Tipping...

[TexasRon]

I've read a lot on here about tipping and I don't want a single person to think this thread is another one about not tipping, etc. I will tip--we usually do 20% or more on restaurant bills and will go as high as 33% for particularly good service.

 

I'm thinking about allowing up to 10% of the cost our trip for tips. This is about $600 as opposed to the $350 in automatic tips. That means that there is an extra $250 budgeted for people who go above and beyond because we would never "not tip" unless something really bad happened with a particular server or steward and I just don' expect that.

 

I don't particularly like the automatic tip thing any more than I like automatic gratuities for larger parties. In the latter case, they may actually get less that way because, as an example, one friend tips 15-20% and I tip 20% or better...so letting us decide the tip nets them more. Places we go together often know that and never add the 18% because they get more without doing that.

 

Anyway, I am thinking of tipping people as personally as I can--handing them the envelopes--as opposed to leaving it on automatically. My wife and I both like to see the money go to the intended person as much as possible. I don't think Carnival "cheats" their workers on this, so don't go there. I'd just like to know if others prefer tipping personally as opposed to automatically and also how that has worked out for any who have done it that way.

 

Some might get a standard tip, some might get more...depending on the level of service. No one would be shortchanged unless it would have been enough reason for me to go and remove my tips had I left them on automatic pilot.

[imnance]

No one would be shortchanged

 

Unless you can track down every single person who is tipped from the automatic pool of tips, someone will be shortchanged. Leave the auto tips in place and hand your personal envelopes to those you feel warrant it.

[zqvol]

Since you are going to give everyone the standard as a minimum a more practical solution is to leave the automatic tips in place and simply give those who deserve more the extra. If you remove the automatic tips the servers and stewards have to explain what they did incorrectly to have the gratuities removed, saying that you paid them in cash is not a satisfactory explanation.

[TexasRon]

Since you are going to give everyone the standard as a minimum a more practical solution is to leave the automatic tips in place and simply give those who deserve more the extra. If you remove the automatic tips the servers and stewards have to explain what they did incorrectly to have the gratuities removed, saying that you paid them in cash is not a satisfactory explanation.

 

That is interesting, and I will take it in to consideration.

 

I can assure you that anyone that I would not tip WOULD have some explaining to do because the service would have to be so poor as to cause me to complain about it right away. I just don't expect that to happen...

[dallas52]

the auto tips go to the wait staff in the buffet that you never see or know, the one who cleans the tables, you rarely get to sit at same tables there. just leave them and then pass out money to the ones who treat you the best, that is what i do.

[woodey]

I love how people start off with this is not a typical tip thread and i am a great tipper but.......

 

Dude you are going to get flaimed be ready for it ....

[TexasRon]

I love how people start off with this is not a typical tip thread and i am a great tipper but.......

 

Dude you are going to get flamed be ready for it ....

 

Sadly, I have noticed that getting flamed is a regular thing here. I just try to read through the flames and get some good information/advice.

 

I've already changed my plans based on the information provided in the comments so far. I will leave the automatic tips on the account and just tip the people who give service "above and beyond" out of the extra tip "pool" I have established for the trip.

 

I do have a question about THAT, though...if not giving tips automatically prevents them from getting to the "right" places (the staff I never see), does the "extra" tip I give to a person get shared with those unseen others? If not is there a way to get it to them?

 

Hopefully, I'll get more good advice than flames, but, as I have found on many boards, some just love the ability to be nasty without having to answer for it. You can bet they'd never say some of the things they say if we were standing face to face!

[momof2cruiser]

My husband and I like to hand out our tips as well. As for the amount that would be given to the buffet workers, we arranged with guest services to leave that as "automatic"....the rest we do on our own (and always more than what is suggested....so that is not the issue here).

On our last cruise, our children wanted to decorate the envelopes for an added touch of "thank you" from them. I think there is definitely something more personal about handing your tip to everyone, along with a handshake or hug. Just my opinion....

[TexasRon]

My husband and I like to hand out our tips as well. As for the amount that would be given to the buffet workers, we arranged with guest services to leave that as "automatic"....the rest we do on our own (and always more than what is suggested....so that is not the issue here).

On our last cruise, our children wanted to decorate the envelopes for an added touch of "thank you" from them. I think there is definitely something more personal about handing your tip to everyone, along with a handshake or hug. Just my opinion....

 

 

Okay, so what where the mechanics of making sure all of the others who get portions of your tip--kitchen staff, hotel staff, etc.--got their share? Did they just keep the $1 or whatever per passenger/day on the bill? Could you have given them extra? What about the others having to explain getting no automatic tip (as noted in a comment above)?

 

Thanks!

