Cruise News Time! Today we have 5 cruise news stories and the results from the cruise tipping poll for your face! Royal Caribbean is replacing the Anthem of the Seas. Disney Treasure celebrates a milestone. New Disney Cruise homeport announced. MSC to spend $8.2 billion on new cruise ships and more. Cruise News and Views! Let’s talk about it.
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42 Comments
Coming from a non tipping place I would very much prefer it was simply included to remove the thought process. But since it's the culture then sure then pay it. What does annoy is the fact it's per person not per room… Sharing a room with my two small kids does not mean double the work and because of them we tend to use less of the facilities not more. Hardly also seems fair a 5yr old pays the same as a 40year old. They don't go to kids club either so can't even claim that. That seems a bit of a rip to me.
I hate seeing that long line the day before we get off of people taking their gratuities off. Then they rationalize it to themselves by giving their room steward a 20. I prepay gratuities then usually bring 50 in ones for tipping room service and such. Then I usually with give my room steward a 20 to 40 depending. If we eat in the MDR much I will tip our wait staff 20 each.
I'm sure there's a Leonardo DiCaprio joke in there somewhere about 20 years being midlife for ships
So Royal increase the amount of the daily gratuity charge and then cut the service they provide. Because of this, they don't need as many cabin stewards, so because people blindly accept this increase, you're effectively justifying Royal making crew redundant, This is allowing Royal to make these gratuities be a bigger share of the total the crew members get paid.
I am a part of the 72% and always will be.
They need to be OPEN AND HONEST as to WHERE the prepaid gratuities go! I want to see a specific break-down of what positions get how much of my prepaid tips.
Tips go a LONG way in creating a mutual respect between crew and passengers. I absolutely want to know where they go.
I always take the gratuities off and then I pay them personally on the last day. I like the one on one with the crew members. Also this way I know they are getting all the money we give them.
I have been told multiple times by multiple crew members that they like cash tips better! They like cash better because they say they receive more money during the contract when its cash. The crew has spoken!
Don't start wars, Tony. The New Jersey/New York rivalry is not for the faint of heart.
Your Pal,
A New Jerseyan Living in New York (And Having an Identity Crisis About It)
Only once did i remove a tip for the dining room. I did not once eat there. I did however, ALWAYS left a tip after EVERY meal in the Lido / buffet/ speciality restaurants.
I remove the “gratuities” and actually tip the people that give me exceptional service more than they would have gotten from the “gratuities”. It’s not my job to pay salaries. Cruise lines should pay more and not rely on “gratuities” to properly compensate people who are already short staffed and work really hard. I like to know where my money goes.
We tip our room stewards and wait staff and others for service. Linda water paints on paper from book mark size to 5×7” of nature and landscape scenes from the cruise and gives to staff for special service. She paints sunflowers with blue borders for any Ukrainian worker on board. Responses from the workers have been so appreciative and heart warming. On our last cruise on Celebrity Beyond last month a waiter from over three years ago on the Apex remembered her as the painting lady and has her picture in his room. A little appreciation goes a long way.
Bummed about Anthem leaving, I love Anthem, plus I'm sure it will cost more to go on a newer ship. So disappointed!
Also I'm glad you know the difference between NY and NJ, because Royal sure doesn't. 😂 But then they also claim ships dock in Orlando.
As far as tips, at this point I would bet money that those automatic gratuities are their salary. Tips should just be included in the price of the cruise, with an option to tip extra if desired. Everybody freaks out when they increase the tips by a dollar, nobody would even notice if they increased cruise fares by $17 or whatever it is now for auto gratuities.
Never understood why internet people be more upset with cruisers removing gratuities than they are at cruiselines for underpaying their staff.
I resent paying up front and then expected to pay more, for less service!
Sailing out of Bayonne is wonderful. So much easier than New York!!
I paid my gratuities. If you can afford to tip, do it. But if you're on a budget, you shouldn't be made to feel guilty about not tipping.
I only sail out of Bayonne, NJ. I’m only two hours away.
Tips – I do not believe the survey to be correct. The last day of every cruise I have been on since restart there is a huge line of people removing their tips. So, i think there is a lot more removing than people want to admit. I think if mandatory tips are going to be paid, allowing someone to remove them shouldn't be allowed. Why do some of us have to support staff payroll with our tips and others do not. I really wish the cruise lines would just add it to the cruise fare and be done with it. However, we do not go to the main dining room anymore. We use the specialty restaurants and/or lido if we aren't going to sit down for formal dinner. I don't think my tips should be paying people who are not serving me at all. We pay additional tips to any and all who do serve us, but if I'm paying tips going to the main dining room (those with whom we did not interact), then we are their payroll. Again, I just think it should be included in fare and everyone should have to pay and not remove.
