Tipping with Americans Vs Brits on board

Tipping is clearly a thorny subject and there appears to be no right on wrong way to tip.

As a Brit we are perhaps not as used to the tipping culture as our American cousins, therefore are we at a disadvantage if we tip less/not at all?

Would we recieve lesser service for not tipping or would the reverse happen? What I mean is Brits are not expected to tip as much so its expected or Americans had to compete with fellow Americans to tip well?

I dont think for one minute a member of a cruise line would intentially give a lesser service but sub-conciously may be inclinded to not quite work as hard. We are going to tip our room steward almost certainly (Unless they are terrible we wont) but only umming and ahhing at whether we tip at the end of the cruise or half and half. (Start off with a bribe :eek:)

Very hot subject on these boards and based on your questions, I would say the best way to approach gratuities on board is if you look at them as an integral part of the service crew's compensation. For a number of reasons I am not going to get into on this thread, the room steward and wait staff crew in particular are paid a modest base wage with gratuities comprising a large percentage of their total pay.

It really should not be considered optional based on a perceived level of service but rather a required part of your cruise fare total oriented towards compensating those crew members. They are trained to provide a consistent level of service that is not based on how much one would tip. It should be by no means considered a bribe or other form of leverage for service.

So choosing not to pay them or to offer a reduced amount would only be taking away a large portion of their income. Whether someone agrees with this method of how they are compensated or not, it is essentially an industry standard in terms of their pay. Another way to look at it is, whether it is a custom that is part of your culture or not, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Please don't take away part of their very hard earned income - pay the standard gratuities recommended by the cruise line. You also are not obligated to pay more than that unless at your option you should choose to.

I was in Alaska for work.

Cruise ships were in port.

Was having lunch at the bar. There were Europeans at the bar enjoying some lunch and some adult beverages.

When they cashed out, they just rounded up and gave the waiter/bar tender the change, said thanks, and walked out.

I asked what his thoughts were since they left such a small amount as a tip. He said hey, they’re from Europe. It’s okay. That’s the way they’re used to tipping. I just appreciate that they thought of me.

Even if you're not used to it, why not just bring some pocket cash to reward the workers, knowing it's expected and that's how they earn their living?

Tipping is clearly a thorny subject and there appears to be no right on wrong way to tip.

 

As a Brit we are perhaps not as used to the tipping culture as our American cousins, therefore are we at a disadvantage if we tip less/not at all?

 

Would we recieve lesser service for not tipping or would the reverse happen? What I mean is Brits are not expected to tip as much so its expected or Americans had to compete with fellow Americans to tip well?

 

I dont think for one minute a member of a cruise line would intentially give a lesser service but sub-conciously may be inclinded to not quite work as hard. We are going to tip our room steward almost certainly (Unless they are terrible we wont) but only umming and ahhing at whether we tip at the end of the cruise or half and half. (Start off with a bribe :eek:)

There actually is a right way to tip. It is outlined by the cruise line in the amount of daily gratuity expected. You don't have to worry about the "when". They will add it to your on board account. I think LeaveItAllBehind's comments in post #2 are right on target. Knowing this should make it easy to comply. Whether it is part of someone's culture at home shouldn't come into play.

American here - we never tip on a shipboard bar bill above the 15-18% that's automatically placed there.

We might give the waiters and room steward an additional cash tip at the end of the cruise, but we might not. It depends on the cruise. Of course we leave the automatic daily service charge on our account since that makes a significant part of crew compensation.

I do what is the custom of the countries we visit and that varies all across the world.

Keith

your obligation ends with the paying of the suggested daily amount as imposed by the cruise line. you can choose to pay this up front before you board, or have it added on to your account daily once on board. although some cruises actually absorb this into the initial up front cruise fare. ( this should be made clear when you book)

anything over and above to your cabin steward and dining staff is at your discretion.

same with on board purchases.. the gratuity is calculated for you and added to the total. there is zero need to add any additional on the slip, despite there being a line to do so.

now.. with bar tenders and drink packages.. you have already paid the gravity in the cost of the package. but slipping a single with your drink orders will not go amiss and you may find yourself with a favorite bartender......

Admittedly, folks from some areas in the US tend to go a bit overboard with tipping. Here in the SF Bay Area, some restaurants have tried (with varying levels of success) to institutionalize a standard "service charge." Still, some folks will add more -even when the service has been nothing more than what would normally be expected.

As for cruise ships, it is always chuckle-inducing to read on CC how a room steward doing only their basic job (and doing it well) is somehow considered going "above and beyond" sufficient to warrant adding to the basic DSC.

We will occasionally add gratuities - but it really needs to be for exceptional service or attention.

A room steward finding and keeping Pellegrino water stocked in the fridge (while they've run out in some of the dining venues) is "exceptional."

