Tipping Over and Above Suggested Gratuities

[JimmyVWine]

(Or I can chase the steward down the hall and ask for some of the money back :D.)

 

Theo

I would pay to see that. My mind's eye is picturing a skit from "Benny Hill" or a scene from "Fawlty Towers". Either one would have me in stitches. :D

[geocruiser]

I always find and shake the hand of my steward when we board and give him a $20 on embarkation. I tell him I appreciate him and his position and what he does for all his stateroom guests and just appreciate him. I am a neatfreak in my cabin and don't ask for anything special. So I just see this as appreciating him not a bribe.

 

Pooh

 

I all so appreciate them too, but I show it at the end of the cruise. I can understand that you appreciate his/her position, before the cruise starts, but for me to appreciate a person who I just said hello to and tip them, takes more than just meeting them. Of course you may all ready know them.

 

But every one has to do what is right for them.

[Krozulo]

I agree with most of your posts on CC but here I think we have a different opinion.The difference is that if I leave the Auto Gratuity in place I still have the option (in he unlikely event of bad service) to reduce the amount. This is not likely to happen if I gave the steward and/or waiters my $ 100.00 when I board the ship. In the latter case we just have to chalk it up as a bad experience. (Or I can chase the steward down the hall and ask for some of the money back :D.)

 

Theo

 

I haven't cruised yet, and obviously haven't had to reduce the automatic gratuities, but IF one has poor service from, say, their waiter, can one reduce the automatic gratuities and say "Please make sure my waiter receives less."? Or do they punish everyone else who is part of the automatic gratuities - even those behind the scenes, or their cabin steward who may have done an exemplary job?

[keithm]

Well known fact.

Cash tips may be kept, as long as pax didn't remove auto tip & either "pocket" them(totally crude!!)or divvied them out to the staff of their choice, which then "stiffs" those behind the scene.

[keithm]

CallistaSkye

I agree with you. I cleaned hotel rooms as a part time job and am always amazed that folks tend to readily tip the server who delivered food but not the person who cleaned your toilet. I think it has something to do with being face to face.

My opinion, I don't presume to tell others how to spend their money.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

The staff who kept our room clean got the SAME tip(extra at end of cruise)as the staff who took care of us in the dining room. We're in the food & hospitality industry, & trust me we TAKE care of our own!

[keithm]

Where do you get $10 per day for the room stewards? No cruise line gives these people that big a cut of the daily tip amount. According to this 2013 article, the cabin crew only gets about 35% of the total amount, not 70% as you claim. Even considering that most cabins have at least two occupants, the total still doesn't add up to $10. The tip amount may be higher today than described in this 3 year old article, but the percentages of the total most likely haven't changed.

 

http://cruises.reviewed.com/features/the-low-down-on-cruise-ship-gratuities-2

 

"Carnival Cruise Lines — Carnival adds a tip of $11.50 per day, per guest for crewmember services, other than bartenders. The full amount is added to onboard accounts on the second day of the cruise. The amount is distributed as follows: $3.70 for cabin services, $5.80 for dining room services, and $2 for “alternative services” (kitchen, entertainment, guest services and other hotel staff members)."

 

"Disney Cruise Line — The tipping guidelines for Disney Cruise Lines recommend a total of $12 per day allocated toward dining room server ($4), assistant server ($3), head server ($1) and cabin steward ($4). The recommendations are per person, regardless of age."

 

"Regent, Silversea, Seabourn and Sea Dream: Waiter: $3.75; Assistant Waiter: $2.25; Head Waiter: $.75; Stateroom Attendant: $3.75 ($7.25 if you’re in a suite); Stateroom Assistant: $2.25"

Great posting!!! That is pretty close to the actual gratuity payments to the staff. We then go by the "Berlitz guide to cruise ships & cruising(a very GOOD book)We then tip $6 a day to the waiter & our cabin person & about half that to the assistants they may have. We may also tip above or below that depending on the quality of service. Pax can OBVIOUSLY tip over the auto tip according to their wishes.

