Can prepaid gratuities be removed once you're on the ship?

[QTBabyNurse]

WOW. I'm seriously embarrassed for those of you who choose to take a cruise but are too cheap to compensate the crew who service your needs. 

[d9704011]

8 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Not my problem. 
 

I am not opting out of PAYING anyone. I am opting out of providing a pre set gratuity before I have received services. 

Don’t sign a contract if you aren’t happy with the terms. 

I agree that it's not your problem.  You can choose whether you wish to participate in the compensation scheme, which is part of the cruise line's business model.

[Pink.paper.heart]

9 hours ago, QTBabyNurse said:

So many on this thread seem to have an air of "elitism" about them. What happened to kindness and generosity and thinking of others and showing appreciation for their hard work? 

 

It's rather disturbing the shift of attitude over the years. 
 

Everyone can do whatever they want with their own money. It seems so elitist to think you have the last say on how other people want to spend on gratuities. Who are YOU to police it?

 

I am not going to be extorted for tips just to pray and ensure I will receive any service. You can even see it as me not wanting to bribe others for hope of any form of service. 

 

Service first, tips later based on services rendered.

[time4u2go]

22 minutes ago, QTBabyNurse said:

WOW. I'm seriously embarrassed for those of you who choose to take a cruise but are too cheap to compensate the crew who service your needs. 

Who here said they weren't compensating the crew?

[Engineroom Snipe]

Any topic, ".....@#$%^.....GRATUITIES......*&^%$#"

 

Fill in the rest of the sentence on CC.

 

As the narrator says on Spongbob, "Six pages later...."

 

🤣

[Ocean Boy]

38 minutes ago, QTBabyNurse said:

WOW. I'm seriously embarrassed for those of you who choose to take a cruise but are too cheap to compensate the crew who service your needs. 

If that is what you have gotten from this discussion then I am seriously embarrassed for you.

[crazyank]

10 hours ago, QTBabyNurse said:

WOW. I'm seriously embarrassed for those of you who choose to take a cruise but are too cheap to compensate the crew who service your needs. 

ROFL!  Be embarrassed for yourself, for making a statement like this

[gavvy]

From that redit post earlier it seems the tips are worked out like this - i think- don't flame me!

 

RCL guarantees a barman a pay packet per month, in this case it was $1400.

 

Every drink on the ship is given a tip value, it's the same for every drink regardless the cost, on Oasis it was said it was $1 for every drink punched into the system.

 

The server had to punch in $1400 drinks in a month to earn his $1400- once he had done this anything above was given to him at the same $1 a drink value.  if he did not punch in 1400 drinks RCL would make up his wages to $1400, there was some sort of statement as well that you could be taken off the ship if you were not serving enough drinks.

 

The server said he earned more in 7 months than he would earn in years back home.

 

It seems RCL is getting the servers for free - the tips are paying the wages in their entirety.

 

I have no ide where the tips over the $1 value go too. 

[marci22]

12 minutes ago, gavvy said:

I have no idea where the tips over the $1 value go too. 

Yeah he got asked that a couple times but just restated the formula. Someone asked a general tips question that he didn't answer at all. He did say that any extra amount guarantees better service.

 

Generally sounded like the 'extra tips' were appreciated but the bulk of his efforts were getting out as many drinks as possible for the per drink compensation. He said that soda and water does not generate this drink comp. See the part about why they like to serve shots.

 

Edited March 6 by marci22

[kruzerci]

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

From that redit post earlier it seems the tips are worked out like this - i think- don't flame me!

 

RCL guarantees a barman a pay packet per month, in this case it was $1400.

 

Every drink on the ship is given a tip value, it's the same for every drink regardless the cost, on Oasis it was said it was $1 for every drink punched into the system.

 

The server had to punch in $1400 drinks in a month to earn his $1400- once he had done this anything above was given to him at the same $1 a drink value.  if he did not punch in 1400 drinks RCL would make up his wages to $1400, there was some sort of statement as well that you could be taken off the ship if you were not serving enough drinks.

 

The server said he earned more in 7 months than he would earn in years back home.

 

It seems RCL is getting the servers for free - the tips are paying the wages in their entirety.

