Who all do you tip/extra tip?

[xDisconnections]

A lot of people on Cruise Critic say they like to tip the stateroom steward $100 on the first day.

 

I'm not sure why but they just do. Bribery doesn't necessarily get you better service.

Edited June 26, 2019 by xDisconnections

[ObstructedView2]

12 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

 

A lot of people on Cruise Critic say they like to tip the stateroom steward $100 on the first day.

 

 

$20 yes.... I have seen many members say that. However I have never, ever, seen anyone say they pre-tipped their stateroom steward $100 on day one. You're very Disconnected. Can you please share the links to the replies that show where (a lot of people on Cruise Critic) say they pre-tip $100. Where are they? Direct us to these $100 first day replies. I would love to see them. Or are you confusing yourself with 100 members per pre-tipping post call it a bribe, ha!

 

🤔     💩    🤔

[xDisconnections]

7 minutes ago, ObstructedView2 said:

 

$20 yes.... I have seen many members say that. However I have never, ever, seen anyone say they pre-tipped their stateroom steward $100 on day one. You're very Disconnected. Can you please share the links to the replies that show where (a lot of people on Cruise Critic) say they pre-tip $100. Where are they? Direct us to these $100 first day replies. I would love to see them. Or are you confusing yourself with 100 members per pre-tipping post call it a bribe, ha!

 

🤔     💩    🤔

The thread titled buttering up your stateroom steward comes to mind if it hadn't been cleaned up years ago.

[bburk00]

We leave auto gratuities on.  Then we also tip our steward between $80 - $120 for the week extra depending on service. We tip our MDR wait staff $40 - $60 extra depending on the service. We normally tip an extra $1 on drinks and if the server went above and beyond we might tip a little more. We normally tip the kids club staff $10 - $20 extra per person depending on how many times our kid went. He didn't go at all last trip.  And we normally tip the porter at embarkation $5 to $10 depending on how many bags we are checking.

[livingthedream1]

We generally bring about $100 in small bills for tip. We tip bartenders, servers as we go. Cabin steward on the last day or if we ask for something extra. We have also brought miniature candy bars to hand out along with the extra tips. This was a tip I learned from this site. Everyone we handed out to really seemed to enjoy them. 

[bingomamma19]

1 hour ago, BNBR said:

 

They increase the workload because they have to cut costs. You know they have unheard of work levels, you know they are being abused, but dang it, you are getting your twice a day service, screw that overworked steward.  Right? 

 

As I said, that's not my style. Carnival clearly is trying to go to once a day and navigate how to do that without upsetting entitled guests. While at the same time providing a much cheaper cruise experience compared to other lines... 

Plus if they have doubled the room stewards rooms they do, then they are getting 2x the tips.   I don't need 2x a day service, actually all li want is fresh towels each day...we don't need much cleaning.    I would prefer they leave our room alone and concentrate on the others they have.

[BNBR]

8 minutes ago, bingomamma19 said:

Plus if they have doubled the room stewards rooms they do, then they are getting 2x the tips.   I don't need 2x a day service, actually all li want is fresh towels each day...we don't need much cleaning.    I would prefer they leave our room alone and concentrate on the others they have.

 

That's assuming Carnival hasn't reallocated their tip pool. But who knows? Once a day service does not equal extra tips in my book, the daily grat is more than fair for that.  We do tip wait staff quite a bit at the end, and need cash for that. 

[sanmarcosman]

2 hours ago, JaxsMama said:

 room stew 

This new abbreviation for steward seems to have caught on, will " I tip my stu extra " also catch on? 😵

Edited June 26, 2019 by sanmarcosman

[bingomamma19]

6 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

That's assuming Carnival hasn't reallocated their tip pool. But who knows? Once a day service does not equal extra tips in my book, the daily grat is more than fair for that.  We do tip wait staff quite a bit at the end, and need cash for that. 

No, we don't tip extra for much at all.   Our room is easy and the MDR service has really been awful our last few cruises (we try it for a day or 2 now then give up if its bad)...plenty of other options to eat.

 

We only tip extra for room service basically that I can think of.    We carry our own bags on board so no porters needed either.

 

 

[CheckersMidwest]

For the most part, we just do the automatic gratuities that you prepay. If someone is doing above & beyond, then we give them extra cash. On our Horizon cruise in May, we stayed in the Havana area. The bartenders & lifeguards were excellent. They called us all by name, stopped & visited, always knew what we needed (and we weren't the heavy drinkers). We gave them each extra the last night.

 

One cruise, we made a horrible mess with sand after a day ashore. I left the room steward an apology note & extra cash for having to clean it up.

