BennyandBo

1 minute ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

Of course it is but so is this thread and every other tipping thread. Tipping is in our culture. Change the culture or accept it. 

But yes, when you take money out of someone's pocket in real life you get charged for it😅

Not tipping is not taking money out of someone's pocket. Legally speaking. And you were talking about criminal acts.

4 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

Listen, i get it. I travel in guaranteed closets and dont gamble or spend my money of dumb stuff. But if they added it into the fare cost you would still be paying it. it just sounds like you are getting over on the system in place. When people do that in real life they get criminal charges. 

No criminal charges for being a average tipper. No criminal charges for being a non tipper. That was a bit over the top.

10 minutes ago, Tntt said:

Yep

Found my notes:

Day 1 Welcome aboard

Day 2 Italian

Day 3 French (formal)

Day 4 Caribbean

Day 5 Mexican

Day 6 Royal night (dress your best) lobster tail night

Day 7 bon voyage

Just now, Tntt said:

Yep

Me 2! 

7 minutes ago, Cru1s1ng2009 said:

which is why maybe having it in the fare without the possibility of removing might be the way to go. Those who tip well, will still give more like we already do and those who dont wont have an option. 

 

 

But right now they do

1 hour ago, Tntt said:

We are sailing on WOS in a few weeks,   I  just have 2 quick questions. My son uses hair clippers to cut his hair, Do RC allow you to bring  electric hair clippers? Next question does anyone know where I can find the most current eastern caribbean cruise compass I looked on royal caribbean blog but the cruise compass I found for Eastern has a slightly different itinerary.

Are you the 21st?

Just now, Tntt said:

What are the dress code theme nights for dining room each night

There really isn't any inforced dress anymore. Especially on a Caribbean sailing. That itinerary so far has been Wecome aboard, Italian, french(formal), Caribbean, Mexican, can't remember nt 6, and bon voyage night 7. Night 3 French is the formal. Again, it's name only. If you want to dress fine, if not don't. There is a second dress your best. It's night 5 or 6 but I can't remember off hand. The dates I gave are the weeks cruise compass you need to search for, for more info. I got mine by reading the app everyday of the March 5th sailing as it happened.

2 minutes ago, Tntt said:

Cococay day2,then st Thomas and st maartin

Dec 11th 2022 and March 5th and 26th 2023 had the same itinerary if you can find copies of those weeks.

1 minute ago, Tntt said:

Cococay day2,then st Thomas and st maartin

That's my itinerary. What did you want to know?

Automatic gratuities can be removed at any time for any reason by going to guests services and requesting they be removed. Or by calling guest services from your cabin. It's that simple.

32 minutes ago, Tntt said:

So there are no outlets in the bathrooms?

Wonder has multiple itineraries for Eastern Caribbean. What are the port stops?

58 minutes ago, topnole said:

Didn’t you point out it would only need to be 200-300 more to cover tips in a prior post.  Why would it need to be 3000-4000 more cover tips going by your prior logic?   
 

You think Virgin isn’t charging a price that covers labor cost?  If so, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.  

They are either charging more up front and not leaving it to passengers to tip.  Either way the customer is paying it.  This isn’t even something to debate. Anyone who took basic economics in middle school knows this. 

Virgin does charge more upfront. And it works. 

1 minute ago, topnole said:

This is true and what it would be using that other persons logic (that they grossly exaggerated).  But the point remains, the customer would still be paying for it.  So if tips weren’t part of they deal, the cruise lines would simple raise cruise fares to recoup the labor cost.  Either way, the customer is going to pay for it.  There are pros and cons to each system.  At least with tips the workers are incentivized.  One downside is the final cost often isn’t clear to all.  
 

But the argument that Royal is just making us pay their labor costs and that is somehow wrong is laughable.  Every business has the customers pay the labor cost (via the price charged for the product or service).  If they don’t, they will be out of business.  In the service industry this is often done via tips.  But either way the customer is paying it.  

Like someone just pointed out. Virgins fare includes the the gratuities and the the rates are not $3000 to $4000 more. Also everyone says the service is great. 

For me I don't like anyone telling what to tip, when to tip, etc. I don't need Royal Caribbean to do it for me. I tip in person those that provide me a service. After they provide that service. Based on how well they did it. As for behind the scenes people, not my problem. 

58 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

There are people behind the scenes that depend on tips to make a decent wage. When you remove gratuities, you are directly impacting these crew members because you can’t tip people you never see.  