We do not have to bare the cross of a crew members salary. It is not our responsibility to bare the burden of multibillion dollar company employees. But because we do it, it causing this to continue and the companies are relying on it. If you continue to support bad behavior, bad behavior will remain and often times increase.
ah american gratuities tips! why dont you follow british australian practices if paying workers
passengers should get Included Excursions No free alcohol , free wifi When in Port. At least Transfers should be Part of Fee. civitavecchia to rome, livorno to florence, genova milano,? cadiz sevilla, malaga to cordoba or granada, zeebrugge to brussels, southampton to london, cherbourg to paris, rotterdam to hague, kiel to hamburg or luebeck luenenberg, gdynia malbork,
i would say Performances can be paid extra perhaps museums palaces can be extra; main theatre performances also extra
credit card . euros or pounds for stewards yes.
yes why anericans usa are the Only country where Customers guests are the ones Rather than Employers paying wages
it's more like a tax when you are told when and how much you tip andtoaddto that they keep increasing it. I choose when and how much not the cruise line.
Missed the survey; prepaid plus extra for me.
Any crew member I’ve asked says they do get the gratuities, the fuller the ship the more they make. I don’t understand why kitchen staff for instance get part of the gratuity as I feel they need to be payed more fairly to begin with. I understand tipping forward facing crew and those especially that I interact with frequently. On NCL I will still give the room attendant extra for good service even though the evening service is cancelled. I find a favorite bartender early on, tip at that time for the excellent service and try to patronize as the move around the ship. Additional TIP at and and the cruise
Just speaking of Celebrity and any other cruise line where gratuities are included. I rarely tip more. A few instances for incredible service, but otherwise I believe the advertising. 'Tipping Included'. Why people tip more is not understandable to me. If you go to Denny's and tip around 20-25%, do you then tip 20-25% again? Our butler on the Apex assured me part of his pay is gratuities. As did my waiters, the Retreat concierge, etc. For a 12 day cruise I tipped an additional $25 each to 4 people along with a well-written thank you card.
I pay the assigned gratuities and I always tip my cabin stewards and dining staff extra. They always look after me and go above and beyond to make me feel at home, they deserve it 💵
I was really amazed how built up & nice going out of Bayonne was. When I grew up near there. It was an industrial ,filthy mess.. Msc advertising like crazy in Florida market..
Why would you give aromatic gratuity for terrible service? Gratuity comes at the end when it's all said and done and u rate the experience. Doesn't mean u can't tip during but it should not be automatic. My opinion.
We have cruised on Regent a few times and truly did enjoy the experience. However, we are equally happy with Royal Caribbean and can get more for our money cruising with Royal.
Tipping is unacceptable, just pay decent wages.
I not a huge fan paying extra gratuity charge cuz then I'm going to be reluctant to tip cash since I already paid upfront. I rather give the tip cash to the employees that I come across and give extra for great service. I take about 150$ in 5's and 1's thats more than the gratuities to pay for a 5 day cruise on top of that plus i will add extra percentage on my receipt based on service. I always take care of my stateroom attendant 15$ a day and sometimes extra cash i have on me. I leave in my room on the last day in a white envelope from guest services with a thank-you on it addressing him or her. This sounds like a cruise ship problem they should give them bonus incentives if mentioned in a survey instead of an extra day off or inviting back on the ship for employment. And at the end I don't even know if they're really getting those gratuities, who knows.
Just completed my first cruise and I prepaid my gratuities. Eventhough I brought extra cash for those who goes above and beyond. I personally didn't see or requested anything special. Everyone was working super hard to get everything to run smoothly. I just didn't see anyone standout specifically.
However I did give extra tip to my steward and the bartender at the solo lounge who made me some amazing whiskey sours!!
It personally irks me that the cheapskates who remove the gratuities in order to pay in person!!! Youbare ripping for everyone who works on the ship. The staff you see and the ones you don't see. The ship doesn't move on its own nor does it maintains itself. It takes people with education and knowledge to make that ship move as flawlessly as it could. That's what you are paying for!
Tony know it sucks. I’m paying for a service and and their not paying the employees & I’m paying for their salaries I don’t think I should have pay you your employer should . But that just my opinion not saying I don’t tip, but I don’t want to tip everybody.
As an Australian cruiser…all cruise ships home porting here do not have assigned gratuities. It is not part of our culture, l personally find it a strange and abhorrent system, that tipping provides such an important part of the wage … it should be guaranteed.
For us the gratuity is included in the cruise fare…and l sincerely hope that the people who deserve it, ie the workers who provide the service are paid a decent wage. I will still tip for excellent service. It is actually better for our holiday experience knowing that the workers are being paid a decent wage, and when we tip, it goes to them for the excellent service. Get rid of the compulsory gratuity rubbish.
My friend child works on reclining, in child care areas. She received a $20 cash tip. She had to turn it into the pool to be shared to, others including management. Her cut of her tip was $1.50. CAMERAS watching.
The recent raise in gratuities by RCCL just raised the cut that goes to “other staff” and nothing extra to the daily people busting there hump for you. I feel it irrepressible to leave gratuities on if cruise lines don’t tell you wheee it is going. It appears to me 35% of it goes to general payroll. I tip extremely well but I don’t leave gratuity on my room.
We had marvelous service on Serenade 4/1-4/8. We tipped our steward and our MDR staff. As well as an extra $1 for drinks
PRICES ARE GOING UP EVERYWHERE WHILE SERVICES IS GETTING WORSE.
Tony, my friend, of course New York and New Jersey are different. New Jersey is where New Yorkers bury the bodies. Why do you think New Jersey tomatoes are so good???