Additional tipping for suites

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, Liao said:

Foolowed by this:  I didn't question what they said, I asked if they were referring to the on board grats.  So settle down and relax.

And I answered the question. Which is why I was confused. Perfectly settled over here. Was genuinely asking bc I wanted to be helpful. Peace. 

Edited April 6 by Georgia_Peaches

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, Lastdance said:

The crew loves hearing from you by writing a personal note applauding their service.  You can get the note paper from Guest Services or concierge, returning it to the same place.  That individual gets recognition from his/her peers, along with others.  We have done one or the other, but many times both if our service was excellent.

This is true - but also comments with their name mentioned with an exceptional service story are very good for them in the post-cruise survey.  

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, Pinboy said:

 

LOL--- When CCers post " I tip depending on the " over and above " service"--- What does that mean, " over and above what ??

 

Here is what it means I think.  Over and Above, Above and Beyond (service, not the ship!), anything describing service, like food, is in the subjective category.  And it comes from an individual's personal expectations.

[the penguins]

19 hours ago, Mark_K said:

They made a big jump effective 1/1/23, maybe that’s what got Celebrity to thinkingCAPTAINS CLUB - benefits from Dec 2013.doc

 

For bookings made on or after January 1, 2023:

• $25.00 USD per person per day for The Haven and Suites;
• $20.00 USD per person per day for Club Balcony Suite and below;

 

For bookings made before January 1, 2023, that pre-pay their service charges before their sail date:

• $20.00 USD per person per day for The Haven and Suites;
• $18.00 USD per person per day for Club Balcony Suite;
• $16.00 USD per person per day for all other stateroom types

the comparison with X in all cabin grades is:

 

 

[tomcruiser1234]

Tip tip tip.  

 

Yes no and maybe so. 

 

Just depends   

 

If your not impressed keep the cash in your pocket. 

 

We personally favor tipping pool guys and bartenders. 

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Here is what it means I think.  Over and Above, Above and Beyond (service, not the ship!), anything describing service, like food, is in the subjective category.  And it comes from an individual's personal expectations.

“ personal expectations “ :

I was making a snarky remark because while it’s none of my business, it bothers me that people ( too many) look for excuses not to tip .

Service “over and above “ is an excuse to not tip a few $$ extra and/ or remove the Gratuities completely.

We spend $$$$$ to go on a cruise—a few $$ extra is no “ big deal “.

( We’ve been on many cruises— never once had poor/ bad/ less than personal expectations service ).

C’est tout— that’s all .

 

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

“ personal expectations “ :

I was making a snarky remark because while it’s none of my business, it bothers me that people ( too many) look for excuses not to tip .

Service “over and above “ is an excuse to not tip a few $$ extra and/ or remove the Gratuities completely.

We spend $$$$$ to go on a cruise—a few $$ extra is no “ big deal “.

( We’ve been on many cruises— never once had poor/ bad/ less than personal expectations service ).

C’est tout— that’s all .

 

Snarky?  Oh not Pinboy!  I generally enjoy your good-natured snark!😄

[zitsky]

On 4/6/2024 at 3:36 PM, Liao said:

Foolowed by this:  I didn't question what they said, I asked if they were referring to the on board grats.  So settle down and relax.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been too good about doing what people on the internet tell me to do.  

 

And if someone is in the Retreat,  I think the only appropriate tip for the butler is $500 per day.  Anything else shows that you don’t have class.

[buncosquad]

We always commit 5% of cruise cost toward butler and room steward additional gratuity.

 

Have always received superb service and support for every one of our six sailings to date. Five more now booked. All ICs and EVs only.

 

We do not tip anywhere else, but we go to butler and room steward for all requests and requirements.

 

Celebrity has never missed a beat.

[sofietucker]

On 4/6/2024 at 2:16 PM, DaKahuna said:

 

 "to the moon Alice" 

 

 Who could ever forget!

 

 

And he put together the *best orchestra ever*. Bobby Hackett, anyone???

[arealcheapskate]

15 hours ago, Pinboy said:

it bothers me that people ( too many) look for excuses not to tip .

