33tekfan

I know someone who does this...not a friend of mine, but an older lady who prepays her tips and then goes down and has them taken off. She thinks that she pays enough for the cruise. It's awful.

I don't understand. She prepays her tips then has them removed? How does she do this? Aren't prepaid tips paid before you even sail? What do they do? Credit her credit card? Why does she bother prepaying them?

Fantastic review. Thank you for taking so much time to provide it for us! I sailed Oasis last year and am booked again for 2016. Loved looking at all the pictures thinking to myself "Oh! I remember that, can't wait to see it again!"...or "I never saw that, I will have to look for it!"

Thanks again!

On ordinary ships my normal routine on a sea day would be to rise at the crack of dawn, have breakfast early and find a deckchair in the shade near one of the main pools or solarium, so that I could relax most of the morning. On this ship, for some reason, there was no pressing urgency to do that, as there were innumerable ways I could relax and enjoy myself, not dependant on finding an ideal chair. Now maybe if you want to lie flat out in direct sunshine, that would be a different matter. However I am ageing disgracefully enough without the help of direct sunlight converting my delicate skin to the appearance of a dried prune… I digress.

 

So a late Breakfast it was in the Opus 3 main dining room with open seating. It took a few minutes to be seated. I seemed to be at the furthest table away from my waiter’s station and I think I got rather forgotten. Perhaps it was the fact that I had the audacity to request an omelette made with the filling I wanted, namely onions, red peppers and tomatoes, none of which were listed as options.

 

 

 

 

He seemed to indicate that it wouldn’t be a problem, but after some 40 minutes had elapsed, it hadn’t arrived. As a section Head Waiter passed I accosted him in the most amiable non-confrontational manner possible concerning the undue delay and his apologies were effusive and seemed sincere. That I had been asking for copies of all the menus and photographing food to write a review may have been a fact with which he had become acquainted through the behind-the-scenes grapevine. Anyway it arrived shortly thereafter and although slightly better than the Wipe Out disaster, it had the characteristic overcooking of the egg and undercooking of the filling. Not to worry; plenty of food to be had everywhere and an under-utilised toaster in the Diamond Club was calling me…

 

As was my wont on this cruise, I spent a lot of the time wandering, sitting a while, soaking up the details that had gone into making the surroundings so stimulatingly special. Had a look at the Zip Line and the Flowriders.

 

 

]

 

 

 

 

 

Then I spent a lot of time photographing menus and drinks lists, and before I knew it - lunch was overdue…

 

 

 

 

I always aim to dine in the MDR on sea days as some of the lunches available on the Brasserie 30 Menu surpass dinner. I don’t know if this is related to the relatively smaller numbers being catered for, but there is just that added sense of freshness to some of the cooking, I think as a consequence of not hanging around as much.

 

 

Well, in a similar fashion to my experience writing and compiling this review, time had run away with me, and 1.30 had come and gone ten minutes since. My best intentions had been thwarted by my own complacency. Oh dear, up to the buffet in the hope of a good curry… There is always at least one on, even if only vegetarian and I have always felt that if vegetarianism ever became compulsory (God forbid), it is the one cuisine that can deliver really tasty and satisfying food without meat. It was a vegetable curry so I went light knowing I had yet to indulge my craving for something relatively recently introduced by Royal Caribbean… something so good and at no additional charge that I do wonder, why are they doing this – it must cost them a fortune. I would gladly pay a few dollars extra for something this good at lunchtime…

 

 

 

 

I speak of course of the famous Kummelweck rolls served in Park Café. What makes them so special? The filling is a triple thickness slow roasted beef that tastes almost as good as the Prime Rib served at dinner. Let me own up right now… I admit I am fussy when it comes to beef, as you may realise when reading my Chops review, where I dined later that evening. So when I praise the beef in the Kummelweck rolls it is because on every occasion it has been juicy, tasty and tender.