[momof2cruiser]

It was very simple for us. My husband went to guest services and asked how our automatic tip will be broken up. Then, the amount to go to personnel that we wouldn't "see", was left on as the "automatic tip", and we explained that we wanted that amount divided up for them "as usual". The rest was hand delivered. I am not sure why some people get so heated about this...it was very simple and all of our people were well taken care of with a hand delivered envelope. :)

[momof2cruiser]

We wrote our name and room number on the envelope, so it they had to "explain" why they didn't receive and automatic tip, they could show their supervisor that they received an envelope instead....I can't imagine that Carnival reprimands their workers for getting an envelope instead. Not everyone does the automatic tips.

[misstopgun]

the auto tips go to the wait staff in the buffet that you never see or know, the one who cleans the tables, you rarely get to sit at same tables there. just leave them and then pass out money to the ones who treat you the best, that is what i do.

ditto

[popsec]

Since you say you're planning to tip above the amount, the simplest thing to do is leave auto tips on and tip extra as you wish. The people you hand an envelope to don't have to share it with everyone else. This way no one has to explain anything and your tips go where they're supposed to. We always leave auto-tips on and then hand out thank you cards with cash at the end of the cruise to really good waters, bar staff, cabin stewards & assistants. I understand that you want it to feel more personal but our way makes sure everyone who should get a tip does and we still get to tip extra. No flaming from me.....you asked a good question

[ckphila]

I usually give people a break everybody has a bad day sometimes. I know its hard to always be pleasant and nice but when you just find out your family member is sick and only has a certain amount of time to live, or if someone close to you has died that can cause people to pre occupied I usually give a tip to all people it might be less but you never know till you walk a mile in someone elses shoes.:)

[TakeMeAway1001]

To me it seems like a lot of work not to mention a PITA for all involved to have auto-tips removed or portions of them removed. I think the workers would rather you leave them in place and if one sees fit to tip extra for a job well done. Imagine being the worker who is notified by their supervisor that the tip was removed and he/she is left wondering what they may have done wrong for the remainder of the cruise :confused: The last thing I want to do when I get on the ship is stand in line to do anything, let alone mess with the well earned tips. While I get that everyone has their own feelings on this I know I appreciate everything the staff does for me and if I could find someone back home to clean up after me/make my bed and turn it down/clean my bathroom/serve my meals and clean up when I am done and all the countless other things they do for $10 a day I would be one happy girl! I guess I just like to keep things simple and if they told me tips were going up to $15 a day I would still cruise :) I think it is so much easier than it used to be when I first cruise, messing with all those envelopes.

[DocF]

I know this is the case as I have been so informed by both waiters, stewards and management types on board three different Carnival ships. Passengers who remove the automatic tips create a serious issue for the employees. The presumption is that the employee has, in some way, offended the passenger. If you do this with the intent of leaving all the tips in cash, you are actually creating a negative for the worker.

 

Leave the auto-tips alone. If you wish to give some additional cash to your waiter, assistant, or steward and his assistants, do so. I usually fold up a bill and shake hands with the particular worker.

 

It is not showy, but it works and is much preferable to giving this person trinkets. That smacks of buying Manhattan for $24 in junk jewelry:eek:

 

Doc

[quickrate]

I know this is the case as I have been so informed by both waiters, stewards and management types on board three different Carnival ships. Passengers who remove the automatic tips create a serious issue for the employees. The presumption is that the employee has, in some way, offended the passenger. If you do this with the intent of leaving all the tips in cash, you are actually creating a negative for the worker.

 

Leave the auto-tips alone. If you wish to give some additional cash to your waiter, assistant, or steward and his assistants, do so. I usually fold up a bill and shake hands with the particular worker.

 

It is not showy, but it works and is much preferable to giving this person trinkets. That smacks of buying Manhattan for $24 in junk jewelry:eek:

 

Doc

So well said! I don't get removing tips so you can personally hand them out. We always tip a little extra at the end but we leave auto grat. alone. You're creating extra paperwork and confusion for the workers.

Pat

[richfret]

Here is my tip. (he he) Leave the system as it now is and tip more if you please. That way the cheap-skates will still have to pay. If your service was very terrible, you can still remove a tip.

[honestguy]

Here's my take from waiting tables for the past ten years. If you ever have someone say I'm a good tipper, you know right there its time to bend over and grab the ankles. Most of the time your lucky to get 15 percent from these people. Its known as the kiss of death. Case in point the OP states servers get screwed with the auto tip when he eats out. Guess what every credit card slip leaves a spot for an additional tip. If you were such a good tipper you would be tipping more on top of that auto tip.

