Another Tipping Thread ;)

[grapau27]

I had always been under the impression that the gratuities that cover the MDR dinner also cover the buffet and other complimentary dining options that you use during breakfast and lunch which is why the norm would be to still pay them even if you don't use the MDR for dinner. I know this was explained to me a few years back when discussing DCl. Is RCCI different?

 

In any case, we will just prepay our gratuities ahead of time and tip extra to those we feel go out of their way to make our trip special.

This is a fact often overlooked if people don't use the MDR on a night time.

 

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[Havingfun2010]

$13.50 USD per day in tips. Three meals a day, room steward 2x a day, dining room staff, room steward helpers, and several other people per day that help making your trip enjoyable. The tips are a "standard" way of doing business in the USA, regardless if you are accustomed to it or not. It is only $13.50 a day.

 

There is no good reason to remove any of that amount. It is part of your trip. It is part of their pay. Removing it after paying a couple thousand on the trip, is just not even worth a discussion. You paid for the cruise, taxes, port charges, and airline costs. Just leave the $13.50 alone, and because it's such a small amount, give tips above it. If you plan on tipping, it serves no purpose to remove it.

 

By the way, most people who remove tips, disappear on last day, and "forget" to tip. If they do have a list, and I hope they do, it will help them track you down, so to help you not to "forget".

 

My tips are paid when I book. I pay it with the cruise, taxes, and port charges. It is just part of my final bill. I don't even notice it.

[Misplaced Texan]

The problem really is that the cruise line insists on calling it a "gratuity" when it has long since moved into the realm of a service charge. You're paying the service providers for the service they're providing.

 

I have no idea of whether this is for tax purposes from the company's perspective or one of those legacy things that they simply haven't bothered to change.

 

I would far rather have the service included in the cruise fare. But I would also rather have sales tax included in the prices I see in stores and service and tax included on restaurant menus here as it is in other countries...not likely to happen.

 

For folks from countries where prices typically do include service and tax, it's probably best to simply think of this as another strange American custom where things are unbundled and appear on different line items. But your final price, including taxes and service charges, can easily be calculated. Pay it all up front and you'll have the same experience you would with pricing at home and won't have to worry about tipping at all.

 

 

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[njmomof2]

The problem really is that the cruise line insists on calling it a "gratuity" when it has long since moved into the realm of a service charge. You're paying the service providers for the service they're providing.

 

I have no idea of whether this is for tax purposes from the company's perspective or one of those legacy things that they simply haven't bothered to change.

 

I would far rather have the service included in the cruise fare. But I would also rather have sales tax included in the prices I see in stores and service and tax included on restaurant menus here as it is in other countries...not likely to happen.

 

 

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NCL has changed it from gratuities to daily service charge. But people still want it removed, and now they have to request that they be refunded to them, and they cannot be removed at guest services during the cruise. So calling it a daily service charge has not changed the fact that people still don't want to pay it.

 

For the OP, as previously stated, a portion of what you're paying ($13.50/pp/pd) covers food service workers from all areas of the ship, including the buffet and other included eateries on board. And back of house workers in other areas. While I understand the feeling that you're double tipping if you don't use the main dining room and have paid additional for the dining package, please consider the portion of your daily gratuities that you would normally assign to dining room servers as going to other food service personnel helping you and your children around the ship.

 

Maybe that makes leaving the auto-gratuities more palatable.