Cunard gratuities

[boo214]

Got to say: The auto tip - on top a service charge of 15% is, quite frankly, simply a bizarre concept. The customer has no say on the amount or on how it is distributed.

 

As someone who always expects to tip the staff who look after me/us - butler, steward, waiter(s) etc, I think it's a peculiar idea to have an automatic levy and I/we cancel it at the first available opportunity. I always end up paying a damn sight more than the daily rate - but it's my choice and it goes where I decide - and not where the cruise line see fit.

 

Plus, the service charge on goods and beverages goes towards all the backroom staff too - not just drinks/shop staff!

As plenty of others have said - the lines should pay the staff more if they are under paid, don't expct the customers to do it for you! The whole "tipping" issue is getting beyond a joke these days - someone serves you a drink with a 15% sevice charge levied on it and they expect a tip? Do me a favour! What's all that about?

 

Serve me regularly and provide some courtesy and I'll give you a generous tip.

 

It's about reasonableness, balance and sense - and certainly not being "ripped off" by cruise lines who may also try to use emotional blackmail. As a particular rude and obtuse member of the Purser's team QV said to me, "Don't you want your cabin steward to receive a tip then?". I replied, "Yes, thank you - and I'll ensure he gets one myself, if that's alright with you!".

the service charge on beverages only goes to the bar staff. if the cruise lines pay the staff more guess who pays for it, the customers! either way you (and I) pay it. lets do some math shall we. lets suppose a cruise costs $1200. now add on auto grats of $77 ($11/day x 7 days), so the total is $1277. now lets say the cruise line gives the staff a raise so no more grats. now the cruise costs $1277. Seems to me that $1277 = $1277. same thing. oh and a word about culture. as an american I am used to leaving 18-20 % tips at restaurants. if I were to visit the UK I would not just go and do what i do here in the states. I would research the local customs and do what is the norm for where I am visiting. like they say, when in rome do as the romans do. now the cruise lines have their own culture. the way it works is they pay the staff very little salary (I somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 per month) and the rest of their income (which is the majority of their income) comes from grats. now you may not agree with it but thats the way it is.

[Nippy Sweetie]

I`d like more details re staff salaries on Cunard ships. I reckon there`s lots of urban myths around this. I know some Cunard staff who receive a more than healthy salary.

As previously posted by edge of the world

:"for UK passengers: we book the cruise with a UK registered company (Carnival plc)

the booking conditions specifically mention English law, & various other UK only taxes & organisations

the port of registry is Southampton, UK"

That says it all for me. I was pretty appalled by Carnival`s apparent tax evasion too. Very interesting.

[boo214]

I`d like more details re staff salaries on Cunard ships. I reckon there`s lots of urban myths around this. I know some Cunard staff who receive a more than healthy salary.

As previously posted by edge of the world

:"for UK passengers: we book the cruise with a UK registered company (Carnival plc)

the booking conditions specifically mention English law, & various other UK only taxes & organisations

the port of registry is Southampton, UK"

That says it all for me. I was pretty appalled by Carnival`s apparent tax evasion too. Very interesting.

these are probably senior staff, officers and the like and they do not get grats.

[Nippy Sweetie]

Check out some salaries here: http://www.cruiseshipjob.net/joblistings/

Doesnt look too bad to me especially as its all found and includes flights to & from the ships and bonuses as well as other perks. Of course the staff all work very hard and deserve their pay but they are clearly not some sort of slaves depending on our tips to make a living.

I`ll stick to the UK attitude to tips & pay individuals if and when deserved and not as a matter of course.

[boo214]

Check out some salaries here: http://www.cruiseshipjob.net/joblistings/

Doesnt look too bad to me especially as its all found and includes flights to & from the ships and bonuses as well as other perks. Of course the staff all work very hard and deserve their pay but they are clearly not some sort of slaves depending on our tips to make a living.

I`ll stick to the UK attitude to tips & pay individuals if and when deserved and not as a matter of course.

slaves, no. depending on our tips to make a living? absolutely

[thames_side]

[/i] That says it all for me. I was pretty appalled by Carnival`s apparent tax evasion too. Very interesting.

