flap your arms to get there and stay in a flop house and not leave it.🤣

[suzyluvs2cruise]

On 11/1/2023 at 5:02 PM, Ocean Boy said:

You can when you initially make the reservation. In the past you could make many changes yourself to an existing reservation, even change your cabin. RCI has evolved backwards taking away many self serve options.

Maybe it's going to get better?

 

 Royal Caribbean Partners to Elevate Guest Experience

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by suzyluvs2cruise

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, BK79 said:

The Grats for a family of 5, the price of the 7 cruise, a drink package, 1 specialty dining, airfare, hotel the night before the cruise, 2 excursions. Should have gone to Hawaii for 2 weeks.

You haven't priced hotels in Hawaii lately have you... 🙂 

[skittl1321]

Just called to prepay my gratuities at the current rate.

55:12 on hold.  

 

Why can we not do this on the website?

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

Really? Hotel is a large part of the ships operations. Laundry, galley, cleaning to name a few that you dont have direct interaction with.

I don’t tip laundry or galley 

 

clean linens and plates are included in the fare 

 

cancel the auto gratuity 

[icsys]

16 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Went to GS before dinner tonight (Symphony) and asked for a copy of the current tip breakdown.

 

 

 

8 hours ago, verycritic said:

Fake slip to make you go away - every ship has a different break down!

 

7 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Please show us another tip breakdown from another ship.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by icsys

[Morecruisesplz]

On 11/1/2023 at 1:57 PM, marci22 said:

On our last cruise, we got one for every single D drink we ordered, including bottled water.

6 to sign last night for 6 bottles of water. And I had a five and a one laying on bar. No rhyme or reason!

[Mick B]

Hi,

Was thinking of booking a P&O cruise from the UK for 2025, as I mentioned before...

 

So P&O have a 14 night cruise from the UK in November 2025 for £809 pp all in (except drinks of course) for an interior cabin and a £90 OBC too. No tipping is necessary, but you can if you wish to, of course! 

Sounds really good and I would be tempted, but...

This cruise is in November from Southampton to the Canaries via the Bay Of Biscay as we go into winter, so  may not be that warm or pleasant at sea.

 

Now, I have been told by my TA that the Indy will be back in the UK that year but there is only 1 cruise to the Canaries. 

However, this is for 12 nights only and not 14, but it is in May when the weather and sea should be much much better.

 

Cannot book this until next week, but the base price is £1074 pp.

Obviously there will taxes and port fees and pre-paid grats on top, so expecting around £1400pp

I am hoping to put a deposit down before the 11th Nov to avoid the 2% increase.

For someone like me who is semi retired and been hit hard in the UK by both the pandemic and Brexit, the Indy is still a better offer to me because I am D+ and therefore get 5 free drinks a day which would add well over £1000 to the P&O price if I wanted to drink the same amount as I would with RCI.

 

Prices everywhere are going up regardless, so all I can do is get the best deal I can. Glad its the Indy coming back to the UK. The Anthem is alright and a newer ship, but it doesn't have the charm and character that the Indy has. The Indy and the Navi are my favourite ships and I have not been on either since 2018 and 2019.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Mick B

[marci22]

48 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

6 to sign last night for 6 bottles of water. And I had a five and a one laying on bar. No rhyme or reason!

This was on Liberty. We got one for every single drink. The servers seemed a little awkward about it and most gave an explanation each time. Something like, 'they're trying to keep track now'. 

[nelblu]

1 hour ago, fredmdcruisers said:

6 to sign last night for 6 bottles of water. And I had a five and a one laying on bar. No rhyme or reason!

On my October 20th sail on Oasis from Bayonne only signed 3 times and always at the same places Coco Cay, Sorento and at Park Cafe on embarkation day.  None at MDR, WJ, Theatre, Aqua, Ice and Adult shows.

Edited November 3, 2023 by nelblu

[JimInBuffalo]

Saved money by pre-paying. I saw the letter and went ahead and pre-paid all of the gratuities for my upcoming cruises for me and my wife. I have a total of 54 days so at $4 per day, it adds up to $216 that I am “avoiding “ and since I paid it on my RCL Visa, I get 2 points per $1 that I will use as OBC.

[margo2011]

Excuse me but I feel some passenger’s criticise others not from their tipping culture .I have  cruised 20 plus cruises and the last three I have taken the tips off .In your opinion  am I tipping enough ?

For a 7 day cruise we will tip the cabin steward £50 the  MDR waiter £50 the sommelier £30 the water waiter £30 and then odds and sods to any bar staff who have given great service .

I appreciate we are not tipping the back room staff but other than.being told what I should tip  I see no way around this in the UK we like to give our tips once we  have received the service .

I have been known to tip for poor service being embarrassed to complain .

I  think  these companies should pay their excellent staff a living wage and leave the tips to the customers and staff should be keep them 100%.

Please feel free to ridicule my comments .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HicksRA]

If you can’t cancel prepaid grats once on the ship, I wonder how many will cancel them precruise now so they can cancel them on the ship… 🤭

[Wolf 8]

On 10/31/2023 at 3:24 PM, firefly333 said:

Well darn my first b2b2b and tips are up.

