Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[SeaMee]

1 hour ago, 3yorkies said:

I only do UDP, so I never eat in Windjammer or the MDR.   I remove the tips and then tip my cabin steward at beginning and end of the cruise and add to the auto-tip on the unlimited dining because it really is not enough.   But why would I tip the people who are in restaurants I don't go to?    I eat twice a day, lunch and dinner.   All are at the specialty restaurants anymore or on shore on port days.   Each person should do what they feel is right.   As for behind the scenes people, I don't tip them anywhere.   They are salaried employees.   A tip is for personal service.   Companies trying to get customers to supplement the income of regular employees is not something I am going to encourage by participating in the charade.   I tip a lot on cruises and I get great service.   Quite frankly, I think I would get the good service anyway, but I CHOOSE to tip well for the great service.

It doesn't seem quite right to pay 20% automatic tip on UDP and then pay full price for auto gratuities for the cruise.  Isn't that like paying twice?  Taking off tips makes sense for UDP patrons or perhaps they should reduce the auto gratuities.

[Tatka]

4 hours ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

 

I have removed before, felt uneasy about requesting at guest services, was worried the attendant/dining staff would find out...

Reason being, I got told by a friend that's how he'd always done it, so i gave it a go...

Tipped large on first day the stateroom attendant as a thank you in advance, along with the dining staff every day in cash, $10-20 (coastal kitchen due to junior suite - not the mdr staff as we did not go in there). They were grateful continuously, didn't receive what I would perceive the be any difference in service, but cautious about doing it again due to the unknown factor of doing so...hence this post.

 

Some people collect tableware from MDR... some pieces of bedding.

 

I hope people are not using your logic.

 

Some people are using funny logic  that cruiselines are not paying their crew enough, so they remove auto-gratuities and pay less. L-Logic.

Edited August 13 by Tatka

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, gavvy said:

Tip / don't tip it's nobody's business but yours.

Slamming others though for not giving money into a random pool with no way of knowing how it's allocated is a triffle wrong though.

 

I tip directly for service received the way I feel a tip should be.

1.  It's my business if I'm paying more for a cruise to subsidize those who don't tip.

2.  RCCL tells you how the tip money is allocated.  You may disagree with it but it

     is simply wrong to say there's no way of knowing how it's allocated.

 

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, yogimax said:

1.  It's my business if I'm paying more for a cruise to subsidize those who don't tip.

2.  RCCL tells you how the tip money is allocated.  You may disagree with it but it

     is simply wrong to say there's no way of knowing how it's allocated.

 

You aren’t paying more because someone removes the auto gratuity. 

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You aren’t paying more because someone removes the auto gratuity. 

You cite no reason to support your comment.

 

I gave a reason (post #47) to support why we are all paying more because people remove tips.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, yogimax said:

You cite no reason to support your comment.

 

I gave a reason (post #47) to support why we are all paying more because people remove tips.

You posted an opinion on #47 

 

Cruise fares are up because people are willing to pay; plain and simple. The rose on fares has nothing to do with gratuities. 
 

Fares are up even on lines that disallow removing gratuities. Fares are up on Royal Caribbean in geographic regions that mandate gratuities included in fares. 
 

There is no correlation between gratuities and fares. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Keep your toothbrush with you at all times.

[Tatka]

5 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You aren’t paying more because someone removes the auto gratuity. 

We all are if enough people remove auto gratuities. Fares are raised.

[ReneeFLL]

14 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

The wait staff absolutely do know who has removed the auto gratuity. I saw the actual list in the galley area. I have no idea about the cabin attendants

This makes no sense to me. Why would the galley need to know who removed their tips? What are they going to do, spit on the food? Maybe it was a list with diet restrictions. I don’t believe there are lists for people that remove the tips anywhere. If there is, then that might make the cabin attendants or others not do a very good job which could backfire. Royal wants all 10’s on the reviews and having someone do a half arse job due to tip removal would defeat the purpose.
 

The list that people supposedly see, does it state specifically that they removed the tips? I highly doubt it. I’m guessing it’s information about the passengers such as likes and dislikes. Maybe they need something extra each day so the cabin attendant has a list with there names on it. There could be a number of reasons why there are lists, but I don’t believe for one second that it’s because the person removed the tips. Such a list serves absolutely no purpose at all.

 

If an attendant says there is such a list, then they are probably trying to scare the passenger into not removing the tips. I’m on a 28 day cruise right now and if I remember I’ll start looking to see if there is such a list.

 

[cruiseboy89130]

19 hours ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

Hello all.

I know this is a touchy topic, so I thought I would ask to gauge opinions, and find information from those that have done this...

If you go to guest services onboard and remove gratuities (I know its frowned upon but hear me out...), do your dining staff/stateroom attendant get informed of this?

I like to tip in cash, so I know the money goes directly to the people that go out of their way to help me out, so this ambiguous daily charge, is thought provoking as you don't know who gets it, and exactly at what percentage.

