Prepay gratuities....yes or no for us?

[Tatka]

We don't pre-tip autogratuities or personal gratuities.

[BNBR]

We do tip the servers in Windjammer as well as those who may bring us drinks at the pool' date=' theater, etc.

 

I didn't say that we don't tip. Quite the contrary, I think. We tip more people than most would even think about.[/quote']

 

Riiiiight. In other words, you MAYBE tip the server who brings you a drink. But I would all but guarantee you aren't handing out tips constantly to every server in the WJ you interact with.

 

It's tacky and unnecessary to remove tips. You aren't helping anyone. I'd wager you end up tipping less than the prepaid gratuities.

[AJ's Girl]

Riiiiight. In other words, you MAYBE tip the server who brings you a drink. But I would all but guarantee you aren't handing out tips constantly to every server in the WJ you interact with.

 

It's tacky and unnecessary to remove tips. You aren't helping anyone. I'd wager you end up tipping less than the prepaid gratuities.

 

You are WAY off. We actually tip MORE than the suggested amount by the end of the sailing. I am in the hospitality business, so I totally understand how hard everyone works onboard the ship. I personally don't see why I would have to tip the head waiter and Maitre D in the MDR when I don't go there. I would much rather that money go to the people that I do interact with and I enjoy the appreciation that they feel when I go out of my way for them...as many go out of their way for us. I'm not saying that everyone should do as I do, or feel as I feel. Just a suggestion. If you don't like it, there is no need to comment, just move on. Thank you!

[BNBR]

You are WAY off. We actually tip MORE than the suggested amount by the end of the sailing. I am in the hospitality business' date=' so I totally understand how hard everyone works onboard the ship. I personally don't see why I would have to tip the head waiter and Maitre D in the MDR when I don't go there. I would much rather that money go to the people that I do interact with and I enjoy the appreciation that they feel when I go out of my way for them...as many go out of their way for us. I'm not saying that everyone should do as I do, or feel as I feel. Just a suggestion. If you don't like it, there is no need to comment, just move on. Thank you![/quote']

 

You are in the hospitality industry but can't grasp how the basic tip share works on a cruise ship? Ok. Got it. :rolleyes:

[grapau27]

I am interested to know why you pay additional cash tips. Is it purely out if kindness, due to exceptional service or in expectation you will receive better service if you tip?

 

 

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Usually for exceptional service especially in the specialty restaurants plus in the DL i tip a dollar a drink as the drinks are free plus extra cash tip on the last night.

[grapau27]

Servers and bartenders who are tipped extra always treat those guests a little better. For example, I'll tip the cocktail server in the theater, and I'll have regular service the entire time while others wonder why they can't find a waiter anywhere. Not that you would get bad service, but you are definitely not getting the same service. I always end up with a bar or 3 that I frequent, know the bartenders, tip them extra, and they take very good care of me and any special requests I have. But you certainly don't have to do that.

 

As for the OP. Yes, just prepay your gratuities. You are asking if you should pay them at all, yes, you should, regardless of where you eat. Windjammer will have servers that offer you drinks and special desserts, bus your tables, etc. The gratuities are split throughout the staff on the ship. Consider it part of your cruise fare and don't think much of it. Its not even very much money, like what, $90 for 7 days of excellent 24/7 service? Why would anyone even put much thought into it and especially try and get out of paying them?

Excellent reply and my thoughts too.

[grapau27]

Ok, as someone stated above, you are really asking two questions here: 1. should I prepay gratuities and 2. should I pay gratuities at all?

 

1. It's really up to you. I prepay mine, but that's because I like to have everything booked and paid for before I even set foot on the ship. Then my OBC is for shopping and "accidents" in the photo gallery (my downfall isn't the bar....it's the damn photo gallery!). So, for my upcoming b2b on Oasis, I prepaid grats, got the beverage package, and booked and paid for all of my shore excursions. I could conceivably walk of the ship with a bill of $0.00, and I like that idea.

 

2. The MDR and the specialty restaurants aren't the only places that get grats. The daily service fee (or gratuities) goes to the room attendants as well as all of the wait staff at all of the complimentary venues. All of them. I presume you are going to eat somewhere, yes? You mentioned the Windjammer. There are still waiters refilling those chafing dishes on the buffet, picking up dirty plates, refilling silverware, and keeping the dining room clean. To not tip at all is just...abhorrent. And, to just tip the staff that tend to you personally is a little insulting, as there are many on the team working to make YOUR vacation as good as it can possibly be. Why tip only some of them? That seems unfair.

I agree 100%.

We all know that most of their wages are tips and they all deserve everyone to adhere to pre or autotips at the very least.

