Tipping situation?

[LMaxwell]

You can reduce or remove your automatic gratuity if you are not satisfied with service (Do let them know and give an opportunity to make a correction though).

 

You can reduce or remove your automatic gratuity if you wish to tip partially or all in cash.

 

You can leave automatic gratuity in place and you are fully 100% set and have met all gratuity obligations.

 

You can add additional gratuity on top of automatic gratuities with cash directly to the staff person or persons of your choice.

 

I believe you can increase the automatic gratuity amount to go into the pool, though I have never heard of anyone claiming to do so.

 

With My Time Dining you must prepay your tips with final payment (what a scam) instead of being billed afterwards or even having the option to use OBC to pay for tips like fixed dining is allowed to do. I do not know how this would be handled in the event of service issues that can not be rectified to your personal liking.

 

All of this "if you can't afford it, don't cruise" nonsense is a bunch of hooey. If you get good service, which you most likely will, you will also likely be happy with the automatic amount. Bad service is not common on RC ships, but should you encounter it rest assured you do have some leverage if onboard management does not correct issues.

[Wilda]

I say tip as you feel or what you can afford.Not what others tell you.Your question was can you change the auto tipping,yes you can change the amount or cancel it.Have a great cruise. :)

 

I say tip what RCI is recommending, not what you feel or what you can afford or what others are telling you :rolleyes:

[LMaxwell]

Include the the tips in with the price of the cruise.And they will rise and fall with the price of the cruise. Then everyone pays :)

 

Tips are for service. I treat the auto gratuity as the baseline for good and efficient service. Excellent service earns additional in cash. Poor service that is not rectified I would not have qualms about removing or reducing the tips.

 

Automatic tipping has, overall I feel, allowed the cruise line to provide less quality levels of service; i.e. - more rooms to service by stewards, more tables for wait staff / less wait staff per guest. The cruise line has put it "in the bag" and so does not need to provide sufficient staff levels. Compounding this are staff that are run ragged and unable or unwilling in some cases to go the extra mile for extra tip because of the law of diminishing returns; i.e. - not worth the extra effort, they are adequate now.

 

Should the tip be built into the cruise fare (which is no longer a tip, by the way) I sense a further reduction in service levels without any leverage to do anything about it. That is a lose - lose for the customer.

 

I board the ship expecting good service and occasionally I receive excellent service and provide extra money, but I do see how far, as a whole, service levels have dropped. I do not advocate any business decision which would reduce service levels while demanding more money.

[LMaxwell]

I say tip what RCI is recommending, not what you feel or what you can afford or what others are telling you :rolleyes:

 

As long as the service is good I have no issue with tipping recommended amount. People on here pretend bad service never happens, or that they still throw dollar bills at bad service. I don't believe them.

[kwazi07]

As long as the service is good I have no issue with tipping recommended amount. People on here pretend bad service never happens, or that they still throw dollar bills at bad service. I don't believe them.

 

That is how I feel.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Zoey]

My doctor is hard to get an appt with because he is rarely there. Usually playing golf or traveling around the world. Drives a jag. If he is making less than he was 4 years ago, my heart bleeds for him.

 

The other day we gave a doctor a check for $1,600 for a 45 minute deposition, or about $27 per minute.

[MrsPete]

Yes tipping can be altered. IMHO why do people even consider they might have bad service before hand.

 

Everybody can have a bad day. Here is why I wouldn't even consider it:

 

1) I am basically waited on by someone who works 16 hr days.

 

2) I leave my cabin and come back to a clean room at least twice a day. Do we do that at home?

 

3) we are not cleaning up after eating 3 or more meals a day, let alone cooking it.

4) You have the crew who spend months away from their families, including their kids because the pay is still better than they could make in their native land.

 

A great book is Cruise Confidential that gives a great insight on the inner workings of an employee of the cruise lines. Was written by an American, and gives you a greater appreciation of what a work day/ week/month is like.

I agree. The worst service I've ever had on a ship was average. If I encountered an employee who just seemed a little "off his game", I wouldn't dock his pay just because I can.

 

If someone did something that seemed purposefully mean-spirited, I'd remove a tip . . . but the possibility seems so remote that I wouldn't anticipate it, prepare for it by asking, etc.

Do you still get paid what you were paid four years ago doing the same job? I hope not. The cost of living has gone up and so should pay.