 

 

 

There is a choice of ketchup, regular mustard or a mustard relish, which I think is delicious. For some reason they describe it as hot but I think it has just the right piquancy that complements the beef so perfectly.

Oh...the sandwiches at Park Cafe make me swoon! You did not mention the horseradish sauce, is it still available?

Good for you! Enjoy!

That's neiher here nor there, there is no risk of someone knowing if someone stuck a $20 bill in your hand during the cruise and the risk is not for $20 or $50. If all their staterooms gave them tips in cash at the end of the cruise, it could be a good piece of money! It's just like I said previously about servers in a restaurant not reporting all their tips. As a stateroom attendant if I collected lets say $500 in cash handed to me, I am only going to report I got a hundred to go in the pot.

Are you suggesting that service folk are not honest about their tips? LOL! Back when I was a wee high school girl working at a beach hotel near my home, the older staff taught us right away to report only *some* of our tips. We were supposed to check with each other so no one reported too much or too little each day...lol...ahhhhh, good times, good times.

I can guarantee that if you hand someone cash, it's going into THEIR pocket!

 

Just so you know, you should NEVER ask the "tipped person" how the tipping works....it's in their best interest to have you think that they don't get much, if any, of the tips!

Hahaha! I wondered about that...that's a bit like my boss asking me if I make enough ;)

And...like I already stated...that's what I would prefer. If I give my room steward an extra tip above the auto-gratuity, because he was awesome to me and my family, why should he have to share that with a cabin steward 3 decks down who had absolutely no interaction with me or my family?

If I leave my auto-gratuity on and cash tip my waiter $40, my steward $50, and my asst waiter $20 and my next door neighbor removes their tips entirely and leaves no cash, do those three service positions get to keep my cash or do they have to "pool" it to make up for those that opted out entirely?

 

The cruise line really has no way of knowing if the auto-tipper gave extra cash, or the one that removed auto-tips gave lesser, equal, or greater cash. In the scenario above couldn't the steward just as easily say guest A gave autotip and guest B tipped in cash versus guest a autotipped plus cash and guest b gave nothing?

 

I think there is a lot of confusion over this and people feel like their cash tips above the standard amount are being pooled to offset those that had theirs removed. I don't know the correct answer. I would like to believe my cash tips stay with the person they are intended for; I have never removed or reduced the autotip.

Thanks for the reply. If enough people answered that they spoke with their room steward, wait staff, bartender, etc. and had similar answers, I would consider that fairly strong information and maybe there wouldn't be so much confusion or unknown regarding this issue.

My source is my last room attendant. She assured me that as long as I was leaving my auto gratuities, any cash on top of that would belong to her and her alone.

THANK YOU!

*This* is the kind of information I was looking for!:D

Nobody knows. Cash in hand go straight in pocket :D

Which is actually fine by me. I prefer it in fact - if someone does an outstanding job, I think they deserve the extra $$ I leave. That's why I want to know what happens with any cash I leave beyond the auto gratuity.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=42634147#post42634147

This scenario has to do with someone opting out of automatic gratuities, correct?

What about for someone who pays the automatic gratuity and wants to tip additional for outstanding service? Based on the thread you attached, if I give my room steward an additional $50, that is his to keep and does not go into the pool...because it is above the suggested amount (via automatic gratuities).

I still question how people know this, not a lot of folks cite their "source" ;)

But the question the OP ask still reamains who is gonna know if they received any cash?? Do they do a body search on the last night???

:eek: Hahahaha!

But, yes. The question still remains.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&snav=2&faqId=5523&faqSubjectId=415&faqSubjectName=Gratuities&faqType=faq

 

 

Shared ='s pooled

What about cash? And how does anyone but the recipient know?

There is a general consensus on these board as to what happens to cash tips. You can determine that by searching the treads. But, my understanding of the process is based only from what I have "heard" discussed on these treads.

Thank you. That is the point I was trying to make, there are tons of threads about it but they are so conflicting that I don't know who to believe.

