Tipping "POLICE" Grill Passengers - Intimidation?

[love2bonboard]

Tipping is personal and should never be automatic. Employees contract with their employer for a salary and that is that...the salary is between those two parties, not me. Princess pays their employees enough to make it a very competetive job market.. they have no effort filling positions...yea, yea, yea they don't make much (obviously it is enough in their homeland currency to keep them working). I meet the "men in black" every cruise when I remove the auto-tipping and I write down on the form that tipping is personal, pay your staff the salary what they deserve and charge me the appropriate cruise fare, but tipping is about my personal service and I will tip accordingly. The "men in black" were not intimidating, they just wanted to know if there was any problems and/or why I was removing the auto tip. I'm not cheap, as a matter of fact, I was a waitress for a very long time, so I get it. I know many of you more judemental posters will flame me for it, but I really remove the auto tips because I really, really strongly believe tipping is personal (do you walk around the restaurant and look to see what people leave on the table for a tip).. With that being said, I agree with the poster prior who was saying you can't even go into Starbucks w/o a tip jar. I went into a smoothie store the other day and they had a tip jar...give me a break. We now have to tip for every person who manages to do any service job...give me a break. Now, you have to tip just to get someone to do their job....well, give me $5.00 and I won't loose your suitcase, give me 1.00 and I will blend your smoothie so there won't be lumps, Oh, I could go on, but I won't. I am now prepared to take on the flames.:):) So, if you want to tip yourself, more power to you...if you like the auto-tip, whatever, your tip, your money, your personal service you received :D

[cruzer225]

I honestly thought that my thread would not become a debacle. I presented the situation regarding tipping that I personally (along with a lot of Europeans who could not understand the tipping policy at all because they handle tipping differently there). Why did I bring it up? Just as a matter of information. I didn't whine or insinuate that all crew should suffer for the reactions of a few...although that is what I actually accomplished to my embarrassment.

 

At this point, I will join the others who opted to sit with a bowl of popcorn and watch this fiasco thread progress ad nauseum.

 

As for the particular cruise itself, I had a wonderful time. With the exception of dining accommodations, a minimum number of surly personnel, and the downward trend I am now told all lines are employing to keep their berths full at reasonable price to cruisers, any day cruising is better than a day on land.

 

Enough said.:o

[Toto2Kansas]

cruzer, I am not sure how long it has been since you previously sailed on Princess, but since we are enlightening you no the tip thing, I thought I would fill you in a bit more.

The dress code now is a 'suggested dress code' which leaves it's meaning in the eyes of the beholder. I am sure you understand by what you witnessed onboard how some read that. More and more are leaning towards a more casual vacation experience onboard, and per the cruise lines guidelines, it is their choice.

I see you have sailed on Sitmar, which to me means you go 'a long way back' when things were very different then they are now. As said, not sure when you last Princess cruise was, but I am guessing it's been a few years.

 

With the bigger ships that carry more and more passengers, they target every walk of life to sell those staterooms. Some will only cruise once or twice in their lifetime and can not justify purchasing formal clothing for only one or two nights on a couple of cruises, or are just not interested in the old way of doing things.

 

Personally, someone else's dress has never bothered me as much as it seemed to ruin your dining experience, and I do respect your views. But you have to realize, cruising has really changed, especially lately. In the last 20 years we have been cruising we have watched it go from a privileged few to the masses, as said, from every walk of life, and every view of what is and is not acceptable.

 

I suggested on another thread to you that you might think about going to a more upscale cruise line if you are looking for the individual pampering and the mandatory formal dress code that used to be offered. I find nothing at all wrong with the service or dress onboard, but that is my own opinion.

 

Best of luck, I hope you find a cruise line that totally suits your needs.

[cruiserforlife]

...any day cruising is better than a day on land.

