Removing pre paid gratuities while on the ship

[Donsyb]

48 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Have used MTD several times and found it very usable. Not quite as convenient as Carnival but still……We would go to the podium about 6:00 the first night and always get in within 10 minutes. We would be asked if we wanted to eat about the same time every night and have the same table. 

 

As for bad service, the tips cover all the service people, not just waiters. It would be more productive to address any perceived poor service at the time of occurrence and forget about the few cents that person would get in tips from that interaction. Just leave the tips in place and if you feel you get poor service more than a couple of times (rare in my experience) look inward at your expectations.

We have also only had good experience of MTD, although on oasis class. Not sure if oasis class is better than Anthem.  But we reserved a time for each dinner and never had to wait more than a few minutes.

[grapau27]

9 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

so did you still get the my time dining even though the tips were added to the onboard account? 
 

Unfortunately the chargable restaurants don’t really appeal as much. 
 

Will have another chat with them

Yes no problem.

A few times as part of a negotiated deal my TA would pre-pay the tips for me but it is wrong if you were told You had to Pre-Pay tips for MTD.

We tend to eat a lot in the speciality restaurants these days.

If you go to the MTD restaurant early and speak to the restaurant manager they will pre-book a time for you because sometimes there were long Queues for people who just turned up.

[DennysDad]

54 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

 It them you would have to pay the higher amount, the $16 pppd is ONLY if paid in advance.

I've never had service that didn't require lowering someone's gratuity or removing it all together. So I like to have the option. However, I now mostly remove auto gratuities and tip cash.

[Donsyb]

3 minutes ago, DennysDad said:

I've never had service that didn't require lowering someone's gratuity or removing it all together. So I like to have the option. However, I now mostly remove auto gratuities and tip cash.

If you have never had service that deserved a tip, you must be very hard to please!

 

Anyway my point is relevant for the OP - if they don’t pre pay and don’t remove gratuities completely they will have to pay the higher amount of $18 pppd

[DennysDad]

1 minute ago, Donsyb said:

If you have never had service that deserved a tip, you must be very hard to please!

 

Anyway my point is relevant for the OP - if they don’t pre pay and don’t remove gratuities completely they will have to pay the higher amount of $18 pppd

No I meant out of all the service/servers there is always one I'm not happy with. 

[gavvy]

4 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

I’m in Ireland and I think we have the same terms and conditions. I thought that requirement had been removed. My bad. 

 

 

Actually you are right- just made a dummy booking and it let me select.

 

Last year when I made a booking i was forced to pre-pay tips so it must have changed since then.

 

Maybe RCL are holding the OP to the original terms if they booked when it was mandatory to prepay on MTD - or hes been told wrong info by RCL....as if that would ever happen! 

[cruisingjandb]

What they call gratuities is their wage, they do not get paid extra out of the gratuities you pay. We have had some cabin stewards and waiters better than others but none bad. I just wonder if some of the people that take it off would be fine with not getting paid for their job because they didnt smile enough. 

[pattak619]

39 minutes ago, cruisingjandb said:

What they call gratuities is their wage, they do not get paid extra out of the gratuities you pay. We have had some cabin stewards and waiters better than others but none bad. I just wonder if some of the people that take it off would be fine with not getting paid for their job because they didnt smile enough. 

Really? No paycheck? Just tips, I find that hard to believe! 

[DennysDad]

4 hours ago, cruisingjandb said:

What they call gratuities is their wage, they do not get paid extra out of the gratuities you pay. We have had some cabin stewards and waiters better than others but none bad. I just wonder if some of the people that take it off would be fine with not getting paid for their job because they didnt smile enough. 

I pay passage to board a ship. I'm not responsible for part of the salary for two thousand employees. That's not my problem. A gratuity is a tip. Nothing more. Pay them better. Or they have the option of leaving. 

[Vampiress88]

On 4/18/2024 at 4:41 PM, gavvy said:

 

 

Actually you are right- just made a dummy booking and it let me select.

 

Last year when I made a booking i was forced to pre-pay tips so it must have changed since then.

 

Maybe RCL are holding the OP to the original terms if they booked when it was mandatory to prepay on MTD - or hes been told wrong info by RCL....as if that would ever happen! 

it says 

 

Guests who choose ‘My Time Dining’ on all European sailings will have gratuities automatically added to their bill,  as they may be served by different members of the team each night. This means tips for your waiting staff – as well as other dining and housekeeping staff – will be included in the quoted price for ‘My Time Dining’ on your cruise holiday.

Guests who choose our open dining option may opt-in to pre-paid gratuities for dining, or add them to their account at check-out.

For all European sailings you will need to pre-pay your gratuities because you may be served by different members of the team each night. This means tips for your waiting staff – as well as other dining and housekeeping staff – will be included in the quoted price for your cruise holiday.
 

There are no exemptions to this so even if you have issues where you can’t eat at a set time then if you want the my time dining so that your not always forced to use the buffet, the gratuity still needs to be prepaid. 

this was the chat convo. 

Me: Gratuity is optional based on service- i am prepaying due to being passed around to different staff for dinner which i understand, but if i have bad service are you saying that i am not within my rights to remove them and have them refunded?
Andrew: I am sorry to hear that you feel this way, in this case, if you believe that you received not the proper service, you can modify the daily gratuity amount onboard, but I cannot guarantee these will be refunded 100% as these are required for my time dining.

[Vampiress88]

Anyway I will assume excellent service. If not I will just take out a complaint. Sorted. 
I can’t deal with the anxiety currently but so far I don’t like Royal Caribbean service. 

[not-enough-cruising]

On 4/18/2024 at 9:00 AM, TwoMisfits said:

 

Tips are for all meals, whether you eat them in the buffet, sit down, or pay restaurants.

