Extra tipping for dining staff

[witt]

I'm not picking sides here but you might enjoy reading the book: "Cruising: A Hit Below The Water Line" by David Bruns. A true story about an American who spent a few years working on a cruise ship. It will answer a lot of questions for you. I just finished it and found it very enlightening.

[Johnthed0g]

[quote name='UK Cruiser']There may be an advantage in pre-paying gratuities if you are paying for the cruise in a currency other than US Dollars and the prevailing exchange rate is favourable.[/quote]

This brings up another thing that is related, those paying in another currency,=X= will no doubt say "would you like us to convert your bill into £GB (for instance)'' I am told DON'T as they convert as a less than preferential rate & you MAY still get charges, just leave it in US$, I have always found that the conversion is quite reasonable by the card company. Please feel free to disagree.

[Can'tstopcruising]

This is the first time we are prepaying (I never heard of it before). We don't have to worry about cash. Before they began to charge, we used to get our cash in the casino. Now we would have to take it from home. One less thing to worry about.

[Johnthed0g]

[quote=Can'tstopcruising;22712151]This is the first time we are prepaying (I never heard of it before). We don't have to worry about cash. Before they began to charge, we used to get our cash in the casino. Now we would have to take it from home. One less thing to worry about.[/quote]
No need, do 'auto tip' they just charge it to your account, unless you are on select dining of course, then they say its 'mandatory' I think.

[Can'tstopcruising]

[quote name='Johnthed0g']No need, do 'auto tip' they just charge it to your account, unless you are on select dining of course, then they say its 'mandatory' I think.[/quote]

As it turns out, we are going b2b, the first late seating and the 2nd select dining. At the time we had to pay for the select dining tips, we paid US at par. So, I figured we may as well pay for both. Now, the Canadian dollar is edging up and, my luck, (as it usually is!) by the end of our cruise the Canadian dollar will probably be at a premium and it will have cost me more instead of less! Isn't that life?

[safarisue]

I am wondering about speciality dining. The charge is $30 pp extra, does that include a tip? Is that the tip? Should I tip extra, and if so on what amount, $60??
I want to do the right thing but i am not sure what that is.
Many thanks
susan

[DocJohnB]

Before auto-tipping, I pretty much made up my own mind as to what gratuities to extend based on the recommended amounts. With only one exception I always exceeded these amounts. But I never quite knew if I was giving enough, too much . . whatever.

Then came the auto-tipping. I objected to the concept, but listened to the supposed wise input of fellow cruisers on this website and others and gradually came to see that it is what it is and gave up the fight.

I now let the cruiselines dip their fingers into my wallet at their set price . . . after all they have figured this is what is correct. I no longer worry about if I am overtipping, undertipping, . . . . whatever, because I tip exactly what they add to my bill. Whom am I to argue with their wisdom.

[Lsimon]

[quote name='safarisue']I am wondering about speciality dining. The charge is $30 pp extra, does that include a tip? Is that the tip? Should I tip extra, and if so on what amount, $60??
I want to do the right thing but i am not sure what that is.
Many thanks
susan[/quote]


The $30 includes a basic gratuity as well as extra money to the cruise line for costs and profits. This has been discussed a lot on these boards and no one knows the exact ratio.

The decision on whether to tip extra or not is a personal decision. You shouldn't feel obligated to tip extra since the cover charge includes a basic gratuity. Personally, we've always had exceptional service in the specialty restaurants that is over an beyond the type of service we've received in any restaurant (with maybe an exception or two at local restaurants where we are well known). Accordingly, we always tip something extra. I don't feel it is appropriate to say how much since the amount of any "extra" gratuity is a personal decision based on your own budget and view of the experiance.

[safarisue]

Thanks very much,
that was helpful
susan

[Finnie]

You guys are not serious!! I know of people from Canada that work on these cruise lines. Believe me they make alot more than you want to know!

[teajak]

[quote name='BonnieVA']No! Paying more "on top" is NOT expected. It is solely done by those who feel a crew member went above & beyond their duty. And some pax probably do it out of kindness. But is is NOT expected. I would say that MOST pax do NOT tip anything extra.[/quote]I disagree,everyone I know that cruises always add something, in particular for the waiter and AW.We cruise a lot as do our friends and this is the norm. We have never had a bad crew that didn't deserve it.Very lucky but Celebrity crews are the greatest.

