Is it enough to make you stop cruising?

[Royalty X]

RCI have announced an increase to their prepaid gratuities...

 

The new recommended daily gratuity amount will be $12.95USD per day, per guest for those occupying standard accommodations and $15.95USD per person, per day for those in suites.

 

The new gratuity rate takes effect on sailings that depart on or after July 1, 2015. Guests that pre-pay their gratuities for existing reservations before June 1st will be able to lock-in the current rate of current guideline of $12.00 per day, per guest in standard accommodations, and $14.95 per day, per suite guest.

 

Royal Caribbean says the new gratuity amount, "will help recognize the exceptional work that Royal Caribbean's staff and crew does to deliver unforgettable vacations every day."

 

Any reservations that have already been made, can have Pre Paid Gratuities added prior to June 1, 2015 and they will still be charged at today's current rate for Junior Suites and below of $12.00 per person per day or $14.95 per person per day for suite guests.

 

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE RCI fan (hence the user name, etc), but the constant price increases, along with the disgusting fares at the moment, are even starting to make me question my loyalty. Hell, with Carnival updating Spirit with a lot of the US offerings in her next dry dock, I'm thinking about giving them another try. Or even trying P&O's new ships. Something just doesn't sit right with me about the prepaid grat increases.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cruise one of the Aussie-based lines instead, like Princess. No additional gratuities even on drinks, they are all built into the fare or price.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I wasn't overly impressed with the service on RCI. Our cabin steward was excellent, and our dinner waiters were also excellent, but the rest of the service - breakfast, lunch, and especially drinks, wasn't great. I think we only had waiter service for drinks once in 9 nights in the Centrum. Most nights DH had to queue up at the bar to get our drinks. Bartenders were good though.

Edited May 14, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[icat2000]

Not enough to make me stop cruising, however, enough to make me not consider RCL or Celebrity unless the price was very good and it was an itinerary I really wanted to do.

 

This is where I see a major advantage for Princess. RCL really doesn't offer any difference in terms of itinearies to what Princess offers cruising the Australia/NZ/South Pacific regions.

[Royalty X]

Not enough to make me stop cruising, however, enough to make me not consider RCL or Celebrity unless the price was very good and it was an itinerary I really wanted to do.

 

This is where I see a major advantage for Princess. RCL really doesn't offer any difference in terms of itinearies to what Princess offers cruising the Australia/NZ/South Pacific regions.

I think Princess would be more in competition with Celebrity. This is why I think Carnival has decided to bring in some of their US offerings, whilst still keeping their ships local (AUD, no tipping, etc). Carnival are more competition for RCI and they've recently announced a myriad of new itineraries. Now, if they could send us something to rival RCI's Voyager class ships, I think they'd kill it. Carnival needs to dissolve P&O Australia (or rebrand it elsewhere, move to be their Asian brand, etc) and focus on Carnival and Princess here in Australia. Edited May 14, 2015 by Royalty X

[The_Big_M]

In this case, it's not a massive increase, about $20 for a 2 week cruise/person.

 

That said, everything goes into the value equation.

 

To be honest, what is more disappointing is their lack of disclosure. Celebrity appears to be doing the same thing, but is refusing to confirm or deny it. Why can't they be upfront about it?

[The_Big_M]

Carnival needs to dissolve P&O Australia (or rebrand it elsewhere, move to be their Asian brand, etc) and focus on Carnival and Princess here in Australia.

 

Like Princess, P&O and Carnival are attacking different markets locally.

Plus it's not as though Carnival could deploy another 3-4 ships here to replace the P&O group, and those P&O ones aren't well suited to Carnival's builds.

[icat2000]

I think Princess would be more in competition with Celebrity. This is why I think Carnival has decided to bring in some of their US offerings, whilst still keeping their ships local (AUD, no tipping, etc). Carnival are more competition for RCI and they've recently announced a myriad of new itineraries. Now, if they could send us something to rival RCI's Voyager class ships, I think they'd kill it. Carnival needs to dissolve P&O Australia (or rebrand it elsewhere, move to be their Asian brand, etc) and focus on Carnival and Princess here in Australia.

PO Australia got such loyal following and with its newly retarted up ships, plus it can get to places that RCL can't. Some of the itinearies PO Australia have come up with are really interesting. If anything, I see RCL and Celebrity are going to struggle a little bit. Both of them don't really offer anything different.

 

Celebrity even less so. It can't compete with Princess on terms of itineraries. All it seems to do is the run back and forth to NZ with the occassional South Pacific and Tasmania itinerary.

 

Where RCL and Celebrity have an advantage (well used too) until they started to really hike up the pricing was the transpacific.

