Celebrity asking to prepay gratuities

[LPast50]

If you do Select dining, and pre-pay the tips, you will be prepaying ALL of them...even your room attendant.

 

Sign up for the Late Seating and when you board change to Select Dining...then you don't have to pay for the Gratuities with your final payment...at least that's what some friends did on our last cruise.

[sandancer]

Have been on 2 X cruises this year and chose Select Dining, pre-paid the tips and had no problem with that. I was told that if you choose Traditional dining the tips are added to the shipboard account on a daily basis but that you can REMOVE or REDUCE them if you choose to. Several waiters confirmed this and said they, along with the room attendant are notified if a guest removes the tips. They mentioned that some people remove the tips and tell them that they prefer to pay in cash at the end of the cruise and then don't go to dinner on the last night. One waiter on Equinox told us about a family of 6 who removed the tips and did not know the waiter was aware of this. They made a big show of presenting him with a tip envelope on the last night which they said was "a little extra", it turned out to have a $20 bill in it for the wait staff to share. All the wait staff we spoke to said they were very happy with the Select dining option, they knew they would get the tips and we found the service to be excellent - they could not do enough.

[gamesstate]

What is Select Dining vs Traditional Dining? (begginers question)!!

[cruzeluver]

One waiter on Equinox told us about a family of 6 who removed the tips and did not know the waiter was aware of this. They made a big show of presenting him with a tip envelope on the last night which they said was "a little extra", it turned out to have a $20 bill in it for the wait staff to share.

 

That truly makes me ill. That family is incurring some really bad karma.

 

What is Select Dining vs Traditional Dining? (begginers question)!! Today 04:28 PM

 

With select dining you show up at the dining room anytime that its open. Traditional dining is set where you dine at either main or late seating every night at the same table with the same waitstaff.

[dzcruisers]

I am so happy that X now automatically adds the tips to my onboard account. It's far easier than those envelopes used to be.

If I choose to tip extra which I do if my room steward is exceptional or my MDR staff is exceptional then I just fold up a bill and hand it to them the last night. This is in addition to the minimal onboard tips charged daily to my account.

I consider it a convenience for me.

I understand that most people just don't likie change or something that they haven't thought through or hasn't been explained.

Select has been selling out (for lack of a better word). If you want to use onboard credit for tips then you can book early or late and go to the dining room to change as soon as you get onboard. That way your onboard credit would be used for your tips. That is if select is available.

[jagoffee]

After reading this thread and many others on the subject of prepaying for Select dining, it does appear that Celebrity could make a group of cruisers happier if they allowed the tips to be paid from their account, so that OBC could be used to cover the expense. They could still have the policy that they cannot be removed or reduced. They could require it to be prepaid only if one wanted to make a reservation before boarding. (cost vs benefit) That might be a good balance. Those that are willing to prepaid can get the best dining times. For me the current policy is no issue because I always spend way more than my OBC and I never remove or reduce the tips. I usually give some extra to most of the staff. But I still suspect that this would not make everyone happy. I think that the only way that Celebrity will ultimately resolve this issue is make the tips a service charge for each person with no option to remove or reduce. I am very comfortable with the fact that comments card and management can resolve any service issues with the appropriate feedback. Then the market will dictate if this is acceptable. Those that wish to use the tips as leverage with the staff can cruise on other lines that allow them to do it. I cruised on the Xpedition which is all exclusive and I thought it was excellent.

[Alean]

Anybody heard about Celebrity asking passengers to prepay gratuities with their final payment?

 

 

We have prepaid because we are eating at open seating. By prepaying they assure the wait staff get tips when our party is sitting at different tables each night.

[SeaCod]

We have prepaid because we are eating at open seating. By prepaying they assure the wait staff get tips when our party is sitting at different tables each night.

 

Yea, finally someone came up with the right answer. Tips are paid in advance as you may not have the same waitstaff each evening. The cruiseline is just protecting those who work in Select Dining and make it easier for passengers who otherwise would have to seek out various waiters to tip on the last evening.

