Well Kept Secrete about Tips

[astropilot]

W

When we took our first cruise I read that tips given on the last day go into a pool and are divided, is this not true? I always tip on the 2nd or 3rd day so they don't have to share their tips with anyone else.

 

When I first heard about having to tip on a cruise I was very surprised. I thought my fare would cover that and then found out how the employees depend on the tips. Still wasn't sure but then took my first cruise and saw how hard they work and the hours they work and felt they all deserve their tips.

 

Just think about the room steward that cleans the room twice a day and keeps that ice bucket filled. The only place I've stayed that even filled the ice bucket once a day was The Ritz. It's really hard to get the level of service you get on a cruise anywhere else without having to pay a lot more.

 

Why should we feel sorry for a person doing tbe job tbey were hired to do? They agreed to do a job for X amount of pay. End of story.

[CorvetteLady]

You know, I really could care less what Carnival pays their staff. That's between the staff and Carnival. What I have a problem with is people acting like these poor souls are being taken advantage of, and then trying to make the rest of us feel like it's our fault.

 

I'm sorry, but I don't feel sorry for those folks in the slightest. I'm sure they knew the terms of their contract before they signed on, and if they didn't they should have.

 

Unless I receive the service that I think I should have you can be sure that I would not hesitate to remove tips.

 

On the other hand, if the service is above par, so will be the tip.

 

I certainly don't feel sorry for the staff. I tip because they do a good job but also because that's how the system works. I think if you cruise you know that the standard tip is what the employees depend on for the majority of their salary. I would not make someone feel bad for not tipping extra, but I do think unless the service was really subpar that you should not remove the tips. On our first cruise we only tipped the room steward, the wait staff did their job but nothing special.

 

The only other cruise we didn't tip the wait staff was on NCL. I had read that they really depend on the comment cards so we left good comments for the ones that were good, which sadly was only a few. I think tipping for anytime dining is hard because you may only have them one night and it seemed strange to tip them a few dollars. When we did anytime dining on the Fantasy there were 5 of us so I just gave the main waiter $5 each night and told him to share with the others. When I gave the drink waiter $5 you would have thought it was $100, never before had I seen anyone so happy with a tip. On the last night I gave each of the 3 waiters $5 as we had them on 4 of the 5 nights.

[Ashpalo]

A little on topic - a little off topic...

 

If you want to see how rich you are compared to the rest of the world, go to this site:

 

http://globalrichlist.com/

 

Enter your salary and it will tell you where you rank in the world. This site is a real eye opener to let us know how priveledged we really are!!! According to this site, if you only made $10,000 a year, you would still be richer than 86% of the world.

 

So, the next time you're thinking about holding out on paying tips, think about how good you have it!!! If you can afford to criuise, you can afford to share your wealth with those less fortunate!

 

Ashley :)

[monkeyates]

Sure you did!

 

And then some. I tip big. I love good service.

[monkeyates]

Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

(a real Robin Hood, foiling that rascally Carnival's sinister plan)

 

Absolutely! We even tipped the Camp Carnival workers.

[dan40]

And then some. I tip big. I love good service.

 

 

Riiiight! My BS flag is stiff in the breeze.

[RossTheBoss]

Just got off the Legend and removed the auto tip and gave all of it to the service staff ourselves. We even had a hundred dollars in one dollar bills and gave three or four dollars to any of the lowly workers we saw. Carnival was not able to skim off the top.

 

I assume you want to reward those who served you well. The problem is by removing your autotip you cancelled tips for folks like the dishwashers who rarely see the light of day with whom you have no direct contact. When the autotips are shared, those who toil behind the scenes to make your cruise what it is, get a share of the tips.

 

What makes you think Carnival are skimming off the top? Sounds like an excuse to justify cancelling tips.

[zstell]

If you want to tip the wait staff...on the last night of the cruise...they will be available..don't worry and you hand it to them.....if we tip at this point it is $20 or 30 tops.....$20 to head waiter...$10 to asst.

 

If you want to tip the steward...and you see him at the end of the cruise....again hand it to him/her....if we do this again it is $20 to $30 tops.

 

We don't care to look like big shots to these people but maybe we will give them just a little extra cash.

 

If you drink or use room service...15% will be added to your bar bill....no need to tip extra...but some will need to throw the cash around. We don't feel the need to do that.

 

 

I don't feel any need to throw cash around, but room service is free on CCL. 15% of nothing is nothing, and a small tip is customary for that service.

[Zambini]

The cruise ship staff is divided into two main groups - tipping personnel and non-tipping personnel.

