Most Likely My First and Last Royal Cruise

[Hawaii697]

The sad part is I haven't even sailed yet.:mad:

 

I'm trying to understand how, you have a group that has paid in full end of March. The week after you pay in full, you get a message saying that gratuities are going up starting May 1, but you can lock in the payment prior to May 1 and then bonus, you also change the beverage package rates from $54.00 per day to $67.00 per day because June is a summer month (really???). :eek: And you think the 20% discount on the higher rate will make me smile (nope). How about some people were not expecting to pay an extra $200 in gratuities within a week after the notice and preferred to wait and see what type of service they get. I'm starting to think this beverage package is a big joke.

 

Whatever happened to if you book a cruise starting on a certain date, your gratuities, beverage package rates will increase. There is another issue behind the scenes that I can't discuss, but right now I'm not feeling Royal at this moment. ~Vent over!

[Biker19]

T How about some people were not expecting to pay an extra $200 in gratuities within a week after the notice and preferred to wait and see what type of service they get.

 

The grats went up 55 cents per day per person and RCI gave you a chance to lock in the lower rate - not sure what there's to vent about. And you can go to GS and remove the 55 cents if you want.

[phxrsng]

You can still choose not to prepay gratuities at either rate. Simply go to guest services onboard and have them removed from your bill and pay gratuities ad hoc.

 

Beverage packages, onboard services, excursions, wifi... have always varied in price and you lock in the price either by prepaying when reserving them in cruise planner or you pay the price offered - higher or lower - onboard. For instance I wait and book some services onboard knowing we'll get a coupon for them most likely. Excursions I book in advance to lock in the price and the option.

 

I don't think RCI is outside of industry norms on any of this.

[Paul65]

I hope you don't go into your cruise already in a bad mood. The gratuity increase is small and was announced some time ago. You don't have to pay for it in advance, but they're just giving that option, for those who want to lock in the slightly lower rate.

 

Beverage packages tend to vary a little in price here and there, and they're only "locked in" if you've actually purchased them. Not sure why you would expect to have a locked-in price before purchasing it. But as for the difference between $54 and $67, are you sure those are on the same basis? Sometimes you'll see the base price listed, without the 18% gratuity, and other times you'll see the price listed including gratuity.

 

Anyway, again, I hope you don't let little things like this make you go in expecting a bad time.

[jr2384@att.com]

PCD - Pre-cruise Drama

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[dcgrumpy]

An extra $200 in gratuities? How many people are going on this cruise?

[Paul65]

An extra $200 in gratuities? How many people are going on this cruise?

 

I could be wrong, but I think the "extra" was really a misnomer, and the $200 represented just paying gratuities up front (before May 1), to avoid the extra $0.55 per person per day. Of course, that May 1 date has already come and gone, so either they decided to pay the gratuities in advance or not by now, and it's a done deal.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Paul65

[Hawaii697]

You can still choose not to prepay gratuities at either rate. Simply go to guest services onboard and have them removed from your bill and pay gratuities ad hoc.

 

Beverage packages, onboard services, excursions, wifi... have always varied in price and you lock in the price either by prepaying when reserving them in cruise planner or you pay the price offered - higher or lower - onboard. For instance I wait and book some services onboard knowing we'll get a coupon for them most likely. Excursions I book in advance to lock in the price and the option.

 

I don't think RCI is outside of industry norms on any of this.

 

I hope you don't go into your cruise already in a bad mood. The gratuity increase is small and was announced some time ago. You don't have to pay for it in advance, but they're just giving that option, for those who want to lock in the slightly lower rate.

 

Beverage packages tend to vary a little in price here and there, and they're only "locked in" if you've actually purchased them. Not sure why you would expect to have a locked-in price before purchasing it. But as for the difference between $54 and $67, are you sure those are on the same basis? Sometimes you'll see the base price listed, without the 18% gratuity, and other times you'll see the price listed including gratuity.

 

Anyway, again, I hope you don't let little things like this make you go in expecting a bad time.

 

See this is why you vent, sometimes it takes someone else to make you see your issue in a different light. ;) Thank you!

Edited May 3, 2016 by Hawaii697

[dcgrumpy]

I could be wrong, but I think the "extra" was really a misnomer, and the $200 represented just paying gratuities up front (before May 1), to avoid the extra $0.55 per person per day. Of course, that May 1 date has already come and gone, so either they decided to pay the gratuities in advance or not by now, and it's a done deal.

 

Oh okay, that makes sense.

[Mcolema7]

The gratuities can be removed on board and you can pay at the rate which you believe is fair.