[smeyer418]

[quote name='Finnie']You guys are not serious!! I know of people from Canada that work on these cruise lines. Believe me they make alot more than you want to know![/quote]

there is a thread written by an American who served on a cruise line he describes how much the employees are paid.

[url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1107696[/url]

as I have said on other threads

90% of the employees renumeration, who worked in the tipped job titles, comes from tips. The average cruise line pays waiters and room stewards 50-100 Per MONTH plus room and board and on board medical(plus airfare to and from their home). In fact tipping on cruise lines is the norm and goes back to a Brit(originally from Canada) named Cunard. You haven't paid their salary...yet. Cruise line tipping is the norm. The attitude you have, which is based on mis-education, is why the cruise lines are adding mandatory service charges.
You know of course the expression "when in Rome do as the Romans do". On cruise ships the convention is to tip.

While they do make more its because of the tips. The Attitude exemplified by $23 a day being a lot of money to turn your room down at least twice clean pick up all your mess(and mine too), serve two people at least three meals a day and snacks for an America boogles the mind. Its no wonder that the employee thread above says that people just leave less-and its not the cruise line that gets screwed when you do. Its called stiffing.

And BTW whether its in the fare or a mandatory dsc its the same thing. personally I would just as soon see it added to the fare and be done with it and then if there is a problem there would be no way for you to get it back...so be careful what you wish for. I hate tipping threads.

there are very few Canadians who work in the traditional tipped crew(stewards and waiters) Most of the Canadians and Americans with a few exception serve is salaried positions and are paid more...

the crew will be happy with the auto-tip, if you want to leave more that is up to you.

If someone wants I'll explain the tipping out(of the money they get) the stewards and waiters MUST do.

[Johnthed0g]

So...how much per person a day would people recommend as an extra? to be honest we didn't add anything last time on =X= didn't have a computer then! Please try to see it from our angle, we are on Eclipse for 4 days & being auto tipped for about $100 that's already about 10% of the fare.

[smeyer418]

[quote name='Johnthed0g']So...how much per person a day would people recommend as an extra? to be honest we didn't add anything last time on =X= didn't have a computer then! Please try to see it from our angle, we are on Eclipse for 4 days & being auto tipped for about $100 that's already about 10% of the fare.[/quote]
nothing unless someone really give you outstanding service or is not part of the auto-tip then anywhere from $5 to 10 or $20. The autotip really is more than enough. As you can see from people wanting to leave less.

[BonnieVA]

[quote name='smeyer418']If someone wants I'll explain the tipping out(of the money they get) the stewards and waiters MUST do.[/quote]

I'm curious as to what you mean by this. Does this mean they have to hand over some of their own tips?!!?

[smeyer418]

[quote name='BonnieVA']I'm curious as to what you mean by this. Does this mean they have to hand over some of their own tips?!!?[/quote]
you got it. In every place the servers are expected to share their tips. On cruise ships the stewards tip the laundry and storeroom staff- that is where they get their supplies. On some cruise lines they are also expected to tip the asst head housekeeper. In the dining room, the waiters tip the line cooks/chefs and the dishwashers. If they don't they won't get enough silverware or proper food. On some cruise lines they also tip the head waiter/maitre d. These are lead positions responsible for the assignment and training of the dining room staff. So even if the auto-tip is not shared officially it gets shared.
and you should know these tipping out amounts are expected even when the waiter or steward gets stiffed.

[Johnthed0g]

I think the staff pass on tips to those that assist them but are not visible to us.

[Arwenmark]

[quote name='Finnie']You guys are not serious!! I know of people from Canada that work on these cruise lines. Believe me they make alot more than you want to know![/QUOTE]

In exactly what capacity do they work? and on which cruiseline?

[BonnieVA]

[quote name='Arwenmark']In exactly what capacity do they work? and on which cruiseline?[/quote]

That's what I'm wondering. I doubt they're wait staff or cabin stewards.

[iluvcruzin]

[quote name='dzcruisers']If you remove your auto tips and tip in cash that cash has to be turned in. The consequences are too grave not to. So IMHO leave your auto tips on. Tip extra if you want to.[/quote]

I'm new to Celebrity but definatly not new to cruising (20+ years on most lines). Is the policy for Celebrity to have mandatory turn in of tips if done in cash? I've never heard of the impression of bad service based on someone removing auto-tips. Or some sort of black-list of those who remove them. I surely hope that's not the practice.

