Another Tipping Question

[mikel24m]

I wouldn't worry yourself about it. It is her and her family's choice. You can't help what other people do, even if it is your sister. Just give her the facts and let her decide.

 

Very Easy, just go to purser's desk and they will adjust or remove them for you.

 

No. They may ask if there was a problem the service, but you don't need to give any reason.

 

No. They will probably never even know you removed them.

 

Let me see they may ask if there was a problem with service and the workers will not know if you remove gratuities!! Do you notice if your paycheck isnt correct? If someone complains about you at your job do you not know about it ?Give good information if you decide to relpy to posts. Let me guess you know very well about going to the pursers desk and removing peoples gratuities Troll

[Knights on the Beach]

Why would they question the staff when the passenger clearly states why and what they want to do with their tips?

 

I doubt too many people say they're removing tips because they're too cheap to pay them, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case a lot of the time.

[classychick]

I doubt too many people say they're removing tips because they're too cheap to pay them, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case a lot of the time.

 

My question was why would they question the staff if a passenger clearly states the reason why they are doing so....

[Knights on the Beach]

My question was why would they question the staff if a passenger clearly states the reason why they are doing so....

I understood your question. Why wouldn't Carnival question the staff if a lot of people are removing their tips? Maybe some people want to tip in person, some are too cheap to pay them or just think it's too much? What if some of those people happen to have the same room steward or waiters - even if it's just a coincidence? Don't you think Carnival would speak the the employee if they thought there was a chance the passengers weren't happy with their service?

[classychick]

I understood your question. Why wouldn't Carnival question the staff if a lot of people are removing their tips? Maybe some people want to tip in person, some are too cheap to pay them or just think it's too much? What if some of those people happen to have the same room steward or waiters - even if it's just a coincidence? Don't you think Carnival would speak the the employee if they thought there was a chance the passengers weren't happy with their service?

 

Only if the passenger explained that they removed the tip because of poor service.....yes. If the passenger explained they were tipping cash....no. Don't see the point.

[luddite]

Why would they question the staff when the passenger clearly states why and what they want to do with their tips?

 

Because they must first be thinking that the pax who are there to remove the daily service charge are just a bunch of cheap sots who want to stiff the staff.

[classychick]

Because they must first be thinking that the pax who are there to remove the daily service charge are just a bunch of cheap sots who want to stiff the staff.

 

Why would they think that when they are told otherwise:confused:

[cherbear4000]

OP here, I have read my sister some of the responses so far. My other siblings have also been telling her how wrong she is. She is now stating she is tipping the full amount for herself, husband, 2 of the kids. The other 2 kids she says she is tipping half or 75% the amount. She says it is because her son will have just turned 2 a couple weeks before the cruise. If we would have cruised a few weeks earlier, he wouldn't have to pay the tip at all.

 

I am hoping she will just end up paying the full amount. As for me stepping up and paying her share as someone suggested, not going to happen. DH and I are paying our tips and saving the rest of our money for the bar tab!

[Betrix]

I am a waitress pinching pennies waiting for our (my husband,self and two children ages four and six) first cruise and we are going to pay the 11.50 up front and then take cash to tip with when we feel extra is deserved. Think about the number of people serving you splitting up that 11.50 it doesn't add up to much. I hate crappy tippers and hope karma comes around and bites them in the #$$

[jdvmd]

OP here, I have read my sister some of the responses so far. My other siblings have also been telling her how wrong she is. She is now stating she is tipping the full amount for herself, husband, 2 of the kids. The other 2 kids she says she is tipping half or 75% the amount. She says it is because her son will have just turned 2 a couple weeks before the cruise. If we would have cruised a few weeks earlier, he wouldn't have to pay the tip at all.

 

I am hoping she will just end up paying the full amount. As for me stepping up and paying her share as someone suggested, not going to happen. DH and I are paying our tips and saving the rest of our money for the bar tab!

Thanks for coming back and giving us an update. Do you believe her when she says she is going to tip the full amount for the first four and 75 percent for the other two? You explained the 2-year-old but what about the 4-year-old? She should just go ahead and pay the full amount for everyone. Is she really saving anything by reducing the rate 25 percent for the two youngest? I know you know the answer. Just saying if she reads more from this thread.

