Tipping, True or False

[sandancer]

11 minutes ago, P&M_Cruising said:

What do people from Europe usually do on Mediterranean cruises? It’s hard to get hold of $1 Bills, or anything less than $20 bills in money exchanges on this side of the Atlantic. Is it acceptable to tip with a €1 or €2 coin even though that’s not the currency used onboard if the cruise leaves from Italy for example?

Guest services will change 20s or 10s into single dollar notes. Used to get them changed in the casino but not sure if that still happens. I’m sure on Med cruises the crew would be happy with euros also. 

[keesar]

6 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Those giving out $2 bills mean well, but it's been discussed for decades that the crew hate receiving them.  They aren't accepted outside of the united states and rarely does the crew get to get off of the ship in US ports.  The crew will often try to trade them with a newer crew member.

 

Not sure why anyone would give $2 bills.  But probably better than giving your room attendant a fruitcake, a photo of yourself, or candy from your home state/country.  

[m8zenblue]

I apologize !!!

I am very guilty of giving $2 bill tips to bartenders.

I had no idea that staff frown upon those.

I have been on a few cruises giving out $2 bill tips and have never been told this.

I will stop.

Edited March 5, 2022 by m8zenblue

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, m8zenblue said:

I apologize !!!

I am very guilty of giving $2 bill tips to bartenders.

I had no idea that staff frown upon those.

I have ben on a few cruises giving out $2 bill tips and have never been told this.

I will stop.

Me too.  Sometimes it's been two or three $2.00 bills and I cannot ever recall anyone commenting negatively about them.  

 

Guess I'll just have to bring more $1.00 and $5.00 bills. 

 

 

[m8zenblue]

I feel so bad now that I have learned this about $2 bills.

I usually take about $100-$150 in $2 bills for tipping.

All these times the staff member who I have tipped with $2 just smiled and said thank you.

That goes to show you how nice the crews are on X.

[NutsAboutGolf]

31 minutes ago, m8zenblue said:

I apologize !!!

I am very guilty of giving $2 bill tips to bartenders.

I had no idea that staff frown upon those.

I have been on a few cruises giving out $2 bill tips and have never been told this.

I will stop.

 

28 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

Me too.  Sometimes it's been two or three $2.00 bills and I cannot ever recall anyone commenting negatively about them.  

 

Guess I'll just have to bring more $1.00 and $5.00 bills. 

 

 

 

15 minutes ago, m8zenblue said:

I feel so bad now that I have learned this about $2 bills.

I usually take about $100-$150 in $2 bills for tipping.

All these times the staff member who I have tipped with $2 just smiled and said thank you.

That goes to show you how nice the crews are on X.

 

Only the minority of guests cash tip, they don't want to risk anything by making it awkward or even offending the tipping guest.  A $2 tip is much better than no tip at all but may be more work for them then two singles.

 

Their cabins are small, they generally don't want anything big for gifts (obviously there are exceptions).

 

Repeated crew members have said in order:

1) THE JACKPOT, a job in a first world country...If you have hiring influence at a local restaurant (for example) and think your waitstaff would be good fit for that restaurant, get their email

2) Cash

3) Positive remarks on surveys (helps with their next contract and receiving a promotion)

4) PrePaid internet sim cards

5) Ask them if they need anything while you're in the port (note, they'd probably still prefer cash)

 

[Oville]

8 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Geez--- It's called Marketing 101 ---- Meaning " Hey, Y'all --- Don't forget to say Thank You ( $$ ) for my service ". 

Also, about " pooling cash tips "------ How come Servers have two back pockets ?? 

Geez, I was just giving an example of a place on the ship where tips are pooled, nothing more nothing less. 

[Wineaux007]

41 minutes ago, Oville said:

Geez, I was just giving an example of a place on the ship where tips are pooled, nothing more nothing less. 

They always seem to pool tips at the martini bar from what I can see, and it pretty much makes a lot of sense.  I asked one time at the Sunset Bar on the M-Class, and they told me they pool the tips.  There was one bartender and two servers.

 

When I was on Reflection several years back, there was one bartender/server when I discretely palmed him a tip for a drink, he always looked at it before putting it in his pocket instead of discretely just  putting it in his pocket.  I guess he was trying to figure out how "cheap" I was, so he never got another tip from me the rest of the cruise.  

