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Included gratuities


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I can't believe that some people refuse to tip considering the wonderful service on FOC! I do prefer to give in person. We sailed with Cunard last year and they put it on the bill, BUT you still feel obligated to tip in person which leaves one with a bad feeling at the end of the cruise. I shall continue to tip myself and hope that the non-tippers pay via their onboard account! Looking forward to Black Watch Christmas Markets cruise on Friday - bring it on.......

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Cruises:

Island Escape (4)

Thomson (4)

Ocean Village (1)

Costa (1)

NCL (1)

 

Except for NCL, tipping was discretionary (up to the passenger).

NCL charged $12 each per day to your account automatically. Plus a percentage to any drinks etc purchased.

In their conditions, we noted that passengers could request that the $12 be withdrawn if you contacted the customer service desk.

This we did and they credited $360 to our account.

We think that tipping should be up to the passenger and the cruise lines should pay better wages to their staff. Also, it is very annoying to think that staff who have done nothing for you (except for their paid job) and unhelpful staff should be tipped by you.

Manxman42

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My concern is that with automatic tips is that staff will no longer try to please and service standards will drop. If they know the tips are coming anyway why try?

 

I always tip personally and usually above the recommended rate and have experienced excellent service.

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We are booked on Black Watch in January to South America and there's no way are we agreeing to included gratuities. We have always tippped according to the quality of service provide over the past and will continue to do so. I can't remember being consulted by FO in this respect on previous cruises in 2009 and before.

This is as I believe the thin edge of the wedge to ask the guests as we are addressed to pay the wages of all the ships company.

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Sorry, we are another couple who do not agree with the tip regardless attitude. We would/will immediately ask for the automatic tips to be taken off our bill. If the staff get tips regardless of whether they do a good job or not why should they bother to remember your name, what you drink etc? If you go to the hairdressers and they make a mess of your hair do you tip them? If you don't care who gets a tip and who doesn't you can just ask them to add it to your bill - not really a lot of hassle to tip the staff directly, or at least we have never found it so.

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I don't get this idea about tips.

1] I am British and going on a British orientated cruise with Fred Olsen.

We have no culture of tipping in this country so why suddenly start tipping because you are on a cruise ship?

 

I don't understand this "We have no culture of tipping in this country" well I know I tip, I always have, so do my friends, eg: Taxi drivers, Hairdressers, Removal Men, Waiters/Waitresses, Hotel Staff, Porters and of course Cruise Staff etc.

 

So maybe you should have said some people do not tip in this country :)

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Its an emotive subject ,however perhaps its all to do with this:-

 

Foreign crews being paid as little as £2 an hour on UK run ships.The TUC and Nautilas and the RMT ,maritime unions,want the Government to close the loophole in the law that allows this and to outlaw the ships of shame because its a national scandal.:eek:

Agree 100%. Staff should be paid a fair wage and we should pay a corresponding amount for our cruise to cover this. Cruise lines quote heavily discounted fares (e.g. 40% off - no one ever pays the full price, do they?), then expect us to make up the shortfall with tips.

Many years ago, restaurants in France had a similar system, with waiters even paying for the "privilege" of working in the top establishments in Paris because they could earn so much in tips. Then the government introduced "service compris" by law, and the practice stopped.

I don't expect to pay Tesco staff extra because they serve me, it's their job, and cruise ships should operate on the same terms. As it is, passengers are blackmailed into subsidising the staff's wages because they know they are so low.

If people want to tip, that's up to them, but it should not be mandatory.

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Whilst I disagree with tipping in principal as all employees on a cruise ship are providing a service and why should some receive a tip and not others? If cruise lines paid their cabin stewards and hotel staff a proper wage then tipping would not be necessary. However for convenience I allow the cruise line to charge tips at their recommended rate to my on board account. This is because I always have freestyle dining and it would be very difficult to tip all the waiters that serve you.

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Sad day for FO.

 

I was a tour operator for the last 30 years and I find some of the posts inaccurate. The staff are paid a small wage + clothing + food + accommodation commenserate with most merchant fleets around the world.

 

Tipping varies tremendously around the world as do the passengers. In Europe it is virtually unheard of for bar staff to expect a tip. Very occasionally they are asked "if they would like a drink" and most politely say they will have a modestly priced soft drink or not at the moment thank you. RC and Celeb CHARGE 15% for their already overpriced drinks. Yes I am aware that FO charge less for their drinks and drink/packages.

 

Why as soon as passengers leave the cruise ship port do they stop tipping. As a UK bus/coach driver taking cruise passengers (mainly American) from Dover/Southampton to Heathrow/Gatwick I found the tipping to be exceedingly small considering the exceedingly heavy luggage. Yes I, like the cruise staff, was paid the minimum wage and relied on tips to make my life pleasant. I received much better tips from UK pensioners/Japanese than I ever received from affluant cruise passengers.

 

I only use the cruise to take passage between UK and US, I am large and it is cheaper than flying business class. Personally I would rather travel on a freight ship where the staff are more attentive and are over the moon when you tip a small amount because they do not expect it. I therefore am P***d off when I am TOLD that I have to pay extra on top of the agreed fare.

 

My life and retirement have been made more pleasant because of the tips I have EARNED throughout my working life. I am not against tipping in any shape or form but it should remain completely unexpected and voluntary.

 

On Independence we had happier staff and more attention with optional tipping than we did on the Eclipse which has automatic tipping.

 

Dave

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Think yourself lucky.

 

Look at what Princess charge for "optional" tips

 

$10.50 per day per adult

 

That is the point - they are all "optional" When we went on Sea Princess we removed them as soon as we got there!

