2tix2paradise

What is the 800# Please - is it just the RCCL 866-562-7625 or something else?

On 11/24/2018 at 11:22 PM, bullsh said:

If there is an emergency that happen at home is there a cheap way for someone to get a hold of you? Just talked with a RCCL rep. And she stated that an 800# but it will cost $7.95/min to leave a message 

This was very enlightening. Thanks.

In short................

you'll give yourself & the cruise line & the crew a stack of grief, and may not actually achieve what you want it to achieve.

 

In loooooooong ...............

Regardless of your wishes, a specified daily auto-tip (Royalsfan's $13 is about the average, that's per person) will be added to your on-board account. So you will have to go to guest relations to get it removed. Depending on the cruise line & the person at guest relations some will just do as you request, some will quiz you, some might bully you, eventually they'll do as you ask. NCL take it one stage further - they'll get you to complete a form which amongst other things asks you whether / what poor service you have received, they'll still charge your on-board account & subsequently your debit/credit card, and eventually you'll (presumably) get that money refunded. But at least NCL has the decency to call it a "service charge" rather than "tips" or "grats". Personally I call it crew wages, which IMHO is what it is.

Word is that the crew are told who has removed the auto-tip.

Word is that when a passenger has removed / reduced the auto-tip, the crew have to hand in the cash tips that they receive from that passenger because tips go into a pool to be distributed to various background hotel-side crew such as kitchen & laundry staff.

Word is that crew can only retain cash tips if these are in addition to the passenger paying auto-tip, which defeats your purpose

Word is that the crew might be quizzed as to why passengers that they serve have removed / reduced the auto-tip, because of a suspicion that this might be due to poor service.

You'll probably have just the one cabin steward during your cruise, and the same waiters for dinner in the dining room if you have chosen / been allocated traditional (fixed) dining. But not the same waiters in the dining room for breakfast or lunch, most wait staff spend time servicing the buffet & other food outlets.

Background staff share in the auto-tip - go into the kitchens, the laundry, etc at your peril

 

(BTW bar staff "gratuities" are added as a percentage (15 to 18%) of each drinks bill. This includes wines etc served in restaurants. This is a service charge & can't be removed. Those staff don't share in the pool.)

 

So keep life simple for yourself & everyone else by just leaving the auto-tip in place.

 

Feel free to tip cash in addition if you want.

I never do - I'm a Brit but even if I were American I wouldn't tip in addition to the auto-tip cos I don't see the logic in tipping twice for the same thing. If grammatically-incorrect "gratuities" were replaced by decent wages funded by a more realistic cruise ticket price - as still happens on some Brit & even some US ships - then I'd be more willing to put my hand in my pocket for something extra.

(That's irrelevant to the thread, it's just my little rant & not up for discussion.:eek: My money, my decision.)

 

JB

 

Great post - thanks. Enlightening.

However, according to the RCI website "One significant change to the Deluxe Beverage package in 2018 is all Royal Caribbean passengers 21 years of age and older (18 years in Australia and the U.K) are now required to purchase the Deluxe Beverage Package if at least one other person in their cabin has one. If the other adult(s) in the same stateroom do not wish to purchase a Deluxe Beverage Package, you can call Royal Caribbean and ask for an exemption. Usually, Royal Caribbean will allow the other adult(s) to purchase a less-expensive drink package, such as the Refreshment Package."

I am cruising with my two over 21yrs DDs in December who don't drink, so I am hoping this holds true....

Good to know - thanks

Ouch.. I could imagine how awkward that drive home would be. Right after I booked our first cruise a few months ago my wife went in to mom planning mode and created a binder and put everything including our passports in it.

Great idea!