$18pd/pp for a 1 week is $252 (2 person).

Surely tipping for example $100 to stateroom, $50 each to dining server/attendant, $50 split to people who help you throughout the week is a better way of making sure the staff that support you are paid what they deserve?

I just worry that by remove onboard gratuities at guest services on day 1/2, and these staff you see daily being informed about it in advance (or having a black mark on your account or something) before the usual last day tipping frenzy of the above, could lead to lacklustre service/attentiveness throughout the cruise.

Let me know your thoughts, better ideas, and experiences.

 

You can remove just before you leave the ship or on the last night after dinner - just call GS from your cabin phone!

[gavvy]

I would guess on European cruises a significant proportion of guests remove tips- as its not the way here of doing things.

 

If Royal business plans did not account for this then they would remove the option of removal.

 

Royal give a very basic breakdown of where the tips go- but not all tips are given out at any one time, some are withheld and given as a bonus or staff appreciation - things which to me should be paid by royal

 

There was a thread on here about the Bar tips and someone on Redit posted how it worked, The actual tip the barmen gets bears no correlation to the actual tip received, I think they get $1 per drink punched into the till or something after the first 1000 drinks in a month, to me its a very grey area and despite Royals 'breakdown of tips' you have no idea where or to whom the money is going.

 

Again to me a tip is for service received and that's who I tip.

[Ergates The Ant]

The autogratuities are not tips, in the UK sense. It’s part of the cruise fare, which mainly US businesses separate out, I think for tax purposes, so the customer pays part of the service cost directly as a ‘tip’. 

Unbelievable to most Brits, it would be like staying in a hotel and being asked to pay seperately for an employee to make your bed, or paying the usual high price for a glass of wine in a restaurant and being told that the markup doesn’t include the cost of a waiter pouring out the wine and bringing it to you! 
in the UK, it would actually be against some consumer and employment laws. 

However, cruise lines seem to be able to get round this, even sailing out of the UK, although I understand Australia and New Zealand have the ‘gratuities’ included in the fare, as they should be, in my opinion. I don’t understand the supposed argument that the cruise fare will go up if they include the gratuity, of course it will, but you’ll be paying both anyway. Maybe the only people who are taken in by the ‘cheaper’ fare are numerically challenged? Or easily taken in by a click bait low cost headline?

 

We just pay the autogratuities and treat it as part of the fare, and usually in advance, so we don’t have to think about it. I’ve never asked for service above and beyond what I think should be included, or asked for additional requests, so haven’t felt a need to tip extra. We prefer to eat in the buffet rather than the MDR.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, gavvy said:

I would guess on European cruises a significant proportion of guests remove tips- as its not the way here of doing things.

 

If Royal business plans did not account for this then they would remove the option of removal.

 

Royal give a very basic breakdown of where the tips go- but not all tips are given out at any one time, some are withheld and given as a bonus or staff appreciation - things which to me should be paid by royal

 

There was a thread on here about the Bar tips and someone on Redit posted how it worked, The actual tip the barmen gets bears no correlation to the actual tip received, I think they get $1 per drink punched into the till or something after the first 1000 drinks in a month, to me its a very grey area and despite Royals 'breakdown of tips' you have no idea where or to whom the money is going.

 

Again to me a tip is for service received and that's who I tip.

One can not remove gratuities in the European market (nor the Australian) 

[gavvy]

6 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

One can not remove gratuities in the European market (nor the Australian) 

 

You can, as long as they are not pre-paid (Europe) - Oz, I think they build it into the cost due to local regulations so assume there you can't remove it.

[not-enough-cruising]

7 hours ago, Tatka said:

We all are if enough people remove auto gratuities. Fares are raised.

If that’s the case, then these really aren’t gratuities. Regardless, I don’t pay it. 

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

If that’s the case, then these really aren’t gratuities. Regardless, I don’t pay it. 

   If you are not paying it when most are you are just using this system. If everyone stops paying it you will definitely feel it. It’s like a potluck for people who don’t bring anything, but eat. Would such people proudly announce it?

Edited August 14 by Tatka

[not-enough-cruising]

15 minutes ago, Tatka said:

   If you are not paying it when most are you are just using this system. If everyone stop paying it you will feel it. It’s like a potluck for people who don’t bring anything, but eat. Would such people proudly announce it?

When I go to a steakhouse in my  hometown; does the price of my meal fluctuate dependent on me tipping or not? No, it doesn’t, neither do cruise-fares. 
 

Your potluck analogy would only work (loosely) if you were comparing it to someone that does not tip at all. I have NEVER advocated a “no-tips” stance. 

Edited August 14 by not-enough-cruising

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

One cannot remove gratuities in the European market (nor the Australian) 

Wrong! Gratuities can certainly be removed in the European market as long as they are not pre-paid

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, crazyank said:

Wrong! Gratuities can certainly be removed in the European market as long as they are not pre-paid

Yes, I was corrected above. 

