Princess Auto-Tipping????? Yes/No?

[saltypeer]

We are going on our 1st Princess cruise this December and had a query about the tips that are automatically added to your ship-board account.

 

Can you tell us if we are able to stop the auto gratuity, as we would like to provide our own tips for good service.

 

I have heard that we are able to stop the auto-tipping by visiting pursers desk on arrival onboard. Is this true?

 

Thanks in anticipation of your answers.

[antsp]

you can stop it at any time, i guess as long as its before the last night, just visit the pursers desk

[cruisequeen10]

I don't believe so. You can adjust them up or down.

[prophotogirl]

Yes you can stop them BUT whatever you give to the steward or waiters they will have to put in the "tip pool" and may not get all of it back. Now if you leave the autotips on then tip more for the service then they most likely will get the full amount of extra tips back. The auto tips are not that much anyway $10 a day per person which is divided part to the wait staff pool the part to the stateroom steward pool.

[Broughton]

We recently returned from a Sea Princess Med cruise and found the service outstanding. We left the autotip in place as we felt the staff all worked so hard. However - I always felt a bit mean when getting good service we did not leave anything immediately! We did leave the cabin steward a little extra on top.

 

The thing is that it all comes down to personal choice and you go with what you feel the most comfortable with. Enjoy your cruise!

[vmom]

You can remove the auto tips but then as a previous post stated, the staff you tipped will be required to turn in the tips you gave to a tip pool to be divided.

 

If you want to tip individually, best to keep the auto tip in place and if you feel someone gave outstanding service, then give them something additional. They are not required to turn in tips that are given in addition to the auto tip.

[Pam in CA]

I would strongly recommend leaving the auto-tip in place. The $10/day/pp is the same as the previous (before auto-tipping) recommended tips so no matter what, that's what you would budget for tipping.

 

If you remove the auto-tip and tip individually, as the others have said, the person you tip MUST turn that money into the pool so that they wind up getting less than they would have if you'd left the auto-tip in place. If they don't turn the tip into the pool, they could be fired.

 

There are many who resent the auto-tipping, feeling they should be able to just tip the people who directly provide them service. However, there are many crew who also provide service and help make your cruise experience a positive one although you won't deal with them directly. The auto-tipping is really a very fair way of recognizing service and as I said, you'd budget for the $10/day/pp anyway, even without the auto-tipping.

 

A few years ago, on a Royal Princess cruise before auto-tipping, one immediately after a world cruise, I heard stories of people who completely stiffed their stewards, waiters and waitresses. These people provided service for almost two months and received not a dime in recognition. I thought that was horrible. Unfortunately, there are many who do that and try to be cheap. Heck, they ARE cheap... and rude... and...

[S.S.Oceanlover]

We are going on our 1st Princess cruise this December and had a query about the tips that are automatically added to your ship-board account.

 

Can you tell us if we are able to stop the auto gratuity, as we would like to provide our own tips for good service.

 

I have heard that we are able to stop the auto-tipping by visiting pursers desk on arrival onboard. Is this true?

 

Thanks in anticipation of your answers.

 

Do you have traditional dining or anytime dining? If you have anytime dining and remove the tips you'll have to carry around a lot of cash as you'll have different waitstaff each night.

 

Bill

[phaelon56]

We left the auto-tip in place, added a bit to it at the end of the cruise, tipped our cabin steward a significant extra amount in cash and also ensured to give $1 tips where appropriate for drink service etc.

 

It didn't add up to a lot of money and the service justified it.

[Lynda90]

We left the auto-tip in place, added a bit to it at the end of the cruise, tipped our cabin steward a significant extra amount in cash and also ensured to give $1 tips where appropriate for drink service etc.

 

It didn't add up to a lot of money and the service justified it.

We did the same thing. Unless the service is really bad, it's much easier to leave the auto tip on. You can always give extra at end of cruise for superior service. Also, always tip room service each time if you use them. We gave anywhere from $2-$5 depending on the order.

[SunnyCosmo]

I kind of fall in the middle on this issue. Don't like "automatic anything" like that but I see it's value and practicality. We're going on Sun Princess in two months so based what I've just learned, may I....leave the auto-tip in place but lower it to my comfort zone so there is the auto-tip on record so that we may over-tip our cabin steward & he gets to keep it all and make it up to the waiter & busboy in cash too. We like traditional dining but will probably still only dine in the main room 4 out of our 10 nights. (that's why i resent $20 from my wife and I for 6 days when we're not there and tipping elswhere) We typically will give the cabin steward $100 for a 10 nighter....that's more than his "cut" of the auto-tip right?