I think the notice says if you prepay your gratuities before 11/11 you will not be charged the higher rate when you sail.  Enjoy your b2b2b.  On your 2nd and 3rd embarkation days you should receive an invitation to the Concierge lunch in main dining and find some goodies delivered to your stateroom.  Enjoy!

[njkruzer]

17 minutes ago, Wolf 8 said:

I think the notice says if you prepay your gratuities before 11/11 you will not be charged the higher rate when you sail.  Enjoy your b2b2b.  On your 2nd and 3rd embarkation days you should receive an invitation to the Concierge lunch in main dining and find some goodies delivered to your stateroom.  Enjoy!

It says you can prepay at the old rate before your sailing NOT before November 11th.  With previous increases we prepaid a few weeks before sailing.

[firefly333]

28 minutes ago, Wolf 8 said:

I think the notice says if you prepay your gratuities before 11/11 you will not be charged the higher rate when you sail.  Enjoy your b2b2b.  On your 2nd and 3rd embarkation days you should receive an invitation to the Concierge lunch in main dining and find some goodies delivered to your stateroom.  Enjoy!

I've done b2b before. First time 3 weeks I should say. I did 4 legs on grandeur but fewer days. 3 weeks will be a record. At the way cruise prices going up, might be my last idk. Lol. Cant predict the future. 

 

And I've never prepaid in 20 years, just not interested. I get obc and it covers tips plus something else so mostly covered. Cant prepay using obc. If they would let me use obc id prepay. 

 

Luckily I'm solo so just me for the extra tips. I'm one of the few here taking it pretty much in stride. I've been feeling the same when I shop at krogers. ..anyway all the people who posted to me I can prepay, yes I know, thanks. Cant use obc so doesnt work for me. Enjoy your cruises.... I'm not mad. Just tired of hearing about prices going up. It seems unending. Let's talk nov 15 when 7 day Caribbean cruises are released. ..if prices are sky high .. then I'll be more upset.

[mramella]

In the Gratuities Breakdown picture above, I noticed Dining Staff gratuities amount is $7.25 per day. We have the Unlimited Dining Package on our upcoming Icon cruise (March of '23), for which I've already paid the 18% gratuity. We do not plan to go to the MDR or the Windjammer. I think I might go ahead and remove the gratuities and give my Statement Attendant cash. That seems fair to me, since I've already paid 18% for the UDP.

[PompeySailor]

3 minutes ago, mramella said:

In the Gratuities Breakdown picture above, I noticed Dining Staff gratuities amount is $7.25 per day. We have the Unlimited Dining Package on our upcoming Icon cruise (March of '23), for which I've already paid the 18% gratuity. We do not plan to go to the MDR or the Windjammer. I think I might go ahead and remove the gratuities and give my Statement Attendant cash. That seems fair to me, since I've already paid 18% for the UDP.

Totally fare and above board and legit 

💯 agree with you 

[Engineroom Snipe]

3 minutes ago, mramella said:

In the Gratuities Breakdown picture above, I noticed Dining Staff gratuities amount is $7.25 per day. We have the Unlimited Dining Package on our upcoming Icon cruise (March of '23), for which I've already paid the 18% gratuity. We do not plan to go to the MDR or the Windjammer. I think I might go ahead and remove the gratuities and give my Statement Attendant cash. That seems fair to me, since I've already paid 18% for the UDP.

Interesting, very interesting, you bring a new thought to the conversation.

 

With the Unlimited Dining Packages charging 18% gratuity, you are being double charged for your lunches and diners if you pay the standard gratuity.

 

Someone here might complain that you are not paying a gratuity on your breakfasts. If you do not eat breakfast, your logic sounds very plausible.

[Engineroom Snipe]

7 minutes ago, mramella said:

In the Gratuities Breakdown picture above, I noticed Dining Staff gratuities amount is $7.25 per day. We have the Unlimited Dining Package on our upcoming Icon cruise (March of '23), for which I've already paid the 18% gratuity. We do not plan to go to the MDR or the Windjammer. I think I might go ahead and remove the gratuities and give my Statement Attendant cash. That seems fair to me, since I've already paid 18% for the UDP.

To add to my recent comment, if you order room service for breakfast that requires a room service fee and mandatory 18% included gratuity, you are completely covered and your logic is infallible.

[mramella]

4 minutes ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

Someone here might complain that you are not paying a gratuity on your breakfasts. If you do not eat breakfast, your logic sounds very plausible.

 

Good point! Usually, we do not eat breakfast 🙂. UDP for lunch and dinner is quite a bit! 🙂

Edited November 3, 2023 by mramella

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, njkruzer said:

It says you can prepay at the old rate before your sailing NOT before November 11th.  With previous increases we prepaid a few weeks before sailing.

You have to have the pre paid intention added to your reservation prior to 11/11 to qualify for the current rate

[not-enough-cruising]

24 minutes ago, mramella said:

In the Gratuities Breakdown picture above, I noticed Dining Staff gratuities amount is $7.25 per day. We have the Unlimited Dining Package on our upcoming Icon cruise (March of '23), for which I've already paid the 18% gratuity. We do not plan to go to the MDR or the Windjammer. I think I might go ahead and remove the gratuities and give my Statement Attendant cash. That seems fair to me, since I've already paid 18% for the UDP.

excellent plan