[Harley Granny]

I puposely prepaid the graduities when I 1st made the reservations. Just so I had everything I could think of paid before we sailed.

Then when I discoverd they put us at the 8:30 seating. When I called to change, the 6:00pm seating was already full.

I easily changed it to Select.

I like the prepaid gratuities. And if I wish to tip more, I can always pick up extra envelopes to do so.

This is not a big deal to me. I don't see what all the fuss is about.

 

 

And SeaCod...just out of curiosity...what is the difference between the answer in post #32 and post #5? Same thing I think.

[SeaCod]

And SeaCod...just out of curiosity...what is the difference between the answer in post #32 and post #5? Same thing I think.

 

My apologies to Steamboats for missing his/her answer.

[verodoodle]

If i prepay tips due to choising select dinning - do i receive envlopes and who do I give them to if i've had different servers each night.

 

I have always done traditional dinning on Royal and this will be our first on Celebrity

[Shirley and Les]

Sign up for the Late Seating and when you board change to Select Dining...then you don't have to pay for the Gratuities with your final payment...at least that's what some friends did on our last cruise.

Out of curiosity, why would someone go to this effort? :confused: :confused: Either prepaid or added to your shipboard statement, the tips are the same. It is merely a matter of when they get paid.

 

If I wanted Select Dining, I sure wouldn't sign up for some other option at the time of booking and then hope Select is still available once I board the ship. The few dollars worth of interest that I might lose on the value of my prepaid gratuities as part of the final payment would be nothing compared to not being able to get my preferred dining choice.

 

Can someone help me with the logic here?

[fleckle]

Out of curiosity, why would someone go to this effort? :confused: :confused: Either prepaid or added to your shipboard statement, the tips are the same. It is merely a matter of when they get paid.

 

If I wanted Select Dining, I sure wouldn't sign up for some other option at the time of booking and then hope Select is still available once I board the ship. The few dollars worth of interest that I might lose on the value of my prepaid gratuities as part of the final payment would be nothing compared to not being able to get my preferred dining choice.

 

Can someone help me with the logic here?

I'll try.

 

Frankie Sue explained it in post #22, but it is easy to see how the explanation could have been overlooked, since it got buried in the middle of such a long discussion.

 

It is not a matter of when the tips get paid but rather a matter of how they get paid.

 

It has nothing to do with losing interest. When you say "the tips are the same" it is only the amount that is the same. The source of the money is different in each case. You cannot use onboard credit to prepay tips (or anything else) because you do not have the onboard credit until you are on the ship. So if you want to pay for your tips with onboard credit, you must wait until you are actually on the ship to do so.

[dalitos]

I don't see the difference between Select and Traditional dinner arrangements in regards to prepaying tips. In both settings you receive service every night (does it really matter if it is the same group of people every night or not?), and in both settings you should tip.

Why can't Select dinners have the tips added to their onboard account every day? Does X fear Select dinners will more often remove those tips than Traditional dinners? Will it be morally easier for Select to remove tips since not the same servers every night?

I think this difference between Select and Traditional doesn't make sense and am still trying to figure out what is really X's reasoning on this. Call me cynical but I don't think X is trying to avoid people stiffing their staff. I think there will be as many people that don't tip on Select than on Traditional.

Personally, I wish X will just include tips on the fare of the cruise, or make everyone prepay gratuities regardless of dinner arrangement. Why aren't they? Because they don't want to increase their fares. To me it makes no difference to pay fare of $1000 + $200 gratuities, so why not pay $1200 to begin with. But to those who are not tipping, it does make a difference, as they will end up only paying the $1000.

By not adding tips on the fare of the cruise or demanding prepayment, X is actually allowing people to continue removing their tips.

Bottom line: either tips are prepaid/included for everybody (my choice), or they are added to the onboard account for everybody (fair to those wishing to use OBC).

