Are pre-paid gratuities even worth it any more?

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

I did another post in another thread that I erased as I realized I was not very delicate. I should have done that here...thanks...

No worries, I’ve been there many times myself. 

[zitsky]

16 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

I agree.   It is an option.  People should do the option they prefer.  I think it is good to ask about potential reasons to opt for one over another.  I don't understand why some get so wound up over such a simple thing.   

Sure.  I’m giving Celebrity a loan.  Just like when I book a cruise.

[odyssyus]

1 hour ago, dlh015 said:

 

They signed a contract, and accepted a salary.  There is no expectation of further income. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by odyssyus
No need to quote after a mea culpa

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, odyssyus said:

They signed a contract, and accepted a salary.  There is no expectation of further income. 

I think you mean there should NOT be an expectation of further income.  What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.  And if I don’t, I’m just uncaring about the horrible conditions they work in.

[odyssyus]

6 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I think you mean there should NOT be an expectation of further income.  What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.  And if I don’t, I’m just uncaring about the horrible conditions they work in.

Pay no mind to the virtue signalers.  Most of them don't actually do what they say they do...its all appearance.

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, odyssyus said:

Pay no mind to the virtue signalers.  Most of them don't actually do what they say they do...its all appearance.

Ok thanks!

 

Maybe if I could afford a suite I could afford to tip everyone $20 every day.

 

I just get emotional when I think of those crew members kidnapped and forced to work on a ship with no contract and no compensation.  🙄

[Baynanno1]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:33 AM, HskrCrsr said:

Note that there are different gratuities for different workers. The pre-paid gratuities only cover a subset of workers.  Spa workers do not get a share.

"Spa workers do not get a share." But there is an automatic 18% gratuity added to any treatment PLUS a line for the unsuspecting to add another gratuity!

[drakes2]

4 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

"Spa workers do not get a share." But there is an automatic 18% gratuity added to any treatment PLUS a line for the unsuspecting to add another gratuity!

And many of them are unsuspecting.  I was at GR when a quite elderly lady didn't realize she had tipped the Spa person additional on top of the gratuities and was trying to get it reversed/refunded.  Nope, sorry can't do that. I didn't stick around so unsure of the final outcome.  

[zitsky]

12 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

"Spa workers do not get a share." But there is an automatic 18% gratuity added to any treatment PLUS a line for the unsuspecting to add another gratuity!

Well spa treatments are so cheap that they can’t afford to pay the workers.  They need those extra tips!

[RichYak]

6 hours ago, zitsky said:

What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.

I don't think that's true. Now that gratuities are automatically added to room service and specialty restaurants, all extra tips are a personal decision. Minimum tips are now completely covered for all situations. I personally wouldn't consider you a louse for not paying any extra.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

13 hours ago, zitsky said:

  What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.  And if I don’t, I’m just uncaring about the horrible conditions they work in.

You actually care what people write here 🤣

you paid the service charge , you shouldn’t  feel that your a louse ( you could be one for other reason , but I don’t know or care ) if you don’t give extra gratitude 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

19 hours ago, tonyinoc said:

I don't understand the point of pre paid . 

Example 

if I pre - pay on the website for my 12 day cruise they say its $420 for 2 

if I don't pre - pay and let them charge me $17.50 per person its still $420 

 

there is no savings ? so why give them your money months before you leave ? 

 

I know all including is different so i am not comparing that 

 

You go into your cruise with as much as possible paid so you don't have a huge bill when you get home.

[StingBeanz]

On 3/9/2023 at 9:15 PM, SusieAV8R said:

I would definitely have taken a photo of that note and registered a complaint.  This has not, and won't not be tolerated, within our experience on Celebrity.  (We have only travelled in suites since 2008). I wouldn't tolerate it from any cabin/stateroom attendant.  It is not what the Celebrity Brand is conveying, and not what the Brand should be tolerating.  But corrections can't be made if not reported.  Did you report this?

 I did not report it, it came from Celebrity, they have to know about it. It was a printed official document. For all I know it could have been older (obsolete) paperwork or something that was being considered and it just happened to get mixed in with her paperwork to leave in the stateroom. We were in an OV and our friend was in a balcony and didn't receive it. I think it probably wasn't supposed to be there and was probably delivered by mistake. Maybe it's prepared for people that ask for suggested guidelines. Looks like an isolated incident from feedback on here, I really wish I till a photo or kept it. 

[ldubs]

On 3/12/2023 at 2:10 PM, zitsky said:

I think you mean there should NOT be an expectation of further income.  What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.  And if I don’t, I’m just uncaring about the horrible conditions they work in.

 

This becomes an issue when the crew begins to communicate an expectation of additional tips over and above the pre-paid ones.  Fortunately, that is something I have not encountered.   What a few CC folks prefer isn't guiding policy.    

