Gratituties

[letsgo39]

The history in Australia when it was a penal colony has the cultural memory of a tip being the equivalent of a bribe.

 

 

Now that is a really ignorant statement! Talk about "ugly American".

[franski]

shipnc - I actually prefer the way that the river boats manage gratuities... You do not have to tip if you do not wish to - and can put it in an envelope anonymously. The crew complement is quite small (and you do get to know many of them) and many of them multi-task --> so although you may feel that you are tipping them and not using their services, I think that you may use their services and not be aware....

 

At the end of the day - there is no tipping unless you actively participate --> unlike the large ship cruises, where often the gratuities are an automatic charge to your credit card. We tipped the suggested amount (yes, suggested - not an automatic charge) and then a bit more to anyone that we felt gave that "little bit more" in their day-to-day work. And, we did not feel that we were being pressured to do so.

[smeyer418]

Now that is a really ignorant statement! Talk about "ugly American".

really this information comes from people in Australia.....

[shoshona2]

Hi franski,

 

Do you realize why the big cruise lines have gone to automatic tipping, i.e. credit card impressions upon checkin? It's because a lot of people nowadays (economy gone sour) do NOT tip the staff. These people feel that the cruiseline is getting enough of their money. You won't usually see this on the premier lines, but talk to some people who work on Carnival, Princess or NCL. It's the same people who never leave a tip in the hotel to a housekeeper. They feel it's their job and why should I tip them!!

 

Sheila

[Kellie Poodle]

Hi franski,

 

Do you realize why the big cruise lines have gone to automatic tipping, i.e. credit card impressions upon checkin? It's because a lot of people nowadays (economy gone sour) do NOT tip the staff. These people feel that the cruiseline is getting enough of their money. You won't usually see this on the premier lines, but talk to some people who work on Carnival, Princess or NCL. It's the same people who never leave a tip in the hotel to a housekeeper. They feel it's their job and why should I tip them!!

 

Sheila

 

That's not true of all cruise lines. We cruise mostly with Royal Caribbean and, unless you are doing the "My Time Dining" where you have to pre-pay gratuities, it is at the discretion of the passenger. Of course the line gives you the suggested amount.

 

They do permit you to put the suggested amount on your shipboard account (credit card) but they provide you with envelopes for each person. We usually add cash to the envelopes for the great service.

 

I did one cruise on NCL about 5 years ago where the tips were pre-paid and it was our last voyage ever with them. The crew didn't seem to care about the passengers and why should they, they were already getting tips?

 

We had such a horrid voyage that I went to the purser and asked for our tips back. We made sure that they didn't deduct the ones from the massage person and the drink waiters, just the pre-paid to the wait staff who were totally inept and the cabin attendant who was a disgrace to the profession.

 

We are generous tippers when we receive good service. We have a problem tipping bad service and ineptitude.

 

Just my two cents.

[franski]

When we travelled with Princess in 2007 (Alaska cruisetour) we were told that the "suggested" amount would be added to our account at the end of the cruise. If we wanted to change the amount, we could ask and they would oblige.

 

We did pay the amount charged to our ship board account, but didn't feel that the service was "outstanding" - so didn't leave any extra.

 

We did "anytime dining" as we didn't want a set dinner hours - and the service was satisfactory, but certainly nothing to rave about.

[frantic36]

really this information comes from people in Australia.....

 

 

As an Australian I find this offensive. your quote was from the BBC who do not always get things correct.

We are a multicultural country and just because the BBC may have quoted from a few english immigrants, who themselves might have made up a myth, does not make it correct.

I was born here and have lived here over 50 years and my friends and family have never heard this before.

Julie

[pully8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_(gratuity) here is another source of info.

 

it is indeed unfortunate that comments of questionable merit are posted.

 

it does not add value to the sprit of this forum and luckily is not the norm.

 

some of us that travel widely and who have lived in different countries are perhaps more tolerant of different customs?

 

we all have different opinions. it is and can be offensive to make generalisations about a country or its people??

 

re tipping it is a personal decision and guidelines are usually given by the cruise line. it is not really anyones business what others give and for that reason envelopes are provided. more can be given.

 

it is not based on which nation you are from. individuals will have many different personal reasons for their decisions when tipping. nobody needs to explain or justify their choices.

