springfire

105 days till our cruise

We will be on the first cruise after they have fixed this issue. Sure hope no issues!

Never, ever prepay tips and never will. We have been on somewhere around 18 cruises. 'Back in the Day' when staff members depended on your tips at the end of the cruise service was far superior to what it is today. That is just the was it was. The service we recieved was far above excellent and we always, always, always tipped above and beyond. It was deserved.

If 'prepaid tips' is to become the norm, put it into the cost of the cruise bottom line. Then we'll decide whether to continue to cruise or not.

It has been our experience that going the pre-paid route on ships has severely hampered the service rendered onboard.

I know there are exceptions to the rule, but we have yet to experience them. Possibly because we remember cruising back in the 80's when there were very few ships and the experiece was different.

I agree with your post!

Your pictures are terrific!!!:cool:

Your pictures are terrific!!!

one hundred and eight days to go.........

Out of curiosity, how do you know how much drinks are in land bars?

You might not know but if the price was high you could move on the next bar, can't do that on the ship.

Had a great breakfast at Johnny Rockets this morning. Very peaceful on the boardwalk. Such a welcome change from the hustle, bustle and chaos of the Windjammer!

 

 

Enjoyed the view of the aqua theatre....

 

 

 

 

Beautiful pictures, thank you!

I don't know why traditional dining is often "full" many months in advance, but it's been our experience that it suddenly opens up before final payment. You can get on the waiting list for traditional dining, and then when you clear the list, you can ask to have the prepaid gratuities removed from your balance due at final payment. We've done this for our last several cruises, and always cleared the waiting list. We'd rather have the daily gratuities added to our onboard account so that we can put our onboard credit towards paying for them.

This is what happened with us on the Allure. First they say it is full and than it opens up. I would just hate to prepay gratuities.

Stick with Park n go. Premier parking is not really one you want to use, it is a mess.

I will be on the Allure in March. I was hopeful of planning a fun sailing trip in St Thomas but if they cut back an hour I will not be able to do it. I could make another excursion but I would prefer my first choice. I just wish RCCL would tell me for sure. Hopefully they will tell us soon.

111 days and counting....

Thank you for doing this!

People invest money in various ways. I do not understand what excuse has to do with it. It is normal to charge for a service when service has been provided. Not before.

I also agree with you. I have never received bad service on a cruise as of yet but know of many people who have. If you prepay your tip, it is almost impossible to get back. I always wait for service to be provided before I tip.

There was one ocassion, where a waiter actually followed a customer to the parking lot, asking why the tip was so low. The customer said that the service didn't warrant more.

 

We had just parked and were walking toward the restaurant at the time. Our service was fine.

As far as I am concerned, I like that the waiter asked why and I also like that the customer responded. Hopefully, that customer never runs into that waiter again and if they did, I most definitely would not eat the food. I am sure the waiter will not forget.

Count me as one of the drinkers. I drink way more on a cruise than when I am home. I have a few drinks at the pool, couple of drinks on the balcony with my lovely wife, wine with diner, drink at a show and after i go to a bar or casino for another drink. Cruise lines make it easy for me to drink everywhere and they do all the driving.

When it comes to tipping, I always prefer to tip in cash. I prefer to opt out of automatic gratuities.

Thanks all...I will let her know.

Now that was easy!!!

I have cruised Norwegian, RCCL, Princess and Carnival. I have never had a cruise that I have not enjoyed. All things being equal I prefer RCCL, but as you know things are never equal. When cruising Alaska I feel Princess is the best cruise lines and when in the Caribbean I prefer RCCL. I always enjoy the good rates that Carnival has to offer. We will be cruising Allure of the Seas next but my ears and eyes are always open to our next great cruise adventure.

The drink package is deff a Go. The bartender about fell over when I asked him about it tonight. I'll post details in the morning.

Please do!

113 days to go......

Seriously?! :eek:

Have we gotten an answer to where this information comes from? :confused:

I'm not trying to start problems, this just seems absurd. I have heard of companies that require all employees to "pool" their tips and I think it's absolute stupidity. :mad: When I was a waitress I got my tips. They were from the customers to ME for MY hard work. I always tipped out the kitchen and bus boys for their support but it was my choice and not required.

This is a great post!

FYI: If you take off the auto-tip, they CANNOT keep the cash!:(

 

They have to turn it in or face possible termination!:eek:

 

They have to divide the money anyway...Just sayin'.:p

Once I give them the tip, I really don't care what they do with the money.

I agree. Giving someone an envelope along with a handshake it much more personable. I rather give cash, but I do the MTD, so I have no choice in the matter.

But I still don't understand why all the resistance to cash. If you decide to tip your stateroom attendant and dining room personnel in cash, whats the big deal? Aren't they suppose to divide up it and dispurse it like they were doing prior to RCI implementing the auto grat program? If they don't do that, why should the guest worry about it? It's not my place to ensure that they are doing what they are suppose to be doing with the cash. If they don't, then they are screwing their fellow workers.

Well said!!!

I don't know about what other people do, but I just got off FOS and removed my auto tips for our party of four and paid cash at the end. There was absolutely no hassle doing this and they did not even question why.

 

I feel that tipping is a personal thing between me and the server(s) and quite frankly none of RCI's business (the same as it is none of my business what they pay their employee's as it is between them). I appreciate the guidelines and follow them up with a little extra and in some cases a lot extra. This includes the $240 for our suite attendant which I found to be on the high side as I would never leave that much when staying at a hotel (I think the recommended came out to $203 for 4 in a suite), though we found the recommended amounts for the wait staff rather low. We also never left the windjammer or any other eating or drinking venue without at least leaving $5-$10 on the table for the servers (habit from living in the US).

 

I know for a fact that they are now including some supervisors and other staff in the tipping pool (at least in the case for housekeeping, not sure about dining room services) and I don't feel any responsibility to tip those people. If they want to include it as a mandatory service charge and add it to the cruise fare so be it, but as long as it is called a gratuity I will continue to go along as I always have (where I am from, cash is always king).

 

I know some people enjoy the convenience of the auto-tips which is fine, but don't

assume just because some still choose to do it the other way that we are stiffing the staff. Bottom line is that there are two ways to pay now and the choice is ours as customers to

decide how we want to take care of the tips.

What a Great Post!!!