It was good!

Item: Allure of the Seas
Rating: 4.8
Author: mshoper22

Allure of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

mshoper22

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 30, 2017

Ship: Allure of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9252

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

The only thing that was disappointing to me, was the daily gratuity. As expensive as the cruise was, I think that this should be included in the price. I would have liked to show my appreciation to our housekeeper by rewarding her monetarily without paying an additional $200 in random gratuity. She was great!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

15 Comments

cruisefreaks 7 years ago

I think here in America we tip, lots of other countries do not. the cruise line did have your own tipping years ago. You can go down to customer service and request them removed if you have a problem, or poor service.

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lucyjo 7 years ago

Ha ha. Certainly is that. Be interesting to know though with these gratuities what the staff actually sees of it all. That we will never find out.

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landshark68 7 years ago

Only hotels/resorts/restaurants are starting to charge fees now as well! Niagara Falls calls it a "tourism tax". Others call it a "resort fee". I call it b*llsh*t!

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lucyjo 7 years ago

Yeah I agree with you there think this is a debate that can go on and on and folk have split views over. One person to blame really is the cruise companies. When you go on five star package holiday at hotel no one is expected to tip unless they want to just don't know why these cruise companies get away with it.

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landshark68 7 years ago

I agree and you're perfectly within your right to have the grats removed in order to tip who you want to. Personally, I pay the set gratuity because I want to ensure all crew members are compensated. It's not the fault of the guy who works in the laundry that the cruise lines work the way they do and he works as hard as the cabin steward or dining room server.

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lucyjo 7 years ago

But we ain't told what we have to tip. Who are they to demand how Much we pay? Now when you go with family of four five it adds up a fair bit. I always get them taken off and leave for the folk I want to. I actually think in few years cruise lines will go down line on all inclusive. Of cruise these grafuities will be included but the cost of she holiday will go up so we are done either way

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landshark68 7 years ago

It's that way in the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, etc. It's the nature of the beast.

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lucyjo 7 years ago

These cruise companies should really start paying their staff better money. It's not up to us to tip them. Yes I always reward someone for good service that goes without saying but these fees should be scrapped completely. We all work hard and I don't know about u all I certainly don't get tipped for doing my day to day job

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bradner3 7 years ago

I book online and there is a box to check to include or not so you have an option. but, as stated, think of all the people making your trip happen that you don't see face to face. It really is, in the scheme of things, a small additional charge. then, tip in person the people who go above and beyond. Or, I know a lot of people bring non-monetary gifts for room stewards, etc. such as calling cards, gift cards for stores near ports to help them call home or get personal items when in port.

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landshark68 7 years ago

cbelc2 hit the nail on the head. Cruise line employees work very long hours and the majority don't interact with the passengers. Those gratuities go to those people, as well.

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cbelc2 7 years ago

You don't see all the behind the scene folks who work hard for you. We prepay tips and consider it cruise cost. Then we give extra to people we interacted positively with.

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tlsegg 7 years ago

We always take automatic gratuity off our bill and give it to the people we want to reward more for their service. Just go to the guest services desk and they will gladly do that. They even have special separate envelopes for you to use. Do it early in cruise as the guest services area gets VERY busy late in the cruise.

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CandyBennett 7 years ago

Yes you can tell the purser you want to not be charged for gratuities but please remember these people work SO hard during YOUR vacation. Reward them for their hard work

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ALombardi 7 years ago

Is it true you can ask for the gratuity to be removed so you can leave it on your own?

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reguenther863 7 years ago

Was this your first cruise??? You have the option of having your Gratuity added prior to sailing and paying it during your final payment due date. we have always done so, that gives us the opportunity to calculate what we want to set aside for our room Stewart and wait staff. We have always given our wait staff extra/stewart on our 10 and 12 night journeys, after all they serve you the length of the cruise and really get to know your every whim

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