 

 

Damn skippy...;)

[saltypeer]

NEVER, ever be intimidated about tipping. We live in a day and age where service personnel (including Starbuck workers) think getting a tip is a guarantee and that they don't have to work for it, be friendly, or do anything extra to get it. Tipping is is an earned reward, period. This is especially true on cruises. I hope I am approached on my 14 day CB cruise in Jan. These "men in black" will be told to get out of my face and I'll be the one doing the intimidation. Plus...I just might sue them...http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3578

 

Tipping is personal and should never be automatic. Employees contract with their employer for a salary and that is that...the salary is between those two parties, not me. Princess pays their employees enough to make it a very competetive job market.. they have no effort filling positions...yea, yea, yea they don't make much (obviously it is enough in their homeland currency to keep them working). I meet the "men in black" every cruise when I remove the auto-tipping and I write down on the form that tipping is personal, pay your staff the salary what they deserve and charge me the appropriate cruise fare, but tipping is about my personal service and I will tip accordingly. The "men in black" were not intimidating, they just wanted to know if there was any problems and/or why I was removing the auto tip. I'm not cheap, as a matter of fact, I was a waitress for a very long time, so I get it. I know many of you more judemental posters will flame me for it, but I really remove the auto tips because I really, really strongly believe tipping is personal (do you walk around the restaurant and look to see what people leave on the table for a tip).. With that being said, I agree with the poster prior who was saying you can't even go into Starbucks w/o a tip jar. I went into a smoothie store the other day and they had a tip jar...give me a break. We now have to tip for every person who manages to do any service job...give me a break. Now, you have to tip just to get someone to do their job....well, give me $5.00 and I won't loose your suitcase, give me 1.00 and I will blend your smoothie so there won't be lumps, Oh, I could go on, but I won't. I am now prepared to take on the flames.:):) So, if you want to tip yourself, more power to you...if you like the auto-tip, whatever, your tip, your money, your personal service you received :D

 

Agree with both these posters............i am no cheap skate, but let me tell you, and the 'men in black',....nobody but nobody will tell me whether i should tip or not.

 

Any genuine and honest person will know in their heart of hearts whether what they are doing is right or not. A 'tip' is a gift of money......notice the word 'gift'...........A 'tip' should not be a necessity.

 

Be honest to yourself...........tip if you feel it is deserved. Don't feel bad about not tipping.

 

Pete.

[Canalchick]

I don't really care what people decide about tipping, as I can control only my own decisions (and of course DH's decisions :) ).

 

But what I would never do is spend any of my valuable time on the ship sitting down defending or discussing my tipping behavior with "men in black." If someone asked if they could discuss my decision to not tip, keep autotips, overtip, whatever, I would simply say "no" and continue to enjoy my cruise.

[Megsdad]

nobody but nobody will tell me whether i should tip or not

 

Spot on

[gertz]

I don't really care what people decide about tipping, as I can control only my own decisions (and of course DH's decisions :) ).

 

But what I would never do is spend any of my valuable time on the ship sitting down defending or discussing my tipping behavior with "men in black." If someone asked if they could discuss my decision to not tip, keep autotips, overtip, whatever, I would simply say "no" and continue to enjoy my cruise.

 

Perhaps this is done. But I have never seen it done or heard of it being done. In fact this thread is the first I have heard of it.:eek: And when I am on a cruise I generally have time for most anything.:D I'll be doing the hula soon.:D:D

[smeyer418]

Tipping is personal and should never be automatic. Employees contract with their employer for a salary and that is that...the salary is between those two parties, not me. Princess pays their employees enough to make it a very competetive job market.. they have no effort filling positions...yea, yea, yea they don't make much (obviously it is enough in their homeland currency to keep them working). I meet the "men in black" every cruise when I remove the auto-tipping and I write down on the form that tipping is personal, pay your staff the salary what they deserve and charge me the appropriate cruise fare, but tipping is about my personal service and I will tip accordingly. The "men in black" were not intimidating, they just wanted to know if there was any problems and/or why I was removing the auto tip. I'm not cheap, as a matter of fact, I was a waitress for a very long time, so I get it. I know many of you more judemental posters will flame me for it, but I really remove the auto tips because I really, really strongly believe tipping is personal (do you walk around the restaurant and look to see what people leave on the table for a tip).. With that being said, I agree with the poster prior who was saying you can't even go into Starbucks w/o a tip jar. I went into a smoothie store the other day and they had a tip jar...give me a break. We now have to tip for every person who manages to do any service job...give me a break. Now, you have to tip just to get someone to do their job....well, give me $5.00 and I won't loose your suitcase, give me 1.00 and I will blend your smoothie so there won't be lumps, Oh, I could go on, but I won't. I am now prepared to take on the flames.:):) So, if you want to tip yourself, more power to you...if you like the auto-tip, whatever, your tip, your money, your personal service you received :D

 

Agree with both these posters............i am no cheap skate, but let me tell you, and the 'men in black',....nobody but nobody will tell me whether i should tip or not.