 

As a shareholder I would be pretty cross if I found that Carnival was paying more tax than it was required to do under the law.

[BettyBoop3850]

I and my mom always removed the dauly $11 from our bill so that we could give what wqe wanted. I am on a special diet and I am treated very well in the Brittania and felt I needed to give the wait staff extra till i found out they do not get to keep it but have to put it in a pool. Why should someone else benefit from my servers tip. I feel they should get to keep what I or others give them. Same goes for room stewards.

[Boytjie]

except that the prices being quoted/charged are not 'before tax'

http://www.cunard.co.uk/Documents/Menus/BarMenu.pdf

 

those prices have no tax payable on top, as they don't come under any countries tax regime

they have instead added a 'service charge'

in the UK, service charges (in restaurants/bars etc) are legally optional, you do not have to pay them.

 

My discussions re. tips as a percentage of the bill was only about dining out in New York City. ;)

[2irisheyes]

NippySweetie - thank you for posting the link. I glanced through it and could not understand why the Assistant Cabin Steward's pay was more than the Cabin Steward's pay. Have I missed something?

 

BettyBoop3850 - I can understand your wanting to better reward the face to face staff but the wait staff cannot do their job well without good/efficient service from kitchen staff. That is my reckoning anyway.

 

It is all a bit of a mystery and the cynic in me thinks that it suits cruiselines to keep it so.

[ovccruiser]

That says it all for me. I was pretty appalled by Carnival`s apparent tax evasion too. Very interesting.

 

Tax avoidance not tax evasion, tax evasion is against the law. The same kind of tax avoidance is quite widely spread in the UK as well. For example, company directors who are also shareholders can use the system, and as a shareholder of Carnival I welcome their skill in tax avoidance, higher dividend for the shareholders :D

[Nippy Sweetie]

Tax avoidance not tax evasion, tax evasion is against the law. The same kind of tax avoidance is quite widely spread in the UK as well. For example, company directors who are also shareholders can use the system, and as a shareholder of Carnival I welcome their skill in tax avoidance, higher dividend for the shareholders :D

That inspires me to Cunard Avoidance in future!

[boo214]

I and my mom always removed the dauly $11 from our bill so that we could give what wqe wanted. I am on a special diet and I am treated very well in the Brittania and felt I needed to give the wait staff extra till i found out they do not get to keep it but have to put it in a pool. Why should someone else benefit from my servers tip. I feel they should get to keep what I or others give them. Same goes for room stewards.

this is why it is better not to remove the grats from your bill. if you leave them everyone will get the proper gratuity and anything extra you give in cash gets pooled.

[capnpugwash]

this is why it is better not to remove the grats from your bill. if you leave them everyone will get the proper gratuity and anything extra you give in cash gets pooled.

 

Not strictly true, if you remove the autotip then any cash given gets pooled whereas if you leave them on, any extra cash can be kept by the recipient.:)

[boo214]

Not strictly true, if you remove the autotip then any cash given gets pooled whereas if you leave them on, any extra cash can be kept by the recipient.:)

an even better reason not to remove the auto grats;)

[welshgirl001]

Not strictly true, if you remove the autotip then any cash given gets pooled whereas if you leave them on, any extra cash can be kept by the recipient.:)

 

 

I am not doubting your knowledge, but how would a cash tip from a guest who removed the auto tip be seperated from a tip from a guest who left on the auto tip :confused:

 

I dont see how this could be verified. Especially if you dont remove the auto tip until the final day!

 

There are so many passengers and last minute tipping going on, the staff would be hard pushed to remember what was what:confused:

 

Julie:)

[balf]

You say tipato I say tipnono

 

David.

[boo214]

I am not doubting your knowledge, but how would a cash tip from a guest who removed the auto tip be seperated from a tip from a guest who left on the auto tip :confused:

 

I dont see how this could be verified. Especially if you dont remove the auto tip until the final day!

 

There are so many passengers and last minute tipping going on, the staff would be hard pushed to remember what was what:confused:

 

Julie:)

they can very easily look up who auto tipped and who did not, even if it was removed on the final day. its all done on computers.

