Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[Saab4444]

8 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Can they add a mandatory service charge? 

They could but then they have to include the gratuity amount in the published rates for the cruise.

[Saab4444]

15 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Edited August 18 by Saab4444

[Saab4444]

15 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Edited August 18 by Saab4444

[Saab4444]

14 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

 

Edited August 18 by Saab4444

[Charles4515]

1 minute ago, Saab4444 said:

They could but then they have to include the gratuity amount in the published rates for the cruise.

One way or another they will figure out a way to get that money. If they can’t get it voluntarily they will make it mandatory. If people were massively removing the gratuities they would not have them be removable. 

[Saab4444]

19 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

They don't adhere to EU rules...not in this regard and the EU data protection rules either....

Yes, they do adhere to this EU law for some years now if you book in the EU.

[Saab4444]

7 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

One way or another they will figure out a way to get that money. If they can’t get it voluntarily they will make it mandatory. If people were massively removing the gratuities they would not have them be removable. 

Well, at least for EU bookings Royal indeed decided not to make them mandatory. Instead they abstain from any future automatic billing.

[Charles4515]

25 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

For such a list published in public crew areas visible to all(!) crew and even to visitors like you everyone on it should sue Royal as it is totally against data privacy law.
 

And what would be the purpose of such a list? To request all crew not to serve those bad people properly and breach their employment contract duties?

Sue where? In practice people are not going to sue. It would take government regulation. Just what we don’t need is more regulation. It will backfire and cost consumers more. 
 

The purpose of the list is transparency for the crew as the gratuities are pooled. The crew is guaranteed a minimum from the pool. The cruise line pretty much knows what percentage is paid in cash so that is counted when figuring out the total pool. They have a formula for that. Some weeks a crew member may be screwed if passengers don’t tip or under tip but other weeks they come out ahead if passengers tip more. 

Edited August 18 by Charles4515

[Charles4515]

6 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Well, at least for EU bookings Royal indeed decided not to make them mandatory. Instead they abstain from any future automatic billing.

Someone has posted that Europeans pay brochure prices and don’t get discounts. Is that true? 

[cruiseboy89130]

15 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Someone has posted that Europeans pay brochure prices and don’t get discounts. Is that true? 

No!

[Saab4444]

15 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Someone has posted that Europeans pay brochure prices and don’t get discounts. Is that true? 

No, you also have daily online rates but you are not able to reprize existing bookings if rates drop.

[Charles4515]

Just now, Saab4444 said:

No, you also have daily online rates but you are not able to reprize existing bookings if rates drop.

I usually reprice at least once sometimes two or three times before final payment. That takes some work which probably a large percentage of bookers don't know about or do. 

 

Whatever regulations about gratuities, voluntary or not, the cruise companies are going to find a way to recoup. 

[bbodb1]

On 8/13/2024 at 8:34 AM, MeHeartCruising said:

OP should not have cruised on an American cruise line if they weren't prepared to deal with this custom.  Pay the daily service charge for gratuities.  Tip extra if you want to reward your "special people".  Otherwise, you are impacting the compensation for the people who clean your towels, cook your food, clean your bar glasses, support the bar tenders, support the cooks... the list goes on.  

 

Please show me a cruise line that is American.  Other than the Pride of America, I have yet to see a cruise ship flying the Stars and Stripes.....  

 

But more to the point, although we are only taking our 2nd cruise coming up soon, we have been able to avoid the gratuity issue by finding promotions that offer free gratuities at time of cruise purchase.  This isn't a perfect solution for sure as we are likely missing some other promotion(s) but given our cruise preferences and specific sailings, the free gratuities promotion was the most desirable promotion we could find.   

[cruiseboy89130]

1 minute ago, bbodb1 said:

to avoid the gratuity issue by finding promotions that offer free gratuities at time of cruise purchase.

Not possible with Royal

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Not possible with Royal

Sure it is, book in the Aussie market. 

[cruiseboy89130]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Sure it is, book in the Aussie market. 

That is not a promotion it is a market provision!

You can also book in the EU to get that!

Edited August 18 by cruiseboy89130

[bbodb1]

On 8/13/2024 at 9:12 PM, PhoenixCruiser said:

Keep your toothbrush with you at all times.

Thanks, Reacher!

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Not possible with Royal

I have recieved OBC which can be used for most anything. Usually recieve some. I use it for gratuities. Another reason to use the auto gratuity rather than cash. 

[cruiseboy89130]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

I use it for gratuities.

I would not do that - so many other options!

[Jetdriver787]

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/4328/automatic-gratuity-law.html#:~:text=No.,not paying for the food.

[bbodb1]

6 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Not possible with Royal

 

On this point, I should have mentioned I did not book directly with the cruise line we took the first time (in our case it was Carnival) but through a well known cruise travel booking option and managed to find the free gratuity promotion there.  Royal is definitely a cruise line choice on the well known cruise travel booking option I mentioned so maybe (perhaps) free gratuities might be a promotion occasionally offered by the WKCTBO...  

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

If you book in the EU you do not have to remove gratuities anymore as according to current EU law Royal is no longer permitted to charge a voluntary payment automatically to your account. So paying cash or going to guest services and request them to charge you something are yor only options. 

This is simply not true.

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

I would not do that - so many other options!

That is you. I don't buy ship excursions as I prefer independent excursions.  I don't drink much so the 5 drinks a day I get free covers all my needs. Usually do one specialty restaurant on a sailing. I don't use the casino because o f the smoke. I find it difficult to use my OBC and sometimes on the last day I spend what is left on something I don't really want.

Edited August 18 by Charles4515

[seahorse001]

54 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Someone has posted that Europeans pay brochure prices and don’t get discounts. Is that true? 

Yes 

 

[crazyank]

11 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Someone has posted that Europeans pay brochure prices and don’t get discounts. Is that true? 

definitely not true.