auto tipping - not removable ?

[sheilauk]

In the UK, we have today been informed by our travel agents that Celebrity will not allow you to remove the auto tipping at all when on board. Not a problem for us as we have pre-paid, but is this actually the truth ? Can anyone who has recently returned please comment, thanks

[sammyt]

My cruise leaves March 29, so I have not yet left, but have experienced other cruises, and have never had a problem asking them to remove the standard tip charges, as I personally wanted to take care of it myself.

[grandgeezer]

We were on the Mercury in January and tipping was discussed at the disembarkation talk on the last sea day. According to the cruise director, you could increase it, decrease it, or eliminate it completely based on the service you received. He did say that if you considered eliminating it completely, you should have brought up your dissatisfaction with the service, earlier so it could have been addressed.

[hajekfam]

We were on the Mercury in January and tipping was discussed at the disembarkation talk on the last sea day. According to the cruise director, you could increase it, decrease it, or eliminate it completely based on the service you received. He did say that if you considered eliminating it completely, you should have brought up your dissatisfaction with the service, earlier so it could have been addressed.

 

When in Jan did you cruise? The tipping policy was changed in mid-Jan.

[hylasgirl]

I have heard several reports lately that you could get the auto tip taken off without issue.

[chrisandlynne]

Hello All,

We have recently returned from the Millennium Australia/New Zealand cruise which sailed on Feb 1st. On the second night we were left a piece of paper in our cabin saying that auto-tipping had now been enforced for the cruise - like it or not. We didn't, so we went to Guest Relations to ask it be removed. At first, we were given the blank "It's company policy" response but on the circular it said we could adjust the daily amount (I think it was about 28 dollars) so we said yes, we would like to adjust it to zero! We will go back to the original tipping method where it is optional rather than mandatory. After several refusals we were told the Guest Relations Manager would ring us. 6 DAYS LATER, 10 REMINDERS and several pointed discussions about lack of notice and brochure terms and conditions (optional tipping is stated) she left a very curt message on our stateroom 'phone to say it had been agreed to remove auto-tipping from our bill. We found out later that advice had to be sought from HQ in Miami.

So, there you are - persistence paid off plus logical argument. And, we're glad it did because frankly, some of the service was not worth tipping.

Now, is this a way of appeasing the staff by X for a lack of a decent salary increase from them so they are offering a (virtually) guaranteed full tipping quota? Celebrity is cutting back, so it adds up.

Hope this helps.

[kelmac]

Hello All,

We have recently returned from the Millennium Australia/New Zealand cruise which sailed on Feb 1st. On the second night we were left a piece of paper in our cabin saying that auto-tipping had now been enforced for the cruise - like it or not. We didn't, so we went to Guest Relations to ask it be removed. At first, we were given the blank "It's company policy" response but on the circular it said we could adjust the daily amount (I think it was about 28 dollars) so we said yes, we would like to adjust it to zero! We will go back to the original tipping method where it is optional rather than mandatory. After several refusals we were told the Guest Relations Manager would ring us. 6 DAYS LATER, 10 REMINDERS and several pointed discussions about lack of notice and brochure terms and conditions (optional tipping is stated) she left a very curt message on our stateroom 'phone to say it had been agreed to remove auto-tipping from our bill. We found out later that advice had to be sought from HQ in Miami.

So, there you are - persistence paid off plus logical argument. And, we're glad it did because frankly, some of the service was not worth tipping.

Now, is this a way of appeasing the staff by X for a lack of a decent salary increase from them so they are offering a (virtually) guaranteed full tipping quota? Celebrity is cutting back, so it adds up.

Hope this helps.

 

So, if you don't mind sharing -- how much did you tip?

 

Thanks,

Kel:)

[Irishwhiskey]

We are reaching a point where it won't be optional to tip anymore.The cruise industry wants its money and it will take it out of our pockets for us and make it look like they are doing us a favor.For this reason i would never prepay for any services that i didn't receive.Any prepaid madatory expenses should have to be included in the price of the cruise before hand.I would always tip the people that make our cruises vacations special,but i don't agree to let any cruiseline take the money out of my wallet for me.

[skyview851]

When in Jan did you cruise? The tipping policy was changed in mid-Jan.

 

 

I haven't been reading the boards as much as I would like. Do I understand that auto tipping is now mandatory for all guests? Or is just for guests from the UK, and if so, what's the reason for that?

[Cruise Arizona]

I remember when we first learned in January? that the the auto tipping policy was changed from "opt" in to "opt out", that it was stated just that way, you could "opt out" of the auto tipping should you choose.

 

Quite frankly if it is not easily removed with a simple request, then it is a service charge and not a tip. If that is the case they should call it as such.

 

But the way I understood that it would easily be removed upon request. From the previous answer it doesn't sound like that is the case. If anyone else has recent experience please share. For my last cruise the old policy was still in place, which was that you had to sign up for the auto tipping.