 

I have no ide where the tips over the $1 value go too. 

Adding to this- he explicitly stated they are paid the same ~$1 drink value on the D,D+,Pinnacle drinks.
 

Contrary to the tired misinformation spread everywhere on these forums insisting that people need to tip cash because they don’t get paid on those. 

[UNCFanatik]

17 hours ago, QTBabyNurse said:

WOW. I'm seriously embarrassed for those of you who choose to take a cruise but are too cheap to compensate the crew who service your needs. 

 

WOW, as I am seriously embarrassed of your understanding of economics. 

 

Me paying my cruise fare goes towards the compensation of the crew and the other operational expense of the cruise thus enabling the cruise lines to operate. 

 

 

[UNCFanatik]

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

From that redit post earlier it seems the tips are worked out like this - i think- don't flame me!

 

RCL guarantees a barman a pay packet per month, in this case it was $1400.

 

Every drink on the ship is given a tip value, it's the same for every drink regardless the cost, on Oasis it was said it was $1 for every drink punched into the system.

 

The server had to punch in $1400 drinks in a month to earn his $1400- once he had done this anything above was given to him at the same $1 a drink value.  if he did not punch in 1400 drinks RCL would make up his wages to $1400, there was some sort of statement as well that you could be taken off the ship if you were not serving enough drinks.

 

The server said he earned more in 7 months than he would earn in years back home.

 

It seems RCL is getting the servers for free - the tips are paying the wages in their entirety.

 

I have no ide where the tips over the $1 value go too. 

'

Let me make sure I understand this. All drinks have a mandatory 18% gratuity. If I get the drink package and order a $14 drink then 18% equals $2.52

 

The bartender would be eligible for $1 per drink after $1400 drinks in a month so we have $1.52 remaining from the $2.52 and we are not sure were that $1.52 goes? 

[marci22]

1 hour ago, UNCFanatik said:

'

Let me make sure I understand this. All drinks have a mandatory 18% gratuity. If I get the drink package and order a $14 drink then 18% equals $2.52

 

The bartender would be eligible for $1 per drink after $1400 drinks in a month so we have $1.52 remaining from the $2.52 and we are not sure were that $1.52 goes? 

He said that different ships give different per drink compensation. Oasis was one of the higher ones at about $1/drink. He wasn't totally clear on how he makes all of his money.

 

No one knows what the actual tip allocation is. You can pay the autograts and be done with it, or you can remove grats and tip as you like. I see no problem with either method, nor does Royal. 

[UNCFanatik]

6 minutes ago, marci22 said:

He said that different ships give different per drink compensation. Oasis was one of the higher ones at about $1/drink. He wasn't totally clear on how he makes all of his money.

 

No one knows what the actual tip allocation is. You can pay the autograts and be done with it, or you can remove grats and tip as you like. I see no problem with either method, nor does Royal. 

 

Understood

 

The only thing is that you cant remove gratuities when purchasing drink package

[marci22]

2 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Understood

 

The only thing is that you cant remove gratuities when purchasing drink package

Oh I see what  you mean. Who knows how they split the gratuity. It doesn't necessarily go to the bartender serving you. They probably have a budget to distribute tips and the comp per drink is just one part of it. 

[gavvy]

1 hour ago, UNCFanatik said:

'

Let me make sure I understand this. All drinks have a mandatory 18% gratuity. If I get the drink package and order a $14 drink then 18% equals $2.52

 

The bartender would be eligible for $1 per drink after $1400 drinks in a month so we have $1.52 remaining from the $2.52 and we are not sure were that $1.52 goes? 

 

Basically yes- every drink has a $ value attached, on Oasis it was $1 and that's firstly making up the basic wage then after that it's an extra- no idea where the rest is going.

 

We are assuming of course this guy worked for RCL and this is correct, but given he's made so many in-depth statements I'm inclined to believe him 

[Another_Critic]

To clarify, the reddit post said $1.12 for Oasis.

[2wheelin]

7 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

'

Let me make sure I understand this. All drinks have a mandatory 18% gratuity. If I get the drink package and order a $14 drink then 18% equals $2.52

 

The bartender would be eligible for $1 per drink after $1400 drinks in a month so we have $1.52 remaining from the $2.52 and we are not sure were that $1.52 goes? 

