Breakdown of Gratuities since latest increase

[PhillyFan33579]

8 hours ago, iscruisingdunzo said:

Lol. Gratuities are not going to break ANYONE that got on the cruise ship. 

Read all the comments in this thread. A poster specifically said the latest gratuities increase was the last straw for several people, so it is apparently breaking some people. 

[yogimax]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Read all the comments in this thread. A poster specifically said the latest gratuities increase was the last straw for several people, so it is apparently breaking some people. 

What does this say about human psychology?  We get more upset about a few bucks labeled ‘tips’ than over the hundreds and even thousands of dollars in cruise price increases?  
 

Go figure.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 minutes ago, yogimax said:

What does this say about human psychology?  We get more upset about a few bucks labeled ‘tips’ than over the hundreds and even thousands of dollars in cruise price increases?  
 

Go figure.

Interesting point. I think your last sentence is a big reason why some people get upset about gratuities. Cruise fares on RCI have dramatically increased in the last year or so, to the point that a cruise on RCI is no longer affordable for some people. One way people can cut corners, which is allowed by RCI, is to cut gratuities. Depending on the length of the cruise and the number of people in your party, the savings can be pretty substantial if you don’t pay gratuities. 

[Mick B]

Hi,

I am from the UK.

I think we feel differently about gratuities or tips.

Normally we pay a price for whatever we buy and that is it.

Some restaurants in the last few years have added on the option to pay a gratuity, but you can decline and we often have, not because we are tight, but because the service has not been up to a standard we expect - waiting 40 minutes before taking our order, bringing the wrong food, or cold food, giving us the wrong bill or a bill with additional items on it that we have not ordered and then wanting us out in 90 minutes from arriving which means rushing us when we wanted to have a 3 course meal.

So things can and do get bad on land.

The above scenario is just one of several reasons why we choose to cruise and not do land based holidays.

 

So onto the cruise ship.

We have mainly been happy with what we have received on the cruise ship in the past. There has been very little for us to complain about. In fact in the last 5 years only the state of our cabin caused us to complain on one ship.

We pay pre-paid gratuities. Coming from the UK we have to do this anyway for some reason in order to have My Time Dinning but I believe other countries do not.

So, in effect we have paid our gratuities up front and always have and probably always will.

 

However, does that mean we are going to give employees on the ship extra tips. Well that is our choice and that will depend on what an employee does for us. We don't ask for much, so there is not a lot they can do that is not already included in what we have already paid.

 

I see sometimes that some people choose to slip the bar tender $5 to bring their drink when there is high demand. I have seen this many times in the schooner bar where people are tipping $s to the bar tender and then having to still wait for their drink because loads of people are doing it too and he can't serve everyone at once.

Funny thing is on some ships the casino bar is only 50 feet away from the schooner bar and is mainly empty at times, so it is quicker to go to that bar and bring the drinks back yourself. Guess what I do? Not because I am tight, but because I am not going to pay someone $5 to bring me a drink that I can get myself. 

Like I said, if I am going to tip, and it is my choice whether to or not, then it will be to someone who has done something that deserves it.

One such area for additional tipping maybe where the restaurant have gone out their way to get us a good table and the waiters have dealt with food allergy issues for us. This kind of thing is where tipping for us comes into play and not just throwing money at everyone for tipping's sake.

I know some of this may sound harsh, but we are not made of money and we have to be careful where and when we spend it.

 

Like I said, we have paid our gratuities up front and have not tried ever to have them cancelled and I don't think you can if you pre-pay.

 

Another funny thing is we prefer the once daily cabin cleaning and tell our attendant to do it in the mornings. Before, in the afternoons we would come back from the pool or a trip and find the room being cleaned when we need to get in and showered and get back out for dinner.

I know this constitutes a reduction in service, but I also understand that things on board a cruise ship are changing and it is more important to me that the overall cost of a cruise holiday remains as low as it possibly can.

 

Mick.

 

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

18 hours ago, yogimax said:

What does this say about human psychology?  We get more upset about a few bucks labeled ‘tips’ than over the hundreds and even thousands of dollars in cruise price increases?  
 

Go figure.

Says who?  I’m much more upset about cruise fares than gratuities (not upset about gratuity increase at all, my feelings on that haven’t changed in a decades)

Cruise fare increases are the main culprit in my list of upcoming cruises smaller than it has ever been. I have been booking lots of alternate types of vacations. 

[yogimax]

3 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Says who?  I’m much more upset about cruise fares than gratuities (not upset about gratuity increase at all, my feelings on that haven’t changed in a decades)

Cruise fare increases are the main culprit in my list of upcoming cruises smaller than it has ever been. I have been booking lots of alternate types of vacations. 

So why are you constantly obsessed with tipping using the same arguments over and over and over again?  The only reasonable interpretation is that you eliminate tipping altogether to reduce the total price of your cruise.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

So why are you constantly obsessed with tipping using the same arguments over and over and over again?  The only reasonable interpretation is that you eliminate tipping altogether to reduce the total price of your cruise.

Not a reasonable interpretation at all, just a closed minded interpretation of someone who happens to think differently than me on this issue. 
The amount of money I spend on anything is absolutely meaningless to me. Getting value for my money, is paramount. 
I have never eliminated tipping altogether 

[happy cruzer]

On 12/3/2023 at 1:16 PM, Mum2Mercury said:

It's made me reexamine my thoughts on tipping: 

- We just had an increase ... last year?  And now this second increase so soon.  

- Coupled with a reduction in cabin service.  

- It's not $14/week.  It's $14/week for every member of your party.  

 

Yes, straw that broke the camel's back is the right phrase.  

 

I'll never stiff the crew -- I'm not one of the people pretending it's okay not to tip at all -- but I'm wondering how to proceed fairly without being a chump, and I never thought I'd think this way.  

Good points.

Addition of tips to the Unlimited Dining Package caused  reexamination.  Still trying to figure out what makes sense.

[buckeyefrank]

On 11/26/2023 at 6:29 AM, cruiseboy89130 said:

There are many diffrent versions of the slip  on this board alone!

Royal has its own way of how they want to calculate the bonus for the employee.....and how they want to pass on the money....it does not go 1:1 to the employees for sure!

It 100% does