Prepaid gratuities, are they ruining passenger service?

[aussielozzie18]

I'm a newbie so I can;t do any comparison but I was on the Rhapsody last month. We pre-paid our gratuities and the service was superb. Waiters in the MDR were excellent and our cabin attendant was great too. Windjammer service was very friendly and efficient. Towel animals every second night. We did get the little envelopes in our cabin the night before departure (as well as the feedback form).

[lady_cruiser]

In my opinion, NO, I do not think that prepaid gratuities are ruining the level of service. The staff and crew know that at any given time these gratuities can be removed so they will want to make sure that their income is safe and stays in place.

 

Face it, whether or not the gratuities are pre-paid or paid at the end of their service, you will at one time or another get a crew member who just doesn't care what type of service they provide.

[Thetrail]

I'm sure this post will irritate some people, but I just need to ask the opinions of other long-time cruise passengers their opinions on RCI/RCCL. I'm a long-time Diamond C&A member (not that it matters). I've not been able to sail the past six years as I've been caring for my elderly parents' needs and their deaths.

 

I'm finally sailing again with RCI this Friday (in less than two days), and I've been going on various RCI's Cruise Critic forums and have seen multiple postings suggesting that the passengers are feeling that they're being ignored (whether in the dining rooms, or in their cabins) due to everyone these days doing prepaid gratuities.

 

I personally don't care about chocolate on my pillows, or turn-down service for my bedding (and I've never cruised in any cabin class lower than a Junior Suite). But putting all of the chocolates on the pillows, turn-down service and towel animals aside, so many passengers appear to feel that the crew members that would normally be attentive towards the passenger's needs, are now almost "numbed out" and "non-caring" because the gratuities are prepaid, so they're just "going through the motions".

 

My last cruise was in 2007 and I had already been doing the prepaid gratuities (for all the cruise lines) since they originated prior to that time....but I hate to feel that I'm going to be "just a number" and ignored this coming cruise because the RCI/RCCL (as I always knew it) no longer exists? I don't want to think that I've got to just cruise on Celebrity or HAL, etc. to be more than "just a number" to the crew members and the ship's staff? Yes, I always do the prepaid gratuities, and even today I went to my bank to get a lot of cash for extra tips on the ship, but I truly wish a sense of apathy has not taken over the cruise experience?

Go on your cruise, enjoy it and let us know when you return......The crew has been outstanding in my book ever since the prepaid gratuities have taken effect.:cool:

[Cindy]

On our last RCI cruise (Mariner April 2013) we pre-paid our gratuities because we had MTD. We were at the same table all week with one of the best waiters we've had on any cruise!

 

I almost always give my wait staff and cabin steward an extra tip, and I bring my own note cards for that purpose. On the Mariner cruise last April, my cabin steward rubbed me the wrong way by providing me with a tip envelope on which he had already written his name!:eek: I thought that was presumptuous.

[knittinggirl]

Good question. Like you we havent sailed since before the auto tipping started. I do not like the idea any more than I like it in a land based restaurant. I cant say if it has affected service but wouldnt be all that surprised. We are sailing in two weeks but if the service is not what we expect from RC then I will def go down to guest services and cut the tip. I believe it was done because of all the alternative dining offered. Too many doing that and not going to the dining room and tipping.

Specialty dining includes gratuity, and there's a place on their bill for additional tip. On land, we generally have a rule if they add the tip, we don't give them extra. And that's what we do at sea. But we've been known to break our own rule is they really WOW us.

 

Regarding the evaluation, I don't think the crew should be asking us for an Excellent grade. My first thought when they do that is to drop a level on the evaluation.

 

. . . my cabin steward rubbed me the wrong way by providing me with a tip envelope on which he had already written his name!:eek: I thought that was presumptuous.

Me too.

[jo24]

I think that the resounding opinion is that overall, the service has not been affected by automatic gratuities but by the increase in workload and the decrease in staff. Guests can still remove or amend the automatic gratuity and the staff are aware of that, so that is why they still work just as hard as they did before.

 

There are less towel animals now because of a change in company policy and their 'save the waves' scheme. I asked my stateroom attendant about it on my first cruise and he explained why there has been a reduction from every night to every 2nd or 3rd night.