 

I've had people tip 50 percent of a 3000 dollar bill. I had one guy double a 600 dollar auto tip. I have a DR I wait on that has a big party once a year his bill is around 8k. about a 1500 dollar tip and he leaves an extra 500. Never once have they ever said hey I'm a good tipper. They let their actions do the talking.

 

I feel most of these people are asking this so they can get out of the auto tips. Then they get their 10 dollars a day back and stick it in their pocket. They have no desire to tip extra. I wish the cruise companies would make the tips mandatory no questions asked.

 

I leave in a week for a 7 day cruise. When I meet my room steward there will be a handshake with 10 bucks in it, and if he does what I ask.(lots of towels thats it. I shower about 3 times a day) There will be a tip at the end of the week. We will do anytime dining, and I'll tip after every meal. I'll spend an additional 300 bucks in tips for the week. I figure. Never once will I say I'm a good tipper. I'll let the workers decide that, and taking the auto tips off wont cross my mind.

[SadieN]

the auto tips go to the wait staff in the buffet that you never see or know, the one who cleans the tables, you rarely get to sit at same tables there. just leave them and then pass out money to the ones who treat you the best, that is what i do.

 

Don't forget the guy in Buffet Purgatory rolling up the forks & knives in the napkins.

 

Hey Honestguy, DH is a good tipper. He must be the exception that makes your rule ;) We leave the autp-tip in place and tip those 'who deserve it' cash at the appropriate times. Room Stewards, Waiters, Bar Servers, etc.

[MissDiva1]

This is a system that was set up to make it easy on the customer. Added automatically ..... done deal...nothing to worry about......

Why make simplicity so difficult:confused:

[H82seaUgo]

I've read a lot on here about tipping and I don't want a single person to think this thread is another one about not tipping, etc. I will tip--we usually do 20% or more on restaurant bills and will go as high as 33% for particularly good service.

 

I'm thinking about allowing up to 10% of the cost our trip for tips. This is about $600 as opposed to the $350 in automatic tips. That means that there is an extra $250 budgeted for people who go above and beyond because we would never "not tip" unless something really bad happened with a particular server or steward and I just don' expect that.

 

I don't particularly like the automatic tip thing any more than I like automatic gratuities for larger parties. In the latter case, they may actually get less that way because, as an example, one friend tips 15-20% and I tip 20% or better...so letting us decide the tip nets them more. Places we go together often know that and never add the 18% because they get more without doing that.

 

Anyway, I am thinking of tipping people as personally as I can--handing them the envelopes--as opposed to leaving it on automatically. My wife and I both like to see the money go to the intended person as much as possible. I don't think Carnival "cheats" their workers on this, so don't go there. I'd just like to know if others prefer tipping personally as opposed to automatically and also how that has worked out for any who have done it that way.

 

Some might get a standard tip, some might get more...depending on the level of service. No one would be shortchanged unless it would have been enough reason for me to go and remove my tips had I left them on automatic pilot.

 

are you going to try to figure out what your meals cost and then try to figure out what 20% of that is? who's going to get the 20% dedicated to what your fuel expense is, or your port charges are.

 

you are making brain surgery out of tipping. it's really not that big a deal. tip the captain too while your at it.

[Rock_Dr]

A big problem with tipping is the "percent of the bill" concept. It really should be based on the service not the total bill. That is one nice thing about cruise tipping. The suggested tip is based on the service, for example, dining staff $5.50 per person per day. That is a relatively small tip when you think about it. It is the equivelent of 15% tip on a $36 bill.

 

Example of why I hate percent of bill tipping. I go to Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) with a friend. BWW has an "unlimited refills" policy with there specialty lemonades. I order one and some nights get 6-7 refills while sitting and watching a ball game. My bill: $3.50+tax. My buddy has 4-5 beers and his bill is $20+tax. Should I leave 50 cent tip compared to his $3.00 ? No way. Most times I leave a tip much greater than my bill.

[H82seaUgo]

A big problem with tipping is the "percent of the bill" concept. It really should be based on the service not the total bill. That is one nice thing about cruise tipping. The suggested tip is based on the service, for example, dining staff $5.50 per person per day. That is a relatively small tip when you think about it. It is the equivelent of 15% tip on a $36 bill.

 

 

your math is incorrect. it's $5.50 for three meals, so the tip per meal is $1.66.

[Rock_Dr]

your math is incorrect. it's $5.50 for three meals, so the tip per meal is $1.66.

 

My math is correct (with roundoff). I did not quote per meal, I quoted $36 bill TOTAL. 35 x .15 = 5.4 It is 1.66 per meal but I usually do not spend the same amount for breakfast that I do for dinner so I used a daily total.