[grapau27]

So the only way to tip everyone is to PRE-PAY gratuities?

 

REALLY?

 

I do not pre-pay gratuities, but I do pay the full gratuities, plus tip extra. And normally book a suite, so pay a higher gratuity level that most cruisers.

Your attitude is excellent.

[grapau27]

So do you go out of your way to tip everyone in WJ?

 

How do you tip the behind the scenes personnel?

 

You are NOT tipping all those that serve you.

Personally i think stopping autotips is a smokescreen by some people to give little or no tips.

[BNBR]

Personally i think stopping autotips is a smokescreen by some people to give little or no tips.

 

Of course it is. When it's so simple to auto-pay, why would anyone go through the hassle of removing and dishing out cash? And if you like certain personnel, why not just tip them extra on top of the very low priced auto-grat?

[grapau27]

I did write that you are still getting good service, just not the "same." You don't have to tip the bartenders extra to get quality service on the cruise ship. But they may be less inclined to over pour or do anything special either, if that even matters to you. I know the staff generally don't like working outside of the US because of the lack of tips. Also in Asia, the bar staff hate it because it's not cultural for Asians to drink at bars as much as Americans. They make less money overseas than the US itineraries.

 

 

I don't really tip extra because I want special treatment, I tip extra because I enjoy brightening the days of others. I enjoy it. I think we gave our dining room waiter about $300 extra at the end of our last cruise plus started her off with a bit at the beginning, too. She was awesome.

You are my type of person.

Well done you have my respect.

[grapau27]

We do tip the servers in Windjammer as well as those who may bring us drinks at the pool' date=' theater, etc.

 

I didn't say that we don't tip. Quite the contrary, I think. We tip more people than most would even think about.[/quote']

They are the crew who benefit from pre and autotips.

If we get any drinks anywhere including windjammer i always give a dollar per drink tip.

[grapau27]

Riiiiight. In other words, you MAYBE tip the server who brings you a drink. But I would all but guarantee you aren't handing out tips constantly to every server in the WJ you interact with.

 

It's tacky and unnecessary to remove tips. You aren't helping anyone. I'd wager you end up tipping less than the prepaid gratuities.

I totally agree with you.

[grapau27]

You are WAY off. We actually tip MORE than the suggested amount by the end of the sailing. I am in the hospitality business' date=' so I totally understand how hard everyone works onboard the ship. I personally don't see why I would have to tip the head waiter and Maitre D in the MDR when I don't go there. I would much rather that money go to the people that I do interact with and I enjoy the appreciation that they feel when I go out of my way for them...as many go out of their way for us. I'm not saying that everyone should do as I do, or feel as I feel. Just a suggestion. If you don't like it, there is no need to comment, just move on. Thank you![/quote']

The point is the crew prefer the auto or prepay tips as it guarantees their wage and if anyone goes over and above a cash tip is welcomed also.

[seavoyager6]

You are WAY off. We actually tip MORE than the suggested amount by the end of the sailing. I am in the hospitality business' date=' so I totally understand how hard everyone works onboard the ship. I personally don't see why I would have to tip the head waiter and Maitre D in the MDR when I don't go there. I would much rather that money go to the people that I do interact with and I enjoy the appreciation that they feel when I go out of my way for them...as many go out of their way for us. I'm not saying that everyone should do as I do, or feel as I feel. Just a suggestion. If you don't like it, there is no need to comment, just move on. Thank you![/quote']And you know that she goes back inside the kitchen and tips ALL the line cooks and dishwashers too.

 

Because those folks work as hard or harder for you on a cruise than anyone, get paid just about the least of anyone and would starve if everyone removed the auto shared tips from their bill

 

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[grapau27]

You are in the hospitality industry but can't grasp how the basic tip share works on a cruise ship? Ok. Got it. :rolleyes:

They might be a hospitality owner who keeps the staffs tips when added to a credit card payment thats why i always leave cash in these circumstances.

Their answer doesn't correspond to their actions.

[grapau27]

Of course it is. When it's so simple to auto-pay, why would anyone go through the hassle of removing and dishing out cash? And if you like certain personnel, why not just tip them extra on top of the very low priced auto-grat?

I agree, they don't fool me. Auto and pre paying tips is by far the best for everyone and i would question the integrity of anyone who does differently.

[grapau27]

And you know that she goes back inside the kitchen and tips ALL the line cooks and dishwashers too.

 

Because those folks work as hard or harder for you on a cruise than anyone, get paid just about the least of anyone and would starve if everyone removed the auto shared tips from their bill

 

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Great reply.