 

But those brands are all in US dollars and against a weak Australian dollar its extra $$$ you have to factor in

[GUT2407]

Not enough to make me stop cruising but a factor when deciding who to cruise with.

 

My latest cruise princess and celebrity were the same daily rate the itineraries were almost the same.

 

Princess on board costs in Aus$ and no Gratuities charged to my account, Celebrity US$ and grats at about $12.50 pp per day, over 30 days that's $750 difference in price plus about 20% extra on any on board spending, and most things I would be likely to buy Princess charged the same [or about the same] as Celebrity, it was a consideration.

[The_Big_M]

. If anything, I see RCL and Celebrity are going to struggle a little bit. Both of them don't really offer anything different.

 

Celebrity even less so. It can't compete with Princess on terms of itineraries. All it seems to do is the run back and forth to NZ with the occassional South Pacific and Tasmania itinerary.

 

Where RCL and Celebrity have an advantage (well used too) until they started to really hike up the pricing was the transpacific.

 

But those brands are all in US dollars and against a weak Australian dollar its extra $$$ you have to factor in

 

Remember, RCL and Celebrity all target the international market strongly.

 

Local cruisers also make up capacity, but RCL and Celeb are not as focused locally as the Carnival group are.

Edited May 14, 2015 by The_Big_M

[MMDown Under]

The new recommended daily gratuity amount will be $12.95USD per day, per guest for those occupying standard accommodations and $15.95USD per person, per day for those in suites.

 

The new gratuity rate takes effect on sailings that depart on or after July 1, 2015. Guests that pre-pay their gratuities for existing reservations before June 1st will be able to lock-in the current rate of current guideline of $12.00 per day, per guest in standard accommodations, and $14.95 per day, per suite guest.

 

Royal Caribbean says the new gratuity amount, "will help recognize the exceptional work that Royal Caribbean's staff and crew does to deliver unforgettable vacations every day."

 

Any reservations that have already been made, can have Pre Paid Gratuities added prior to June 1, 2015 and they will still be charged at today's current rate for Junior Suites and below of $12.00 per person per day or $14.95 per person per day for suite guests.

 

It is enough to stop me considering RCI for future cruising.

 

What is it with this daily charge of $12.95US (up from $12.00)? Do they think we don't know that it is really $13.00US? Now they want cruisers to pre pay their gratuities as well! On today's rate of exchange that is $16.00 Aus. pppd ($32.00 per couple per day)!

[OzKiwiJJ]

Celebrity even less so. It can't compete with Princess on terms of itineraries. All it seems to do is the run back and forth to NZ with the occassional South Pacific and Tasmania itinerary.

 

 

The one thing Celebrity is good for is if you want a one way NZ/Australia itinerary, which is why we booked with them for our upcoming Christmas cruise. I'm just hoping that Solstice lives up to its reputation of better food and service than RCI. Otherwise I would have booked Princess. I know there are some one way itineraries on Princess but there aren't any over Christmas, and their port stops aren't as good for us, for visiting friends and rellies.

Edited May 14, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[goodycruising]

In Australia the basic wage goes up every year. The gratuities go to the staff supposedly. Why would any reasonable person not expect this cost to go up?

 

I don't like price rises either, but try looking at this issue from a different angle.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I priced out a couple of very similar Singapore to Fremantle cruises that have very good prices at the moment.

 

Princess, 12 nights, $1071 or $89.25pp per night. Add on $60pp per night for drinks including coffees (generously based on our spending on our last Princess cruise). Total $149.25pp per night.

 

RCI, 14 nights, AU$983 or $70.21pp per night. Add on USD $12.95 gratuiities, plus an Ultimate drinks package $67 (price from last RCI cruise) = $79.95, converted to AUD at today's exchange rate (1.23) $98.47. Total $168.68.

 

So an extra $19.43pp per day on RCI for a lesser quality cruise - IMHO as we found the food and service on Princess was better overall than on RCI.

 

That starts adding up, roughly $560 more for 14 days.

 

Hmmm! That's enough to stop me cruising RCI, and maybe Celebrity as well depending on how our upcoming cruise on Solstice goes.

Edited May 14, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

In Australia the basic wage goes up every year. The gratuities go to the staff supposedly. Why would any reasonable person not expect this cost to go up?

 

I don't like price rises either, but try looking at this issue from a different angle.

 

RCI isn't an Australian company. I don't know whether US wages go up every year like they do here.

