Auto gratuity = less than stellar service?

[Clarea]

Hmmm...just gave my above statement some more thought. Clearly, dining staff in the Main Dining Room know you have pre-tipped if you are doing My Time Dining. But I don't know that there would be a way for cabin stewards to know whether or not you have pre-tipped.

They know. They get a list of their stateroom guests with tipping status.

[Wilda]

Not everyone is motivated by money alone. Most people go to work and take pride in what they do and the contributions they make. Auto tipping is not going to drive the service level up or down; these employees still need to maintain their performance or run the risk of losing their job.

 

As a previous poster noted, maybe you just got a dud.

[BillOh]

Well,

 

I didn't really think about it until I did my review from Jewel earlier this month. I actually put this graph in my review. I looked at all my photos and previous reviews and rated, just the dining room service from 1-10. (I probably should have rated Allure in 2011 as a 9 perhaps.

 

[dasi11]

I think the service is fine with auto or prepaid tips. I feel they are still working hard and hoping for a tip over and above the auto tips.... AND I always tip more at the end. If I need something or have a problem I address it without complaining. It is taken care of with a smile.

 

I hate it when I hear about people looking for reasons to get out of tipping.

 

The comment card is life or death for their careers. They are working for perfect scores on those comment cards. This helps keep the level of service up. The future tip is less important than our feedback with the comment card.

[DonnaK]

I think the service is fine with auto or prepaid tips. I feel they are still working hard and hoping for a tip over and above the auto tips.... AND I always tip more at the end. If I need something or have a problem I address it without complaining. It is taken care of with a smile.

 

I hate it when I hear about people looking for reasons to get out of tipping.

 

The comment card is life or death for their careers. They are working for perfect scores on those comment cards. This helps keep the level of service up. The future tip is less important than our feedback with the comment card.

 

This is what I was going to say. They are still working for high feedback on the comment cards, which their future employment (contract renewal, raises, promotions, time off) is dependent upon.

 

We have not noticed a decline in service.

[Rala]

ditto !!!!!

 

Double ditto! Service still excellent IMO. Enjoy your cruise.:)

[cruzsnooze]

I think service has diminished with the auto tips. There's no better incentive then cash in hand for getting great service. Now they know about how much they will receive and essentially just do what's required of them.

[caribbean sailor]

We prepaid our so called gratuities on our 1/21/14 cruise.We call this the Noro virus cruise.Won't ever do this again felt like paying for auto repairs before the work is done.We talk to our MDR waiter about this,his reply was cash is best.Funny last time we posted this a cheer leader said he did not believe this,like we needed to prove any thing to him/her.Spend your money as you see fit,and above all don't worry about the cheer leaders.Dining room service seems to have slowed on our last couple of cruises.Not sure why seems their are less people.:) __________________

[dasi11]

Dining service has changed a little bit. I noticed the waiters are in charge of more tables. Also, in MTD, sometimes different tables are on different courses and this makes for lots of extra trips to the kitchen. BUT the waiters are still working their butts off.....more than ever.

[Alaskalovr]

They know. They get a list of their stateroom guests with tipping status.

 

You seem to be very knowledgeable about things so I am wondering if you could share with me how you know about a list? (And just to be clear I am not being sarcastic, I honestly have appreciated reading your posts. They seem honest and fair.) Do they get an updated list each day or just one in the beginning of the cruise? There are 2 things about this that disturb me. 1) Royal Caribbean categorically denies this which makes me very distrustful of anything else they say and 2) It feels like an invasion of my privacy. If I have a problem with a worker I would not feel comfortable reporting it for fear of retaliation.

Just as a little FYI, on our last cruise we were not charged automatic gratuities. This time, our travel agent told us there was a new procedure where our gratuities were automatically added but we could easily opt out and pay in person just by visiting guest services the first day. We didn't ask, this is how she told us about it. So lots of misinformation everywhere.

[Pente85Camino]

Just got back from NOS and we prepaided gratuities. Had excellent service with everyone. The room steward was great and fixed any issues by the next time we came to the room. The MDR staff was great and thought about what we wanted before we asked. Ordered mineral water and my glass was never below half full before it was filled again. As for the wine, when I was close to being done, I was asked if I wanted another. I had no issued with staff being subpar. Even staff that was not directly tipped by me!

Edited May 29, 2014 by Pente85Camino

[poncho1973]

Correlation does not imply causation.

