Navigator: on board currency?

[Northern Lad]

Hi all,

 

We sail on Saturday (OMG how exited are we!!) and wondered what the currency on board will be. All the threads about tipping talk about dollars but we are in the med sailing from Southampton. We have got euros for trips ashore, but is the cashless cruising system in dollars, euros or pounds? And will the crew expect tips in dollars or euros or pounds.

 

Anyone know, anything thanks???

 

NL

[Grumm]

It's without doubt $s....Have a ball.

 

Alan

[Northern Lad]

Grumm, thanks is that answer relative to both on board and tipping?

 

NL

[Marley-Bop]

Hi all,

 

We sail on Saturday (OMG how exited are we!!) and wondered what the currency on board will be. All the threads about tipping talk about dollars but we are in the med sailing from Southampton. We have got euros for trips ashore, but is the cashless cruising system in dollars, euros or pounds? And will the crew expect tips in dollars or euros or pounds.

 

Anyone know, anything thanks???

 

NL

 

Hi, We are sailing from Southampton and have been told that the currency on board is dollarsbut we are also taking euros for the land excursions. We have pre-paid our tips when we booked the cruise but have also brought $200 dollars in small notes that we can also use for extra tipping and the casino.

 

Hope this helps and have a great cruise....Bring the Navigator back for us, we sail on June 30th.

 

BON VOYAGE

 

Chubbas XX

[Grumm]

Grumm, thanks is that answer relative to both on board and tipping?

 

NL

 

Based on previous experience, I think that the crew will appreciate dollars rather than Euros, although we generally take some International phone cards as an extra tip. Remember that the vast majority of your Stewards and Waiters come from the far-east and that they spend a lot keeping in touch with the families they are working for.

 

Alan

[Northern Lad]

We have pre-paid our tips when we booked the cruise but have also brought $200 dollars in small notes that we can also use for extra tipping and the casino.

 

First timer here, never thought about pre-paid tips, wonder if I ring I can pre pay now??

 

Thanks again

 

NL

[Ephraim]

Based on previous experience, I think that the crew will appreciate dollars rather than Euros, although we generally take some International phone cards as an extra tip. Remember that the vast majority of your Stewards and Waiters come from the far-east and that they spend a lot keeping in touch with the families they are working for.

 

Alan

 

You better ensure that these cards can truly be used from international phones. Most calling cards are only for domestic usage (ie you have to call from the US or the Caribbean where the country code is still 1, like in the US and Canada) and can't be used elsewhere. If they can't be used FROM Europe, they are essentially totally useless. Most crew appreciate the few extra dollars so that they can buy their own calling cards. They all know which calling card they can use and from what country and which will give them the best rate.

 

It's a nice thought, just make sure that it is very well executed, otherwise, the extra $5 would be much more useful to them.

[Marley-Bop]

First timer here, never thought about pre-paid tips, wonder if I ring I can pre pay now??

 

Thanks again

 

NL

 

Hi, we booked through a UK TA and it was offered to us when we booked. Im pretty sure you should be able to pre-pay now though as even on the RCCL website it allows you the option. Give whoever you booked with a ring, it takes the pressure off knowing what to do then and you can always give a bit extra in cash if you want to.

 

Have a great time

 

Chubbas XX

[Northern Lad]

Hi again,

 

Just rung RCCL and they say that the tips are atutomatically added to your seapass account anyway, so thats that sorted. Sending the wife to the bank for a few dollars for cash tips. wonder what else we have forgotten last minute :eek:

 

NL

[Marley-Bop]

NL

 

Dont worry about another thing....Just relax and get ready to enjoy your cruise.

 

BON VOYAGE

 

Chubbas XX

[Northern Lad]

Cheers Chubbas, we will, you too.

 

NL

[katcrol]

Hi all,

 

We sail on Saturday (OMG how exited are we!!) and wondered what the currency on board will be. All the threads about tipping talk about dollars but we are in the med sailing from Southampton. We have got euros for trips ashore, but is the cashless cruising system in dollars, euros or pounds? And will the crew expect tips in dollars or euros or pounds.

 

Anyone know, anything thanks???

 

NL

 

 

We r on the same sailing as u!! We r very excited too.... just wanted to say lol hope u enjoy!!

[Northern Lad]

Katcrol,

 

Thanks you too, can't believe its finally here, we booked last April!! :)

 

NL

[sailingawaysoon]

You will love the Navigator of the Seas! We had a great time and the ship is beautiful! We are going in September on the Mariner of the Seas...I know you must be really excited! Have a wonderful cruise and let us know how it was when you return.

[lomu212]

Just to offer this out there, have been advised by our TA that the prepaid tips don't actually get to the crew until 6 weeks later, the crew are not allowed to complain, abit unfair, we have previously prepaid but will now pay cash direct, anyone else hear of this??

