Price Rises: Gratuities, Wifi, Medallion Shipping 🤑💰

[JimmyVWine]

8 hours ago, Expo67 said:

Of course we in general do not tip the laundry service during a hotel stay for our towels and bedding but we all do on a cruise.

I never really thought about that.  When we tip the housekeeping staff in a hotel, do they tip out the back room the way waiters do?  And do all hotels do their own laundry in-house, or do they use a service that picks up dirty linens and supplies fresh ones?  In the latter scenario, the third party vendor isn't going to share in a tip pool.  But if laundry is done in-house, maybe the housekeepers share with the laundry folks.  I suspect that at a resort that charges a "resort fee", things get spread around more than we know.  

[kywildcatfanone]

Anyone else attempt to go into the onboard services for a future cruise to prepay gratuities and other packages getting an error?  But all the other manage booking items work fine.  Hmmm... 

[ceilidh1]

37 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Anyone else attempt to go into the onboard services for a future cruise to prepay gratuities and other packages getting an error?  But all the other manage booking items work fine.  Hmmm... 

Yup! I can't get into it either

[shamrockace]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Was that roped off area only for those with high enough priority to have this privilege or was it for all those on board who had made reservations before the show?

I’m really not sure. The prime seats were roped off with an usher guarding them. 

[caribill]

28 minutes ago, shamrockace said:

I’m really not sure. The prime seats were roped off with an usher guarding them. 

 

Did you see when the prime seats started to fill up?

 

With RCI, those at a certain level in their loyalty program have an evening cocktail party and I have seen people from that party march in en masse just before showtime holding a drink in their hands.  If that is what you have experienced, then the area is indeed being reserved for those who are truly Loyal to Royal.

[dog]

1 hour ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Anyone else attempt to go into the onboard services for a future cruise to prepay gratuities and other packages getting an error?  But all the other manage booking items work fine.  Hmmm... 

No problem 

[Expo67]

6 hours ago, chamima said:

 

On every cruise (on Celebrity, Disney and Princess) we've been on in the last twenty years  or so at least,  they start running out of berries after 6 or so days.First it's raspberries,  then blueberries and finally strawberries.  The ship  takes on provisions at the beginning of the cruise and , since berries spoil, they try to take on only as much as they can use before they begin to spoil.You can go to local markets in port but the ship -due to health dept. regulations - cannot.

And as far as NO single malt scotch on the whole ship   - I find that hard to believe.

 

6 hours ago, chamima said:

 

On every cruise (on Celebrity, Disney and Princess) we've been on in the last twenty years  or so at least,  they start running out of berries after 6 or so days.First it's raspberries,  then blueberries and finally strawberries.  The ship  takes on provisions at the beginning of the cruise and , since berries spoil, they try to take on only as much as they can use before they begin to spoil.You can go to local markets in port but the ship -due to health dept. regulations - cannot.

And as far as NO single malt scotch on the whole ship   - I find that hard to believe.

Well no berries from day 1 and no single malt after the 5th day so I and about 400 other berry and single malt lovers witnessed it. 🫣

[Expo67]

4 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I never really thought about that.  When we tip the housekeeping staff in a hotel, do they tip out the back room the way waiters do?  And do all hotels do their own laundry in-house, or do they use a service that picks up dirty linens and supplies fresh ones?  In the latter scenario, the third party vendor isn't going to share in a tip pool.  But if laundry is done in-house, maybe the housekeepers share with the laundry folks.  I suspect that at a resort that charges a "resort fee", things get spread around more than we know.  

Your logic has possibilities. 👍 That being said at this rate we will be tipping the folks that check us in during embarkation. 🤣

[jennybenny]

1 minute ago, Expo67 said:

Your logic has possibilities. 👍 That being said at this rate we will be tipping the folks that check us in during embarkation. 🤣

Sounds good, and fingers crossed for a free upgrade lol 

 

Tipping culture is out of control! lol

[Expo67]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Did you see when the prime seats started to fill up?

 

With RCI, those at a certain level in their loyalty program have an evening cocktail party and I have seen people from that party march in en masse just before showtime holding a drink in their hands.  If that is what you have experienced, then the area is indeed being reserved for those who are truly Loyal to Royal.

Worse case scenario we ever witnessed was on Royal where they roped of loveseats around the atrium on New Years Eve and sold them for $800 fir the 4 hours. Now they did come with a bottle of their best house champagne and an platter of luncheon meats and cheeses. 😳

[jagoffee]

On 12/6/2022 at 12:04 PM, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Thanks for trying to verify this question.  I can see a bunch of angry passengers who are expecting their order but not expecting a $10 collection fee.  

 

I, for one, don't like changes.  Is it my imagination or has Princess been tossing out changes willy nilly the past year?  

The free shipping was never a Plus benefit as far as I know.  You did (do) not need the Plus package to get free shipping, but you will in the future.

[Expo67]

2 minutes ago, jennybenny said:

Sounds good, and fingers crossed for a free upgrade lol 

 

Tipping culture is out of control! lol

That’s for sure. Ordered a take out pizza online from one of our local pizza places here that I drive and picked up. There was a line on the payment section asking if I wished to include a 10, 15, 20, or other sized tip. 🤔

[ldubs]

19 hours ago, shamrockace said:

No one is talking about the reserved seating or the extra desserts. We cruised in November on Enchanted and noticed a reduction in dessert and food selections. Now you’ll have to pay extra. 
 

we’ve cruised on Royal Caribbean for our kids/grandkids and the reserved seating at events means 1/2 the seats are roped off from us regular people.   It was one of the things I hated about Royal. That and you had to pre- schedule shows.
 

