Auto Gratuities- Yes or No?

[jcc1025]

Yes and then for those who give good personal service I take some cash and tip them. One of my pet peves is hearing people who come up with one or two anecdotal experience or two which I some times think they are looking for during a cruise to justify to themselves and others why they didn't tip the service staff. Would always love to ask them about their company or job and how they are perfect in every customer experience. This is at the top of my pet peeve list on cruises. 

[DirtyDawg]

3 hours ago, KATHYMAC68 said:

Are we still able to cancel the auto gratuities and tip with the cash in envelopes?

I always liked handing them the envelopes and giving more when someone deserved it.

I know I can still tip extra, but I miss that last night ritual.

Hey, do whatever 'floats your boat'. 

[CruisingHogFan]

25 minutes ago, jcc1025 said:

Yes and then for those who give good personal service I take some cash and tip them. One of my pet peves is hearing people who come up with one or two anecdotal experience or two which I some times think they are looking for during a cruise to justify to themselves and others why they didn't tip the service staff. Would always love to ask them about their company or job and how they are perfect in every customer experience. This is at the top of my pet peeve list on cruises. 

People removing gratuities is also my biggest pet peeve for the cruise industry!! Most cruise lines use America’s type of pay scale for the service industry so the majority of the staffs income is from tips.

I just don’t see how someone can justify in their mind it’s ok not to pay the people that make their vacation enjoyable. Very selfish type of people I guess. 

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

They should just call it a resort fee and make it mandatory 

Hey, we are talking about the cruise industry here.

 

A mandatory 'resort fee' would be way too logical. 😉

[hotsauce126]

1 hour ago, CruisingHogFan said:

Hopefully someday Royal will make gratuities a mandatory line item and not give the choice and these discussions end.

 

We usually tip extra for above and beyond to our cabin attendant, MDR staff, and bartenders we use a lot.

 

Hopefully Royal goes the Virgin Voyages/Sandals route and just builds staff pay into the cruise fare and then nobody has to worry about gratuities anymore

[Submariner]

22 minutes ago, CruisingHogFan said:

People removing gratuities is also my biggest pet peeve for the cruise industry!! Most cruise lines use America’s type of pay scale for the service industry so the majority of the staffs income is from tips.

I just don’t see how someone can justify in their mind it’s ok not to pay the people that make their vacation enjoyable. Very selfish type of people I guess. 

So you are shifting the blame from the cruiseline industry not paying their staff appropriately to the massive guilt trip that has permeated (and been browbeaten and accepted) into the customers to tip to make up that difference. Bah! Tired of this argument. Too many lemmings to try and convert.

[Submariner]

5 minutes ago, hotsauce126 said:

 

Hopefully Royal goes the Virgin Voyages/Sandals route and just builds staff pay into the cruise fare and then nobody has to worry about gratuities anymore

Comment of the thread! 👆

[Ferry_Watcher]

Do people ask the tipping question to get public reassurance that it is okay to be cheap?

[Mum2Mercury]

1 minute ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Do people ask the tipping question to get public reassurance that it is okay to be cheap?

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think people just want to know what's typical /acceptable.  

 

My opinion:  Make everyone's life easier and just pre-pay gratuities.  Trust that the staff gets the amount for which they signed on, and that the money ends up in the right hands.  

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, KATHYMAC68 said:

Are we still able to cancel the auto gratuities and tip with the cash in envelopes?

I always liked handing them the envelopes and giving more when someone deserved it.

I know I can still tip extra, but I miss that last night ritual.

The auto grats are designed to reward all of the hard working crew who have made your cruise memorable. It's like, reward the waiter, but cheat the assistant waiter, bus boys, dish washers, cooks, cleaners. Because of the auto grats, all of those people depend on you to contribute to the auto grarts just to get up to their minimum contract salary levels. 

 

You are still welcome to give extra tips to those who have exhibited exceptional service. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, soremekun said:

Why don't we tip other important staff:

-The captain and his/her close work associates

-Engine crew

-Security staff

-Guest services team

You may, if you want. Slip the captain a fiver when you see him at the C&A party. 

 

But, positions that are included in the auto grats depend on those gratuities to get themselves up to their minimum contract value before they go above. 

 

Just like our home town. Minimum wage is $15/hour. If you are in a position that gets gratuities, an employer only has to pay $5/hour. That waiter at the corner diner needs to make $10/hour in tips just to get to minimum wage. And you have to server a lot of tables when people don't tip or leave lose change on the table to get $10/hour. 

 

Same on the ship. Those positions that are in the auto grats get "paid" much less than their contract salary value. And they have to earn tips just to get them up to the bare minimum salary of the contract for their position. If, and only if, the gratuities get them to their minimum wage, will they start earning something more than their salary. 

[bonsai3s]

5 hours ago, cured said:

Does anyone know for sure if the rumors are true that if you remove your auto-gratuities, the employee must pool whatever you give them? Basically making it the same thing that they don't get the full amount of what you give them, but just their auto gratuity share. We always leave the autograts on so that we don't stiff anyone and give extra where extra is due. However, we have a family member that insists on removing the auto gratuities and just tipping the people he sees everyday.  I would love to present the argument that it doesn't work the way he thinks it does. They can see that he removed the gratuities and that anything he gives in an envelope has to go into the pool anyway.