 

On a cruise a few years ago, our son got sea sick & threw up on the carpet. We wiped it up but didn't have cleaning supplies. We told the steward, he cleaned a little extra but then while we were in port a day or so later, he shampooed the carpet. I gave him extra money too for the trouble. Plus it was gross.

 

We have tipped our dinner waiters extra before as well, not every cruise.

[BNBR]

3 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Carnival should instead INCREASE prices. If that employee can't handle cleaning 2x a day for every room he or she is assigned, they should look for a job with another line. And if Carnival increased prices and offered a better experience, none of us would be having this conversation because these cut-backs would have never taken place.

 

Carnival CAN'T increase prices... You do know that, right? They don't have the product to justify higher prices compared to competitors.  They price their sailings as high as they can, they know their numbers. They have to undercut. And to make the numbers work, they have to provide less. Which means less service, for example. You get what you pay for. And Carnival has a lot of cuts compared to other lines. And you pay less accordingly. 

 

Your shortsighted views of the stewards are borderline offensive as well. Part of the cuts means more cabins for these stewards. They can't possibly provide 2x service. "just get another job".... Goodness..... 

Edited June 26, 2019 by BNBR

[GUT2407]

32 minutes ago, BNBR said:

 

Carnival CAN'T increase prices... You do know that, right? They don't have the product to justify higher prices compared to competitors.  They price their sailings as high as they can, they know their numbers. They have to undercut. And to make the numbers work, they have to provide less. Which means less service, for example. You get what you pay for. And Carnival has a lot of cuts compared to other lines. And you pay less accordingly. 

 

Your shortsighted views of the stewards are borderline offensive as well. Part of the cuts means more cabins for these stewards. They can't possibly provide 2x service. "just get another job".... Goodness..... 

Wow if the product is that bad, maybe time to spend my cruise $$$ elsewhere.

[klfrodo]

If you are staying pre or post cruise, don't forget the housekeeping staff at the hotels.

Depending on where I'm staying (hotel type and geographic location) anywhere from $3 to $5 a day.

[ctav01]

5 hours ago, ObstructedView2 said:

 

$20 yes.... I have seen many members say that. However I have never, ever, seen anyone say they pre-tipped their stateroom steward $100 on day one. You're very Disconnected. Can you please share the links to the replies that show where (a lot of people on Cruise Critic) say they pre-tip $100. Where are they? Direct us to these $100 first day replies. I would love to see them. Or are you confusing yourself with 100 members per pre-tipping post call it a bribe, ha!

 

🤔     💩    🤔

I will tip an extra $20.00 a day for my Cabin Steward. I like to meet with them on embarkation day and normally request a fresh exchange on the bath robes and a few other things I would like or even need for my cabin.  I will also request from them that they really only need to visit my cabin once a day and will never call for them after hours.

Hello All.

 

ctav

[keywest1]

We prepay our gratuities.  Then we generally give the steward an extra $20 at the end of the cruise.  We really only want service once a day, and on sea days we generally just ask for clean towels and tell them we don't need the room cleaned.  The three of us keep the room tidy or we could never survive a week in one cabin😁  If we ask for something extra, we tip an extra $10 or so at that time.

Only once have we not given extra to the steward (he was rude to DD who looked 13 but was 25 at the time.  Scolded her for putting the top bunk up when DH was the guilty party.  He was right in telling us not to do it, but wrong in how he handled it).  We took the extra money we would have given him and gave it to a Lido server.  He had been an absolute joy all week--told us about his family and just made our week nicer.  He at first tried to refuse the tip, but we insisted and he hugged us.

We tip for room service, generally $5 for the three of us.  We aren't drinkers, but if we get a soda or juice, we tip an extra $1.

We tip the coffee bar baristas usually an extra dollar per beverage.  

We tip porters, usually $10 for three to four large bags.  

We tip excursion guides and drivers if we enjoyed the excursion (if they get pushy about the tips, they get nothing).

My momma was a waitress and she would slap the happy off my face if I ever stiffed a server 🙂  DD was also a waitress for awhile so we try to treat the wait staff like we would've wanted folks to treat our daughter and Mom.

 

[vicky3vicky]

We also tip the omelot maker, the Mongolian grill workers, and people we see just mopping and cleaning up. I never thought about tipping the laundry workers, but I think I will start.

[ctav01]

5 hours ago, fyree39 said:

Carnival should instead INCREASE prices. If that employee can't handle cleaning 2x a day for every room he or she is assigned, they should look for a job with another line. And if Carnival increased prices and offered a better experience, none of us would be having this conversation because these cut-backs would have never taken place.

I'm not going to agree with your post. However, it's your opinion and so be it.  But, it's my opinion that I really don't need to have the cabin stewart to service my cabin twice a day and really feel that they work hard enough as it is with their already long days, very little time off.

