Are tips pooled?

[TWOFERTWO]

Flagger, who are you quoting??

Myself. Post is near top of this page. This was my attempt at humor?? I am changing my mind, like the weather changes. :D

[hajekfam]

I don't believe tips are pooled on Celebrity. On one of our cruises we had a room steward who was not up to the usual Celebrity standard so we tipped that person a little less than minimum. We left the envelope on the bed while we went to dinner. That night the room was not even up to his regular job. On another cruise we had a waiter that was not up to Celebrity's standard. He spent more time bragging about how he was going to be promoted to maitre'd instead of giving us Celebrity's usual service. We tipped him just before dessert and put a little less in the envelope. Dessert service was horrible. (Needless to say, we saw him on a later cruise as an asst. waiter.) If tips were pooled, they wouldn't care how much is in the envelope because their share of the what we deducted from the tip wouldn't have been much. And when we had a waiter who gave us way over and above service and we generously tipped, he went out of his way to thank us, literally walking us to the door of the restaurant and looking for us the next morning - making sure we were seated at his table for breakfast. If tips are pooled, why would he care?

I've been wondering since I first read this thread, if there isn't a communication gap about the difference between pooling tips and tipping out. This is my speculation - Maybe the waiters have to tip out the kitchen workers out of their tips and have to give them a certain amount per passenger that they serve. Someone could consider this pooling since they are spreading around their tips instead of using the term tipping out that we use in the US.

I can see on some cruiselines where tips are automatically billed to your account or included in your cruise price, the tips would be actually be pooled. Again, this is

[SkyGuy747]

Someone wondered about comment cards, and how they related to tips...

 

Back in my day... <waves cane about wildly> Your comment cards directly influenced the size of your station on the following cruise, and therefore very directly influenced the amount of money that ended up in your pocket. That's also why a waiter would take the time to explain the comment cards to his guests, being sure that they understood that the only acceptable rating is 'excellent'. As an example, if I had two tables of eight in my section on the first cruise and received 'excellent' comments accross the board, I would be rewarded with an extra table of four, or maybe another eight for the following cruise. Assuming the latter, my tips just increased by 50% all else being equal.

If there was a single 'good' comment (as opposed to 'excellent') I would probably keep the same size section. Two 'good's and my station size (and tip revenue) would be reduced. If there should be anything other than 'good' or 'excellent' you may find yourself demoted to busboy for a cruise or two.

That's why waiters would stress thre word 'excellent' over and over again throughout the cruise - it's to get the guest used to hearing and using the word. You may have heard something like... "If for any reason something is not excellent, please let me know immediately!"

The comment cards are the most direct influence on a waiters salary. I say salary, because we would look uopn tips as our livelihood: as a waiter on Premier in the early nineties, I was paid $80 USD per month, plus room and board. The balance of my income was tips. A hotel cleaner was paid $800 USD per month plus room and board, but they didn't get tips.

If you are unhappy with the service, please tell the crewmember about it and give them a chance to redeem themselves, only if that doesn't work should it go in the comment card (my opinion here!) Of course, really good comments are read aloud to all the dining room staff, and the sometimes win the waiter a reward in the form of a bottle of wine, or a meal off while in port.

 

Sorry for rambling on... it's brought back some wonderful memories of passengers I kept in touch with for years afterwards. I've got more than 100 cruises under my belt, but in a matter of days, I'll be on my first cruise as a passenger! I'll try and stay out of the galley. Promise!:D

[hdawson]

SkyGuy. Alot of todays cruisers got their start on The Big Red Boat.

[SkyGuy747]

It sure was a lot of fun back in the Disney heydays!

[canderson]

It sure was a lot of fun back in the Disney heydays!

Am curious --

 

Since you're about to take your first cruise as a passenger, what led you to book 3 in a row with Celebrity?

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thank you Skyguy for allowing us a peek at life on the other side of the table!:). While I did not use the word "excellent" in my comments regarding my waiters I did use the words...wonderful, efficient, warm, friendly, professional and impeccable service. And I also included other waiters that gave above and beyond service during open seating lunch/breakfast. I hope my comments were sufficient to have my waiters rewarded.