 

For the drink packages, I agree that the way they've gone about increasing prices is confusing. Apparently the premium package has raised from $49/day plus gratuity to $59/day plus gratuity with no notice and without the main drink package page being updated on the website. I wasted quite a bit of time on the phone with them since even RCI customer service wasn't aware of the change. I would recommend buying this ahead of time at the "20% off" rate since it sounds like you'll pay quite a bit more if you wait.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Mcolema7

[Paul65]

See this is why you vent, sometimes it takes someone else to make you see your issue in a different light. ;) Thank you!

 

Well, I hope you have a good time and that the other "behind the scenes" issue is not a big one.

[MommaBear55]

See this is why you vent, sometimes it takes someone else to make you see your issue in a different light. ;) Thank you!

 

I am glad you expressed your frustration and really glad you took the time to thank people who gave you well thought out answers.

 

Too often people vent but don't want to hear a different opinion.

 

I hope the other issue gets resolved easily and well, so you can enjoy your cruise. Royal Caribbean may not become your favorite line, but here's hoping your cruise is fun. Vacation time and money is too hard to come by to have a bad time.

Edited May 3, 2016 by MommaBear55

[MommaBear55]

PS. I thought long and hard about prepaying the tips before they increased and then I realized that for a 9 day cruise for the two of us it came to $9.90, cheaper than one drink. I chose to let the increase ride.

[Hawaii697]

The gratuities can be removed on board and you can pay at the rate which you believe is fair.

 

For the drink packages, I agree that the way they've gone about increasing prices is confusing. Apparently the premium package has raised from $49/day plus gratuity to $59/day plus gratuity with no notice and without the main drink package page being updated on the website. I wasted quite a bit of time on the phone with them since even RCI customer service wasn't aware of the change. I would recommend buying this ahead of time at the "20% off" rate since it sounds like you'll pay quite a bit more if you wait.

 

Exactly!

[TubbyMrT]

It is now part of my standard routine to stop by guest services and drop the automated gratuities from my bill. No rush, I usually do it when I see an opportunity and no line at guest services.

 

Throughout the week, I reward people that wow me with cash. I get way better service and attention as the week goes on. That's how tipping for service works. Win-Win.

[rukkian]

It is now part of my standard routine to stop by guest services and drop the automated gratuities from my bill. No rush, I usually do it when I see an opportunity and no line at guest services.

 

Throughout the week, I reward people that wow me with cash. I get way better service and attention as the week goes on. That's how tipping for service works. Win-Win.

 

Are you also adding some in for those behind the scenes that support the people you see? There are people that rely on those tips for their salary, and by removing that, you are lowering their salary. Without these others, the ones you see might not be able to serve you as well.

[Paul65]

Are you also adding some in for those behind the scenes that support the people you see? There are people that rely on those tips for their salary, and by removing that, you are lowering their salary. Without these others, the ones you see might not be able to serve you as well.

 

I don't think those with the "my way is better" attitude really care about that.

[Ocean Dancer]

Here's an example of those working behind the scenes that we really never think about. One morning we wanted jello, but there were no spoons left. I asked someone cleaning tables in the Windjammer if he could help me. He opened a "secret door" and there was a room filled with 8 to 10 women who spoke no English. They were sitting around a large table folding silverware in napkins. Has anyone ever tipped these folks?:confused:

 

Please don't remove your tips.;)

[jakenashleysmom]

It is now part of my standard routine to stop by guest services and drop the automated gratuities from my bill. No rush, I usually do it when I see an opportunity and no line at guest services.

 

Throughout the week, I reward people that wow me with cash. I get way better service and attention as the week goes on. That's how tipping for service works. Win-Win.

 

Of course you get way better service, you are deceiving the staff into thinking you've actually followed customary tipping protocol and are now GIVING THEM EXTRA! Pretty shady...

 

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[RI_Cruiser]

It's a vacation! Vent all you want but you will ruin your vacation if you can't get past this.

 

The beverage package was a cluster, handled badly and poorly communicated. Who cares...go drink by drink and it won't even phase you that messed with it. I got it for my next cruise but truly I am not sure I will see the value as it's 4-5 drinks per day to break even.

 

As for Gratuities...it's $0.55 per person per day. I know there is a principle rule that they should not raise it after to agree/pay but it's a small amount for the crew who hopefully appreciate it and will return the value on the ship. I know I always have someone on my cruise who just makes it extra special...housekeeping, bartender..or whoever. I hope they appreciate a small raise this year.

 

So vent to everyone here...no one should really disagree with you but we all want you to enjoy yourself.