A lounge piano player doing "I left my heart in SF" when you enter the bar is "exceptional."

A bartender who fresh squeezes fruit juices for your cocktails (without needing to be reminded) rather than using the "citrus mixers" is "exceptional." Etc, etc.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

It really should not matter if you are American, European, Asian (or even a Space Alien) - if you book a cruise knowing that a large part of the crews compensation comes from “hotel charge”, “service charge”, “gratuity”, “tip” or whatever and you refuse to contribute just because you are able to- you are a cheapskate,

If you insist upon things being done the way they are done at home, you should stay at home.

On cruises, tips are commonly extended on the LAST EVENING...not "as you go". Daily tips are added to your bill on a daily basis, so that's taken care of. The folks you tip do NOT get their tips until the cruise is over, so don't worry about it. Everyone (unless you're acting like an ass) will get the same, good service.

To summarize, on a cruise, leave the auto gratuities in place, enjoy your cruise. Nothing more needed.

IF you get what YOU feel is exception service, feel free to tip extra, but it is not expected or required to get good service.

Based on your prior thread I’m confused if you are still asking about tipping above and beyond the auto gratuities, or removing those and tipping nothing.

The ships are set up these days to charge auto gratuities to everyone and I think most people leave those in place. The crew is adequately compensated by those and will serve everyone well. So no, I don’t think you’ll get lesser service as a Brit.

If you wish to not tip over and above those, it’s perfectly fine. We often don’t. The crew receives the compensation they expect if you leave those in place.

Now if you are proposing to take those off and not tip at all, you will Be stuffing the crew.

But if we tip extra we do it at the end. I don’t like pre-tipping. Feels like you are assuming they crew won’t do a good job.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We work on the basis of the country in which we visit. So we follow the norm in the USA, we do the same in Europe but we also always tip in restaurants and taxis at home in the UK. We’ve got friends who never tip in the UK as we have a minimum wage here but we still reward good service.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I will say on our trip to Europe this summer it was so hard to know what we wanted to do! LOL! We did notice a big difference in the service though, compared to here in the US. Not that it was bad, but we could tell they weren't working for a tip. The service was nice, it was cordial, but we did notice the difference. I'm talking about mainland Europe, not on the ship. We always just pay our gratuities, and then leave a little extra cash for someone if we want to reward extra service. We never did for any bar service that I can recall, unless it was a random dollar or something, but we're not drinkers either. It is hard as Americans, and we tip at least 20% on most of our dinners (unless the service was bad), to not tip after our meals.

Deleted - my bad, wrong thread

Tip as you see fit. Know that some work for little wage - so be kind and provide gratuities some how, but don't agonize over what and when to tip. Now that you have heard people's practices and advice, do what feels right to you. Accept that some can afford more, and some can afford less. But please, be generous with your praise and thanks and don't treat staff as blind and deaf servants there to be at your beck and call. Consider rewarding exceptional service; but don't anticipate poor service.

On an aside, Canada just upped their minimum wage to $14 an hour, and will be $15 an hour Jan 1 2019....in order to make it a livable wage....about on par to the British minimum wage or a little higher. Our service industry will be making a fortune from those visitors who continue to provide a 18-20% tip on general practice :-)

I am a person who is pretty self reliant. I make few demands, often tidy up after myself, and order what's on the menu. I am polite and pleasant and appreciate my serving staff, but I don't expect them to be my buddies for the duration. I rarely tip over the daily gratuities, but would never dream of removing it. But I do resent a mandatory 18% SC on bar and services. Thankfully, I don't drink much. I would also not tip along the way being afraid of poor service. Of course, there may be exceptions and people go above and beyond, but it is rare in my experience or expectation. If it happened, I would treat it accordingly.

If this came across as a Brits V US about tipping that was not the intention. I just wondered if any felt that service was different dependant on who tipped. Perhaps the question should have been written better.

As a Brit if I travel from the UK should any guest tip 'British' and if I travel from USA should Brits tip 'American'. Is there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?

We have pre paid gratuities and plan to tip room steward and baggage porter per case my wife brings (Whether she wears it or not, *SIGH)

If this came across as a Brits V US about tipping that was not the intention. I just wondered if any felt that service was different dependant on who tipped. Perhaps the question should have been written better.

 

As a Brit if I travel from the UK should any guest tip 'British' and if I travel from USA should Brits tip 'American'. Is there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?

 

We have pre paid gratuities and plan to tip room steward and baggage porter per case my wife brings (Whether she wears it or not, *SIGH)

I certainly didn't feel you were making it anything about Brits vs. US tipping. ;) Honestly, I don't think there's going to be any difference in service. As I said, we don't usually tip extra unless we feel they've done something to earn it.

