Do room stewards know that you prepaid gratiuties?

[nolimits]

Hi

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, nolimits said:

Hi

Hi. 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

You clearly state in your previous post that stewards know the whole history of passengers' past and present (by printouts) tipping history and then back pedal and state "they are very open about telling you about passengers (in general, not by name) who tip and passengers who don’t tip". Really? Who are you trying to kid?

You are incredibly naive if you don’t think RCI doesn’t track the history of every passenger that sails on their ship. What have I backtracked on? Cabin stewards know which cabins have pre-paid gratuities.  I have also heard the same applies to the MDR, but I have not witnessed that first hand. I never stated every RCI employee knows this information. I said cabin stewards know which cabins prepaid gratuities and if gratuities are removed during the cruise they find out because leadership (ultimately the hotel director) want to know if there is a reason(s) or problem(s) that needs to be addressed. 

[ReneeFLL]

35 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

You are incredibly naive if you don’t think RCI doesn’t track the history of every passenger that sails on their ship. What have I backtracked on? Cabin stewards know which cabins have pre-paid gratuities.  I have also heard the same applies to the MDR, but I have not witnessed that first hand. I never stated every RCI employee knows this information. I said cabin stewards know which cabins prepaid gratuities and if gratuities are removed during the cruise they find out because leadership (ultimately the hotel director) want to know if there is a reason(s) or problem(s) that needs to be addressed. 

Your attendant friend can say what they want to, but I don’t believe it for 1 minute. Ok, Royal knows who removes gratuities and who doesn’t because it’s all computerized. Does Royal pass this on to the attendants? I don’t think so unless there’s a problem. Why would they? Makes sense to ask the passengers first to see why they are being removed. If the passenger says there’s a problem then I can see why a supervisor would talk to an attendant and say the gratuities are being removed because of it.
If there isn’t a problem why would GS even bother telling the attendant? Makes no sense because there is nothing for the attendant to try to fix. As Judge Judy would say, “If it doesn’t make sense then it probably isn’t true.” That’s my opinion which to me sounds more logical. 
 

Edited August 23, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[the penguins]

29 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Your attendant friend can say what they want to, but I don’t believe it for 1 minute. Ok, Royal knows who removes gratuities and who doesn’t because it’s all computerized. Does Royal pass this on to the attendants? I don’t think so unless there’s a problem. Why would they? Makes sense to ask the passengers first to see why they are being removed. If the passenger says there’s a problem then I can see why a supervisor would talk to an attendant and say the gratuities are being removed because of it.
If there isn’t a problem why would GS even bother telling the attendant? Makes no sense because there is nothing for the attendant to try to fix. As Judge Judy would say, “If it doesn’t make sense then it probably isn’t true.” That’s my opinion which to me sounds more logical. 
 

All cabin stewards and waiters will know exactly how many passengers will have removed their auto tips on a particular cruise as it will be reflected in their pay for that cruise.

i.e. If a steward knows they have serviced 10 cabins each with 2 guests and only received 18 lots of tips clearly 2 have canceled auto tips.

If you read the wording on auto tips it says passengers can ask for a reduction where the service has not been satisfactory. Passengers who always remove the tips are therefore stating that the service is not satisfactory before they have even experienced it. The same passengers they then go on to reward many/some of those same crew members by paying tips directly. 

[cruiseboy89130]

I was never ever asked why I remove the autograts - never!

[ReneeFLL]

On 8/21/2022 at 2:00 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

i am friends with several cabin stewards who work for RCI. They know which cabins pre-pay gratuities and they know if gratuities are removed during a cruise, since RCI charges gratuities on a daily basis. What they don’t know until after the cruise is if a passenger removes gratuities on the last day of the cruise. They also know the history of passengers who have removed gratuities in the past. 

 

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

All cabin stewards and waiters will know exactly how many passengers will have removed their auto tips on a particular cruise as it will be reflected in their pay for that cruise.

i.e. If a steward knows they have serviced 10 cabins each with 2 guests and only received 18 lots of tips clearly 2 have canceled auto tips.

If you read the wording on auto tips it says passengers can ask for a reduction where the service has not been satisfactory. Passengers who always remove the tips are therefore stating that the service is not satisfactory before they have even experienced it. The same passengers they then go on to reward many/some of those same crew members by paying tips directly. 

I was referring to what PhillyFan said. He said that the attendants know WHICH cabins have removed them and DURING the cruise. I can understand that the attendants know how many people have removed them so they can account for their pay, but not exactly who or during that cruise. There’s a big difference.
 

There are people on here who have stated they remove the gratuities just because they want to. It has nothing to do with bad service. So when they are removed do they tell GS that the service was unsatisfactory or they don’t say anything? 🤷🏼‍♀️ 
 

For people on here that have removed the gratuities, what do they ask you or do they not ask anything?

[ReneeFLL]

11 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

I was never ever asked why I remove the autograts - never!

Thanks for this answer. I was curious if they asked anything.