 

Any genuine and honest person will know in their heart of hearts whether what they are doing is right or not. A 'tip' is a gift of money......notice the word 'gift'...........A 'tip' should not be a necessity.

 

Be honest to yourself...........tip if you feel it is deserved. Don't feel bad about not tipping.

 

Pete.

 

I understand what you write but of course you understand that the contract with the employees on cruise ships is that the tipped employees get 80% or more of their renumeration from the "tips". I understand it different in the UK but you aren't in the UK when you are on a ship. What is going to happen because this is a typically reported UK attitude is that it will be included in the basic fare and it will cost YOU and ME more because to get the same dollar to the crew will now include a lot of overhead, taxes and profit that was not included in the on the ship auto-tip or service charge. Look at what Azamara did to include it. They increased the fares way beyond any cost to include the "tip"(or the additional services now which will become mandatory whether you want them or not).... so I want to thank you for this attitude that will make it part of the salary and the chances you will be able to deduct for really poor service will cease to exist.

[smeyer418]

also not to confuse the issue but its my understanding that tipping on cruise ships goes back to Samuel Cunard. http://www.lisashea.com/lisabase/cru...ry/cunard.html

 

while its true that this might be in the same category of an urban legend like tips meaning to insure promptness(most dictionaries doubt that is where it comes from- especially since as someone told me it should be teps- to ensure promptness), Cunard is rumored to have said they work for tips so that only those that provide good service will be paid through this method and the others will leave. Cunard is British via being originally a Canadian. He would have been familiar with the concept of a borrowed servant(when you visited someone else's estate for a weekend-something that was popular when he was in England- you didn't bring your own servants but borrowed the servants of your host. You were expected to tip them for this extra service. In this scenario, how you tipped became pretty well known among those who worked in service and you would be treated accordingly- with the best senior servants working for the best tippers and the lower servants having to work for the less generous people). When Cunard started out in the 1840's, before my time by the way, the number of people traveling this was rather small and I suspect your tipping reputation followed you. Unlike today when you won't ever see these borrowed servants again and don't care what they say about you. But the concept of low pay and tips has stayed. Its only when the cruise lines became really mass marketing and people either unfamiliar or opposed to it on some grounds that it has become a problem for the crew and then for the cruise lines as the staff quits.

 

So rail against it if you want but its not primarily and American invention...

 

I don't think that steerage was expected to tip only second class and higher....again this was in the time of the Titanic still a small group who reputation among servants was probably well known.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=22195551&highlight=#post22195551

here is the entire thread so you don't have to rehash other argument.

 

I know the chance I will convince someone is nil but the result my British friends is that it will just go into the fare and cost you more...so be it...

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=3583

[DrivesLikeMario]

It seems to me the OP was more upset about being questioned by the "tipping police" for not tipping more than the service issues he encountered. It almost sounds as if he didn't like being "caught" for not tipping. ("caught" as in: attention brought to the fact that he didn't do it)

 

p.s. - Will the OP have a problem with all the other cruise lines that have an auto-tip too?

[Ula]

Just my MHO, but Princess is into customer service. If a person asks to remove the auto tip they have the right to ask the reason so they can improve. They can't fix the dress of others, but in areas they can they would be interested. I think it is good they are asking reasons.

I mean if I was so pissed on a cruise that I would think about such a thing, I would want a person in a black suit to ask me why. Means they want to hear what is wrong.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I think autotipping is great. It sure beats the old envelope method of the past. The employees who work very hard to make the cruise enjoyable on a personal basis (room steward, etc.) should receive a little extra from us.

