Tipping?

[jveevers]

Part of the 1-2-3 GO package was prepaid grats on my upcoming cruise. I have the Premium Drink package and 15% was added to what I paid to cover Grats. As far as I am concerned I have now paid all Grats no matter where I dine, drink or have Room Service. I cannot see any circumstance why I should pay any more. But then I do come from a non-tipping nation. On a recent Carnival Australian cruise, tipping was not expected nor done except by those of North American origin. I do beleive that the cruise price was structured to include a tip component but not actually stated as such.

[dkjretired]

Part of the 1-2-3 GO package was prepaid grats on my upcoming cruise. I have the Premium Drink package and 15% was added to what I paid to cover Grats. As far as I am concerned I have now paid all Grats no matter where I dine, drink or have Room Service. I cannot see any circumstance why I should pay any more. But then I do come from a non-tipping nation. On a recent Carnival Australian cruise, tipping was not expected nor done except by those of North American origin. I do beleive that the cruise price was structured to include a tip component but not actually stated as such.

 

They are prepaid tips for drinks only.Sorry but you will be required to pay gratuities once on board, the tips you mentioned above are only for drinks. The other tips which amount to about $12 per day per person will automatically be placed on your on board account. Here is what you are still responsible for, please note the bottom line says 15% gratuity added on for drinks, that is what you were given when you got the drink package.

 

Originally Posted by celebrity website

For your convenience, we automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard SeaPass® account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion:

• $12 per person per day in staterooms

• $12.50 per person per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms

• $15.50 per person per day in suites

This gratuity is shared by your stateroom attendant, dining services staff, and housekeeping staff members who help enhance your vacation experience.

 

At your discretion, the gratuity payments may be adjusted onboard at Guest Relations, in which case they will not automatically be added to your onboard SeaPass® account.

 

A 15% gratuity will be automatically added to all beverages, mini bar purchases, spa and salon services. Additional gratuities may be added at your discretion

Edited July 23, 2014 by dkjretired

[dkjretired]

Thats not what celebritys website says

 

 

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/frequently-asked-questions#faq551

 

Sorry but prepaid gratuities have been standard procedure on Celebrity if you choose Select dining. This has been for several years since Celebrity introduced Select dining. From the website:

 

Main Dining Arrangements

 

 

Traditional Dining

Prefer to dine at the same time every night? Then Traditional Dining is for you. Simply choose the nightly seating time you wish before you set sail, then enjoy your days aboard Celebrity as you desire.

 

Celebrity Select Dining

If you choose Celebrity Select Dining, you will still be seated in the ship's main restaurant, order from the same dinner menu, and enjoy the same exemplary service, but with more flexibility of timing. Choose this option when booking your cruise and you can make reservations day by day pre-cruise, reserve once onboard, or simply come to the dining room whenever you'd like to have dinner.

 

Celebrity Select Main Dining reservations can be made online up to four days prior to sailing, or once onboard with the Maitre d'. Subject to availability. Gratuities must be prepaid in order to participate in Select Dining. Only groups of 20 or less can be seated at one time.

 

Special Needs

Celebrity Cruises is happy to accommodate many different kinds of dietary needs including vegetarian, kosher, no-sugar-added desserts, food allergies and other dietary needs. Main Dining Arrangements

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/onboard-celebrity/cruise-restaurants-main-dining#top

Edited July 23, 2014 by dkjretired

[helpthejuggler]

Part of the 1-2-3 GO package was prepaid grats on my upcoming cruise. I have the Premium Drink package and 15% was added to what I paid to cover Grats. As far as I am concerned I have now paid all Grats no matter where I dine, drink or have Room Service. I cannot see any circumstance why I should pay any more. But then I do come from a non-tipping nation. On a recent Carnival Australian cruise, tipping was not expected nor done except by those of North American origin. I do beleive that the cruise price was structured to include a tip component but not actually stated as such.

 

I think in this instance jveevers is correct in that all the charges have been pre-paid. The 123Go may includes both Grats + Classic Drinks on a Europe cruise.

[Cruise Raider]

Sorry you do not believe me. I do not have any agenda nor need to convince people of something that is not true. My only purpose in my prior post was to share accurate information based on what I've learned from Celebrity.