[esther e]

It doesn't matter to us. It's the same money, just at a different time. I'd prefer not to have it put on our shipboard account...I feel I have enough on there as it is.:(

[derf5585]

It doesn't matter to us. It's the same money, just at a different time. I'd prefer not to have it put on our shipboard account...I feel I have enough on there as it is.:(

 

And why do we have to pay for a cruise before we even take it?

[Shirley and Les]

I'll try.

 

Frankie Sue explained it in post #22, but it is easy to see how the explanation could have been overlooked, since it got buried in the middle of such a long discussion.

 

It is not a matter of when the tips get paid but rather a matter of how they get paid.

 

It has nothing to do with losing interest. When you say "the tips are the same" it is only the amount that is the same. The source of the money is different in each case. You cannot use onboard credit to prepay tips (or anything else) because you do not have the onboard credit until you are on the ship. So if you want to pay for your tips with onboard credit, you must wait until you are actually on the ship to do so.

I understand about using onboard credit to pay tips. However, unused onboard credit is credited to your shipboard account when you depart the ship so it isn't a "use it or lose it" situation.

 

The "source" of the money is the same in either case. It is the passenger paying the tariff.

 

Again, I don't see why someone would put their preferred dining selection in jeopardy of not being filled by waiting until the last moment to make that selection. You select your cabin when you book your cruise. Why not make your preferred dining selection then also?

[TenerifeSharon]

Just from our recent experiences -- we decided to change to Select Dining once we boarded Constellation. Actually we might have stayed with our Late Seating reservation, but the line was so long to see the Maitre'd, and we didn't want to wait quite a while to see him to get the smaller table we had requested and not been allocated. Instead, we went to the Hostess at the Select Dining "check-in" at around 1 PM. We changed to Select Dining and from that point on, the gratuities were debited to our onboard account on a daily basis, not the entire sum in advance. Actually, at that point, it made no difference, as the onboard account isn't settled until the last day anyway. (Or maybe in "segments" for those who run up a humongous sum!!:D Maybe since our bill is never THAT high, we arent't included in that partial-payment category.)

[Cruise Arizona]

Well a thought came into my head when I saw this thread again today....

 

On the last cruise we took with Celebrity I complemented our staff in the MDR and told them how much I enjoy traditional dining and how much I was impressed that Celebrity still had a great traditional dining experience. In that particular instance I was more referring to Traditional Dining vs Specialty dining with an extra charge. The waiter told me that many of Celebrity's customers express a like for traditional dining so they have been trying to maintain high standards in the traditional dining experience.

 

 

So now to my crazy thought about this thread. Is it possible that Celebrity in trying to maintain that high standard is trying to steer as many guests as possible to the traditional fixed seating times, so that they have a smaller number of guests that need to be accommodated in the Select dining?

 

Just a thought? Feel free to poke holes in my theory, as I'm not sure it is made out of any thing more than swiss cheese.

[jagoffee]

Well a thought came into my head when I saw this thread again today....

 

On the last cruise we took with Celebrity I complemented our staff in the MDR and told them how much I enjoy traditional dining and how much I was impressed that Celebrity still had a great traditional dining experience. In that particular instance I was more referring to Traditional Dining vs Specialty dining with an extra charge. The waiter told me that many of Celebrity's customers express a like for traditional dining so they have been trying to maintain high standards in the traditional dining experience.

 

 

So now to my crazy thought about this thread. Is it possible that Celebrity in trying to maintain that high standard is trying to steer as many guests as possible to the traditional fixed seating times, so that they have a smaller number of guests that need to be accommodated in the Select dining?

 

Just a thought? Feel free to poke holes in my theory, as I'm not sure it is made out of any thing more than swiss cheese.

