Tipping on Rhapsody of the Seas

[irukandjisting]

Ummm - I am really confused now - sooo just coming off a P and O - we tipped at random during the cruise, eg tipped in cash a nice waitress on day 4, again to a waitress in The Atrium and also a waiter in the Casino on day 5, we won a few dollars on the pokies and just handed him some cash as we walked past, he had been watching us play, and then left a tip in the envelope on the bedside table for our cabin steward morning of departure

 

We often don't do the formal restaurant dining - preferring just to buffet at our leisure or do a steak/pizza at our expense

 

Already am feeling bullied into this tipping ordeal - yes, would be better to be like P and O... your choice, as tipping should be

 

So how will the tipping work for us ???

 

(Heres a story - boarded a commuting bus from Las Vegas back to Los Angeles - the driver stopped the bus about 50 ks from LA and walked along to each seat with his hand out demanding a tip - everyone gave one - we were ehhh horrified - he then drove us into LA - and same happened on a 2 day trip NY to Niagara - the courier walked along with hand out and basically demanded a tip, before the bus continued)... we are just not so use to that treatment:rolleyes:

[robinph]

Can anyone confirm that the following is correct, we are about to pay a deposit for our cruise on 27 December 2010 aboard Rhapsody of the Sea and I have questioned the additional $588.00 in Gratuities the travel agent is asking:

 

Royal Caribbean advised info about the tipping. Before each cruise is sold Royal Caribbean work out the gratuities for all passengers. The rate is the same if you pre pay before you cruise or if you wish to pay whilst on board, if you choose to pay whilst on board it is automatically added to your onboard account.

 

If you wish to tip at your own discretion you have to go down to the pursers desk and advise them of this, also give them a reason why you are choosing to tip this way.

 

Is this true???

 

I don't mind tipping but I like to tip those who have personally served me, in addition they charge a 15% gratuity on drinks...and again I would prefer to tip the person who served me accordingly...crapy when my two children have to pay it as well.:mad:[/quote

 

We are about to cruise on the Radiance, we have cruised on Rhapsody and pre paid gratuities as we did not know any better, this time we are travelling with others that have cruised RCCI before, and we will not be pre paying gratuities, evidently they do not automatically charge your account, there is a form in your stateroom, and if you wish to have gratuities charged to your account you fill out the form and take it to the pursers desk, otherwise if you dont fill out the form, you just tip who you want, and what amount you want, this is what we will be doing this time. Robin:)

[tassie cruiser]

When we cruised on Rhapsody,we did not pre pay any gratutities and it was not added on to our onboard account as I thought it may have been and if it was I would have had it removed. (as said above there was an envelope in cabin which you could fill out and take to desk, if you wanted the auto tipping to be added to your account) if you didnt take form down then nothing was added to account... I also prefer (as mentioned above) to tip who I want, when I want and only if I want. Fiona :)

[lorry like a truck]

Well we were on the Rhapsody last year and paid our gratuities like we always have. To whom we want at the end of the cruise. They put a couple of forms they wanted us to fill out in our cabin but we ignored them and paid as we always do.

[happyaussies]

We must have had a good TA as we awere given the option to prepay or not.

 

We have only cruised PRINCESS and our first cruise we paid as normal the subsequently we now pay via envelope who we wish, what we wish when we wish.

 

We shall be again doing this on Rhapsody this time also as we only will have "set" MDR dining option for 6pm

[robinph]

Also Bindi, I'm adding this to Brads info. While you're on the Royal Caribbean site and in your reservation, book a Wine Package if you enjoy a wine at dinner. It's a lot cheaper doing it online before you board the ship.

Enjoy your cruise it's a wonderful itinerary to cruise.

 

Jillybean:)

 

Wine packages are readily available once on board, and probably work out cheaper if you are taking US dollars onboard to pay your account as you are not pre paying for them by credit card which will then include currency conversion charges from your bank, we just did B2B and brought both packages onboard. RCCL make you pay for any pre booked items or tours up front unlike Princess who just put the pre-booked items onto your cruise account.

[gbenjo]

From my experience pre paid gratuities ($11.50 Aus per day, each) are only required when you have My Time Dining. For set time diningyYou can opt out of pre paid at any time before/during the cruise and tip staff as you see fit or leave it in and you are given vouchers for cabin steward and dining room staff which you can hand to the appropriate people and include any "extra" toumay want to give to who ever you feel is deserving . Works for me.

[avalon007]

Hi,

 

We just finished a cruise on Radiance last week & we took USD & tipped at the end of the cruise by placing the amounts in the envelopes provided for the cabin steward, head waiter, main waiter & assistant waiter.

 

They don't deduct it from you account unless you have my time dining.

 

We followed the guidelines but gave a bit extra to the cabin steward & our table waiters & a little less to the head waiter.

 

I wish the Americans would just pay their staff better or include gratuities in the cruise price, but until they do you are stuck with the current system.

 

If you felt the service was awful you could also not tip at all, but we found the service was excellent & you get to know the staff members you see most days, so tipping them directly is more personal than pre paying.

[Genevieve72]

Hope you found the right answer. $3.50 for waiter, $3.50 for stateroom attendant, $2.00 for assistant waiter and 75c for head waiter.

[happyaussies]

Just a thought

can we pay through the envelope system using AUS$ or do we have to go get USA$ for this?

[The_Big_M]

Just a thought

can we pay through the envelope system using AUS$ or do we have to go get USA$ for this?

 

USD is preferred, but given they are likely based here for some time (staff contracts may start/end throughout the season) they'd probably be okay with AUD as they can change it themselves. However, their own accounts and most purchases are in USD.

[subaru94]

Sorry, what do you mean by "organise your gratuities until you are on the ship", does this mean you can pay who you want, how much you want as with P&O?

 

Sorry to be a pain??? Have convinced 2 other families to come with us and am a bit concerned we all now have to add this to our fare..

 

Thanks

Sharon

We have been on the Rhapsody of the Seas twice now, love the ship and the staff, we go to set dining time and at the end of the cruise pay who we want to, they leave envelopes in your cabin 2nd last day or you can go to the pursers desk and ask for envelopes. Hope this helps.