I think it was HAL where I was told by someone on staff that it takes them longer to get the tips if it's done through auto-tipping than if cash is given. Yes, they need to report the amount given in cash but they didn't have to wait.

Just curious to how it works on Celebrity. I still prefer the cash envelope versus the paper reciept.

[smeyer418]

[quote name='iluvcruzin']I'm new to Celebrity but definatly not new to cruising (20+ years on most lines). Is the policy for Celebrity to have mandatory turn in of tips if done in cash? I've never heard of the impression of bad service based on someone removing auto-tips. Or some sort of black-list of those who remove them. I surely hope that's not the practice.

I think it was HAL where I was told by someone on staff that it takes them longer to get the tips if it's done through auto-tipping than if cash is given. Yes, they need to report the amount given in cash but they didn't have to wait.

Just curious to how it works on Celebrity. I still prefer the cash envelope versus the paper reciept.[/quote]


Since except for the anytime dining people, auto-tips on Celebrity is an opt in system(this may not always be true some countries pretty much always add the tips before hand), I doubt they notify anyone if you chose not to opt in. They probably do notify once you opt in. In any case, the reality is that people who don't opt in about 40% leave less than the suggested amount even when they don't have a service complaint. Some countries have higher percentages of non/poor-tippers some have lower percentages. This number is based mostly on US nationals.
Most employees prefer the auto tip. Most employees who get cash immediately turn it in to their shipboard accounts for the same reason that you would...you wouldn't want to carry a lot of cash around and they live in close quarters 3-4 in a room and not all of the employees are as honest as we might wish.
Yes it may take a couple of days for the auto tip to be reflected in the employees account...not that they have much call to use it anyway.

There is no correlation between auto-tip/no tip or anything else on what kind of service you get. Most employees provide the level of service they do based upon their experience, their training, and their work ethic having little to do with how much you tip. Even on cruise lines that prohibit tips(mostly the more expensive ones), the level of service is fine.

As I said they are still obligated to tip out of the money so it hardly matters anyway.

[BonnieVA]

[quote name='smeyer418']Most employees who get cash immediately turn it in to their shipboard accounts for the same reason that you would...you wouldn't want to carry a lot of cash around and they live in close quarters 3-4 in a room and not all of the employees are as honest as we might wish.[/quote]

I hope this is the only reason they have to hand their cash tips in ... they don't have to pool the cash tips or anything, do they? Do they HAVE to turn in ALL their cash tips?

[smeyer418]

[quote name='BonnieVA']I hope this is the only reason they have to hand their cash tips in ... they don't have to pool the cash tips or anything, do they? Do they HAVE to turn in ALL their cash tips?[/quote]

"Official pooling", I don't believe is required on Celebrity but unofficial one-tipping out is "required" by convention, just as tipping is "required" by convention for passengers.
Some cruise lines do require that it be turned in but I am fairly(but not 100%) certain that X isn't one of them.

Anytime dining amounts are obviously pooled that is why they are mandatory.

Since Anytime dining is changing some of the rules, I haven't heard exactly what they are doing yet... I'll ask when I am on board next month.

[jackdiamond]

[quote name='smeyer418']nothing unless someone really give you outstanding service or is not part of the auto-tip then anywhere from $5 to 10 or $20. The autotip really is more than enough. As you can see from people wanting to leave less.[/quote]
Happy to see you back on board. Hopefully things are going well with CHEAPO.

[Lsimon]

[quote name='smeyer418']... auto-tips on Celebrity is an opt in system... ... I doubt they notify anyone if you chose not to opt in....[/quote]

It hasn't been an opt-in system for about a year now. Celebrity has had automatic auto-tipping for all guests who have not prepaid their tips and if you want to opt-out then you have to go to customer relations to have it removed from your account. I believe from posts I've read that for those on select dining it is mandatory (can not opt-out and prepayment might even be required now. The only thing you can opt-in on is increased abouts being charged to your account, or you can give increased amounts in cash (which a couple staff have indicated they prefer).

My understanding is that the staff does not have any idea who has paid what tips nor how through most of the cruise. They do receive this information in a print-out around the second to last day of the cruise (after the deadline for any changes by passengers), so they know what to expect from the guests at the end of the cruise.

Dining room staff has told us they do much better with auto tipping due to the large number of guests who, in the past have shorted them on tips or stiffed them all together. Guests can still do this by opting out, but it entails more effort on the guests part now so fewer do this.