[Pstreet12]

Of course it is. When it's so simple to auto-pay, why would anyone go through the hassle of removing and dishing out cash? And if you like certain personnel, why not just tip them extra on top of the very low priced auto-grat?

 

Well said.

I suppose one reason would be to appear to be very generous because you are handing out cash all the time, while at the same time, depriving many of money that they count on receiving. The server at the pool or windjammer has no idea whether you have removed tips from your account or not, so to him/her you seem to be an extra generous person. (Meanwhile, the behind the scenes people are getting not one dime from you.)

[pink845]

Interesting little side note here. We were travelling with another couple on Independence of the Seas a couple of years back and had balcony cabins side by side. Same room steward served both cabins as well as two opposite inside cabins for the teenagers. We let the gratuities hit the account daily, while the other couple removed their gratuities from their account on Day 2 (this was a 12 day cruise). The service that the other couple and their teens received from the room as the days wore on was not very nice. There were no more smiles, or hello, how are you today? Wine glasses were forgotten, requested extra towels had to be mentioned each and every day. Lots of little things were always amiss. I mean, the bed was made every day, and the washroom cleaned but the garbage can did not get emptied, just a host of misadventures. We on the other hand had no issues. We six extra towels we requested daily were there, the wine glasses always replaced, the list goes on - all good. I do believe that as soon as you remove those gratuities, the room steward gets notice that this has happened. Some room stewards then act accordingly. Our friends at the end of the cruise after all was said and done - did not give anything to the room steward because of this behavior. So, you never know what can happen when you remove those gratuities. A caution to all. The way I see it if you can afford to cruise, you can afford to pay the gratuities.

[grapau27]

Interesting little side note here. We were travelling with another couple on Independence of the Seas a couple of years back and had balcony cabins side by side. Same room steward served both cabins as well as two opposite inside cabins for the teenagers. We let the gratuities hit the account daily, while the other couple removed their gratuities from their account on Day 2 (this was a 12 day cruise). The service that the other couple and their teens received from the room as the days wore on was not very nice. There were no more smiles, or hello, how are you today? Wine glasses were forgotten, requested extra towels had to be mentioned each and every day. Lots of little things were always amiss. I mean, the bed was made every day, and the washroom cleaned but the garbage can did not get emptied, just a host of misadventures. We on the other hand had no issues. We six extra towels we requested daily were there, the wine glasses always replaced, the list goes on - all good. I do believe that as soon as you remove those gratuities, the room steward gets notice that this has happened. Some room stewards then act accordingly. Our friends at the end of the cruise after all was said and done - did not give anything to the room steward because of this behavior. So, you never know what can happen when you remove those gratuities. A caution to all. The way I see it if you can afford to cruise, you can afford to pay the gratuities.

Great reply and thanks for sharing,it made very interesting reading.

[Toofarfromthesea]

Of course it is. When it's so simple to auto-pay, why would anyone go through the hassle of removing and dishing out cash? And if you like certain personnel, why not just tip them extra on top of the very low priced auto-grat?

 

There are always people who will have highly 'principled' reasons why it is fine for someone at or near the top of the global heap to $crew over crew members who are much much lower in the global heap.

 

Nonsense like 'i want my tips to go to the people who served me', when it has been explained ad nauseum that those tips get thrown into the general pool because they removed the auto grats. And claim to tip more than the auto grats, which is about as transparent as nonsense can get, particularly in light of the preceding point. My personal favorite is the one where they are sticking it to 'the man', in the form of the cruise line, because they supposedly do not like the generally accepted compensation arrangement between the cruise line and their employees - arrangements that have tax advantages for both parties.

 

And yes, if you are able to cruise you very definitely ARE wealthy by world standards, even if Joe next door has a nicer car than you.

 

Personally, I just try to be a decent person and do the right thing.

[Toofarfromthesea]

I agree, they don't fool me. Auto and pre paying tips is by far the best for everyone and i would question the integrity of anyone who does differently.

 

Totally agree about auto, but I don't see how someone's integrity is implicated if they pay the auto grats as part of their final shipboard bill rather than pre-pay them. WHEN you pay the auto grats is irrelevant so long as you do, in fact, pay them.

[BNBR]

Totally agree about auto, but I don't see how someone's integrity is implicated if they pay the auto grats as part of their final shipboard bill rather than pre-pay them. WHEN you pay the auto grats is irrelevant so long as you do, in fact, pay them.

 

I think we all agree on this point. They still get tacked on daily whether you prepay or not. I think it got muddied in the discussion since the OP asked whether they should even pay the grats at all.

[fred30]

Score so far:

 

OP = 1

Replies = 73 (and counting)

 

I'll bet he didn't know he was going to get this much advise.