I incorrectly thought European fares had the same rules as Australian in this regard. 

[bjlaacjlc]

Cruised for over 40 years and for most of that time paid the gratuities recommended or withheld as the whole process evolved into what its become today.  Then when the increases started to be frequent and not just the $0.25 change but several dollars (i.e. NCL jump to $20) it reached a boiling point.  One day room service, reduction in food quality and choice, etc.etc. etc. we said no more.

 

We don't buy into tipping behind the scenes workers and people we wouldn't tip on a land vacation so we now remove the prepaid and tip the waiters, bus boys, cabin stewards and bar tenders directly and never received negative service.

 

The other thing that irks me is the blanketed amounts that every cabin pays either $18 for balconies and below and $20.50 for suites and above as if its logical amounts.  Seems to me the gratuity should be based on what you are getting such as better food (coastal kitchen) and larger staterooms and should be based on your cruise price.  I just looked up a random 7 day cruise out of NJ and the cost of the cheapest room is just under $1,700 (for two) compared to a suite at over $4,000 for a couple.

 

If I went into any restaurant and ordered hamburgers that cost $25 and the table next to me ordered steak at $100 our tips would be very different, why are the cruise lines different?  Well, because they made it up and and play on our emotions.

 

There's no right or wrong answer here, do what you feel is best and it will be fine.

 

 

Edited August 14 by bjlaacjlc

[andrewwilliamnewman]

18 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

This post makes no sense and is contradictory!  If you did it before there shouldn't be an "unknown factor of doing so"

For clarity and transparency, and the reason for the post in the first place...

 

I removed gratuities on day 3/4 of a 7 day cruise. I tipped the cabin steward on day 1, i tipped the dining room staff daily. I had the UBP, so gratuities were included with that. 

 

Service was good/the same each day before and after the removal of gratuities - however i was cautious that i had done something that is frowned upon by some.

 

The unknown factor I was referring to was myself wondering if on day 4 or 5 or 6 or 7, the stateroom attendant or the dining room staff are made aware that gratuities are removed, and what/if any difference this would make for them - for example, does this have a negative effect on them from management, do they get questioned why, or is it just something that happens hundreds of times per cruise and its completely normal.

 

We are a family of 4, a 7 day cruise, gratuities for us are $500-600 give or take. 2 Adults, 2 Under 5s. The same $18/20pppd being charged for both adults, a 4 year old, and a 9 month old baby makes no sense to me - which was the whole reason for the time I asked for the gratuities to be removed, and I went forward tipping as and when I felt deserved.

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

58 minutes ago, bjlaacjlc said:

Cruised for over 40 years and for most of that time paid the gratuities recommended or withheld as the whole process evolved into what its become today.  Then when the increases started to be frequent and not just the $0.25 change but several dollars (i.e. NCL jump to $20) it reached a boiling point.  One day room service, reduction in food quality and choice, etc.etc. etc. we said no more.

 

We don't buy into tipping behind the scenes workers and people we wouldn't tip on a land vacation so we now remove the prepaid and tip the waiters, bus boys, cabin stewards and bar tenders directly and never received negative service.

 

The other thing that irks me is the blanketed amounts that every cabin pays either $18 for balconies and below and $20.50 for suites and above as if its logical amounts.  Seems to me the gratuity should be based on what you are getting such as better food (coastal kitchen) and larger staterooms and should be based on your cruise price.  I just looked up a random 7 day cruise out of NJ and the cost of the cheapest room is just under $1,700 (for two) compared to a suite at over $4,000 for a couple.

 

If I went into any restaurant and ordered hamburgers that cost $25 and the table next to me ordered steak at $100 our tips would be very different, why are the cruise lines different?  Well, because they made it up and and play on our emotions.

 

There's no right or wrong answer here, do what you feel is best and it will be fine.

 

 

Very well said!!

 

thanks

[chfenton]

8 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

You can remove just before you leave the ship or on the last night after dinner - just call GS from your cabin phone!

I was just going to say the same...if someone is concerned the staff may "find out" and lower their level of service..why not just let auto gratuities post until day before leaving then have them  removed and if you are so inclined tip in cash to those you want.

[Charles4515]

20 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

The wait staff absolutely do know who has removed the auto gratuity. I saw the actual list in the galley area. I have no idea about the cabin attendants

I saw the list laying on the cabin attendants cart. 

[Charles4515]

11 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

This makes no sense to me. Why would the galley need to know who removed their tips? What are they going to do, spit on the food?

They get the lists because they pool tips. Cash tips are pooled too. The cruise lines are not stupid. They have a system to ensure that cash tips are also included in the pool. They assume that a certain percentage of those who remove tips pay some gratuity and a certain percentage don't pay any. That is how they figure how much of the tip pool allocation to pay each crew member.