Why would people remove prepaid gratuities if the prepaid gratuities are not subject to the increase?Player To Be Named Later said:
Might lead to more people having them remove the pre-paid gratuities.
JMac03 said:
While I never ever recommend this, a lot of travel agents even said they were going to go have them reduced to the $16 per day they feel that the cruise lines just keep increasing these. Many feel like just include it in the cost of the cruise and be done with it.
While I didn't verify it, apparently Royal Caribbean had record earnings, and still they are still sticking it to the guests to pay the employees additional.
There are a lot of guests who do not believe in gratuities, and have them removed on board. Some say they tip in cash, but the problem is, is that some employees receive gratuities are people guests never even come in contact with.
this is why they do it. cheaper price. people are already committed. load of crap. at this point, i see it as no different than backend fees.Player To Be Named Later said:JMac03 said:
While I never ever recommend this, a lot of travel agents even said they were going to go have them reduced to the $16 per day they feel that the cruise lines just keep increasing these. Many feel like just include it in the cost of the cruise and be done with it.
While I didn't verify it, apparently Royal Caribbean had record earnings, and still they are still sticking it to the guests to pay the employees additional.
There are a lot of guests who do not believe in gratuities, and have them removed on board. Some say they tip in cash, but the problem is, is that some employees receive gratuities are people guests never even come in contact with.
I can understand that thought process. What I don't understand is why they even do this. I guess they could just raise the price of the cruises and give the increase to the crew. But I guess this way it "looks" like the cruise is cheaper to people.
Scruffy said:
An increase from $16 to $18/day, even on a 14day cruise is only $28/person extra.
I get it, if you have a family of 5 now you're looking at $100+extra for a 2 weeks cruise..... but it's a 2 week cruise.
I don't like the idea of tipping/grats anyway, but if that $2/day is going to break the bank maybe they shouldn't be spending the money in first place?
csnole said:
Tipping crew members has nothing to do with the gratuities, and it's always welcomed when possible.
AgLA06 said:csnole said:
Tipping crew members has nothing to do with the gratuities, and it's always welcomed when possible.
Then it isn't gratuities and should be a service fee. I'm not arguing if they should get paid. Just don't call it gratuity if it is in fact, not gratuity. That's overhead.JMac03 said:AgLA06 said:csnole said:
Tipping crew members has nothing to do with the gratuities, and it's always welcomed when possible.
Gratuities are a huge part of their salary. It's different than tipping extra.
The problem with removing gratuities on board and tipping in cash, is that there are people who are paid by the gratuities, who are now no longer receiving the gratuities, so they receive less pay. The only way to fix this is to make gratuities mandatory or just include it in the cruise cost.
JMac03 said:AgLA06 said:csnole said:
Tipping crew members has nothing to do with the gratuities, and it's always welcomed when possible.
Gratuities are a huge part of their salary. It's different than tipping extra.
The problem with removing gratuities on board and tipping in cash, is that there are people who are paid by the gratuities, who are now no longer receiving the gratuities, so they receive less pay. The only way to fix this is to make gratuities mandatory or just include it in the cruise cost.
JMac03 said:
And all of us TA's agree!
I'm usually very anti everything to do with tipping culture, but in this instance I get it. There are a lot of people who I think go towards the overall benefit of our cruise experience, that we may not interact with directly. Those people do deserve to be included and this does that. But yes, just increasing their pay would do that too, which would increase the cost of the trip.AgLA06 said:Then it isn't gratuities and should be a service fee. I'm not arguing if they should get paid. Just don't call it gratuity if it is in fact, not gratuity. That's overhead.JMac03 said:AgLA06 said:csnole said:
Tipping crew members has nothing to do with the gratuities, and it's always welcomed when possible.
Gratuities are a huge part of their salary. It's different than tipping extra.
The problem with removing gratuities on board and tipping in cash, is that there are people who are paid by the gratuities, who are now no longer receiving the gratuities, so they receive less pay. The only way to fix this is to make gratuities mandatory or just include it in the cruise cost.
Because I, like most people have a hard time tipping people that haven't personally provided a service.
I agree. But the $16/day goes to a lot of workers that you don't encounter on a cruise. It really would be best if they just raised their fairs, but I see why they do it this way.62strat said:
A 'prepaid gratuity' seems pretty oxymoronic to me.
Gratuities are tips paid for a service. You can't determine an appropriate tip amount until the service is complete.
I would never pre pay a tip. I don't do it on third party food delivery apps, on uber, at a restaurant/bar, to a bellhop, the airport parking van driver guy handling your luggage, etc etc.
Certainly wouldn't on a cruise.
It undermines the purpose of the tip.
There are a lot of people in the restaurant that you don't encounter; cook, bus boy, food runner, dishwasher, etc.. But you don't tip them. You tip the person that took your order.NoahAg said:I agree. But the $16/day goes to a lot of workers that you don't encounter on a cruise. It really would be best if they just raised their fairs, but I see why they do it this way.62strat said:
A 'prepaid gratuity' seems pretty oxymoronic to me.
Gratuities are tips paid for a service. You can't determine an appropriate tip amount until the service is complete.
I would never pre pay a tip. I don't do it on third party food delivery apps, on uber, at a restaurant/bar, to a bellhop, the airport parking van driver guy handling your luggage, etc etc.
Certainly wouldn't on a cruise.
It undermines the purpose of the tip.
Believe me, I really hate the construct of assumed tipping. Nothing worse than ordering at the counter and being asked to tip on the stupid iPad.