[nfcu]

Your servers/cabin stewards/etc know who opted out of the daily automatic "Hotel and Dining Charge" (as Cunard refers to it; IT IS NOT A TIP) and who did not. As others have stated, they are on the honor system to return to the pool all cash received up to the amount that the pool would have received if the automatic charges were left in place. Anything extra or above, (this is a tip), they can keep. No one would be willing to risk their career over cheating this honor system.

 

Let's face it and call it what it is, guests who do not participate in this system are usually being cheap or are ignorant to cheat the hardworking crew members who depend on the "Hotel and Dining Charge" for the bulk of their wages. I would bet that very few guests who remove the charge give the crew up to the full amount expected. If you do not want to pay this charge, stay home.

[laktex]

they can very easily look up who auto tipped and who did not, even if it was removed on the final day. its all done on computers.

 

 

I wonder if that contravenes data protection?

[great Grandad]

Alona, Please do not worry too much about the gratuity question. Let those who like to pay it pay it. It's your cruise so enjoy it. Personally we take off one automated payment and give personal tips to those staff who we enjoy our cruise with. Cheer's John:)

[boo214]

Your servers/cabin stewards/etc know who opted out of the daily automatic "Hotel and Dining Charge" (as Cunard refers to it; IT IS NOT A TIP) and who did not. As others have stated, they are on the honor system to return to the pool all cash received up to the amount that the pool would have received if the automatic charges were left in place. Anything extra or above, (this is a tip), they can keep. No one would be willing to risk their career over cheating this honor system.

 

Let's face it and call it what it is, guests who do not participate in this system are usually being cheap or are ignorant to cheat the hardworking crew members who depend on the "Hotel and Dining Charge" for the bulk of their wages. I would bet that very few guests who remove the charge give the crew up to the full amount expected. If you do not want to pay this charge, stay home.

well said

[welshgirl001]

Your servers/cabin stewards/etc know who opted out of the daily automatic "Hotel and Dining Charge" (as Cunard refers to it; IT IS NOT A TIP) and who did not. As others have stated, they are on the honor system to return to the pool all cash received up to the amount that the pool would have received if the automatic charges were left in place. Anything extra or above, (this is a tip), they can keep. No one would be willing to risk their career over cheating this honor system.

 

Let's face it and call it what it is, guests who do not participate in this system are usually being cheap or are ignorant to cheat the hardworking crew members who depend on the "Hotel and Dining Charge" for the bulk of their wages. I would bet that very few guests who remove the charge give the crew up to the full amount expected. If you do not want to pay this charge, stay home.

 

Great explanation. Thanks

 

Julie

[keithm]

Your servers/cabin stewards/etc know who opted out of the daily automatic "Hotel and Dining Charge" (as Cunard refers to it; IT IS NOT A TIP) and who did not. As others have stated, they are on the honor system to return to the pool all cash received up to the amount that the pool would have received if the automatic charges were left in place. Anything extra or above, (this is a tip), they can keep. No one would be willing to risk their career over cheating this honor system.

 

Let's face it and call it what it is, guests who do not participate in this system are usually being cheap or are ignorant to cheat the hardworking crew members who depend on the "Hotel and Dining Charge" for the bulk of their wages. I would bet that very few guests who remove the charge give the crew up to the full amount expected. If you do not want to pay this charge, stay home.

On our first trip(2004) on QM2 we traveled in a large group(Cruisin Cousins). One couple removed the auto tip & pocketed it. Total bastards, mother & son. I wanted to boot them off the bus when they started causing problems with the other relatives. We're not related..just friends of a few of the "cousins" who cruised that trip.

[britsbest]

We got of QV this week. On our table of ten eight had removed the auto tip!

[palomarboy]

This is obviously a sensitive subject for a lot of people. I would never remove the tip unless I had an extremely bad experience that was ongoing and not resolved in any way. This has never happened on any cruise I have ever taken. The staff works very hard and in many cases are making life sacrifices so their families can survive. I cruise often and think I tend to book opportunities that are very good deals. I also don't have a ton of disposable income but if the cruise line tells me that these charges are part of the crew's salary I feel I should respect that and follow their guidelines. Tipping is a personal matter and in a lot of ways a cultural one but I couldn't look myself in the mirror, again my personal view, if I felt I was stiffing the crew.