Royal Carribbean basically "forced me" to tip waiters I never met!

[Karma5]

Whilst the "Tip" structure is indicated as being for the Table Waiter and the Assistant, as well as the Headwaiter, you must also realise these are the same people that provide service in other areas around the ship. The waiters also work in the Buffett area for breakfast and lunch service. and are supervised by Head waiters. So the tipping is not solely for the evening service. As stated you did have the option to not pre-pay, and therefore tip in cash if you wanted too or not, so nobody actually forced you do to anything.

Sure I hear what you said abot not having cash, but all ships have ATMs and cash can be got from the Casino, and yes you might have been charged a small percentage for getting cash, but only similar to charges made at any foreign exchange.

However as you state that this was not your first cruise, you certainly would have been aware of the tipping policy ( which is similar on most cruise lines ) and therefore you could have prepared yourselves for tipping in cash, if that would be your preference.

Even those that have pre-paid can have those tips removed from their bill, if they feel the service did not deserve the amount spent. Sorry if you felt this policy did not suit you, but I think there were ways that would have enabled you to avoid the situation.

 

I agree with the above, well stated......................

[ryano]

Yay! Another tipping thread! Wheres Joe? :rolleyes:

[Debde]

In an era where a large number of cruisers do not eat in the main dining room, there has to be a better way for cruisers who do not have lots of cash along to tip only those service people who they actually came in contact with. What do you think?

 

I'm thinking your problem was you ran out of cash.

If you do not eat in the MDR and eat at the buffet, you will get to know a waiter or two in the evenings and can tip that person. that person will probably do a lunch or breakfast shift in there so it's easy to tip them-you just need cash!

 

I get it though. budgeting the green stuff sometimes goes off plan!!!;)

 

BTW-It has been cleared up many times on CC over the years-tips are not pooled. Your pre-paid tip goes to your assigned dining choice. Be it My time-early or late-that is the wait staff that gets and keeps your pre-paid tip. If you eat at specialty restaurants, room service and WJ-none of those are getting part of your pre-paid tip. Lesson-tip as you feel comfortable and don't let CC confuse you!!!:p

[Debde]

Yay! Another tipping thread! Wheres Joe? :rolleyes:

 

and Cigar King!!! :D

[family cruisers]

We chose the MY TIME dining and you have to pre pay your gratuities with your booking. I actually like this idea better. This way, one less thing to pay for at the end of the cruise. It's paid for before we even sail.

We personally have never had a problem with any wait staff that we'd even think of having a tip removed. Just grateful not to have to do it all myself for an entire week. We usually always tip extra at the end of the week to those that were our favorites.

Lots of pax "go through their cash"..and the staff gets stiffed for their gratuities.

 

IMO RCI should just simply add the grats to the price of the cruise..pay their staff and allow pax to give tips in excess if the service they received was above and beyond.

 

Far too many crew don't get what they should get from pax if they are allowed to do things on their own.:(

[teajak]

If you hand someone cash, you can bet your bottom dollar that it will NOT be "turned in" to some sort of "pool"....it will go directly into their pocket! I don't know WHERE that rumor got started!

 

Look....the folks are hired KNOWING in advance the way they will get paid and how their tips will work.....so if YOU go by the cruiseline's policy, everything is cool. Everyone gets what they have come to expect.

Totally agree, these people are not fools. When you give them an extra cash tip just for them I certainly expect and want them to keep it.The pre-pay is fine with us and extra to those that deserve it and which is most of them.:cool:

[phoenix1181]

We always prepay gratuities because it makes our lives easier. I always hated tracking down our cabin steward on the last night or feeling like I had to go to the MDR just so I could give them a tip. By prepaying, I don't have to worry about it.

 

I bring thank you cards & give those (with some cash) to those people who have made our cruise more enjoyable because of their great service. It's more personal than the envelopes provided & if we want to give them more than the standard, they're certainly worth the time it takes to find them, thank them, & say goodbye!

[crusinpeg]

I'm thinking your problem was you ran out of cash.

If you do not eat in the MDR and eat at the buffet, you will get to know a waiter or two in the evenings and can tip that person. that person will probably do a lunch or breakfast shift in there so it's easy to tip them-you just need cash!

