Should RC adopt Singapore No tipping Policy

[datolim]

Hotels and Restaurants

 

Most of Singapore's hotels and restaurants will automatically include a 10 percent service charge in the bill. Check whether your bills include the fee and, if they do, refrain from leaving any additional gratuity. If the bill in a hotel or a restaurant catering to tourists and does not include a service charge, tipping is optional. Leaving around 10 percent is more than adequate, as a gesture of thanks for good service. However, you needn't leave anything for poor service

 

At the Airport

 

For services rendered at the airport, it's actually prohibited to tip. From shop clerks to servers to baggage handlers, all receive wages instead of relying on gratuities. At Changi International Airport, gratuity-free services range from baby care rooms to left baggage areas, convenience stores to medical clinics. The same rule applies at dining areas, including sit-down restaurants.

 

Add this :) if you are voting Yes.

 

Add this :evilsmile: if you are voting No.

[bUU]

The reason why cruise line have gratuities the way they do has been discussed frequently over the years. You can search for those threads, but in a nutshell, the tax laws of the nations to which many of the crew are citizens are such that changing to a set amount imposed by the line would result in substantially less take home for some. So change is not within the unilateral control of the line. A number of nations have to change their laws first.

 

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[datolim]

What you are saying is if you and I work on RC ships then our country existing law determine how much we should be paid. I don't know if it make sense to anyone.

I don't even pay any taxes to my country as my income is derived outside my home country. Understand it is different for US citizens.

[Havingfun2010]

When you book your cruise, you can prepay your tips. Your cost of the trip, now includes your fair, taxes, port charges, and tips. One price, all inclusive, taken care of time of booking. Whether you "itemize" you final number, or just want to look at the one final number, is irrelevant. Plus, you can call it a tip, or service charge or any other name it means the same on a cruise ship. It is an expected and customary item.

[dasi11]

I tip. I tip higher for great service! I agree with tipping! Promotes hard work! I just budget for fantastic service with tips, when pricing a cruise! I expect the tips to be charged to the room and almost always leave more in cash.

An example, I ask for an additional towel for my long hair and my daughters when we share a room when we board. I don't expect to have to keep asking each day. I let the room steward know boarding day we want 4 towels not 2. If he keeps forgetting every time, no extra tip. That is not hard to make a guest happy..... Only time I did not leave extra money in the room. I did NOT adjust the daily tip charges. They always stay for the staff.

[George C]

Tips should be built into fare, like Sandals vacations there are not cheap but no tipping is allowed

[datolim]

Tips should be built into fare, like Sandals vacations there are not cheap but no tipping is allowed

 

The Singapore government make RC do just that. For local TA and RC Singapore office gratuities must be included in the total price as it is deem to be almost a compulsory charge by RC.

[alfaeric]

I tip. I tip higher for great service! I agree with tipping! Promotes hard work! I just budget for fantastic service with tips, when pricing a cruise! I expect the tips to be charged to the room and almost always leave more in cash.

An example, I ask for an additional towel for my long hair and my daughters when we share a room when we board. I don't expect to have to keep asking each day. I let the room steward know boarding day we want 4 towels not 2. If he keeps forgetting every time, no extra tip. That is not hard to make a guest happy..... Only time I did not leave extra money in the room. I did NOT adjust the daily tip charges. They always stay for the staff.

 

On the other hand, I don't get tips, and I work extra hard, too.

 

MOST people work hard, and have no tipping incentive.

 

Just want to point that out.

 

Another problem with tipping is who gets the money. If I go to a restaurant where the service is average, but the food is amazingly fantastic, there isn't a mechanism where the cooking staff can be thanked.

 

And ever since we've had the automatic tipping, I've not noticed a single change in behavior of the working staff.

 

But to change anything will mean a HUGE cultural shift, which will then lead to legal changes.

[besberry]

In the UK Norwegian has just gone 'All-Inclusive', which means drinks and tips are included. So the price you see is the price you pay. I'm not a fan of tipping, but accept that it's the way things work in the States. In the UK, we would tip 10% for good service. No one I know would even consider 18%, seems way too much. You even have to tip the robot bar tenders on RCI!

[bUU]

What you are saying is if you and I work on RC ships then our country existing law determine how much we should be paid.

