Gratuities letter from Royal Caribbean

[teralin]

Well said Yungs, how many Brits will share a table with US guests who have huge on board credits and free prepaid gratuities. I am sailing the Azamara Quest at the end of this month and I received no benefits of this kind. I also probably paid a lot more for my cruise.

 

I am not complaining about what I paid, I made that choice and I am looking forward to the cruise. However, I do take offence at people such as Hlitner making such silly remarks about Brits and Aussies. Gratuities should always be a personal choice - I have cruised many different lines and the levels of service have varied enormously between ships and even on the same ship. When gratuities become enforcable and unchangable, then they stop being gratuities and become a tax. Incidentally, I have just received one of those "gratuity" letters and I telephoned Celebrity to clarify the situation. I was told that gratuities would be added to my seapass account and that I can increase or decrease them as I wished.

[factor30]

Teralin - I'm not sure what you mean by 'how many Brits will share a table with US guests, etc. etc....' However, as two Brits who have enjoyed the company of US guests on several cruises and will continue to do so, it doesn't make any difference to us how much they paid for their cruise, what perks they got, etc. compared to ourselves. It's more than likely due to the marketing, availability, economy, etc in the respective countries.

 

Rita

[cruisePRN]

Does anyone know why the room steward, called a butler gets $5.50 per day. Is it because of the title Butler VS room steward?

[BJC]

Morning All,

Factor30, I don’t believe that Teralin was having a go at Americans per say, but rather the system which appears to favour cruisers from the US by way of prices and incentives when they book!

We too have shared our table with, met and befriended a number of very warm and sincere Americans on our cruises, however I too must admit to some envy as to what they paid for exactly the same as what we paid for, and it has nothing to do with the exchange rate!

As Yungs rightfully pointed out, in Aus we appear to pay a premium of 20% or more over what is on offer in the US, and little or no opportunity to access the “sweeteners” that appear to be available, even as Captains Club Members we have never received anything special from Celebrity or their Agents in Australia.

In addition cruisers from the US seem to have more of an opportunity to “package’ a cruise and flights at rates that appear to have some sort of cross subsides, the only packaging that we appear to have access to is what the Wholesaler or TA can do, and then they are mostly linked to “early bird” specials and “midnight horrors”!:eek:

I suspect it has everything to do with marketing, and “word of mouth” promoting, as rightfully or wrongfully, certain Cruise Lines simply target the US Market, and while happy for “others” to cruise with them, they don’t go out of their way to promote, by way of incentives and upgrades, to the rest of us, which is a bit sad!

However back to the Gratuities, when we booked our Journey Med Cruise in October, we were quoted a cost price for prepaid Gratuities as part of the cruise price, which was far in excess of what Azamara were quoting on their website as being the “normal” rate, it was something like $375 EACH, and almost as if the Australian Wholesaler had put a profit margin on the normal rate, as such we opted to hedge our bets and chose to pay these on board, now that the exchange rate is favouring the Aus$ it has turned out to be a good move.:)

It is without doubt that one of the major selling points about cruising, other than it is just so magic, is that once you have paid up front there are no additional costs, other than for your discretional spending as I pointed out earlier in this thread, these additional charges simply negates this positive selling point.

Mind you, not that any of this will stop us from cruising, it still represents the best value for money holiday, and is simply magic.

Regards, Bruce

[Napi's Mom]

Teralin - I'm not sure what you mean by 'how many Brits will share a table with US guests, etc. etc....' However, as two Brits who have enjoyed the company of US guests on several cruises and will continue to do so, it doesn't make any difference to us how much they paid for their cruise, what perks they got, etc. compared to ourselves. It's more than likely due to the marketing, availability, economy, etc in the respective countries.

 

Rita

While aboard the Quest in Dec. we shared with MANY "Brits" and delightful it was...one of the reasons we like the open dining you meet so many great people and learn from them! ALL are treated alike on Azamara, you have NO idea what sort of cabin they have, (Unless they get stuffy and brag and throw money and weight around as some did)you just chat.

