Gratuities??

[jessegirl88]

I have been reading the princess charges the gratuities each day for each person on the account. Can I go to the pursers office and not have them do that? I would prefer to give my envelope at the end the cruise to all.

 

Thanks

[sultan_sfo]

To how many?

 

I have been reading the princess charges the gratuities each day for each person on the account. Can I go to the pursers office and not have them do that? I would prefer to give my envelope at the end the cruise to all.

 

Thanks

[Colo Cruiser]

I have been reading the princess charges the gratuities each day for each person on the account. Can I go to the pursers office and not have them do that? I would prefer to give my envelope at the end the cruise to all.

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes.

[Toto2Kansas]

With so many dining venues offered now, it is impossible to tip all that give you service. If you take off the auto gratuity and tip in cash, those that receive it must turn it in to the tip pool or risk action taken against them if they don't. The tips are shared among all servers and service personel that you come in contact with.

You can take off the auto tip if you wish, and give envelopes, but they won't be able to keep the money if you do that.

It used to be very simple with handing out gratuities that final night, but that was back when you only had meals in the dining room and a room steward to tip. Now there are dozens of staff that will be serving and assisting you while onboard with the way dining is now handled.

[jessegirl88]

Yes.

 

 

So do I do that as soon as we get on? And do they frown upon that or alot of people do that?

 

I usually only give to the room steward, the waiters, maitdre & bartender.

[jessegirl88]

With so many dining venues offered now, it is impossible to tip all that give you service. If you take off the auto gratuity and tip in cash, those that receive it must turn it in to the tip pool or risk action taken against them if they don't. The tips are shared among all servers and service personel that you come in contact with.

You can take off the auto tip if you wish, and give envelopes, but they won't be able to keep the money if you do that.

It used to be very simple with handing out gratuities that final night, but that was back when you only had meals in the dining room and a room steward to tip. Now there are dozens of staff that will be serving and assisting you while onboard with the way dining is now handled.

 

That is a great point. I haven't been on a cruise in 3 years and on RCCL we just gave envelopes at the end of the cruise. Thanks

[janina]

I like the auto tip. I think there are a lot of people involved that would get missed. You have a maitre d but what about the two servers that usually help them? Give extra is you want, that is my motto.

[Colo Cruiser]

So do I do that as soon as we get on? And do they frown upon that or alot of people do that?

 

I usually only give to the room steward, the waiters, maitdre & bartender.

 

Normaly it is not done but if you want to go to the pursers desk and request it. They will probably ask you why. Its just much easier to leave them on and tip additionaly to those you wish.

The envelopes are still there.

[paul929207]

You can have the autotip dropped.

 

Assuming this is not a way to avoid tips, as is often the case, you will need to tip the cabin steward, your waiter and the assistant waiter. If you have Traditional Dining, this can be done at the end of the cruise. If you have Anytime Dining, you will want to bring $6 or $8 each evening to dinner to tip the staff.

 

Also, if you drop the auto tip, the cabin steward, waiter and assistant will be required to put their normal share of the autotip into the pool. If you give this amount you will accomplish nothing.

[Colo Cruiser]

And the each of the staff will know that you have removed the autotip.

They are given a list.

[wadswatcher]

So do I do that as soon as we get on? And do they frown upon that or alot of people do that?

 

I usually only give to the room steward, the waiters, maitdre & bartender.

If you remove the auto tip and give to the people of your choice, they will not be able to keep the tip. It will go back into the pool. It also reflects negatively on them. We never pull our tips. If you were eating three meals a day and paying for them at a restaurant, would you leave more then $7.00 a day in tips? ($3.50 goes to the room steward) Your waiter, assistant waiter, and room stewards depend on tips because Princess pays them very little. We feel that these people truly provide outstanding service and deserve being rewarded. If we really want to show our appreciation for particular individuals, we give additional tips to them in envelopes.

[CALMOM]

This topic is posted almost on a weekly basis. If you go to the search area you will find plenty of suggestions and advise.

 

Leave the auto-tipping in place, it is not that much and if you do then any and all money that you give your room steward and waiter will go into the pool and they gain absolutely nothing by you removing the auto-tip. You are, of course, welcome to tip them additional at the end of the cruise which they can keep, ONLY if you leave the auto-tip in place.