No I didn't. What I said was that the tax laws of the nations to which many of the crew are citizens are such that changing to a set amount imposed by the line would result in substantially less take home for some.

 

I don't know if it make sense to anyone.

It makes sense to folks who understood that was I wrote was about the different tax laws that different crew members are subject to due to their different nationalities, and that those differences account for why the gratuities system endures aboard cruise ships.

 

I don't even pay any taxes to my country as my income is derived outside my home country. Understand it is different for US citizens.

And different for Filipinos, and for Indonesians, etc. The short answer is as I gave you. The longer answer is also available if you're interested enough to search for it. And please do be more careful when trying to paraphrase what I've written to make sure you've understood it properly. Thanks.

[swoopy2110]

I'm not a fan of heavy tipping like some of the stories I read on here but I know that's becuase of the way I've been brought up in the UK. I tip about 10% when going out for a meal and that's about it. Taxis may get an extra £1 etc but I rarely take a taxi anyway.

 

We never remove the tips from our booking

 

When I go on a cruise we usually tip the room steward extra if (s)he has provided good service. Usually tip our waiter / assistant waiter extra too.

 

We usually have a drinks package which already includes the gratuity so to me that's that and the servers don't get tipped extra

 

Difference in culture imo

[BigHouseFootball]

I hate tipping. I especially hate tipping in a restaurant because it is tied to the total cost of my bill. That makes zero sense to me. So if I just order a burger and fries for $10 a $1.50 tip is justified. But if I go to the same restaurant and order a NY Strip Steak for $20 I'm expected to tip $4.00? Why? The waiter did zero amount of extra work bring that steak vs my burger.

 

I'd much rather have one price. Done. Not have to worry about tipping.

[nelblu]

I hate tipping. I especially hate tipping in a restaurant because it is tied to the total cost of my bill. That makes zero sense to me. So if I just order a burger and fries for $10 a $1.50 tip is justified. But if I go to the same restaurant and order a NY Strip Steak for $20 I'm expected to tip $4.00? Why? The waiter did zero amount of extra work bring that steak vs my burger.

 

I'd much rather have one price. Done. Not have to worry about tipping.

 

 

If it was one price what % do you think would be included? 15, 20, 25%. You'll never know as it is not itemized. I customarily tip 18-20% for excellent service. Tipping % have been creeping up over the years.

 

What really bugs me now days, there a % on the dinner invoice ranging from 15-20. However, it is based on the entire amount inclusive of taxes. This is wrong as the waiter has not provided any added on value for the amount of taxes. I try to explain it to my son, but he thinks I'm old fashioned rather than a seasoned accountant.

[Scotty G]

The reason why cruise line have gratuities the way they do has been discussed frequently over the years. You can search for those threads, but in a nutshell, the tax laws of the nations to which many of the crew are citizens are such that changing to a set amount imposed by the line would result in substantially less take home for some. So change is not within the unilateral control of the line. A number of nations have to change their laws first.

 

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And one can assume that the overhead cost for the staff of Tax Lawyers required to administer taxes for employees from 60 - 80 countries would be so high that cruise prices would be significantly higher; and, cost prohibitive for most of us.

[Ergates The Ant]

Would love to see all cruise lines include the gratuities or whatever they choose to call it, in the overall cruise fare. It ensures that all passengers contribute to the staff pay. If I have a problem with the service on board, I will take this up with the management, with whom I have a contract. I am happy for them to deal with this, rather than delegate any service issues to me, by separating out the service charge from the cruise fare.

I am also not happy with the idea that I am somehow colluding in tax evasion by paying the service charge separately. Surely some of the countries the ships crew come from, are sorely in need of tax dollars to improve their infrastructure, education and health services? Is it ethical for us to save a few pounds or dollars at the expense of those less well off than us?

I keep seeing the comment, if you can afford to cruise, you can afford to tip. Maybe we should include to tip enough for crew to meet their tax obligations as well?

[bUU]

I am also not happy with the idea that I am somehow colluding in tax evasion by paying the service charge separately.

You raise a really good point. The question is whether Americans are willing to bump up how much they're paying in gratuities to gross-up the pay for the crew affected? Clearly not, which means it could only happen if it were imposed by government regulation.

[OzPinoyCruiser]

 

 

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[setsail]

Funny how people on cc are always taking a little corner of the world and a common practice there and want to apply it to all the rest of the world.

