Tipping "POLICE" Grill Passengers - Intimidation?

[Canalchick]

....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?

 

Seriously? I have paid for a certain amount of time on the Crown Princess this coming January and I intend to spend that time enjoying myself, not sitting at a table with a "man in black" for an hour or so discussing/arguing my tipping habits with him/her. If my refusing to discuss my tipping habits is going to cause "irreparable harm to a cruise staff" so be it (and if I have that power, then there is a lot wrong with the cruiseline management).

 

I haven't been on a cruise for four years but I do remember customer evaluations and comments forms on the five cruises I've been on before then--have they done away with those? If so, the cruiseline is more than welcome to send me a survey at home after the cruise if they want to know more about my tipping habits (which by the way are to leave the autotips in place and to tip generously ON TOP OF THEM, but I really don't think that is the issue here and I don't really care what anyone else chooses to do as I have no idea of their financial situation or personal beliefs re gratuities, percentages that are appropriate, or whatever). Since the cruiselines have chosen to leave tipping to the passengers' discretion rather than compensating their employees directly, why wouldn't they expect a certain amount of people to adjust the tips?

[NSWP]

Tipping Police 'GRILLING' Pax, well on Crown Princess in June/July, the tipping police did the grilling in the right place..the CROWN GRILL ! LOL The queue went right out the door.!

 

I just think Princess want to embarass pax by making them line up for the grill in the grill ! LOL Maybe that will reduce the lineup. !

[Cruisin' Chick]

This sort of boggled my mind as well. And was he punishing them for enforcing or not enforcing the dress code??? And what do dress code issues have to do with stiffing the crew??? I would love to see an explanation for that.

 

But that could get interesting - a dress and tip debate all in one thread!

 

I'm sure we could throw in packs of kids running around the kids' center. Maybe just knowing he's sharing the ship with them would give the OP another reason to remove the tips. Or that the spa wants to sell someone some product. Or that art auctions are held onboard. Or that the OP needs to attend the muster drill. Hey, let's throw in MUTS.

 

It was those passengers with either didn't tip at all or who tipped under suggested guidelines that cause these "mandatory" service charges and "autotips" being automatically added to the onboard account. As usual' date=' it is the minority that makes it tough on the rest.

 

There is NO reason to remove tips - there is no reason NOT to tip at least the minimum. It's all a messed up, in the head, power trip of some sort...or, folks not wanting to spend the money.

 

Tipping is as much a part of a travel budget as a rental car or tipping after a meal at a restaurant.

 

As for the "tipping police", those who are penurius affect ALL of us....[/quote']

 

 

Good points. If there are actual valid problems, why not try to resolve them immediately. Don't blame the crew members for any slights they have no say in. Why punish them because you think someone is dressed inappropriately in the dining room?

 

If the OP had indeed sailed on mass market ships in the 90s, they would know that many people avoided the dining room on the last night...and most of them to avoid tipping.

 

To me, this is part of the cruise fare; just paid at the end of the cruise, rather than in advance.

[kool kruiser]

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.

 

I'm a Brit and I absolutely agree with all that is said above. Quite simply, the autotip is viewed by me as part of the cruise fare and we only tip extra when we receive exceptional service, not as the norm. If things are wrong, we deal with the situation, as appropriate but have never removed the autotip. Incidentally, when raising issues on board, I have not always been entirely happy with the response from the first contact or even their supervisor but have unfailingly been impressed with management, on the rare occasions it has escalated that far.

For Pam's benefit, yes, some UK restaurants (but not all) add in an optional service charge, although not always 15%, it can be as low as 10%. Whilst we Brits do tip for some services, we tend, on the whole to tip at a lower rate than many of our American friends. Brits often are less than comfortable with the tipping culture and some are downright resentful of it. This has been a real problem for the US based cruselines with their ships sailing from the UK, as many UK cruisers have removed the autotip and replaced it with much lower cash tips. I appreciate that they undoubtedly do not understand how cruiseline salaries are paid but it must be appreciated that this is alien to many UK cruisers, as in the UK all workers are guaranteed a minimum wage, exclusive of tips.

[BillnJo]

Maybe next time I make a dinner reservation here at home I will tell them "ya know i really dont care of the type of service I get Just automaticly add 20% on my bill" The cruise lines pay these people nothing but that doesnt mean that I need to tip for poor service........does it?

[tenpin]

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)

 

Now why should I blame anyone, let alone any American.

 

We have over the past five cruises been on four that tips have been included, Thomson and Costa. In some cases, on both lines standards of service have declined. I still reward some of the crew that gave that little bit extra, (it's called a tip) but some of my fellow Brits, regard being forced into rewarding someone perhaps they have had no contact with during the cruise, for a service they have not recieved or had part of.