 

I get it though. budgeting the green stuff sometimes goes off plan!!!;)

 

BTW-It has been cleared up many times on CC over the years-tips are not pooled. Your pre-paid tip goes to your assigned dining choice. Be it My time-early or late-that is the wait staff that gets and keeps your pre-paid tip. If you eat at specialty restaurants, room service and WJ-none of those are getting part of your pre-paid tip. Lesson-tip as you feel comfortable and don't let CC confuse you!!!:p

 

If the dining room waiters rotate and work the WJ as well as the dining rooms then they (Windjammer workers) are in effect sharing in the tips. Are there actually WJ servers that are not part of the main dining staff and receive no tips?...I think not.

People on these boards state they ony eat in the WJ and not the dining room. ..so should not tip..where do these people think the WJ servers are getting their tips from?

[JackWP]

Many years ago we started considering the recommended tips as a part of the basic cost of the cruise and any additional tip to be the actual tip. On a couple of occasions we had workers who were questionable in their service and we didn't let this worry us. We just kept on enjoying the good parts of the cruise.

[Mark_K]

I got off a Royal Carribbean Cruise Ship last week and I am still steaming about the tipping policy. I would like your feedback and advice.

 

So basically we ate at alternative restaurants or the buffet (at in the ports of calls) the entire time we were on the cruise. This is our 6th cruise and we did not have the stomach to sit in the main dining room and make small talk to strangers at our assigned table for two hours in the evenings. We ate our dinners in the buffet.

 

So about five days into the cruise we got material asking us to pay our tips for the cruise. We had no trouble tipping our cabin attendent but they also required we tip our Assistant and Head Waiter. Yes there was an alternative that we pay everyone in cash if we did not want our sign and sail card credit card charged. We had gone through all our cash so we just signed the form for the required tips and basically compensated the waiters at the Main Dining Room we never met.

 

According to the show on the cabin television, believe it or not we were told to hunt down all our service people and hand them the envelop with the voucher or cash on our last day. Does anyone really do that?

 

In an era where a large number of cruisers do not eat in the main dining room, there has to be a better way for cruisers who do not have lots of cash along to tip only those service people who they actually came in contact with. What do you think?

You're steaming because the the optional choice Royal Caribbean gave you to put tips on your SeaPass card is all or none? Meanwhile, if you ran out of cash five days in, you could have gone to the casino and for a modest charge gotten plenty of tip cash to give out to exactly the people you wanted to.

[BecciBoo]

In what way were you forced to tip? RCCL does not REQUIRE any tips at all. It always states that "it is left up to the discretion of the cruiser".

On very rare occasions we have not tipped certain people. We most always like to reward personally all those we feel have served "above and beyond"...but lately, we just appreciate the convenience of putting it on the card. But there is nothing that says you "have" to tip a penny.

[ryano]

Meanwhile, if you ran out of cash five days in, you could have gone to the casino and for a modest charge gotten plenty of tip cash to give out to exactly the people you wanted to.

 

Or cash a personal check up to 200.00 OR just get a cash advance on your onboard account from Guest Services for no modest charge.

[Debde]

People on these boards state they ony eat in the WJ and not the dining room. ..so should not tip..where do these people think the WJ servers are getting their tips from?

 

Who said should not tip??

Tip the WJ staff. If you eat that much in the WJ-as many do-in the evening you get to know your servers. Expecially if you sit in the same section. If you tip that person-end of the cruise like you would your MDR server-who is not getting tipped???

Trust me on this-the servers working evening WJ service are not getting any tips from the MDR staff.

[lady_cruiser]

Deleted by me.

[crusinpeg]

Trust me on this-the servers working evening WJ service are not getting any tips from the MDR staff.

 

Just curious how you are so sure that the WJ staff is not sharing in tips?

 

Forgive me since I am fairly new to the RCCL boards so maybe I don't understand the way they do things but on Princess we are used to the tips (room stewards and well as dining staff) being charged daily to our on board account. They state that this charges covers all dining services ( don't know about room service but everyone usually always gives them a few bucks upon delivery)

So now on my upcoming RCCL cruise (we have MTD with tips charged ahead of time) am I required to tip the WJ staff on top of that if I intend to visit there.

