Tipping for drinks and food

[Ptroxx]

I’m curious what he does at hotels.  How he avoids those fees. Lol

are we being trolled ?  Lolol.  

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

ah...I see that you would condone the extra behind the scenes "service". 

 

Nice

 

 

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and I assume the hard working crew has the same philosophy, no wait I don’t assume, I know.

[Ptroxx]

Just now, LGW59 said:

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, and I assume the hard working crew has the same philosophy, no wait I don’t assume, I know.

He doesn’t go to Vegas.  They have service fees at the hotels.   Lol 

[PhillyFan33579]

4 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

Just so we're clear here, are you suggesting this is merely a problem of nomenclature, which you have mentioned again and again? 

 

If they called it a "fuel surcharge" or "amenities fee" or whatever, but made it revokable, are you suggesting you would leave it alone and pay it then?

The bottom line is he is a cheap whatever you want to call him who expects crew members to work for free for him. He is well aware that crew members depend on gratuities to survive yet he doesn’t care. I really wish cruise lines would start banning passengers who remove gratuities. I know they track  passengers who remove gratuities, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to start banning passengers who always remove gratuities. 

[RedIguana]

14 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Aren't you sort of making his point for him? You can't remove the 18% "tip" when you buy a drink nor can you when you buy a package. Therefore, the charge does not even meet your definition of a gratuity.

It was not my intent to prove or disprove anyone's point. I was just making a distinction between the two terms, which are not necessarily interchangeable (at least in the US, I guess being a flag of convenience may alter the rules). Onboard gratuities are listed as gratuities, apparently they can be removed, and RCI list them as going to the appropriate personnel as they should. With respect to beverage packages, I do believe the website lists them as gratuities and not a service charge. I am curious if anyone has tried to have those removed or not. (I would not even consider removing auto grats myself) Just an interesting theoretical. 

[Biker19]

Seems like @thorben_hendrik account is gone?

[John&LaLa]

30 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Seems like @thorben_hendrik account is gone?

 

I miss Thor and Ace

[Merion_Mom]

5 hours ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

First off, I want to be clear that I tip reasonably well IMO.  I don't say this to brag but as a prelude to put this into perspective.  I always prepay gratuities (though in the future if I had a lot of OBC, would let that absorb it).  In addition, I tip $2-5 on every drink, leave $2-5 after every buffet or casual meal (pizza, burgers, etc.).  Room service ($5 minimum), specialty dining, etc. etc.  Steward $15-20 per week (solo only servicing on average once every 2.5 days).  I don't even want to go into what I tip the violinists but that's probably the only place where I feel I'm getting my money's worth.

 

Having said that, I HATE IT!  Except for the violinists. Not so much the cash part but always having to deal with it so many times during the cruise.  I realize none of that is required but I know the crew appreciates it (and on some level they expect it), so I do it.  I would much rather the cruise line charge more for gratuities and make cash tipping absolutely unacceptable on the ship but alas, that is not how it is.  I say all this to put into perspective the following:

 

If everyone left gratuities intact, your average crew member who is in the tip pool would get about $1600 per month on gratuities, on top of the $1200-1500 or so they get monthly from what I can discern based on you tube videos I've seen.  All of this before any cash tips are even considered, which I know happens quite regularly.  Now I realize they work long hours and I certainly don't begrudge their pay and even add to it where I can.  However, that pay would constitute more than what an average American earns in a year.  Make that of it whatever you will.

 

 

 

Since in fact none of us has seen a crew member's contract, we can't state for certain what their base salary is.  HOWEVER..................there has been much discussion of this over the decades, and some purported contracts HAVE been posted.  Unless things have changed, they make NOWHERE NEAR $1200 a month.

[UNCFanatik]

6 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

The bottom line is he is a cheap whatever you want to call him who expects crew members to work for free for him. He is well aware that crew members depend on gratuities to survive yet he doesn’t care. I really wish cruise lines would start banning passengers who remove gratuities. I know they track  passengers who remove gratuities, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to start banning passengers who always remove gratuities. 

