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Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas Gratuity, inflation hits the high seas


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always being that when not in aussie waters, i think from memory the price of a beer in US$ + tip is equivalent to what we pay onboard about $ 7.95 for a corona.

 

So does this mean that American products are 20% cheaper than Oz ?

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Was considering a cruz on the Symphony of the Seas until I read this

"any drink purchased on the cruise come with the addition of an 18 percent auto-gratuity."

 

Really, 18% for taking the top off a bottle of beer.

Has been this price for some time. I know that doesn't make it right but the only choice you have is an aussie cruise where the gratuity is already included in the price advertised.

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Elsewhere you pay the price plus 18%. Here the 18% is incorporated into the price due to Australian consumer laws. Regardless the price works out the same.

I don't think Australian consumer laws have anything to do with the removal of auto gratuities by cruise lines. They used to charge the gratuities when our laws were the same as they currently are. The gratuities were removed because Australians don't like them. We haven't been brought up with tipping a part of every aspect of daily life. The first to remove them was P&O (I think it was October 2010), followed by Princess in May 2011. From memory, Royal Caribbean charged gratuities when they first operated out of Australia, but later they removed them. This was probably because of customer resistance to the practice.

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I don't think Australian consumer laws have anything to do with the removal of auto gratuities by cruise lines. They used to charge the gratuities when our laws were the same as they currently are. The gratuities were removed because Australians don't like them. We haven't been brought up with tipping a part of every aspect of daily life. The first to remove them was P&O (I think it was October 2010), followed by Princess in May 2011. From memory, Royal Caribbean charged gratuities when they first operated out of Australia, but later they removed them. This was probably because of customer resistance to the practice.

Both Royal and X have the gratuities still included in the price. And as they are both using USD on board the price is no different (perhaps a few cents) from when their ships are sailing elsewhere in our winter. What does change is the advertised price for the drinks in the menus, for else where the beer may be advertised as $6 while for the Aussie cruise it is advertised as $7.10.

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I don't think Australian consumer laws have anything to do with the removal of auto gratuities by cruise lines. They used to charge the gratuities when our laws were the same as they currently are. The gratuities were removed because Australians don't like them. We haven't been brought up with tipping a part of every aspect of daily life. The first to remove them was P&O (I think it was October 2010), followed by Princess in May 2011. From memory, Royal Caribbean charged gratuities when they first operated out of Australia, but later they removed them. This was probably because of customer resistance to the practice.

 

I agree they probably dropped gratuity on the fare because of the backlash from Ozzie’s & kiwis.

 

But I’ve had this argument on Tripadvisor cruise forum for years.

If you buy something in Australia the advertised price is the final price you pay.

It’s the law.(don’t know what law)

 

So you go to your local travel agent and get a cruise,you pay the advertised price ,final price.

But when you are on the ship technically you aren’t in Australia.so they can do what they want.

 

In the USA you see something advertised,you think gee that’s cheap.

But when you pay for it they hit you with all these extra hidden fees and taxes.it could be anything.

Even American I’ve had a discussion with said how did they get their system.

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I don't agree that the reason auto gratuities were ended on Australian-based cruises was because it was against Australian consumer law. If that was the case, the cruise lines were breaking the law for a long time. :DGST has operated in Australia since 1st July, 2000. Auto gratuities were removed by P&O in 2010, Princess in 2011 and Royal Caribbean in January 2017. The cruise companies dropped the gratuities because it was better for business. Aussies objected to the tips and prefer to pay an all-inclusive price.

I don't agree that the auto gratuities were even dropped, I think they were just incorporated into the fare.

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Elsewhere you pay the price plus 18%. Here the 18% is incorporated into the price due to Australian consumer laws. Regardless the price works out the same.

Just confirming my previous comment that I do not agree that the cruiselines had to incorporate the gratuities in their price due to Australian consumer law that requires all taxes to be included in the final price. :DGST has operated in Australia since 1st July, 2000. Auto gratuities were removed by P&O in 2010, Princess in 2011 and Royal Caribbean in January 2017. If the cruise lines had to include gratuities in the quoted price because of consumer laws, they were in breach of these laws for many years. Just as GST doesn't apply on most cruise fares because they are international, the cruise companies do not have to quote an all-inclusive price. It is simply good for business because Aussies are not used to tipping.:D

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I don't agree that the auto gratuities were even dropped, I think they were just incorporated into the fare.

At the time Princess removed the gratuities, I compared prices on several cruises prior to May 2011 with ones after the removal of gratuities. There was not a lot of difference in price. Maybe since then, prices have gradually moved upwards.:D

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Yes, actually they are.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

30 years ago maybe ,when we went to the states we didn’t have enough bags to put our shopping in.

All that good America produce.

Now in this global world we share the same substandard Chinese junk.

 

I always cross reference cruises from Australian agents to us agents and the price is generally the same.

Edited by Chiliburn
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Yes, actually they are.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It depends on what the product is and where you are buying it.

Labour is so much cheaper in the US than here so the cost of living is cheaper than Australia but in the end it is all relative to your income.

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Yes you may think it was a mistake.

We went to a special meat thing in big store as they don’t have butcher shops .

About us$50 half leg us$100 full leg.for NZ lamb.

In the end We got some beef and spuds,which I thought was a bit expensive

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I don't agree that the auto gratuities were even dropped, I think they were just incorporated into the fare.
Yes and by incorporating into fare, those who are diametrically opposed to tipping could no longer remove the gratuities.

 

Cheers

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So I am wondering- I as an American I purchased a cruise through Celebrity, transfer to a agent in the US. The Ship is a transpacific leaving Sydney, are my tips included in the cost or will I be charged each day for them?

 

 

Sent from my SM-T900 using Tapatalk

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So I am wondering- I as an American I purchased a cruise through Celebrity, transfer to a agent in the US. The Ship is a transpacific leaving Sydney, are my tips included in the cost or will I be charged each day for them?

 

 

Sent from my SM-T900 using Tapatalk

I suggest you check your paperwork, but I would think No. This would certainly be the case if you booked through the US X website (your IP address would determine this) and not the Aussie X site.

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  • 2 weeks later...
So I am wondering- I as an American I purchased a cruise through Celebrity, transfer to a agent in the US. The Ship is a transpacific leaving Sydney, are my tips included in the cost or will I be charged each day for them?

 

Your tipping arrangement is the same as any other booking through the US i.e. not generally prepaid (unless part of a promo).

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