Watch out on the new tipping way

[Gingee]

We went on Royal last year and so we were use to the tips being added onto our bill. When we got our bill on the last morning, the tips were not on there. Well we missed the part where you now have to let the pursers desk know that you want the tips on there. We asked if the pursers desk could add them on and they said that the account was closed. We asked if there was any way to pay them and they said in cash. Well we didn't have enough cash to pay all of them and have enough cash to get home. We found our waiter and asked if we could send him a check and he said they can't cash it since they are from another country. He kept saying it was okay but it wasn't in our books. They were great waiter and assistant waiter. The room attendant was okay. I called Royal while I was still on the ship and told them what had happened. They checked and said I could send it to Royal Carribbean's office in Miami. We had the name of the waiter and assistant waiter along with their pictures. We sent a card with the pictures of the two guys along with our room number (for the attendant) along with our sailing, etc. We also marked on there to let us know by e-mail that they got the money. Well this was the end of May and I still don't see the check cashed. I feel awful. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

[Cruising89143]

RCI has never charged the gratuities to ones SeaPass card. You have to let the Guest Relations desk know by a certain date to get them added. It has always been a pay in cash system.

[Gingee]

Hmm. I wonder what happened to us last year then?

[nimbex1970]

now I'm having a brain fart, when we cruised in spring I thought the tips were charged to our sail pass and we were given vouchers and envelops to hand out?? Now hubby does this, but I remember being irked that although we charged the tips we now had to track everyone down and hand out envelopes:confused: Am I being screwy here or what?

 

op, thought it worked that way for us too, could be wrong.

c

[Sue L]

Actually on the Serenade a couple of weeks ago on the 2nd day there were two forms left in our room. One was for flight info for disembarkation and the other was for if you wanted the tips added to your seapass. Both had a deadline, I think Wed at noon. And then down by the purser's desk there were two boxes to put the two separate forms in. Very easy.

[terryjo]

Couldn't you have gone to the casino cage and requested some cash? I have done that in the past and the charge is put on to my account for final settlement. Maybe it was too late for you to do that, though.

Just a thought...:)

[terryjo]

Sorry, :( I see that you already noted that it was the morning of departure. Already too late by then.

[hmsdos]

Just FYI on the ".......that although we charged the tips we now had to track everyone down and hand out envelopes"...

 

When you use the pre-paid opportunity prior to cruising or on the ship.... once you get the "vouchers" even if you don't hand the envelopes out... the individuals will get the tip.... :)

[Sue L]

now I'm having a brain fart, when we cruised in spring I thought the tips were charged to our sail pass and we were given vouchers and envelops to hand out?? Now hubby does this, but I remember being irked that although we charged the tips we now had to track everyone down and hand out envelopes:confused: Am I being screwy here or what?

 

op, thought it worked that way for us too, could be wrong.

c

 

 

Yes you do get the vouchers and envelopes, but it wasn't a big deal to hand them out. The steward was always in the hallway when we were leaving for dinner and we just brought the ones for our waitstaff with us. No tracking down required.

[Little Elm]

Question- If you charge the tips to the Sea Pass, why not just do the prepaid before you go? You can always add more later. Right?

[cot427]

I would feel so so bad if that happened to me. The wait staff and the room attendants work hard everyday, doing everything possible to make your vacation the best. I really hope that received your tip.

[Gingee]

I vaguely remember envelopes in the room. We did add to what we thought was the recommended tips by adding some cash in the envelopes. As far as we know, maybe that is all they got from us. I don't know.

[katiel53]

Question- If you charge the tips to the Sea Pass, why not just do the prepaid before you go? You can always add more later. Right?

 

I prefer to charge the tips when I get onboard rather than do prepaid for a few reasons. One, and the most important, is that we usually get a pretty decent OBC and the tips can come off that. If we did prepay, they wouldn't. I also want to see how service is going to be. We haven't ever not tipped the full amount on the Sea Pass with additional in cash on RCI, but one time on another line we didn't tip the full amount as our service from the cabin steward was almost non-existent. (Years ago)

 

So, we choose to not prepay. To each his own.:)

[cb at sea]

I don't like the "pre-paid" method, either. As far as I know, RCI has NEVER gone the pre-paid route, without your permission. I think Carnival does that, tho.

I'd rather give cold, hard cash to the folks who have served me. With cash, they don't have to wait until their next payday to collect, and no one knows how much they've been given. I'm sure there are taxes somewhere that are based upon their "pre-paid" tips. When they get cash, they can do with it as they please--report it, share it, etc....

[cruisinisforme]

You could have just went to the casino and taken out a cash advance on your seapass. It automatically gets charged to your seapass account, so you could give the waiters their cash and still keep it on your cc

[enzeno]

It was also my experience that I automatically had the tips added and received vouchers on the last day.

[Gingee]

I am glad to hear that other people thought the same way I did. By the way, we couldn't have gone to the casino because we were already in port when we woke up.

[firefly333]

We had a form I just signed and turned in. Didnt know it used to be different. We had it added to our sign and sail card.

[wolfcathorse]

I am glad to hear that other people thought the same way I did. By the way, we couldn't have gone to the casino because we were already in port when we woke up.

 

You must have missed the form for putting the tips on your SeaPass that came with the Day 2 Compass on the evening of Day 1. Like stated above, it has to be turned in to Guest Relations by noon on Day 3.

[hcat]

More recently we have pre-paid with our final payment--even easier than worrying abt the form. Any extras we give in cash!

[minnie00]

Just FYI on the ".......that although we charged the tips we now had to track everyone down and hand out envelopes"...

 

When you use the pre-paid opportunity prior to cruising or on the ship.... once you get the "vouchers" even if you don't hand the envelopes out... the individuals will get the tip.... :)

 

I am glad to know this because we are planning on eating at Portofino on our last dinner night...so we wouldn't see our waiters.

[dennbr9]

Paperwork explaining this is left in your room automatically early in the cruise. Sounds like you missed it.

[Mrsg324]

Did they not ask you if you wanted to cash a check? RCI allows you to cash a check for up to 200.00 per sailing.

I won't prepay when booking because of some friends who did this on our Nov. sailing. They never showed up on their account but it was preapaid by them.

[Gingee]

They did mention writing a check but we didn't bring a checkbook with us. We usually don't carry one with us. We do most our bills with a credit card. Besides we were going to a foreign country. Why would we need a checkbook? At least that is what we thought.

[Mrsg324]

I always keep mine in my purse just to be on the safe side.

That stinks, hopefully they will get the money.