 

Part of the problem is that it isn't just the increase in daily gratuities. It's also the increase in drinks gratuities, the increase in drinks package prices (excluding gratuities) and the increases in the charges for speciality restaurants. I haven't heard any screams from RCI regulars about increases to excursion prices yet though.

[The_Big_M]

In Australia the basic wage goes up every year. The gratuities go to the staff supposedly. Why would any reasonable person not expect this cost to go up?

 

I don't like price rises either, but try looking at this issue from a different angle.

 

Agreed.

 

The same thing happens with Princess, this next year's cruises have gone up about 8%. The only difference is the model; under the American system with tips paid separately, the tips go up separately.

 

Ultimately, each decision comes down to the value for the customer, but none in inherently worse than the other. They're just different.

[Royalty X]

RCI isn't an Australian company. I don't know whether US wages go up every year like they do here.

 

 

 

Part of the problem is that it isn't just the increase in daily gratuities. It's also the increase in drinks gratuities, the increase in drinks package prices (excluding gratuities) and the increases in the charges for speciality restaurants. I haven't heard any screams from RCI regulars about increases to excursion prices yet though.

And all this is part of what I'm talking about. While I didn't mention any of it in my original post, this grat increase is just the next in a long line of increases. And from all reports, service standards haven't improved on RCI of late.

[MMDown Under]

In Australia the basic wage goes up every year. The gratuities go to the staff supposedly. Why would any reasonable person not expect this cost to go up?

 

I don't like price rises either, but try looking at this issue from a different angle.

 

Because the suggested prices for gratuities are unreasonable.

 

The following is the suggested amount for gratuities on Fred.Olsen Cruises, ships which cruise out of the U.K., which is $7.81 Aus, at today's rate of exchange -

 

"Gratuities are not included in the cost of your cruise holiday. However, we pride ourselves on the service offered to our guests, and are confident that you’ll wish to reward staff on board for this service, although tipping is entirely at your discretion.

As a general rule £2.00 per adult guest per day, for your cabin stewardess and the same amount for your restaurant waiter is always very much appreciated. For our guests convenience this is automatically added to your cruise end account, but we believe that this amount should be voluntary and therefore can be varied or removed at the reception desk once you board your ship."

Edited May 14, 2015 by MMDown Under

[NSWP]

Can you not 'reduce' you RCI gratuities by going to the Purser desk, as they do on Princess? Our next 2 cruises are on P&O UK Aurora/Oriana, tips last year were £3.10 (AU$6) per pax per day, I am fine with that, but no doubt many of the Brits will be lining up to remove them, as they did on Arcadia last year.

Edited May 15, 2015 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

For me, the add ons like gratuities, service charges and taxes are just a part of travel expenses and it will not stop me from cruising or travelling.:D

[MMDown Under]

Cruising is just one section of the travel industry. If they price themselves out of the market, with all their extras, people will go elsewhere.

 

We used to holiday, all inclusive food and activities, at all the North Queensland islands and hinterland places, like O'Reillys and Binna Burra. When they decided to change their costing to accommodation, plus extra $$s for food and activities, we went elsewhere.

 

Cruising's big attraction was that it was all inclusive, which is no longer the case.

 

I will still cruise, when I identify cruises which excite me, however, I may do more land travel.

[OzKiwiJJ]

For me, the add ons like gratuities, service charges and taxes are just a part of travel expenses and it will not stop me from cruising or travelling.:D

 

But would it stop you cruising with certain cruise lines?

 

I will certainly think twice about cruising with RCI again unless they have an absolute must-do itinerary at a bargain price. It's all about getting the best deal for your money in my opinion, and RCL isn't providing a better experience for the overall higher prices.

[tangogulf]

As I have been saying to friends for a while now - RCI have to find some way to support the massive expenditure they have on all their new ships not to mention all the refurbs. Ultimately this has to flow down to us punters who consume their product. Other cruise lines have no where near the same magnitude of new ship orders.

Edited May 15, 2015 by tangogulf

[OzKiwiJJ]

It will be interesting to see what happens over the next year or so. Will the RCI faithful stay away in droves, or will they just shrug their shoulders and keep on paying?

 

Perhaps RCI are relying on attracting newcomers to cruising, sucking them in with comparatively low priced fares then stinging them onboard. We're certainly seeing some bargain fares from RCI in our part of the world, but once bitten twice shy for us.

[MMDown Under]

As I have been saying to friends for a while now - RCI have to find some way to support the massive expenditure they have on all their new ships not to mention all the refurbs. Ultimately this has to flow down to us punters who consume their product. Other cruise lines have no where near the same magnitude of new ship orders.

 

Oh, I hope they are not becoming over committed and end up like the now-defunct Renaissance Cruises.