Tips, from a uk perspective

[uktog]

When we sail with our grandson, we take his tip/service charge off our bill and at the end of the cruise we give "tips" to those in the children's club who have earned them by their actions and to wait staff who have often been exceptional towards him.

 

But do the cabin staff not also have an additional workload because of an extra person in the room? Why penalise them. When we cruised with our son we took the view as he had had a reduced fare as third person in the room, they still ate very well indeed they emptied the pizza and burger bar at times, we therefore saw the extra we gave to clubs and wait staff etc as a fair balance on the situation. The reductions we enjoyed for the on board fares were much better than we had in land based resorts so it was a good value holiday.

[danyrhelyg]

I always tip the barman - it often makes happy "hour" a lot longer.

[dkjretired]

But do the cabin staff not also have an additional workload because of an extra person in the room? Why penalise them. When we cruised with our son we took the view as he had had a reduced fare as third person in the room, they still ate very well indeed they emptied the pizza and burger bar at times, we therefore saw the extra we gave to clubs and wait staff etc as a fair balance on the situation. The reductions we enjoyed for the on board fares were much better than we had in land based resorts so it was a good value holiday.

 

They absolutely do have an additional workload. Years ago Celebrity was criticized because the recommended tips for 3rd and 4ths in a cabin was half the 1st and 2nd. They have since changed it but I have never heard of someone just eliminating the tips for the 3rd or 4th.

[Chicago Boy]

Not quite right ChicagoBoy--

 

with Select Dining you must PRE-PAY the gratuity. Its cost is added to your cruise fare at the time of final payment. It was instituted for those who opt for Select Dining because they would not see the same waitstaff each night.

 

all others will see the tips added to their daily SeaPass account -- this is the AUTO-TIPPING.

 

Thank you for the clarification. I was not quite as specific as you. but I thought my remarks about adding the tips up front pretty much said the same thing.

[Chicago Boy]

That's not quite right either - in the UK, most people are offered the opportunity to pre-pay, whether you opt for select dining or not. I think it's because otherwise many people in the UK will think it's optional, like tipping, rather than part of the staff's pay. I always pre-pay - makes my final SeaPass account less scary!

 

I under stand tipping is a cultural thing. I worked in the service industry for many years and we found that many people from the UK did not tip for service unless it was either added to their bill or it was explained that tipping for service in the US was customary. Just sayin:D

[jackdiamond]

We sail with Celebrity, Cunard and P&O.

 

My husband always has the auto tips removed and we give cash (in an envelope) to those members of staff who in our opinion have been helpful or surpassed the normal level of service.

 

The drinks packages on Celebrity already include the suggested/expected tip. I loved trying the various smoothies, teas, coffees and non alcoholic cocktails too. Also, remember to get some bottled water and sodas to take ashore, they are part of your package. If you like coffee after your meal, your waiter will get you a good coffee from Al Baco at no extra cost.

 

Enjoy your Celebrity cruise, which ship will you be on?

In this scenario, you have denied tips to those whom you normally do not see. Too bad.

[love to sail - brian]

I for one wish they charged this up front as a separate line item, does anyone remember when "port charges" were a line item in the cost of the cruise?

 

IMPO and knowing a little something about the industry, this is their salary. Not that I have ever had poor service on a ship, even if that were the case I would never remove my "auto tips" as some of this money goes to people I never see, those who work behind the scenes.

 

We always leave the auto tips in place, before I get flamed from some, we are not made of money either, but we consider this a fixed part of our vacation expenses when we choose to cruise.

 

We then, "tip" at the end of the cruise, those who have extended gracious, thoughtful and exceptional service to us. We ask for some envelopes towards the end of the cruise and put a little cash them...perhaps it's our room attendant, a bar tender, have even tipped members of the cruise director staff.

 

Long and short, if they somehow, and I know it's because of tax issues...would just include this in the fare...I mean, what, we have a 16 night coming up, it would be an extra $350 + or -? I still would have booked this cruise.

[jackdiamond]

brian, your observations are very astute. It is sad that some folks use the "culture" argument to stiff the staff.

[Tiggertastic]

We are from the UK, we pay our gratuities up front and buy the drinks package. The 15% gets split on celebrity, 10% to the ship and 5% to the bar staff/waiter who served the drink.

 

We do not add anything extra to each drink, we wait until the end of the cruise and if we feel that anyone did way beyond, we give them something - i.e we gave each of the martini bar staff money and they pooled it anyway and shared it out at the end of each cruise.

 

We have given a couple of people something there and then for looking after us - for instance 4 bars told us there was no canned guiness on board - on day 3 one of the staff found us and told us he had found some and where to get it - so he got an extra tip

[cafediem2]

I under stand tipping is a cultural thing. I worked in the service industry for many years and we found that many people from the UK did not tip for service unless it was either added to their bill or it was explained that tipping for service in the US was customary. Just sayin:D

 

You're right though. And you will be pleased to know that I read about the 'done thing' before visiting a new country...in the US I generally tip a minimum of 15% (unless someone is downright rude to me...) up to about 25% for great service. Let me know if the rules have changed!

 

On ships, we do as Tiggertastic does, pre-pay, and tip extra here and there.

[April Jewel]

You're right though. And you will be pleased to know that I read about the 'done thing' before visiting a new country...in the US I generally tip a minimum of 15% (unless someone is downright rude to me...) up to about 25% for great service. Let me know if the rules have changed!

 

On ships, we do as Tiggertastic does, pre-pay, and tip extra here and there.

 

Same here - pre-pay tips and tip extra where the service is exemplary

[sandancer]

And us and yes it does upset me that some people lump all Brits into the category of not tipping. The excuse of "not knowing" does not sit well with me. We do tip in the UK, perhaps not as big a % as in the US but still a tip. Why should anyone who routinely tips wait staff in a UK restaurant not know to tip cruise personnel?