Autotipping Question

[rs12065]

We will be on the Allure in April, 2012 and have chosen My Time Dining. Being as this is our first cruise ever on Royal Caribbean (many cruises on Princess, Celebrity and even one on Carnival) does the mandatory prepaid gratuities policy also cover room attendants and anyone else who should be tipped outside of barkeeps, bar attendants, etc. who get the automatic 15% gratuity added to each purchase. On the other cruiselines, the autotip policy does include all that I have inquired about.

 

Thanks

[ryano]

We will be on the Allure in April, 2012 and have chosen My Time Dining. Being as this is our first cruise ever on Royal Caribbean (many cruises on Princess, Celebrity and even one on Carnival) does the mandatory prepaid gratuities policy also cover room attendants and anyone else who should be tipped outside of barkeeps, bar attendants, etc. who get the automatic 15% gratuity added to each purchase. On the other cruiselines, the autotip policy does include all that I have inquired about.

 

Thanks

 

prepaid gratuities will include your room attendant, waiter and assistant and head waiter :) I think it all goes into a "pool" and also other staff are paid out of that pool as well

[Ashland]

MTD prepaid tips (mandatory) does not include your cabin steward..However you do have an option of prepaying all your gratuities prior to your cruise..Or once onboard you can have them added to your SeaPass account.. You also can pay your tips in cash...RCI does have options other cruiselines do not... Do what ever works out best for you..

[bajathree]

MTD prepaid tips (mandatory) does not include your cabin steward..However you do have an option of prepaying all your gratuities prior to your cruise..Or once onboard you can have them added to your SeaPass account.. You also can pay your tips in cash...RCI does have options other cruiselines do not... Do what ever works out best for you..

 

When you choose MTD you have to pre-pay your gratuities....and yes they do included your cabin steward.

[Ashland]

When you choose MTD you have to pre-pay your gratuities....and yes they do included your cabin steward.

Whoops misunderstood :o..Thanks for highlighting it in "RED" !! I'm always used to tipping my cabin steward in cash.

[Dinkachu]

MTD prepaid tips (mandatory) does not include your cabin steward..However you do have an option of prepaying all your gratuities prior to your cruise..Or once onboard you can have them added to your SeaPass account.. You also can pay your tips in cash...RCI does have options other cruiselines do not... Do what ever works out best for you..

 

I looked on the RRCL website and could not figure out how to pre-pay gratuities. I am probably missing something small. Would you mind sharing how I pay the tips for our upcoming Allure trip?

[island lady]

MTD prepaid tips (mandatory) does not include your cabin steward..However you do have an option of prepaying all your gratuities prior to your cruise..Or once onboard you can have them added to your SeaPass account.. You also can pay your tips in cash...RCI does have options other cruiselines do not... Do what ever works out best for you..

 

Yes, your cabin steward is included. ALL tips are included when you select MTD. Hense the individual envelopes that are left in your cabin the night before disembarkation with the extra page of coupons on them that shows "pre-paid" grats. You choose to either give those to each person with the coupon in them, or just simply know they are already paid and don't use them.

 

Me: I pad those envelopes with extra cash along with the coupons for each person that has given me what I consider above average service.

Or if sub par....left as is.

[rs12065]

Thanks to all who replied. The answer was what I expected but good to know for sure. I was half expecting this to become a thread about "tipping or not tipping" and getting some holier-than-thou advice on giving proper gratuities. Thanks again all for your help.

[Dayenu]

Why the OP said "On the other cruiselines, the autotip policy does include all that I have inquired about." - room attendant is included in auto-tipping on Princess. Each website has a detailed list of employees included in auto-tipping.

[rs12065]

Dayenu, thank you for your input. I now have "enough" good info

[negc]

I looked on the RRCL website and could not figure out how to pre-pay gratuities. I am probably missing something small. Would you mind sharing how I pay the tips for our upcoming Allure trip?

 

If you sign up for My Time Dining before you board the ship, you will pay your tips at the time you make final payment. If you wait until you board the ship and sign up for MTD at that time, your tips will be added to your onboard account. Unless you are in MTD, you can always, if you prefer, pay your tips in cash. If you are in traditional dining, you can sign a form that authorizes the line to add your tips to your onboard account. You will receive that form in your stateroom sometime after your cruise is underway. I believe that your TA can indicate to Royal Caribbean that you wish to prepay your gratuities but I am not sure that the on-line check-in page on the non-TA website allows you to do it on your own.