[Eslader]

Personally I find the increase in drink package prices amusing. They had the old package price on offer for our cruise on Oasis a couple weeks go - $49 for the ultimate. We didn't bite.

 

We drank like *fish* this cruise. I drank more wine that one week than I usually drink in 6 months. But here's the rub: 10 of the glasses of wine were at Chef's Table (12 if you count the champagne), which came with the price of dinner so the package wouldn't have helped. 8 were at a wine tasting - same story. 5 were at a wine pairing at 150 that we split between us -- also same story. And 5 were from a bottle we brought to our second 150 evening that we got in Vintages using our BOGO perqs.

 

So, 30 glasses of wine (holy hell, I can't believe we had that much wine in one week) that would not have been covered by the beverage package.

 

The rest of the drinks we had were mostly pool-side pina coladas and lava flows, with a couple of bloodies and martinis mixed in that would have been covered by the package, but we probably had a max of 20 of those between us the whole trip, and since you have to average something like 6 per day to make the package pay for itself, it wouldn't have.

 

So, since the old package price was a bad deal for us and didn't tempt us, the new package price certainly isn't going to tempt us. I wonder which direction they'll go next: Lower the package price again, or make a pina colada $20. ;)

 

 

Hawaii697: About day 3 or 4 of your cruise, keep your eye out for 10-drink punch cards. They go for 80 bucks, which works out to 8 bucks a drink, which is a good deal because they apply to drinks up to 13 bucks a piece. That paid for the back half of our non-wine drinks, and a couple more glasses of wine in Vintages to boot.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Eslader

[DavyJoneses]

You can still choose not to prepay gratuities at either rate. Simply go to guest services onboard and have them removed from your bill and pay gratuities ad hoc.

 

Beverage packages, onboard services, excursions, wifi... have always varied in price and you lock in the price either by prepaying when reserving them in cruise planner or you pay the price offered - higher or lower - onboard. For instance I wait and book some services onboard knowing we'll get a coupon for them most likely. Excursions I book in advance to lock in the price and the option.

 

I don't think RCI is outside of industry norms on any of this.

 

Good response!

[hawks026]

Personally I find the increase in drink package prices amusing. They had the old package price on offer for our cruise on Oasis a couple weeks go - $49 for the ultimate. We didn't bite.

 

We drank like *fish* this cruise. I drank more wine that one week than I usually drink in 6 months. But here's the rub: 10 of the glasses of wine were at Chef's Table (12 if you count the champagne), which came with the price of dinner so the package wouldn't have helped. 8 were at a wine tasting - same story. 5 were at a wine pairing at 150 that we split between us -- also same story. And 5 were from a bottle we brought to our second 150 evening that we got in Vintages using our BOGO perqs.

 

So, 30 glasses of wine (holy hell, I can't believe we had that much wine in one week) that would not have been covered by the beverage package.

 

The rest of the drinks we had were mostly pool-side pina coladas and lava flows, with a couple of bloodies and martinis mixed in that would have been covered by the package, but we probably had a max of 20 of those between us the whole trip, and since you have to average something like 6 per day to make the package pay for itself, it wouldn't have.

 

So, since the old package price was a bad deal for us and didn't tempt us, the new package price certainly isn't going to tempt us. I wonder which direction they'll go next: Lower the package price again, or make a pina colada $20. ;)

 

 

Hawaii697: About day 3 or 4 of your cruise, keep your eye out for 10-drink punch cards. They go for 80 bucks, which works out to 8 bucks a drink, which is a good deal because they apply to drinks up to 13 bucks a piece. That paid for the back half of our non-wine drinks, and a couple more glasses of wine in Vintages to boot.

 

 

Are you saying we can use Crown and Anchor B1G1 on bottles in Vintages or am I misunderstanding and it was just glasses you got?

[Eslader]

Are you saying we can use Crown and Anchor B1G1 on bottles in Vintages or am I misunderstanding and it was just glasses you got?

 

No guarantee that anyone else can replicate this:

 

We got to know our Vintages host pretty well, and he gave us a neat deal. We buy 2 glasses of wine. We therefore get 2 glasses of wine free. He threw in the 5th as a gift, that equals a bottle, so he gave us the bottle.

 

Ended up paying around $75 for a bottle of Caymus Special Selection, which is a huge steal even on land, much less the ship.

[tgloersen]

I will be removing the gratuities, i like to tip the people who serve me direct in cash, it will probably be more than if i left the charge but i like to know that the people who personally attended to me get the funds they more than deserve!.

 

TG