[SusieAV8R]

10 hours ago, StingBeanz said:

 I did not report it, it came from Celebrity, they have to know about it. It was a printed official document. For all I know it could have been older (obsolete) paperwork or something that was being considered and it just happened to get mixed in with her paperwork to leave in the stateroom. We were in an OV and our friend was in a balcony and didn't receive it. I think it probably wasn't supposed to be there and was probably delivered by mistake. Maybe it's prepared for people that ask for suggested guidelines. Looks like an isolated incident from feedback on here, I really wish I till a photo or kept it. 

Yes, a photo would have been good.  BUT, there's no doubt in my mind that X has employees reading CC, Facebook etc. and your postings have made it up the Food Chain......for what it's worth.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 3/13/2023 at 9:50 AM, StingBeanz said:

 I did not report it, it came from Celebrity, they have to know about it. It was a printed official document. For all I know it could have been older (obsolete) paperwork or something that was being considered and it just happened to get mixed in with her paperwork to leave in the stateroom. We were in an OV and our friend was in a balcony and didn't receive it. I think it probably wasn't supposed to be there and was probably delivered by mistake. Maybe it's prepared for people that ask for suggested guidelines. Looks like an isolated incident from feedback on here, I really wish I till a photo or kept it. 

 

OR someone is very good at making something look official so people think it is from Celebrity...

[awhcruiser]

On 3/7/2023 at 5:32 PM, CuseJeff44 said:

But that doesn't solve for the fact there still seems to be an expectation of a cash tip. The pre-pay vs charge to room isn't the dilemma, I am fine with either. It's that it appears there is an expectation for 2 sets of gratuities which seems to make things more complicated than ever

From whom?

[PTC DAWG]

I sail AI, let it rip.  Never think about it. 

[bigbenboys]

On 3/7/2023 at 2:32 PM, CuseJeff44 said:

But that doesn't solve for the fact there still seems to be an expectation of a cash tip. The pre-pay vs charge to room isn't the dilemma, I am fine with either. It's that it appears there is an expectation for 2 sets of gratuities which seems to make things more complicated than ever

While we do give additional tips when warranted. I've never had staff talk to us about tips. What I hear from staff is you must give us a 10 on the survey. Our room attendant got additional tip for going out of their way to make a nice birthday cruise.

 

[tserface]

We've sort of come to think of the pre-paid gratuities as kind of a service charge and anything else we add is the actual tip.  We pay the service charge part, they may it really hard not to, but we only give out extra tips if we get extra service.

We've heard from several sources that Celebrity is dumbing down the service some like only setting up rooms once a day instead of the usual twice like before.  That way they can have a room steward do more rooms and get more of the gratuities.  We also noticed they didn't reduce the service charge, just the amount of service.  I expect that will affect our overall extra-tipping in the future.  On a recent cruise our daughter had to either leave the pull out couch (for her kids) out all day, or do it themselves and make it up at night.  It took up a lot of the room so they did it themselves.  That wasn't really a huge deal, but certainly not the special service feeling they used to get cruising.  I think Royal is doing this as well.

[tserface]

On 3/12/2023 at 2:10 PM, zitsky said:

I think you mean there should NOT be an expectation of further income.  What I learn from CC is that there very much is an expectation and I’m a louse if I don’t grease their palm after pre-paying for gratuities.  And if I don’t, I’m just uncaring about the horrible conditions they work in.

It's unfortunate that you've been made to feel that way.  I've felt that kind of pressure as well, but just kind of figure we've paid what the cruise line set up as the expectation so we only pay extra if we really want to for some reason.  To me, it's like buying the drink package and paying for drinks anyway.  It seems kind of dumb.  I will pay extra if I want a drink that's not on the package.

[poeticlicensed]

I remember when they would leave envelopes in your stateroom to tip on the last evening. I think the cruise lines decided that to make it an all inclusive experience we could prepay. But like everything else and every other good idea, it has suffered a bit of creep from the original intent. While I could happily leave the ship without giving another cent I do tip extra. Do I feel pressure? Maybe. I think Americans are very used to tipping for service and event hough we prepay we still feel the need to give some cash. I do like the idea that we prepay because I want people I dont lay eyes on to get something. I have no problem giving a bit more to some. 

[zitsky]

23 minutes ago, tserface said:

It's unfortunate that you've been made to feel that way.  I've felt that kind of pressure as well, but just kind of figure we've paid what the cruise line set up as the expectation so we only pay extra if we really want to for some reason.  To me, it's like buying the drink package and paying for drinks anyway.  It seems kind of dumb.  I will pay extra if I want a drink that's not on the package.

We tipped extra on the Beyond recently.  But we did it willingly.  We weren’t forced.  We already had All Included.

[Ellaleah]

The service would have to be below ordinary for me not to tip some cash.  Most knocking themselves out waiting on you and working long hours.  It’s a little “personal” Thank You!

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, Ellaleah said:

The service would have to be below ordinary for me not to tip some cash.  Most knocking themselves out waiting on you and working long hours.  It’s a little “personal” Thank You!

If I saw someone knocking themselves out waiting on me, I would call 911.