I'm making less than I did four years ago for the same job. Teacher pay in NC has been frozen for -- is it 6 years or 7? We are no longer eligible for bonuses, and our insurance has increased. At the same time, our class sizes have increased, as have our job requirements. I don't think this is a common situation.

 

It is also not particularly pertinent to the discussion. If you want the service on the ship, you should pay for it -- regardless of what's going on elsewhere in your world. You're paying based upon the service you receive, not how much you earn.

quote=debbs0723;42580238]I find it to just be easier to consider it as part of the cruise and pay it ahead of time. Then if I feel someone goes above and beyond I pay extra. I love prepaying ahead. When I'm paying for 4 people I'd much rather just consider it as part of the cost and get it over with. Now what I hate is the service fees added on to everything now like concert tickets. Those fees are ridiculous but I feel the tipped amount per person per day on a cruise is a pretty small price considering what we would be paying in any other restaurant or hotel elsewhere.

 

It is funny that this turned into an argument about doctors. I feel like if they want to go to school and work as hard as they do, more power to them if they have nice stuff. I don't know one doctor who doesn't work his tail off though.

 

Debbie

I also think prepaying is the way to go: Just get it out of the way and don't think about it again. Why not make your life easier?

 

As for doctors, of course they deserve a good salary! They're in a profession in which few people can succeed, and that's worth something. They put in many years of work before they draw that first paycheck. They deserve to be paid for that effort! If we don't compensate them fairly, talented people will stop going into that profession, and then where will we be?

Edited April 27, 2014 by MrsPete

[negc]

It's been $12 pp per day for a couple years now...hasn't it? Before the $12 went into effect, it was the same price for years and years!

 

A rare instance where you and I agree. :) It rarely happens that we don't actually add something to the tip amounts because of the excellent service that we receive onboard.

[caribbean sailor]

Tips are for service. I treat the auto gratuity as the baseline for good and efficient service. Excellent service earns additional in cash. Poor service that is not rectified I would not have qualms about removing or reducing the tips.

 

Automatic tipping has, overall I feel, allowed the cruise line to provide less quality levels of service; i.e. - more rooms to service by stewards, more tables for wait staff / less wait staff per guest. The cruise line has put it "in the bag" and so does not need to provide sufficient staff levels. Compounding this are staff that are run ragged and unable or unwilling in some cases to go the extra mile for extra tip because of the law of diminishing returns; i.e. - not worth the extra effort, they are adequate now.

 

Should the tip be built into the cruise fare (which is no longer a tip, by the way) I sense a further reduction in service levels without any leverage to do anything about it. That is a lose - lose for the customer.

 

I board the ship expecting good service and occasionally I receive excellent service and provide extra money, but I do see how far, as a whole, service levels have dropped. I do not advocate any business decision which would reduce service levels while demanding more money.

 

 

Auto tipping is no longer a tip.They know most people will not change it ,even though they don't like it.They use your money to pay the crews salary.Tips are given not taken.Tips should be extra not their salary.:)

Edited April 27, 2014 by caribbean sailor

[LMaxwell]

Auto tipping is no longer a tip.They know most people will not change it ,even though they don't like it.They use your money to pay the crews salary.Tips are given not taken.Tips should be extra not their salary.:)

 

It is a service charge that is discretionary, really, by the guest. Please, let's deal with the facts and allow the original poster to make their own call on it based on services actually received. I think we can all agree that the salary structure on a cruise ship is a bad joke.

[Jeff&Mel]

yes tipping can be altered. Imho why do people even consider they might have bad service before hand.

 

Everybody can have a bad day. Here is why i wouldn't even consider it:

 

1) i am basically waited on by someone who works 16 hr days.

 

2) i leave my cabin and come back to a clean room at least twice a day. Do we do that at home?

 

3) we are not cleaning up after eating 3 or more meals a day, let alone cooking it.

4) you have the crew who spend months away from their families, including their kids because the pay is still better than they could make in their native land.

 

A great book is cruise confidential that gives a great insight on the inner workings of an employee of the cruise lines. Was written by an american, and gives you a greater appreciation of what a work day/ week/month is like.

like

like

like!!!

[Sitzmark]

1) I am basically waited on by someone who works 16 hr days.

 

2) I leave my cabin and come back to a clean room at least twice a day. Do we do that at home?

