Thread: Celebrity cruises - enforced tipping

As a previous cruiser on Celebrity - albeit 4 years ago - I was shocked when I spoke to a travel agent today about the change in policy on Celebrity Cruises about how tips are now enforced and not an option. Which seems a way they keep to advertised price of the cruise down but then add around £200 to the cost per person depending on cabin grade.

I was told its a 'benefit' to pre-pay as "you don't have to worry about the extra expense on board" however if you don't prepay it will be added to at the end to the bill. This system means there is no way you can personally decide who gets what and how much. If you pre-pay you get vouchers at the end to distribute but the amount is set by Celebrity.

Is this correct?

From what I have read on this forum it also seems to apply to Holland America, which is a line I am interested to try but again worried about the 'hidden' costs.

I also realise from this forum that as a Brit we are paying more, get no upgrades and seem to be offered lesser packages than cruisers booking in the US.

I look forward to your comments.

Happy cruising.

We have done a lot of discussing about the tips/gratuities/service charges that are now being automatically be added by most cruiselines. Look at some of the threads found here in this tipping forum for the views of other members.

I know that the UK is different from the US in the booking procedures...and I don't know if you are aware that this is NOT Celebrity's doing, but rather your government that imposes certain restrictions and limitations. There is a thread somewhere on CLF that explains this.

For what it's worth, here are the tipping guidelines from the Celebrity web site:

Gratuities
For your convenience, we will automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard Seapass account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion:
$11.50 per person per day for guests in staterooms
$12.00 per person per day for guests in Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms
$15.00 per person per :day for guests in Suits.

These service gratuities are based on the following recommended amounts:

Restaurant Service*Per Person Per Day
Waiter$3.65
Assistant Waiter$2.10
Dining Room Management$1.00

Stateroom Service*Per Person Per Day
Butler (Suites Only)$3.50
Stateroom Service $3.50
Concierge Class and AquaClass staterooms $4.00

I think most (if not all) of the mass market cruiselines are using autotips. Princess switched from the old method (of the passengers stuffing tip envelopes that last day of the cruise and handing them out to their waitstaff and cabin steward) to autotipping when it instituted anytime dining. Flexible dining is probably why many others have switched too. Many passengers would rather not carry around loose cash; I'm one of those who prefer the automatic method. We don't consider tips as a hidden cost as it's listed on the Princess website (and I'm guessing on most others). It seems that the amount of recommended tips haven't really gone up too much since we started cruising in 1994, and we've never gone below this level on any of our cruises.

The only time my hubby went to the front desk on our most recent cruise was to apply some travelers cheques (they were about five years old so he wanted to get rid of them) against our bill (which was mostly the tips, photos, a few drinks and a few store purchases).

Hi

Sorry if I have posted in the wrong section of the forum. I will search for details about government restrictions as it the first I've heard of it...fuel surcharges yes, tax yes but imposing compulsory tipping??

Anyway thanks for the heads up - I will search further next time before posting.

Originally Posted by starlightcruiser

Hi

Sorry if I have posted in the wrong section of the forum. I will search for details about government restrictions as it the first I've heard of it...fuel surcharges yes, tax yes but imposing compulsory tipping??

Anyway thanks for the heads up - I will search further next time before posting.

Not a problem posting here! Discussions are always popping up and we are happy to discuss anything again as rules change from time to time.

The booking procedures are different in the UK. No refund of deposit if you cancel is one biggie that rankles folks who are required to book in their own country.

I'll see if I can find that post about how the UK and European rules for booking are different.

OP as far as I can determine, NCL is the only cruiseline that is now calling it a service charge and making it hard not to pay the so called tips.

I believe other lines are moving more and more to this model of it being a service charge, instead of non mandatory tips.

To me if you just add it to the cost of the cruise, you wouldnt be surprised or upset by the cost.

Originally Posted by starlightcruiser

As a previous cruiser on Celebrity - albeit 4 years ago - I was shocked when I spoke to a travel agent today about the change in policy on Celebrity Cruises about how tips are now enforced and not an option. Which seems a way they keep to advertised price of the cruise down but then add around £200 to the cost per person depending on cabin grade.

I was told its a 'benefit' to pre-pay as "you don't have to worry about the extra expense on board" however if you don't prepay it will be added to at the end to the bill. This system means there is no way you can personally decide who gets what and how much. If you pre-pay you get vouchers at the end to distribute but the amount is set by Celebrity.

Is this correct?

From what I have read on this forum it also seems to apply to Holland America, which is a line I am interested to try but again worried about the 'hidden' costs.

I also realise from this forum that as a Brit we are paying more, get no upgrades and seem to be offered lesser packages than cruisers booking in the US.

I look forward to your comments.

Happy cruising.

What everybody seems to have failed to notice is that with all the dining options today,
"your" server waits on you maybe 1 meal in 4 or 5. (open seating breakfast, open
seating lunch, you go to the specialty restaurant a couple of times, lido on port days...)
When I first sailed on the France (in 1971!) you ate at your assigned table 3 times
a day, 7 days a week--it made sense for you to tip according to the service received.
Today, you would have to be a walking ATM, spewing dollars(or pounds, or euros)
all day long if the cruise line didn't handle the distribution.

When booking with an agent in the UK, I know they have to include things such as gratuities and travel insurance that U.S. agents do not have to include. But even taking those things out, the prices are still better here than there. I just had a UK citizen book 4 cabins on Celebrity and our prices were considerably lower than the UK agent gave them. Needless to say, they were happy they booked with us.

A long time ago, the port fees were not included in the price of a cruise, so imagine how people felt when they saw a rate and then all the extra fees were added? At least now the port fees are included in the advertised price, but you still have to add taxes, gratuities, and in some cases, fuel supplement.

I can't tell you how many times people call us up because they saw a rate for a cruise that was really good only to change their minds it after all the fees are added. Had a lady just yesterday call me because she saw a $699 advertised rate for an inside cabin on Celebrity. I checked and of course, all those cheap inside cabins were sold out and the best price available was $1199! And then when I added the taxes and we talked about gratuities, the price was almost $1400 per person. So that $699 advertised rate she saw was obviously not telling the whole story. She was a newbie at cruising and really wanted to go on Celebrity, but changed her mind when everything added up.

You can begin to understand how people new to cruising can become very frustrated and overwhelmed by all the details, prices, and fees.

But to go back to gratuities, most people do not want to pay cash as they don't want to carry all that money around. Instead, they prefer to either pre-pay them or have them charged to their onboard account so they can charge them to their credit card. Cruise lines are simply trying to make it easy for what the majority of cruisers want. Now, that's not to say that you are locked in to a rate. On most lines, you can tell them how much you want to provide. And on others, you can modify the amount, but often with alot of hassle.

Pete

Just found this thread and was interested to see the statement that UK travel agents HAVE to add gratuities and travel insurance. This is simply not true. We have booked cruises from the UK and they give you the option of adding on gratuities. Whilst you are asked if you have travel insurance they cannot force you to buy their insurances. As UK citizens we never travel anywhere abroad without taking out travel insurance, especially when travelling to the USA, but we have annual worldwide travel insurance and make our own arrangements.

You are absolutely right that US prices are considerably beter than UK ones (most of the time!) for no good reason except that they can get away with it. Maybe we will ask you, cruiseplanner for a quote for our next cruise!