Tipping

[brillohead]

I'm done feeding trolls.... they don't tip well enough for me to serve them their food.

Later!

[UNCFanatik]

2 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

Absurd that its expected you tip people that work in eateries you never even go to.  Do you do that in your daily life?  Just walk by a random establishment and give the owner some money so he can pay his crew?

 

Of course they dont do this. Logic escapes the people who try to defend the auto-gratuity setup. They would just rather yell "CHEAPSKATE!" than really dive into the problems with an auto-gratuity system

[UNCFanatik]

4 minutes ago, brillohead said:

Integrity, and loss of employment if cheating is discovered.

 

So in other words...no internal control. Nothing stops a room attendant from pocketing the $100 tip left for them as a tip. I am sure that they all turn in any cash tips that they receive....

[Hutcha]

57 minutes ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

But since we no longer eat in the dining room or buffet, and and only eat at specialty restaurants (where they add 18% to your cost anyway), we choose to tip in cash.

You eat breakfast and lunch in specialty restaurants? You don't partake in anything else on the ship, like coffee service, afternoon snack, slice of pizza, etc.?

 

[Hutcha]

41 minutes ago, brillohead said:

I'm done feeding trolls.... they don't tip well enough for me to serve them their food.

Later!

Thread is about to be locked anyway.

 

See you on the next one 🤪

[cruisetorelax44]

12 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

You eat breakfast and lunch in specialty restaurants? You don't partake in anything else on the ship, like coffee service, afternoon snack, slice of pizza, etc.?

 

no breakfast.. lunch is at specialties. (johnny rockets or whatever else is open)... so yeah... and once again. why can't we all just tip what we want without being judged? do you tip every barista? do you tip at mcdonalds? it's honestly getting ridiculous....

[Hutcha]

1 minute ago, cruisetorelax44 said:

no breakfast.. lunch is at specialties. (johnny rockets or whatever else is open)... so yeah... and once again. why can't we all just tip what we want without being judged? do you tip every barista? do you tip at mcdonalds? it's honestly getting ridiculous....

Starbucks and McDonalds don't base the employee's pay on the tips that they should receive. The cruise line does. I understand everyone's objections to that policy, but by bucking it, you're only hurting the employee.

[cruisetorelax44]

3 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

Starbucks and McDonalds don't base the employee's pay on the tips that they should receive. The cruise line does. I understand everyone's objections to that policy, but by bucking it, you're only hurting the employee.

ok. so if i auto tip, and cut off everything else.. i'm hurting the employee as well. they get much more with the cash i hand out.

[Hutcha]

Just now, cruisetorelax44 said:

ok. so if i auto tip, and cut off everything else.. i'm hurting the employee as well. they get much more with the cash i hand out.

Uncle

[UNCFanatik]

9 minutes ago, Hutcha said:

Uncle

 

Logic is hard...I get it

[Joseph2017China]

I tip, whatever they take from me, and that is all.  Tipping is a customary amount on the ship, and I don't tip more.  I don't care what a person makes, or if they share, or if they send money home, or if the drink their tips in a bar.  

[Tree_skier]

23 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I think the servers in the specialty restaurants are handled differently than the servers in the main dining room.I think the servers in the specialty restaurants are handled differently than the servers in the main dining room.

I don't know what happened.  I was posting from my phone and using the voice option.

[RobInMN]

It doesn't matter what people do in their day to day life. It doesn't matter what people do in Europe vs. the United States. It doesn't matter what you do at Starbucks vs. Applebee's, vs. Ruth's Chris. It doesn't matter what people do at an all inclusive land based resort. It also doesn't matter whether you feel that the tipping model is outdated or not or moral or what have you. That's all irrelevant.

 

The only thing that matters is that this is the fiscal model that Royal Caribbean, and many other cruise lines, have in place and operate under. You are expected to tip. Period. Many (not all) crew member's pay is based on the expectation that the passengers are going to tip a particular average amount, specifically the amount that they conveniently charge via the auto-gratuities.

 

Pre-pay, pay the auto-grats at the end, remove the auto-grats and pay cash, keep the auto-grats and tip extra, whatever. But if you remove the auto-grats and don't tip at all, you are a cheapskate and should be shamed. You are not hurting RCI, you are hurting the crew members. If you feel you this is some act of protest that will get the system changed, it won't. RCI is not going to notice some small percentage of passengers stiffing their steward and wait staff.

 

If you want the system changed, lobby the corporate office. Put it in your post cruise feed back. But do not take it out on the hard working crew members that make your vacation wonderful.

