WOW ! Up To 400 People Remove Gratuities

[Ocean Boy]

On this subject, my opinion differs. A direct reward is surely more satisfying than an indirect one. I've been a waitress. I know the good feeling from receiving a tip. A direct reward reinforces great behavior more than a monthly paycheck does.

 

Well, some of us prefer the good feeling that we get from direct tipping but plenty on this board don't seem to get it.

[Ocean Boy]

Only the ones who refuse to tip.

 

No, even some of the ones who do tip. They can only see things their way with no tolerance for anyone who differs with their point of view or method of doing things. Tipping, dress code, smoking. Other than changing the topic the threads all read the same.

[caribbean sailor]

On our last cruise we paid our gratuities on our account and that seemed to work fine . We tipped the suite steward and head waiter and maitre d the suggested gratuity and a bit more . But our regular table waiter was awful so we did give him gratuity but only a small amount as we didn't feel he deserved it .

Some people may frown on this but I'm sorry he really did not deserve it !!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Why would you care if some people frown on what you feel is right. :)

 

SENT USING MY CHEAP OLD RAZR PHONE. :D

[Yillup]

Why are you arguing with that person? I too saw the post they mentioned, right here on Cruise Critic. And, the location of many posters is listed in their profile.

 

Thank you styxfire for sticking up for me. :)

 

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Forums mobile app

[nanwel]

I think the word "tip" has been lost at sea!!!

Adding it to my account and making me pay, encourages me to feel the staff are getting ripped off by the line.

I have been on Seabourn, where "no tipping is expected"!

But, have never had a staff person run after me and say, oops, I did not want/earn/need the extra cash you left on my table/bed/hand etc. I am sure that they are all paid better than on RC.

Do they pay only minimum wage, and expect us to make up the difference? And what country is the registry and what is min wage??

I realize that we do not see all the crew members, what about the poor people doing dishes/laundry etc, we cannot tip everyperson on board that works to make our trip a great memory!

Shame on the cruise line for making us feel guilty for the ones that did not tip, and making us prepay. It took away the right to feel the pleasure of thanking staff members that made our cruise great.

My brother always believed that if you tip the first day, you get better service,and then add extra mid cruise if they are great, do not wait until the end, you may only get so so service, because they do not know if you are ones that "skip out" before tipping!!

Last time I cruised,in the rush to leave the ship and make my flight, I got all the way to the airport, and found I forgot to hand in my evaluation!!

Oops sorry, but at least they had the darned prepaid tip!

[28 Frediebeach]

I think the word "tip" has been lost at sea!!!

Adding it to my account and making me pay, encourages me to feel the staff are getting ripped off by the line.

I have been on Seabourn, where "no tipping is expected"!

But, have never had a staff person run after me and say, oops, I did not want/earn/need the extra cash you left on my table/bed/hand etc. I am sure that they are all paid better than on RC.

Do they pay only minimum wage, and expect us to make up the difference? And what country is the registry and what is min wage??

I realize that we do not see all the crew members, what about the poor people doing dishes/laundry etc, we cannot tip everyperson on board that works to make our trip a great memory!

Shame on the cruise line for making us feel guilty for the ones that did not tip, and making us prepay. It took away the right to feel the pleasure of thanking staff members that made our cruise great.

My brother always believed that if you tip the first day, you get better service,and then add extra mid cruise if they are great, do not wait until the end, you may only get so so service, because they do not know if you are ones that "skip out" before tipping!!

Last time I cruised,in the rush to leave the ship and make my flight, I got all the way to the airport, and found I forgot to hand in my evaluation!!

Oops sorry, but at least they had the darned prepaid tip!

I totally agree with you.In my opinion tips are earned not expected.

[heatherbelle]

I too removed our tips from our account. I didn't care for the fact that they were put into a pot. I gave over and above tips in cash to our servers and stateroom hosts.

[DirtyDawg]

I thought that I would never say this, but from reading this thread lately, I'm starting to miss those Dress Code threads.:eek:

;)

[Emmski35]

I personally like the prepaid gratuities, pardon my French, but I can't be a**ed on the last night to go running around looking for my head waiter and room steward etc etc, it's the last night and sometimes all we do is eat in the buffet and go for a few drinks and do our own thing! Maybe it's a uk thing, but I find the whole thing really cringey. I do tip for room service and of course if I catch my butler/room steward on the last night we always give them something for good service if we feel the need, but for us, pre paid is the way to go! :D

[AussieVisi2r]

i thought that i would never say this, but from reading this thread lately, i'm starting to miss those dress code threads.:eek:

;)

 

hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

[Emmski35]

hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ahhh, I love the dress code threads! My guilty pleasure! In fact I'm sitting here trawling through cruise critic when I should be doing laundry for our cruise next week!! :D

[Sarah@Sea]

On another line, I had pre-paid gratuities as I prefer to just include it with my overall expenses, if some terrible service occurred I would definitely reduce them. However, I was SHOCKED that on the first day when I asked for ice for my cooler/drinks, extra pillows, and ....hmm forget what else but there was 3rd request, I went to give the steward a cash thank you (wanting to be sure my cooler got filled with ice each night) and he refused it! :eek: Yes, of course I made sure to leave the extra at the end of he cruise, because he did in fact keep the cooler filled for us.