 

 

 

 

You wore a green shirt on the first day of the cruise and it was the best cruise of your life. You didn't wear a green shirt the first day of your next cruise and it was the worst cruise of your life. These two items don't necessarily have anything to do with each other. UNLESS by wearing the green shirt you were selected to a magical green shirt owner's suite upgrade, but if that were the case, everyone would wear green shirts and ruin it.

 

As the Aussie poster wrote above, there is no way to test this. Just because someone has bad service, it doesn't mean it was bad because the tipping policy changed. NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY WHINE THAT THEY *KNOW* THAT IS WHY!

 

Unless your server says "Well, you would've received better service, but I'm on autopilot thanks to the tipping policy."

 

Logically, 50% of the servers on your ship are in the bottom 50% of servers on your ship. Now, all 100% of that ship may excel compared to the other servers in the fleet or the other servers on different cruise lines, but half of the servers on your ship are better than the other half.

 

People aren't robots. If wages keep being an issue... I imagine that robots will come more into play in the future.

 

Personal preference also plays heavily into "good service" and "poor service" grades. See reference below:

 

Dinning room wait staff was horrid. No drink orders were taken. The 2nd server poured water and left. Only 1/2 way thru the meal did I get his attention long enough to order ice tea.

 

To me I don't want to be ignored, but I'd consider it EXCELLENT service if they didn't hover over me and come back to the table 85x during dinner. Obviously, I would've liked to have ordered my iced tea, like yourself, but they come around way too often for my taste. I would've appreciated the peace.

 

We dinned at Chops and Portofino several times the rest of the cruise. When at Portofino I remarked how much I liked the shrimp cocktail at Chops. I was told to "eat at Chops to get that". It was not a polite no but a very harsh no.

 

Someone else might consider it WONDERFUL that they pointed out how unique Chops was and didn't water down the Portofino experience by running over and cross-pollinating the menu. Without being there, it sounds harsh to me. However, you might have been in a foul mood that night and took a very polite "no" for a very harsh "no." I don't know, I wasn't there.

 

Outside the stateroom my wife was peeking at a room attendant's cart for soap(our normal room steward was off due to a hand injury for a day). From down the hall the next steward over yelled very loud to get away from the cart.

 

It IS their cart and they are responsible for what is on it. This is all on your wife, she's the one out of line on this one... but you know that and even acknowledged it. The cart isn't a free buffet.

[George C]

We cruised a month ago and this is 1st cruise on RCCL since they changed policy to auto add tips ( we cruise at least once a year and we are diamond on RCCL) and thought that MDR service was not what it used to be ( granted they have more tables) we only had dinner in MDR twice and was totally ignored until I asked waiter “who is my waiter” he then said he didn’t see me ( I am 6’ 4” and over 250lbs). On the other hand room steward might have been best we ever had in my 57 cruises. I prefer tipping at end of the week like it always was in the past. The one dinner we had pefect service but we were at captains table.

[tserface]

We haven't noticed any difference in the service. It was still excellent on our recent cruise and we did MTD. We ended up tipping extra because we thought the service merited it. I think they work hard because they are hard workers *and* they hope for additional tips. I also think they have a sense for good tippers and work extra hard in those cases. No science used in that opinion.

 

Tom

[P&C4/16/67]

We just returned last week from FOS and we agreed the service was noticeable down this trip. Dinning room wait staff was horrid. No drink orders were taken. The 2nd server poured water and left. Only 1/2 way thru the meal did I get his attention long enough to order ice tea. We dinned at Chops and Portofino several times the rest of the cruise. When at Portofino I remarked how much I liked the shrimp cocktail at Chops. I was told to "eat at Chops to get that". It was not a polite no but a very harsh no. Outside the stateroom my wife was peeking at a room attendant's cart for soap(our normal room steward was off due to a hand injury for a day). From down the hall the next steward over yelled very loud to get away from the cart. In truth he said what I had already told my wife:o. There was no effort at a polite warning or an offer to get what we wanted. I was told to see my steward if we wanted soap. Generally the 10 foot rule was ignored.

 

I mention these examples of how service was perceived by us on this trip. Was it due to auto tipping? Maybe. However there may also be some behind the scenes tension we know nothing about. But there were also some outstanding examples of great customer service. Mary Torres in Johnny Rockets was great both time we went there. The bar staff at the Solarium was outstanding particularly Sofronio Velarde. Our room attendant Jasmine was good the first to the last day despite leaving to return home after our cruise. Our previous 10 cruises have been great so this is probably just a bump in the road.