 

[not-enough-cruising]

5 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

It doesn't matter what people do in their day to day life. It doesn't matter what people do in Europe vs. the United States. It doesn't matter what you do at Starbucks vs. Applebee's, vs. Ruth's Chris. It doesn't matter what people do at an all inclusive land based resort. It also doesn't matter whether you feel that the tipping model is outdated or not or moral or what have you. That's all irrelevant.

 

The only thing that matters is that this is the fiscal model that Royal Caribbean, and many other cruise lines, have in place and operate under. You are expected to tip. Period. Many (not all) crew member's pay is based on the expectation that the passengers are going to tip a particular average amount, specifically the amount that they conveniently charge via the auto-gratuities.

 

Pre-pay, pay the auto-grats at the end, remove the auto-grats and pay cash, keep the auto-grats and tip extra, whatever. But if you remove the auto-grats and don't tip at all, you are a cheapskate and should be shamed. You are not hurting RCI, you are hurting the crew members. If you feel you this is some act of protest that will get the system changed, it won't. RCI is not going to notice some small percentage of passengers stiffing their steward and wait staff.

 

If you want the system changed, lobby the corporate office. Put it in your post cruise feed back. But do not take it out on the hard working crew members that make your vacation wonderful.

 

If it were a fiscal model, they would not allow you to opt out.

Crew are paid an internationally set wage, that is what they sign up for in their contract, that is what they are guaranteed; they don't settle for less than agreed upon because someone does not participate in the auto ponzi scheme.

[RobInMN]

4 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

If it were a fiscal model, they would not allow you to opt out.

Crew are paid an internationally set wage, that is what they sign up for in their contract, that is what they are guaranteed; they don't settle for less than agreed upon because someone does not participate in the auto ponzi scheme.

While you are most likely correct that tips are not included in the contractual wage, the wage is based on an expectation that the remainder of their total take home pay comes from tips. Yes, the tip portion is not guaranteed, but a certain minimum average is expected, by the crew that receives it when they sign the contract as well as by RCI when they set the contract wages. The crew members that this affects likely would not take the contract at the offered wage if there were zero tips involved. They are agreeing to the presumably lower wage with the understanding that they will receive some additional compensation in the form of tips. That's how tipped-based jobs work. But again, it doesn't matter whether you think the system is just or not, it's the system that is in place. Fighting it by refusing to tip just hurts the crew. You are not going to change the system by screwing over your room steward or wait staff.

 

They let you opt out, because I would imagine that if they didn't, it couldn't qualify as a "tip" anymore per IRS rules, wich I believe has huge implications in accounting, employee tax withholding, and probably corporate taxes.

 

I'm not justifying the system. Personally I'd prefer the gratuities simply added to the overall cruise price. But this is the system, and so I participate as expected. I will say that compared to the old cash based envelope system, I love auto-gratuities.

 

p.s. Under no way shape or form is auto-grats a "ponzi scheme". A ponzi scheme "is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.", you'll have to come up with a different derogatory term.

 

[SRF]

23 hours ago, Hutcha said:

This is the 2nd most frequent post to you, and you haven't answered it yet.

I'll add on to it. You seem like, if you do tip, you're a 15% type of person. If you go to Outback and have a steak and a couple of drinks you're in for like $50. $7.50 tip. If you go to Ruth's Chris (fancy steakhouse) that will run you $125. Is it ok to just tip $7.50 because that server didn't do any more than the Outback server did?

 

No, I tip based on the level of service.  Just last night I had a nice meal with nice service and tipped about 20%.

 

I have also tipped 10 cents on a $100 meal due to very poor and rude service.

 

I never tip 0.  As they then are not sure if you just forgot.  Leaving 10 cents tells them that you do tip, you did not forget, and yes, you are insulting them.

[SRF]

15 hours ago, RobInMN said:

While you are most likely correct that tips are not included in the contractual wage, the wage is based on an expectation that the remainder of their total take home pay comes from tips. Yes, the tip portion is not guaranteed, but a certain minimum average is expected, by the crew that receives it when they sign the contract as well as by RCI when they set the contract wages. The crew members that this affects likely would not take the contract at the offered wage if there were zero tips involved. They are agreeing to the presumably lower wage with the understanding that they will receive some additional compensation in the form of tips. That's how tipped-based jobs work. But again, it doesn't matter whether you think the system is just or not, it's the system that is in place. Fighting it by refusing to tip just hurts the crew. You are not going to change the system by screwing over your room steward or wait staff.