 

Lomu212

[Elizanessie]

Hi again,

 

Just rung RCCL and they say that the tips are atutomatically added to your seapass account anyway, so thats that sorted. Sending the wife to the bank for a few dollars for cash tips. wonder what else we have forgotten last minute :eek:

 

NL

 

Forgive me but are you saying that Royal Caribbean in UK told you that if you havent prepaid your tips, they automatically charge your seapass account for the tips ?...or am I reading it wrong :o

[FlyingPhotog]

Last time I was on the Navigator, the currency was tuxedos. Because when formal night came around, there were hardly any tuxes to be seen. :p

[RoofingPrincess]

Forgive me but are you saying that Royal Caribbean in UK told you that if you havent prepaid your tips, they automatically charge your seapass account for the tips ?...or am I reading it wrong :o

 

My experience with RCCL has been that you CAN have the tips billed to your SeaPass account, not that they will automaticallly do it - but I haven't sailed Europe/the Med with them. But there isn't anything on their website that says they do it differently on those cruises... here's a link to their tipping info:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do;jsessionid=0000z6qsH9-YilpIUgYTCX6G9CY:10ktdmods?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Extras&faqId=263&faqSubjectId=337&faqType=faq

[Elizanessie]

My experience with RCCL has been that you CAN have the tips billed to your SeaPass account, not that they will automaticallly do it - but I haven't sailed Europe/the Med with them. But there isn't anything on their website that says they do it differently on those cruises... here's a link to their tipping info:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/details.do;jsessionid=0000z6qsH9-YilpIUgYTCX6G9CY:10ktdmods?pagename=frequently_asked_questions&pnav=5&pnav=2&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Extras&faqId=263&faqSubjectId=337&faqType=faq

 

Thanks RoofingPrincess :D , I know how the tipping works but there have been recent posts on here which have said that "for the Navigator while on the Med" the tipping if not prepaid will be done automatically...which is not the normal practice. No-one at RCCI UK has been able to confirm this yet for me. :( ..and to be honest this change bugs the heck out of me.:mad:

[Marley-Bop]

Hi just to clarify, when I booked for the Navigator Italian Med, my UK based TA asked me if I wanted to pre-pay my tips. As I didnt know how the tipping system worked, I thought this would be a good option for me. She did not tell me that tips would be automatically added so I assume you either pre-pay or use the tipping envelopes at the end.

 

I am also taking some cash (in dollars) to tip for room service and any extra tips that I want to pay for exceptional service.

 

Hope this makes sense.

 

Happy Cruising To All

 

Chubbas XX

[Mrsg324]

I prepay when I get on the ship. Friends who went with us last cruise prepaid with the TA. They were given nothing to present at dinner or to anyone. They felt like crap, explained to the waiter that they had prepaid the tips when booking. They were extrememly embarassed, they didn't know they give you something to had the crew since it was their first cruise.

After dinner, he went to the pursers desk to be told that their account did not show prepaid tips. Questioned TA onboard, she said yes they are all paid do not worry about it. He ended up still giving the room attendant cash just to be 100% sure, told him that if they showed up just think of it as extra because he was so wonderful.

Till this day he does not know for sure if the crew received their tips. TA said she gets a report from RCI which states the number of the passengers that did not tip on a group booking. Everyone in her group was showing paid. She said she would not rec prepaying until on board after this experience though.

 

If RCI is making the crew wait 6 weeks, that is not very fair. They need to at least give vouchers to the passenger to give them.

[Broch]

Forgive me but are you saying that Royal Caribbean in UK told you that if you havent prepaid your tips, they automatically charge your seapass account for the tips ?...or am I reading it wrong :o

 

Hi Liz, Seems we are back here again. I am going to ask on the Scandinavian thread what happened to them when they were on board the Navigator in April, but we should find out for certain when the pax from this last cruise comes back. I have a lot of dollars which I want to use for tips to crew so I will also be very annoyed if I have to go to pursers desk to have them removed. If I had wanted to prepay I would have done this at time of booking and as Roofing Princess says there is nothing on there website that corrobarates this.

[Broch]

Forgive me but are you saying that Royal Caribbean in UK told you that if you havent prepaid your tips, they automatically charge your seapass account for the tips ?...or am I reading it wrong :o

 

Hi Liz, This is the reply I got from Heather who was on the 28th April sailing the Scandinavia. Seems we will be allright to pay in cash.

 

Broch- we were given a form in the cabin to say whether or not we wanted to have gratuities added to our seapass accounts. We opted out of prepaying with our TA but I still made sure I filled the form in to decline having them added automatically just in case. We prefer to pay cash to those who deserve it. We had slow service on a couple of nights in the dining room but nothing that spoilt our enjoyment. One couple on our table didn't show for dinner on the last night!:mad: I just hate that, it is so embarrassing , 'cos you just know why those people didn't show.

[Northern Lad]

Forgive me but are you saying that Royal Caribbean in UK told you that if you havent prepaid your tips, they automatically charge your seapass account for the tips ?...or am I reading it wrong :o

 

Hi,

 

Yep when I rang yesterday they definately said that an amount of £94 per person would be added automatically to our account and we would get vouchers to give to crew on the last night! Reading this thread though I will definately check on board 'cos I dont want to be embarrassed at the end of the trip.

 

As for the 6 week thing, I work in sales and get paid on a commission basis, which I get paid in the month following delivery. So a 1st May sale gets paid in June wage packet, ie 6 weeks later, which is just the same. And I am sure thats true of many sales positions. You just have to get used to the cycle.

 

NL