!! I Cringe at my fellow travellers !!

[The Sunset Glow]

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.

 

I have personally seen this list on the cart.

[Irene7]

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

 

I agree! And the crew members work a lot more then 8 hour shifts.

[Artemis908]

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".....

 

Haha yeah or... be careful you look at the tub before you step into it. That's not yellow water! ("IT Crowd" reference :P)

[Gayle V]

As I understand, the prepaid tips are for MTD.

 

What Amy said is sort of right. The automatic tipping charge to your onboard account is intended for everyone. Not just those using MTD. The pre-paying of it, prior to the cruise, is required for those assigned MTD. Pre-paying it is an option available to everyone else.

 

This is quoted from the Royal Caribbean sit:

 

"The gratuity is automatically added to each guest's SeaPass® account on a daily basis. In the unlikely event that a guest on board being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services during their cruise. Guests who have elected to prepay gratuities will not see a daily charge during their cruise. Any modifications or adjustments to your gratuities are required to be requested before you depart your cruise."

[ryano]

 

If you can't afford to tip than you can't afford to vacation.

 

I totally agree but in my particular case, it wasnt that they couldnt afford it :mad: They were just being cheapskates! which to me makes it even worse!

[Debde]

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:

 

Yes it does.

I could care less if my name is on that list. I remove my tips and give cash. I have never been treated any different. What is done with it after I hand it directly to them is out of my control. Personally-if they do have to hand it in, I hope they make me out to be a cheap stiff and pocket as much as they can!!!

I come from the school that a tip is between them and I. The boss should keep his hands off!!

[wannavacay]

We told our waitstaff we had prepaid tips (for the first time), and asked if they prefer it that way or not? They said that was good for them. They said they got a report every two weeks that had a list of pax that had prepaid, and they had already known we had (so the report must be in advance). We have prepaid twice since, and have never seen a slip in service as if it was taken for granted.

[LetsGetWet!]

What Amy said is sort of right. The automatic tipping charge to your onboard account is intended for everyone. Not just those using MTD. The pre-paying of it, prior to the cruise, is required for those assigned MTD. Pre-paying it is an option available to everyone else.

 

This is quoted from the Royal Caribbean sit:

 

"The gratuity is automatically added to each guest's SeaPass® account on a daily basis. In the unlikely event that a guest on board being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services during their cruise. Guests who have elected to prepay gratuities will not see a daily charge during their cruise. Any modifications or adjustments to your gratuities are required to be requested before you depart your cruise."

smh... I guess this wouldn't be the only time where RCI contradicts themselves! Who do they have writing and proofing this stuff!?!?

[LetsGetWet!]

Yes it does.

I could care less if my name is on that list. I remove my tips and give cash. I have never been treated any different. What is done with it after I hand it directly to them is out of my control. Personally-if they do have to hand it in, I hope they make me out to be a cheap stiff and pocket as much as they can!!!

I come from the school that a tip is between them and I. The boss should keep his hands off!!

And on that we're in COMPLETE agreement! :cool:

[maryann2]

I did have a cabin steward say to me once "Thank you for not removing your tips" That is so sad.

He must have had a whole bunch remove them.

[DebJ14]

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.

 

On our last cruise on the Mariner when the Suite Attendant came to introduce himself he had a clipboard with a list of his cabins. He laid it down on the bar while he went to look at the lock to the balcony door for my husband. I took a look at it. Our cabin number, names, Crown & Anchor Status and our special dietary request were all on it as well as a column for gratuities. I assume ours was checked because we always pre-pay them with the final payment. Next to some of the names were the nicknames he wrote down that passengers went by. How else do you expect them to keep everything straight? I think you are naive if you think they don't know.

[DebJ14]

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

 

I completely agree with you.

[tserface]

Of course RCI could solve this problem by making the "gratuities" a "service fee" instead of a tip. I think all cultures understand service fees. I know the argument is that then it would look like the cruise price was inflated, but I hardly see a difference since people know, for the most part, that they are expected to pay the tips. I think some cruise lines actually have started calling it a service fee in some markets. That would be a better protection for the workers.

 

Tom

[cruisegirl1]

Yes it does.

I could care less if my name is on that list. I remove my tips and give cash. I have never been treated any different. What is done with it after I hand it directly to them is out of my control.

 

I’ve read that if one does decide to remove tips, that they will receive a call from a “supervisor” wanting to know if the reason for the removal was poor or substandard service. If you routinely remove tips, have you ever received such a call?

 

 

Thanks

M

[Pickels]

Apparently a Problem shared is a problem halved ??

 

We will be travelling in May on INDY , 6th Cruise , 2nd with RCCL .

 

HOWEVER

 

A family that is cruising with us ( never cruised before ) are planning on immediately taking their Auto Grats on as they 'technically don't have to pay them so why would you ?'

 

Makes me cringe , anyone ever been in this situation before , Iv had may say but it has little effect ..... Makes Me Cringe !

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again...the auto gratuity is a starting point. If we receive outstanding service (which we have on prior cruises), we add to the auto-gratuity. If the service was lacking, or someone had an attitude or didn't do his or her job, that's all they get.

[PuterMonkey]

Some people are just cheap wherever they go. Went out to lunch recently with a number of coworkers. The one couple, when we get up to leave the woman announces to her husband 'whoops, I forgot to put the tip on the card', pulls a dollar bill out of her pocket and leaves it on the table. They easily spent $20+ on their food alone. And considering it's a group, that's even more a slap in the face.