Also what is it that the WJ staff does personally besides bring drinks?

[Debde]

Just curious how you are so sure that the WJ staff is not sharing in tips?

 

Since we often eat dinner in the WJ, you get to know servers and because it is so quiet in there at that time, conversations get started and they will at times tell you about the way the staff works. I've been told many a times-the same thing, tips are not pooled nor shared with them by the MDR staff. Now, knowing you must take what staff tells you with a grain of salt, this is one senario that has always been repeated to me by different servers on different ships. Tells me this one may have some merit!;) Also, many seasoned cruiser have reported the same. No pooling of MDR tips.

 

Again-I've always said, Royal should give you an option of MTD, early or late seating or none of the above. This way folks can eat where they choose and tip those who have served them. with all the new dining options on the larger ships, royal advantage additions and now breakfast and lunch being served in the CL on some ships-they need to change dining option choices with the changes they are making. IMHO :o

[BecciBoo]

So now on my upcoming RCCL cruise (we have MTD with tips charged ahead of time) am I required to tip the WJ staff on top of that if I intend to visit there.

Also what is it that the WJ staff does personally besides bring drinks?

 

 

No, and again, you are not "REQUIRED" to do anything.

[hiccups]

I got off a Royal Carribbean Cruise Ship last week and I am still steaming about the tipping policy. I would like your feedback and advice.

 

So basically we ate at alternative restaurants or the buffet (at in the ports of calls) the entire time we were on the cruise. This is our 6th cruise and we did not have the stomach to sit in the main dining room and make small talk to strangers at our assigned table for two hours in the evenings. We ate our dinners in the buffet.

 

So about five days into the cruise we got material asking us to pay our tips for the cruise. We had no trouble tipping our cabin attendent but they also required we tip our Assistant and Head Waiter. Yes there was an alternative that we pay everyone in cash if we did not want our sign and sail card credit card charged. We had gone through all our cash so we just signed the form for the required tips and basically compensated the waiters at the Main Dining Room we never met.

 

According to the show on the cabin television, believe it or not we were told to hunt down all our service people and hand them the envelop with the voucher or cash on our last day. Does anyone really do that?

 

In an era where a large number of cruisers do not eat in the main dining room, there has to be a better way for cruisers who do not have lots of cash along to tip only those service people who they actually came in contact with. What do you think?

 

I don't understand what you're complaining about. You've cruised before, you know the drill. If you aren't happy with the way RCI does the tipping, then choose another cruise line. Or perhaps an all-inclusive resort with no tipping would be better for you.

 

FWIW, I saw our MDR waiter and assistant waiter working in the Windjammer.

[crusinpeg]

Since we often eat dinner in the WJ, you get to know servers and because it is so quiet in there at that time, conversations get started and they will at times tell you about the way the staff works. I've been told many a times-the same thing, tips are not pooled nor shared with them by the MDR staff. Now, knowing you must take what staff tells you with a grain of salt, this is one senario that has always been repeated to me by different servers on different ships. Tells me this one may have some merit!;) Also, many seasoned cruiser have reported the same. No pooling of MDR tips.

 

Again-I've always said, Royal should give you an option of MTD, early or late seating or none of the above. This way folks can eat where they choose and tip those who have served them. with all the new dining options on the larger ships, royal advantage additions and now breakfast and lunch being served in the CL on some ships-they need to change dining option choices with the changes they are making. IMHO :o

 

Sorry but I'm still confused...If the WJ staff does not share tips with the MD staff...how do they get their tips?? By the few that tip them directly at the end of the cruise or giver a few bucks daily? I though in the buffet you just grab the first available seat..do you really have the same server every day? After reading serveral posts the majority seem to believe that their prepaid tips cover all dining venues?

[SnappyNappi]

I really like the prepaid gratuities... Nothing to worry about and it is paid before I get onboard. I feel that the $10 or $11 a day per person is not nearly what I would pay to each server individually if I tipped everyone every time they helped me. Even if I don't receive Ritz-Carlton level service from one person, I have always noticed that there are 5 more staff onboard who deliver exceptional service to me and my family as well. I believe that everyone should get their piece of my prepaid gratuities (which yes, I have been told by my server on the RCCL cruise last summer, was pooled and divied out to all to share accordingly).