[jefes99190]

10 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

More like not paying taxes is KING, all servers including those in our home country prefer cash for this reason...ha ha

Cash is king 🙂

[GUT2407]

On 3/3/2022 at 12:37 PM, cruisinnorth said:

Hi All,

I have a question about tipping, but first the facts.  We always leave the assigned gratuities in place.  We always tip our room attendant and always will unless the attendant is absolutely not doing his or her job.  In all our cruises I have heard the following, but never in such a way as to convince me it is a fact.  The “true or false” I am looking for is:  If we leave our assigned tips in place will the attendant be allowed to keep the cash tip we give to him or her?  OR do they have to turn the tip in to be shared with others.  
‘Thanks in advance for any help you can be.

‘Dave and Susan

I have seen the contract for one line (not Celebrity but Princess) and it specified turning them into the pool. Knowing how similar everything else is I wouldn’t be surprised if the Celebrity contract is pretty much the same. (It was also a few years ago I saw that contract).

[Guppy99]

10 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

More like not paying taxes is KING, all servers including those in our home country prefer cash for this reason...ha ha

Only someone who does that, thinks to comment on it....imo

[Guppy99]

9 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

I have seen the contract for one line (not Celebrity but Princess) and it specified turning them into the pool. Knowing how similar everything else is I wouldn’t be surprised if the Celebrity contract is pretty much the same. (It was also a few years ago I saw that contract).

Contract for what position?  when was that?

Edited March 6, 2022 by Guppy99

[GUT2407]

10 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

Contract for what position?  when was that?

It was for a Steward, though the contract appeared to be a common hotel staff contract with space for the actual position to be written in, a few years back now, maybe 5, it was an issue where his income was important, there was an argument over how tips should be included in the calculations he said he had to hand all tips into a pool where that pool was divided along similar lines to the auto grats, and that is what the contract said.

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

Geez, I was just giving an example of a place on the ship where tips are pooled, nothing more nothing less. 

Agree---

I was only making a little " fun '' of them ringing a bell because in other places on the ship ( Specialty restaurants, the Spa , other Bars , etc ) they don't ring any bells when they receive a tip.

One thing I'm sure we can all agree on, is that it's an " attention getter ". 

 

 

[Oville]

12 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Agree---

I was only making a little " fun '' of them ringing a bell because in other places on the ship ( Specialty restaurants, the Spa , other Bars , etc ) they don't ring any bells when they receive a tip.

One thing I'm sure we can all agree on, is that it's an " attention getter ". 

 

 

👍

[Wineaux007]

10 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

 

One thing I'm sure we can all agree on, is that it's an " attention getter ". 

 

 

If you frequent the martini bar, a lot of it is a big show.  It's good fun, and people tend to tip, especially when they pour 8-10 drinks in a pyramid and juggle the vodka bottles around.  It's more than an attention getter -- it's a great marketing ploy.  Good for them.

[markeb]

44 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

It was for a Steward, though the contract appeared to be a common hotel staff contract with space for the actual position to be written in, a few years back now, maybe 5, it was an issue where his income was important, there was an argument over how tips should be included in the calculations he said he had to hand all tips into a pool where that pool was divided along similar lines to the auto grats, and that is what the contract said.

 

That is fairly standard in the US. It's actually specified as an option in the Fair Labor Standards Act, and employers can establish one or more mandatory tip pools for their tipped employees. Failure to contribute cash tips to the pool would be grounds for termination. And tip pools are ONLY for front of house employees under US law. Not dishwashers. Not cooks. Not the guys in the laundry. Those folks all have to be paid at least minimum wage.

 

Since tipping as it's practiced on the ships is pretty much a reflection of US precedent by a US corporation (the ships are flagged in Malta), my assumption is RCG and Celebrity would adopt that precedent as well. Other than apparently the specified gratuities on the additional gratuities form, which seem to be a direct pass through (again, lying by X is bad).

[Guppy99]

31 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

That is fairly standard in the US. It's actually specified as an option in the Fair Labor Standards Act, and employers can establish one or more mandatory tip pools for their tipped employees. Failure to contribute cash tips to the pool would be grounds for termination. And tip pools are ONLY for front of house employees under US law. Not dishwashers. Not cooks. Not the guys in the laundry. Those folks all have to be paid at least minimum wage.