 

3) we are not cleaning up after eating 3 or more meals a day, let alone cooking it.

4) You have the crew who spend months away from their families, including their kids because the pay is still better than they could make in their native land.

 

 

1). I was constantly being bugged by them on my last cruise. There were times it got really obnoxious like I needed a sign saying I don't need whatever your selling.

 

2). Once a day with towels is all I require. That is all I require, I'm not dirty enough to require multiple cleanings per day.

 

3). Actually this would typically be limited to dinner for us.

 

4). I'm not sure how item 4 is a valid point to measure a gratuity by.

 

If these employees need this amount, and everyone assumes it is a fair amount, and cruise lines cared about their staff, then the line should simply raise the fare by the amount suggested and pass it along to the staff. Then gratuities could actually be gratuities instead of service charges.

[caribbean sailor]

It is a service charge that is discretionary, really, by the guest. Please, let's deal with the facts and allow the original poster to make their own call on it based on services actually received. I think we can all agree that the salary structure on a cruise ship is a bad joke.

 

 

Let's deal with the facts as you say,show me where Royal Caribbean calls this a service charge.Also the poster asked a question can you remove the so called auto tips. YES YOU CAN REMOVE ALL OF IT, IF YOU WANT TO. :)

Edited April 27, 2014 by caribbean sailor

[caribbean sailor]

1). I was constantly being bugged by them on my last cruise. There were times it got really obnoxious like I needed a sign saying I don't need whatever your selling.

 

2). Once a day with towels is all I require. That is all I require, I'm not dirty enough to require multiple cleanings per day.

 

3). Actually this would typically be limited to dinner for us.

 

4). I'm not sure how item 4 is a valid point to measure a gratuity by.

 

If these employees need this amount, and everyone assumes it is a fair amount, and cruise lines cared about their staff, then the line should simply raise the fare by the amount suggested and pass it along to the staff. Then gratuities could actually be gratuities instead of service charges.

 

 

 

We agree with you 100%, stop the games and call it what it is. Gratuities are given not taken.

[kwazi07]

We agree with you 100%, stop the games and call it what it is. Gratuities are given not taken.

 

Thank you! Please stop forcing us to 'tip' just because you pay workers poorly! I have no problem with paying, its just that they are basically lying.

 

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[beerman2]

Sitzmark

 

#4 is valid in the fact that the majority of American people wouldn't work for what the foreign people do.

 

Hell here in the states we have many, many people who make more working the System.

 

And LOL you are probably a steelers fan living in Ohio.

[iheartbda]

1). I was constantly being bugged by them on my last cruise. There were times it got really obnoxious like I needed a sign saying I don't need whatever your selling.

Those people selling things are not included in the daily service charge.

 

...........

3). Actually this would typically be limited to dinner for us.

You eat only one meal a day?

[Sitzmark]

Those people selling things are not included in the daily service charge.

 

...........

 

You eat only one meal a day?

I often skip breakfast and ate lunch at the quick service places bussing my own table for lunch. So I suppose the answer to your question is yes. And if those people are not included, then the hours one works daily has no bearing on the gratuity I should leave.

[Sitzmark]

Sitzmark

 

#4 is valid in the fact that the majority of American people wouldn't work for what the foreign people do.

 

Hell here in the states we have many, many people who make more working the System.

 

And LOL you are probably a steelers fan living in Ohio.

 

So I should tip someone because you don't believe Americans would do the work? Regardless of the value it does or does not add? That's not a tip.

 

No idea what the NFL has to do with your point.

[beerman2]

It has nothing to do with the post.

 

It was a joke about the NFL and steelers Jeeezzzzzz.

 

And yes what I am saying is most Americans not only wouldn't work for what they make on a cruise ship , we have millions of Americans living off our System.

[Sitzmark]

It has nothing to do with the post.

 

It was a joke about the NFL and steelers Jeeezzzzzz.

 

And yes what I am saying is most Americans not only wouldn't work for what they make on a cruise ship , we have millions of Americans living off our System.

 

I have no response for this because I do not know what it means. I don't know what system your referring to or how it's relevant to the service I receive.

 

If the cruise line cared even a little, they could make the controversy go away by simply adding the charge to the cost if the cruise and passing it on to the crew. Then gratuities could really be gratuities, and not alms for the poor.