Tipping personnel

 

Tipping personnel are the staff with direct contact with the guests who pay them "tips". There are specified amounts of tips per particular positions which are advised to guests prior to embarkation and which vary from one cruise line to another. Such personnel are waiters, busboys /assistant waiters, bar waiters/waitresses, bartenders, cocktail waitresses, etc. Tipping personnel have a small base salary. Most of their earnings are tips. Approximate sample earnings in this group are (in U.S. Dollars per month):

 

Waiterfrom $2500 to $4000Busboy / Assistant Waiter from $1500 to $3000Bar Waiter / Waitressfrom $1000 to $2500Bartenderfrom $1500 to $3000

The applicant must have a good command of English, good work experience and appropriate education to qualify for this group (the latter is not obligatory if the applicant has enough experience).

Non-tipping personnel

 

Applicants who do not have enough experience or do not have a very good command of English tend to be hired as non-tipping staff. They have a good chance of being promoted to tipping personnel later.

The non-tipping personnel on cruise ships are those who serve the crew, i.e. the lower positions in the passenger area - Staff Waiter/Waitress, Snack Steward, etc. They have fixed salaries without tips and their earnings are from USD 350 to USD 500 per week.

[springfire]

I always remove my tips at my earliest convenience. I understand for some people the auto tips work well and for that I am glad. I for one prefer to tip in person, receive my service and than decide my tips. The cruise line gives me this choice and I always exercise this option.

[lillian marie]

I just wish CCL would charge the auto tips as a mandatory surcharge for every passenger-like a fuel surcharge.

[SkyBrit40]

The room stewards get no salary whatsoever----exist just on tips. I went to the Behind the Fun Tour and believe me it was an eye-opener!:eek:

[cherbear4000]

I knew that the majority of the money the employees make came from tips, but I hadn't realized it was 95%. They work so hard. I usually tip them extra in cash in addition to the S&S.

 

One employee compared working on a cruise ship to like being in the navy. You work in a ship, have no days off, away from you family, have to follow rules. He then told me it was much better than being his country's military.

[springfire]

I just wish CCL would charge the auto tips as a mandatory surcharge for every passenger-like a fuel surcharge.[/quote

 

 

Hope your not serious!!!

[futaba951]

Wall street uses this same formula. The biggest difference is that when you get the golden parachute on a cruise ship, it's not a good thing.

[xop]

We cruised NCL and our tips were included, but we did tip the room stewards extra at the end because we wanted to and were able to. Just a little side note...one of our ports was Grand Cayman and it was one of those days that it was sunny, then it would rain, then sunny again. Well we were walking down the sidewalk just window shopping and it was lightly raining and we came upon both our room stewards, who also were shopping, and they had an umbrella (we didn't) they insisted we take their umbrella to stay dry. It took a few minutes to convince them that we were just fine. I thought that was thoughtful, they were'nt working at that time and didn't have to even say anything, but to do this kind gesture meant alot to us. Anyhow on to what I wanted to ask...what if you don't eat in the MDR? Should that portion of the tip be removed for the days we didn't use that service? Just asking because we only ate in the MDR maybe 3 meals out of a 7 day cruise. Thanks

[cuyahoga11]

If you want to tip the wait staff...on the last night of the cruise...they will be available..don't worry and you hand it to them.....if we tip at this point it is $20 or 30 tops.....$20 to head waiter...$10 to asst.

 

If you want to tip the steward...and you see him at the end of the cruise....again hand it to him/her....if we do this again it is $20 to $30 tops.

 

We don't care to look like big shots to these people but maybe we will give them just a little extra cash.

 

If you drink or use room service...15% will be added to your bar bill....no need to tip extra...but some will need to throw the cash around. We don't feel the need to do that.

 

 

Room service tips are not included in the auto tips

[Waycoolrob]

We remove tips, we have always removed, we will always remove tips. At the end of the cruise we tip in person and in cash. Most going to room Stewart, Some going to wait staff (if we ate in the MDR). As for other staff, well the 15% added on to each drink I buy is sufficient for the bar staff plus they usually get a few bucks on every drink from me. I am not concerned with those who I do not come into contact with. As for those of you who dont like that answer this. Do you tip every room stewart or just yours? Do you tip every waiter or just yours? So for those who need to fell better about themselves flame on....

