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Gratuities Are Going Up Again, Effective 11.11.2023

ace1zoe2

By ace1zoe2,
in Royal Caribbean International

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RoyalC

RoyalC

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

The ones that I have discussed this with on board may pay 10 to 20% back in tips to room steward and waiters. More is pocketed back than paid out trust me.

So they literally split 1.60-3.20 per day between at least 3 people?

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RoyalC

RoyalC

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, splashsmom said:

I don't have an issue with this if I knew that 100% of the increase was going to the crew.  However, Royal doesn't rank high on my trust meter these days.

Americans would start taking these jobs then. Cost off living on a ship is super low. Lot of take home. Travel. Good for young people.

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tottenhamfc

tottenhamfc

Posted
Posted
Just now, RoyalC said:

So they literally split 1.60-3.20 per day between at least 3 people?

Yes. The ones that engaged gave 20 bucks to three people. Room steward, waiter and asst for a 15 day cruise. That was the extent if it. So essentially pocketed the remainder. And if we are considered to be optional grats, then one cannot dictate how much to give bac can we?

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tottenhamfc

tottenhamfc

Posted
Posted
Just now, not-enough-cruising said:

You are full of completely unverifiable data, impressive. 

What do you want the employees name to be broadcast on social media?  Why should I disbelieve him? At least mine was a factual conversation, yours was pure speculation on a higher percentage.

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nelblu

nelblu

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

Americans would start taking these jobs then. Cost off living on a ship is super low. Lot of take home. Travel. Good for young people.

Don't think Americans would work those long hours.  There was a female influencer that complained on Tik Tok that the 9-5 and the five-day workweek is impacting her social life.🤣

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not-enough-cruising

not-enough-cruising

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

What do you want the employees name to be broadcast on social media?  Why should I disbelieve him? At least mine was a factual conversation, yours was pure speculation on a higher percentage.

By all means, the most reliable source of information on the tipping culture is a crew member with a vested interest.  
 

Whatever, you live in your world, and I will live in the real world. 
 

cheers. 

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RoyalC

RoyalC

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, tottenhamfc said:

Yes. The ones that engaged gave 20 bucks to three people. Room steward, waiter and asst for a 15 day cruise. That was the extent if it. So essentially pocketed the remainder. And if we are considered to be optional grats, then one cannot dictate how much to give bac can we?

No one can dictate anything of course. There are some guidelines to tipping but it is mostly vague. I think the room steward is specified on a list you can obtain from guest services. In the past the main waiter is always tipped the same as the room steward so you can extrapolate that. Royal Caribbean needs to come clean on where exactly the money goes- it is not listed in their quarterly reports.  As I mentioned in another post, I tip cash and the principals are all very happy afterward (after knowing the amount they received). It is usually a little above par. Sometimes more than that if they serve my D+ drinks in the dining room. 

In the past, auto-grats did not exist so no one was getting paid from auto tips behind the scenes.  I guess they were paid a fair wage then? So what changed?

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bretts173

bretts173

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:


^ this. I just laughed when I read the email. They’re so far removed from reality they don’t even see how ridiculous this is. 

Rubbish, the cost of the service is still going up no matter how good it is. Gas is 100% more expensive than it was not that long ago. Still the same gas, no better.

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marci22

marci22

Posted
Posted

They really picked a wrong time to increase tips. Service is worse. Food quality is worse. Cruise prices are higher than ever...I will probably pay the increase and just cut down on extraneous tips. I will save way more money than their increase.

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tottenhamfc

tottenhamfc

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, RoyalC said:

No one can dictate anything of course. There are some guidelines to tipping but it is mostly vague. I think the room steward is specified on a list you can obtain from guest services. In the past the main waiter is always tipped the same as the room steward so you can extrapolate that. Royal Caribbean needs to come clean on where exactly the money goes- it is not listed in their quarterly reports.  As I mentioned in another post, I tip cash and the principals are all very happy afterward (after knowing the amount they received). It is usually a little above par. Sometimes more than that if they serve my D+ drinks in the dining room. 

In the past, auto-grats did not exist so no one was getting paid from auto tips behind the scenes.  I guess they were paid a fair wage then? So what changed?

So you are taking an assumed percentage and then topping it up possibly? So for arguments sake one pulls 16 bucks a day and pays the room steward lets say two bucks and you might make it three for arguments sake. So then add two more the waiters which equates to 9 bucks overall leaving a remaining 7 bucks. Does one pocket that or do you give to employees who enhance your cruise but are not visible? I know in the restaurant industry where I live, you tip the server and a percentage of his/her tips go to the behind the screen staff like dishwasher, cooks etc.