[Langley Cruisers]

Actually, if you want to get sticky or talk semantics ;) , Royal does not have "Auto tipping", which to me, means the amount is automatically charged to your onboard account each day of your cruise. Royal does not do that.

 

There are three tipping options on RCI:

 

1. Prepaid - mandatory when choosing My Time Dining. The amount is paid before you even leave home, no additional tiupping to the four included staff are necessary. You will still receive "vouchers" and envelopes; these state that you have already paid your gratuities, and you may add extra cash to the envelope if you wish, or simply hand the crew member the envelope and voucher with nothing more added, or not give them the voucher at all. They know who has prepaid, and they will receive your tips.

 

2. Onboard account - you can choose to have your tips added to your onboard account. You may do this as a convenience at the Customer Relations desk; a good option if you'd rather not deal with the cash.

 

3. In cash to those who have served you. Suggested gratuity guidelines are on RCI's official website in the FAQ's.

.

[DonnaK]

OP: I just wanted to add that when you've prepaid your tips, RCI will place vouchers and envelopes in your cabin on the second-to-last night. These are optional - you do NOT have to hand them out. The appropriate people will receive their share of the tip whether they have the voucher or not (they also get a list of who pre-paid, so they know that you didn't stiff them). The vouchers are provided because some people like to have something to hand out - they like to enclose a personal note of thanks, or additional cash.

[swedish1]

Why is it that My time Dining tips are mandatory and not for traditional Dining?

[DonnaK]

Why is it that My time Dining tips are mandatory and not for traditional Dining?

 

Because with traditional dining, you have the same servers every night, so you know who to tip.

 

With MTD, you can have many different servers, so the tips are collected and distributed amongst all the servers for you.

[cb at sea]

You are done with tipping (except for room service delivery) when you prepay or do MTD. Every drink you buy will have 15% added to it.

 

All of the "recommended" folks who need to be tipped are covered under the pre-pay option. You're done! Relax!

[Dinkachu]

If you sign up for My Time Dining before you board the ship, you will pay your tips at the time you make final payment. If you wait until you board the ship and sign up for MTD at that time, your tips will be added to your onboard account. Unless you are in MTD, you can always, if you prefer, pay your tips in cash. If you are in traditional dining, you can sign a form that authorizes the line to add your tips to your onboard account. You will receive that form in your stateroom sometime after your cruise is underway. I believe that your TA can indicate to Royal Caribbean that you wish to prepay your gratuities but I am not sure that the on-line check-in page on the non-TA website allows you to do it on your own.

 

THANK YOU. We are not in MTD but want to pre-pay the tips and then we'll tip cash for extra tips.

[gerif]

You are done with tipping (except for room service delivery) when you prepay or do MTD. Every drink you buy will have 15% added to it.

 

All of the "recommended" folks who need to be tipped are covered under the pre-pay option. You're done! Relax!

 

Unless you choose to order from room service in which case you should be prepared to tip the person who delivers your order - $2-5 depending upon how much you order.

[Langley Cruisers]

Unless you choose to order from room service in which case you should be prepared to tip the person who delivers your order - $2-5 depending upon how much you order.

 

Isn't that what she said? :)

.

[gcvt]

I learn something new every day. I had no idea this covered our stateroom attendant. I figured MTD prepaid grats just meant dining staff. We'll still bring small bills for airport staff, room service and exceptional towel animals of course :)

[sparky-elpaso]

I learn something new every day. I had no idea this covered our stateroom attendant. I figured MTD prepaid grats just meant dining staff. We'll still bring small bills for airport staff, room service and exceptional towel animals of course :)

 

It covers all dining staff - including the Windjammer, etc. - since staff works various venues and some of the behind the scenes folks that you don't see.

[brfan]

It covers all dining staff - including the Windjammer, etc. - since staff works various venues and some of the behind the scenes folks that you don't see.

 

I don't believe there is a special tip for behind the scenes staff on Royal, since the recommended amounts include: Head Waiter, Waiter, Assistant Waiter and Stateroom. Other cruise lines, such as Celebrity have an amount listed for "other" which would cover these behind the scenes people, but Royal Caribbean does not. Now that doesn't mean that the tipped crew don't give a portion of their tips to someone else, but that isn't information that Royal provides to passengers.

 

This is understandable since Royal Caribbean does not have autotipping, so it would mean that passengers who opt to tip in cash would have to go around and tip these behind the scenes people themselves. Not something I can see too many people on vacation doing.

[MrsPete]

Think about it like this: Auto-tipping is all or none. You cannot choose to auto-tip your dining room staff, yet pay your room attendant in cash. What you do for one, you do for all.