How does this tipping thing work ?

[bicycledude]

I'm new to crusing and don't want to mess up the tipping, but I find it a bit confusing. I would appreciate it if you experts can correct me if I'm wrong and answer my questions.

 

1. Who are the different crew members that expect tips and how much is customary ?

 

2. Isn't there a fixed amount charged to your account each day that covers some of the basic services that the cruise ship offers ? Does this cover all of the crew in #1 ?

 

3. It would seem a fixed daily amount would be both good and bad for the crew. Good that it is a guaranteed amount to protect against poor tippers, but bad that it would limit the amount given by good tippers. Also is it possible that the appropriate amounts collected by the cruise ship do not reach the crew members that deserve it ? Is there a way to avoid that happening ?

 

4. Obviously tips are expected when a crew member goes "above and beyond", but are there other circumstances where an additional tip is expected ? Room Service ? Asking for extra towels ? Advice on where the best beach on the island is located ? Dropping off luggage ? Others ? And how much is typical ?

 

5. When is the appropriate time to tip ? For those crew who are assigned to your cabin, is it better to give the tip on the first day or so in order to get better service ? Or should it be done on the last day ?

 

6. If there is truly unacceptable service that hasn't been corrected, for example the room not cleaned at all or requests completely ignored, is there a way to redirect or remove the part of the daily tip amount that the room crew would receive ?

 

7. Is it true that tips are the main source of income for most of the crew ?

 

8. Any other things dos and don'ts or things to be aware of otherwise ?

 

Thank You,

Alan

[AkSusan]

Princess automatically adds $10 a day for your tips plus each time you order a bar item a 15% gratuity is automatically added on. The breakout for the $10 is $3.45 for the room gratuity (your room steward) and $6.55 for the meal gratuity (waiter & assistant waiter).

 

Every special request we asked of our room steward he always did for us and timely (robes, wine glasses, extra towels, shower caps) so we each gave him a cash amount on the last day at sea. We also tipped our waiter a little extra the last night of dinner.

 

The only other person that I tipped was the room service person when they brought us our order.

 

I think if you were having problems with your room steward you could always talk to the purser's office about removing tips.

 

Susan :)

[Iamthesea]

The following link should help you.

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

 

In addition, we give our room steward a $20 up front, in case we need him for special services throughout the week. This practice almost guarantees great service. At the end of the week, if the steward has done a great job, we will leave him another $20 (note that this is in addition to what the cruiseline places on our shipboard account.) Our servers will also get additional amounts at the end of the cruise.

 

You should plan to tip $2 a bag for luggage handling at the port. Room service delivery should get about $2 per order.

[Nitemare]

The following link should help you.

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

 

In addition, we give our room steward a $20 up front, in case we need him for special services throughout the week. This practice almost guarantees great service. At the end of the week, if the steward has done a great job, we will leave him another $20 (note that this is in addition to what the cruiseline places on our shipboard account.) Our servers will also get additional amounts at the end of the cruise.

 

Heh! We greet our steward warmly the first day and this guarantees great service, cuz we've gotten it every time!

 

And then we give the expected tip plus extra at the end of the cruise, depending on how demanding we've been.

[tutak]

Every special request we asked of our room steward he always did for us and timely (robes, wine glasses, extra towels, shower caps) so we each gave him a cash amount on the last day at sea. We also tipped our waiter a little extra the last night of dinner.

 

 

Susan :)

 

Do they get to keep the extra cash. or is it "pooled"?

[AkSusan]

Sorry can't answer that one!

 

Susan :)

[Iamthesea]

Heh! We greet our steward warmly the first day and this guarantees great service, cuz we've gotten it every time!

Great service...maybe. :rolleyes: How about extraordinary service? Does your steward have a cold drink mixed and waiting, your robe laid out and a warm drawn bath for you when you return from shore excursions? Try a $20 next time and see what you get. :D Our stewards practically fall all over us. I guess the passengers on our hall wonder why they aren't getting any service. :o

 

Seriously, the most fun we ever had was when we were the recipients of our first towel animal (not on Princess though :( .) We place a dollar bill in the arms of the monkey as an appreciation for our stewards talent. The next night, we had two towel animals, so we placed a bill on each. The next night............... :eek: The steward must have spent 20 minutes in our room each night thinking of new ways he could dress up the towel animals. We learned never to tip for the animals again.

[Peesea]

Great service...maybe. How about extraordinary service? Does your steward have a cold drink mixed and waiting, your robe laid out and a warm drawn bath for you when you return from shore excursions? Try a $20 next time and see what you get. Our stewards practically fall all over us. I guess the passengers on our hall wonder why they aren't getting any service.

 

Seriously, the most fun we ever had was when we were the recipients of our first towel animal (not on Princess though .) We place a dollar bill in the arms of the monkey as an appreciation for our stewards talent. The next night, we had two towel animals, so we placed a bill on each. The next night............... The steward must have spent 20 minutes in our room each night thinking of new ways he could dress up the towel animals. We learned never to tip for the animals again.

 

No doubt, money talks... :)

[chasetf]

Do they get to keep the extra cash. or is it "pooled"?

We have been asked for our room number by our waiter at the time we gave them the extra tip on the last night. We have subsequently learned by asking our other waiters that if you have not changed your auto deduct, then they get to keep it. If you have taken off the auto and given it in an envelope, then they have to pool it. :o

[britsbest]

Do they get to keep the extra cash. or is it "pooled"?

 

We had great waiters last year and tipped them handsomely in person. They both said they would have to "hand it in"

[britsbest]

Do they get to keep the extra cash. or is it "pooled"?

 

We had great waiters last year and tipped them handsomely in person. They both said they would have to "hand it in"

[spongerob]

I'm new to crusing and don't want to mess up the tipping, but I find it a bit confusing. I would appreciate it if you experts can correct me if I'm wrong and answer my questions.

