Gratuities

[GUT2407]

[quote name='Mary Ellen'][SIZE=3]Do you [I]REALLY[/I] think that if the full salary were paid by "the employer" it would come out of corporate profits? No. The additional costs would be included in higher cruise fares. Then the TA would get a cut because the commission would be more, middleman cuts, taxes higher.... In the end, the passengers would pay either way. The current system, while not perfect, costs passengers less. ;) [/SIZE][/quote]


More of the same excuses, the cruise lines already don't pay TAs on things like port charges and taxes so why couldn't they do the same with wages component, they do in some parts of the world, so the constant cry of it can't happen is simply wrong.

As or taxes being higher, you do know that a business gets a deduction for wages they pay out don't you.

[Mary Ellen]

[quote name='GUT2407']As or taxes being higher, you do know that a business gets a deduction for wages they pay out don't you.[/QUOTE]

[SIZE="3"]I'm talking about the taxes the crew will pay. :rolleyes: In order to not have a net loss of income, the crew will need to be paid more (bottom line - by the passengers of course) to make up for this.

If you want the service charge paid up front (not part of the cruise fare commissionable to TAs) there is absolutely nothing stopping one from doing this now. Other than of course, the belief that 'they' don't have to pay the crew for services provided. :rolleyes:

I keep seeing the statement along the lines of 'Well, in MY country we pay everyone a living wage...' Just where do people think this salary come from? The Money Fairy???? Good grief, it comes from what one pays for goods and services. To me it makes absolutely NO difference if I pay it up front through our TA or through our onboard account. The result is the same - it comes out of my pocket.

We follow the local customs wherever we are worldwide. [/SIZE]

[quote name='BruceMuzz']You also do not know the specifics of the agreements and requirements between the cruise lines, the manning agencies in other countries, and the tax offices of the national governments of the tipped crewmembers.

[B]Many Asian countries require the cruise lines to send a percentage of the tipped crew's salary (not their tips) back to their home country - through the manning agent - for tax purposes.
If the gratuities become part of the fare, they also become part of the crew salary. That forces the cruise lines to send a much higher percentage of the crew earnings back to their government, who then takes a much deeper cut of those earnings.
In the process, the manning agent who is handling those funds, fiddles with the exchange rates and skims a nice percentage off for himself.
[/B]
Depending on many factors, adding the gratuities to the fare can result in a net loss for the service staff.[/QUOTE]

[SantaFeFan]

[quote name='Mary Ellen'][SIZE="3"]I'm talking about the taxes the crew will pay. :rolleyes: In order to not have a net loss of income, the crew will need to be paid more (bottom line - by the passengers of course) to make up for this.

If you want the service charge paid up front (not part of the cruise fare commissionable to TAs) there is absolutely nothing stopping one from doing this now. Other than of course, the belief that 'they' don't have to pay the crew for services provided. :rolleyes:

I keep seeing the statement along the lines of 'Well, in MY country we pay everyone a living wage...' Just where do people think this salary come from? The Money Fairy???? Good grief, it comes from what one pays for goods and services. To me it makes absolutely NO difference if I pay it up front through our TA or through our onboard account. The result is the same - it comes out of my pocket.

We follow the local customs wherever we are worldwide. [/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Your argument involves caring about the welfare of the staff that provides the services to passengers. Most passengers agree with you - thankfully. Most people want to be fair to the staff, so they tip appropriately, while some passengers - several whom have posted endless complaints about the typical tip policies on this thread alone - obviously couldn't care less about their well being. For them, it's all about making their overly worn point, conveniently ignoring that all their whining won't make a wit of difference in the long run - except to the staff they recommend stiffing out of "principal". :rolleyes: Edited August 6, 2015 by SantaFeFan