Great business plan coming out of a cruise shutdown! Banning paying  customers. They should make you the CFO

 

last I checked no crew members are working for free. I suggest you direct your anger about the way crew is paid towards the cruise lines

Edited December 16, 2021 by UNCFanatik

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

This site lists an average of just over $30K, which would make sense to me because I didn't add cash tips but once again, I don't believe anywhere near close to all passengers pay the daily grats.  So overall, it's not only close to what I wrote, but arguably more depending on what percent pay the daily grats.  And to the extent that some crew are invariably keeping cash tips (whether they are allowed to or not), it's probably not picked up in these kinds of reporting.

 

Average Ship Steward Salary 2021: Hourly and Annual Salaries (zippia.com)

 

 

Who the hell cares already, leave at a minimum the auto grats alone, then if so inclined tip more in cash for great service and I’ve never had anything but great service.  Stop worrying about the crew contracts, they don’t worry about what we make, but they know a cheapskate when they see one.

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I care because I'm curious about business models and it's at the core of my occupation.  But save the righteous "It doesn't matter to me so who cares" entitled behavior.  If you don't care, why bother to even respond or engage in any of these discussions?  You've certainly posted your fair share on this thread. And if "who cares" ruled the day, why would tipping and all related questions about crew compensation be one of the most exhausted topics on just about every forum on this site?

Don’t put in quotes something I did not say.  Crew compensation is none of our business, as mine is none of theirs.  And I’ll post and reply to anything I decide to.

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

Unless things have changed, they make NOWHERE NEAR $1200 a month.

Perhaps not comparable to a tipped position but this crew member posts his actual pay:

 

 

Edited December 16, 2021 by Biker19

[crazyank]

15 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I really wish cruise lines would start banning passengers who remove gratuities. I know they track  passengers who remove gratuities, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to start banning passengers who always remove gratuities. 

And you know this how?  Please state your source for this info.  

[PhillyFan33579]

38 minutes ago, crazyank said:

And you know this how?  Please state your source for this info.  

I am friends with a lot of people, including several hotel directors, who work in the cruise industry. 

Edited December 16, 2021 by PhillyFan33579

[Ocean Boy]

3 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I am friends with a lot of people, including several hotel directors, who work in the cruise industry. 

Why would they ban someone for performing an action that the cruise line allows them to do? If the action rises to that level then it truly is no longer a gratuity.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why would they ban someone for performing an action that the cruise line allows them to do? If the action rises to that level then it truly is no longer a gratuity.

I know they would never do that, I was just sharing my opinion. I have become good friends with a lot of crew members over the years and I know how much a lot of them depend on gratuities to make a decent income. So I have very strong feelings about people who remove gratuities when they are cruising. 

[SRF]

On 12/15/2021 at 10:14 AM, LynnForestgate said:

Oh Dear.

Surely there would be an internal accountability ?

 

 

 

Exactly.

 

And if they were holding back, it WOULD get out.  Too many people involved for someone to not speak out.

 

And think of the class action suit by everyone who paid the auto grats.

[SRF]

On 12/15/2021 at 4:39 PM, UNCFanatik said:

Oh I know. My point is just call it a service fee and be done with it. Why pretend a mixed drink costs $13 when its actually $15.34. And why advertise drink package at lets say $58/day when its actually its $68.44/day. Just be upfront. Call it a service fee but not gratuity. 

 

Then by the same token, why are prices in the US not quoted with tax included?  The item cannot be sold without charging the tax.

 

Most parts of the world, with VAT, the advertised or marked price includes the taxes.

 

 

[SRF]

On 12/15/2021 at 5:00 PM, Ptroxx said:

I’m curious what he does at hotels.  How he avoids those fees. Lol

are we being trolled ?  Lolol.  

 

Yeah, like the resort fees.  Which are non-optional, cannot be removed, and provide nothing.

 

Why aren't they just in the room price.  Plus all the local/state taxes and fees.

[SRF]

On 12/15/2021 at 11:26 PM, CarelessAndConfused said:

 

I care because I'm curious about business models and it's at the core of my occupation.  But save the righteous "It doesn't matter to me so who cares" entitled behavior.  If you don't care, why bother to even respond or engage in any of these discussions?  You've certainly posted your fair share on this thread. And if "who cares" ruled the day, why would tipping and all related questions about crew compensation be one of the most exhausted topics on just about every forum on this site?

 

But from a business model side, IT WORKS.  Pre COVID RCI ships sailed 100+% capacity (based on double occupancy).

 

It worked for South West, when they advertised air fares without all the taxes and fees. At least until Congress passed a law against doing that.