[cherylandtk]

Sunny, other passengers have posted that if you lower OR remove the auto tip, then your servers/stewards must turn in all cash tips. So your plan would not work out as you wish. Your steward would still have to turn over that $100, as would your dining room staff.

 

BTW, the dining portion of your auto tip is not $20 for you and your wife each night, that is the total and includes your room steward. The auto-tip was instituted when anytime dining was introduced; it is easier for folks like you who will be dining in a variety of venues; everyone still gets tipped without you having to carry tips for each server each night.

 

If you still would rather reduce your auto-tips and "tip elsewhere", you are certainly able to do so.

[cruisequeen10]

Now I am confused. If you auto tip, the tips get divided amongst those persons directly involved. If you add additional cash to these persons, they have to hand it in and it gets shared amongst those persons involved. Either way, it is the same, is it not?

[bdjam]

We like traditional dining but will probably still only dine in the main room 4 out of our 10 nights.

Off topic, but since there is usually a waitlist for Traditional Dining, if one is not planning on using the dining room for the majority of the trip, it would be a help to those waitlisted to switch to Anytime.

Now I am confused. If you auto tip, the tips get divided amongst those persons directly involved. If you add additional cash to these persons, they have to hand it in and it gets shared amongst those persons involved. Either way, it is the same, is it not?

Auto tips work like this: if you leave the full auto-tip on your account and you tip over that amount in cash, the overage is turned in. Once it is confirmed that the auto tip has been left on your account, the overage is returned to the staff member by their superior. If you adjust the auto tip down and tip in cash the difference is held for the tip pool and any left over is then returned to the staff member.

[Pam in CA]

Now I am confused. If you auto tip, the tips get divided amongst those persons directly involved. If you add additional cash to these persons, they have to hand it in and it gets shared amongst those persons involved. Either way, it is the same, is it not?

Sorry you're confused. It's not the same thing.

 

If you LEAVE the auto-tip in place, the tips get distributed to your steward and the dining staff. Leaving the auto-tip in place, if you want to tip extra to your steward and/or waitstaff, they get to keep the extra.

 

If you REMOVE the auto-tip and tip individually, then they have to hand in the tip and it gets shared by everyone in the pool. If they do not hand in the tip, they could be fired.

 

What I'm not sure of and perhaps someone correct me if this is wrong, but I believe you either leave the auto-tip on or remove it, i.e., it's an on/off. I don't think you can leave the auto-tip on but reduce the amount.

[nho9504]

questions, unless they are playing dumb, and actually try to tip LESS ?

 

It is such a straight forward machanism and it simplies things a whole lot, and yet we keep getting questions on this dead horse - the auto-tipping has been in place for over what, 3 full years by now ?

 

I guess some people would really undertip if there is no auto-tipping in place, they will claim all sorts of reasons that they dont receive good services, thus they dont need to tip ......

 

People are willing to spend thousands on a cruise, cabin/excursions/spa treatments/drinks/photos, etc etc, yet they are questioning about the $10 per day per person auto-tip - which is not a dime more than what the guidlines were YEARS BACK.

[Pam in CA]

questions, unless they are playing dumb, and actually try to tip LESS ?

 

It is such a straight forward machanism and it simplies things a whole lot, and yet we keep getting questions on this dead horse - the auto-tipping has been in place for over what, 3 full years by now ?

 

I guess some people would really undertip if there is no auto-tipping in place, they will claim all sorts of reasons that they dont receive good services, thus they dont need to tip ......

 

People are willing to spend thousands on a cruise, cabin/excursions/spa treatments/drinks/photos, etc etc, yet they are questioning about the $10 per day per person auto-tip - which is not a dime more than what the guidlines were YEARS BACK.

I dunno... I guess people want to tip only those with whom they have direct contact, not realizing that there are many people behind the scenes who are making that person look good. If you have Anytime dining, I should think it would be very hard to find all of your waiters, assistant waiters, maitre D, etc.

 

One of the most successful restaurants I know of has all of the waiters/waitresses pool their tips which are then shared with the kitchen staff. They all work as a team and everyone's happy. If the kitchen staff aren't doing their job, the best waiter in the world won't look good.

[SunnyCosmo]

questions, unless they are playing dumb, and actually try to tip LESS ?

 

It is such a straight forward machanism and it simplies things a whole lot, and yet we keep getting questions on this dead horse - the auto-tipping has been in place for over what, 3 full years by now ?