 

I just say they don't get out much

[renaroo]

What really bugs me now days, there a % on the dinner invoice ranging from 15-20. However, it is based on the entire amount inclusive of taxes. This is wrong as the waiter has not provided any added on value for the amount of taxes. I try to explain it to my son, but he thinks I'm old fashioned rather than a seasoned accountant.

 

 

I went out to eat recently and saw 3 suggested tips on the bill: 18%, 20% or 22%. Even if I just get good and not excellent service I always tip 20%, but the suggestion of a 22% tip was quite irritating.

 

 

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[Biker19]

If it was one price what % do you think would be included?

The whole point of the poster is that it should not be a %, it should be a flat fee, depending on service provided, cost of living in the area and the customer's idea of what a waiter should make.

 

Biker, agrees with this poster that it makes no sense to reward a waiter simply based on the cost of the meal served.

[bUU]

The whole point of the poster is that it should not be a %, it should be a flat fee, depending on service provided, cost of living in the area and the customer's idea of what a waiter should make.

 

Biker, agrees with this poster that it makes no sense to reward a waiter simply based on the cost of the meal served.

So which are you aiming for? Five diamond restaurant servers covering the same number of tables as Denny's servers and providing you the same level of service? Or some massively complex way of understanding how much more a five diamond restaurant server should be compensated as compared to Denny's servers?

 

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[datolim]

Funny how people on cc are always taking a little corner of the world and a common practice there and want to apply it to all the rest of the world.

 

I just say they don't get out much

 

Let me get this one out of the way first. I believe you are talking about me.

I live in north America for 10 years.

The " a little corner of the world " Singapore has made news around the world for the many innovative things that have been done here.

[datolim]

No I didn't. What I said was that the tax laws of the nations to which many of the crew are citizens are such that changing to a set amount imposed by the line would result in substantially less take home for some.

 

It makes sense to folks who understood that was I wrote was about the different tax laws that different crew members are subject to due to their different nationalities, and that those differences account for why the gratuities system endures aboard cruise ships.

 

And different for Filipinos, and for Indonesians, etc. The short answer is as I gave you. The longer answer is also available if you're interested enough to search for it. And please do be more careful when trying to paraphrase what I've written to make sure you've understood it properly. Thanks.

 

So let us make it perfectly clear.

You are talking about taxes paid by the crew to their home country.

 

The answer is ZERO. They don't pay any taxes to their home country.

USA is the only country in the world where its citizens have to pay taxes on their worldwide income. Name me another country out of 200 other countries in the world that has this same rule.

 

You mention Filipinos and Indonesians foreign workers and I know a lot about them as we have 250,000 of them in this small country. They pay no taxes to their home county. ZERO

 

What you are alluding to and sadly mistaken is the remittances they have to send back to their home country. Because of Philippines balance of payment problem their country requires them to remit a small portion of their pay back home through official channels. This is not popular with them as they can sent back money back home through underground channels and pay very little fees for this.

Once again this is not TAXES but money send to their families back home and received by their family members and not Taxes paid to their government.

 

Hope this clears up you notion on this subject or is your mind made up whatever I said.

Edited April 11, 2017 by SG007

[ThirstyCruiser]

What really bugs me now days, there a % on the dinner invoice ranging from 15-20. However, it is based on the entire amount inclusive of taxes. This is wrong as the waiter has not provided any added on value for the amount of taxes.

Waiter A brings me a burger Day 1, and Waiter B brings be a Kobe steak Day 2.

Waiter A brings me a bottle of domestic beer on Day 1, Waiter B a bottle $100 wine on Day 2.

Same restaurant.

 

 

Waiter B has not provided any added value over Waiter A. Why does Waiter B get a much larger tip by default?

 

Waiter A had to recite the whole beer list, and I made sure the burger was well done but not burnt but there can't be any pink and please no onions but mushrooms are OK. Does that come with lettuce? On the side please? Regular fries or Sweet Potato fries, Regular fries or Sweet Potato fries, Regular fries or Sweet Potato fries, hmmmmmmm, OK, Sweet Potat.....no, no Onion Rings!!!

[bUU]

So let us make it perfectly clear. You are talking about taxes paid by the crew to their home country. The answer is ZERO.

I'm sorry but you don't know what you're talking about.

 

 

 

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