Additional grats and OBC update (Nov 2021)

[Algebralovr]

Greetings!  Thought I'd update everyone on the policies we ran into on our Nov 20, 2021 Reflection cruise.

We had a LOT of non-refundable OBC.  We used a good amount, but still had a bit left, even after a couple of trips to the spa.  

 

I asked about leaving it to specific crew as additional gratuities, and was told we could not do so.  While we could leave it as additional grats, it would go into the pool, not to specific crew.  We did leave the left-over OBC-N to the pools.

 

The OBC-R was refunded in cash the last night of the cruise.  In the past, if we had a little bit left, it was refunded to our card.  Not this time.  If I had not asked about it, apparently it would have just been absorbed by Celebrity.  

[39august]

Surely X would not keep the OBC from my TA at the end of the cruise! We got $500 back to the credit card last cruise, as we didn't touch the TA OBC. 

[Guindalf]

40 minutes ago, 39august said:

Surely X would not keep the OBC from my TA at the end of the cruise! We got $500 back to the credit card last cruise, as we didn't touch the TA OBC. 

 

TA OBC is always refundable. X can't legally keep someone else's money! It's distinguished with OBC-R instead on OBC-N, which is the X provided non-refundable type. The latter is always taken first, so if you have a total of $500 N and $250 R, the $500 will be deducted first.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Guindalf

[TeaBag]

I've always thought it was generous of Celebrity to use their OBC first, leaving the TA OBC to be returned to the passenger if unused.

[Catlover54]

Thank you for the information.  It was a surprise to me recently on the Edge when I went to the Retreat Lounge to inquire about forms for crew tips, that I could not even charge tips to my account to specific crew members, even if it wasn't coming from OBC, which I had already used up. My fare already included the 20% basic tip charge, so I was trying to give extra, and tried to use the account for logistical convenience, rather than chasing individual crew from different venues around with envelopes.  I had to designate to one of four general pools listed on the form, i.e., one of four crew groups  (which did not even include all the crew categories I wanted to donate to).

So the only way I could individually extra tip and not have my gifts  diluted with hundreds of crew I had no interation with, (and some of whom I had interacted with who were not very good but still got their basic mandatory service charge tips ), was to have cash on hand to give to excellent individual crew directly.

I am not sure this forced egalitarianism, e.g., "if one staff member is great, all are great",  is going to increase or decrease donations to the funds, but I can guess.  

It is good the rooms have a safe to accomodate cash   🙂

 

[sn2792]

We received our TA unused OBC back as a credit on our CC on our last 3 cruises. Usually within a few days after the cruise.

[Algebralovr]

51 minutes ago, sn2792 said:

We received our TA unused OBC back as a credit on our CC on our last 3 cruises. Usually within a few days after the cruise.

That is what has always happened before, and why I was surprised when I was told it would not happen this time, but that I needed to withdraw it in cash.  

[kalajori]

Can OBC be used for casino play?

Joanmarie

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Thank you for the information.  It was a surprise to me recently on the Edge when I went to the Retreat Lounge to inquire about forms for crew tips, that I could not even charge tips to my account to specific crew members, even if it wasn't coming from OBC, which I had already used up. My fare already included the 20% basic tip charge, so I was trying to give extra, and tried to use the account for logistical convenience, rather than chasing individual crew from different venues around with envelopes.  I had to designate to one of four general pools listed on the form, i.e., one of four crew groups  (which did not even include all the crew categories I wanted to donate to).

So the only way I could individually extra tip and not have my gifts  diluted with hundreds of crew I had no interation with, (and some of whom I had interacted with who were not very good but still got their basic mandatory service charge tips ), was to have cash on hand to give to excellent individual crew directly.

I am not sure this forced egalitarianism, e.g., "if one staff member is great, all are great",  is going to increase or decrease donations to the funds, but I can guess.  

It is good the rooms have a safe to accomodate cash   🙂

 

Incredible.    I would have asked to speak to the Hotel Director.    I have left tip to individuals, including Retreat Hosts.... On Silhouette the host event looked up the employees number.   Each of the recipients received their tips the next day and personally thanked us. 

 

It was originally confirmed to me by the HR Director on how to do it by writing their name and position.   She knew for sure as she was the one who applies the gratuity to their account.