 

I wish the cruise lines would include the tip in the cruise price and eliminate the option to remove the tip.

 

Agreed...on both counts.

[tenpin]

Once the Gratuities are firmly in place and cannot be removed, just how long is it before we all start tipping again?

[smeyer418]

Once the Gratuities are firmly in place and cannot be removed, just how long is it before we all start tipping again?

and whom should you blame for this? The Americans? HAL used to have a no tipping policy that has gone the way of the dodo. If it becomes part of the fare its because of the revolt that the cruise lines have as a result of people not tipping.

 

But if the fares go up so much while minor tipping will continue not the amounts that are expected now(which cause much opposition some places)

[spunkie4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spunkie4

"Lastly, it autotip was dependent on a dress code, our cruise on the Crown at Thanksgiving would have resulted in every single autotip being removed!

 

Shirley

 

On what ship are you referring to? "

 

We were on the Crown for Thanksgiving. We don't do formal night anymore, so I can't say what was worn on that night. We stay very far away on those nights so those who are dressed formal can enjoy the experience.

 

At dinner on the last evening, a lady was seated at our table who had on very short shorts. One day at lunch, a couple was seated with us who had just left the pool, still reeking of sunscreen, and had on a "cover-up" over their bathing suits. At that same lunch, a young man came into the dining room with a bucket of beer and was seated.

 

This in no way changed my mine about auto-tipping. I still think it should become a part of the cruise price (although if it is included in the cruise price, it may result in an increased tax; whereas, this is not taxed on the on-board account) It really annoys me to see the long line at the Purser's Desk on the last evening, knowing many of those in the line are seeking to have their tips removed.

 

Our first cruise was in 1987. Through the years there has been a change in those who cruise and how they conduct themselves. There has been a relaxation in dress codes, smoking rules, etc. However, good manners should never go out of style.

 

Shirley

[cruiserforlife]

However, good manners should never go out of style....

 

Amen...

[awhcruiser]

Did you go from table to table in the dining room to inspect what others were wearing??

 

:rolleyes:

 

The only one who has control over dinner attire, in my opinion, is the maitre'd who smoozes his way to ensure tips...the maitre'ds on the Crown certainly did nothing re: attire. I know it's an old overhashed subject, but why have a clothing code at all...guess it is not a concern for nudist cruises.

[awhcruiser]

Rofl

 

i wonder if a nudist passenger would withhold tips from the crew if someone was allowed in the dining room with clothes on during their nudist cruise?? Maybe the crew should be penalized for not forcing them to immediately remove their clothes! :rolleyes:

 

Pretty ridiculous argument when you think in those terms isn't it?;)

[steponboard]

The dress code now is a 'suggested dress code' which leaves it's meaning in the eyes of the beholder.

What are the tipping guidelines for my cruise? Quote from Princess FAQ.

And the tipping is a guideline so there is discretion for both.

I'm not advocating stiffing anyone but tipping is personal and no one should be flamed for posting their experiences or opinions.

[Crzn-Life]

Tipping is personal and should never be automatic. Employees contract with their employer for a salary and that is that...the salary is between those two parties, not me. Princess pays their employees enough to make it a very competetive job market.. they have no effort filling positions...yea, yea, yea they don't make much (obviously it is enough in their homeland currency to keep them working). I meet the "men in black" every cruise when I remove the auto-tipping and I write down on the form that tipping is personal, pay your staff the salary what they deserve and charge me the appropriate cruise fare, but tipping is about my personal service and I will tip accordingly. The "men in black" were not intimidating, they just wanted to know if there was any problems and/or why I was removing the auto tip. I'm not cheap, as a matter of fact, I was a waitress for a very long time, so I get it. I know many of you more judemental posters will flame me for it, but I really remove the auto tips because I really, really strongly believe tipping is personal (do you walk around the restaurant and look to see what people leave on the table for a tip).. With that being said, I agree with the poster prior who was saying you can't even go into Starbucks w/o a tip jar. I went into a smoothie store the other day and they had a tip jar...give me a break. We now have to tip for every person who manages to do any service job...give me a break. Now, you have to tip just to get someone to do their job....well, give me $5.00 and I won't loose your suitcase, give me 1.00 and I will blend your smoothie so there won't be lumps, Oh, I could go on, but I won't. I am now prepared to take on the flames.:):) So, if you want to tip yourself, more power to you...if you like the auto-tip, whatever, your tip, your money, your personal service you received :D

 

I promised myself I wouldn't post anything in any more tipping threads, but after reading this I just have to. Certainly tipping is a personal thing and it is entirely up to the individual whether to leave the auto-tips in place or remove them. However all decisions should be made based on correct information so one is actually making "informed" decisions.

