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Haven tipping

bjtravelnews

By bjtravelnews,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, GA Dave said:

I live in the USA, have a job that compensates me very well, and have learned to live well below my means.  I like to tip people in many service professions just for the joy of knowing that I made their day a little brighter. 

The guys that delivered my last washing machine?  $50 tip that meant they could have a really nice lunch after their hard work.  The woman who trims my dog's nails?  $10 because she is so kind to him and treats him like her own.  And, particularly since Covid started, the wait staff at every restaurant I have gone to.  My usual 20% has been bumped to 25-30%, simply to thank them for being there and taking risks with their health to serve me that many people would not.

It's the human thing to do.

Couldn't agree with  you more.  Our guiding principles for tipping on a cruise is this: "Tip early, tip often, tip generously."

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4774Papa

4774Papa

Posted
Posted

We have only been in a suite once, on Celebrity.  We got a great upgrade.

 

We hardly used our butler.  We are not people that need hand holding.  He did come by every afternoon with tea and snacks every afternoon.  For our 14 day cruise, I tipped him $50, which was consistent with what others in the smaller suites gave.

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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

That's OK, NCL's ships are registered in the Bahamas and the staff at hotels and the like there do expect to get tips, too. General rule of thumb for tips there are around 15%. 

 

Have a good day. 

 

But 15% on $0 is still nothing.

 

Have a good day you too.

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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

That's OK, NCL's ships are registered in the Bahamas and the staff at hotels and the like there do expect to get tips, too. General rule of thumb for tips there are around 15%. 

 

Have a good day. 

 

But 15% on $0 is still nothing.

 

Have a good day you too.

 

(Don't know why this was posted twice.)

Edited by sverigecruiser
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oteixeira

oteixeira

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

So you say that you are paying 15% of what you paid for the cruise as tip to the butler and also 15% to the concierge? I'm impressed an understand if they love you!


I have never said a percentage, go check my messages.  Just because you decided there should be an arbitrary percentage does not change what I said.  I gave a range of money I give, and even went so far as to say I am not telling people to tip or not.  What I am telling you is they get paid from the company that gets money from your cruise fair, so you did NOT pay $0 dollars for them to be there, be clear on that.

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bmwman

bmwman

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 hours ago, GA Dave said:

I live in the USA, have a job that compensates me very well, and have learned to live well below my means.  I like to tip people in many service professions just for the joy of knowing that I made their day a little brighter. 

The guys that delivered my last washing machine?  $50 tip that meant they could have a really nice lunch after their hard work.  The woman who trims my dog's nails?  $10 because she is so kind to him and treats him like her own.  And, particularly since Covid started, the wait staff at every restaurant I have gone to.  My usual 20% has been bumped to 25-30%, simply to thank them for being there and taking risks with their health to serve me that many people would not.

It's the human thing to do.

We are certainly different over here  - no one would tip a delivery driver might offer a cup of tea if they are lucky! Never would anyone offer 30% tip in the UK - (well at least not in the circles  mix) in fact 10% now is the max we would offer. I know a black cab driver (London) who says tips are now  only given by Americans and sometimes others but Brits simply pay by card and leave no tip. I am n0t going to pay the staff wages and when in the US I try and be a bit more generous but never 30%- covid or no covid. 

Edited by bmwman
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bmwman

bmwman

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Trimone said:

It often amazes me when someone talks about tipping they know the exact amount they tipped, if I have a meal out, and automatic gratuity is on the bill, that’s all they get, or if it’s above 10% I alter it, if the bill has gratuity not included I normally round it off to 10%, if the meal was cold, not what I ordered, slow service, I don’t tip anything.

Thats life in the U.K., everyone gets the minimum wage or above.

Well said - In fact I now remove any tip over 10%. 

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GA Dave

GA Dave

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, bmwman said:

We are certainly different over here  - no one would tip a delivery driver might offer a cup of tea if they are lucky! Never would anyone offer 30% tip in the UK - (well at least not in the circles  mix) in fact 10% now is the max we would offer. I know a black cab driver (London) who says tips are now  only given by Americans and sometimes others but Brits simply pay by card and leave no tip. I am n0t going to pay the staff wages and when in the US I try and be a bit more generous but never 30%- covid or no covid. 

