Restaurant Tipping

[Ergates The Ant]

Once again, those who don’t support a ‘tipping’ means of paying service staff are considered mean. I consider by having the service charges included in the price of meals out etc means that I am contributing to the staff wages, and their contribution to pension, healthcare, and other benefits, which their employer is also obliged to contribute towards. 

Both MSC and P and O include these costs into the price of the cruise, so that all staff are fairly remunerated. 

So no, we are not mean, we are very fair and socially minded. 

[Ergates The Ant]

When in the USA, and on cruises which run to the US system, I do tip at the recommended amount. This is because I know that in these cases, the ‘tip’ is not an extra thank you for going beyond what was required, but part of the service staff wages. I do feel so guilty though that they have to grovel for a living wage, and are not treated with the respect that earning decent and fairly agreed compensation should bring.

[77red96]

I was on MSC Bellissima in August, I paid my full gratuity but I also felt it was necessary to tip several of the staff in person with cash. 

 

Having read that it was not the done thing I went to guest services and asked was it appropriate to tip in cash in addition to the paid gratuities, they said "yes sir, if you feel you would like to but it is certainly not required or expected" 

 

I was delighted to hear this as there were 5 members of the crew who had gone above and beyond on every occasion that we met, we gave them €50 each. They were very appreciative.

 

I don't actually know what the going rates are for good or bad tips but I thought we were very generous, I must also point out that we tipped based on what we could afford.

 

[morpheusofthesea]

Indiscriminate tipping of cash, though full of good intentions, does not ensure intent of the tipper. Example. Having traveled many times on the same ship we became acquainted with the piano player. Knowing we would be returning he asked us to pick up a volume of classic melodies (sheet music) which we did as a gift. He kept it hidden away in the bench of his piano. It was stolen. We replaced it on a subsequent cruise. Recently a staff member expressed interest in a subject and we brought all the magazines on the subject we could find on the newsstands. The magazines were placed by the staff member in a crew only location and were stolen. (If the magazines were not important to the staff member, no mention would have been made to us of their disappearance). If 'trifles' are 'disappearing' does one really think that envelopes of cash will fare any better and reach their intended targets ?  The answer to this type of reward for services above and beyond 'ough't to be via electronic transfer of additional OBC placed on ones account and then applied by the 'front office' as designated by ones request.

[perakcruiser]

18 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Please compare the above salaries with your country's salaries for the same positions.

Certainly the salaries on a cruise ship are much higher compared to my country. Maybe around fife times higher for waiters, cooks, room stewards. And even more when we talk about the Indos and Pinoys. That is why these jobs are so popular. On top, someone that works at a Dominos in Jakarta or Manila never in his life has seen a tip. 

 

7 hours ago, iwtobek said:

That's theoretically how tipping is supposed to work when you let MSC handle it. You should be able to go to Concierge Area and ask them to raise the gratuities for you.

That actually really happens. 

 

18 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Those that remove the gratuity, for whatever lame reason, then the cruise line has to make up the difference.

Almost nobody can remove the gratuity any more, MSC collects it already with the cruise price and the option to let it add day by day to the cruise bill is gone. As I prefer "final price" and no late additions I am happy about this. 

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, perakcruiser said:

Almost nobody can remove the gratuity any more, MSC collects it already with the cruise price and the option to let it add day by day to the cruise bill is gone. As I prefer "final price" and no late additions I am happy about this.

Good move on MSC's part. Though MSC has not yet done that for the Seashore. Got on board and print out for each of us on final bill had hotel charge of $98 each of us. Questioned this charge, was told it was gratuities for the week.

[Bobbiegentry]

Or they could simply pay the crew a fair and livable wage and dispense with their endless shell game.

And yes, I’m aware that doing so would increase the cruise fare and I’m OK with that. 

[perakcruiser]

17 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Good move on MSC's part. Though MSC has not yet done that for the Seashore. Got on board and print out for each of us on final bill had hotel charge of $98 each of us. Questioned this charge, was told it was gratuities for the week.

They are rolling it out in Europe, the US market maybe will be the only one not to follow as your laws allow them the trick with the fake prices that are not final. And US pax probably have no problem with this as they are used to it. 

 

As MSC has no Malaysian webpage we usually book with them in Europe, I think two years before the gratuities became mandatory and were included in the final price already, you just could choose if you want to pay at booking time (with a good discount) or on board. On my last MSC booking a couple of weeks before I could not choose and the gratuities were not seperated from the cruise price anymore. Only for the Voyagers 5%, these are deducted from the price without gratuities. 

[psmarkle]

For our cruises, I always bring extra cash for tips even though the daily tips are charged to our account.  I was talking to the incomparable Vishnu in the Seaside YC about working on different ships, and he stated that he only wanted to work on the Seaside (sailing out of the US at the time) because the staff make much more. He continued that "American" passengers are a lot more work than in Europe, but Americans tip extra that he sends home to his family. Last I heard (I believe it was on these boards), after Covid he opened up his own restaurant in Mauritius. Good for him!!

[rikitikitavii]

On 9/23/2022 at 4:51 AM, sealynx said:

Not only there is no need for tipping, it is not allowed. Crew is not allowed to accept your tips. They get wages + service fee, and according to MSC (and the crew members I spoke to) that makes a decent and fair salary.

I have been on 4 MSC cruises and the staff has never refused to accept a monetary tip.