If I were to get 50 people say "My room steward said it gets pooled" or something like that....I would think that's a pretty accurate bit of information. Right now, I search for a thread and I see someone will say "It gets pooled" and the next response says "No, it doesn't" but a lot of these folks don't back up where they got their information from.

And I also am curious how anyone knows if someone got a cash tip...that plays into this as well.

Well.. since you are not interested in an "I Heard" account... You won't receive an answer that is sufficient to you... Because, cruise ship employees rarely, if ever, post here. Now there are quite a few of us that have spoken to our stateroom attendants, bartenders and others on the ship that know the answer... but since this is only what I've heard from staff... I won't insult you by posting it here! My suggestion to you is, on your next cruise, ask your stateroom attendant, when you can have a private conversation.

No, that is not an "I heard", you had an actual conversation with someone who is involved. But thanks for the snarkiness! Have a great day!

Can anyone here provide information on what is done with CASH tips received by staff? Are they required to put their cash tips into the "pool" (created by the automatic gratuity charge of $12 day/person) and split among everyone, or are they allowed to keep the cash portion to themselves? Also, how does anyone know if a particular waiter, bartender, room steward, or other staff received a cash tip? Is it the honor system?

I've tried to find an answer on my own, to no avail. I'm not interested in "I heard" responses, I'd like firm information on what is done. Also, this is not a thread about automatic gratuities, no gratuities, extra gratuities, etc... there are enough of those. I want to know what happens to my cash tips that I give.

I usually do a js and the big thing about the tub is the line that goes across where you can hang your wet bathing suits.

They also have those in the shower stalls - though obviously not as long.

Thanks for the response! Much appreciated!

 

He was only hoping he would have another option on this ship. He's not ungrateful or spoiled. If anything, he is the most excited kid I have ever seen to go on cruises. He would not care if he was on the bottom deck in the smallest cabin - he's already said that. But thanks for not judging him (said sarcastically).

:D Go, mom!

There is no reason to allow your child to "roam"...if they want to go from point A to point B...let them...then have them check back in with you before they go on their next adventure. Roaming at will is bad. Doing stuff on their own is good. You need to differentiate between the two. It's called "parenting".

Did you mean for this to be as harsh as it came across?

I'm thinking of loading a certain amount on my 15-yr-old's card primarily for the arcade. If someone could tell me how much the games are I would better be able to judge what that amount should be.

Thanks.

Standard arcade fees: .50 up to a couple of dollars for the "fancier" games.

Does anyone know how much the virgin drinks are? and the Ben and jerrys?

My kids tell me their virgin drinks were $4.60. Ben and Jerry's is roughly the same - depending what they get, similar to an ice cream shop, there are choices :)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1152757

As I said, it'sd a good base to use to come up with your own rules! Happy sailing!

We always use a check in system with our teens. We talk in the morning about their general plan for the day then use check ins based around that.

I understand your wariness since she'll be alone sometimes. Not sure how I would handle that but if she makes friends easily then she won't be alone much :)

As others have mentioned, if you buy the soda package, she won't have to pay for those individually. The only other thing I can think she would spend money at is the arcade or on a virgin drink (my kids LOVE virgin Pina Coladas!). Or Ben and Jerry's :D

There is a contract somewhere on here with rules for teens - has some good suggestions, although not everything may apply to your situation, it's a good base for coming up with your own rules/expectations.

Are the balcony dividers able to be opened between the adjoining Grand Suites on Oasis?

Another way to use the $400 on board credit is NOT to purchase the dining package (if you plan to do this) on line........purchase the dining package (which in our opinion is a very good deal) when you BOARD the ship. This way they will use part of your on board credit - HAPPY CRUISING:)

I have never heard of a dining package....what is that?

You can always add the name later.

So he can book a double right now and add the name of his companion later? What if he doesn't bring anyone? What will he be charged at that point?