 

So, even if you were to have dinner in the buffet all 7 nights, someone will be serving you on the buffet line and cleaning up after you from your table for dinner (as well as for lunch and breakfast).  So, I'm not sure why you'd worry about reducing tipping.  Just consider it a "done" part of cruise fare, and then ask for the service you need on board vs sitting back and then worrying you won't get it.

Buffet service is included in your basic fare; certainly isn’t a tipped position. 

[not-enough-cruising]

12 hours ago, pattak619 said:

Really? No paycheck? Just tips, I find that hard to believe! 

It’s hard to believe because it is 200% false. The crew salary is guaranteed regardless of tips. 

[gavvy]

10 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

It’s hard to believe because it is 200% false. The crew salary is guaranteed regardless of tips. 

 

There was a thread on this a few weeks ago and a link to a person on I think Reddit who was a barman on Oasis, and he confirmed this was correct - they are guaranteed a minimum but the tips make up that minimum first then everything thereafter was an extra, It was done on the amount of drinks punched into the till or something.

 

No server works just for tips as such- they are guaranteed a basic. - Thats if the person was to be believed of course.

 

It's important to remember that the roles are seen as very good jobs compared to their home countries, they earn in a few months what they can earn in a year back home

[not-enough-cruising]

5 minutes ago, gavvy said:

 

There was a thread on this a few weeks ago and a link to a person on I think Reddit who was a barman on Oasis, and he confirmed this was correct - they are guaranteed a minimum but the tips make up that minimum first then everything thereafter was an extra, It was done on the amount of drinks punched into the till or something.

 

No server works just for tips as such- they are guaranteed a basic. - Thats if the person was to be believed of course.

 

It's important to remember that the roles are seen as very good jobs compared to their home countries, they earn in a few months what they can earn in a year back home

Absolutely correct, these ship jobs are highly coveted.  There are altitudes of resources to confirm the guaranteed salaries of the crew, the ultimate being the ILO, which governs and regulates Seafarers wages and rights worldwide.

[Saoa0318]

The fact this keeps getting repeated as a question gives me stress. If you constantly need to judge every interaction between you and staff to justify the charge that is not my idea of a vacation. Royal needs to offer a stripped down vacation option to people who dont want to pay the service charge. Individuals can choose the option to clean up after themselves and a serve yourself option in the dining room. This way those who keep their service charges in place can be focused on more.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, Saoa0318 said:

The fact this keeps getting repeated as a question gives me stress. If you constantly need to judge every interaction between you and staff to justify the charge that is not my idea of a vacation. Royal needs to offer a stripped down vacation option to people who dont want to pay the service charge. Individuals can choose the option to clean up after themselves and a serve yourself option in the dining room. This way those who keep their service charges in place can be focused on more.

There is absolutely NOTHING to stress about.

If you are comfortable with the construct of the daily auto charge, then participate in it and forget about it.

Those that aren't comfortable with that program have the option to not participate.

The beauty of choice, in my opinion, makes for a very "stress free" experience.

[Saoa0318]

I completely agree. It needs to stop being publicly debated. 

Edited April 20 by Saoa0318

[SNemeth]

54 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Buffet service is included in your basic fare; certainly isn’t a tipped position. 

I was taught it is customary to tip at buffets in the US in addition to sit down venues.  10% for a buffet where they bring you drinks and pick up your dirty dishes for good service in US land based restaurants.  

[TwoMisfits]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Buffet service is included in your basic fare; certainly isn’t a tipped position. 

 

Buffet service is absolutely a tipped position in the US.  All buffet restaurant meals should be tipped at US restaurants.

 

So, if you cruise in the US, the expectation is ALL meals are tipped meals - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

[not-enough-cruising]

6 minutes ago, SNemeth said:

I was taught it is customary to tip at buffets in the US in addition to sit down venues.  10% for a buffet where they bring you drinks and pick up your dirty dishes for good service in US land based restaurants.  

If I am walking through a line with a tray, gathering my own food, there is absolutely no way I would leave a tip. In this regard, a buffet is no different than a fast food restaurant, however fast food in my area are starting to ask for tips as well.  No Thank You!!

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Buffet service is absolutely a tipped position in the US.  All buffet restaurant meals should be tipped at US restaurants.

 

So, if you cruise in the US, the expectation is ALL meals are tipped meals - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

see post #27

 

No way is a buffet a tipping situation

[TwoMisfits]

3 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

see post #27

 

No way is a buffet a tipping situation

 

You see the same evening servers rotate in and out of the buffet for lunch and breakfast.  

 

You can deny what it is, but by reducing tips b/c you don't think the buffet is tipped (don't go to Disney World with a group of 6 and go to a buffet - you'll be wildly shocked and dismayed), you are breaking US norms on a US-based cruise.

 

This may explain why many non-US folks have had tips mandatory over the years, since workers take contracts based on the country's expected customs.

[DennysDad]

17 minutes ago, TwoMisfits said:

 

Buffet service is absolutely a tipped position in the US.  All buffet restaurant meals should be tipped at US restaurants.

 

So, if you cruise in the US, the expectation is ALL meals are tipped meals - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I get my own beverages in the Windjammer. I get my own food in the Windjammer. Who am I supposed to tip?

[TwoMisfits]

2 minutes ago, DennysDad said:

I get my own beverages in the Windjammer. I get my own food in the Windjammer. Who am I supposed to tip?

 

The generic pool of all the folks continuously filling the buffet line, cleaning the buffet line, clearing the tables, cleaning the tables, cleaning and refilling the soda machine, cleaning up spills, etc, etc.  This is why you leave tips on your account.  Every one of their restaurant server staff takes shifts making sure the buffet is a pleasant, clean, and healthy experience for you.

Edited April 20 by TwoMisfits