[sanmarcosman]

7 minutes ago, ctav01 said:

I'm not going to agree with your post. However, it's your opinion and so be it.  But, it's my opinion that I really don't need to have the cabin stewart to service my cabin twice a day and really feel that they work hard enough as it is with their already long days, very little time off.

FYI, when two services are requested, at night the steward performs turn down service only, as is done at first class hotels ashore. It's not like they are in there vacuuming, polishing mirrors and dusting twice per day.

Edited June 26, 2019 by sanmarcosman

[ctav01]

4 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

FYI, when two services are requested at night the steward performs turn down service only as is done at first class hotels ashore. It's not like they are in there vacuuming, polishing mirrors and dusting twice per day.

You are correct.  I cruise in a GS  I don't need the turn down.

[sanmarcosman]

2 minutes ago, ctav01 said:

You are correct.  I cruise in a GS  I don't need the turn down.

The daily gratuity per person is higher in the GS so you're all set. 

[ctav01]

9 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

The daily gratuity per person is higher in the GS so you're all set. 

Have A Nice Day

[Doggielover68]

We tip tour guides off the ship, taxi drivers, bartenders at the Platinum/Diamond party, sometimes the omelette person, room service if ordered, etc. Room steward and dining services get auto grats because we do not make a mess and we do not make any special requests. If we were to ask for something above and beyond, I would give them extra

[BNBR]

1 hour ago, fyree39 said:

 

I'd absolutely tip extra for this kind of service!

 

I know they can't increase prices since what we get for the money has diminished significantly over the past 5 years.  I like the old Carnival, the line that had a little bit of class.  

 

I know also there are more cabins for the stewards.  The stewards make more money per week in tips than 5 years ago and I get to pay for that raise by an eventual move to only once-daily service.  I'll take what I'm entitled to under the contract until Carnival says otherwise.  

 

I know ship employees can change lines.  I just wish they didn't have to work their &^R&^^$ off and I'm made to feel guilty about it.  This is the one thing that has made me dislike Carnival as much as I do: lower the number of service employees by increasing the number of tables, guests, cabins the employees have to serve. 

 

Yes, I'd quit sailing them, but my husband loves the line and wants to make Diamond.  So, I keep going on Carnival, but I fully reserve the right to complain about the changes they've made.

 

We all liked the old Carnival! And that's been my point. That Carnival hasn't been able to maintain standards because they haven't been able to keep up with their competitors. So they are trying to fill ships on lower prices and have to make cuts to meet those lower price targets. 

 

Instead of complaining about it, we just view it objectively.  Carnival is 25% cheaper than Symphony, for example. Is that savings worth it? Maybe yes. But we temper our expectations. If pricing was similar, well, no way would we sail Carnival.

 

Im actually on a Carnival sailing at this moment. I used to say Carnival and Royal were basically the same. But not anymore. Carnival has very noticeable cutbacks, but still provides a really nice vacation. The savings are enough to justify the lesser product for us, sometimes. Notably during expensive summer sailings.

 

And again, you are totally right. They have decreased employees and increased the amount of tables, cabins, guests they serve, etc. But again, they are offering a lower price accordingly.  It's probably better to have a budget line instead of lines competing at the same price points. Look at it positively. This is probably a good thing. 

Edited June 26, 2019 by BNBR

[BNBR]

2 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

Wow if the product is that bad, maybe time to spend my cruise $$$ elsewhere.

 

I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic. But no, the product isn't bad. It's just not as premium as other lines, and you pay less for it.  I'd say Carnival provides excellent value and they allow a lot of people who may otherwise not be able to afford cruise vacations the opportunity to do so.

 

But if you haven't sailed the Royal mega ships like Oasis or Anthem, you should. And also NCL's big ships like Escape or Bliss.  Carnival simply can't compete at that level, and normally prices themselves well below accordingly. However, I have seen sales that bring the mega ships in to the same price range as Carnival sailings, and when that happens, there is no way I'd even consider Carnival.  But when the price is right, Carnival really does have an excellent product for the money. 

[BNBR]

7 hours ago, bingomamma19 said:

No, we don't tip extra for much at all.   Our room is easy and the MDR service has really been awful our last few cruises (we try it for a day or 2 now then give up if its bad)...plenty of other options to eat.

 

We only tip extra for room service basically that I can think of.    We carry our own bags on board so no porters needed either.

 

 

 

It's sad, but I agree with you about MDR. Currently we have probably the best wait team we have ever had on any cruise, just freaking stellar. But they are so overwhelmed at times that it's impossible to provide excellent service. It's been an overall negative service, technically. But they are so great to be around, that we don't mind!