 

wcr

[springfire]

We remove tips, we have always removed, we will always remove tips. At the end of the cruise we tip in person and in cash. Most going to room Stewart, Some going to wait staff (if we ate in the MDR). As for other staff, well the 15% added on to each drink I buy is sufficient for the bar staff plus they usually get a few bucks on every drink from me. I am not concerned with those who I do not come into contact with. As for those of you who dont like that answer this. Do you tip every room stewart or just yours? Do you tip every waiter or just yours? So for those who need to fell better about themselves flame on....

 

wcr

 

Nice Post!

[Mjasp]

Because this is not what happens.....people remove the tips and DO NOT TIP AT ALL.....

 

Also please be aware that even if you tell the Guest Services desk that you are removing the tips to tip "in person"...

the cabin stewards and wait staff are questioned to see if they did not provide good service.

 

Also the Sail and Sign method assures that people you never see are compensated for doing their job.....

 

I never remove my auto tips, I leave them on and then give our room steward and waiters their extra tips in cash. They are so appreciative to get extra.

[CorvetteLady]

We cruised NCL and our tips were included, but we did tip the room stewards extra at the end because we wanted to and were able to. Just a little side note...one of our ports was Grand Cayman and it was one of those days that it was sunny, then it would rain, then sunny again. Well we were walking down the sidewalk just window shopping and it was lightly raining and we came upon both our room stewards, who also were shopping, and they had an umbrella (we didn't) they insisted we take their umbrella to stay dry. It took a few minutes to convince them that we were just fine. I thought that was thoughtful, they were'nt working at that time and didn't have to even say anything, but to do this kind gesture meant alot to us. Anyhow on to what I wanted to ask...what if you don't eat in the MDR? Should that portion of the tip be removed for the days we didn't use that service? Just asking because we only ate in the MDR maybe 3 meals out of a 7 day cruise. Thanks

 

I think of it this way, you have a wait staff assigned to your table they don't get the night off if you don't come to the MDR, they are still there, so I would not remove the tips. Plus they have to work breakfast and lunch also, so the tips aren't just for dinner.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Just got off the Legend and removed the auto tip and gave all of it to the service staff ourselves. We even had a hundred dollars in one dollar bills and gave three or four dollars to any of the lowly workers we saw. Carnival was not able to skim off the top.

 

ahh I saw that movie with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. "Conspiracy theory".

 

Bill

[CorvetteLady]

We remove tips, we have always removed, we will always remove tips. At the end of the cruise we tip in person and in cash. Most going to room Stewart, Some going to wait staff (if we ate in the MDR). As for other staff, well the 15% added on to each drink I buy is sufficient for the bar staff plus they usually get a few bucks on every drink from me. I am not concerned with those who I do not come into contact with. As for those of you who dont like that answer this. Do you tip every room stewart or just yours? Do you tip every waiter or just yours? So for those who need to fell better about themselves flame on....

 

wcr

 

Here's the flaw in your logic, you are being waited on in other areas not just the MDR. Just because you don't come in contact with them does not mean you did not benefit from them. Do you tip the people who clean your table on the Lido? How about if you have breakfast or lunch in the MDR? Some of that auto tip goes for these types of service.

 

I certainly don't tip to feel better about myself, maybe you just need to justify being cheap to feel better about yourself.

[dan40]

I knew that the majority of the money the employees make came from tips, but I hadn't realized it was 95%. They work so hard. I usually tip them extra in cash in addition to the S&S.

 

One employee compared working on a cruise ship to like being in the navy. You work in a ship, have no days off, away from you family, have to follow rules. He then told me it was much better than being his country's military.

There is NO PERCENTAGE calculation. The OP posted erroneous information.

The service staff get a salary commensurate with their length of employment, experience and position. Plus WHATEVER they make in tips. The salary has been well known not to be large. And tips ARE their mainstay. But there is no percentage calculation

[dan40]

Here's the flaw in your logic, you are being waited on in other areas not just the MDR. Just because you don't come in contact with them does not mean you did not benefit from them. Do you tip the people who clean your table on the Lido? How about if you have breakfast or lunch in the MDR? Some of that auto tip goes for these types of service.

 

I certainly don't tip to feel better about myself, maybe you just need to justify being cheap to feel better about yourself.

 

 

Just a minor point. On Carnival YOUR assigned table waiter and assistant get $3.50 and $2.00 per day pp from the auto-tip. So if they are NOT working the MDR for breakfast or lunch, NONE of the auto-tip goes to anyone in the MDR. If they ARE working in the MDR for breakfast and/or lunch. No one else gets a penny of your auto-tip but them.

The Lido people get $1.00 of the auto-tip pooled for all of them.

 

This only applies to Carnival. Other lines do things their own way.