 

Call it as it is, a part wage for the whole crew.

[bhopal21]

Maybe next time I make a dinner reservation here at home I will tell them "ya know i really dont care of the type of service I get Just automaticly add 20% on my bill" The cruise lines pay these people nothing but that doesnt mean that I need to tip for poor service........does it?

 

Can you tip $10.50 per person per day for someone to clean your room, prepare, serve and clean up after your meals (3 or more a day) and untold other duties performed on your behalf at home?

 

You may want to read the whole thread to get a better picture of the situation.

 

Mike:)

[1 HappyCruiser]

Tipping Police 'GRILLING' Pax, well on Crown Princess in June/July, the tipping police did the grilling in the right place..the CROWN GRILL ! LOL The queue went right out the door.!

 

I just think Princess want to embarass pax by making them line up for the grill in the grill ! LOL Maybe that will reduce the lineup. !

 

On our recent Ruby cruise they made the people who didn't want auto tipping do likewise. I'm not sure if they "grilled" them or not but there was quite a line up. At first I though it was a line for some sort or game. ;)

[BillnJo]

Just asking if you tip the maid at your hotel pre or post cruise?

 

 

 

 

Can you tip $10.50 per person per day for someone to clean your room, prepare, serve and clean up after your meals (3 or more a day) and untold other duties performed on your behalf at home?

 

You may want to read the whole thread to get a better picture of the situation.

 

Mike:)

[Colo Cruiser]

Just asking if you tip the maid at your hotel pre or post cruise?

 

The Maid's job does not come close to Stewarts job. :eek:

[stki]

Just asking if you tip the maid at your hotel pre or post cruise?

 

 

No, we dont. Its unheard of in Oz, to tip the maid. That must be because they are paid a decent wage

[smeyer418]

No, we dont. Its unheard of in Oz, to tip the maid. That must be because they are paid a decent wage

 

 

but you already paid that as part of the hotel charge(which is not included in the fare on most cruise ships). The Point simply is you are not in Oz anymore. I do understand that tipping is really considered almost a bribe in Oz. But on the ship and in the US as other places, the tip is really the major portion of the "salary". In Egypt its not unusual for your tour guide to receive NOTHING from the tour company. They rely totally on the "tip" or Baksheesh from the places they take you to shop. Do I like that? no....but its the reality of what happens. That is the point that different places have different customs. Don't worry when I am in Oz I won't tip but in the rest of the world where it is the custom I will follow the custom-sometimes whether I like it or not.

[bhopal21]

Really, I am not trying to irritate anyone.

 

We all know the fees and charges up front and if someone has a service problem a quick mention to supervision will immediately rectify the situation. If you still don't feel satisfied then you can have the gratuities removed.

 

There are proceedures in place for a reason folks.

 

Mike:)

[BridgeMates]

Tipping Police 'GRILLING' Pax, well on Crown Princess in June/July, the tipping police did the grilling in the right place..the CROWN GRILL ! LOL The queue went right out the door.!

 

I just think Princess want to embarass pax by making them line up for the grill in the grill ! LOL Maybe that will reduce the lineup. !

 

We were on the Crown in June (British Isles/Norwegian fijords) also and there was a tremendous line out of the Crown Grill. I stopped & asked what was going on and was told "we're removing our tip." It wasn't only UK passengers....I saw other nationalities that I'd met in AT dining in the line too so it's catching on. Our cabin steward told us that well over 1,000 people had canceled their tips. He said that once the tips are canceled, it is very RARE that anyone gives the same amount in cash to their waiter/steward. He told us the crew was very disappointed. Princess will have to come up with something soon that will include a "mandatory" hotel service charge that can't be removed unless there is a specific problem and can be justified. The crew works so hard and overall they continue to provide excellent service even when they know the auto tip has been canceled. I don't think service will deteriorate if there is a mandatory charge. Seems to me they'd be working harder to get the "extra" above and beyond the auto tip.

[cruzer225]

This thread could go on and on but for what purpose? According to selfless individuals who want to let me know that I have been living under a rock, am a troll, call me a pig, and other such nonsense about being into myself, I say these are the same people who probably are always politically correct, intimate snob appeal in their answers, and that I may be a slave master regarding my tipping criteria. That's all right, waste you time flaming me. I'm outta here on this thread.

 

Thanks to the minority who decided there was no reason to be rude, pushy with their responses, but only wanted to inform the way the areas of tipping and dining room attire is handled in the industry.

 

Cruising yearly, I have used Princess three of four times since 2005 and there is no doubt that based on price and itinerary, I'll use them again--small foibles or not.