[moki'smommy]

So...my understanding is that provided I have paid the automatic tip, there is no one on board for whom I should consider a tip to be an obligation--right? The bar tender who fills the diet coke cup has been tipped with the automatic gratuity included in the package. The person who delivers room service is one of those "behind the scenes" persons included in the auto tip, right? So when I don't order any room service on an entire cruise, they get an amount from me anyhow, and when I do order something, addition is nice but not mandatory? The spa people get their 18% automatically added to their ticket.

 

There are a lot of people with an "extra" tip line on the receipt they need me to sign. But they have all been covered in the package/hotel charge tips unless I choose to add extra? Right or not?

[keithm]

I always find and shake the hand of my steward when we board and give him a $20 on embarkation. I tell him I appreciate him and his position and what he does for all his stateroom guests and just appreciate him. I am a neatfreak in my cabin and don't ask for anything special. So I just see this as appreciating him not a bribe.

 

Pooh

We used to see & get service from this bar tender on the QM2 for a couple of years. The last year on the QM2(2010) he actually took us to a bar & bought us a round of drinks. I thought that was totally cool!

[sloopsailor]

I always find and shake the hand of my steward when we board and give him a $20 on embarkation. I tell him I appreciate him and his position and what he does for all his stateroom guests and just appreciate him. I am a neatfreak in my cabin and don't ask for anything special. So I just see this as appreciating him not a bribe.

 

Pooh

 

I guess that I must be very lucky because I have NEVER tipped anyone in advance on a cruise and have always gotten great service. When the steward introduces himself and asks if there is anything I need, I am polite and let him know then if there is anything. I really don't understand the need for the power play that a tip in advance is supposed to accomplish. :confused:

 

I choose to appreciate them at the end of the cruise with an additional tip if it is warranted, and at the minimum, a good review on the comment card I always fill out.

 

Tipping in advance is like giving an athlete a medal before they have even competed. That pretty much takes the whole point of "appreciating" their actual effort out of the equation. :D

Edited September 26, 2016 by sloopsailor

[keithm]

The standard cabin load on Princess is 18 cabins.I have been told that # many times.

What I'd do is ask your cabin attendant. Then as you travel along a few other floors & see attendants, ask them the same question. Obviously those levels that have suites would not be the same as standard staterooms.

[sloopsailor]

So...my understanding is that provided I have paid the automatic tip' date=' there is no one on board for whom I should consider a tip to be an obligation--right? The bar tender who fills the diet coke cup has been tipped with the automatic gratuity included in the package. The person who delivers room service is one of those "behind the scenes" persons included in the auto tip, right? So when I don't order any room service on an entire cruise, they get an amount from me anyhow, and when I do order something, addition is nice but not mandatory? The spa people get their 18% automatically added to their ticket.

 

There are a lot of people with an "extra" tip line on the receipt they need me to sign. But they have all been covered in the package/hotel charge tips unless I choose to add extra? Right or not?[/quote']

 

You are almost correct on all counts. The only correction I would suggest is to always tip your room service person a couple dollars per person. They have given you more personal service than the usual "behind the scenes" crew, and giving them a small tip is a nice thing to do.

Edited September 26, 2016 by sloopsailor

[cruzsnooze]

So...my understanding is that provided I have paid the automatic tip' date=' there is no one on board for whom I should consider a tip to be an obligation--right? The bar tender who fills the diet coke cup has been tipped with the automatic gratuity included in the package. The person who delivers room service is one of those "behind the scenes" persons included in the auto tip, right? So when I don't order any room service on an entire cruise, they get an amount from me anyhow, and when I do order something, addition is nice but not mandatory? The spa people get their 18% automatically added to their ticket.

