Royal Caribbean Gratuity Question

[Stephluva2711]

Do you set that up once you're onboard with guest services, or can you do that in advance before you board?

 

Orville you can do it before you board. I always do it when i'm filling out my Set sail pass. It gives you the option 'under on board expense' to select cash or Credit. I always add my mom and lil sister also on my account. You can also do it at the pier. When they are registering you, you can change your mind and add a credit card instead or vice versa. And as mentioned before, you can spend up to $500 and then they will put the account on hold and you will have to go to Guest relations and pay off some for them to reactivate it. I sometimes pay after every 2 days or so, just so on the final day i don't have to be bothered with long lines

[SRV FAN]

Considering how much food you are served all day long on a cruise, the tip for the food service staff is cheap. If I went on a vacation elsewhere and were served the same food for 3-4 meals a day the tips would be 10-20 bucks a day on that food I bet much more... I have always thought that amount is cheap since it does cover all the help for all the meals... not really just dinner in the MDR. Even that is cheap... 4-5 courses at dinner, the bill would be much higher and be a much larger tip per person if you were to receive a real bill for the food you were served.

 

Right on! The auto tips on the ship are a lot cheaper than if you tipped on a per meal, per cost basis....

[A2Mich]

If OP had read his cruise documents he would have know in advance that $12 a day pp would be added to his sea pass account for gratuities. It is listed on page 10 of your Cruise Documents under Things to Know.

 

 

Good point. It's also listed on RCI's website and also printed in their brochures. A competent TA (if booked with one) should also have given them this info knowing they are (basically) first time cruisers. Not knowing about the tipping beforehand is bottom-line lack of research.

[rjrice1]

I thought if you have a set time dining you give "cash" tips at the end

Or have they change and do want Carnival do.. auto tips which is what we like.

Do we have a choice to do prepay tips?

[Daghis]

Royal Caribbean has had the automatic charge of $12/person/day on the onboard SeaPass account for a while now. Those with My Time Dining prepay their gratuities with their final payment.

 

You can choose to prepay your gratuities if you wish. Just contact your travel agent (or Royal Caribbean, if you booked directly).

[summersigh]

I'm not sure what the point is in posting any pertinent information on threads ... they obviously aren't read or totally ignored.

 

Knowing that cash tips given to staff when auto-tips have been canceled don't stay with the employee but instead go into a pool leads me to wonder if those people really intend to actually tip.:confused:

[ducklite]

If OP had read his cruise documents he would have know in advance that $12 a day pp would be added to his sea pass account for gratuities. It is listed on page 10 of your Cruise Documents under Things to Know.

 

 

This is what I was thinking. I find it difficult to believe that anyone would not read these documents. But then again, given some of the head scratching posts on this board over the years regarding any number if things, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

 

I also find it difficult to believe that OP has been on cruises in the past with their parents and yet claims to have no knowledge of tipping. Our son knew about tipping when he was 10. I guess it's in the way one is raised--unless OP's parents also never tipped and the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

[AFuncruiser]

Any tipping beyond room steward and waiter is subsidizing slave wages..

 

Dennis

 

560 days at sea

50 cruises

12 cruise lines

T/P, T/A, Hawaii, Central & South America, New Zealand & South Pacific, Rio/ Amazon, Alaska

[ducklite]

Any tipping beyond room steward and waiter is subsidizing slave wages..

 

 

 

Dennis

 

 

 

560 days at sea

 

50 cruises

 

12 cruise lines

 

T/P, T/A, Hawaii, Central & South America, New Zealand & South Pacific, Rio/ Amazon, Alaska

 

 

I take it you've never had a spa treatment?

[Candycane_76053]

If I read OP correctly, parents booked and paid for this cruise.

 

They likely also prepaid the tips and this would be why s/he has no knowledge of them.

 

That is the most likely situation I can come up with anyway.

[ducklite]

If I read OP correctly, parents booked and paid for this cruise.

 

They likely also prepaid the tips and this would be why s/he has no knowledge of them.

 

That is the most likely situation I can come up with anyway.

 

 

Go back and retread. Parents have paid for previous cruises, OP and fiancé paid for this one.

[Stephluva2711]

If I read OP correctly, parents booked and paid for this cruise.

 

They likely also prepaid the tips and this would be why s/he has no knowledge of them.

 

That is the most likely situation I can come up with anyway.

 

No, OP stated that parents paid for the FIRST cruise, and she stated this is the first cruise she paid for with her own money and worked hard to do so