 

However, in addition, I have no problem giving extra to my room steward and exemplary wait-staff if I feel that I receive excellent service from them. I always give them the extra in cash so that if they are able, they can keep it. If it is pooled, I am okay with that too - they understand and know how it works - and I am sure that they do pretty well - but if I do give more, at least I have given that person extra to express my gratitude and they know that I truly appreciated their excellent service. I think that is very motivating to a server or ship-board staff member to feel appreciated. We have become very close to some staff that have taken wonderful care of us, who we in turn have treated well.

[rubrrick]

I believe that the evening WJ staff rotate back to the MDR, so many weeks in the MDR, than one week in the WJ. Otherwise they would not be tipped as the MDR waiters would.

 

I, too believe that Royal Caribbean should have a line on their reservation form where "gratuities, service charges, or whatever they want to call it, is added to your reservation, and paid in full when you do your final payment.

 

I've been using MTD for the past few years, ever since it started, and we rairly go the MDR for dinner, but I know that the standard gratuity will be paid, so it's one less thing I have to worry about on my vacation.

 

In our culture, some have come to believe that they don't need to tip, and that just hurts the staffmembers, most that try so hard to make your vacation enjoyable.

 

And if one feels that paying for gratuities 70 days out is crazy, then the line should adopt the rule, that when your charge card is swiped at the terminal, the gratuities automatically are charged, non reverable, non refundable....period.

 

And if you are paying your account in cash, well, cash needs to be paid for that service in the terminal, again no refunds.

 

That is just one mans thinking! I know some will disagree with me, and feel that it's thier right to deem who they may or may not tip. If Royal Caribbean were to adopt the policy outlined above, crew members would know what to expect, and for service above and beyond the call of duty, one can always hand that person an additional amount of money.

 

Rick

[lysolqn]

I really don't know what all the fuss is about - tips are a cruising fact of life. We consider them a service charge and put them in the same category as "port, taxes and fees" - an integral part of the cost of a cruise which for obvious reasons is separated out from the basic cruise fare. Auto-tipping just makes things easier by eliminating the always annoying and intrusive end-of-cruise envelope headache. Auto-tipping takes care of the basics (If someone we never see and don't know gets a dollar out of the deal, who cares?) and still gives us the opportunity to add a special thanks to those whose service we especially appreciate. Choosing venues other than the main dining room is no more an excuse to refuse to tip than choosing not to disembark in port is an excuse to refuse to pay your share of port charges. JMHO.

[lysolqn]

...I, too believe that Royal Caribbean should have a line on their reservation form where "gratuities, service charges, or whatever they want to call it, is added to your reservation, and paid in full when you do your final payment.

 

Actually, that is already the case with respect to My Time Dining or whatever they call it, and people are always moaning and groaning about having to pay their tips in advance!

[crusinpeg]

i really don't know what all the fuss is about - tips are a cruising fact of life. We consider them a service charge and put them in the same category as "port, taxes and fees" - an integral part of the cost of a cruise which for obvious reasons is separated out from the basic cruise fare. Imho auto-tipping just makes things easier by eliminating the always annoying and intrusive end of cruise envelope headache. Auto-tipping takes care of the basics (if someone we never see and don't know gets a dollar out of the deal, who cares?) and still gives us the opportunity to add a special thanks to those whose service we especially appreciated. Choosing venues other than the main dining room, isn't an excuse to refuse to tip any more than choosing not to disembark in port is an excuse to refuse to pay your share of port charges. Jmho.

 

well said!!

[temple1]

Sorry but I'm still confused...If the WJ staff does not share tips with the MD staff...how do they get their tips?? By the few that tip them directly at the end of the cruise or giver a few bucks daily? I though in the buffet you just grab the first available seat..do you really have the same server every day? After reading serveral posts the majority seem to believe that their prepaid tips cover all dining venues?

 

The dining room staff rotates with the Windjammer. I know it bugs a lot of people but if everyone were to follow the recommended tipping guidelines published by RCCL all waitstaff would be tipped. They might not get it the week they are in the WJ but the next time they are scheduled for the MDR they will be tipped. If you like certain waitstaff you can give them extra.