 

There are a lot of people with an "extra" tip line on the receipt they need me to sign. But they have all been covered in the package/hotel charge tips unless I choose to add extra? Right or not?[/quote']

You don't have to tip extra , in fact you don't have to give the amount suggested either. I dropped my DSC to $10 per day because I thought it wasn't worth more. When I couldn't get a table in anytime and had to use the buffet I resented paying the full amount for buffet dining. I also don't like the DSC going to corp. and not staying on the ship I paid them on.

[sloopsailor]

You don't have to tip extra , in fact you don't have to give the amount suggested either. I dropped my DSC to $10 per day because I thought it wasn't worth more. When I couldn't get a table in anytime and had to use the buffet I resented paying the full amount for buffet dining. I also don't like the DSC going to corp. and not staying on the ship I paid them on.

 

I have been reading these boards for years and you are the only person I have come across who has ever claimed this. Until you provide us with something to back up your claims, I will continue to ignore your conspiracy theory about where tips end up.

 

Must be lonely tilting at that windmill all by yourself. :)

Edited September 26, 2016 by sloopsailor

[floridalover5623]

Cash tips may be kept, as long as pax didn't remove auto tip & either "pocket" them(totally crude!!)or divvied them out to the staff of their choice, which then "stiffs" those behind the scene.

 

They're supposed to turn them in first & then if the auto tip is in place they get it back.

[Renmar]

You don't have to tip extra , in fact you don't have to give the amount suggested either. I dropped my DSC to $10 per day because I thought it wasn't worth more. When I couldn't get a table in anytime and had to use the buffet I resented paying the full amount for buffet dining. I also don't like the DSC going to corp. and not staying on the ship I paid them on.

 

I have been reading these boards for years and you are the only person I have come across who has ever claimed this. Until you provide us with something to back up your claims, I will continue to ignore your conspiracy theory about where tips end up.

 

Must be lonely tilting at that windmill all by yourself. :)

 

 

This is what our Cruise Personalizer says. It states that it is "across the fleet". Now if that means that they share the money across the fleet or that they have the same program across the fleet is up to each person to figure out.

 

Optional Gratuity Pre Payment

For your convenience, gratuities may be pre-paid up to 2 days prior to your departure

 

During your cruise, regardless of which Princess ship you chose, you will meet staff who provide you with excellent service. To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary gratuity is applied automatically to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet. Pre-paid gratuities may be added up to 2 days prior to your departure.

 

Theo

[Pierlesscruisers]

During your cruise, regardless of which Princess ship you chose, you will meet staff who provide you with excellent service. To simplify the tipping process for our guests, a discretionary gratuity is applied automatically to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This gratuity will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including all waitstaff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, and housekeeping staff across the fleet.

 

I believe you will find that what is applied "across the fleet" is the tipping policy itself. Can you imagine how involved and intricate it would be to apply such a policy to so many ships, spread around the world and with so many people beginning or ending contracts every week? You may be correct, I don't know, but it does not seem logical to me.

 

Whether it is the case or not, I'm going to forgo any further involvement in the discussion since it has been discussed to death and nobody, myself included, KNOWS what the intricacies of the program are and probably never will. I will continue to treat the people who make my cruises even more enjoyable in the best manner that I can.

 

Tom

[cruzsnooze]

The gratuity is pooled by corp and distributed across the fleet based on the class of ship. Princess apparently feels it's in it's own best interest to with hold all the information of how tipping is pooled and distributed.

[dmwnc1959]

The phrase "across the fleet" rang a bell and reminded me of this from a thread started back in April 2014 by CRLess:

 

"Now comes the interesting stuff…Princess has gone to a newer internal system recently as it relates to “pooling” of tips. Pooling of tips is now done by ship class. ALL tips collected on the auto-tip system on “like-class” ships in the fleet are pooled together and distributed to the staff based on a point system. For example, ALL tips for a 7 day period collected from the Ruby, Emerald and Crown, are pooled together by HQ, and distributed back to the staff on a “point system”. The same applies to all tips collected on the Island and Coral in a given period. I am not clear how it works with ships that are one of a kind like the Royal (at least for now). Tips from the pool to the wait staff and housekeeping are determined by the number of “points” that person has (a function of seniority, ratings from surveys, and job classification). This system was implemented to protect staff from removal of auto-tips, less than capacity cruises, and scheduled/unscheduled dry docks. It is my understanding that since this was implemented, the staff’s income has become more consistent and has helped with employee retention and overall crew satisfaction."