 

Just like your family member, we have friends who eats dinner only in the Windjammer. We asked them (husband & wife) if they'd like to join us in the MDR. They declined and told us they remove the auto-grats and instead hand tips to the Windjammer staff at the end of the cruise. (and they do the same with other crew members, like the cabin steward.) 

 

I asked this question just the other day...what if you had an assigned table in the MDR, but ate in the Windjammer every night...would you still keep the auto-grats or remove it?

 

 

[deliver42]

I don't think it has anything to do with what's acceptable. If that were the case, the answer would be keep the auto grats and use the envelopes to tip who you want in addition.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, hotsauce126 said:

 

Hopefully Royal goes the Virgin Voyages/Sandals route and just builds staff pay into the cruise fare and then nobody has to worry about gratuities anymore

Staff pay is already built into the cruise fare; it is dictated by international sea farer convention, and can not be deviated (lower) from.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

People removing gratuities is also my biggest pet peeve for the cruise industry!! Most cruise lines use America’s type of pay scale for the service industry so the majority of the staffs income is from tips.

I just don’t see how someone can justify in their mind it’s ok not to pay the people that make their vacation enjoyable. Very selfish type of people I guess. 

NO, staff minimums are set and regulated far outside of the individual cruise lines policies.

[not-enough-cruising]

32 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You may, if you want. Slip the captain a fiver when you see him at the C&A party. 

 

But, positions that are included in the auto grats depend on those gratuities to get themselves up to their minimum contract value before they go above. 

 

Just like our home town. Minimum wage is $15/hour. If you are in a position that gets gratuities, an employer only has to pay $5/hour. That waiter at the corner diner needs to make $10/hour in tips just to get to minimum wage. And you have to server a lot of tables when people don't tip or leave lose change on the table to get $10/hour. 

 

Same on the ship. Those positions that are in the auto grats get "paid" much less than their contract salary value. And they have to earn tips just to get them up to the bare minimum salary of the contract for their position. If, and only if, the gratuities get them to their minimum wage, will they start earning something more than their salary. 

100% absolutely incorrect

[JoeFan]

Ugh 

Edited July 7, 2022 by JoeFan

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The auto grats are designed to reward all of the hard working crew who have made your cruise memorable. It's like, reward the waiter, but cheat the assistant waiter, bus boys, dish washers, cooks, cleaners. Because of the auto grats, all of those people depend on you to contribute to the auto grarts just to get up to their minimum contract salary levels. 

 

You are still welcome to give extra tips to those who have exhibited exceptional service. 

The perfect description of why you shouldn't remove the autotips. Thank you.

[snaefell]

45 minutes ago, the penguins said:

The perfect description of why you shouldn't remove the autotips. Thank you.

OR the perfect description of why the cruise company should pay a decent wage in the first place so the auto tips weren't necessary!?!?

[sgmn]

11 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

Hopefully someday Royal will make gratuities a mandatory line item and not give the choice and these discussions end.

 

We usually tip extra for above and beyond to our cabin attendant, MDR staff, and bartenders we use a lot.

Agree make it mandatory. No worries, no discussion. If you want to give out envelopes (this to OP), you still can , give extra to your stateroom attendant or fav bartender if you think they went above and beyond 

[hotsauce126]

8 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Staff pay is already built into the cruise fare; it is dictated by international sea farer convention, and can not be deviated (lower) from.

I’m pretty sure you understood what I meant — pay them a wage that doesn’t require passengers to subsidize it with tips and don’t allow them to accept tips like the two companies that I mentioned

[KATHYMAC68]

17 hours ago, cured said:

Does anyone know for sure if the rumors are true that if you remove your auto-gratuities, the employee must pool whatever you give them? Basically making it the same thing that they don't get the full amount of what you give them, but just their auto gratuity share. We always leave the autograts on so that we don't stiff anyone and give extra where extra is due. However, we have a family member that insists on removing the auto gratuities and just tipping the people he sees everyday.  I would love to present the argument that it doesn't work the way he thinks it does. They can see that he removed the gratuities and that anything he gives in an envelope has to go into the pool anyway.

 

How would the workers see if they were cancelled?

[KATHYMAC68]

16 hours ago, karena1 said:

That is EXACTLY what we do.  I am so against people taking off the auto tips and robbing the behind the scenes people that work so hard to make our vacation a great one.

I thought they had to pool it anyway and share with everyone anyway.

Thats not how it works?

[KATHYMAC68]

13 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Do people ask the tipping question to get public reassurance that it is okay to be cheap?

I asked the question only because I like to hand them the tips to show my gratitude. I always tip above the required amount. So it’s not being cheap.

if the money is pooled either way, then what’s the difference other than my preference?

[KATHYMAC68]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

The auto grats are designed to reward all of the hard working crew who have made your cruise memorable. It's like, reward the waiter, but cheat the assistant waiter, bus boys, dish washers, cooks, cleaners. Because of the auto grats, all of those people depend on you to contribute to the auto grarts just to get up to their minimum contract salary levels. 

 

You are still welcome to give extra tips to those who have exhibited exceptional service. 

Thank you! That was pretty much the answer I wanted. I didn’t know if I gave in person, does it still get pooled for everyone.

I don’t want to cheat anyone out of a tip.