 

1. Who are the different crew members that expect tips and how much is customary ?

7. Is it true that tips are the main source of income for most of the crew ?

2. Isn't there a fixed amount charged to your account each day that covers some of the basic services that the cruise ship offers ? Does this cover all of the crew in #1 ?

6. If there is truly unacceptable service that hasn't been corrected, for example the room not cleaned at all or requests completely ignored, is there a way to redirect or remove the part of the daily tip amount that the room crew would receive ?

 

I'm lumping all these together because they are related. All crew members in non-supervisory positions rely almost entirely on tips for their income. They are paid a very small stipend, plus get their rooms and meals, from the cruise line. The rest comes from tips. Princess will automatically charge $10 per day to each person's on-board account to cover basic tipping. This is still discretionary and can be removed in whole or in part for whatever reason people might have for doing so. It is split among the entire crew, though I'm not sure how it is apportioned. I have to assume that room stewards and food service staff get the largest portion.

 

I have always been of the belief that any additional cash tips beyond the auto-tip amounts were kept by the person receiving them. Others have stated that this is not necessarily true. I know that everything has to be handed in and is (supposedly) returned after verification that auto-tips have been paid. However, Carnival corporate policies might have changed this. For example, casino dealers share tips among the entire fleet, as one dealer who quit explained to me, so it is possible that a similar policy exists for other crew members as well. I do not know if this is true; and I'm posting this only for discussion purposes.

 

3. It would seem a fixed daily amount would be both good and bad for the crew. Good that it is a guaranteed amount to protect against poor tippers, but bad that it would limit the amount given by good tippers. Also is it possible that the appropriate amounts collected by the cruise ship do not reach the crew members that deserve it ? Is there a way to avoid that happening ?

As much as I hate to say it, I guess it is possible that skimming could take place, but I personally don't believe that this happens. If the crew found out (and they will, if their envelopes start coming up light) there would be hell to pay. It is something I cannot control if it does happen, so I don't worry about it.

 

4. Obviously tips are expected when a crew member goes "above and beyond", but are there other circumstances where an additional tip is expected ? Room Service ? Asking for extra towels ? Advice on where the best beach on the island is located ? Dropping off luggage ? Others ? And how much is typical ?

 

I usually give the luggage guys a few dollars if we catch them, room service gets a few dollars depending on what we've ordered. Anything that is a service I ask for or need or requires extra effort, probably deserves a tip. Things that are part of the job, no, but do get figured into any end-of-cruise additional tips. We leave the automatic tips in place and have never really had any excuse to remove them, though have sometimes withheld additional tips on rare occasion.

 

5. When is the appropriate time to tip ? For those crew who are assigned to your cabin, is it better to give the tip on the first day or so in order to get better service ? Or should it be done on the last day ?

 

I never pre-tip, and have never had any reason to believe that we have received lower quality service for not doing so. I think a pre-tip might be justified if there is a list of special things that you want the cabin steward to take care of, such as setting up for a private party or having cocktails ready, but in general I think the practice is unnecessary.

 

8. Any other things dos and don'ts or things to be aware of otherwise ?

 

Something that does not get mentioned enough is that Princess has comment cards that you can fill in for individual crew members who go out of their way to help or are just enjoyable to be around. The cards are available at the purser's desk. Crew members who receive good comments earn extra benefits such as shore privileges. Even if you don't actually tip an individual, filling in a card for them goes a long way.

[phaelon56]

In addition, we give our room steward a $20 up front, in case we need him for special services throughout the week. This practice almost guarantees great service. At the end of the week, if the steward has done a great job, we will leave him another $20 (note that this is in addition to what the cruiseline places on our shipboard account.) Our servers will also get additional amounts at the end of the cruise.

 

You should plan to tip $2 a bag for luggage handling at the port. Room service delivery should get about $2 per order.

 

This matches what I did although I gave my room steward and extra $30 at the end of the week for a total of $50. According to the cruise director's pitch on the ship TV, when he discusses tipping at the end of the voyage, the room stewards have to share part of their $3.45 with someone and actually pocket only $1.75. I didn't have many special requests during the week, traveled alone and didn't require much picking up after but the service was so exemplary that $50 seemed reasonable.

 

I also tip $1 for each non-alcoholic drink I get either at a bar or through a cocktail server. I tipped the waiter at Stirling Steakhouse an extra $5. For other meals I was on PC Dining and at different dining rooms / different tables every night. My service was very good all but one night - in retrospect I should have left something extra for the waitstaff as well but not sure how best to do that when one is moving around to different tables.

[Northender]

I can only speak from our own experience, so here goes.

 

Last trip on the Star we tipped our cabin attendant on the way in - not a huge amount, but we had a small list of items that we would like to have.

We did receive them the same afternoon.

 

We (there were 2 couples) had the same waiter and assistant every night in Anytime Dining. They were wonderful. On night 2 our drinks were practically on the table by the time we sat down. We did not mind waiting 15 minutes or so to have their table every evening.

 

At the end of the cruise we went to the pursers office and discussed the fact that we were leaving on the auto tips but wanted to give our waiter/assistant waiter their own tip not to be shared. The Purser gave us envelopes and told us to write their names on each and state on the outside of the envelope that the auto-tips were left on and this money was for them.

That is what we did. The waiter and assistant waiter thanked us and we explained that this was for them only. They said yes, they knew, and we all went away happy.

 

Now if this method is a lie from me it was a lie to me from the Purser.

 

Before leaving our cabin, we gave another tip to our cabin attendant, but not in an envelope. She put the money in her pocket. We filled out cards for both the waitstaff and cabin attendant. :)