 

Quite a few years ago Celebrity added a category to their gratuity schedule covering a nondescript group of employees in addition to the stateroom attendants and dining room staff. I believe it has been called both "alternative service" and "Other Service Personnel". At the time this was introduced there was a lot of discussion on Cruise Critic as to whom this might include. I emailed Celebrity to ask about this and was given a list of staff this applied to and recall that it included room service staff. Unfortunately I did not retain that email. In early 2013 there was a thread or two on this subject and the subject of whether room service staff was included or not. Since I could not find that earlier email I emailed Celebrity again to ask about this and specifically asked if room service is included. In my post above (#9 on this thread) I included a quote from their email response. If you haven't already done so then please take a look at it and believe me that I am not making this all up.

 

I've noticed that recently Celebrity has stopped breaking down the gratuity pool and now just states a total gratuity amount. But if you look at a brochure from a year or two ago you'll see the allocation for "alternative service". I've attached a page from a 2103 brochure which shows this. This is the category which is shared, in part, with the room service staff.

 

Again: I have no agenda here and have no desire to persuade people not to tip. I believe the staff works hard and deserves everything they can get. We do tip extra in cash but that is our personal choice. But at the same time I believe people need to know the facts as presented by Celebrity so they can use the information to make their own decisions.

 

I know this topic comes up all the time and I tend to believe what you have stated here.

Our waitress in the main dining room on a cruise long ago was married to a room service staff member. When asked if we were to tip when we received room service, she also verified that the room service staff is indeed covered under the auto gratuities. She would have no reason to lie to us about that -- quite the contrary. So, I tend to believe you even before you posted what Celebrity has stated. If they go above and beyond, that is great if you want to provide them with a couple of dollars, but not required and you are not stiffing them if you don't.

[dkjretired]

I think in this instance jveevers is correct in that all the charges have been pre-paid. The 123Go may includes both Grats + Classic Drinks on a Europe cruise.

 

Good point it could be, I would hope he comes back and clarifies it because I took it the opposite way.

[Mermen]

If I tip extra, dollars, euros and pounds all good? I don't want to get a look from anyone.

 

I think yours is a good question and entirely up to you. We are on the auto-gratuity but for handing out extra gratuities, we like to use what we have leftover. So we'll have Pounds and Euros on our upcoming cruise. Most likely we will tip extra at the end of the cruise, getting rid of the foreign currency.

 

I'm sure the staff would appreciate any form though.

[jveevers]

Good point it could be, I would hope he comes back and clarifies it because I took it the opposite way.

 

Hi, I am back. Yes with the 123GO I could select 2 of 3 "free options".

I choose:-

 

1. Classic Drink Package (which I paid an upgrade to Premium at about $10 p.p.p.d. plus 15% grats on the upgrade cost).

AND

 

2. "Free Gratuities" I assume Celebrity takes that component out of the Cruise Price and puts it into the Gratuities Fund.

 

The 3rd option was OBC of I think $300-

As the Drink Package was worth about $500- and the Grats about $450- , I went for the 2 most beneficial , in terms of $'s , options.

Edited July 24, 2014 by jveevers

[Ayton lady]

I agree with being comfortable in using different currencies. I was on an Eastern Med cruise last year and had some Turkish lire. By a stroke of luck my Butler was a lovely Turkish girl. She had been very helpful all cruise so got all that I had left and seemed very happy with this. However, I do think this depends a little on who you are tipping but on that occasion it worked out well!! Now looking forwards to my next trip to the Baltic and St Petersburg.

[melsuli]

We're back to the 'different cultures' once more, I'm amazed those on the opposite sides of the spectrum, after debating this issue to death, can't just respect each others viewpoint on the matter.

 

For me (a Brit) tipping is a discretionary payment, one which I am quite happy to adjust in accordance with the country or culture I happen to be in at any given time.

[Jane2357]

We now only take Select dining - which means we always have to pre-pay tips. I consider this just part of my cruise fare. If we order room service - we always tip extra - $2-3 dollars each time. If you have a butler he will deliver your room service and then we don't tip him then and there but on a 14 day cruise we did tip extra twice a week for extras that he did for us.

 

If we settle in an area of the select dinging room because we have found great waitstaff - we tip them extra at the end of the cruise. A good sommelier will get a tip after our first interaction which always ends up with us being spoilt for the remainder of the cruise.

[flag fan]

I agree with the idea that the gratuity should just be mandatory, like port fees. There is too much variation among passengers as to what is appropriate, which is unfair to the workers.