I came across an article about RCI raising the suggested daily gratuity from $12 to $12.95 pp/day. http://www.travelweekly.com/cruise-travel/royal-caribbean-raises-gratuity-by-8-percent
Another article hinted (without proof) that this increase doesn't go directly to the crew member, but instead goes into the pocket's of the higher-ups.
That got me to thinking...
Back in the early 2000s, I cruised with Carnival and I remembered giving all-cash gratuities. Nowadays, cruise lines add automatic gratuities either prepaid or in your stateroom account. They say you can adjust it, however, I was under the impression (after reading these boards) that if one goes to adjust their account, it'll seem like they're trying to "give less". So...on my recent first DCL cruise, I never adjusted the suggested amount but instead put the slip of paper given by Disney into the envelope along with some extra cash.
I personally thought my addition of extra cash was a nice bonus and I thought my servers and room attendant would be thrilled to get it, but only one out of the 4 CMs reacted. It was a bit off-putting. I wondered, didn't they like getting the extra cash???
Now reading the 2nd article about the possibility that not all of our gratuities go entirely to the intended crew member if we prepay our gratuities or leave it to the cruise lines to dole out, it makes sense that my servers weren't all that thrilled.
For me, the next time I cruise, I'm going to make sure I pay ALL my suggested gratuities in CASH and give it DIRECTLY to my deserving CMs.
Any thoughts?
Another article hinted (without proof) that this increase doesn't go directly to the crew member, but instead goes into the pocket's of the higher-ups.
That got me to thinking...
Back in the early 2000s, I cruised with Carnival and I remembered giving all-cash gratuities. Nowadays, cruise lines add automatic gratuities either prepaid or in your stateroom account. They say you can adjust it, however, I was under the impression (after reading these boards) that if one goes to adjust their account, it'll seem like they're trying to "give less". So...on my recent first DCL cruise, I never adjusted the suggested amount but instead put the slip of paper given by Disney into the envelope along with some extra cash.
I personally thought my addition of extra cash was a nice bonus and I thought my servers and room attendant would be thrilled to get it, but only one out of the 4 CMs reacted. It was a bit off-putting. I wondered, didn't they like getting the extra cash???
Now reading the 2nd article about the possibility that not all of our gratuities go entirely to the intended crew member if we prepay our gratuities or leave it to the cruise lines to dole out, it makes sense that my servers weren't all that thrilled.
For me, the next time I cruise, I'm going to make sure I pay ALL my suggested gratuities in CASH and give it DIRECTLY to my deserving CMs.
Any thoughts?