[K Cross]

I'll be on the Edge next week and will be "testing" the policy. I have a large amount of OBC and based on past CC posts plan on sharing it with my Retreat Host, Cabin Steward, Sommelier, and Wait Staff. If I get push back I'll take your advice and speak to the Hotel Director. Thanks for the info.

 

I'll report back on any success.  

[canderson]

1 hour ago, K Cross said:

I'll be on the Edge next week and will be "testing" the policy. I have a large amount of OBC and based on past CC posts plan on sharing it with my Retreat Host, Cabin Steward, Sommelier, and Wait Staff. If I get push back I'll take your advice and speak to the Hotel Director. Thanks for the info.

 

I'll report back on any success.  

Just leave your sommelier a large tip.  Ask for a $0 bill to add it to if you don't encounter any upcharges that generate a bill to sign.

 

As for the others:  the standard form available at GR has spaces to add OBC tips for your Retreat Host / butler and your cabin steward.  The Lumimae staff is pooled, but if you add for Dining Room and you're Retreat, it all goes to Luminae team.

[K Cross]

Didn't even think about leaving a tip for the sommelier. Are you saying it will go directly to them? Guess I will just have to order a glass of Caymus cab the first night so I will get a bill that I can add to. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:07 PM, Algebralovr said:

Greetings!  Thought I'd update everyone on the policies we ran into on our Nov 20, 2021 Reflection cruise.

We had a LOT of non-refundable OBC.  We used a good amount, but still had a bit left, even after a couple of trips to the spa.  

 

I asked about leaving it to specific crew as additional gratuities, and was told we could not do so.  While we could leave it as additional grats, it would go into the pool, not to specific crew.  We did leave the left-over OBC-N to the pools.

 

The OBC-R was refunded in cash the last night of the cruise.  In the past, if we had a little bit left, it was refunded to our card.  Not this time.  If I had not asked about it, apparently it would have just been absorbed by Celebrity.  

 

I don't know who you asked, but I believe you were given misinformation.  I have used that form in the past to leave extra gratuities to specific crew members.

[canderson]

13 minutes ago, K Cross said:

Didn't even think about leaving a tip for the sommelier. Are you saying it will go directly to them? Guess I will just have to order a glass of Caymus cab the first night so I will get a bill that I can add to. 

Yes.  Sommeliers do not pool their tips.  Then again, they also do not share in the overall dining room tip pool where they are serving.  With so many having AI beverage packages and ordering at plan level, these folks aren't seeing the tips they once did, so we were particularly generous here. 

[Jim_Iain]

One thing I found out about tipping recently.    I asked the Maitre 'd in Murano's for a zero $ invoice and the waiter told me that the Tip was included but if I left additional on my room key it goes to the general pool but if you leave cash it goes to the Murano's pool only.

[weregoingcruising]

We ate in 3 times in Murano and the Tuscan Grille once on our Reflection cruise last month. I left a generous tip each time due to 2 Maitre 'd telling us the tip wasn't included. I have read several threads on this subject and still don't if it is included.

[RichYak]

9 hours ago, weregoingcruising said:

We ate in 3 times in Murano and the Tuscan Grille once on our Reflection cruise last month. I left a generous tip each time due to 2 Maitre 'd telling us the tip wasn't included. I have read several threads on this subject and still don't if it is included.

Tips for specialties are included in your regular prepaid grats. They know where you dine. If you eat half your meals in specialty restaurants, the dining portion of your prepaid grats are doled out in that proportion.

 

If you tip additional on a chit in a specialty, it gets added to your overall dining pool and the specialty restaurant will receive only a portion of that amount, doled out like above. If you tip cash, it will go to that specialty restaurant's pool only, like @Jim_Iain wrote above. His info is correct.

 

Always tip cash in specialties if that's who you want to tip.

[Rmoosh]

For those who like/want to tip extra, will you elaborate a bit on your thoughts and amounts. At this point I imagine when we cruise we will find a favorite bartender and want to give extra to our room attendant but unsure about meals and restaurants especially if we go to different ones every night. Do some just leave a bit (how much?) of cash on the table after the meal or only if you get something unique? Thanks for the info - new to cruising !

