Can 'included' gratuities be removed then redistributed to staff of your choice?

[Nitropodder]

Gratuities are included in the price of our cruise on Silhouette next year as part of a promotion. As we are not adding them on ourselves can we still somehow redistribute (the full amount) to the most deserving staff?

[gerelmx]

3 minutes ago, Nitropodder said:

Gratuities are included in the price of our cruise on Silhouette next year as part of a promotion. As we are not adding them on ourselves can we still somehow redistribute (the full amount) to the most deserving staff?

 

I would say NO because it is a free perk

[cruisestitch]

When they are included in your fare, I believe that they cannot be removed.  You are, of course, free to add additional gratuities to service personnel who have gone above and beyond for you.

[I_r_a]

Hi N,

 

Ditto g.

 

In addition, what is referred to as a "gratuity" is really a service charge.  It is distributed among the staff by Celebrity.

 

There are many "deserving" people in the crew that you might not have considered, eg, the cook who does the scrambled eggs, oughtn't they to be tipped, too?

 

Happy Holidays

 

Ira

 

[Langley Cruisers]

17 minutes ago, Nitropodder said:

... can we still somehow redistribute (the full amount) to the most deserving staff?

 

Tipping threads can sometimes get heated, so I proceed with caution... but I did want to mention that the people that the cruise line deems as included in the gratuities are deserving. Some guests don't think that the head waiter deserves his/her share, but trust me that when your dinner service runs smoothly and you don't see a lot of your HW, that is because s/he is busy behind the scenes keeping things moving along and overseeing the waiters and assistant waiters (just using this as an example). Please feel free to give extra to those whom you feel added to your cruise experience, but I would respectfully ask that you don't remove the gratuities from those whose work you may not feel is "more deserving". They are counting on it as part of their wages.

[Lady Arwen]

Every crew member is deserving, regardless if you are aware of them or not.  Please leave the grats alone so that everyone gets a share.

[mdpa]

Not to pile on...But this is one of the areas where I am more sensitive.

While I am a big believer in being generous or stingy based on good or horrible service, I think many people forget the back of the house.

My old boss was always proud of his “over the top tipping”, I reminded him that these servers were often some of the best paid within the establishment.

While it makes people “feel good” and some people pre-pay as a form of a bribe I think it skews expectations for the servers while shortchanging people who wash dishes, clean the floor, or who handle the food produce delivery.

[yorky]

All staff should get a share, that can’t be done by individuals giving out amounts in envelopes. If there was one change I would make it would be to stop the ability of anyone to remove the gratuities. Nothing to do with the thread starter but I’ve seen too many people lining up at guest services in the past to have grats removed. 

[MamaFej]

46 minutes ago, yorky said:

All staff should get a share, that can’t be done by individuals giving out amounts in envelopes. If there was one change I would make it would be to stop the ability of anyone to remove the gratuities. Nothing to do with the thread starter but I’ve seen too many people lining up at guest services in the past to have grats removed. 

Agreed.

 

If it's true that the cruise lines do not "just roll the gratuities into the cruise fare and have one inclusive price" because salary and grats are taxed differently and having them separate benefits the crew, I wonder if there is a legal way to call it a Service Charge (or something else) that isn't removable. I'm guessing there isn't, or the lines would have done it long ago.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the daily gratuities are part of my cost to cruise. Usually, that cost goes up because I feel the crew have earned additional cash tips.

 

When dining in Murano, I was about to add a tip to my receipt, and the waiter explained that Murano staff would not get the full amount intended that way, and asked if I might be able to give cash instead. I did, but after he assured me that it would be split with Back of House personnel. 

[yorky]

16 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Agreed.

 

If it's true that the cruise lines do not "just roll the gratuities into the cruise fare and have one inclusive price" because salary and grats are taxed differently and having them separate benefits the crew, I wonder if there is a legal way to call it a Service Charge (or something else) that isn't removable. I'm guessing there isn't, or the lines would have done it long ago.

 

As far as I'm concerned, the daily gratuities are part of my cost to cruise. Usually, that cost goes up because I feel the crew have earned additional cash tips.

 

When dining in Murano, I was about to add a tip to my receipt, and the waiter explained that Murano staff would not get the full amount intended that way, and asked if I might be able to give cash instead. I did, but after he assured me that it would be split with Back of House personnel. 

We ate on Murano six times this September and left a cash tip each time for that very reason.

[dkjretired]

Keep in mind the OP said he got the paid gratuities as a perk, Only way they can eliminate the tips is to change the perk.

[Langley Cruisers]

4 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

Keep in mind the OP said he got the paid gratuities as a perk, Only way they can eliminate the tips is to change the perk.

 

Absolutely true, but I think OP was more so asking about removing and giving to staff/crew of his/her choice - "most deserving" was the quote. I think some of us were just replying to that aspect of the question (I was, anyway 🙂).

[Nitropodder]

Thank you for your well informed comments. We will be leaving the gratuities to be shared amongst all.

[DirtyDawg]

6 minutes ago, Nitropodder said:

Thank you for your well informed comments. We will be leaving the gratuities to be shared amongst all.

 

You deserve a tip for your post! 😉

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Edited November 26, 2019 by DirtyDawg

[pilot]

5 hours ago, Nitropodder said:

Gratuities are included in the price of our cruise on Silhouette next year as part of a promotion. As we are not adding them on ourselves can we still somehow redistribute (the full amount) to the most deserving staff?

Why would you want to do this?

 

Maybe you can contact your TA and see if they can cancel this perk and then you can use your money to tip as you see fit. 💰😀