Who cares about the "behind the scenes" people. Not my problem. I can't afford to pay everyone. Just those I deal with directly.

8 hours ago, XLVIII said:

You’re going to pay for it whether it’s a Daily Service Charge or just in higher fares. All the cruise lines have billions of dollars in debt due to the pandemic. The money has to come from somewhere. 

There debt is not my problem.

Everybody do their own thing. We're all gonna anyway. The end.

2 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

And what are those amounts you have read?

 

And then let's add that $16 per day gratuity from 6000 cruisers divided into 2000 employees on a per hour basis and see what they really get.

 

Bottom line is that of the cruise lines had to pay employees a "real" salary (based on North American Standards) without charging a "gratuity", your cruise fare would not be at all competitive. 

So then I go every 12 years instead of every 6 years.

Hey I have to fly. $400 for airline ticket. $275 for 7 days of parking at airport. 

3 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Great post. Thank you for being thoughtful rather than reactionary.

I googled the following in ten seconds:

 

"cruise employee salary maritime labor law"

https://www.google.com/search?q=cruise+employee+salary+maritime+labor+law&ei=A0lYZM-PB_KL0PEP_euFyA0&start=10&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwiPnc-AwuT-AhXyBTQIHf11AdkQ8NMDegQIBhAW&biw=1565&bih=872&dpr=1

 

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/pay-salary/how-much-do-cruise-ship-workers-make

 

https://highseascruising.com/how-much-do-cruise-ship-workers-make/

 

https://www.businessinsider.com/carnival-royal-caribbean-norwegian-median-worker-pay-2019-6

 

"Carnival and Royal Caribbean paid their median employee less than $20,000 in 2018"

 

"1. Food service worker

National average salary: $31,798 per year

Primary duties: Food service workers are in charge of food and beverage preparation, storage and service. They should enjoy working with people and have basic math skills. They report to restaurant managers and usually work nontraditional hours, especially for opening shifts."

 

So $31,000 per year.... they work every single day, no days off, most split shifts 10-12 hours per day

For 3rd world workers that's good money. Look up there cost of living back home. 

1 minute ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

Excellent points

 

Everyone knows the price would be more if they got real pay and not tip pay.

I disagree. 

 

I think half don't care

I agree... probably more

 

and the other half would feel better paying more upfront if they knew 100% the crew were getting it all.

Totally disagree.

 

Go back to the last ten years of posts on this forum and read every single tip/salary discussion.

Ignorance is bliss.

Well I don't make six figures. The amounts I have read they make total per month with free room and bord seem OK to me. So I don't get the endless "those poor cruise ship workers" stuff that folks spill around here. Lots of people have it hard. Lots have low paying jobs. I tip what I can. Nothing extra. Just because I really can't. But these workers are no worse off then a lot of people I know. I can't go on a trip and fix the world's problems. Took 6 years to save for my trip. Life's tuff for many.

4 minutes ago, Hoopster95 said:

I'd be insulting you if I instructed you on how to use "google".

 

What I am getting at is that the entire cruise industry has been a joke in not paying an appropriate salary to employees in order to falsely advertise low prices for cruises to us, the ignorant public. Those "gratuities" are what supplements the extremely low mandated wages

I'm so sorry according to your posts we "don't understand" and are "ignorant". 

Just now, Hoopster95 said:

I'd be insulting you if I instructed you on how to use "google".

 

What I am getting at is that the entire cruise industry has been a joke in not paying an appropriate salary to employees in order to falsely advertise low prices for cruises to us, the ignorant public. Those "gratuities" are what supplements the extremely low mandated wages

Nobody is ignorant. Everyone knows the price would be more if they got real pay and not tip pay. I think half don't care and the other half would feel better paying more upfront if they knew 100% the crew were getting it all. 

Just now, Hoopster95 said:

 

Nope. The average cruise ship "worker" earns approx $2-3 per hour.

Why do you think every single Cruise ship in the World, other than NCL in Hawaii, is registered in off shore countries? Now figure out American minimum wage for 2000 employees on an Oasis Class ship, and see where your cruise fare ends up. And we see sooooooo many Americans lined up at Royal Caribbean trade shows trying to get a job as a cabin steward.

Who said pay them American wages

Bottom line. If the job and pay are not good enough they can go work elsewhere in there home country. And I got news for you. They ain't gonna pull in the same money a month in a rice field.