[caribill]

So do I do that as soon as we get on? And do they frown upon that or alot of people do that?

 

I usually only give to the room steward, the waiters, maitdre & bartender.

 

You can do it any anytime during the cruise, but again, the room steward, waiters and the Matre d' will not be able to keep what you give them.

 

Anything that you buy at a bar will have 15% tip automatically added to it (can't avoid that), but the bar staff can keep any cash you give them.

[cruiserbryce]

yes you can

[MAZANDSTEVE]

Sorry to butt in here but the search thing is rubbish, can you pre-pay the tips? if so, where can I find the guidelines on how much they are?

[Roborab]

I have mixed views about the auto tip. Last year on Emerald Princess we decided to take the tip off and reward individuals, we still tipped the same amount as the auto tip.

 

We had to go at a pre-set time to Sabatinis, where we were grilled by members of the crew as to why we wanted to take the tips off, it was an awful experience and we had to sign a form to take them off.

 

We're on the Crown in November and I'm not sure what to do this time.

 

Have a great time

[Toto2Kansas]

Sorry to butt in here but the search thing is rubbish, can you pre-pay the tips? if so, where can I find the guidelines on how much they are?

 

You can pre-pay tips by sending yourself enough shipboard credit to your onboard account to cover them. It isn't actually pre-paying them, but since they are deducted from your shipboard account, it works out the same.

The charge that will be put on your shipboard account will be $10.50 per person in the cabin per day for balcony cabins and below, $11.00 per person per day for mini suites and full suites.

You can call Princess and have these credits waiting for you on your account when you board. They will charge your credit card now (when you request the credits) for doing this.

[Colo Cruiser]

If you search from the main Princess board "search this forum" it works fine. :rolleyes:

[MAZANDSTEVE]

If you search from the main Princess board "search this forum" it works fine. :rolleyes:

 

 

Thanks for being so helpful. :rolleyes:

[MAZANDSTEVE]

You can pre-pay tips by sending yourself enough shipboard credit to your onboard account to cover them. It isn't actually pre-paying them, but since they are deducted from your shipboard account, it works out the same.

The charge that will be put on your shipboard account will be $10.50 per person in the cabin per day for balcony cabins and below, $11.00 per person per day for mini suites and full suites.

You can call Princess and have these credits waiting for you on your account when you board. They will charge your credit card now (when you request the credits) for doing this.

 

 

 

Wow!! so thats $336 for our 16 day cruise, that boosts the final payment up a bit.

[montananan]

I have mixed views about the auto tip. Last year on Emerald Princess we decided to take the tip off and reward individuals, we still tipped the same amount as the auto tip.

 

We had to go at a pre-set time to Sabatinis, where we were grilled by members of the crew as to why we wanted to take the tips off, it was an awful experience and we had to sign a form to take them off.

 

We're on the Crown in November and I'm not sure what to do this time.

 

Have a great time

 

We also experieced the "grilling" on the Emerald. We were on the last cruise for the season and the service was below standards. Also, we do not use the dining rooms and 95% of the time, the buffet was so busy you had to serve your own coffee and find your own ustensils.

[caber]

We left on the autotip on our last cruise but have removed them in the past.

You do not need to be "grilled".

 

If it is really what you want to do, go to the reception at the start of the cruise and ask them to be removed from your account. If they give you a form and tell you to attend a meeting just remind them it is your vacation and you don`t want to waste a minute of it at meetings. Ask them firmly and politely to remove them. If necessary, write it on the form and hand them it back.

 

Being on anytime dining we found it easier just to leave it on but previously, on traditional dining, you could tip the people you really want to.

 

At the end of the day it is nobody`s business but yours.

[jessegirl88]

Thanks for all your responses. I will just leave the auto tipping.

[04cruises]

It is so sad that the cruise lines are now using "HIT LISTS" if you decide not to do auto tips.I should not have to waste my time to make adjusyments for poor service or great service while on vacation.Not a very classy way to handle this issue.

[CruisingGoddess]

Assuming I leave auto-tip in place, do I get little envelopes with vouchers on them to hand out at the end of the cruise or do we just not give the staff anything?