 

The ships are registered in foreign ports like Panama, Liberia and the Bahamas that have nothing to do with their operations. By doing this they remain virtually autonomous little fiefdoms. There are no minimum-wage laws applying to the crew members. In the early days of cruising as we know it (i.e. the 1980's & 90's) cabin stewards, dining room servers, etc received 0 to very little "salary" and depended on tips. Passengers were given "guidelines" and envelopes and were encouraged to put the recommended amount of cash in the envelopes and give to the individuals who served them. What they didn't tell you was that not only was this that person's salary they also had to share some of their tips with behind-the-scenes employees.

 

Gradually the cruise lines have started to pay a small (very small) subsidy to the crew members that serve us. Please note that ship administrative personnel refer to this as a subsidy and not a salary. Also out of this there are deductions for uniforms and other costs they pay the cruiseline for. Their primary remuneration comes primarily from tips. The individual envelope system didn't work well because so many passengers didn't tip at all and it was always quite sad the last night of the cruise to see the waiters when so many people they had served night after night didn't come to dinner the last night and in effect "stiffed" the waiters for their expected tips.

 

The tipping system has evolved from the guidelines and envelopes to automatic tipping with the passenger still reserving the right to remove the autotips. However with the auto-tipping a higher percentage of the passengers now tip. The tip pool is divided proportionately among the crew. If you leave your autotip inplace and give your server or steward additional tip, they can keep that. If you remove the auto tip, then give a tip to the server or steward they turn that money into the tipping pool.

 

For a passenger to not tip as a form of protest accomplishes nothing but punishing the steward/server who worked hard to provide service to them.

 

This is one of the ways they cruise lines do business. This is how they keep the fares as low as they are. The crew members are aware of the policy.

 

The amount of money, the long hours, etc look good to many of them compared to what they would earn back home in the Phillipines or Thailand since it's more than they could earn there. Have you noticed that you are not seeing as many waiters from Eastern Europe as you have in the past few years? The economies in their country have improved, the dollar has declined (they're paid in USD) so the cruise ship jobs aren't as appealing to them now.

 

Sorry about this sounding like a lecture, but it is disturbing to read that people believe that the servers and stewards are receiving salaries. They aren't; they work for the tips. A cruise ship is the only work environment I know of where a waiter considers it a promotion to be given more tables. (A few years back we saw one of our favorite waiters on one of the Celebrity ships. We weren't at one of his tables, but he did stop by once to explain that he couldn't visit with us during meal times because he had been promoted and thus given 12 tables instead of 8. That meant a lot to him because even though it was a lot more work, it was also more money.)

 

Whether or not you agree with the way the cruise lines do business is something you should take up with the cruise line management. Cruise lines run lean and mean to make profits. They are not an altruistic organization any more than your bank or mortgage company.

 

A part of the cruising culture is tipping your servers. It is that way now and it actually has been that way. It isn't an American thing but is simply part of doing business.

 

For our part, we consider the tips as part of the cruise cost and budget accordingly. Each passenger has to make his/her own decision about tipping, but please make your decision based on facts and not assumptions that cruise line servers are like hotel workers or waiters on land who receive salaries. They really don't.

[snrlnd]

i promised myself i wouldn't post anything in any more tipping threads, but after reading this i just have to. Certainly tipping is a personal thing and it is entirely up to the individual whether to leave the auto-tips in place or remove them. However all decisions should be made based on correct information so one is actually making "informed" decisions.

