Tipping

[Ju1es]

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I haven't come across it yet so please forgive me.

How do you deal with tipping the staff on RCL? I have only cruised with NCL and they just added it to your total automatically and it went on your credit card at the end of the cruise. Is that how it works with RCL or do you need to tip people individually?

[Nliedel]

The last day they will put envelopes out in your cabin, you cannot miss them. You put your tips or vouchers in them and hand them out. I always seek out the people I'm tipping to thank them, but some people just leave the cabin steward's tip in the cabin.

 

You can pre-pay your tips.

[Host Karen]

There was a long discussion on the various options for paying tips on Royal Caribbean recently. Here's the link to that thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=352514

 

Karen

HostKaren@CruiseCritic.com

[TPKeller]

Whether you prefer to tip with cash, or just to see what the total amounts will be if you charge to your account, you can use the Tip Calculator to figure it all out:

 

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

 

Theron

[Radio]

The TIP Calculator is a Valuable thing to use before you ever go on a cruise....

 

It is EXCELLENT !

 

Radio

;) ;)

[shirleygr]

Once on board, you can also add the tips (suggested amounts) to your seapass account. If you choose this option, you will receive vouchers in your stateroom the afternoon of the last day and you just put each one in the appropriate envelope. I often do this and will add a few bucks in cash if the service was especially outstanding. Hope this helps.

[sas80]

The beauty of the RCCL system, since gratuities are not automatically added, is that you can tip per the service level you recieved.

 

If your cabin steward wasnt as attentive as he/she should have been, you can always choose to tip less than the suggested amount.

 

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to tip my head waiter....:rolleyes:

[pinkrosesdeb]

Last cruise, I started adding money ea. month to the tip envelopes I made ahead of time. I didn't miss it and it left me more money onboard. I hate worrying about saving enough tip money for the end or seeing the BIG charge on my sea pass on the last night.

[cb at sea]

We didn't tip our head waiter last cruise! He walked by our table once--I'm sorry, but that doesn't deserve a tip. Tried to speak with him as he passed by, but apparently, he had better things to do! Sorry, Mr. Headwaiter!

I must say, we gave our asst. waiter way above the recommended amout--he was Johnny-on-the-spot, as was our room attendant. Our waitress--just so-so!

We tip in cash--don't need to be paying that off on our credit card!

[Mocorobabe]

Often we charge tips, but our last cruise was a different matter. The head waiter got zip. He rarely made a visit to our table and when he did he couldn't get away fast enough. Our waiter was not that good. In 34 cruises we have only shorted our waiter 2 times, but we felt he didn't deserve the whole amount. If we get good service, we charge, but add some money in the envelopes.

 

Mocorobabe

[Ju1es]

Thanks for the answers. That is good to know before I board. And the tip calculator is very handy (although it is shocking how quickly it adds up!).