 

for many it would be considered bad taste to discuss their personal financial decisions. some like to display their wealth others are more discreet. generosity is found in rich and poor.

[Aussie Claire]

As an Australian who was born here and has lived here for over 60 years, I can assure you that there is no culture of tipping in this country. All service staff are very well paid, therefore no tip is required to supplement wages. I have seen people round up, I have done it myself when taking a taxi or paying for a pizza.

 

When travelling overseas I do tip because it is expected and it forms part of a persons income, I don't necessarily agree with the practise but I do it because it is the culture of that country or Cruise line.

 

One thing that does annoy me here in Australia is when I see people from other countries tipping, and the receipient doesn't tell the giver that tipping isn't customary in Australia.:mad:

[annenic]

The subject of tipping so often opens a can of worms....

 

Here in Sydney tipping in fine dining restaurants is the norm with 10% being the acceptable figure. Again, excellent service warrants a tip....poor service definitely not. Rounding up in taxis etc is generally the practice.

 

So to say that "there is no culture of tipping in this country" isn't entirely accurate and I would hate overseas visitors to be mis-informed.

[Aussie Claire]

I live in Adelaide and there is no culture of tipping here, I also go to Melbourne regularly and have never found tipping to be an issue there.

 

I don't understand why there would be a culture here as all service personnel are well paid. In Europe and North America tipping forms part of a person salary, people are even taxed on presumed tips in those countries.

[trvlgirl99]

Uniworld publishes what is expected, and it comes out at about $700 for our 2 week cruise...and it HAS to be paid in Euros.

 

We have sailed Uniworld and while the tips did need to be paid in cash (not charged to our room account) they did not have to be in Euros, we were told they would accept either US dollars or Euros. By the end of the cruise we had a combination of the two and were assured it would be welcomed and appreciated.

[Shopinpat]

This topic has had more hits than any other on all boards! I really wish that they would include the tipping in the fares. Pay your employees well, (as Australia does) this would eleviate all these problems. Tipping is suppose to be at ones discretion and when they start telling one what to tip to me is not at my discretion! Why woulld tipping on a river boat be more than a large cruise ship? Do they do more for you? I do try to follow the cusoms of the country that I am in however it has turned into a job just figuring out who gets what. I would like to tip by the service I receive not a % or what someone tells me to tip.

Just my 2 cents but this is a huge issues for lots of people and I dont like to be told what to tip! I would like to see a pay scale for all these people we are tipping! Next will it be the pilot on a aircraft???

[caviargal]

Why woulld tipping on a river boat be more than a large cruise ship? Do they do more for you? I do try to follow the cusoms of the country that I am in however it has turned into a job just figuring out who gets what. I would like to tip by the service I receive not a % or what someone tells me to tip.

Just my 2 cent

 

The staff on river cruises is far smaller than on ocean liners. The same person that cleans your room may tend bar and then serve you in the dining room. They all multi task.

 

IMO, the staff are far more impersonal - and even invisible - on ocean cruise. Plus, they add an automatic gratuity to bar bills, specialty coffees and even fitness classes these days - so I now have to pay 12 bucks for a yoga glass plus tip the cruise staff! Those service charges are not optional and something I personally find extremely annoying.

 

On an ocean cruise, I stop to get a coffee to go back to the room after my morning workout (since I cannot drink the swill that most now provide in the buffets for free) and I am forced to pay a service charge as well as Starbucks prices for the coffee itself - a major rip off IMO.

 

On a river cruise, this nickel and diming is non existent on the lines I am familiar with.

[EmsMom]

AMA did have a box and an envelope for the gratuities. We chose to have them added to our account and paid by credit card as we didn't have any Euro. Thought it was easiest just to add it to our account. We know that some people left dollars as well as Hungarian forints that they had left from Budapest. We weren't in any countries that used Euro so there was no reason to have them.

[usavvy2]

We're on Avalon Tranquility 10/21 and the pre and post hotels in Budapest and Prague are part of the trip. Do we book the Cruise Director for the days he/she is at the hotel with us in Budapest and Prague?

We are budgeting 30 Euros per day for tips for basics.....and we tip add'l if we want to, correct?

How about drinks in the bar? Are they billed to our shipboard account or do we pay cash? And are tips included or do we tip in cash?

