This answer makes no sense.
The cruise lines do not require, recommend, suggest, or even hint that anyone tip the room service waiters. Why would we include a gratuity in the price of a cruise when we never even recommended the gratuity to begin with?
Quote:
Originally Posted by green_rd
Excuse me?
Bruce, you never identify the line you work for and that is fine. My experience is limited but of the three lines we have cruised, Carnival, Princess and Celebrity, the cruise lines place tips automatically on passengers account and the passenger must go to the pursers desk to adjust the "gratuities". Our most recent cruise we did not have traditional "fixed" dining and were required to pre-pay gratuities.
Bruce, interesting numbers to say the least. But you cannot compare a cruise line to MacDonald's nor can you compare it to a restaurant. And to use your analogy that someone should not have to pay extra for their cruise fares, because they don't drink soda's ... you can use that anology for just about everything. Why should someone's fare subsidize the kid's programs if they don't have kids? Why should my fare, subsidize the buffet, if I never eat there. Why should someone subsidize the shows, if they do not partake in the entertainment. One fare covers all, makes sense to me.
Again, I don't know line you work for .... but Royal or Carnival, charging me %50 bucks for a coke card ... makes me feel nickel and dimed. Add 50 bucks to my fare and I'm a happy camper.
And yes, the cruiselines do advocate tipping, although not necessarily for room service. Most lines scream, at every opportunity (usually the CD: tip, tip, tip.... as do a minority of the ship's personnel (ex. a waiter at dinner) If tips were not requried, I would not see gratuity envolopes in my cabin.
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Bruce, interesting numbers to say the least. But you cannot compare a cruise line to MacDonald's nor can you compare it to a restaurant. And to use your analogy that someone should not have to pay extra for their cruise fares, because they don't drink soda's ... you can use that anology for just about everything. Why should someone's fare subsidize the kid's programs if they don't have kids? Why should my fare, subsidize the buffet, if I never eat there. Why should someone subsidize the shows, if they do not partake in the entertainment. One fare covers all, makes sense to me.
Again, I don't know line you work for .... but Royal or Carnival, charging me %50 bucks for a coke card ... makes me feel nickel and dimed. Add 50 bucks to my fare and I'm a happy camper.
And yes, the cruiselines do advocate tipping, although not necessarily for room service. Most lines scream, at every opportunity (usually the CD: tip, tip, tip.... as do a minority of the ship's personnel (ex. a waiter at dinner) If tips were not requried, I would not see gratuity envolopes in my cabin.
Queen,
Please do not misunderstand.
These are not my comparisons or analogies.
I have been reading 3,000+ passenger comment cards every week for the past few decades.
I am repeating the most frequent comments I read every week, written by your fellow passengers. The overwhelming majority tell us every week of the year that they want to pay ONLY for what they personally consume. They are very candid - and very clear - that they want others to pay for whatever they want to consume.
Although "one fare covers all" makes sense to you (and me too), it doesn't make sense to most of your fellow cruisers. I would love to charge EVERYONE for champagne, caviar, drinks, sodas, canapes, specialty dishes, skeet shooting, deck chairs, flowers, and all the other things that made us so much money (and kept cruise fares so high) for all those years. But most of your fellow cruisers don't want all that stuff anymore (at least they don't want to pay for it). Since they are the ones who keep us in business, we do it their way.
We offer the cheapest possible bare bones cruise fare that most everyone wants - and then let you choose what extras you are willing to pay for.
Yes, cruise lines do frequently try to convince you to tip the staff. And that is what this thread is all about.
Paul doesn't agree with the strange idea that room service servers should be tipped.
I also do not agree with that idea. Neither do the cruise lines.
But one of the posters on this thread suggested that the cruise lines add an extra tip - that is not required, suggested, nor expected, and most of us do not agree with - into the price of your cruise. Isn't that nickel and diming???
Last edited by Bruce Chafkin1; January 29th, 2012 at 07:14 PM.
Bruce is only saying what most cruisers want. I understand what he is saying and it makes sense to me.
Now - for some reason cruise lines like Seabourn can charge everyone a much higher cruise fare just because they include wine and drinks.
But by far most people on luxury lines say "I know I am paying more than what I consume, but I just prefer the all inclusive approach."
That is their preference. So, Queen, you also have that option. I personally fall into the camp that says "charge me for what I consume."
But to me it doesn't matter whether it is in the cruise fare or after the fact - it is money out of my pocket either way. I don't feel nickel and dimed for anything where I made the choice to consume it.
But that is just me.... and everyone has the right to feel how they feel
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Never occurred to me NOT to tip for room service.
I agree with the thought "charge me for what I consume" unless of course by paying upfront you get a particularly good deal. Some of these drinks packages seem awfully expensive to me though.
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Bob,
You are absolutely correct. In fact EVERY mass market cruise line now has auto-tipping.
But that is not the subject of this thread.
If you read carefully, Paul was discussing the EXTRA CASH tips that some passengers feel compelled to give to waiters who deliver room service orders to their cabins. Someone then suggested that the cruise lines add that amount to the overall cruise price instead.