[DrD]

When will they just put the tips in the price of the cruise? They're practically there already, except that some people avoid paying so that the rest of us pay more, and thus are effectively getting a discount on their cruise at our expense. I used to be against that idea but I feel like it's what we do de facto anyway. I mean, the tips are charged to me, of course I just pay, and often tip on top of that.

 

I think the only reason they haven't done it already is many people look at prices and go on the cheapest cruise. Adding on tips, restaurants, entertainment, etc is a way for cruise lines to make their price look cheaper on the internet since they can count on few people researching the real cost.

[Debde]

I’ve read that if one does decide to remove tips, that they will receive a call from a “supervisor” wanting to know if the reason for the removal was poor or substandard service. If you routinely remove tips, have you ever received such a call?

 

 

Thanks

M

 

No I have not. Believe it or not-you do need to be careful what is posted on CC.

[missy1122]

I wouldn't ever think of doing this. We like to pre-pay them then give extra to those who go above and beyond. Even if I wasn't satisfied would I never remove it. I may complain about that individual or what is causing us to be unsatisfied but never not tip.

[FireStation46]

I pre-pay the gratuity. Not sure if the staff can tell the difference on those that pre-paid and those that do not.

 

We also tip our personal staff as they always put in the extra effort. They work pretty long hours too.

 

What do you think people should tip over the pre-pay for bartender, dinner steward, room attendant? Just curious.

[travelplus]

Lets put it into perspective. Lets say your stateroom attendant was not attentive after numerous attempts to rectify this. But then your assistant waiter was out of this world. It would make more sense for me as the customer to decide who gets what.

 

At a restaurant if you got bad service of course you would leave a smaller tip and if the service was excellent you would tip accordingly.

 

I don't like automatically being told who should get what. At most restaurants unless its a large group or the tip is included like in Europe(and even then I can ask them to lower it if the service was really bad) I as the customer should be allowed to decide who gets what.

 

If everyone got their 'full tip" for half the service then we would not be getting the Royal Advantage.

 

This is not to say that I don't tip. I am reasonable if the service provider is reasonable. If I got bad service then why should I have to reward them.

 

Its just like at work one is rewarded for their sales and good service. Why should one get rewarded if they failed to meet the standards set forth by the company?

 

Tips are earned and not guaranteed. What happens if you pre paid your tips for My Time Dining and you were not served properly by your stateroom attendant, waiter and other staff? Can you adjust your tip at guest services.

 

I think pre paying tips does not guarantee you good service.

 

When I go to a restaurant I don't pre pay my tip to use Opentable to get my reservation etc.

 

I think there are some people who think its funny to not tip period if their service was great.

 

Last year on our cruise our stateroom attendant was not attentive and he did not bring back a shirt from the laundry or even check to see what happened to it. We gave our stateroom attendant the benefit of the doubt and asked him about the shirt and we even gave him 24 hours to help us. Enough was enough so I had to go down to the Hotel Director who graciously removed the laundry charge(without even asking). On some days the stateroom attendant did not refill the soap or even give us ice after we requested it once. So of course we tipped less after telling him in a nice way about our preferences. We were on a 2 week cruise. So we spoke to the head Stateroom attendant officer who promised our stateroom attendant would give us better service. And still we felt we could have had more attentive service. Now mind you we did not ask much from our attendant.

 

On the last day he was not warm towards us because we decided to tip less. I mean I understand that these service individuals work for tips. But if you are not giving top service then why should you expect to get your full tip? We were very understanding and nice towards him. I always said "Hi" and spoke with him and like I said above we asked for very basic service such as extra towels one day after coming in from a shore excursion. After dinner we still did not see the towels after requesting them over 4 hours before.

I even took the liberty to call his extension and he said he was bringing them in 20 app minutes. Well 20 minutes came and went without even a courtesy to apologize and say it was taking longer than usual. So it was already time for dinner. And still after dinner no towels.

This is my 2 cents and your more than welcome to agree or disagree.

Edited February 25, 2014 by travelplus

[cruzin4sun]

Sorry to ask a stupid question but I have never removed the prepaid tips and I'm curious. When you ask to have the tips removed, can you specify which ones? For example, if a person did not use the main dining room but ate at a specialty restaurant, buffet or had room service each night, could they request only the dining room tips be removed?

[Clarea]

Sorry to ask a stupid question but I have never removed the prepaid tips and I'm curious. When you ask to have the tips removed, can you specify which ones? For example, if a person did not use the main dining room but ate at a specialty restaurant, buffet or had room service each night, could they request only the dining room tips be removed?

I believe you can specify how you want tips changed. When we were on Adventure a few weeks ago, I saw a "Gratuity Modification" form they had at Guest Services. The form had mulitple modification lines for the different crew members whose gratuity you wanted to modify.

[Thetrail]

Yes, I went on my first cruise with "friends" and that was the first thing they did when they boarded the ship. They left the cabin attendant a whopping 20 dollars for the WEEK :mad: no one else got anything. :mad:

Life is not fair and there will always be cheapskates and people that are disgusting and dishonest. Thankfully the decent and honest folks with morals will always outstrip the low class, lowlife losers....Good karma is how I operate.

[cruisegirl1]

No I have not. Believe it or not-you do need to be careful what is posted on CC.

 

Thanks for the repsonse.

 

You mean it might not be correct? :D:D But I read in on the Internet!

 

M