A few points to make here - I don't need an excuse. I'll let someone else pay my way. 

 

I will flat out just tell you that each cruise (if it's a USD booking) we go and have them removed from the account. I don't even do it at the end of the cruise to try to get the "benefit" - just straight at the beginning or perhaps Day 2 to get it out of the way. 

 

No shame and no guilt. If the cruise line can't pay a fair wage - it's not my job either. If the employees aren't being paid fairly, they will speak with their feet and if they don't that's okay too - I'm not going to lose sleep. Same reason I don't lose sleep when I buy cheap clothes, or an overpriced Apple product made in China with less than questionable labor sourcing. 

 

Just because I spend x amount on the cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage. 

 

I always find these threads so amusing because they always devolve into some sort of lecture on ethics and morals. I'll be the first to say if not tipping makes me unethical or some sort of pariah, I'm happy to wear that label. After all, my username checks out. 

[crazyank]

32 minutes ago, arealcheapskate said:

A few points to make here - I don't need an excuse. I'll let someone else pay my way. 

 

I will flat out just tell you that each cruise (if it's a USD booking) we go and have them removed from the account. I don't even do it at the end of the cruise to try to get the "benefit" - just straight at the beginning or perhaps Day 2 to get it out of the way. 

 

No shame and no guilt. If the cruise line can't pay a fair wage - it's not my job either. If the employees aren't being paid fairly, they will speak with their feet and if they don't that's okay too - I'm not going to lose sleep. Same reason I don't lose sleep when I buy cheap clothes, or an overpriced Apple product made in China with less than questionable labor sourcing. 

 

Just because I spend x amount on the cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage. 

 

I always find these threads so amusing because they always devolve into some sort of lecture on ethics and morals. I'll be the first to say if not tipping makes me unethical or some sort of pariah, I'm happy to wear that label. After all, my username checks out. 

Totally agree!

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, arealcheapskate said:

A few points to make here - I don't need an excuse. I'll let someone else pay my way. 

 

I will flat out just tell you that each cruise (if it's a USD booking) we go and have them removed from the account. I don't even do it at the end of the cruise to try to get the "benefit" - just straight at the beginning or perhaps Day 2 to get it out of the way. 

 

No shame and no guilt. If the cruise line can't pay a fair wage - it's not my job either. If the employees aren't being paid fairly, they will speak with their feet and if they don't that's okay too - I'm not going to lose sleep. Same reason I don't lose sleep when I buy cheap clothes, or an overpriced Apple product made in China with less than questionable labor sourcing. 

 

Just because I spend x amount on the cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage. 

 

I always find these threads so amusing because they always devolve into some sort of lecture on ethics and morals. I'll be the first to say if not tipping makes me unethical or some sort of pariah, I'm happy to wear that label. After all, my username checks out. 

I admire what appears to be your "apparent" honesty however, at least to my eyes, it has 2 glaring omissions that I assume you will be willing to clarify:

1) you object to auto grats and then go on to say " just because I spend x amount on a cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage". What you don't clarify is that having removed Autograts if you then go on to tip staff individually or if you don't tip anyone. Which is it?

2) I assume that you never have a drink at the bar, wine with meals or a coffee in the Al Bacio as all of these have a 20$ gratuity added to the cost.

[arealcheapskate]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

 

1) you object to auto grats and then go on to say " just because I spend x amount on a cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage". What you don't clarify is that having removed Autograts if you then go on to tip staff individually or if you don't tip anyone. Which is it?

2) I assume that you never have a drink at the bar, wine with meals or a coffee in the Al Bacio as all of these have a 20$ gratuity added to the cost.

1) I brought up the percentage thing because another commenter mentioned that they allocate a fixed percentage of the overall cruise to tip above and beyond. We tip neither a percentage nor the automatic gratuities. You could say we don’t tip anything but again as I said, we pay for the cruise fare. Whether this includes enough to pay the staff is not my problem, it’s the CL. And perhaps the staffs’.
 