Edited by tottenhamfc
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fla33023

fla33023

Posted
Posted
38 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

First, I've always thought the waiters and cabin stewards--who are, basically, paid by there gratuities are underpaid anyway.  I've NEVER deleted the automatic charges...and never will.  I truly believe a lot of the people who do that, even if they CLAIM to tip directly in cash DON'T...or, at a minimum, they undertip.  What I have always done (atleast since they started automatically charging it) is to leave those in tact...and then ADD assitional cash tips to those who I thought went above and beyond.  I will still do that--though I will likely, subconciously at least, deduct the extra $2 pp per day from my extra tip pool.

 

My only real question now is how to treat that increase in regard to my upcoming cruises.  I have TWO RCCL cruises currently "in the queue"--B2B cruises for a total of 24 nughts during the World Cruise next July/August.  So, under the old standard, $16 x 2 x 24= $768 TODAY versus $18 x 2 x 24= $864 paid almost 9 months from now.  Worth prepaying to save a mere $96 that I'll likely blend into my extra tip pool on the actual cruise anyway?  Or just pay it all out at once in 9 months and give out a few $ less in ectra tips?  Probably the latter.

 

Oh, BTW, extra bar tips?

Do you folks who throw around dollar bills at the bar realize that they ALREADY ADD an extra 18% gratuity to every drink.  It is also added to your drink package cost if you've gone that way. The tip is even already thrown into the pot BY RCCL on freebie voucher drinks?  I do not carry my wallet or wads of cash around on a cruise ship.  I do tip the Diamond Club waiters an extra bit AT THE END OF THE CRUISE for great service the entire cruise...BUT I find zero reason to throw around extra tips to add to the 18% I'm already being charged.  You don't hand out singles to the MDR waiters at every meal, do you?

I do not, but I have seen people leave a monetary tip in the MDR just like at a restaurant.

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Billy Baltic

Billy Baltic

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, bretts173 said:

Rubbish, the cost of the service is still going up no matter how good it is. Gas is 100% more expensive than it was not that long ago. Still the same gas, no better.


What’s makes RC hilarious is asking for more for less. So in this case the gas is gone up in price but the gallon also covers less miles than before. 

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fla33023

fla33023

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

First, I've always thought the waiters and cabin stewards--who are, basically, paid by there gratuities are underpaid anyway.  I've NEVER deleted the automatic charges...and never will.  I truly believe a lot of the people who do that, even if they CLAIM to tip directly in cash DON'T...or, at a minimum, they undertip.  What I have always done (atleast since they started automatically charging it) is to leave those in tact...and then ADD assitional cash tips to those who I thought went above and beyond.  I will still do that--though I will likely, subconciously at least, deduct the extra $2 pp per day from my extra tip pool.

 

My only real question now is how to treat that increase in regard to my upcoming cruises.  I have TWO RCCL cruises currently "in the queue"--B2B cruises for a total of 24 nughts during the World Cruise next July/August.  So, under the old standard, $16 x 2 x 24= $768 TODAY versus $18 x 2 x 24= $864 paid almost 9 months from now.  Worth prepaying to save a mere $96 that I'll likely blend into my extra tip pool on the actual cruise anyway?  Or just pay it all out at once in 9 months and give out a few $ less in ectra tips?  Probably the latter.

 

Oh, BTW, extra bar tips?

Do you folks who throw around dollar bills at the bar realize that they ALREADY ADD an extra 18% gratuity to every drink.  It is also added to your drink package cost if you've gone that way. The tip is even already thrown into the pot BY RCCL on freebie voucher drinks?  I do not carry my wallet or wads of cash around on a cruise ship.  I do tip the Diamond Club waiters an extra bit AT THE END OF THE CRUISE for great service the entire cruise...BUT I find zero reason to throw around extra tips to add to the 18% I'm already being charged.  You don't hand out singles to the MDR waiters at every meal, do you?

It's interesting to say you don't believe people tip in cash and then say that you tip even beyond daily rates. I'll just take people at their word because who really knows.

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time4u2go

time4u2go

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:


What’s makes RC hilarious is asking for more for less. So in this case the gas is gone up in price but the gallon also covers less miles than before. 

Lol I think a better analogy would be that the gas price has gone up, and you are now only getting half a gallon! 😉

 

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bretts173

bretts173

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Nolefan95 said:

What gets me is they literally cut room service in half and now they are increasing gratuities. That is absurd. If anything they should be reducing gratuities for a lower level of service provided. 

Right, so the only way across time that prices in the world should go up for services is when they do something better.  

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