 

BTW, there were only 3 kids on that Oct. 2009 cruise...plenty of those with walkers and "bumper cars, i.e., motorized carts. Would rather have seen more kids on board but the itinerary just didn't support that.

 

And to the Brits, I don't know why you were picked on. I purposely wrote "Europeans" and met Spaniards, Italians, French, and others who were queued in the Crown Grille.

[FireBadge1]

This is a very personal topic. Everyone has their own ideas of 'tipping', and I do as well. I pay my full fare , as everyone does. It does include many amenities. But, the policy is.....tip a little extra for someone who does that little extra. That's......'a little extra'! I have done both.....paid the automatic tips. And I have had them removes sometimes as well. I know that if you tip each separetely that they must 'pool' the tips anyway. And I know that if i tip automatically that they can keep the extra to themselves. BUT, I will not tip automatically to lousey staff if it becomes that disappointing. I will not argue with the front desk about staff. I am on the ship for a short time, and I WILL enjoy myself despite a lousey staff experience. They will suffer in not receiving a tip. My cabin steward will get the suggested tip.....at least. My Waitor and Jr. waitor will get their due as well, maybe more. It is easy enough to tip without others watching. They are appreciative, even if it says on our magic passenger card..'Tips removed!' They DO KEEP the tips that you give them. Many waitors that we have talked to and have gotten to know well have confided. Nothing to a Head Waitor who maybe says hello a couple of times to you. And Nothing to a well paid Maitre'D.

I am not cheap.........but, as previous folks have said............I will not cave to staff making me tip a certain amount. I Will tip accordingly. And If they make it special for me.......I have no problem making it special for them.

[Pam in CA]

Good points. If there are actual valid problems' date=' why not try to resolve them immediately. Don't blame the crew members for any slights they have no say in. Why punish them because you think someone is dressed inappropriately in the dining room?

 

If the OP had indeed sailed on mass market ships in the 90s, they would know that many people avoided the dining room on the last night...and most of them to avoid tipping.

 

To me, this is part of the cruise fare; just paid at the end of the cruise, rather than in advance.[/quote']I agree completely. We were on the old Royal Princess in 2001, the first cruise after a 102-day world cruise (and just before the auto-tip was introduced) and were floored to find out that MANY of the passengers, who had been on the ship for months and received all of the services, bypassed the dining room the last night and didn't leave a tip. Nothing. Nada. And I know for a fact that the waitstaff was excellent... superb.

 

The other thing I question is whether the people who remove the auto-tip tip their waiters every night if they have Anytime dining, or in the buffet if they go there for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner? Many of them do a really good job and even if they are not paying a lot of personal attention to you, their good service helps make your cruise more enjoyable.

[LARGIN]

 

The other thing I question is whether the people who remove the auto-tip tip their waiters every night if they have Anytime dining, or in the buffet if they go there for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner? Many of them do a really good job and even if they are not paying a lot of personal attention to you, their good service helps make your cruise more enjoyable.

 

They do not! :eek:

[Kerry&LuAnn]

"Tipping Police"? "Men in Black"? We have never witnessed or heard of anything like this before. Is the OP serious, or just trying to stir up another stimulating discussion on tipping?

[kooljamming]

"Tipping Police"? "Men in Black"? We have never witnessed or heard of anything like this before. Is the OP serious' date=' or just trying to stir up another stimulating discussion on tipping?[/quote']

 

But not to say it has never happened.....correct? I hope the OP is very serious. Some DO wish for the 'tipping police' to exit this board and be visible on deck, in black or whatever color they choose, maybe 'Men in Pink'

 

Why are the 'tipping guru and police' welcome on this board but not on deck where they could make a difference:confused: Kudos to Princess and the 'Men in Black' for looking out for the best interest of the staff!

[bbqbrad]

While I have never seen it (Because I keep the 10.50 per day charge on). I have read reports that basically say when asked to remove the auto tip you're asked "why? Is there a problem we can work on?"

 

This is the first I'm hearing about the over dramatic Men in Black.......

[Colo Cruiser]

"Tipping Police"? "Men in Black"? We have never witnessed or heard of anything like this before. Is the OP serious, or just trying to stir up another stimulating discussion on tipping?

 

I agree and wondered the same thing, despite the naysayers. :rolleyes:

[kooljamming]

While I have never seen it (Because I keep the 10.50 per day charge on). I have read reports that basically say when asked to remove the auto tip you're asked "why? Is there a problem we can work on?"

 

This is the first I'm hearing about the over dramatic Men in Black.......

 

I have always read this but not the Men in Black....over board;)

Another post stated they where lined up at the grill for GRILLING:D

I see Men Over Board by Men in Black for not tipping

 

This could all be naysaying or myth and Princess is doing nothing to limit the non-tipping:eek: