Tipping

[jackandmarian]

My husband and I are frequent cruisers on multiple lines. We usually tip (cash) our cabin steward and main dining room staff in addition to the gratuities which are automatically charged to our account.  Does anyone know if these hard working individuals actually get to keep this cash?  Or is it pooled and distributed across the board?  If, so, does the cruise line automatically receive a percentage?

 

Roberta

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

My understanding is, it is required to be turned in and distributed. 

[puppycanducruise]

My understanding is, that as long as you leave the auto gratuities in place, they are allowed to keep any cash tips.  This is on HAL.

[Shmoo here]

18 minutes ago, jackandmarian said:

My husband and I are frequent cruisers on multiple lines. We usually tip (cash) our cabin steward and main dining room staff in addition to the gratuities which are automatically charged to our account.  Does anyone know if these hard working individuals actually get to keep this cash?  Or is it pooled and distributed across the board?  If, so, does the cruise line automatically receive a percentage?

 

Roberta

On at least HAL, and Princess, as long as you keep the auto gratuity (hotel service charge) in place, any additional cash/tip given, while possibly needing to be turned in, once the determination is made that you haven't removed the auto charge, the individuals get it back.

 

If you have removed the HSC, then the additional tip, once turned in, will be put into the pool to be shared.

 

I've never been told that the ship keeps a percentage of any of the auto gratuity.  

[ducklite]

This is going to vary by cruise line. I'd suggest you ask in the forum of the cruise line you'll be sailing with.

[Husky61]

I really don't think that anyone on this forum knows the correct answer.

[SantaFeFan]

There is CC member who occasionally posts here who used to be a purser on cruise ships and described this process in several posts he has made over the years. 

 

Turning in cash tips is a requirement of their employment contract. They must always turn them in, with the risk of being fired if they don't. As others here have said, if the gratuities have not been removed or decreased, then the cash amount will be transferred into their account. Otherwise, it will all go into the pool.

 

All the accounting for this is done post cruise after all passenger accounts have been reconciled. As Schmoo here has said, the cruise line does NOT keep a percentage of the tips. It all goes to the employee. 

 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[ducklite]

Just now, SantaFeFan said:

There is CC member who occasionally posts here who used to be a purser on cruise ships and described this process in several posts he made over the years. 

 

Turning in cash tips is a requirement of their employment contract. They must always turn them in, with the risk of being fired if they don't. As others here have said, if the gratuities have not been removed or decreased, then the cash amount will be transferred into their account. Otherwise, it will all go into the pool.

 

All the accounting for this is done post cruise after all passenger accounts have been reconciled. As Schmoo here has said, the cruise line does NOT keep a percentage of the tips. It all goes to the employee. 

 

 

 

 

Again, this can vary by cruise line.  I do agree with Schmoo and highly doubt that the line keeps any of the tips.

[SantaFeFan]

10 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

Again, this can vary by cruise line.  I do agree with Schmoo and highly doubt that the line keeps any of the tips.

 

Most, if not all, employee contracts across the cruise industry are pretty standard so gratuities will most likely be handled similarly on lines that include gratuities as part of the employee income stream. I believe these standards have been established by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which has 50+ cruise lines as members, which accounts for 95% of the global cruise capacity.  https://cruising.org/about-the-industry/about-clia

Edited June 17, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[ducklite]

3 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yes, it may vary, but most, if not all, employee contracts across the industry are pretty standard so gratuities will most likely be handled similarly on lines that include gratuities as part of the employee income stream. 

 

I respectfully disagree.  While I'm sure that the rules are inherently the same on the large, mass market (and their derivative lines) I'm not sure that they apply on all of the smaller, boutique, river, and luxury lines.  

[SantaFeFan]

11 minutes ago, ducklite said:

 

I respectfully disagree.  While I'm sure that the rules are inherently the same on the large, mass market (and their derivative lines) I'm not sure that they apply on all of the smaller, boutique, river, and luxury lines.  

