Celebrity Tipping

[FortyNinerLiz]

At least Celebrity puts forth their tipping guidelines ahead of time. I just got cruise documents from Viking and find that Cruise Director/Tour Staff are added required (suggested) to the tune of $20 per stateroom per day!!! That is added to your normal attendant/etc tipping of $30 per day. Not only that, they expect you to pay the CD/Tour Staff in American/European cash!!! No charging to your account!! That is a minimum of $50 a day, cash, per stateroom! Celebrity includes the CD in your cost and does not surprise you with last minute "cash" requirements after you have made your final payment. Celebrity does it "right"!!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We have friends who have done Viking River cruises and they never mentioned that. They've been trying to talk us into one but we are leaning to Uniworld if we do a river cruise. I think they are all inclusive.

 

Mary Lou

[FortyNinerLiz]

We have friends who have done Viking River cruises and they never mentioned that. They've been trying to talk us into one but we are leaning to Uniworld if we do a river cruise. I think they are all inclusive.

 

Mary Lou

 

We are doing the Waterway of the Czars Russian cruise and they may not want to accept charging against the Russian currency because the exchange rate is sliding due to the turmoil. Don't know, but it was a surprise!!!

[Kamloops50]

Cruise lines like Celebrity only the service staff (not the Maitre de or head waiter) get the gratuities . The CD etc don't get any gratuities because their wages are based American scale wages.

[SFO-F/A]

We cruised Viking a couple of years ago and I don't remember this. :confused:

[Lsimon]

Cruise lines like Celebrity only the service staff (not the Maitre de or head waiter) get the gratuities . The CD etc don't get any gratuities because their wages are based American scale wages.

 

This is not true. A component of the daily tips has always been allocated to dining room management. Before the charge tipping an envelope was provided for your head waiter/asst. Maitre'd. There was also a tip included for the Assistant chief housekeeper who manages the stateroom attendants. Also, as recently as a year or two ago the list of categories making up the daily tips included $1.00 per person per day for the dining room management and $1.50 for "other service personnel" which was never totally defined so that may or may not include other managers. More recently, Celebrity has stopped breaking down the auto/prepaid gratuity amounts by staff position and now only states it as an aggregate amount of $12.00 to $15.00 per person per day depending on the stateroom category.

 

But at least the management people I'm mentioning are part of the service staff departments. I've never heard of the CD, entertainment staff or tour staff being part of the daily tip pool.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Lsimon

[Kamloops50]

This is not true. A component of the daily tips has always been allocated to dining room management. Before the charge tipping an envelope was provided for your head waiter/asst. Maitre'd. There was also a tip included for the Assistant chief housekeeper who manages the stateroom attendants. Also, as recently as a year or two ago the list of categories making up the daily tips included $1.00 per person per day for the dining room management and $1.50 for "other service personnel" which was never totally defined so that may or may not include other managers. More recently, Celebrity has stopped breaking down the auto/prepaid gratuity amounts by staff position and now only states it as an aggregate amount of $12.00 to $15.00 per person per day depending on the stateroom category.

 

Many cruise lines have dropped the gratuities to mangers etc.

[Illyria]

At least Celebrity puts forth their tipping guidelines ahead of time. I just got cruise documents from Viking and find that Cruise Director/Tour Staff are added required (suggested) to the tune of $20 per stateroom per day!!! That is added to your normal attendant/etc tipping of $30 per day. Not only that, they expect you to pay the CD/Tour Staff in American/European cash!!! No charging to your account!! That is a minimum of $50 a day, cash, per stateroom! Celebrity includes the CD in your cost and does not surprise you with last minute "cash" requirements after you have made your final payment. Celebrity does it "right"!!

I had to re-read your post at least 3 times to understand what this had even to do with Celebrity Cruises and their tipping policies...

 

Viking doesn't "hide" their tipping guildelines, it's right there on the website ("About My Ship" -> "Amenities and Services"). It shouldn't come as a surprise to you.

[retired067]

[QUOTE=CHEZMARYLOU;43796029]We have friends who have done Viking River cruises and they never mentioned that. They've been trying to talk us into one but we are leaning to Uniworld if we do a river cruise. I think they are all inclusive.

Mary Lou

 

Is the Op referring to a river cruise or an ocean cruise as Viking does both

[cle-guy]

Cruise lines like Celebrity only the service staff (not the Maitre de or head waiter) get the gratuities .

 

Here's the most recent breakdown of how Celebrity allocates the gratuity:

 

• $12.00 per person per day in staterooms
  
• $12.50 per person per day in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms
  
• $15.50 per person per day in Suites
  

This gratuity is shared by your stateroom attendant, dining services staff, and housekeeping staff members who help enhance your vacation experience.

 

At your discretion, the gratuity payments may be adjusted onboard at Guest Relations, in which case they will not automatically be added to your onboard SeaPass® account. Prepaid gratuities for those with Select Dining may not be modified.

 

A 15% gratuity will be automatically added to all beverages and mini bar purchases, 18% to spa and salon services. Additional gratuities may be added at your discretion.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Waiter - $3.65 pp/per day
  
• Ass't. Waiter - $2.10 pp/per day
  
• DR Mgm't. - $1.00 pp/per day
  
• Stateroom Service -
  • Suite Butler $3.50 pp/per day
    
    
  • Aqua Cabin Steward - $4.00 pp/per day
    
    
  • Concierge Class Cabin Steward - $4.00 pp/per day
    
    
  • Regular Stateroom Cabin Steward - $3.50 pp/per day.
    
    

  [*]Other service personnel: $1.25 pp/per day

Edited August 18, 2014 by cle-guy

[boogs]

Cruise lines like Celebrity only the service staff (not the Maitre de or head waiter) get the gratuities . The CD etc don't get any gratuities because their wages are based American scale wages.

 

This is not true. A component of the daily tips has always been allocated to dining room management. Before the charge tipping an envelope was provided for your head waiter/asst. Maitre'd. There was also a tip included for the Assistant chief housekeeper who manages the stateroom attendants. Also, as recently as a year or two ago the list of categories making up the daily tips included $1.00 per person per day for the dining room management and $1.50 for "other service personnel" which was never totally defined so that may or may not include other managers. More recently, Celebrity has stopped breaking down the auto/prepaid gratuity amounts by staff position and now only states it as an aggregate amount of $12.00 to $15.00 per person per day depending on the stateroom category.

 

But at least the management people I'm mentioning are part of the service staff departments. I've never heard of the CD, entertainment staff or tour staff being part of the daily tip pool.

 

 

"Here is what member cle-guy posted on a recent thread regarding the tip amounts and who they go to:"

 

EDIT: OOPS! As I was posting what cle-guy shared with us on another thread, he posted it here himself. I deleted it since there is no need to post it twice!

 

Thanks, cle-guy!

Edited August 18, 2014 by boogs