[crzycick]

Unfortunately you can't force her to do the right thing and it's nice that she at least plans to tip MOST of it instead of little to none, but I'm still sad for the people who will be helping her family on the cruise. As a former waitress and somebody with eyes and common sense, children are by far the messiest people to care for and the staff really deserves EXTRA tips for that. You might suggest that if she's still planning on stiffing the help to be sure to leave the room as spotless as possible and try and keep the table fairly clean.

 

Think about it, how clean was your (anybody's) house before having kids? And what about after? I don't even have children but I know that the daily work greatly increases when children are present. Toys left out, food smashed into carpets and all over the table, spilled drinks, missing the toilet bowl, globs of toothpaste in the sink. Children are messy and they also tend to require more stuff. Why would anybody think the staff doesn't deserve to be tipped properly for cleaning up after them? Even if children didn't REQUIRE tips, parents really should compensate the staff well. Even infants who can't crawl around and don't eat the food require extra work. Stinky diapers, making up a crib, cleaning up baby drool and spit ups that sometimes don't make it on a rag.

[mousey]

I think the sister is just a cheapskate! If you can't afford to tip the staff, don't go on the cruise!:mad: If anything, my DH and I have always tipped extra. The staff works very hard and deserves every penny they get, and that's exactly what these workers get...pennies! We've been on so many cruises I've lost track of the count. Even when we were 19 and 25 (we are now 59 and 65) and had only two pennies to rub together we tipped everyone. I would never in a million years think of stiffing the workers, they would have to have given some really, really, bad service or no service in order for me to do that. On our last cruise this past summer, we took our DS (16) and his friend (17) with us. We let them stay in the room adjoining ours. On the last day of the cruise when I went in to pack up my son's stuff, I saw that the room was a total disaster! Empty soda cans, day old pizza, dirty towels everywhere, etc. I imagined what it must have been like for a tired room steward to have to go in there and clean up after these little spoiled slobs every day. I was appalled at their mess! I made sure my son and his friend, out of their own pockets, left $20 each as a tip for their room steward (the DH and I chipped in an extra $50 (it was a 5-day cruise). By the way, my son and his friend have been warned that on our upcoming Spring Break cruise that if they make any kind of mess without cleaning up after themselves, it will be their LAST cruise! And yes, I do plan to check their rooms every day to make sure they are keeping it relatively clean.

[jburk]

I get that some ppl remove tips and then distribute cash as they see fit to the crew they want. Then there are ppl that just remove tips bc they dont want to pay. I guess what I dont get is that OPs sister's parents are paying the cruise fare yet she cant come up with tip money. So what is sister going to do? Remove tips for the 2 kids then give 75% in cash as she sees fit? Can you remove just part of the amout? Guess I have a hard time believing that sister will pay 75% in cash if its all removed. Especially seeing as to how she didnt want to pay tips for 2 of the kids at all.

[jdvmd]

I get that some ppl remove tips and then distribute cash as they see fit to the crew they want. Then there are ppl that just remove tips bc they dont want to pay. I guess what I dont get is that OPs sister's parents are paying the cruise fare yet she cant come up with tip money. So what is sister going to do? Remove tips for the 2 kids then give 75% in cash as she sees fit? Can you remove just part of the amout? Guess I have a hard time believing that sister will pay 75% in cash if its all removed. Especially seeing as to how she didnt want to pay tips for 2 of the kids at all.

Agree with you completely. I think she is just saying she is going to pay cash for all six with the younger two kids coming in at 75 percent.

[loxley]

I think the sister should tip as she sees fit. If the amount charged is more than she wants to tip, decrease it to what she does want to tip. She has nothing to feel bad about. The service people are there to do their job no matter what the tip and they will.

 

The $11.50 a day pp is a SUGESTION. Nothing more, nothing less. She does not have to take the sugestion at all.

[Lisl123]

I am a tip removing troll. I admit it. I take my son's gratuities off on every trip (he is 4 and started cruising when he was 7 months - we remove his because he is the 3rd pax, not because he is a child). We tip daily in cash to our room stewards, on top of two full gratuities for the adults in our room, we tip servers individually at the end of meals since the beginning of anytime dining. We dole out that cash plus some more during our trip, but we do it to ensure good service, which is what a tip is intended for - not an automatic gratuity regardless of how mediocre or absolutely perfect the service is. If someone does an ok job, I am satisfied - if they do an outstanding job and make my vacation amazing, I want to reward that person - not just the random person the cruiseline selects. On the last cruise I gave the bulk of his gratuities to Camp Carnival crew, since they did the most for him.

 

Typically I travel with my mother and son - we are extremly clean and often make our own beds because we like the cabin tidy for breakfast (I know, that sounds kind of stick up the butt, but I can't stand a cramped and messy space) ... the stewards make up our bed at evening time and swish out the toilet, change our towels ... not much more in our room. When there is any extra mess (sand on the carpet, for example) we leave more of a cash tip.

 

We are leaving more than an appropriate amount of cash and auto gratuities for the amount of service and assistance we require and receive. I personally wish they would go back to the envelope system and allow passengers to personally tell their servers and stewards how much their hard work made their vacation memorable. In the good old days I used to write notes and tuck them in the envelopes (I used to wait tables, and nothing made me feel better than when a customer took the time to jot a quick thank you on a napkin ... same idea) - I'm sure it is good to hear that someone notices how hard they work and doesn't just pay the gratuities because they have to.

 

If cruiselines really punish crew over passengers removing tips ... that's dumb ... the line of thinking on this post is right ... MANY people do it because they are cheap ... ever notice how many people have nothing but complaints on the last full day on board? I sail again in a few days, and I plan to ask when I remove my son's gratuities if this reflects on the people assigned to my cabin or table in any way ... I doubt that it does unless a direct complaint is lodged or there is a pattern.

[rickechambers1@aol.com]

I personally wish they would go back to the envelope system and allow passengers to personally tell their servers and stewards how much their hard work made their vacation memorable. In the good old days I used to write notes and tuck them in the envelopes (I used to wait tables, and nothing made me feel better than when a customer took the time to jot a quick thank you on a napkin ... same idea) - I'm sure it is good to hear that someone notices how hard they work and doesn't just pay the gratuities because they have to.

 

Removing tips just because someone is the 3rd person seems strange logic to me. I've never seen that written anywhere on a cruise website that only the first two receive any service...gosh, think about it on NCL...if you booked the Garden Villa (which sleeps 8) you'd save a bundle for only tipping for the first 2 and stiffing for the other 6.

 

As far as envelopes go, it's very easy to pack a small stack of blank cards and envelopes for the purpose stated. I've done it many times and they are appreciated...but something tells me they appreciate the money a tad more. While in the Garden Villa, of course we left the tips as-is, but then in the cards we put several hundreds in each (butler, concierge, steward). That's the kind of card I bet they really love. :)

[H82seaUgo]

OP here, I have read my sister some of the responses so far. My other siblings have also been telling her how wrong she is. She is now stating she is tipping the full amount for herself, husband, 2 of the kids. The other 2 kids she says she is tipping half or 75% the amount. She says it is because her son will have just turned 2 a couple weeks before the cruise. If we would have cruised a few weeks earlier, he wouldn't have to pay the tip at all.

 

I am hoping she will just end up paying the full amount. As for me stepping up and paying her share as someone suggested, not going to happen. DH and I are paying our tips and saving the rest of our money for the bar tab!

 

wow. decidingtips before.service is even rendered.

 

i wonder if she would be man enough to tell the help which kids she is tipping full amounts for, so when they serve their meals, cut their meat, entertain them, and even getting down eye to eye with them to do their "stuff", they know which kids to include, and which kids to ignore.

[NeuroQueen]

I can't believe I'm even responding to this, but here goes. I am shocked she is going to tip only 75% of the recommended guideline. How much is that really saving her in the long run. No matter how neat a family is, it is common sense that kids make a much bigger mess and require more time spent in caring for them whether in the MDR, WJ, or the cabin. I think she is a cheapskate and should abide by the guidelines or stay at home. Sorry to be so blunt, but she has obviously never worked in the service industry. I did for one summer and it was the hardest job I ever had. I hope you have a great cruise and your sister comes to her senses.

[cherbear4000]

I get that some ppl remove tips and then distribute cash as they see fit to the crew they want. Then there are ppl that just remove tips bc they dont want to pay. I guess what I dont get is that OPs sister's parents are paying the cruise fare yet she cant come up with tip money. So what is sister going to do? Remove tips for the 2 kids then give 75% in cash as she sees fit? Can you remove just part of the amout? Guess I have a hard time believing that sister will pay 75% in cash if its all removed. Especially seeing as to how she didnt want to pay tips for 2 of the kids at all.

 

She wasn't planning on tipping in cash, just adjusting the daily amount for the kids to 50% or maybe 75% of the original $11.50 per day. Originally she was going to remove the daily charge for the 2 younger kids completely, then after me and my other sister got on her case, said she would tip 50% or 75% for them (although we think she is lying about that).

 

I think I may have finally taken care of the issue by doing what I should have done to begin with. I did what any mature adult would do. I told my mom on her. My mom was pissed to hear my sister would screw over those hard-working employees, especially since that is the only part of the trip she has to pay for.

 

My mom called my sister and yelled at her. Told her she better pay the full $11.50 a day for all 6 of them. My sister complained to my mom saying it was too much money (even though both she and her husband have decent jobs). Of course my mom didn't want to hear that as my parents are paying the cruise fare, airfare, and excursion costs for 14 people.

 

My mom is now making my sister show her the final S&S bill that shows the full tip for all 6 of them, and the credit card statement to match it. If my sister removed any of the tips, that is the last cruise she and her family will get paid for!

[jdvmd]

She wasn't planning on tipping in cash, just adjusting the daily amount for the kids to 50% or maybe 75% of the original $11.50 per day. Originally she was going to remove the daily charge for the 2 younger kids completely, then after me and my other sister got on her case, said she would tip 50% or 75% for them (although we think she is lying about that).

 

I think I may have finally taken care of the issue by doing what I should have done to begin with. I did what any mature adult would do. I told my mom on her. My mom was pissed to hear my sister would screw over those hard-working employees, especially since that is the only part of the trip she has to pay for.

 

My mom called my sister and yelled at her. Told her she better pay the full $11.50 a day for all 6 of them. My sister complained to my mom saying it was too much money (even though both she and her husband have decent jobs). Of course my mom didn't want to hear that as my parents are paying the cruise fare, airfare, and excursion costs for 14 people.

 

My mom is now making my sister show her the final S&S bill that shows the full tip for all 6 of them, and the credit card statement to match it. If my sister removed any of the tips, that is the last cruise she and her family will get paid for!

Kudos to you and your mother.

[Zoedokey]

She wasn't planning on tipping in cash, just adjusting the daily amount for the kids to 50% or maybe 75% of the original $11.50 per day. Originally she was going to remove the daily charge for the 2 younger kids completely, then after me and my other sister got on her case, said she would tip 50% or 75% for them (although we think she is lying about that).

 

I think I may have finally taken care of the issue by doing what I should have done to begin with. I did what any mature adult would do. I told my mom on her. My mom was pissed to hear my sister would screw over those hard-working employees, especially since that is the only part of the trip she has to pay for.

 

My mom called my sister and yelled at her. Told her she better pay the full $11.50 a day for all 6 of them. My sister complained to my mom saying it was too much money (even though both she and her husband have decent jobs). Of course my mom didn't want to hear that as my parents are paying the cruise fare, airfare, and excursion costs for 14 people.

 

My mom is now making my sister show her the final S&S bill that shows the full tip for all 6 of them, and the credit card statement to match it. If my sister removed any of the tips, that is the last cruise she and her family will get paid for!

 

Your mother is awesome!

[halos]

I did what any mature adult would do. I told my mom on her.

 

 

My mom is now making my sister show her the final S&S bill that shows the full tip for all 6 of them, and the credit card statement to match it. If my sister removed any of the tips, that is the last cruise she and her family will get paid for!

 

LMAO :D

I love it!

[jmeans23970]

I did what any mature adult would do. I told my mom on her.

 

HIlarious! :D

[luddite]

Sweet!

Trumped by the MomCard.

Mother knows best!