Thank you so much....

 

 

yes, if cruise is 7 days but trip in total is 10 days including pre/post, the expectation is that the crew tip is 12e/pp x 7 and the cruise director's tip is 3e/pp x 10 b'c of the excursions arranged on land by the CD. Our CD was there to greet us in Budapest, arranged bus transport around the city (Buda and Pest) and got us off to the ship. Then on the other end our CD was there to recommend restaurants in Prague, coordinate the daily tour guides in Prague, etc.

 

Of course, tipping is a personal matter - up to you to decide whether and how much to tip. We tipped our cabin steward and dining room server above and beyond the normal "crew tip pool" allotment because we felt they went above and beyond to service us. Also, we "rounded up" when tipping the CD on our Blue Danube Discovery cruise.

 

Re tips in the bar, just to clarify for others who might answer that question - are you talking about IN THE HOTEL OR ON THE SHIP??? (We didn't drink at the bar so I won't answer.)

 

Hope this helps.

[stretchcruz]

Thanks for your advice and experience..gives me a good idea of what to budget.

 

Actually I was talking about in the bar on the ship....but any recommendations regarding in a bar in the cities would be welcome as well. I have Rick Steves' books so I'll check there as far as tipping on land. I doubt we'll have any drinks in the bar on the ship since we get beer and wine with dinner, but you never know....just wondering if it is cash and if we tip or if it is on our account, as on our big ship cruises.

 

It's nice to try to get this stuff sorted out ahead of time so my husband and I don't look at each other and say...I don't know, what do you think???...plus we can budget for it.

[Julesdad]

from the BBC

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A640018

 

Note that contrary to many posters the BBC says that tipping in UK is the norm

 

and from trip advisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g255055-s606/Australia:Tipping.And.Etiquette.html

 

although they do say at some high end restaurants this is changing.

 

Its OT anyway. When on a river cruise you should follow the local customs(on cruise ships too) anyway and not what the norm is at home- which obviously may differ.

 

and as to the history see

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A53650

 

"Then, around 1770ish, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent over, with a few deranged and stupid people in charge"...

while I freely admit I wasn't there, it is my understanding that out of this past came an abhorrence to tipping but its also true this was written by the British and I can't be sure of its accuracy either.

 

 

Why can't we be sure of the accuracy because "this was written by the British".

Have we a worldwide reputation for not telling the truth.

I find this remark offensive

[caviargal]

Thanks for your advice and experience..gives me a good idea of what to budget.

 

Actually I was talking about in the bar on the ship....but any recommendations regarding in a bar in the cities would be welcome as well. I have Rick Steves' books so I'll check there as far as tipping on land. I doubt we'll have any drinks in the bar on the ship since we get beer and wine with dinner, but you never know....just wondering if it is cash and if we tip or if it is on our account, as on our big ship cruises.

 

It's nice to try to get this stuff sorted out ahead of time so my husband and I don't look at each other and say...I don't know, what do you think???...plus we can budget for it.

 

We always went to the bar before dinner. Drinks were charged to our onboard account and we tipped in cash as there is no forced gratuity like on cruise ships.

 

In ports, one of the highlights was finding a local pub on a side street and popping in before we headed back to the ship. We met some great folks that way.

[terry2]

from the BBC

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A640018

 

Note that contrary to many posters the BBC says that tipping in UK is the norm

... etc

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A53650

 

"Then, around 1770ish, Europeans arrived in boats from the north. More accurately, European convicts were sent over, with a few deranged and stupid people in charge"...

 

while I freely admit I wasn't there, it is my understanding that out of this past came an abhorrence to tipping but its also true this was written by the British and I can't be sure of its accuracy either.

 

That's a bit of an ooops! on your part. Although hosted by the BBC, the h2g2 web site http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ is actually a forum for user provided info:

"h2g2 stands for 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' - an unconventional guide to Life, The Universe and Everything. This site - the Earth Edition of the Guide - is an encyclopaedic project contributed to by people from all over the world. h2g2.com was launched in April 1999, and the BBC took over the running of the site in February 2001 as part of a drive to develop new and innovative online services.

Anyone can write for the Guide, which already has thousands of entries on all sorts of subjects."

So we don't know the nationality of the user who provided that info.