 

I guess some people would really undertip if there is no auto-tipping in place, they will claim all sorts of reasons that they dont receive good services, thus they dont need to tip ......

 

People are willing to spend thousands on a cruise, cabin/excursions/spa treatments/drinks/photos, etc etc, yet they are questioning about the $10 per day per person auto-tip - which is not a dime more than what the guidlines were YEARS BACK.

I also have seen people come up with all sorts of reasons the last night of a cruise to not tip well or not at all. That's just wrong. My issue now is my last 2 cruises were incentive trips that were all-expenses-paid. So my last cruise we paid for WAS 5 YEARS AGO. Auto tipping is new to me. Probably many others too. It's not a dead horse to me or them. You don't like the post don't read it. Certainly don't respond to it tryin to make someone feel less than.

[OnTheRocks]

Saltypeer, I was opposed to auto-tipping at first. I have learned that it really is a good thing and does not in any way affect service. If you leave the auto-tips in place, you can give an an additional tip to those who you believe have earned them and they will keep the full amount.

 

You can remove auto-tips for just a day or for the entire cruise if you believe that action is necessary. If you have no complaints, leave the automatic portion in place. It makes life simpler for everyone.

 

SunnyCosmo - where do you work and are you hiring?

[donna5]

sunny,

 

So do you tip or does the person paying for the incentive trip pre pay tips?

[Bill B]

The harsh reality:

 

By North American standards, the lines pay less than slave wages to crew who work 12-16 hrs./day, 7 days a week on a 12-month contract... just imagine doing that! Tips are, in essence, the vast majority of their income. You, as a passenger, are directly paying most of their income through tips.

 

The crew who are 'tipped' do not receive 100% of the tip - it is pooled and 'supervisors' take a cut.

 

Intimidation is rife and abuse is common (there are no enforcable labour laws for ships registered under a 'flag of convenience' and who ply international waters).

 

Every crew member who serves you is expected to generate 'X' number of dollars per day in tips - 'auto' or otherwise. If they don't, they loose their job.

 

Leave the auto-tip in place and reward exceptional service with cash. This way, the individual crew member can either keep the 'extra', or use it to make up for the cheapskates who delete the auto-tip and don't replace it with cash.

[saltypeer]

Thank You.

 

 

Thanks to all who have taken time to reply to my question regarding tipping. Though there are differing opinions i now have more information on which to base my decision. As you can probably guess i am still undecided what i should do, but at least you have given me food for thought.

 

Again.....Thank You ALL very much.

[Little Feet]

Forgive me....I do not remember how I did this in the past....the bar adds 15%, I think to the bar tab (correct?). If I want to tip extra on top of this, do I do it in cash or does one "write it onto" the tab that you sign to charge to your shipboard account?

 

We have been on several cruiselines in the past several years. Some we tipped the bar cash and some we wrote onto the account tab. We can't remember what we did on Princess! Please advise!

 

Little Feet

[Pam in CA]

Forgive me....I do not remember how I did this in the past....the bar adds 15%, I think to the bar tab (correct?). If I want to tip extra on top of this, do I do it in cash or does one "write it onto" the tab that you sign to charge to your shipboard account?

 

We have been on several cruiselines in the past several years. Some we tipped the bar cash and some we wrote onto the account tab. We can't remember what we did on Princess! Please advise!

Yes, a 15% tip is added to your (alcoholic) drink tab automatically. When I want to tip extra, I give them an envelope with cash the last night. They're assigned to specific bars and I've never had a problem finding the ones who gave outstanding service.

[SunnyCosmo]

For those who jokingly wondered..I'm a loan officer with a mortgage bank. Yes they did go out of their way to say gratuities were being paid for by the company. (the current contest now is Las Vegas again...if I could only get them to include gambling money..LOL ) I've come to the conclusion that auto tip is fair and extremely convenient. Although I didn't like the the way the one poster said it, I do agree that we are (or should be) talking about tip MINIMUMS. Another "tip" we like to give is $5 cash to a deck-waiter who then has a pool/deck hand find us two chairs in a nice spot on a crowded pool deck....works every time, the waiter then always looks out for us. $5 goes a long way. Just a little bummed to think he/she doesn't get to keep it. This will always be a new topic to someone. So our next cruise we will be leaving the auto tip in place a will probably throw our cabin steward a $50 (we're partyers and sometimes messy) and will be dining in main dining rooms' traditional 1st seating for almost the whole cruise now that 1st has been confirmed and will tip those two a little more too. Can't wait.