 

Since tipping as it's practiced on the ships is pretty much a reflection of US precedent by a US corporation (the ships are flagged in Malta), my assumption is RCG and Celebrity would adopt that precedent as well. Other than apparently the specified gratuities on the additional gratuities form, which seem to be a direct pass through (again, lying by X is bad).

I'm not so sure your assumption is a correct one at all.

[markeb]

8 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

I'm not so sure your assumption is a correct one at all.

Fine. You have a better one with objective, verifiable evidence?

[Guppy99]

10 minutes ago, markeb said:

Fine. You have a better one with objective, verifiable evidence?

Not actually, but I do recall that my son was in talks with a cruise line to be a member of their onboard technical support. I recall that he learned a lot about the different ways the overall staffing on a cruise ship worked.  Some staff (and I am talking about serving staff, stewards etc) are hired through a third party and the third party (non-US companies) holds the contract. They don't have to follow the same employment laws as a result. I can't say with specifics or have evidence etc..  I don't think you seeing a contract is necessarily hard evidence either, when you have to make assumptions. I'm just offering another possibility...no need to be so defensive.

[markeb]

1 minute ago, Guppy99 said:

Not actually, but I do recall that my son was in talks with a cruise line to be a member of their onboard technical support. I recall that he learned a lot about the different ways the overall staffing on a cruise ship worked.  Some staff (and I am talking about serving staff, stewards etc) are hired through a third party and the third party (non-US companies) holds the contract. They don't have to follow the same employment laws as a result. I can't say with specifics or have evidence etc..  I don't think you seeing a contract is necessarily hard evidence either, when you have to make assumptions. I'm just offering another possibility...no need to be so defensive.

I’m good with that. And I’m not the one who saw a contract. 
 

There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the crew  I’ve seen folks post the same regarding employees versus subcontractors. I think people want or need to make things simple, and it seems pretty apparent it isn’t. 
 

I generally stick to the “none of my business” on how staff is compensated and gratuities distributed, but the only analogy I know is US labor law. So I just assume everything’s pooled and move on. And I spent a career in a pretty strict hierarchical organization (US Army) where the members tended to deal with those who wouldn’t conform to norms that impacted others… 

[Guppy99]

10 minutes ago, markeb said:

I’m good with that. And I’m not the one who saw a contract. 
 

There’s a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the crew  I’ve seen folks post the same regarding employees versus subcontractors. I think people want or need to make things simple, and it seems pretty apparent it isn’t. 
 

I generally stick to the “none of my business” on how staff is compensated and gratuities distributed, but the only analogy I know is US labor law. So I just assume everything’s pooled and move on. And I spent a career in a pretty strict hierarchical organization (US Army) where the members tended to deal with those who wouldn’t conform to norms that impacted others… 

Thank you for your service...sincerely.

[dcbiker97]

If folks are that interested in knowing exactly how it all works, maybe a dozen or so folks on here could become waiters, servers, or stateroom attendants for a contract or two and report back so there can be a definitive answer rather than making assumptions.

[cdn_tbird]

8 hours ago, m8zenblue said:

I apologize !!!

I am very guilty of giving $2 bill tips to bartenders.

I had no idea that staff frown upon those.

I have been on a few cruises giving out $2 bill tips and have never been told this.

I will stop.

 

8 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

Me too.  Sometimes it's been two or three $2.00 bills and I cannot ever recall anyone commenting negatively about them.  

 

Guess I'll just have to bring more $1.00 and $5.00 bills. 

 

 

I don't think you need to feel bad or apologize. To be honest, I thought that the US had permanently done away with the $2 bill. I've done a lot of business trips to the US over my 30+ year career and I've never been given (or seen) a $2 bill. Had I not learned that it was still legal tender, had someone given me one, I would have thought it was fake.

[DirtyDawg]

5 hours ago, cdn_tbird said:

 

I don't think you need to feel bad or apologize. To be honest, I thought that the US had permanently done away with the $2 bill. I've done a lot of business trips to the US over my 30+ year career and I've never been given (or seen) a $2 bill. Had I not learned that it was still legal tender, had someone given me one, I would have thought it was fake.

And for our fellow Canadian cruisers. don't tip with a toonie. The crew will definitely think it's a fake. As besides, hauling a hundred or two of those things onto the cruise ship would weigh a tonne!

🏋️‍♂️

🙂