[Terre]

On all of our cruises for the last two years or so, it has been auto tipping, but on the ships we were on you could take it off and tip as you normally would, decrease it or add to it. We kept the auto tipping, but gave our cabin steward and waiters extra in cash on the last night.

 

We figured the cruise lines started the auto tipping because so many people don't show up for dinner the last night therefore not tipping. We will be sailing on X next month and will probably leave our auto tipping in place and just give those we think did an outstanding job a little extra cash on the last night. It really is quite convenient because you don't have to make sure you keep enough cash for everyone.

[rjg41]

Look at the op's original posting to see why they were told that. They pre-paid and pre-paid are NOT removable.

[chrisandlynne]

Hello Kelmac.

We followed the guidelines given in the brochure for the waiter, assistant waiter and both stateroom attendants.

Chris and Lynne.

[jackdiamond]

Hello Kelmac.

We followed the guidelines given in the brochure for the waiter, assistant waiter and both stateroom attendants.

Chris and Lynne.

 

Would this have been the same amount if you had utilized the auto tip?

[RJL58]

Look at the op's original posting to see why they were told that. They pre-paid and pre-paid are NOT removable.

 

That is correct as those tips are put onto the invoice and paid at final payment.

 

On Century Jan 26 tips were put "auto" onto my sea pass card, it was possible to adjust up or have them removed. Certain passengers said guest relations encouraged them to keep tips on, when they requested them removed.

 

I kept mine on it takes the hassle out of getting them together on the last night in cash, and yes its now really a service charge:rolleyes:

 

For us U.K cruises my TA encouraged me to pre pay tips as the "locked" in ex rate is good at the moment, if pound slips more then I will not loose out.

Rich..........

[world~citizen]

What is all this? Auto tips? HUMBUG!

 

Auto-tipping is a poor excuse to pick a mans pocket everytime we take a cruise vacation.

 

I say we remove them and lie in our death beds and say: Wow, I'm glad I took the tip off from my cabin steward back in 09, that was an important meaningful statement that I made and I'm glad. :eek:

[kelmac]

Hello Kelmac.

We followed the guidelines given in the brochure for the waiter, assistant waiter and both stateroom attendants.

Chris and Lynne.

 

Good form! The stateroom attendants and the waiter/assistant waiter will have to make up any difference for the head of housekeeping and the Asst' matre 'd that they missed.

 

Kel:)

[Duck Duck Cruise]

We just got off the Mercury yesterday and changes or removal of auto-tipping or adjustments were able to be made if you wanted up until Thursday at noon. This was stated in the daily several times during the cruise.

[minz56]

I was on the Millennium mid January and it was the first cruise where the tips were charged to your account.

 

I heard a story that was very similar to Chrisandlynne's - ie requests to remove the tip were met with severe resistance. Eventually they got the tips off the bill, but were told "not to tell anyone" !!

 

My question is can they make a tip mandatory? Where in the fine print does it say that you MUST pay the tips?

 

Unfortuantely the pay structure for many of the crew onboard means that they rely on the tips for their salary. However if you never eat in the MDR then why should you pay tips to the waiters etc.

 

Personally I normally pay the suggested amount and so charging it to my onboard account works for me, but that's clearly not the case for everyone.

[dogsrule]

I was on the Millennium mid January and it was the first cruise where the tips were charged to your account.

 

I heard a story that was very similar to Chrisandlynne's - ie requests to remove the tip were met with severe resistance. Eventually they got the tips off the bill, but were told "not to tell anyone" !!

 

My question is can they make a tip mandatory? Where in the fine print does it say that you MUST pay the tips?

 

Unfortuantely the pay structure for many of the crew onboard means that they rely on the tips for their salary. However if you never eat in the MDR then why should you pay tips to the waiters etc.

 

Personally I normally pay the suggested amount and so charging it to my onboard account works for me, but that's clearly not the case for everyone.

 

 

 

Even if you don't eat in the MDR, the waiters are still working shifts in the windjammer and other venues. And yes, they are very underpaid, hence, they work day and night for tips to send to their families.

[CruiseDad-NYC]

I was on the Summit 1/31 cruise. I went to Guest Relations on Thursday and was told that I would have had to have requested to have auto-tipping removed by Tuesday to have been able to do so and that it was too late. They gave me the RCCL customer service to call upon return, which I did. It was a hassle (i.e., I had to fax them the notice informing about the auto-tipping policy and the cruise card envelope, neither of which that mentioned anything about Tuesday). But, I was able to make some adjustments.

 

I'm not against auto-tipping, but if they are going to make it an opt-out versus an opt-in (and make it difficult to opt-out as well), they should just call it what it is, which is a service charge, and disclose it along with the other taxes and charges up front so consumers can get a clearer idea of what the total cruise price is going to be.