 

Like I mentioned, "on lines that include gratuities as part of the employee income stream." Lines that not have a gratuity system in place would have to do it differently since they have a different system in place. I honestly don't see why any line that has gratuities would choose to do things differently when there is a industry wide system that is in place that apparently works well and everyone involved understands, no matter what cruise line they may have worked at before.  

 

The link I provided states that CLIA covers 95% of the industry, "From ocean to specialty cruise ships". I assume that "specialty" includes smaller, boutique, river, and luxury lines. 

Edited June 17, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[Schoifmom]

I can tell you that I asked this question of John Heald for Carnival.  He affirmed that the employees do retain all cash tips and are not required to "turn them in."  I would expect, though, that they are required to report them so that they are counted as taxable income (if applicable for their taxing jurisdiction).

[ducklite]

15 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Like I mentioned, "on lines that include gratuities as part of the employee income stream." Lines that not have a gratuity system in place would have to do it differently since they have a different system in place. I honestly don't see why any line that has gratuities would choose to do things differently when there is a industry wide system that is in place that apparently works well and everyone involved understands, no matter what cruise line they may have worked at before.  

 

The link I provided states that CLIA covers 95% of the industry, "From ocean to specialty cruise ships". I assume that "specialty" includes smaller, boutique, river, and luxury lines. 

 

You do realize that CLIA has nothing to do with staffing the employees who would be tipped.  They are a marketing, lobbying, and trade association.

[SantaFeFan]

2 hours ago, ducklite said:

 

You do realize that CLIA has nothing to do with staffing the employees who would be tipped.  They are a marketing, lobbying, and trade association.

 

I am not an expert on CLIA. I just remember someone mentioning it on a tipping thread and since no one had challenged that association, believed in my limited knowledge of CLIA that it did apply.  If I am wrong, I am happy to admit it. So thanks for the clarification, I think? 😉

 

I still stand by what I posted above (other than that CLIA misstep) as I do remember the information provided by that cruise line insider on the subject, and simply am passing along his explanations. He is the expert and I believe him. 

Edited June 17, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[zqvol]

5 hours ago, jackandmarian said:

My husband and I are frequent cruisers on multiple lines. We usually tip (cash) our cabin steward and main dining room staff in addition to the gratuities which are automatically charged to our account.  Does anyone know if these hard working individuals actually get to keep this cash?  Or is it pooled and distributed across the board?  If, so, does the cruise line automatically receive a percentage?

 

Roberta

 

It all depends on the cruise line, though I seriously doubt that any line takes a %.

[zqvol]

3 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Most, if not all, employee contracts across the cruise industry are pretty standard so gratuities will most likely be handled similarly on lines that include gratuities as part of the employee income stream. I believe these standards have been established by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which has 50+ cruise lines as members, which accounts for 95% of the global cruise capacity.  https://cruising.org/about-the-industry/about-clia

 

There was a change in Maritime law regarding compensation a few years ago.  That is why the lines started adding the service charges, because they have to pay much higher wages than they used to.

[sloopsailor]

6 hours ago, Schoifmom said:

I can tell you that I asked this question of John Heald for Carnival.  He affirmed that the employees do retain all cash tips and are not required to "turn them in."  

 

I would be quite surprised that what you state is accurate. Not requiring employees to turn it their tips would encourage abuse, allowing employees to "hide" their cash tips and not share them with the pool when tips have been removed. If the passenger removed tips and gave cash to only one person, that person would be the only one in the pool to benefit, and at the expense of all others that support him/her or in other positions in the pool. It would be an unfair situation that frankly if a cruise line supported it, I would considered it to be unethical. Since some passengers remove their tips at the end of the cruise, there is no way to know who did or did not remove the tips until after the cruise is over. That is why they must turn in those tips during the cruise, and get them back if tips were not removed. 

 

Perhaps you misunderstood what he actually said. He probably meant that they are eventually allowed to keep their tips if gratuities are not removed. 

Edited June 18, 2019 by sloopsailor