 Now Princess is following their lead. Leave Princess alone. 

 

You don't have to pre-schedule shows on RCI.  At least not on our last cruise.   However, it is better to make reservations because those without are not allowed to enter until a few minutes before showtime.  

 

The roped off sections are for upper status tiers.  I can't remember which one, but it wasn't ours.  I wondered how they determined the number of rows to rope off.  It sometimes seemed like a lot, but the section were full by showtime.   

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

6 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I never really thought about that.  When we tip the housekeeping staff in a hotel, do they tip out the back room the way waiters do?  And do all hotels do their own laundry in-house, or do they use a service that picks up dirty linens and supplies fresh ones?  In the latter scenario, the third party vendor isn't going to share in a tip pool.  But if laundry is done in-house, maybe the housekeepers share with the laundry folks.  I suspect that at a resort that charges a "resort fee", things get spread around more than we know.  

hotel resort fees are not like cruise line gratuities. Cruise line gratuities meet US accounting rules, are processed outside of the companies books and distributed to employees and employee programs. Resort fees are just a way for the hotels to increase prices without raising their room rate, is certainly included in hotel revenue and is not distributed to employees in any way other that their normal salary and benefits 

[Jadn13]

5 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Anyone else attempt to go into the onboard services for a future cruise to prepay gratuities and other packages getting an error?  But all the other manage booking items work fine.  Hmmm... 

I just paid  for gratuities through the .com and wifi through the app about 5 mins ago

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, Jadn13 said:

I just paid  for gratuities through the .com and wifi through the app about 5 mins ago

any luck on getting your app status problem solved?

[Jadn13]

8 minutes ago, ldtr said:

any luck on getting your app status problem solved?

Nope! The wifi I purchased was through my Moms App (discounted) I tried though, I used the chat function with 3 different people until I gave up. I’m going to ask once I’m on board to see if they have a solution 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Jadn13

[kywildcatfanone]

14 minutes ago, Jadn13 said:

I just paid  for gratuities through the .com and wifi through the app about 5 mins ago

I have a cruise in 2 days.  It doesn't show me anything on the app to let me pick my future cruise.  How do you get out to see other cruises you have booked?

[that]

click on the Profile button on bottom of screen

Edited December 8, 2022 by that

[Jadn13]

28 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I have a cruise in 2 days.  It doesn't show me anything on the app to let me pick my future cruise.  How do you get out to see other cruises you have booked?

Yes, what is posted above. ⬆️⬆️

Click  on the profile pic  in the bottom right corner 

Edited December 8, 2022 by Jadn13

[JimmyVWine]

57 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Resort fees are just a way for the hotels to increase prices without raising their room rate, is certainly included in hotel revenue and is not distributed to employees in any way other that their normal salary and benefits 

I have definitely stayed at places that have a Resort Fee and it was clearly stated that the resort operates on a "no tipping policy" because that is all accounted for as part of the daily fee.  

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, Jadn13 said:

Nope! The wifi I purchased was through my Moms App (discounted) I tried though, I used the chat function with 3 different people until I gave up. I’m going to ask once I’m on board to see if they have a solution 

I am on board the Crown. I will see if they have any idea on how you can get it resolved.

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

I have definitely stayed at places that have a Resort Fee and it was clearly stated that the resort operates on a "no tipping policy" because that is all accounted for as part of the daily fee.  

they might pay some out of resort fees just as they might have a no tipping policy out of room rates. However they, unlike the cruise lines, run that money as revenue, anything they pay is an expense and is most likely processed as salary. Not legally bound to distribute any or all of the resort fees to employees. if they were the resort fees would have to be optional under US tax code.

 

hotels tend to lump a lot of things and try to use it to justify the resort fees.

 

Some of the higher end properties have always had a no tipping philosophy even before resort fees became common.

 

Some restaurants tried to go no tipping by raising prices. In most cases it did not work out.

Edited December 8, 2022 by ldtr

[JimmyVWine]

16 minutes ago, ldtr said:

However they, unlike the cruise lines, run that money as revenue, anything they pay is an expense and is most likely processed as salary.

I'm not an accountant, and I can't be sure that I understand all of that.  But in the end, instead of paying $1,000 and tipping $200, I end up paying $1,200 and the workers get paid.  So I'm not sure that it matters much to me, the consumer.

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

I'm not an accountant, and I can't be sure that I understand all of that.  But in the end, instead of paying $1,000 and tipping $200, I end up paying $1,200 and the workers get paid.  So I'm not sure that it matters much to me, the consumer.

hotels not so much, except that staff may really not be getting anything. A no tipping policy does not mean that their salaries are necessarily any higher. 

 

For cruise ships that meet US accounting rules, including that the tips are optional and can be removed. It means that you can be confident that the money is going to the crew.

 

It also means that since it is not included as part of the fare those costs are not part of the insurance price calculation, though if you do choose a package fare the increased costs are.

 

it also means that unlike if it was included in the fare you do not have to pay in advance of the cruise.

 

for the cruise line it means that those funds are neither revenue nor are the funds paid to the crew expenses. That impacts net margin, and may have some tax implication.

 

For the crew it means that the funds must go to the crew and may have some tax implications for them depending upon their country of residence.

 

Note this only applies to the daily gratuity, not the service fee added to some purchases such as drinks. Those are not optional and not covered by the same accounting rules.