I think I get where you're coming from OP - as someone who is never going to lose their Scottish accent, living this side of the pond I've certainly experienced the occasional service blip when waitrons who have experienced poor/no tip from Brits in the past assume they'll get nothing from us when they hear our accents and offer poorer service than to tables around us filled by 'locals.'

We were actually followed out of a restaurant in Manhattan once by our waiter after I tipped 10% - because it was really weak-ass service, we'd been living over here almost 5 years by this point so I was fully aware what I should tip and what to expect service-wise. He shouted and swore at for being cheap Brit blankity-blanks - but when I laid out in detail the many screw-ups he'd made when serving us and asked him if he felt that he still deserved a full tip it took the wind out of his sails! Since then I've made a point of speaking with any bad waitrons as to WHY they are getting less than the norm, even in places we don't plan to return to, just in case they do assume 'cheap Brit' is why they got a bad tip and never improve...

But to reassure you OP, when cruising this has NEVER been an issue for us. With food included (and traditionally tipped at the end of the cruise back in the day), and 15%+ service charges the norm on drinks it's rare for anyone to be throwing extra cash around unless it's a seriously above & beyond experience. Booze is the only every-day situation where the expectation was ever 'people will tip at the time' onboard. If there are lots of boozers onboard and bar service is consistently taking a long time, I've been known to slip the bartender extra over the service charge to get us prioritized for the rest of the cruise - but that's just the same strategy as a preemptive 'one for yourself barkeep' back in Blighty at the start of a session in a busy bar;-)

Thanks to the daily service charge I think there's much less concern from staff that 'those cheap Brits/Aussies/insert-other-non-American-nationality-here' will stiff cabin stewards on tips, so there's no need to make a preemptive tip to prove you're not cheap before actually seeing how good or bad they are. If we make a request that involves extra work, we do tip on the first day of that extra service (e.g. asking for particular fresh fruit daily is something we usually do), but if we feel they've been generally better-than-average we just leave cash at the end with a thank you note.

If this came across as a Brits V US about tipping that was not the intention. I just wondered if any felt that service was different dependant on who tipped. Perhaps the question should have been written better.

 

As a Brit if I travel from the UK should any guest tip 'British' and if I travel from USA should Brits tip 'American'. Is there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?

 

We have pre paid gratuities and plan to tip room steward and baggage porter per case my wife brings (Whether she wears it or not, *SIGH)

Most people who leave additional gratuities do so at the end of the voyage. I personally consider tipping in advance to fall more into the catagory of bribery and to be insulting. Anyhoo, a crew member would have no way of knowing in advance whether you plan to provide additional tips. I don’t believe your nationality (accent) would have any bearing on the level of service you would receive. Others may disagree.

If this came across as a Brits V US about tipping that was not the intention. I just wondered if any felt that service was different dependant on who tipped. Perhaps the question should have been written better.

 

As a Brit if I travel from the UK should any guest tip 'British' and if I travel from USA should Brits tip 'American'. Is there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?

 

We have pre paid gratuities and plan to tip room steward and baggage porter per case my wife brings (Whether she wears it or not, *SIGH)

I don't understand the statement " there any advantage to be lost from tipping less?". The crew are professionals and will deliver quality service. The advantage to tipping less is money in your pocket.

However, when it comes to the drink servers and bartenders who are tipped immediately, yes, those who tip more get faster, more personal service.

This might be a stupid question, but we are new. Does the currency of the tip matter? We are Canadian, travelling through the UK, then Copenhagen pre-cruise.... I will have cash: Canadian, USA, Pound, and Euros..... does everyone tip in different currencies? What do Brits tip?

This might be a stupid question, but we are new. Does the currency of the tip matter? We are Canadian, travelling through the UK, then Copenhagen pre-cruise.... I will have cash: Canadian, USA, Pound, and Euros..... does everyone tip in different currencies? What do Brits tip?

USD is always acceptable onboard so that’s what I use regardless of where we are. I probably wouldn’t tip in a currency that wasn’t used where the ship went (so think euros would be fine in the med but not sure how much they would want Canadian dollars)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

This might be a stupid question, but we are new. Does the currency of the tip matter? We are Canadian, travelling through the UK, then Copenhagen pre-cruise.... I will have cash: Canadian, USA, Pound, and Euros..... does everyone tip in different currencies? What do Brits tip?

I would say don't worry about what currency too overmuch. Naturally if you have some money which is appropriate for the ports the ship stops at, or which is accepted on the ship that would probably be easiest for the recipient. But if not never fear. From various crew on various ships I have gleaned the following.

Crew members exchange money among themselves sometimes, especially if say someone is transferring to a ship which hits ports with differing currency. Many crew members are sending funds home to support their families as well. In this case what currency you give them probably doesn't matter much as anything you have probably has to be converted to their home currency anyways. Also most ports and even some ships have places where you can exchange currency.

Enterprising crew members will find a way to utilize whatever cash you give them. :)