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Passengers who always remove the tips are therefore stating that the service is not satisfactory before they have even experienced it.

No,  they are refusing to pay for service that has not yet been received, and, tips are always VOLUNTARY,  otherwise it's a fee not a tip.

 

38 minutes ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

I was never ever asked why I remove the autograts - never!

We have never been asked either.

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

All cabin stewards and waiters will know exactly how many passengers will have removed their auto tips on a particular cruise as it will be reflected in their pay for that cruise.

i.e. If a steward knows they have serviced 10 cabins each with 2 guests and only received 18 lots of tips clearly 2 have canceled auto tips.

If you read the wording on auto tips it says passengers can ask for a reduction where the service has not been satisfactory. Passengers who always remove the tips are therefore stating that the service is not satisfactory before they have even experienced it. The same passengers they then go on to reward many/some of those same crew members by paying tips directly. 

There is a big difference between knowing HOW MANY people removed auto grats and WHO removed them.

 

And just as you say passengers who remove tips early on are judging the service before they even receive it, the very same can be said about people who pre-pay gratuities.

[livingonthebeach]

4 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

You are incredibly naive if you don’t think RCI doesn’t track the history of every passenger that sails on their ship. 

 

Of course RCI knows all your past transactions as they are all computerized - I never said they didn't. I was referring to your post below where you state the stewards "know the history of passengers who have removed gratuities in the past." This is what I find reeks of naivete. 

 

On 8/21/2022 at 2:00 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

i am friends with several cabin stewards who work for RCI. They know which cabins pre-pay gratuities and they know if gratuities are removed during a cruise, since RCI charges gratuities on a daily basis. What they don’t know until after the cruise is if a passenger removes gratuities on the last day of the cruise. They also know the history of passengers who have removed gratuities in the past. 

[Bird82]

The best move is to remove auto grats on the morning of disembarkation so you still get good service and also save money. Tell your room steward you have to go to your car real quick to get them money for a tip and then just don’t go back. 

[robmtx]

3 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

I was never ever asked why I remove the autograts - never!

Yeah when I was having them removed, not once did anyone at GS ask if something was wrong, or why I was making the request. It was always "Ok, sir, no problem, may I have your stateroom # please"

 

[DirtyDawg]

16 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Too many variables associated with tipping. Gen X's and Millennials are crappy tippers which leaves it up to Boomers and post WW2 folks to make up the difference.

Isn't that what our parents said about us when we were young. "We Depression era folks have to make up for those lousy Boomer and post WW2 tippers. 🤬"

😉

 

[rudeney]

6 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Your attendant friend can say what they want to, but I don’t believe it for 1 minute. Ok, Royal knows who removes gratuities and who doesn’t because it’s all computerized. Does Royal pass this on to the attendants? I don’t think so unless there’s a problem. Why would they? Makes sense to ask the passengers first to see why they are being removed. If the passenger says there’s a problem then I can see why a supervisor would talk to an attendant and say the gratuities are being removed because of it.
If there isn’t a problem why would GS even bother telling the attendant? Makes no sense because there is nothing for the attendant to try to fix. As Judge Judy would say, “If it doesn’t make sense then it probably isn’t true.” That’s my opinion which to me sounds more logical. 
 

 

I'm with you on this, except there is one possible explanation for disclosing removed gratuities to attendants during the cruise.  And I am surprised that it has not been mentioned yet, as it seems to always get thrown out in all the best tipping threads.  Specifically, I am talking about the rumor that cash tips have to be pooled when received from guests who removed gratuities.  If that is true, then the crew has to know if gratuities have been removed or not so they know to keep cash tips or to hand them over.  Now, I'm not saying that is a fact, but it's been tossed into tipping threads here for years, so there it is! 😉

[DirtyDawg]

12 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

I'm with you on this, except there is one possible explanation for disclosing removed gratuities to attendants during the cruise.  And I am surprised that it has not been mentioned yet, as it seems to always get thrown out in all the best tipping threads.  Specifically, I am talking about the rumor that cash tips have to be pooled when received from guests who removed gratuities.  If that is true, then the crew has to know if gratuities have been removed or not so they know to keep cash tips or to hand them over.  Now, I'm not saying that is a fact, but it's been tossed into tipping threads here for years, so there it is! 😉

To pool, or not to pool: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous pooling,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

To tip only the person who personally served you;
 

[DDF2821]

Amazing misconceptions in this thread!

 

Tips charged to your shipboard account do not go to the servers/stewards on your ship. They go to the cruise company distributed fleet wide as they fit. Removing them from your shipboard account has an almost zero impact on your server or your steward. If you truly are concerned with there well being, remove the tips from your account and cash tip them at the end of your cruise.(Old school).  They will get your entire tip, not just a tiny percentage.

 

Any concerns that pre-paid tips or removed daily tips is information that is available to ships crew is unfounded. Unless some rogue individual is accessing ship’s billing information and forwarding that information to crew, no one knows(or cares) when or how you tip.