As far as the letter about the Gratuities...nothing has changed ,we were not sent a letter, but the money was added daily. YOU DID HAVE THE CHOICE, to go to Guest desk and change that! As far as i know you still do...to the person who was told $375, that's about the total for the cabin (2per.) so maybe the TA was confused.

And to make a statement...I really DON"T believe in tipping...people SHOULD be paid a fare wage. Neither my DH or I have ever had a job that included tips (And we're not white collar types either), we shlep or own bags to Hotel rooms etc to save tipping (Cheap I know but if you're one who's never been tipped for hard work, you save what you can!)It's a stupid attempt to get good service, that should be inherent in the job, or some liketo use it to get specialized treatment, which also is against my ideals.(And why I liked our cruise on Quest, equal treatment)

We also didn't get huge OBC or free gratuities...so some people lucked out, wish it'd been me but wasn't

[mcdermott]

I have sailed on Costa quite a lot and their policy for some time has been to add tips regardless and they were not optional However I was at the front desk one day and heard an American lady complaining about the tips and she was told that because she was American her tips would be removed from her bill.Perhaps there is some legislation stopping Ships adding tips to American poples bills

I have always found out of the many nations Americans accept tipping as the norm the British seem to do it because it should be done but are embassed by it.A lot of Europeans seem to try to avoid it (this is why Costa add it directly to your on board account)

When I started cruising many years ago I used to sail with Princess they were excellent but I no longer use this company because I felt that I was subsidising the American market most people seemed to be 2 for 1 on board credits etc.In the day of the computer we can all shop all over world but there are a number of cruise lines that will not accept bookings from other countries .I am British but live in Spain Cunard England would not accept my booking because of where I live ( 2000 pounds extra in Spain)I rang a Spanish agent or so I thought and was put through to a person in Monaco the whole situation is crazy.

There is only one way to deal with this, vote with your feet the companies are now commited to a huge number of berths so the ball is now in our court

[BJC]

Hi Napi’s Mom,

Sorry to say this was an each price and I had my TA question the Celebrity / Azamara wholesalers in Australia, Discover The World Marketing, and they confirmed that price.

For some reason in Aus the Travel Industry standard for all Holidays are quoted as an EACH Price - Twin Share, no one quotes Room or Cabin Rates for Hotels, Cruises and the like, as such it is very difficult to work out on “package deals” just what the actual costs are for each component and how much cross subsidy is going on!:(

I look forward to the day when they are forced to disclose up front just exactly what all the costs are, however as a good % of the costs are Government Tax’s and Charges I suspect it is not in their interest to have it all come out in the open.

Don’t understand why Americans would have their tips removed from their bill on Costa, unless they assumed because it is the norm for Americans to tip then it would be safe to do so, whereas with most others, if removed, would not tip as a matter of course.

I can tell you egalitarian Australians by and large are dead against tipping, and are not embarrassed by it, however some of us do, and for no other reason than as a show of genuine appreciation of service provided, also bearing in mind that cruise staff wages often leave a lot to be desired.

I agree with you Mcdermott in that we non Americans appear to be on a totally different price list, and it is an uphill battle to try to book in the USA from Australia also, I have not experienced it but friends tried and tried but were so frustrated they gave up in the end.

We should also vote with our feet, unfortunately it is not always possible to always get the cruise you want from another cruise line, so I suppose we just grin and bear it.;)

Regards, Bruce

[Napi's Mom]

Since this is the price quoted on the Azamara site for tips....Payments and Gratuities Gratuities For your convenience, a gratuity in recognition of outstanding personal service of $12.25 per Guest, per day, will be automatically added to your SeaPass SM Account. This covers your Butler & Stateroom Attendant as well as all restaurant staff

How on earth can your TA charge you double that I do not understand, If they were representing to you the value of their "free pre-paid gratuities" it would just be so much publicity, but you were meant to pay this! All charges onboard are indeed per person, even when traveling with 3 and the 3rd person is much cheaper, it always shows the total price divided 3 ways, making each much less. Now if they were quoting different currency, and this price ($12.25) is USD, that could be a difference excepting the US dollar is certainly not worth double of Aussie dollar, not any more, for sure!!!:rolleyes: Think it's less actually???