 

The ships are registered in foreign ports like panama, liberia and the bahamas that have nothing to do with their operations. By doing this they remain virtually autonomous little fiefdoms. There are no minimum-wage laws applying to the crew members. In the early days of cruising as we know it (i.e. The 1980's & 90's) cabin stewards, dining room servers, etc received 0 to very little "salary" and depended on tips. Passengers were given "guidelines" and envelopes and were encouraged to put the recommended amount of cash in the envelopes and give to the individuals who served them. What they didn't tell you was that not only was this that person's salary they also had to share some of their tips with behind-the-scenes employees.

 

Gradually the cruise lines have started to pay a small (very small) subsidy to the crew members that serve us. Please note that ship administrative personnel refer to this as a subsidy and not a salary. Also out of this there are deductions for uniforms and other costs they pay the cruiseline for. Their primary remuneration comes primarily from tips. The individual envelope system didn't work well because so many passengers didn't tip at all and it was always quite sad the last night of the cruise to see the waiters when so many people they had served night after night didn't come to dinner the last night and in effect "stiffed" the waiters for their expected tips.

 

The tipping system has evolved from the guidelines and envelopes to automatic tipping with the passenger still reserving the right to remove the autotips. However with the auto-tipping a higher percentage of the passengers now tip. The tip pool is divided proportionately among the crew. If you leave your autotip inplace and give your server or steward additional tip, they can keep that. If you remove the auto tip, then give a tip to the server or steward they turn that money into the tipping pool.

 

For a passenger to not tip as a form of protest accomplishes nothing but punishing the steward/server who worked hard to provide service to them.

 

This is one of the ways they cruise lines do business. This is how they keep the fares as low as they are. The crew members are aware of the policy.

 

The amount of money, the long hours, etc look good to many of them compared to what they would earn back home in the phillipines or thailand since it's more than they could earn there. Have you noticed that you are not seeing as many waiters from eastern europe as you have in the past few years? The economies in their country have improved, the dollar has declined (they're paid in usd) so the cruise ship jobs aren't as appealing to them now.

 

Sorry about this sounding like a lecture, but it is disturbing to read that people believe that the servers and stewards are receiving salaries. They aren't; they work for the tips. A cruise ship is the only work environment i know of where a waiter considers it a promotion to be given more tables. (a few years back we saw one of our favorite waiters on one of the celebrity ships. We weren't at one of his tables, but he did stop by once to explain that he couldn't visit with us during meal times because he had been promoted and thus given 12 tables instead of 8. That meant a lot to him because even though it was a lot more work, it was also more money.)

 

whether or not you agree with the way the cruise lines do business is something you should take up with the cruise line management. Cruise lines run lean and mean to make profits. They are not an altruistic organization any more than your bank or mortgage company.

 

A part of the cruising culture is tipping your servers. It is that way now and it actually has been that way. It isn't an american thing but is simply part of doing business.

 

For our part, we consider the tips as part of the cruise cost and budget accordingly. Each passenger has to make his/her own decision about tipping, but please make your decision based on facts and not assumptions that cruise line servers are like hotel workers or waiters on land who receive salaries. They really don't.

 

bravo!!!

[smeyer418]

Crzn-Life

 

First I agree with you and said mostly the same on another thread but the reality is that some(not all) of the people who post about hating auto-tips is that they are looking for an excuse not to tip at all or to tip less even when they have no service related problem.

What you said has been around for a long time. For a TA to say that the auto-tip was just additional income to the cruise line(as someone does in a recent UK article on the issue), is to deliberately ignore the facts. The people who say that the cruise lines already pay them a decent salary is also to ignore the facts. But these people are almost intentional in doing that-to justify what they do.

 

The reality with UK cruisers is that 60% leave less than the guidelines(or none at all) when they have no service issues and that is why its a problem for the cruise lines and the cruise line staff.

 

The results of this will either be mandatory service charges or increases in the fare- to make up the difference. Azamara has announced they are doing that....we can wait to see what the other cruise lines do.