[hasentreelake]

12 minutes ago, Rmoosh said:

For those who like/want to tip extra, will you elaborate a bit on your thoughts and amounts. At this point I imagine when we cruise we will find a favorite bartender and want to give extra to our room attendant but unsure about meals and restaurants especially if we go to different ones every night. Do some just leave a bit (how much?) of cash on the table after the meal or only if you get something unique? Thanks for the info - new to cruising !

It's all a personal decision.   We get off the sillhouette tomorrow and we will leave some cash for our retrat host, room steward, and our favorite bar service staff in envelopes.  I will also tip our martini bar staff with cash (no envelope).  We haven't frequented other bars on the ship.  For specialty dining we tip extra after dining on the chit.   

[RICCruisers]

Here’s what happened to us on our Edge cruise in October. I went to the Retreat Concierge for the additional gratuity form and filled one out for our Retreat Host/Butler and Room Attendant. I asked when they would receive the tip and she said it would be added to their check at the end of the month. That surprised me and I asked if they be told about the tip during the cruise and she said no. She asked if I would like them to know about it and I said absolutely. I didn’t want them to think we stiffed them with no tip. This interaction was on Day 3 of a 7 Day cruise. 
 

The last day of the cruise neither the Butler or Room Attendant had said anything about it. As we were getting ready to leave I asked the Room Attendant if she had received any type of confirmation about an additional gratuity and she said no. Needless to say I was a bit annoyed and told her that both she and the Host should be receiving something. Both tips appeared on my Room Account so I know they were charged to our suite. Just my experience on this cruise. Hopefully they eventually got paid. 

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 11/30/2021 at 7:17 PM, kalajori said:

Can OBC be used for casino play?

Joanmarie

Yes, but not the same as using cash.  The OBC used for casino play is never returned - only your winnings are returned.  You play the OBC until it is entirely lost to the house; but hopefully gain some winnings along the way.  Mathematically it is equivalent to about a 5% penalty, although the exact percentage depends on the game played and it's associated odds of winning or losing.

[canderson]

17 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

Here’s what happened to us on our Edge cruise in October. I went to the Retreat Concierge for the additional gratuity form and filled one out for our Retreat Host/Butler and Room Attendant. I asked when they would receive the tip and she said it would be added to their check at the end of the month. That surprised me and I asked if they be told about the tip during the cruise and she said no.

One solution for that.  There are still cards available at GR for commenting upon various aspects of your cruise experience.  They bear the title "We'd love to hear from you" at the top.  Using that form, you can write whatever you like regarding your experience with each group or person for whom a tip will be left.  Include in that writing the amount that you will be leaving in OBC.  Be sure to include NAMES in your writing.  When these cards are read during crew meetings, you will have not only done your crewmember(s) a great service, but will also have set their expectation for what will be coming in their next paycheck from your OBC form.

 

In our case, I started at the top with the name and position of the person(s), e.g., "Russell, Carla, Joseph, Gede, Anna, Milo and the whole Luminae Team" (that venue pools its tips amongst the Luminae crewmembers), and the "Please accept our gift of an additional $XXX for the Luminae staff" before the main body of my comments.

 

On another such card, I started with "Anu, Personal Retreat Host" and "Please accept our gift of an additional $XXX before the main body of that message on his most excellent service.

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We gave our RH and attendant a note thanking them and indicating we were pleased to leave an extra tip on our sea pass but I did not indicate the amount. Left cash with Luminae and added a tip to a wine receipt for our sommelier.

[Julma]

4 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Yes, but not the same as using cash.  The OBC used for casino play is never returned - only your winnings are returned.  You play the OBC until it is entirely lost to the house; but hopefully gain some winnings along the way.  Mathematically it is equivalent to about a 5% penalty, although the exact percentage depends on the game played and it's associated odds of winning or losing.

On the Edge early Nov.  I transferred $300 from my OBC to the slot machine I was at.  Played for awhile and cashed out $240.  Went to cashier and cashed slip out no problem.  Used that money for tipping. 

[Guppy99]

On 11/30/2021 at 12:58 PM, TeaBag said:

I've always thought it was generous of Celebrity to use their OBC first, leaving the TA OBC to be returned to the passenger if unused.

generous?  non-refundable must be used before refundable. They simply don't have a choice in the matter.