the penguins

That's because we RCCI don't use this system. Each ship is a cost center in its own right and each cruise is accounted for separately.

In Sydney a waiter told us in no uncertain terms he was paid and not working for tips. We were dining with locals (relatives) so perhaps he thought we should have known better. Our relatives also told us not to tip taxi drivers. Similar thing happened on Hurtigruten in Norway where our cabin steward point blank refused our tips. Friends in the US tip but only on the meal part excluding the tax, again odd to us as our bills don't show the tax separtely. Our policy is to try to fit in with the locals.

All cabin stewards and waiters will know exactly how many passengers will have removed their auto tips on a particular cruise as it will be reflected in their pay for that cruise. i.e. If a steward knows they have serviced 10 cabins each with 2 guests and only received 18 lots of tips clearly 2 have canceled auto tips. If you read the wording on auto tips it says passengers can ask for a reduction where the service has not been satisfactory. Passengers who always remove the tips are therefore stating that the service is not satisfactory before they have even experienced it. The same passengers they then go on to reward many/some of those same crew members by paying tips directly.

Oh shame we thought you were starting a whole new experience like the ducks that passengers hide on Royal ships. 😂😀

Wow don't know how your " friends" achieve that. Their cabin must be serviced unless they use the same sheets and towels for the whole cruise. Who takes out their trash and cleans their cabin. Do they bring their own food, plates and cutlery? Hope they never have to use a public restroom.

Princess uses the balancing across the fleet and pays every 3 months. Each cruise on Royal (and the same applies to Celebrity) is a cost centre in its own right no pooling or sharing. Royal publishes the facts that tips are distributed to the crew with no deductions. Also the basic pay of crew members doing the same job varies depending on experience and length of service e.g. one Cabin steward will be on say 💲1100 a month and another on 💲1200. The only constant feature for those Stewards is the daily tips. What evidence do you have to support your statements?

Your comment is based on a false assumption. Royal pays a base salary which for arguments sake is 💲1100 per month. In addition it distribributes the auto grats to the crew in the autograts pool (basically members of the housekeeping team). If everyone withheld their autotips in this example the crew member would get their 💲1100 all paid by Royal. If noone withheld their autotips Royal would still pay 💲1100 with the tips comming from the passengers. The only people to suffer when auto tips are withheld are the crew members who passengers have no way of paying directly. Yes your cabin steward, waiter or whoever you choose to tip will be happy. The others, who of course you never have to face, will be working for less. You may not like the system but it is what it is.

Never accept a form for claiming on insurance from a Cruise Line, hotel or any other organisation as it leaves you open to that company saying you accepted the form as settlement. Stand your ground and in X's case complete the official complaint form including the amount you are claiming. Always get a copy of the completed form.

Don't knock Amtrak. We have done Seattle to New York, Boston/Chicago/Dallas and Miami to New York. Wonderful experiences. Book early for a sleeper not a roomette which is very small. The meals are included in the sleeper/roomette prices. Great food and as the boss (Anita) will tell you the best steak she ever had was on Amtrak.

Are you saying you don't tip at all or that you just tip the people you want?

Yes. There are 2 groups of passengers on this and almost every other thread on tips/gratuities. Those who accept that removing the auto grats reduces the "take home" pay of some members of the crew and those that don't. Wether you like the system or not is a different argument. Wether the tips should be included in the basic fare or not is a different argument. Wether tips should be called grats, tips, Crew Appreciation or any other phrase you like is irrelevant. Until Royal and every other major main line cruise company changes their policy on pricing this is the reality. Removing auto tips only affects members of the crew. If you are happy with that fine. We are not, will never remove autograts as they are part of the basic cruise cost and we tip extra.

Not permitted (shorts that is, not women) but nothing is done about it.

That would work. Back into New York and Amtrak down to Florida.

It does exactly what it says on the can. Even with an upgrade don't rely on it mid Atlantic. Live life like it used to be and just enjoy a few days without 24 hours access.

Which was the point the original poster was making i.e. any one who removes the auto gratuities is reducing the "take home" pay of all crew members except the few they choose to tip face to face.

It was PHILLYFAN33579 on Page 2 post number 46 who used the word "slave" nothing whatever to do with me. I would never use the term in respect of any crew member as clearly this is not the case.

The base salary will remain the same but the actual "take home pay" will fluctuate if tips are removed.

Sorry this was posted by mistake - it was supposed to be on a Celebrity thread. Although Royal operate a very similar system I am not 100% sure they are identical. Sorry for any confusion.

Or it could simply be because Celebrity publish how the system works, that all the money is given to the crew that are included in the system, and that Celebrity make no deductions from the amount. Clearly it takes X a little while to sort out the exact amounts due to each person at the end of each cruise which probably accounts why tips are paid out 2 weeks after each cruise ends. With regard to how much any of the major individuals (e.g. waiter, cabin steward) receives you can ask for a list at Guest Services on any ship. If you have Select dining when you check in each night the person escorting you to the table is given a small piece of paper. Once you reach the table that paper is handed to the waiter as it's their record for the tips due for that table for that night. If the paper isn't handed over or you just arrive at the table unescorted just watch and you will see the waiter going to the check in desk to collect it. Nothing is hidden, the system is well thought out and all Celebrity ships operate identically.

We are from the UK, always tip extra. All of our UK friends also tip extra. X's cruises sold in Australia and New Zealand have the tips included (sold as not required) and you therefore can't have the tips removed. In both these countries tipping is not expected and indeed offering a tip is often taken as an insult. Onboard prices are increased to include the tips (again marketed as not required) which in reality increases prices as the figures are rounded up to avoid odd amounts. These differences are just one of the joys of travelling.

Very. In addition, because my wife has to take morpine based pain killers followed by a 30 minute nap at the sametime every day, it's important that the Steward knows to avoid those times. To that end we go to breakfast and dinner at the same every day which means the Steward can work around those schedules. It works to everyone's advantage and every Steward has been delighted with the arrangement.

Not dry cleaning but on Silhouette in May we put in a bag of laundry. The cabin steward phoned and we had the following conversation: S: the laundry says there is a small hole in the red shirt you sent to be washed. M: we didn't send a red shirt. S: after a pause - a red skirt. M: we didn't send a red skirt. S: I will go to the laundry and call back. M: ok. S: now in the laundry. Not a shirt or skirt but a pair of black and red underpants. The pants have one small hole, do you want them washed. M: yes please. When the pants came back they had about 300 holes in them. Down at Guest Relations: M: what happened to my pants to give them all these holes. GR: would you like to make a formal complaint? M: if that's the only way to find out what happened, yes please. The form was completed. By the time I got to the cabin GR had phoned to ask how much the pants cost. The boss (Anita) had helpfully told them the pants were a set of 3 and cost £10. I had to go back and sign the form. GR: how much in 💲. M:💲5 GR: we can't work in 5's can I put 💲10 M: ok. GR: please sign to say you accept the 💲10 and it will be credited to your account by the morning. M: ok, thanks. Next morning the account was credited with💲20

The Elite WiFi minutes are at the faster/surfing rate. AI only includes the basic WiFi. Use one lot of your Elite minutes first then decide if your second lot will be enough or use them as a discount on a package. Sometimes there is a discounted package for the second half of the cruise.

Not usually, pick your drink up at the Passport Bar enroute to the dining room.