 

We went on that cruise last January - it was wonderful! Have a great time:)

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Well, I'm so glad I started this thread - now onto it's 4th page:eek: Also glad to see so many new people putting their comments on. :) Sometimes the Fred board can get a bit stagnant! Now! What other controversial subject shall I raise??;)

 

Yes Freds board can be slow and stagnent, but it is, as you have shown possible to get things moving.

It may be due to the age of Freds patrons, and not being silver surfers like myself that makes the boards so quiet. Or it could be that they have nothing to complain about, I like to think it is the later of the two.

 

Please think of some thing quick as I am getting bored with this one

( I get bored quickly)

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At least (or not to date) Fred Olsen does not charge a service charge everytime one buys a drink or goes to the hairdresser like some companies do.

 

Going on the Black Watch next weekend so we shall see! It all seems very straightforward to me. At least it tells you that you can have the charges removed. I only found this out on Cunard from the person in front of me in the check up queue.

 

Apologies if anyone has already made these poin ts. I can't find my reading glasses to read all the posts in detail.

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Having read through this thread, I find it incredible that so many people will do everything they can to opt out of tipping, though I agree that it is (and/or has become) an abominable requirement on cruise ships.

 

On ships that do not have a "no tipping" regime, the staff on the "tipping list" do not receive what you could consider to be a proper wage, and they NEED the tips to make a living. I always bear this in mind when cruising, though I hate the system and always say so on the end of cruise comment form.

 

I have been on a cruise where the English participants had a package that included tips, and the American passengers' fares excluded tips. The crew were so grateful to the English for actually paying them, and they hated the Americans, because a lot of them would pay nothing.

 

It is about time that all cruise companies paid their staff the going rate for the job, even if it does mean that the fares have to be put up a bit to take this into account. It will stop all the whingers from going to reception to "opt out", and ensure that the staff are treated fairly.

 

If I am on an all inclusive ship, and I am given excellent service, over and above the expected norm., I will still give a tip, though obviously much smaller than it would have been under the other system. It is good for staff to know they have been appreciated. There is also usually the option of praising them by name in your comments form (provided these get read and the comments get passed on).

 

I have to say that I am getting more and more inclined to go with companies that include tips in the fare. It is so much more relaxed on board, without all the requests (almost demands on some ships) for tips to be paid at the end.

 

I'm afraid, Fred, that adding tips to on board accounts is just the thin end of the wedge.

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I wish all of the cruise lines would charge a surcharge or auto-tip removal fee twice the amount of the surcharge or auto-tip... That would shut the Scrooges and stiffers down, once and for all...

 

You will never convince me that the modest surcharge or auto-tip is a cruise breaker when folks pay as much for drinks aboard the ship, or squander as much away in the casino...

 

The driving force for the surharge or auto-tip is way too many stiff the crews. A cruise line almost have to implement them just to keep their crews who do resign contracts every year...Its reached the point crews won't sign new contracts without the dreaded surcharge or auto-tip...

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just returned from royal carrebean cruise tips can be paid up front or at the end of the cruise but not on alcahol tips are added to the bill at 15% i think that this is a bit much when they charge so much in the first place for instance a pint of fosters including tip will set you back 8dollers 25cents that works out about £5-50 only way to avoid this is not to drink.

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just returned from royal carrebean cruise tips can be paid up front or at the end of the cruise but not on alcahol tips are added to the bill at 15% i think that this is a bit much when they charge so much in the first place for instance a pint of fosters including tip will set you back 8dollers 25cents that works out about £5-50 only way to avoid this is not to drink.

 

In America the Internal Revenue Service expects waiters and bartenders to report a 15% tip. Failure to report such usually leads to audit.... Many Americans tip above that figure, up to 20%.... Waiters and bartenders are expected to count their tips and record their tips on a daily basis to their employers who report those figures to the IRS... So a 15% tip isn't excessive by any means, well not in the USA... In fact, its the minimum expected by the federal government...

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Re-tipping

 

I have just been on the Black Watch. The system operating for tipping is the same as Cunard. I went to reception and said that I wished to pay my gratuities direcly so signed a form to that effect. We also received a letter in the cabin explaining the system. The gratuities still appear on your on board account but if you opt out, they are taken off again before you settle.

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Re-tipping

 

I have just been on the Black Watch. The system operating for tipping is the same as Cunard. I went to reception and said that I wished to pay my gratuities direcly so signed a form to that effect. We also received a letter in the cabin explaining the system. The gratuities still appear on your on board account but if you opt out, they are taken off again before you settle.

 

Thanks for that Emsomich, we are going on Braemar in February, so it is very helpful:)

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In responce to the post dated 7th December by dthompsond1. The new tipping system did not come into effect until those cruises departing December 2010 so I do believe this had not come into effect during your cruise. I hope this helps.

 

Very good to know that fred. Olsen Cruise Lines read these columns.:)

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Just returned from FO Balmoral cruise (07-21 December 2010).

This was the first FO Balmoral cruise that had the new tipping policy on board. It was very confusing as the staff said that they were not aware who had opted for automatic add on tips and who were giving "brown envelopes". We prefer to tip individuals based on the "over and above" service that they give so opted out of adding £4.00 p.p. per day. However, when we gave our waiter his envelope he seemed to think that this was an extra tip as he assumed that we had pre paid gratuitities.

 

Given the FO profile of older and British cruisers who like to tip individually I'm not sure if this will work for the majority of FO regular passengers.

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I have returned from Braemar in the last few days and only some passengers had recieved a letter regarding the policy on tips. Along with many other people, we went to reception where we filled out a form opting out of the new tipping policy and just asked for envelopes so that we could give tips to those we choose to. There seemed to be problem with this.

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