 

Each crew member signs a contract for a monthly salary. Their tip allocation is unrelated. When they receive their tip allocation, they have no idea of who these tips come from or how much, only a total.

Edited August 23, 2022 by DDF2821

[rudeney]

9 minutes ago, DDF2821 said:

Tips charged to your shipboard account do not go to the servers/stewards on your ship. They go to the cruise company distributed fleet wide as they fit. Removing them from your shipboard account has an almost zero impact on your server or your steward. 

 

How did you get that information?  The only thing I've ever seen that seems to be any sort of official information from RCCL is a photo of a document supposedly obtained by a cruiser who asked.  I have no idea if this is factual or not, but it seems to appear whenever people start arguing about tipping on forums.  This would seem to indicate that the auto-added gratuities are in fact distributed to specific crew members:

 

[time4u2go]

25 minutes ago, DDF2821 said:

Amazing misconceptions in this thread!

 

Tips charged to your shipboard account do not go to the servers/stewards on your ship. They go to the cruise company distributed fleet wide as they fit. Removing them from your shipboard account has an almost zero impact on your server or your steward. If you truly are concerned with there well being, remove the tips from your account and cash tip them at the end of your cruise.(Old school).  They will get your entire tip, not just a tiny percentage.

 

Any concerns that pre-paid tips or removed daily tips is information that is available to ships crew is unfounded. Unless some rogue individual is accessing ship’s billing information and forwarding that information to crew, no one knows(or cares) when or how you tip.

 

Each crew member signs a contract for a monthly salary. Their tip allocation is unrelated. When they receive their tip allocation, they have no idea of who these tips come from or how much, only a total.

Where did you get this information?

[DDF2821]

5 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

How did you get that information?  The only thing I've ever seen that seems to be any sort of official information from RCCL is a photo of a document supposedly obtained by a cruiser who asked.  I have no idea if this is factual or not, but it seems to appear whenever people start arguing about tipping on forums.  This would seem to indicate that the auto-added gratuities are in fact distributed to specific crew members:

 

Rudeney, 

 You will notice that this document only tells you the breakdown of the “gratuity charges”, not the disbursement of the said charges.

 

Read the fine print on the website. Be on the lookout for the word “fleetwide”

[Tree_skier]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Your attendant friend can say what they want to, but I don’t believe it for 1 minute. Ok, Royal knows who removes gratuities and who doesn’t because it’s all computerized. Does Royal pass this on to the attendants? I don’t think so unless there’s a problem. Why would they? Makes sense to ask the passengers first to see why they are being removed. If the passenger says there’s a problem then I can see why a supervisor would talk to an attendant and say the gratuities are being removed because of it.
If there isn’t a problem why would GS even bother telling the attendant? Makes no sense because there is nothing for the attendant to try to fix. As Judge Judy would say, “If it doesn’t make sense then it probably isn’t true.” That’s my opinion which to me sounds more logical. 
 

 

When speaking to my waiter and asst. waiter on the last night on Adventure back in 2019.  They clearly knew we had the auto-grats in place and were very thankful for an additional tip above and beyond that.  I can't speak to what the cabin attendants know but our waiters certainly did.  At least on that particular cruise anyways.

 

4 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

There is a big difference between knowing HOW MANY people removed auto grats and WHO removed them.

 

And just as you say passengers who remove tips early on are judging the service before they even receive it, the very same can be said about people who pre-pay gratuities.

I don't prepay them.  I leave them on my account to accumulate as the cruise progresses.  If there was ever a problem that couldn't or wouldn't be resolved I guess I could remove them.  I've never had a problem unresolved or seen the need to lower or eliminate gratuities.

[DDF2821]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Where did you get this information?

What is “Crew Appreciation”?
A crew appreciation is a daily amount added to your onboard account, which is shared among the many members of our crew in hotel, dining and entertainment throughout the fleet who help make your cruise experience special. 

 

This is from a major cruise line’s website

[time4u2go]

3 minutes ago, DDF2821 said:

What is “Crew Appreciation”?
A crew appreciation is a daily amount added to your onboard account, which is shared among the many members of our crew in hotel, dining and entertainment throughout the fleet who help make your cruise experience special. 

 

This is from a major cruise line’s website

From Royal Caribbean?

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, DDF2821 said:

What is “Crew Appreciation”?
A crew appreciation is a daily amount added to your onboard account, which is shared among the many members of our crew in hotel, dining and entertainment throughout the fleet who help make your cruise experience special. 

 

This is from a major cruise line’s website

That's from PRINCESS.

This forum is for ROYAL CARIBBEAN.

[Scotico]

So I have family coming here from S. America who are not accustomed  to leaving tips (if they did it's a few dollars for the waiter and that's it).  It is frowned upon where they are from.  It is 4 of them and they are looking at shelling out $500 in tips.  I informed them of this.  They let me know that they will only give what they think they deserve and that's it (Will be a lot less that $500).  Can they just remove all automatic gratuities at the beginning of the cruise or must they go every day to remove the daily gratuities?