[BJC]

Hi Mom,

This was an “early-bird” booking made in August of 2007, well before Azamara made their pronouncement on the recommended level $12.50 and automatic application of Gratuities to your SeaPass account, and this was what the Azamara / Celebrity / Royal Caribbean Australian Agent was quoting to our TA, that is why we and our TA both questioned it, as at the time the Aus$ was at 82c US and going up, that would have made it about $300US they were quoting!:mad:

So we said we will pay them on board so now with the Aus$ at about 95c US for our cruise we will only have to pay about $140 Each which is well under half what was being quoted at that time, I reckon they were having a lend of us, and like you said probably quoted for both of us at $150 each, but then trying to charge this twice!!!!:rolleyes:

Anyway we are happy we chose to do it via the SeaPass, as I’m sure if we had paid up front when we booked last year we would now have a bunfight on our hands to get the extra money refunded.;)

Regards, Bruce

[joandbun]

hI all - this has been an interesting thread. Our first few cruises we took lots of extra cash in dollars or euros in order to pay the tips & did find it tricky. Then we had the option of prepaying & gladly took it & continue to do so where possible. We are more experinced with the whole thing now & sometimes we give an extra tip to a crew member for outstanding service & we always write on the comments card. The crew tell us that these cards are very important & their mamagers always pass the comments back to the crew.

Tips are not part of our culture in the same way as it is in US so pre-paying is a convenient way.

 

Having said that, I need to check with my TA cos we elected to prepay tips in advance & its on our invoice as a fixed amount in GBP so if I get charged again on board in USD I wont be too impressed. Happy to pay it but not twice. :eek:

Plus I have to say that 18p.c tip on (already pricey) drinks is a bit steep. whinge whinge.;)

 

As a Brit I can echo what other posters say - we pay quite a lot more for our cruises here in the UK. We dont get the same offers as the US market. We have met some wonderful people over the years & made lasting friendships & we know the US pax will always pay less for the same cruise. But I figure - as long as I am happy with my deal thats what matters.

 

jo

[factor30]

I seemed to have opened a can of worms!

The responses have been most informative and enlightening. We have always elected to have gratuities added to our SeaPass and will continue to do so.

It's possible that we're more inclined to tip for good service as we both come from families which include hairdressers - my own father was a 'black cab (taxi) driver in central London and members of that fraternity have always relied, partly, on tips as part of their income. Of course, gratuities have to be earned but if good service is given, either in a restaurant, hair salon, taxi or elsewhere, then we will give.

Anyway, thank you for your comments - it's been an education!

Rita

[cruisePRN]

I'm sorry you Brits and Auzzies have to pay more for the same product, it doesn't seem equitable. Is there a way an American friend can book it for you?

[BJC]

Hi cruisePRN,

Thanks for the thought, however what I believe the problem is, certainly in Aus don’t know about the UK, is that when RCI / Celebrity / Azamara signed up their Agent / Wholesaler they probably agreed not to accept either direct internet bookings and or bookings fro TA’s in the USA acting on behalf of Aussies, that way insuring their Wholesaler and the Aus Travel Agents got their commissions and continued to promote these Cruise Lines.

We linked up with two couples from South Africa on our last Celebrity Med cruise on Galaxy, they had been able to book via the internet through a US TA, however our other friends from Aus on the same cruise tried to do the same and had to give up in frustration and book in Aus.:(

Don’t know what it is like over there but the blossoming use of the internet to book holidays has started to impact on the travel industry in Australia, and both Wholesalers and Travel Agents are trying to protect what has been for them an exclusive and lucrative market.