[cruzer225]

Tipping: In my State, the hourly wage for tipping is a measly $2.10/hr. The rest is tips. 9% of the total bill has to be declared as tips. Only one city raised that amount by ordinance to $10./hr. My tip left of $1 for a cuppa joe at $1.50 meets the usual and customary. If I go to an upscale place and the service is just average, 17% is plenty (and based only upon food service and not alcohol, e.g., cocktails or wine). If the service is spectacular, leaving 25% is an ample reward. As for crew on the ships (like the Crown Princess I was on), there was a large number from the Baltic countries and the former USSR as well as Filipinos. The Italian service personnel (a throwback from the Sitmar days, I am guessing) don't have to do much anymore. Gone are the nightly prepared at your table dishes by Maitr'ds. When it come to flaming desserts, I understand that a Celebrity ship specialty restaurant had a tragic fire from a flaming dessert that toppled the cart (rough seas) and set an entire table of passengers flaming. One man lost his life...I digress. Everyone has an opinion about tipping. I should have kept these thoughts to myself but shared mine...perhaps later than others.

 

Dining attire: Another thorny area as evidenced by the threads. Having spent a career in a profession that required close attention to people and their actions, I was able to make an assessment on those who might do us (as a nation) harm. So, it has always been easy to watch people's mannerisms, etc. Not profiling per se and not fullproof by any means. But I have to question what I witnessed on one of the three formal nights we had on our most recent sailing. A fellow walks into the dining room accompanied by a most attractive and well dressed female. He is wearing tattered jeans with worn-out fabric at the knees. There are white paint droplets as well. Perhaps he just created a new fashion? Almost as funny as the old guy (older than my 60+ age) that wore a handsome tuxedo and complemented it with black/white Ked sneakers. Now that was a fashion statement? Or perhaps just sore, arthritic feet. I saw him on the dance floor so I just have to wonder.

When on the QM2, every night was formal night. That was my choice in experiencing the Great Liners of the 20th Century. But even though I personally like formal nights (and I have black suits as well as two tuxedos), six formal nights in succession is "over the top."

The word of mouth experiences go a long way in determining the type of cruise a new cruiser my be interested in. I explain to those who ask me that budget conscious might enjoy Carnival. Some want to get away from their kids for a week but when I tell them they will probably experience lots of kids, they are all right with it. I also tell them if they're into the "rats," then perhaps Disney might be nice. Now, I will explain that if they can put up with 5000+ passengers, they can get deals on the RCI ships. I cannot imagine that capacity will be full once the ship competes with other ultra-mega ships. And these lines are quite casual...just a step above the Windjammer cruises of olden times.

[Pam in CA]

I honestly thought that my thread would not become a debacle. I presented the situation regarding tipping that I personally (along with a lot of Europeans who could not understand the tipping policy at all because they handle tipping differently there).

Not sure why Europeans wouldn't understand the tipping policy as having been throughout the British Isles in July, and in France and Germany in October, MOST restaurant checks automatically included a 15% TIP and listed it on the check as a tip.

 

I don't really care what people decide about tipping, as I can control only my own decisions (and of course DH's decisions :) ).

 

But what I would never do is spend any of my valuable time on the ship sitting down defending or discussing my tipping behavior with "men in black." If someone asked if they could discuss my decision to not tip, keep autotips, overtip, whatever, I would simply say "no" and continue to enjoy my cruise.

One of the reasons for the cruiseline wanting to know why you removed the auto-tip is that it's assumed that you received poor service and can negatively impact all of those who served you when they are up for review, a promotion or employee commendation. What you do or don't do does have an impact whether you resent discussing it or not. Actually, you could do irreparable harm to a cruise staff by refusing to discuss it. Is that really the result you're looking for?

 

For a passenger to not tip as a form of protest accomplishes nothing but punishing the steward/server who worked hard to provide service to them.

Exactly.

 

To the OP, I noticed that you've cruised on HAL. Would you remove all tips on your HAL cruise if you saw the Maitre D' seat an attractive young woman in a "Daisy Duke" outfit at dinner? Yes, I actually saw that happen on the Amsterdam last January. Not only was she allowed into the dining room in shorts showing most of her butt and a super tight t-shirt but she was led to her table by the Maitre D'.

 

Since the auto-tip has been in place on Princess since 2001, I'm finding it very hard to believe that either people aren't aware of it or are still objecting to it eight years later. It's part of cruising on every cruiseline I've been on.