[woodofpine]

Hello All,

We have recently returned from the Millennium Australia/New Zealand cruise which sailed on Feb 1st. On the second night we were left a piece of paper in our cabin saying that auto-tipping had now been enforced for the cruise - like it or not. We didn't, so we went to Guest Relations to ask it be removed. At first, we were given the blank "It's company policy" response but on the circular it said we could adjust the daily amount (I think it was about 28 dollars) so we said yes, we would like to adjust it to zero! We will go back to the original tipping method where it is optional rather than mandatory. After several refusals we were told the Guest Relations Manager would ring us. 6 DAYS LATER, 10 REMINDERS and several pointed discussions about lack of notice and brochure terms and conditions (optional tipping is stated) she left a very curt message on our stateroom 'phone to say it had been agreed to remove auto-tipping from our bill. We found out later that advice had to be sought from HQ in Miami.

So, there you are - persistence paid off plus logical argument. And, we're glad it did because frankly, some of the service was not worth tipping.

Now, is this a way of appeasing the staff by X for a lack of a decent salary increase from them so they are offering a (virtually) guaranteed full tipping quota? Celebrity is cutting back, so it adds up.

Hope this helps.

 

I hope all that angst, righteous indignation, several pointed discussions, 10 reminders and 'logical argument' was worth the $2-3 a day you saved...

 

Of course X is 'cutting back', why not? You are...

[Buellwinkle]

Don't worry about auto-tipping, we went to the main desk within an hour of boarding and asked them to remove auto-tipping and to provide cash envelopes and they took care of it immediately, no problem. Just do it soon but remember to not do it too close to the emergency drill to interfere with that. They put your name on a list so they can remember to give you envelopes. Don't worry, they will not alert the staff to make them angry.

 

Also, absolutely do not tip the MDR staff if you are going to eat in specialty dining or the buffet every meal, there's no reason to, they didn't help you. This would be like tipping your local restaurant waiter every night even if you eat at home just because he's underpaid, totally ridiculous. Don't worry, there's plenty eating in the MDR to make sure they get paid very well. We only tipped the room staff and management and gave them way more than the recomended amounts. We felt the buffet staff had very weak service and tipping them would not do them justice. For example, first night I asked for water and instead of bringing it to me, he pointed to where I can get it myself. They waiters running around the buffet were just there to make money on selling you drinks, wich we bought and tipped for that seperately. Also, in the sepecialty dining, we tipped them per traditional tipping standards at the time we got the bill.

 

So tip what you feel is right, don't be intimidated by bullies on this board.

[woodofpine]

Just do it soon but remember to not do it too close to the emergency drill to interfere with that. They put your name on a list so they can remember to give you envelopes. Don't worry, they will not alert the staff to make them angry.

Why would you worry, after all, you weren't going to be receiving their services right? BTW - the 'stiff' list IS distributed to crew in case of a genuine emergency at sea!:D That's why they call it that...;)

 

Also, absolutely do not tip the MDR staff if you are going to eat in specialty dining or the buffet every meal, there's no reason to, they didn't help you. That woud be like tipping your local restaurant waiter every night even if you eat at home...

But only if your local restaurant worker comes home to bus your table at lunch and dinner, then offers you pastries and coffee at breakfast...:rolleyes:

[Buellwinkle]

Wow. you have great local restaurants, because on the ship, nobody came by to offer us coffee or pastries in the buffet. Service on the ship was mediocre, not on par with Las Vegas that most of us So Cal people are used to. I felt they came by mostly to push pay for drinks and if you wanted anything else, they wouldn't help you.

 

What was interesting is that I wanted to see the MDR just for fun so I went to afternoon tea. They had a huge spread of micro sandwiches and pastries and when I went to grab one they got offended and said they will be brought to me. So they had waiters walking around with trays of stuff and I had to wait for the 5th waiter to get what I wanted, sort of like dim sum in chinatown. Tip them, ha, they should tip me for waiting 20 minutes while teasing me with a huge table of pastries at arms reach. In the meantime, the tea got cold. If this was a restaurant back home, tipping would be the least of their problems, I would never go back. Hmm, that's what happened on the ship, never went back.

 

But, the impression I got from the MDR was that it was overly done, no windows and looked like I was a the biggest wedding ever and I was the friend of the friend of the 3rd cousin on the groom's side. I don't know if I would have felt comfortable eating there and I was glad I didn't. In contrast, the Tuscany Grill has the level of service and quality of food I expect from a restaurant and if I knew, I would have booked it every night, but most days were booked except for very early or very late seating. The buffet was great in that it was on deck 14, had great views, and very few customers, so for us, it was bliss, a way to get away from the crowds.

 

For those that enjoy the MDR, then you should thank us, because we made your service that much better by not being there, 2 less people to server. So yes, you should tip more for this additional service you received.