Spa 18% gratuity misleading

[saminina]

Reference made to this thread and not a particular post. 

[chuckncole]

On 12/19/2023 at 9:47 AM, markham said:

Everyone in employment at a touted luxury line is entitled to a minimum wage. Period.

Minimum wage for what country? 1$usd  does not go far in the UK.  

 

There is free will involved in employment on Seabourn. If one does not like the pay would they take the job?  I find that the spa employees know very well the pay structure and hours of work prior to signing a contract. 

One should not judge another's  compensation based on their monetary system.  22k a year goes very far in a small village in the Philippines for example...  Most Seabourn employees would not afford to pay for a 2 week cruise on a Seabourn ship.  As a matter of fact,  there are many people i have met who think Seabourn ships are too expensive and cruise with say... Carnival for example.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Robisan]

23 minutes ago, chuckncole said:

There is free will involved in employment on Seabourn. If one does not like the pay would they take the job?

Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!

[Breckski]

If one feels the overall compensation given to the ee's isn't sufficient, they are really saying one of the following:  1) Prices (including gratuity) need to be raised for the service to allow the company to increase the compensation of the ee, or 2) The company is making too much profit and not paying the ee enough.

 

As a consumer, one has choices.  They can increase the gratuity to provide more compensation to the ee.  Or they can choose another company to provide their cruise services.  But I highly doubt ee compensation is very different from line to line, if comparing apples to apples.  

 

There are just way too many variables in this situation for me to determine if the ee compensation is appropriate.  And this is the case for most of my purchases.  Hence my purchase decisions are based on the perceived value received.

 

 

[chuckncole]

On 12/21/2023 at 10:13 AM, Robisan said:

Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!

Let them eat cake......?

 

I am not being insensitive. If they have a difficult time finding employees for the given Spa employee contract, they would have to adjust the pay scale of the said contract. The answer is not for the cruise passengers to tip more on a ship that states tips are not required nor expected.

[Utopia1]

IMO there is no right or wrong about tipping after a service is completed in the spa.  In the spa the 18%  is required and any additional tip is the patrons choice.

 

[Robisan]

4 hours ago, chuckncole said:

Let them eat cake......?

 

I am not being insensitive. If they have a difficult time finding employees for the given Spa employee contract, they would have to adjust the pay scale of the said contract. The answer is not for the cruise passengers to tip more on a ship that states tips are not required nor expected.

Look, it's the holiday season and this forum should be a positive place to discuss luxury leisure, not extended discussions of exploitation and inequality. I'll just close with this: That operators may find a reasonable supply of labor with no better options than to accept exploitive employment does not convey absolution to the employers or their patrons. The better answer for cruise passengers is to not patronize a spa business model staffed by low/no pay, hard sell or starve, commission dependent employees, which is antithetical to both the relaxation most want from a spa and the ambiance people expect on a luxury, all inclusive cruise.

 

We are all extremely fortunate that Seabourn vs Silversea et al are the decisions weighing upon us, not whether we have no choice but to continue working for the Steiners of the world.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Robisan

[Covepointcruiser]

I would typically add 20% for Spa Services so I was surprised to see they only added 18%.    I did not tip over that amount.   Spa services are over and above the usual Seabourn services and few people opt to use the additional services.   Is there a cruise line that does not add gratuities to Spa Services?

[Utopia1]

it is the concession that operates the spa that adds the gratuity-- not the cruise line.

[alexandria]

IMO, the various comments in this thread have done two things:

 

1.  Educated any uninformed Seabourn passengers on this board that there will be an 18% gratuity automatically added to all spa services (which the customer can always supplement with an additional gratuity if desired), and

 

2.  Seeing emotionally charged language such as slavery, starving, horrible, disgraceful, sweat shops, exploitive, inequity and inequality being used to describe the spa employee compensation model and work environment (without any verifiable facts to back up those accusations) serves as a good reminder why discussion of political leanings and related worldviews can be divisive and polarizing and rarely (if ever) results in consensus or agreement, and is therefore best avoided in polite social settings!  🤐

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.  And fair winds and following seas to all those who will be sailing in 2024, whether as passengers or crew!  🛳️

[cruisr]

Have just gotten off an absolutely wonderful cruise on Crystal which included two visits to the spa.  Both had 20% gratuity tacked on.  That was quite surprising to me.