My response was - why add a non-recommended / non-required / not even expected tip to increase the price of your cruise?
That idea just doesn't make any sense.
One correction...Royal Caribbean does not have autotipping. If you book their anytime dining you have to prepay. Otherwise tips are by cash. However, if you wish to have the tips added to your account the passenger must request it by filling out a form.
I have read that some cruiselines, tipping for room service is included in the autotip/service charge, but not all. I guess it depends on who brings the room service order...is it someone who is a tipped crew member or someone not included in the tip pool (eg. another crew member who agrees to do this for extra money over and above their regular duties).
One correction...Royal Caribbean does not have autotipping. If you book their anytime dining you have to prepay. Otherwise tips are by cash. However, if you wish to have the tips added to your account the passenger must request it by filling out a form.
I have read that some cruiselines, tipping for room service is included in the autotip/service charge, but not all. I guess it depends on who brings the room service order...is it someone who is a tipped crew member or someone not included in the tip pool (eg. another crew member who agrees to do this for extra money over and above their regular duties).
RCCL doesn't have auto-tipping - yet. But they are in the process of introducing it.
All the mass market lines have Room Service Waiters as a near entry level position for Dining Room Staff. As such, they are part of the tipping pool.
Usually, if Room Service gets terribly busy, waiters are pulled from the buffet or dining room to assist. These people are already part of the tipping pool. It makes sense to have food servers delivering room service orders. They have proper USPH training and know the food better than non-food servers would.
There are a few exceptions. Occasionally Cabin Stewards are recruited, in a pinch, to assist with room service delivery. But they are already in the tipping pool as well. Even so, USPH does not want people who clean your toilet and bath tub to also handle your food.
It is extremely rare to have crew from other departments delivering room service orders to make extra money. The International Labor Organization carefully monitors the daily working hours of our crew. They cannot legally be "on the clock" more than 13 hours per day. Since most Hotel Department crew are already working very close to the legal maximum hours every day, it would be very difficult for them - and us - to legally work extra hours on the side.
Bear in mind also that cruise lines do not like to pay overtime or extra duty pay to anyone at any time. As a hotel manager on a ship, with the belt tightening and cost cutting that we see these days, I could never justify allowing a crewmember to work extra hours to get paid more money.
Giving you a free soda (or many free sodas for most North Americans) would cost my ship very little. But losing the revenue from the many thousands of sodas we currently sell every week would cost my ship about $30,000 per week, or $120,000 per month, or $1.44 million per year in lost revenues. If you add in the other 16 ships in the fleet, my employer would stand to lose $25,480,000 per year by giving away sodas on our ships.
We could just increase your cruise fare to pay for those losses, but we already tried that, and it didn't go over so well.
Why should people who do not drink sodas have to pay more for their cruise so that you can have free sodas on your cruise?
Why doesn't McDonalds give away sodas in their restaurants? Each one costs them only a few pennies to produce.
1. Because Mc Donalds is not a charity.
2. Because people addicted to artificially colored, artificially sweetened, artificially flavored, artificially carbonated tap water are perfectly willing and accustomed to paying for it.
Cruise lines have the same logic.
You dont pay one price to enter McDonalds as you do on a cruise, and if the lines wanted to do the "free pop" they could and do it to bring in folks - Disney does it without "losing" millions.
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You dont pay one price to enter McDonalds as you do on a cruise, and if the lines wanted to do the "free pop" they could and do it to bring in folks - Disney does it without "losing" millions.
I have only ever cruised on Carnival but when booking i always click the pre-paid gratuities button. And i refuse to tip anymore then what i have prepaid i may seem cheap or what not but i just feel like i am nickle and dimed as it is.
On the issue of room service tipping on cruises where tips are pre-paid, I think the problem is the cruise lines' failure to clearly specify what "traditional cruise tips" are included in the pre-payment and which (if any) are not. Oh, some of these lines specify that spa tips are not included in the pre-payment. But I don't think they mention room service one way or another, do they?
On the issue of including beverages (soft or hard) in the fare, cruisers do seem divided on this issue. The lines that offer included beverages seem to also include other things that some cruisers find attractive. These include larger cabins with better furnishings, fully included tips, better food (some say), larger service staff ratio for better service, less crowded public areas, -- and much higher fares. It is good that cruisers have a choice in which type of cruise to book. All they need do is a little research.
I have only ever cruised on Carnival but when booking i always click the pre-paid gratuities button. And i refuse to tip anymore then what i have prepaid i may seem cheap or what not but i just feel like i am nickle and dimed as it is.
Don't think room service is included in the prepaid tips just MDR & room steward?
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I think this is another things that, they basically leave up to you. The list of included tips is pretty simple and room service is not among those.
Now, if you were home and ordered a pizza delivered, you'd tip the delivery guy, right...I think the same applies for room service on a cruise ship. It would be just a few dollars anyway and normally, room service is pretty quick the few times I've ordered it.
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