No, you pay 18% on the drink package price no matter how many drinks you order. There is a tipping point depending on how much you paid for your package where the “tip” switches from greater than 18% to possibly much less than 18%. Your gratuity amount does not change no matter how many drinks you have.

How the cruise line determines a dollar amount for bartenders per drink is irrelevant.

[UNCFanatik]

2 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

No, you pay 18% on the drink package price no matter how many drinks you order. There is a tipping point depending on how much you paid for your package where the “tip” switches from greater than 18% to possibly much less than 18%. Your gratuity amount does not change no matter how many drinks you have.

How the cruise line determines a dollar amount for bartenders per drink is irrelevant.

 

I fully understand that. That is not what I was referencing. I was referencing how it works on the bartender side from described in an earlier post; Bartender side NOT customer side

[rs45thompson]

On 2/28/2024 at 2:28 PM, sheezsmith said:

So all the crew that clean up after you, hallways, stairways, restrooms etc get nothing, if you can afford a cruise, you can afford to pay all of the crew a small gratuity!! 

I'm curious.  Do you tip the same people at a hotel?  Do you find the people cleaning the stairways and hallways, restrooms etc and give them a tip?  If not then why should we on a cruise ship?  A tip is supposed to be a thank you for a service well done, not something you are forced to give to someone you haven't even met.  

[gavvy]

It seems to me that every person who is in this 'tip pool' is giving free labour to RCL - the Tip pool is making up the min wages first and then its a real 'tip' thereafter, I assume its very unlikely that RCL ever make up the min wages from their own pocket.

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, gavvy said:

It seems to me that every person who is in this 'tip pool' is giving free labour to RCL - the Tip pool is making up the min wages first and then its a real 'tip' thereafter, I assume its very unlikely that RCL ever make up the min wages from their own pocket.

 

 

Hence the ever expanding scope of the pool of workers in the “tip pool”

[PTC DAWG]

On 3/5/2024 at 7:34 AM, UNCFanatik said:

 

When I cruise, I typically purchase the drink package in cruise planner before I sail. Of course, Royal deems it necessary to add a mandatory 18% "gratuity" on top of that purchase months before service is ever delivered. And what happens to this 18%? Who gets it? Do they track every where I get a drink and distribute that "gratuity" to those bartenders? What happens when I am at Coco Cay using drink package with 2 ships in port the bartenders are from different ships? Who gets that money? 

 

What has happened to Cruise Lines that charge you a mandatory fee before service is delivered? 

 

Used to be the Cruise lines delivered more service, like cleaning room twice a day. What has happened to the cruise lines where they cut service and raise the daily auto gratuity?

 

There is no air of elitism here. Cruise passengers work hard as well in order to afford to cruise. Demand for cruising is at an all time high. Royal keeps raising pricing in response. Choosing to cruise over another form of vacation is showing my kindness and generosity. No one is "stiffing" anyone. Again, take that up with the cruise lines. Petition them to change their business model and do away with auto gratuities and just bake them into the cost of a cruise and let the free market sort it out

The 18% is based on the price of the package you bought…that is distributed to the bar staff accordingly…doesn’t matter if you drink zero drinks or 20 a day.  
 

Yes, this thread is full of doubters and folks who want to not tip. 

[PTC DAWG]

13 hours ago, rs45thompson said:

I'm curious.  Do you tip the same people at a hotel?  Do you find the people cleaning the stairways and hallways, restrooms etc and give them a tip?  If not then why should we on a cruise ship?  A tip is supposed to be a thank you for a service well done, not something you are forced to give to someone you haven't even met.  

I leave $5 a night in my hotel room, they can choose to keep it, or pool it..I don’t care. 
 

I cruised during the envelope days, half empty MDR’s were common on the last night..

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

The 18% is based on the price of the package you bought…that is distributed to the bar staff accordingly…doesn’t matter if you drink zero drinks or 20 a day.  
 

Yes, this thread is full of doubters and folks who want to not tip. 

According to the bartender’s AMA posted her; that is not the case.