[Utopia1]

OneSpaWorld, a spinoff of Steiner Leisure, is the company that operates the spas on 19 different cruise lines.  Among the cruise lines OneSpaWorld operates the spas on are Seabourn, SilverSea, Crystal, Regent, Oceana, and Azamara.

I do not know how OneSpaWorld applies the mandatory gratuity on the other cruise lines.

but my guess is that it is similar to the way it is done on Seabourn.

 

[frantic36]

9 hours ago, Utopia1 said:

 

I do not know how OneSpaWorld applies the mandatory gratuity on the other cruise lines.

but my guess is that it is similar to the way it is done on Seabourn.

 

I think the surprise for some of us regular Seabourn cruisers is they only started applying the gratuity automatically mid this year. It certainly wasn't the case on our early 2023 Quest cruise. So Seabourn somehow resisted for quite a few years to have it stay voluntary not compulsory.

 

It is what it is and we will just deal with it going forward. 

[Mahogany]

On 12/24/2023 at 9:47 AM, Utopia1 said:

OneSpaWorld, a spinoff of Steiner Leisure, is the company that operates the spas on 19 different cruise lines.  Among the cruise lines OneSpaWorld operates the spas on are Seabourn, SilverSea, Crystal, Regent, Oceana, and Azamara.

I do not know how OneSpaWorld applies the mandatory gratuity on the other cruise lines.

but my guess is that it is similar to the way it is done on Seabourn.

 

I will be sailing Regent Splendor next summer and checked out the Serene Spa and Wellness booklet. Nowhere could I find any reference to a company I recognized, like OneSpaWorld, Steiner, or Canyon Ranch. Is this company unique to Regent, do you think? BTW, they automatically add 20% which can be adjusted by the customer. Hmmm, lower?

[Utopia1]

The cruise lines do not mention who operates their spas.

 

 Google One Spa World to see the ships  they operate the spas on.  Every line has their own name for their spas.

 I never thought of adjusting the gratuity that is automatically added on- but it has never stopped me from adding an additional gratuity., 

[Hobar]

8 hours ago, Utopia1 said:

The cruise lines do not mention who operates their spas.

 

 Google One Spa World to see the ships  they operate the spas on.  Every line has their own name for their spas.

 I never thought of adjusting the gratuity that is automatically added on- but it has never stopped me from adding an additional gratuity., 

Looks like OneSpaWorld has the monopoly.

https://onespaworld.com/at-sea/spas-at-sea/

I had such a wonderful mani on recent cruise that I couldn’t resist adding more gratuity.

Edited December 26, 2023 by Hobar
Forgot link.

[B-HQC]

Have cruised on Seabourn for several years and always get a massage onboard. In the past I was always led to believe that gratuity was included in the spa but would leave an additional 5-10% if I was happy with the service; recently on Venture I did notice the 18% automatic gratuity pre populated on the receipt. I didn't think much of it at the time but now it makes sense. Personally it doesn't bother me but now I'm unlikely to tip any extra; I also wouldn't concern myself with how the staff is compensated especially in an establishment I patronize once or twice a year!

[whogo]

I thought there was some quacky doctor in charge of Seabourn's spa.

[Mahogany]

15 hours ago, Hobar said:

Looks like OneSpaWorld has the monopoly.

https://onespaworld.com/at-sea/spas-at-sea/

I had such a wonderful mani on recent cruise that I couldn’t resist adding more gratuity.

On the website you mention, it's interesting that of all the cruise lines it says it provides service for, only Regent and Oceania don't have a "Discover" link to their onboard spa. So maybe the NCL conglomerate is not currently using them?

[Hobar]

6 hours ago, Mahogany said:

On the website you mention, it's interesting that of all the cruise lines it says it provides service for, only Regent and Oceania don't have a "Discover" link to their onboard spa. So maybe the NCL conglomerate is not currently using them?

Ah, all I did was post what I found. Not doing a deep dive to find more info. I don’t really care what other lines are doing.