Just remember our labor laws are very different in the US.  The federal minimum wage for wait staff is $2.13 per hour.  If they do not make enough in tips to reach the regular federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer than makes up that difference.  However, due to our custom of 15-20% tipping, most wait staff make much more than the statutory minimum.

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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, oteixeira said:

What I am telling you is they get paid from the company that gets money from your cruise fair, so you did NOT pay $0 dollars for them to be there, be clear on that.

 

If the butler put a plate of snacks in my room I'm billed $0 for that and 15% of that is exactly $0. I think that you know that is what I meant but if you didn't I apologize. 

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Trimone

Trimone

Posted
Posted

Please tell me why NCL and other cruise companies don’t employ US citizens?

After this Covid-19 shutdown, and the poor staff unable to get home, wouldn’t it be right for a US stock market registered business to employ home labour.

 

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slavetoabunny

slavetoabunny

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

But if you quote me when I say that 15% of 0 is nothing and pretend that you think that I mean that I didn't paid anything for the cruise isn't that exactly what you said?

If not, what did you mean?

Why don't you just make it easy and explain what you meant.

 

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sverigecruiser

sverigecruiser

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, slavetoabunny said:

Why don't you just make it easy and explain what you meant.

 

 

I will try to do that if you tell me what was unclear.

 

It's possible that my English isn't good enough but I really don't know what I wrote that was hard to understand, unless it was what I already explained in post number 113.

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oteixeira

oteixeira

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

If the butler put a plate of snacks in my room I'm billed $0 for that and 15% of that is exactly $0. I think that you know that is what I meant but if you didn't I apologize. 


This is your take on it.  What I (and maybe others, not sure) are trying to explain to you is you paid a premium in your cruise fair to have that butler, so in fact you PREPAID for this plate of snacks, so it did NOT cost you $0.  All that being true (and if you think it is not explain to me why a suite is so much more then a regular balcony room) than you do indeed have somewhere to start that is greater than $0 to base a tip scale from.  I am not telling you what to tip, or to whom.  I am telling you the premise that the butler costs you $0 for the plate he brought you is totally flawed.  

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RocketMan275

RocketMan275

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Trimone said:

Please tell me why NCL and other cruise companies don’t employ US citizens?

After this Covid-19 shutdown, and the poor staff unable to get home, wouldn’t it be right for a US stock market registered business to employ home labour.

 

It would increase the cost of the cruise.

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oteixeira

oteixeira

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Trimone said:

Please tell me why NCL and other cruise companies don’t employ US citizens?

After this Covid-19 shutdown, and the poor staff unable to get home, wouldn’t it be right for a US stock market registered business to employ home labour.

 

They are not US companies.  Also, if that was your premise explain to me why Nike, Apple, and on and on only make their products in China when they are US companies.  Loads of companies do it, and it's because the labor is cheaper.

"Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) is a holding company that is domiciled in Bermuda and based in the United States."

In other words, they do business out of Bermuda (officially).  I know we can argue that it is a way around taxes and over-regulation, but they are not a US company.

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Trimone

Trimone

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

They are not US companies.  Also, if that was your premise explain to me why Nike, Apple, and on and on only make their products in China when they are US companies.  Loads of companies do it, and it's because the labor is cheaper.

"Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) is a holding company that is domiciled in Bermuda and based in the United States."

In other words, they do business out of Bermuda (officially).  I know we can argue that it is a way around taxes and over-regulation, but they are not a US company.

So basically tax dodgers, and slave labour, so the massive tipping is a guilt trip? 

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oteixeira

oteixeira

Posted
Posted
44 minutes ago, Trimone said:

So basically tax dodgers, and slave labour, so the massive tipping is a guilt trip? 

We could literally create a list of companies pages long that do the exact same thing, as I mentioned earlier.  Can you honestly tell me you boycott all of them?  If not, then why are you so negative towards this one?  They are maximizing profit by taking advantage of things available to them, which is no different then most other for-profit companies.  As I continue to say, over and over in this thread, I am not telling you that you should or should not tip.  We are just discussing in general if the crew expects or hopes for it (SPOILER ALERT:  They do).  

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