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twangster

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Posts posted by twangster

  2. Grandeur of the Seas Casino

    in Royal Caribbean Discussion

    Posted

    Yes, the ship has to be beyond the 12 mile US territorial limit and due sailing down the Chesapeake towards the ocean you don't clear the 12 mile limit like you would leaving from a Florida port, or others.  Same coming back home, they can't open stores or the casino within the 12 mile limit.  If you are going to buy photos or anything in the store, do so before you reach US waters on the last day.

  8. Question about “extra” tips

    in Royal Caribbean Discussion

    Posted

    32 minutes ago, ADK said:

     I don’t think it’s something just between the employer and employee because RC should know customers will “extra tip."

    Here in the US in many states wait staff in restaurants are not eligible for minimum wage and it's common for wait staff to be paid minimum or no salary and earn the majority of their compensation in tips.  It varies greatly state by state.  Some do get minimum wage.  The nature of their contract or employment agreement isn't public and I'm not sure cruise line employee contracts should be either.  Does anyone want their compensation posted publicly? 

    36 minutes ago, ADK said:

    In everyday day situations I always tip more than 18% (up to 30% when service is excellent and our party is being difficult or picky) so why would I stiff the employee just because the auto added/pre-paid says 18%?

    This is a good point.  18% is average by US standards but is excessive in other regions of the world.  It's even more painful for folks paying high exchange rates from their home currency while sailing RCI.

    At the end of the day put everything in a spreadsheet including extra tips if you so choose.  Add it all up from the tip to the porters, the taxi tip, the maid in the hotel room the night before tip and tips you choose to provide on board in addition to the base cruise fare, excursions, transfers, hotels, airfare and auto-gratuities.  That's the total cost to judge whether cruising is of value to you.  Getting hung up in the weeds takes away from my overall cruise enjoyment.

  12. Question about “extra” tips

    in Royal Caribbean Discussion

    Posted

    1 minute ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

    And this is where I start to get confused...they are encouraged to mention it but when we do the survey, we shouldn't say that they mentioned it??  That part always confuses me.

    You should state who asked you to provide high rankings on the survey.  The survey has options like 'Main Dining Room staff', 'Cabin Attendant,' etc.  Feel free to check all that apply, that is a good thing according to my MDR wait staff who were fantastic on Adventure.   

  13. Question about “extra” tips

    in Royal Caribbean Discussion

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Snowchaser said:

    ... and emphasized that they much prefer that we give highest marks on the customer survey post cruise.  They stated that the survey provides  a ranking based on feedback as to the number of guests that they will tend too.

     

    2 minutes ago, Matt said:

    ...best thing you can do is mention them in a positive light in a post-cruise survey.

    This is why I take photos of name badges and business cards left by cabin attendants. 

    I also asked someone on my last cruise if responding to the survey with who asked me to fill out the survey and provide high ranking was a good thing or bad thing.  They stated it's a good thing, they are encouraged to mention it to guests. 

  19. Question about “extra” tips

    in Royal Caribbean Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

    I wish they would stop calling it tips...a tip is what you give to someone for great service.......everything else is fees and taxes.

    I'd love to hear how this is really handled. 

    The purpose of tipping in part is to motivate customer facing employees to provide great service.  It's a reward for great service.  Absent of motivation to provide great service, some employees will develop an "I don't care, I'll get paid anyways" attitude.

    I wonder if the cruise line tells their employees "A guest can remove gratuity and if that happens it will reflect on you" or some other story. 

    It seems to me that 99.9% of the customer facing crew I deal with are very motivated to provide great service.  The company must have some means to create this environment because you certainly don't receive that level of service in a typical hotel or other service industry on land such as fast food or even grocery stores where employees are salaried and have little motivation to provide great service.

    It's the lack of transparency that drives me crazy. 

  22. Loss of C & A Internet coupon Benifit

    in Royal Caribbean News and Rumors

    Posted

    22 hours ago, CGTLH said:

    @twangster Before the site was redone there was an option to set your gift. Some of the options were various wines, towel, slippers, then various snack sweets. I'll have to dig up the options.

    Found them... from August.

     

    I had to call them to set mine.  I got a towel but no beer as offered by the phone agent at C&A I talked to.  They made sound like I'd get both but no such luck, just a towel.  

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