 

I just have to respond to this cause we just got off the Freedom too. We had resies for Chops and saw the new menu and changed to Portafino's. What a mistake! I ordered soup, antipasto, and a T-Bone, medium rare. DH says, I'll have the same. Well, I get the soup, and DH gets the antipasto. OK, we're not that hungry so let it go. The steaks sat on the counter for a while because the waiter was busy arguing with the couple next to us about whether the free Champagne was real Champagne or not. When the waiter asked how our steak was, DH mentioned it was livery tasting only eating about half of it. I didn't care much for it either but ate most of it. The waiter did ask if we'd like to try something else, but again, we weren't very hungry. What really put the final insult to injury was the waiter saying "Well, you did order it medium rare". We sat there with our mouths open not believing he could say something like that. I gave them a real low mark on the survey. On the other hand, our cabin attendant and our MTD wait staff service were perfect, about the best we ever had.

 

Just to add that last year on the EOS, Portafino's was great.

[poncho1973]

I just have to respond to this cause we just got off the Freedom too. We had resies for Chops and saw the new menu and changed to Portafino's. What a mistake! I ordered soup, antipasto, and a T-Bone, medium rare. DH says, I'll have the same. Well, I get the soup, and DH gets the antipasto. OK, we're not that hungry so let it go. The steaks sat on the counter for a while because the waiter was busy arguing with the couple next to us about whether the free Champagne was real Champagne or not. When the waiter asked how our steak was, DH mentioned it was livery tasting only eating about half of it. I didn't care much for it either but ate most of it. The waiter did ask if we'd like to try something else, but again, we weren't very hungry. What really put the final insult to injury was the waiter saying "Well, you did order it medium rare". We sat there with our mouths open not believing he could say something like that. I gave them a real low mark on the survey. On the other hand, our cabin attendant and our MTD wait staff service were perfect, about the best we ever had.

 

Just to add that last year on the EOS, Portafino's was great.

 

So... just to make sure I'm clear...

 

1. Your order was incorrect, incorrect in a way that a very simple correction could have rectified it in 30-60 seconds, and you didn't tell anyone that there had been an error.

2. You didn't complain/comment about stuff that actually really bothered you.

3. You refused an opportunity to correct what you did vaguely admit bothered you.

4. The waiter made a comment that may or may not have been in jest or might have been said casually because you completed underplayed there being any problem whatsoever.

5. You then slammed ("real low mark") an entire restaurant on a survey (a survey that decides pay scales, job opportunities, transfers, etc.) to get back at them for not fixing what you wouldn't allow them to fix.

 

 

I'm sure that seems fair... somewhere.

[mcatmcat]

I had pre paid from my TA and I got excellent service

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[fluffysue]

I think service has diminished with the auto tips. There's no better incentive then cash in hand for getting great service. Now they know about how much they will receive and essentially just do what's required of them.

 

But don't you think they realize that they will often (OK, maybe only sometimes, but still) get more money for providing better service? I would think that enough people tip above and beyond the auto tips to make it worth their while.

I have prepaid my tips on both my cruises so I can't say there is a difference. I thought at dinner the first night on my last cruise, that the service was not as good as on my previous one, and attributed that to doing MTD that time (so the waiters already knew the tips were prepaid). But they apparently realized the service was lacking a bit that first night (we never said a word) from the way they were so obviously trying to make up for it the rest of the week. If they were just doing what was required, I think they wouldn't have bothered trying.

(And I did end up tipping more at the end. If the whole week had been like that first night, I would not have.)

Edited May 30, 2014 by fluffysue

[996turbos]

999turbos-If you were on the 05/18 sailing of FOS, what deck were you on? We were on deck 8 and had our usual MTD dining reservation almost every night. Service was wonderful in both areas, and throughout the week, with the exception of one Windjammer employee who did her job, but clearly did not want to be there. Things have changed a bit with the process of tipping since our last cruise, however. They used to leave a "note" you could include in your envelope to tell the staff that you have pre-tipped. No more. I was told by Guest Services that the tips are shared among the staff, and they do not know who has pre-tipped and who has not.

 

Hi MaryL31,

 

We were on deck 7. We had late seating and in the end we wished we had done MTD, live and learn. We still had a great time and had some wonderful memories from the trip. I mentioned my experiences because this question is subjective unless you see specific issues. This put it in some form of context. I'm glad you had a great time. I believe the dining staff make up a great deal of my enjoyment on a cruise. I usually tell them to feel free to joke, laugh, and generally cut up. I would have said the same to these guys if they showed up a bit more at our table. BTW-From the morning show-Do you think the captain has a wooden leg? That cracked us up. :)

[skiiergirl]

On our most recent cruise we definitely noticed a difference in attitudes---but not by the staff tht receives the tips. Our MDR staff was not exceptional but we have certainly had worse in the past when they were waiting on personal/cash tips. Our stateroom attendant was exceptional. Maybe even the best we have ever had. On the other hand, we have never experienced such rude security and casino personnel. I think morale/attitudes are changing but i don't know why. I don't think it necessarily relates to the auto tip.