The dilemma for Airlines, Cruise Lines, Hotels and the like is, do they allow access to cheap holidays via direct internet sales thereby undercutting the Wholesalers and TA’s, and by that loose the direct promotion of their product and services by them, and risk them pointing customers towards those suppliers that honour a marketing agreement that they have.

Or as they have in the past, point all inquiries to their agents, and frustrate any attempts to do business direct!

I know for a fact for the likes of travel from my home state of Western Australia to one of WA’s most favoured destination Bali, most of the airline seats on the popular daytime flights, and a big % of the rooms in the more popular hotels are per allocated to the Wholesalers, such that the hotel we tried to book in to direct via the internet, for April of 2009, would you believe has no vacancies, however when we went to our TA, he was able, through the Wholesalers, to get us three sea view rooms for our friends and ourselves without any problems.

Unfortunately it’s just the way the system works here and while I don’t have a problem with people making a fair profit, because if they don’t then they go out of business and with no competition the market swings back in favour of suppliers, however what I don’t like is when there are three or more “profit centres” between me and the actual service provider, that’s when every little profit added is compounded as it climbs up the ladder, and in the end I have to pay them all.

Anyway that’s about the only down side from living in Western Australia, well apart from the tyranny of distance, given it takes us more than 20 hours to get anywhere when we go on holidays, other than Asia, so if that’s our only problems then we are probably better off than most!;)

Regards, Bruce

[joandbun]

i believe it is possible for Brits to book via a US agency, but its not so straight forward. I've never done it & I'm susre folks who have mamanged to do it will be able to provide more accurate info.

However, I get the impression that its not so possible for European itineraries & it applies to cruise only. now we always get the cruiseline to do our air portion due time constraints / security/peace of mind etcetc. I know it costs more to do that. I think you need to give a US address for credit card billing & of course pay in dollars so maybe its a case of finding a US TA who is familiar with the procedures & its for a cruise ex US or Caribbean.

Feel free to correct me ;)

 

As Bruce says the internet does seem to be full of offers but I know from experience that I can usually get a better price by going thru a good TA than booking direct on line with the cruise line.

 

just checked with my TA who assures me that I wont be billed twice for gratuities. I'm paying up front on the invoice for tips & dont want my sea pass charged as well. Will take a copy of teh invoice as back up & I always run a check on the seapass account.

 

jo

[factor30]

I think you've got it about right re booking from UK via US. Our son's in-laws did just that a couple of months ago at virtually the last minute. There are a couple of US TA's who arrange cruise bookings for UK clients but as you mentioned, it is cruise only and air arrangement must be done from the UK. It so happened they were going to be in the US anyway, and their flights were already booked.

 

The possible problem UK customers might have is to get a seat on an appropriate flight to tie in with the cruise date. You would have to arrive at least one day ahead to make sure any flight delays would not affect getting to the ship in time for departure. The cruise line is not interested should you be delayed, if you don't book the total package, i.e. cruise and air, with them and travel insurance won't cover you if you miss the ship's departure.

 

Like you, we would rather pay that bit more and book cruise and air with the cruise line, even for Europe. It's just not worth the hassle and peace of mind is more important.

 

Rita

[Hlitner]

I do have a question for our friends and fellow travelers from the UK and Europe. Does your VAT taxi find its way into your local cruise prices? In the US we currently have no specific tax that is levyed on cruises beyond the so-called port charges paid by all cruisers.

 

Hank

[joandbun]

Hello Hank - Right now its no VAT - but the damn govnt are looking at ways to tax the traveller so i suspect its just a matter of time before they come out with Sea passenger duty to match the Air passenger Duty we currently pay.

sigh

 

jo

[Hlitner]

I suspect our US government is not far behind. Like your country we have many politicians who have never met a tax they did not like.

 

Hank

[qe2]

Tacky!

[Mrs.Igggy]

Prn,

Im on the same cruise...from vegas too!!!! What part???