 

I personally don't have a problem with them saying 'I hope you will say that my service has been excellent' (or words to that effect) when they hand me the survey. What they ask and what I do are two separate things but I wouldn't penalise them for asking. I work in a call centre and have to ask during 'customer satisfaction week' about the callers level of satisfaction with me... I have to, it is my job but I hate doing it. I have again spent time discussing the surveys and their importance to the staff with the staff themselves and I understand why a guest putting 'excellent' is so important to them. However, I will not put it if they haven't been, I won't lie but any issues would have been addressed during the cruise to give a chance for improvement. This is not just with stateroom attendants but any staff member or issue.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise OP and don't have any problems :)

Edited January 9, 2014 by jo24

[galavant3]

I've noticed fewer towel animals (from nearly every night to maybe one or two nights if we're lucky) and no chocolates. Of course, each one of those towel animals must be washed even if the passengers just put them aside for show. Still, an extra five minutes to create the towel animal may be an hour or more added to their workload.

 

We've always had excellent service and have not noticed any decline at all.

 

Last cruise, our cabin attendant explained that they were asked to reduce the number of towel animals due to the added laundry load. I think he wanted us to know that he just wasn't just not doing it. We told him not to bother at all. Towel animals are wasted on us.

[FLACRUISER99]

I think the service is better since autotip was added!

[jmarval]

Maybe you're right. I've no way to prove it, but after six cruises with RCI we went on Independence of the Seas last Dec29th anthe service was in almost all areas quite inferior to what we remember... particulary in the main dining room... the guys never even ask if we like the food, etc never ever a single comment! just taking orders and delivering food like robots... But I do have that feeling after cruising this time...

[north29]

If you use MTD as traditional dining but the time is at your choice I doubt that you will see much change if any. However, if like us, we just show up and we are seated almost any where, once in a while we do seem to notice a different level of service. Not necessarily the staff fault, since you are new to them and they do not know your likes and needs. Now days after a couple of days(on long cruises)we find a wait staff team we like and ask for them every night, we might have to wait a few/several minutes but that is OK with us.

[negc]

Prepaid gratuities have been in place for some time now (especially with MTD) and we have yet to notice the diminution of service that some predicted and a few claim to be the norm nowadays. Most of the staff members whom we come in contact with, still seem to take great pride in the quality of service that they provide.

[Merion_Mom]

Absolutely NOT.

[riclop]

I'm sure this post will irritate some people, but I just need to ask the opinions of other long-time cruise passengers their opinions on RCI/RCCL. I'm a long-time Diamond C&A member (not that it matters). I've not been able to sail the past six years as I've been caring for my elderly parents' needs and their deaths.

 

I'm finally sailing again with RCI this Friday (in less than two days), and I've been going on various RCI's Cruise Critic forums and have seen multiple postings suggesting that the passengers are feeling that they're being ignored (whether in the dining rooms, or in their cabins) due to everyone these days doing prepaid gratuities.

 

I personally don't care about chocolate on my pillows, or turn-down service for my bedding (and I've never cruised in any cabin class lower than a Junior Suite). But putting all of the chocolates on the pillows, turn-down service and towel animals aside, so many passengers appear to feel that the crew members that would normally be attentive towards the passenger's needs, are now almost "numbed out" and "non-caring" because the gratuities are prepaid, so they're just "going through the motions".

 

My last cruise was in 2007 and I had already been doing the prepaid gratuities (for all the cruise lines) since they originated prior to that time....but I hate to feel that I'm going to be "just a number" and ignored this coming cruise because the RCI/RCCL (as I always knew it) no longer exists? I don't want to think that I've got to just cruise on Celebrity or HAL, etc. to be more than "just a number" to the crew members and the ship's staff? Yes, I always do the prepaid gratuities, and even today I went to my bank to get a lot of cash for extra tips on the ship, but I truly wish a sense of apathy has not taken over the cruise experience?

Where did you get that idea from? They will get there $$ whether you prepaid or it comes from your sign and sail card. Dont understand where you are coming from.

[lakelorain]

We still find the service on RC ships to be outstanding. Wish the shore side people(phone) were as accommodating. We think the phone staff is below our expectations.