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!! I Cringe at my fellow travellers !!


lee101224
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The staff does get a list of those that remove gratuities. They should have a concern over the food being served to them.

 

Id hate not to take the word of a D+ member as gospel but I would be really surprised if the staff gets a list of those who remove gratuities.

 

Im not doubting you. I have just not read that before on here.

I certainly have no proof to the contrary, but would be pretty shocked if that's the case too. :confused:

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This is true. On the Oasis in October..we handed our stateroom attendant $30 up front and he said "but you have already paid gratuities". I thought that was very interesting..and nice of him to mention..so yes, they are aware. BTW he was the best stateroom attendant we have ever had!

Wow, that's surprising...

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First I like to point out that I'm happy to pay Auto grats on board. And for the point about Europeans. I know from own experience that on European Cruise ships they have the same thing, sometimes they just don't do it on board but add it to your cost of the cruise and you pay the Auto grats with the booking (but you pay them no matter what).

(maybe they were french :D)

 

And yes in Europe in Restaurants the grats are included in the bill and the waiters get better paid and get additional grats if they satisfy you more then usual, as it should be everywhere. Nobody should depend on grats to get by, but on cruise it is the custom all over the world...

 

You should tell them that the Auto grats is something considered as "included" in a cruise and you just pay it latter on board. You might consider not sharing your table with them :D

 

 

I have heard a lot of UK TA's now do packages that include the prepaid gratuities, probably for this very reason:)

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Id hate not to take the word of a D+ member as gospel but I would be really surprised if the staff gets a list of those who remove gratuities.

 

Im not doubting you. I have just not read that before on here.

 

It has been reported on here. During a galley tour the list was seen posted on a bulletin board. Another reported that while walking past the cabin stewarts cart in the hallway the list was in plain sight.

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This is true. On the Oasis in October..we handed our stateroom attendant $30 up front and he said "but you have already paid gratuities". I thought that was very interesting..and nice of him to mention..so yes, they are aware. BTW he was the best stateroom attendant we have ever had!

 

Natty bumppo, I guess I read your post wrong..I was trying to say they do indeed know who paid grats...actually I don't know if they get a list of who removed them. Sorry for the mix up.

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It has been reported on here. During a galley tour the list was seen posted on a bulletin board. Another reported that while walking past the cabin stewarts cart in the hallway the list was in plain sight.

We've never removed ours and don't intend to, but if you wanted to be a "stealth deadbeat" couldn't you just wait to ask to have them removed until late in the cruise? You're not actually charged until the end of the cruise, correct? If that's the case, those lists are pretty worthless...

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It has been reported on here. During a galley tour the list was seen posted on a bulletin board. Another reported that while walking past the cabin stewarts cart in the hallway the list was in plain sight.

 

Well-if it's reported here-it's the gospel truth!!!:p

 

My cabin steward had no idea so who really knows.

I've been on galley tours and never have I seen a list. Those tours are a white wash of many things with pretty little decorations out. I can not believe they would leave that in plain sight but stranger things have happened I guess.:eek:

I also read that list in the hallway cart. I've never stopped long enough to see what is written down on paper as I pass them. That to me sound fishy but again-stranger things have happened.

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We've never removed ours and don't intend to, but if you wanted to be a "stealth deadbeat" couldn't you just wait to ask to have them removed until late in the cruise? You're not actually charged until the end of the cruise, correct? If that's the case, those lists are pretty worthless...

 

Oh yes, wait until the last night and you will see a long line of people at the guest services desk removing their gratuities. I'm sure not many remove it at the start of the cruise - they want the service but don't want to pay for it..:(

 

There was a thread posted by a reliable source on the Carnival board that showed a photo he took on a galley tour- it clearly showed who had not paid grats...

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Id hate not to take the word of a D+ member as gospel but I would be really surprised if the staff gets a list of those who remove gratuities.

 

Im not doubting you. I have just not read that before on here.

 

I do know that they get a list of people who pre-paid, but not sure if they know when people remove the tips.

 

We did MTD on the Allure. I thought the tips only including the dining room team. I did not realize it included the room steward. Not long into the cruise I was passing my steward outside my cabin door. I handed him his tip money, as I like to hand it personally. He walked to his cart, came back to me to hand my money back. He told me that I had pre-paid. I played it cool like I knew that :cool:, and told him that it was extra. Seriously, he was worth every cent!

 

FTR, I have almost always tipped over the recommended amount. Sometimes well over. We have always had outstanding room stewards and dining room teams, money and filling out the comment card is the best way to say, "Thank you"!!!

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I do know that they get a list of people who pre-paid,

 

Back before RCI started charging gratuities to seapass accounts, I had often read here of a list of the prepayers.

 

The OP said they now have a list of the ones who remove their gratuities!

 

Im just surprised that list exists! Im in no way doubting the OP though!

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Back before RCI started charging gratuities to seapass accounts, I had often read here of a list of the prepayers.

 

The OP said they now have a list of the ones who remove their gratuities!

 

Im just surprised that list exists! Im in no way doubting the OP though!

I'm not surprised that there's a way for the staff to keep track of gratuities. They get paid their gratuities as part of their normal paychecks, so I would assume they want a way to double check on the amount the company is giving them.

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So that brings up an interesting question, that I honestly don't know the answer to. We leave the automatic gratuities in place, and tip extra personally where we feel they deserve it. So do all those personally-delivered tips have to be reported and split up, as JYD says, or do the recipients get to keep them?

From discussions on my last cruise with the staff that waited on me, they said if the auto tipping or post cruise tipping was left in place, anything extra we handed them, they got to keep. If tipping was taken off, anything that was given to them was to be turned in and would go to a pool to cover the base amount of $12 pppd. So yes, they do know which cabins have auto-tipping and which ones don't. That allows them to know what extras they can keep.