[CGinMTL]

RCI needs to disallow stopping gratuities without cause. Other than "cause I don't want to". If this persists the recommended amount will go up and those of us that comply will get hit for higher charges. Enough of my money goes to those that don't pay their way now!!!

.

I agree with this. You need a reason. And you need to have it signed off by the employee supervisor. If you didn't complain for 12 days, then how can you remove the tips. Also, if you got cold soup 1 day, that does not justify losing ALL your tips for the entire voyage.

But I think everyone reading this thread agree. We just have to keep educating our follow passengers.

[Paul65]

But I think everyone reading this thread agree.

 

Good one. :D

[Aquahound]

I thought that I would never say this, but from reading this thread lately, I'm starting to miss those Dress Code threads.:eek:

;)

 

No kidding. If there's one thing worse than worrying how others dress, it's worrying how others pay others. :cool:

[novicetraveller]

No kidding. If there's one thing worse than worrying how others dress, it's worrying how others pay others. :cool:

 

I am more worried about being eaten by the aligators than how people dress or tip. It is just a shame that for some feel it would ruin their holidays because others don't tip or dress appropriately.

[DirtyDawg]

I am more worried about being eaten by the aligators than how people dress or tip. It is just a shame that for some feel it would ruin their holidays because others don't tip or dress appropriately.

 

I swear some people aren't truly happy unless they are miserable about something. ie :mad: = :D

[novicetraveller]

I swear some people aren't truly happy unless they are miserable about something. ie :mad: = :D

 

Yep. Before we know it, someone will come along and tell us that by not spending money with the Hatian vendors, that we are stiffing the Hatians... It has to happen.

[zookiebird]

Seems to me the people who report that staff prefers the old tipping method are only talking to folks they come in contact with (stewards, waiters, bartenders, etc.) I bet the behind the scenes workers who now also benefit from gratuities sure appreciate the new program.

[Emmski35]

Ahhhh, I love this! And so it descends into the maelstrom....sat chilling with a glass of wine, which my server (husband) so kindly poured me, enjoying this thread and no, I didn't tip him, the only tip I ever give him is to always remember to take an umbrella in case of rain.. :o

[NJ&Ozzie]

Seems to me the people who report that staff prefers the old tipping method are only talking to folks they come in contact with (stewards, waiters, bartenders, etc.) I bet the behind the scenes workers who now also benefit from gratuities sure appreciate the new program.

 

Hi,

I've been following this thread with interest. My husband & I have been on seven cruises & always paid the tips as put on our Seapass account.

 

We find we're now at the stage of our cruising where we feel a little more casual so don't always go to the MDR for dinner for various reasons. There have been times we sucked up some mediocre service in the MDR & just paid our tips. And now we consider an option is to head to the Windjammer if the service is not up to snuff.

 

Now starting to really think about the tips situation - why are we paying for service in the MDR when we don't go there? Why wouldn't we tip the people in the Windjammer who look after us instead? And, of course, cabin steward who we find always do a fantastic job - or whomever else we feel has done a good job for us.

 

Thinking - shouldn't the "behind the scenes" people be paid a wage out of the basic cruise fare we paid?

 

I hadn't really thought about this before but maybe it would make sense for some people to remove automatic gratuities from their seapass account.

 

We'll definitely think about this more on our next cruise.

 

Cheers,

NJ :)

[Ocean Boy]

Yep. Before we know it, someone will come along and tell us that by not spending money with the Hatian vendors, that we are stiffing the Hatians... It has to happen.

 

Some time ago there was a thread about how passengers had a obligation to do a certain amount of on board spending. The feeling was that the big spenders were paying higher prices to make up for the lost revenue from people who spend little.

[DirtyDawg]

Some time ago there was a thread about how passengers had a obligation to do a certain amount of on board spending. The feeling was that the big spenders were paying higher prices to make up for the lost revenue from people who spend little.

 

:D:D Too bad I missed that one.;)

[novicetraveller]

Some time ago there was a thread about how passengers had a obligation to do a certain amount of on board spending. The feeling was that the big spenders were paying higher prices to make up for the lost revenue from people who spend little.

 

Did it involve having to go to the casino and lose a few thousand dollars?

[awhcruiser]

This. I can only imagine some of the lame reasons cruisers would come up with to remove tips.

.

I agree with this. You need a reason. And you need to have it signed off by the employee supervisor. If you didn't complain for 12 days, then how can you remove the tips. Also, if you got cold soup 1 day, that does not justify losing ALL your tips for the entire voyage.

But I think everyone reading this thread agree. We just have to keep educating our follow passengers.