 

Link to thread...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2031235

 

:D

[traveling1969]

When we first meet our room steward, we give them a list of requests which might include:

 

*2 extra feather pillows

*ice twice a day

*robes

*2 extra bath towels every day

*extra hangars

*remove sodas, water etc.

*beds apart (we always ask beforehand but they're usually together)

*2 wine glasses

*egg crate mattress topper (if needed)

 

When our immediate concerns are met, we give our steward $10 as a tip, gratuity, thank you, call it what you will. We also auto-tip and at the end of the cruise, we tip a bit extra when service has been exceptional. We also reward our wait staff with a bit extra if service has warranted it. We have recently begun carrying singles with us and when we see someone (floor sweepers/moppers, rest room attendants etc.) we give them a dollar and thank them for their hard work. It's fun and the smiles we get in return are a bonus. Tip or not as you see fit. We try to use the Golden Rule as our guide.

 

Harry

Edited September 27, 2016 by traveling1969

[jdeanski]

No matter how you slice it, in the service industry money paid up front is a bribe. JMHO

You don't pay your barber/hairdresser/waiter/taxi driver/ etc. before you get the service do you?

 

Theo

 

There are times that you do...I run into some that don't tip at all. They expect service. Personally I tip a minimum 20% all the time and when I get or need service above and beyond I tip extra accordingly. I have a hard time tolerating cheapskates....

[GUT2407]

Cash tips may be kept, as long as pax didn't remove auto tip & either "pocket" them(totally crude!!)or divvied them out to the staff of their choice, which then "stiffs" those behind the scene.

 

Well that's not what their contract says.

 

But hey on a cruise contracts don't seem to mean much.

[moki'smommy]

Princess apparently feels it's in it's own best interest to with hold all the information of how tipping is pooled and distributed.

 

This is the part that bothers me. Many other lines are totally up front about how their "automatic" tips or "pooled" tips are divided. Princess seems to feel that it should be a deep dark secret.

 

Does it ultimately matter? I guess not. But I know I'm more likely to add to my tips if I know that the money will be rewarding the person who took care of me.

[Wehwalt]

There are times that you do...I run into some that don't tip at all. They expect service. Personally I tip a minimum 20% all the time and when I get or need service above and beyond I tip extra accordingly. I have a hard time tolerating cheapskates....

 

What if they're Australian, and come from a culture where tipping is not expected?

 

Personally, I prefer to pay for a service, and have that be the end of it. I'm a big fan of Uber. I'm not really thrilled about putting money in the dining room waiters' pockets on another ship when I don't tend to use the MDR on the ship I'm on. I use the autotip, and I understand why they do it. But the way Princess does it, it feels like it goes to pay their general wage bill, rather than to the benefit of the people who have helped me.

[GUT2407]

What if they're Australian, and come from a culture where tipping is not expected?

 

Personally, I prefer to pay for a service, and have that be the end of it. I'm a big fan of Uber. I'm not really thrilled about putting money in the dining room waiters' pockets on another ship when I don't tend to use the MDR on the ship I'm on. I use the autotip, and I understand why they do it. But the way Princess does it, it feels like it goes to pay their general wage bill, rather than to the benefit of the people who have helped me.

 

Do you want to borrow me hard hat challenging the great American pass time of stiffing staff and expecting them to live on other people's generosity.

[Wehwalt]

Do you want to borrow me hard hat challenging the great American pass time of stiffing staff and expecting them to live on other people's generosity.

 

Cruising isn't cheap, and I'd rather have enough included in the fare so if that's all I choose to pay the cruise line, I'm not considered to be "stiffing staff". No offense I like to pay what I owe for a service.