2) don’t really have a choice there because it becomes a fee and not a gratuity, as you can’t remove that.. What I will not, however, do is keep any removable amount on my account. If I could remove the “gratuity” on those purchases too I would do it on the spot.

 

We usually book AUD fares instead of USD and find they are not only cheaper, but include the service charges (read:gratuities (described this way by Celebrity not me) in the fare.

Edited April 8 by arealcheapskate

[cruisegal1970]

3 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

 

I always find these threads so amusing because they always devolve into some sort of lecture on ethics and morals. I'll be the first to say if not tipping makes me unethical or some sort of pariah, I'm happy to wear that label. After all, my username checks out. 

Totally agree.

Celebrity stealth price rises like removing gratuity from All Included, adding 20% to Specialty dining (now paying double), moving our favourite drinks from classic to premium..... just to name a few. 

 

WE will be cancelling all Gratuities at Guest Relations on all future cruises to balance the books.

Not interested in the moral high ground spurted by the many..... who probably do the same.

[highway180]

I think they should let the room steward aware when Grats are prematurely removed, so as not to waste extra time on said customers. Example: where's my luggage? when will it arrive?

Answer: I don't know, don't have time to look for it....good luck

Question: how come half the mini bar is empty?

Answer: You must've been thirsty...good luck

Whens my laundry coming back?

What laundry???

 

Give me a break

No tolerance for cheapskates

Cheers

[Georgia_Peaches]

1 hour ago, arealcheapskate said:

We usually book AUD fares instead of USD and find they are not only cheaper, but include the service charges (read:gratuities (described this way by Celebrity not me) in the fare.

How does one have the option to book AUD vs USD?

[TeeRick]

5 hours ago, arealcheapskate said:

A few points to make here - I don't need an excuse. I'll let someone else pay my way. 

 

I will flat out just tell you that each cruise (if it's a USD booking) we go and have them removed from the account. I don't even do it at the end of the cruise to try to get the "benefit" - just straight at the beginning or perhaps Day 2 to get it out of the way. 

 

No shame and no guilt. If the cruise line can't pay a fair wage - it's not my job either. If the employees aren't being paid fairly, they will speak with their feet and if they don't that's okay too - I'm not going to lose sleep. Same reason I don't lose sleep when I buy cheap clothes, or an overpriced Apple product made in China with less than questionable labor sourcing. 

 

Just because I spend x amount on the cruise doesn't mean I want to tip a certain percentage. 

 

I always find these threads so amusing because they always devolve into some sort of lecture on ethics and morals. I'll be the first to say if not tipping makes me unethical or some sort of pariah, I'm happy to wear that label. After all, my username checks out. 

Curious about the country where you live.  Is it cultural to tip or not tip?  Restaurant dining, take out delivery,  private transportation, etc.  Now in the US, where we have a tipping culture galore, everything you buy with a credit card at a store or wherever, now a box pops up for an additional tip.  We are made to feel guilty if we don't tip.  This happened during the pandemic and carried over.  Time to stop over-tipping IMO.  On the other hand, on a cruise, I know the deal going in (for decades) and tipping is simply one of the known cruise costs.  I would not stiff the hardworking crew.

[Georgia_Peaches]

24 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

now a box pops up for an additional tip.  We are made to feel guilty if we don't tip.

Not to mention the 3% cc fee that is also passed along to the customer.   The other day DH and I went into an ice cream shop and each got a cone.  The little tip box you mentioned popped up...10, 15, 20% were the options...for the 30 seconds it took to scoop a cone! More and more, I've gone back to paying in cash for this very reason. Hats off to the young people behind the counter hoofing it to earn a little extra spending money...but I push back on the excessive tipping culture.

I would never remove the auto grats on my cruise no matter how bad things got.  Like you said, it's part of the cost to cruise.  Not sure why removing the grats even came up...

Edited April 8 by Georgia_Peaches

[redjetz]

3 hours ago, cruisegal1970 said:

 

WE will be cancelling all Gratuities at Guest Relations on all future cruises to balance the books.

Not interested in the moral high ground spurted by the many..... who probably do the same.

No, we do not “do the same”.