TXcruzer

Hmmmmmm!
First post, ridiculous unbelievable accusations.................................

Hmmmmmm!
First post, ridiculous unbelievable accusations.................................

Hmmmmmm!
First post, ridiculous unbelievable accusations.................................

If you talk frankly to any professional waitstaff here in the states, or any forward facing crew on cruise ships, they will agree with you 100%.  They all do better in a cash based gratuity system (not the Royal Caribbean scam of auto daily gratuity)

They will take home 1.5X-2X the average annual income of their home country on each contract.  That's a pretty great wage 

They will take home 1.5X-2X the average annual income of their home country on each contract.  That's a pretty great wage 

Absolutely. There's a reason people bartend in the US and do it for YEARS.  At the right place, it's a cash cow. My wife was a bartender for 20 years, she always said if they went to a no-tip\work for hourly wages model, she'd be out.  It comes with its ups and downs, but for every person who leave 50 cents on the bar, there's usually five leaving a 10 on the bar. 

Or perhaps the US has the right method? What incentive does the staff have to go above and beyond when they are receiving a “decent salary”? Personally, I would always opt to take a minimal salary knowing I could more then make up for it with great tips due to hard work and dedication. As for the cruise industry, don’t hold your breath because it’s only going further in the wrong direction regarding staff inexperience, food inconsistency, excessive up charges. People are willing to pay much more for much less these days and the cruise industry has zero incentive to rework a system when they sell out just about every sailing. 

If gratuity is included by default on a service, there is no reason to feel awkward by not tipping any further

If gratuity is included by default on a service, there is no reason to feel awkward by not tipping any further

if you have to take actions to discourage people from getting something (in this case popcorn), it would be better not to offer it at all.

To be clear, the state of TX does not limit the brands, they only require that the alcohol has had TX tax paid on it. 
Royal limits the brands they wish to pay the tax on. 
 
But as you said, the selection is fine until dinner time, when you hit the 12 mile mark 

Charging for popcorn is not a recent change, and most mainstream lines charge for it. 

Dyson hair products are notoriously finicky on the ships due the fully digital "control boards" they use .
 
The "phase" of the electricity on ships is different from those on land, regardless of the voltage.  DW and DD have all the toys, Dyson airwrap, straightener, supersonic dryer; on some ships they work great, on other ships they won't work at all, and even more confusingly, on some ships they work intermittently.
 
There is an entire thread on another website exclusively about Dyson hair products.

Exactly. 
I'm sure I spend some of my entertainment money in ways that some people think is wrong.  Hell, there are people we know who think we're wrong for just spending money on a cruise.

Why is it that popcorn smells SSOOO much better than it tastes ?

If they weren’t cleaning up (by their countries standards) you wouldn’t see so many crew members returning contract after contract for YEARS 
Depending on the country of origin, many of these crew-members in one 9 month contract will make several years worth of equivalent wages in their home country.

Everyone on the ship receives, contractually, a guaranteed salary that is governed by International Seafarer Convention.

The question that really needs asked, and that interests me the most is this.  Does Royal use the auto gratuity monies to meet the minimum payment required by the contract OR are these monies distributed in addition to the minimum?
Because this is not clear, and I do not wish to start a debate, but I do not participate in the auto gratuity program.  It is important to me that those that serve me get money ON TOP OF their contracted salary.

I think I'm missing something in the math.  It seems to me the real question is the reward (i.e. the reduced fare amount) vs. the cost (i.e. amount of the deposit you might lose) multiplied by the probability of cancelling.
This may seem picky, but I don't see the amount of the reduced fare in the calculation.
I've seen rare cases where there's no difference between refundable and non-refundable fares.  That's a no brainer. Go with the refundable.
I've also seen cases where the difference was over $1000.  I haven't tried to quantify that, but it is hard to swallow spending an extra $1000 to protect a $500 deposit unless there's almost no chance of taking the cruise.  Of course, why would you book the cruise if you didn't at least think it was a possibility?
Most of the time, the fares are somewhere in the middle.  Go NRD and you save $2-300.  That's more debatable, especially if you're booking years in advance.

Everyone on the ship receives, contractually, a guaranteed salary that is governed by International Seafarer Convention.

The production shows seem to run for 10 years minimum

To be clear, the state of TX does not limit the brands, they only require that the alcohol has had TX tax paid on it. 
Royal limits the brands they wish to pay the tax on. 
 
But as you said, the selection is fine until dinner time, when you hit the 12 mile mark 

If they weren’t cleaning up (by their countries standards) you wouldn’t see so many crew members returning contract after contract for YEARS 
Depending on the country of origin, many of these crew-members in one 9 month contract will make several years worth of equivalent wages in their home country.