 

BTW, I am also curious as to why you decided on 3 Celebrity cruises as a passenger. Have a wonderful time!

[SkyGuy747]

BrooklynGirl: Taking the time to write a few words on the card, as you did, is great for the waitstaff. You'd be surprised how few people do so. The 'excellent' that I referred to was in a checkbox rating system that Premier used - a five point scale. Perhaps others on this forum know if Celebrity uses a similar system?

 

As for why these three cruises out of the gate... my better half is part of an organization which holds conferences aboard. I have heard such good reviews of Celebrity that when they annouced these Celebrity itineraries I wanted to go along for the ride!

[garardo]

I was on the Infinity a few years back and got into a conversation with the bartender at the Champgne bar about tips. He said that all of the bartenders do pool their tips but the cocktail servers that roam the decks and also are the cocktail servers during diner keep their tips.

 

garardo

[pandas4cheri]

My, some of these postings have become quite heated! My husband and I did not know about pooled tips until our second or third cruise. On tip night, we saw the waiters (including ours) handing over their envelopes to the Head Waiter. We asked our waiter the next morning what that was about, and he explained that all the tips went to the Head Waiter, and after he took his cut, the remainder was evenly divided among the waiters. Bear in mind, this was Royal Caribbean, about 10 years ago.

 

Since then, we always ask those we choose to tip whether or not they pool their tips. If they say "yes", (and they don't always say yes), we put the standard amount in the envelopes and my husband slips them an extra bill at the end of tip night as he shakes their hand, if their service was above average. We also leave glowing remarks on the comment cards for those who give superior service.

 

Whether the "hand shakes" end up in the pool or not, we don't know, but we do it anyway.

[flagger]

I finally got an email back from a waiter and an ass't Maitre'd who are still aboard ships now. Here is part of what the ass't Maitre'd had to say in his email.

 

Yes indeed it is true. Pool are tipped. Employees who receive gratuities are required to turn all monies received at the end of the cruise to the purser who then distributes them. Employees can be subject to any number of disciplinary actions including termination for failing to report all cash received. You are also correct in your statement that there are eyes everywhere.

So the debate is now settled, tips are in fact pooled at least on Celebrity.

[reggierail]

I finally got an email back from a waiter and an ass't Maitre'd who are still aboard ships now. Here is part of what the ass't Maitre'd had to say in his email.

 

 

So the debate is now settled, tips are in fact pooled at least on Celebrity.

 

Balderdash, I also corresponded with a waiter, ass't waiter, Maitre'd and 3rd pursor on the Mercury. My three responses so far are that tips are not pooled except by the bartenders. A response from the head of guest relations on the RCCL Monarch also stated that tips are only pooled by the bartenders. She also stated that the ass't waiters work only 3 weeks of every 4 in the main dining room and the other week in the Windjammer. So 3 of every 4 weeks they get tipped and the other week they don't.

 

Reggie:D

[Ma Bell]

Reggie,

 

That's what my contacts say as well. First of all Celebrity ships don't have Pursers any more and the "Purser" would be the Hotel Manager who doesn't control the dining room staff. There is a Dining Room Manager who heads that division. The tips from the people who charged them to their accounts are distributed to the waiters from the Dining Room Manager and the Maitre'd. I know some of the waiters have been concerned that they may not be receiving all the tips that have been charged to them. The tips that you put in the envelopes go directly to the waiter.

[mafig]

Well, then it seems there's a discrepancy here....

 

 

I would tend to side with one of the previous posters who had a son who was employed by Celebrity. He stated that the tips were not pooled.

 

 

What are the names of the people who you emailed, Flagger?

[reggierail]

Reggie,

 

The tips that you put in the envelopes go directly to the waiter.

 

And that's exactly what I do.:)

Put the money in the envelope and hand it to the person who earned the tip.

The Chief housekeeper tip I hand to the cabin attendant.

 

Reggie:D

[drwong]

On those ships on which the tips were pooled, we were told that non-cash gifts of a "personal" nature didn't have to be tossed into the pool - we've heard of guests giving stewards gifts of fresh flowers to decorate their cabins, Belgian chocolates, fresh fruit, bottles of wine, electronics, jewelry, or especially phone cards to express one's appreciation.