 

They let you opt out, because I would imagine that if they didn't, it couldn't qualify as a "tip" anymore per IRS rules, wich I believe has huge implications in accounting, employee tax withholding, and probably corporate taxes.

 

I'm not justifying the system. Personally I'd prefer the gratuities simply added to the overall cruise price. But this is the system, and so I participate as expected. I will say that compared to the old cash based envelope system, I love auto-gratuities.

 

p.s. Under no way shape or form is auto-grats a "ponzi scheme". A ponzi scheme "is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors.", you'll have to come up with a different derogatory term.

 

 

Actually, there is a minimum wage for workers on ships.  Cheng75 has discussed this a number of times.   That amount can include tips.

 

So if enough people take off the grats, the cruise line pays the difference to the minimum.  If everyone pays the grats, the people make more that minimum.

 

[Hutcha]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

 

No, I tip based on the level of service.  Just last night I had a nice meal with nice service and tipped about 20%.

 

I have also tipped 10 cents on a $100 meal due to very poor and rude service.

 

I never tip 0.  As they then are not sure if you just forgot.  Leaving 10 cents tells them that you do tip, you did not forget, and yes, you are insulting them.

Sorry @SRF, that was meant for UNC. He refuses to answer the question, and then tries to make others look stupid for not being able to comprehend his incomprehensible statements. He's been asked "Do you tip when you go out to eat" multiple times across multiple threads.

Edited April 8, 2022 by Hutcha

[Dinglebert]

20 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

what is the control that if a crew member is paid in cash to report that amount and turn it in for pooling? 

They are working together for months.  Anyone keeps tips would be found quite quickly and I imagine the months may feel like years for them.

[UNCFanatik]

1 hour ago, Hutcha said:

Sorry @SRF, that was meant for UNC. He refuses to answer the question, and then tries to make others look stupid for not being able to comprehend his incomprehensible statements. He's been asked "Do you tip when you go out to eat" multiple times across multiple threads.

 

You just couldnt quit me....I know.....

 

And I did answer the question

[grandgeezer]

Tipping for service based on the value of the product is just wrong, especially if the tip is just for the delivery of the product. Maybe I should have tipped the guy that delivered my new $3,000 tv $540 (18%) because he was on time and put it in the living room rather than leaving it by the front door.

[jeh10641]

On 4/7/2022 at 6:39 AM, cruisetorelax44 said:

i said this same thing. cash in a pocket of a person actually serving you is better than what the company might be giving out to each person. $14.50 a day x 7 days a week is $101.50 per person. At capacity, an oasis class ship would have 6,320. That's more than $640,000 collected, not including suites. Divide that by a maximum of 2,100 staff and you get $305. Even if everyone was equally tipped through that, do you really think Royal is giving each worker $305 per week worth of tips? If individual bars and restaurants decide to pool their cash tips and split it among themselves, that's fine. But i no longer trust auto tips going to who they should be. Cash is king, and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise.

The math makes sense. Never saw it that way before. Thank you.

[PTC DAWG]

24 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Tipping for service based on the value of the product is just wrong, especially if the tip is just for the delivery of the product. Maybe I should have tipped the guy that delivered my new $3,000 tv $540 (18%) because he was on time and put it in the living room rather than leaving it by the front door.

I can guarantee you the guy/guys/gal/gals delivering your new TV make more per hour base pay than most any servers in the US.  You're comparing apples and turnips with this ditty.  

Edited April 8, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[rudeney]

I can't believe this thread is still alive! 😜  Personally, I find the tips on cruise ships to be too low.  Yep, that's right - and here's why.  I figure my cabin steward will spend at least an hour per day cleaning our stateroom and making sure we have ice, etc.  On a 7-night cruise, that' at least seven hours of work.  We have a lady that cleans our house every two week and she spends about 6 hours doing that.  We pay her $175 per cleaning.  When we go out to eat, we usually spend around $60 for a meal for the two of us.  For good service, I generally tip 20%, because it's easier to calculate than 15% or 18%, and were talking a few extra dollars which make no difference to me, but might to the person serving the meal.  So if I compare this to my costs at home - $175 for "house cleaning", and 7 dinners @ $60 with a $12 tip each...that comes to $259.  A bit more than the $14.50/day/pp.  That doesn't even count any breakfast or lunch meals I have onboard.

 

[billslowsky]

17 minutes ago, rudeney said:

I figure my cabin steward will spend at least an hour per day cleaning our stateroom and making sure we have ice, etc.

 

They might spend half that time on two trips per day.  In and out in 10 minutes usually.