 

I am not really sure that just the fact of prepaying discourages too many people from using Select, but it would be a few. I think the idea of some kind of flexible dining is an overall trend that many people value. The idea of Select allowing one to make reservations at a certain time in advance is Celebrity's innovative idea. I beleive that is has some added value and prepaying is better than having a charge for it IMO. As I said previously if Celebrity thought that they could maintain their market they would make the charge a service charge and make everyone pay it no matter how they chose to dine. I am convinced that this would be better for the staff overall, but is too sensitive of an idea to implement with potential negative ramifications for the overall business.

[jackdiamond]

Irrespective as to the nomenclature, we love prepaid or auto gratuities, since it separates the stiffers from the reasonable cruisers.

[lobster129]

Travel insurance for $10 per day gratuities??

 

Anyway in the UK if you cancel you get a refund of your prepaid service charge, because you won't be benefitting from service on board; and you also get a refund of your port taxes, as you won't be visiting any of the ports.

I assume it would be the same in the USA.

 

 

Actually tips are now $11.50 to 12.00/ day/person. But the issue is if I am paying 1200/pp for cruise at 300/pp for air I can now get travel insurance based on $1500/pp or less not-reimbursible expenses.

 

If my cruise and air price jumps to $1501 or more it puts my travel insurance in a higher tier and I pay MUCH more...but would need to include the tips if they cannot be reimbursed IF cancellation occurred after final payment. Hope this kinda makes sense!:rolleyes:

[UandMe4Ever]

It doesn't matter to us. It's the same money, just at a different time. I'd prefer not to have it put on our shipboard account...I feel I have enough on there as it is.:(

Personally, I think if all tips were prepaid upon final payment, no matter what ship, the servers know they'll be tipped and not have to worry. I think service would improve, if needed. Also, it's great not to have such a big chunk of money at the end of the cruise on your card in addition to everything else spent.

 

In the alternative, the ships could do what NCL does: auto tip every day ~ No one gets screwed out of money the work hard for.

 

I like the fact that with RCCI you can book excursions on line, pay it right then w/ your credit card and its paid before sailing! Again, less money on the seapass card.

 

Tipping fees are now up a bit, with NCL being $12. p/p p/day...On our 14 night cruise it was quite a bit of money. Luckily, we had an OBC of $400...Sweet. We still managed to spend a few hundred $$$ over that! Had a great time and NO, it wasn't on too much drinking LOL

 

JMO ~Thanks

[C 2 C]

However, unused onboard credit is credited to your shipboard account when you depart the ship so it isn't a "use it or lose it" situation.

 

Unfortunately this is no longer the case. If you received an OBC for booking your cruise while on board a previous cruise or for the Stockholder's credit, I believe the credit evaporates when not used. On the other hand the OBC received from your TA is refundable. If your gratuities are prepaid, and you do not consume sufficient alcohol, gamble nor book excursions, you either have to withdraw your OBC from the casino at a 3% discount, or lose it.

 

Add me as one of those who don't understand why Celebrity makes a distinction between Open seating and Traditional diners. I believe that as soon as you step on board, everyone should be automatically charged the full amount of the gratuities/service charge without anyone having the option of removing the charge. For the duration of the cruise you will have your food served in casual, traditional or open dining, your stateroom will be cleaned and maintained. Any problems should be taken up with customer relations or the appropriate management.

I now see the problems of tip prepayment associated with insuring the cost of the cruise when the amount might not be recoverable depending on the carrier.

Under the present system I cannot understand the connection between prepaying the stateroom attendant and "management fees" when making a choice between two types of dining that in theory should involve a payment for prebooking and assigning staff allocations in the "open" dining room.

 

 

[itsanita]

"Gratuities For your convenience, we will automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard Seapass account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion: $11.50 per person per day for guests in staterooms ($12.00 per person per day for guests in Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms and $15.00 per person per day for guests in Suites)."

 

The above is what is on the Celebrity Website. So I guess this means that the money will be divided between: waiter, assistant waiter, steward.... who else?

 

We have always had great stewards... hope this continues since it seems that their tip is assured. Of course, we can always add or subtract.