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I would tell them that they should advise their cabin steward and waitstaff that they will not be tipping for services rendered and thus are not entitled to any - but that's just me. In any event, they would no longer be considered friends and I'd treat them accordingly.

 

While I would never removed the auto tips and normally add to them, I contend that if you abandon your friends because of how they handle their personal finances you were not a friend to begin with and it is not great loss on their part.

 

But that's just me...

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We leave the automatic gratuities in place, and tip extra personally where we feel they deserve it. So do all those personally-delivered tips have to be reported and split up, as JYD says, or do the recipients get to keep them?

 

I don't know about RCCL for sure but at Holland America automatic gratuities are divided among all that serve you - dining room and cabin stewards as well as some of the behind the scenes workers we never see like the linen laundry. Any extra cash tips one might like to give them above and beyond are totally their own.:)

 

At HAL if automatic gratuities are removed by the passenger the crew member must add any cash tips they're given to the pot to be divided among workers. Failure to do so results in being fired. :o

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From discussions on my last cruise with the staff that waited on me, they said if the auto tipping or post cruise tipping was left in place, anything extra we handed them, they got to keep. If tipping was taken off, anything that was given to them was to be turned in and would go to a pool to cover the base amount of $12 pppd. So yes, they do know which cabins have auto-tipping and which ones don't. That allows them to know what extras they can keep.

 

I don't know about RCCL for sure but at Holland America automatic gratuities are divided among all that serve you - dining room and cabin stewards as well as some of the behind the scenes workers we never see like the linen laundry. Any extra cash tips one might like to give them above and beyond are totally their own.:)

 

At HAL if automatic gratuities are removed by the passenger the crew member must add any cash tips they're given to the pot to be divided among workers. Failure to do so results in being fired. :o

That would make a certain amount of sense, thanks. But if quite a few wait and remove automatic gratuities on the last evening, that puts a whole lot of individual record-keeping responsibility on the individual service staff members - because even if you have an updated list every day, you really don't know which tips are yours and which must be turned in until the very end of the cruise.

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In addition to giving gratuity, does anyone know if there is a sort of note of recognition you can give them for being particularly awesome? I can't remember if I had heard of this on RC or DCL, but I remember hearing that you could give cards out to staff and it would help them be recognized by their superiors. Again, that may have been something I heard on DCL though, it sounds like a great idea!

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Its about 50/50 around here on what people think really happens it seems. Honestly, I dont think anyone knows!

 

I think even some staff have even reported they keep it and others have said it has to be turned in. :confused::o

 

I know that the bartenders, who work in pairs, will share whatever extras they get and no, the extra cash does not go into the pool.

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In addition to giving gratuity, does anyone know if there is a sort of note of recognition you can give them for being particularly awesome? I can't remember if I had heard of this on RC or DCL, but I remember hearing that you could give cards out to staff and it would help them be recognized by their superiors. Again, that may have been something I heard on DCL though, it sounds like a great idea!

 

Royal has WOW cards but they are pretty ineffective. If you have particularly good (or bad) service make sure you put their name on the survey cards you'll receive. This is how they get raises and promotions.

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As I understand, the prepaid tips are for MTD.

 

We went twice. We remembered their names/titles and tipped them generously.

 

I see no need to pay extra for nights that we didn't go to the MDR.

 

Also, this automatic tipping thing... I have no control who the money goes to. I'd rather acknowledge excellent service with a great tip to that person, rather than add to a "pool" of tips. Mind you, we still left the prepaid gratuites, but I understand those who don't.

Edited by AmyWrites
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I certainly have no proof to the contrary, but would be pretty shocked if that's the case too. :confused:

 

they do. I have seen the list on the housekeeping cart. I only glanced at it but there was definitely a section where it could be noted that prepaid gratuities were removed.

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This is just an opinion but here goes:

 

If you can't afford to tip than you can't afford to vacation. Where ever you go there is tipping and people depend on those tips to help their families out. Who wouldn't tip? I have no idea how anybody would think not tipping was the right thing to do. How would you feel if you went to work for eight hours a day and only got half your pay??

 

Sharon I

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Over the years, I have read on the CC boards that crew members sometimes know when gratuities have been withheld. If you are cringing now, consider when you are sitting at your dining room table in the evening with the deadbeats and the hard working waiter and assistant might know that half of your table will be stiffing them!

 

Have you told them of your concern?

 

I have read the same thing. I have also heard that they also know who pre-paid and who didn't.

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Id hate not to take the word of a D+ member as gospel but I would be really surprised if the staff gets a list of those who remove gratuities.

 

Im not doubting you. I have just not read that before on here.

 

I've personally seen a list on a cart in the hallway showing who has paid grats. I've also had a table seating list emailed to me from a dining room showing names of everyone at the table, where they are from, how old they are:eek: and whether auto grats were paid. The staff know.

Edited by The Sunset Glow
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I think it should go further than just discontinuing friendship.....you could physically hurt them, or maybe somehow cause them to contract noro on the cruise...or maybe, just maybe......

 

JK of course, but there is nothing more you can do than communicate your opinion....maybe even a little fun teasing about it during the trip...."you removed your gratuities so you better be careful with what the dining staff brings you to eat".....

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they do. I have seen the list on the housekeeping cart. I only glanced at it but there was definitely a section where it could be noted that prepaid gratuities were removed.

OK, thanks. Will certainly take your word for it since you (and others here) have seen it, but as has been noted, quite a few who remove prepaid gratuities will wait until the last night to do so, so that would make that list pretty useless during the cruise. :confused:

Edited by LetsGetWet!
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