[996turbos]

 

To me I don't want to be ignored, but I'd consider it EXCELLENT service if they didn't hover over me and come back to the table 85x during dinner. Obviously, I would've liked to have ordered my iced tea, like yourself, but they come around way too often for my taste. I would've appreciated the peace.

 

 

 

Someone else might consider it WONDERFUL that they pointed out how unique Chops was and didn't water down the Portofino experience by running over and cross-pollinating the menu. Without being there, it sounds harsh to me. However, you might have been in a foul mood that night and took a very polite "no" for a very harsh "no." I don't know, I wasn't there.

 

 

 

It IS their cart and they are responsible for what is on it. This is all on your wife, she's the one out of line on this one... but you know that and even acknowledged it. The cart isn't a free buffet.

 

Just a quick response, you are right about personal taste being different.

I do enjoy interaction with the crew and specifically the wait staff. In fact I encourage it. I like it when they ham it up a bit. But in this case they were plain MIA.

 

As for Potofino. I told her prior to my request that we had eaten at Portofino earlier in the week and Chops 2 days ago. That was how I came to enjoy the shrimp they served. My mood was very good. I had called earlier that day to see if I could come to dinner on short notice. I was glad to be there and happy they could fit us in. I stand by my comments about the server however.

 

As for the room attendant, NO one should raise their voice at a guest as he did and certainly not at "my wife". He could just as easily asked what we needed and attempted to help us. My wife was wrong as I admitted but he was rude. There is no excuse for that. :mad:

 

I, subjectively, feel service was less then usual on this cruise. I doubt auto tipping was the reason. It's like the weather some days are hot, some days are cold. It was just a bit chilly for me on this cruise. ;)

[NavyCruiser]

Quoted above:

"My personal opinion is that tipping should be a mandatory service charge that can not be removed for any reason...."

 

Then it's no longer "TIPS": To Insure Prompt Service...

 

Then why don't they just call it "a mandatory service charge...", & add it to the cruise fare & port charges, up front.

& don't call it TIPS anymore...

Edited May 31, 2014 by NavyCruiser

[yarlenna]

Yes, things have changed.

In 1980 I had my first royal cruise. My waiter had 12 persons to take care of. The busman had 24. Yes, the service was wonderful. Of course, my first royal cruise cost was

$100 per person. I can get a cruise on royal now for about the same. I wonder how much a royal would cost today if -----

[MaryL31]

Hmmm...again, entirely different experiences. DH, while already in the shower, realized we were 1 washcloth short, and asked me to get one. I opened our door to find the cart right next to us and a huge stack of washcloths sitting right on top. Grabbed a washcloth off the top, observed by a steward (not ours) a few doors away, and said, "I'm just grabbing a washcloth". I received a nod and a smile. No problem.

[yolanda1]

I just have to respond to this cause we just got off the Freedom too. We had resies for Chops and saw the new menu and changed to Portafino's. What a mistake! I ordered soup, antipasto, and a T-Bone, medium rare. DH says, I'll have the same. Well, I get the soup, and DH gets the antipasto. OK, we're not that hungry so let it go. The steaks sat on the counter for a while because the waiter was busy arguing with the couple next to us about whether the free Champagne was real Champagne or not. When the waiter asked how our steak was, DH mentioned it was livery tasting only eating about half of it. I didn't care much for it either but ate most of it. The waiter did ask if we'd like to try something else, but again, we weren't very hungry. What really put the final insult to injury was the waiter saying "Well, you did order it medium rare". We sat there with our mouths open not believing he could say something like that. I gave them a real low mark on the survey. On the other hand, our cabin attendant and our MTD wait staff service were perfect, about the best we ever had.

 

Just to add that last year on the EOS, Portafino's was great.

 

 

It's a shame that you didn't advise the server that they had made a small error in your order, or allow them to rectify the situation when you said you weren't completely satisfied with your meal, - yet you thought it was fair to give him a very low mark on the satisfaction survey when I assume you know it could have got him into trouble?

 

I really do feel sorry for the crew sometimes. They have a lot to put up with, auto gratuities, or not :rolleyes: