Aussie $$ to USA $$ in Sydney

[Sutho]

The whole thing is I have never ever tipped room service people. On the rare occasion I had a tour that ran late and I missed meal times on Arcadias world Cruise back in February, I ordered room service and just took the tray and never gave anything. The steward giving it always seemed happy and did not give any indication something was wrong when they left.

 

I personally dont like the attitude of tipping. To me giving a tip for room service is like giving a dog a schmako, very belittleing, condescending and elitist type behaviour. What gets my blood boiling even more are the social climbers who profess to tip above and beyond just to make themselves look high and mighty and others look bad.

 

Besides I am unlikely to use room service. Always eat in the main dining rooms/buffet. With my upcoming Celebrity Solstice cruise I will be prepaying the gratuities as part of the fare when it is due in 26 days. I certainly will not be taking any cash to give away. As far as I am concerned I have done my bit by paying the prepaid gratuities.

 

Also the crew do get free time in ports. You see them all the time going ashore and stocking up on goodies for the cabin and bringing loads of stuff back on the ship. They appreciate local currency more.

[NSWP]

why not give it in the form which it would be most appreciated.

 

For this to happen i suggest you find out which country they live in and source that currency.

Correct, they perhaps would not like Indonesian Baht or Indian Rupees, they might prefer NZD then!

 

I gave P&O UK's Arcadia crew AUD, they were quite happy with it. I did not get any £ until I got to Southampton.

 

I don't tip for room service either. Why not ye ask? Because in 15 cruises I have never had room service, scouts honour.

MDR or Buffet, 24/7. Eating in my cabin is not appealing to us, we are minglers, plus I reckon staff have better things to do than knock on my cabin door with some tucker. When I got crook on Arcadia this year and confined to cabin for 3 days, my better half brought me a bit of tucker down, not that I ate it.

[takeout]

I agree SUTHO we always pre pay tips and give extra if warranted and the crew appreciate anything you give them!!

[Cassicruiser]

The whole thing is I have never ever tipped room service people. On the rare occasion I had a tour that ran late and I missed meal times on Arcadias world Cruise back in February, I ordered room service and just took the tray and never gave anything. The steward giving it always seemed happy and did not give any indication something was wrong when they left.

 

I personally dont like the attitude of tipping. To me giving a tip for room service is like giving a dog a schmako, very belittleing, condescending and elitist type behaviour. What gets my blood boiling even more are the social climbers who profess to tip above and beyond just to make themselves look high and mighty and others look bad.

 

Besides I am unlikely to use room service. Always eat in the main dining rooms/buffet. With my upcoming Celebrity Solstice cruise I will be prepaying the gratuities as part of the fare when it is due in 26 days. I certainly will not be taking any cash to give away. As far as I am concerned I have done my bit by paying the prepaid gratuities.

 

Also the crew do get free time in ports. You see them all the time going ashore and stocking up on goodies for the cabin and bringing loads of stuff back on the ship. They appreciate local currency more.

 

I very much doubt that a room service waiter who needs the money sees a tip as elitist and condescending. I would think they see it as a thank you for a service provided for people who work very hard to ensure you have a luxurious cruise. I guess we'll just agree to disagree. :rolleyes:

[The_Big_M]

See this is what concerns me.

 

People that set their own agenda and thereby get into a bidding war n tipping driving up prices and expectations.

 

Even on the US boards $1 or $2 is the norm......$3 is not. $3 is the exception. Next it will be $4 cos someone wants to big note themselves, then $5 or going to the toilet and tipping someone for mopping the floor.

 

 

Hmm..

 

Date: 3 years ago

Board: US

Tip amounts: Generally, $5 common, $2 minimum.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1121454

 

I wouldn't call it an agenda, but you seem to have been misinformed.

[avalon007]

I understand the elitist, condescending thing as I to feel uncomfortable with the act of tipping. I don't doubt the staff probably don't see it that way if they have been brought up in a tipping culture.

 

I just feel like it's placing them in a position that makes them reliant on the good will of more wealthy people, who depending on their mood may or may not tip.

 

I do tip well at the end of the cruise & since RCCL uses a cashless sysem onboard with many passengers also prepaying gratuities,then staff may well not expect to get cash tips throughout the cruise?

 

It is a difficult one as Australians are not used to this expected tipping culture & it can make us at times uncomfortable.

 

No easy answer. Pity cruise line staff don't post on these forums with some insights.:)

[Cassicruiser]

Unfortunately just by the fact of working on a cruise ship they are more reliant on the goodwill of wealthier people, as the cruiseline does not pay them well and their income is reliant on tips.

 

I realise Australians are not used to tipping - but that is the culture IN Australia where staff are payed a decent minimum wage. But if the cruiseline is American the tipping culture and payment structure is different, and the staff working on these ships are paid very little according to that culture. It's not great that it then falls on us to tip, but really it's only a few dollars here and there.

[bazzaw]

To me giving a tip for room service is like giving a dog a schmako, very belittleing, condescending and elitist type behaviour.

 

Don't mention that word around my son's dog!! He doesn't find the handing out of schmakos to be belittling at all. :D

 

Barry

[keagle]

The service that you receive on a cruise should be of a standard set by the cruise line. Tipping should not have to be used to get the standard of service that the cruise line would like you to receive. It should not be seen as a way to get even better service.

 

The people that work on a cruise ship do so because they want to. It is not like their wage would be a hidden secret when they sign up for the job. I talked to an Indian waiter (on the Sun Princess) and he was more than happy with his income. He was also more happy to be on a ship sailing from AU with less US passengers. I got the impression from him that the US people seemed to demand everything because of the tipping.

Some ship may sail more often out of a US port, but the amount of US people who work the ships as wait staff or cabin staff would be minimal or nil.

If a cruise ship comes to AU, then why should we as AU cruisers need to conform with US tradition. The ship could as easily change to conform to the AU non tipping system.

 

In my line of work, I do not expect a tip from anyone. Many of the elderly that I help need every cent that they have, but that does not mean that I leave them to struggle with their belongings with nil assistance. And the 10 or 20 cents that I do get from people is often just the rounding up of the cost. I never see anything like 10 or 15%, and never expect it or any other tip.

[Cassicruiser]

The waiters and cabin staff on these ships are mostly from countries where they arent able to get jobs that pay enough to support themselves and their families, so they take long contracts on cruise ships away from their homes. Our cabin steward on our last cruise was a widower who leaves his 2 young children with his mother in India for months at a time so that he can earn a living, and without tips he does not earn enough to supoort them. Not fair on the part of the cruise line but reality. Its not Australian culture at all to tip, because there are laws about minimum wage, and I agree that in American culture tipping is out of control, but when I am on a cruise, being served and pampered by people so much less fortunate than me, always with a smile, I do so happily.

[fishtaco]

Geez the do,s and the donts again lol

 

Go and change $50 and pay the $8 exchange charge as Barry suggested,its nice to have a bit of foreign cash before a holiday ,even though it may be a false economical thing to do most would get more than $8 worth of excitement just by having the foreign cash before hand! If you want all $1 notes you may have to give a bit of notice first.

 

I so love how people presume cruise staff are earning such a bad wage that we need to feel sorry for them and their families who they are trying to support :rolleyes:ask a Char waller in india if those lucky enough to get a job as cruise ship staff are underpaid!

 

I like to give a few cash tips on a cruise because it makes "me" feel good,usually when i am drunk they get bigger:D

 

I dont use room service but I would be too embarrassed to close the door behind any room service attendant bringing food/drinks to my room without giving a tip,land or sea!

 

Possibly why i dont have room service is because i dont want to tip?

 

 

Den

[Sutho]

If you think we are bad take a look at that other thread on our little forum. Arison pockets 90 million!!!!! Its a shame that creep didnt pay his staff decent wages with that sort of money. What an evil low life scumbag to pocket that sort of money when the real hard workers are the people on the ships giving us a great holiday.

 

Someone above mentioned that Americans are demanding when it comes to tipping and expect everything. My grandparents observed something similar on their US based Princess trips. They said that the American attitute (not all) was never to use please and thankyou, they never looked the stewards in the eyes, they just snapped their fingers and expected things done. They thought some were rude and condescending to these stewards. They thought it was the attitude "money talks"

[Dizziedi]

(Additional) tipping is a personal thing and no-onehas the right to think me stupid for doing so.

 

I'm with Cassicruiser all the way on this one. When we are in Australian/NZ waters we tip in AU and it has always been well received. As someone pointed out earlier, what is not spent here, the generally transfer home anyway.

 

Cheers

Di

[cjm66]

(Additional) tipping is a personal thing and no-onehas the right to think me stupid for doing so.

 

I'm with Cassicruiser all the way on this one. When we are in Australian/NZ waters we tip in AU and it has always been well received. As someone pointed out earlier, what is not spent here, the generally transfer home anyway.

 

Cheers

Di

 

I agree it is totally up to each individual. Comments that additional tipping will somehow undermine Austalian egalitarian culture are irrelevant. On the last cruise I did tip in US dollars for room service because I had taken some USD on board to deposit as cash towards our on board account, having bought at a good rate months earlier. Easy to change some larger notes into 1s and more sensible than using Aussie where the smallest note is a $5 and coins are a nuisance (and difficult to change back).

[6andy6]

 

I dont use room service but I would be too embarrassed to close the door behind any room service attendant bringing food/drinks to my room without giving a tip,land or sea!

Den

 

That's one thing I won't do any more......tip for room service in a land hotel.

 

Now that most hotels charge a 'tray deliver fee' of anything up to $5 bugger them. Given I'm already usually paying well over the odds for that burger and chips the 'tray delivery fee' can now be their tip.

 

Funny thing is I know order less from room service so it impacts their bottom line.

[Icerecon]

What an interesting subject, I agree with several comments, mainly tip if you want to, staff will accept any denomination.

 

But don't forget some pay pre paid gratuities and there is an extra 15% added to drinks and in Australia the cost of a cruise seems to be higher in price.

 

From a friend who wanted to join a US cruise ship the following information was provided to her, it may be a year or so old but interesting.

 

Wage averages for 12 months:

Tipped staff is between 19,500 - 37,500 USD

Non Tipped Staff is between 18,200 - 26,000 USD

 

No food accommodation or uniform expenses and usually no Income Tax needs to be paid.

[fishtaco]

That's one thing I won't do any more......tip for room service in a land hotel.

 

Now that most hotels charge a 'tray deliver fee' of anything up to $5 bugger them. Given I'm already usually paying well over the odds for that burger and chips the 'tray delivery fee' can now be their tip.

 

Funny thing is I know order less from room service so it impacts their bottom line.

 

I didnt know about the tray delivery fee but then again I dont ever use room service, I like to fetch my own stuff when away from home,good chance to people watch:)

 

Den

[fishtaco]

What an interesting subject, I agree with several comments, mainly tip if you want to, staff will accept any denomination.

 

But don't forget some pay pre paid gratuities and there is an extra 15% added to drinks and in Australia the cost of a cruise seems to be higher in price.

 

From a friend who wanted to join a US cruise ship the following information was provided to her, it may be a year or so old but interesting.

 

Wage averages for 12 months:

Tipped staff is between 19,500 - 37,500 USD

Non Tipped Staff is between 18,200 - 26,000 USD

 

No food accommodation or uniform expenses and usually no Income Tax needs to be paid.

 

Not such a bad earning for some nationalities given what little they may earn in their own country!

 

Yes I know cruise staff work long shifts and hard and deserve more Blah Blah Blah but not many service industry workers in Asian countries do an 8 hour day either! most start mid morning to midnight 7 days a week!

 

So cruise pay of $20,000 to $30,000 is not a bad earning given it is not taxed so essentially net money with no other day to day expenses!

 

Take a Balanese waiter/cleaner/cook who earns around $100 $150 per week in the tourist areas $5200 $7800 for working all day and night! some cruise staff are not that bad off at all!

 

Den

[Cassicruiser]

Not such a bad earning for some nationalities given what little they may earn in their own country!

 

Yes I know cruise staff work long shifts and hard and deserve more Blah Blah Blah but not many service industry workers in Asian countries do an 8 hour day either! most start mid morning to midnight 7 days a week!

 

So cruise pay of $20,000 to $30,000 is not a bad earning given it is not taxed so essentially net money with no other day to day expenses!

 

Take a Balanese waiter/cleaner/cook who earns around $100 $150 per week in the tourist areas $5200 $7800 for working all day and night! some cruise staff are not that bad off at all!

 

Den

I agree Den - $20 - $30 000 is a great salary in comparison with what earnings are in many countries, which is why cruise ship workers take these jobs and spend long months away from their families. They don't pay for food and accommodation but many still have families to support who do pay for food and accommodation back home. Those are good salaries for those countries, but would never come close to allowing these people to afford any sort of luxury at all, yet there they are catering to all of us cruisers and making sure we are pampered and looked after.

 

I never tip in Australia as it's not needed, but I tip cruise ship workers (and Balinese and Thai waiters and room cleaners etc) so that I can make their earnings a bit more and show that I appreciate their hard work. I know I sound like a bleeding heart, but I am grateful to be able to afford to cruise and am painfully aware of who is looking after us so well on these cruises.

[keagle]

I am starting to think that the people that work on ships are not that bad off at all. Based on what my Indian friend told me, that he was paid $2000 per month (and you can say AU or US $) that is around the 113,000 Rupee mark. When you look at the cost of living in India, he is doing very well.

 

Cost of living in India.

[NSWP]

I am starting to think that the people that work on ships are not that bad off at all. Based on what my Indian friend told me, that he was paid $2000 per month (and you can say AU or US $) that is around the 113,000 Rupee mark. When you look at the cost of living in India, he is doing very well.

 

Cost of living in India.

$2000 per month is pretty well on the mark for cabin stewards and MDR waiters. All tax free plus cabin and food provided. The staff send most of their money home and as you say $2000 per month is a lot of Rupees or Baht or Pesos or whatever in Third World Countries.

 

Of course much of that $2000 is often made up from the Gratuity Pool, depending on the Cruise Line and ship.

[bazzaw]

I know two things re all this. The first is that, from my observations, staff are VERY keen for their contracts to be renewed. I have always felt,once again from observation, that they are more keen on getting their contracts renewed than they are on receiving "tips" .

 

The second is that, even for these people from difficult backgrounds, money is only one consideration (although a very important one). We had a good long talk to a female bar steward from Romania on one of the Cunard ships. Both she and her husband worked with Cunard and they were even able to co-habit onboard. Financially, it was very rewarding for them - and, planning on soon leaving Cunard, they had purchased and paid for a car and a house in Romania - something that would have been impossible for them otherwise. Why were they planning on leaving Cunard?? -- because they had a 12 year old child who lived with her elderly mother and had done so for 8 years. It was VERY hard for them to not be with their child.

 

Barry

[Ausgirl]

Sure there are other considerations besides money when taking a job on a ship, but clearly earning this money enables them to have a house or car or simply feed their families which they would otherwise not be able to do. This is why cruise ship contracts are so attractive, but being away from their children/parents/ family for long months at a time, year after year is a sacrifice they have to make.

 

Of course, without the gratuities they get, their earnings would be significantly less, and I would never begrudge them this extra money to enable them to make a better life for themselves. After all, as Cassicruiser says, we are the ones on a cruise, and they are the ones that could never afford the same luxury, yet are far away from home making sure we have a great time. A few dollars for a tip to us is nothing, and to them makes all the difference.

[The_Big_M]

I wonder how many Aussies would appreciate their employers saying "He has a good life, car and house so is paid well and doesn't need a pay increase, or we can take away his bonus. He did a great job but he's still doing alright financially so no need for any extra."

 

And then you hear people whinging about how some specific fare is cheaper elsewhere, or at a different time, and how badly done by Aussies are... Sigh. Ironic really.

[avalon007]

On our last cruise our Phillipino head waiter said her husband was also a waiter on the same ship & they enjoyed travelling the world together. Their children had grown up so it was easier for them to be away from home.

 

She was a very upbeat person & as others have noted, both she & our other waiter who was from Jamaicca, were very keen for us to rate their service as exellent on the passneger survey, as apparantly anything less does have an impact on contract renewal & what sort of job they can apply to do.