Paying Cash Gratuities Directly to Staff?

[Guppy99]

3 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Yes, however many restaurants print the tipping amounts for 18% and/or 20% at the bottom of receipt…I’ve found 80% of the time it’s based on tax included amount

then you should correct it. I do

[Peteymil]

I cannot imagine a scenario that I will remove the auto gratuities. They are not a huge amount, yet I wouldn't want anybody to be held responsible for the fact that I wanted to do remove them. Instead, I give extra cash to anyone that I think deserves an extra boost. We are lucky to be able to cruise, and most of the employees work very hard.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Peteymil

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

Or stay in the UK and or Europe!!!

No help, cruises in both places have the same tipping system unless he changes to P &O or Saga (over 50's). 

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, RD64 said:

Agreed in Canada too, the preset amount is based on the after tax subtotal.

Thanks. The replies have already demonstrated the confusion that we all suffer/enjoy when travelling to other countries. i e. some tip the guy in the supermarket some don't, some tip18% some 20%,  some calculate tips before  tax and some after. 

None of these countries/stores etc are out to get any of us it's just the way it is. Accept and embrace the differences and above all celebrate that we have the health and finances to enjoy travelling 

[jean87510]

20 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Agree--- ( sort of )

However, a wimp ,like me, will hand over a couple of bucks as an insurance (?? ) that our bags get onto the ship.

LOL--- Using your analogy , Isn't it true that in most restaurants all the Servers do is punch in an order, check their cell phone for emails,  and when notified, carry the plate to your table ?

( I'm not thinking of Servers who actually know the menu , how a dish is prepared, and serve it ).

 

Not at restaurants I go to unless it's Applebees and Im not Ricky Bobby or Reese.

[jean87510]

17 hours ago, the penguins said:

This doesn't only apply to Americans.

As regular visitors to the US ( our grandson is American born and bred ) we have exactly the same issues.

We have assistance at the airport should we tip or not? We don't in the UK. 

Breakfast at say Denny's, in the UK for a similar level restaurant we would tip £1 a person in the US what 20%? 

Our friends in New York tip 20% at lunch but not on the whole bill but only on the pre tax amount.

In the UK we pay for the meal on a Card and tip in cash. When we did this in the US  cashiers queried it on so many occassions that we now add the tip to the Card.

In a US supermarket at the checkout we are often asked if we want help with the packing, not a service that's available in the UK. We never accept but if we did, do we tip or not and if so how much?

In Hawaii we booked a private sightseeing flight. We booked on the phone with the MD, on arrival the same person checked us in and he was also the pilot.

Yes you've guessed it, there was still a jar for "staff tips". The three of us had a great laugh about it and the pilot explained that he used to have a Receptionist but business was slack so he had to let her go.

It's all part of the joy of travelling and experincing different cultures, it's not that people are out to "get us"

 

 

All true except "get us" is a little harsh.  Based on my experiences plus family members from overseas in Ireland and Italy and past coworkers from the Caribbean, the US customer is targeted because they are known to be a tipping culture.  If I was in the tourism business, I would certainly try to get the US customer.  They don't normally haggle and they usually tip. 

[rodndonna]

11 hours ago, RD64 said:

Agreed in Canada too, the preset amount is based on the after tax subtotal.

 

I didn't realize that so just checked a recent receipt - and indeed you are right. The gratuities were calculated AFTER the tax was added in. Not sure if that is universal or it is set by the restaurants individually , but we'll be looking a little more closely. Not a huge deal, but feels kinda misleading....

 

I think we can drop our 20 down to 18 where it is... which is then 20% on the dining bill.

 

[rodndonna]

11 hours ago, RD64 said:

Agreed in Canada too, the preset amount is based on the after tax subtotal.

 

I didn't realize that so just checked a recent receipt - and indeed you are right. The gratuities were calculated AFTER the tax was added in. Not sure if that is universal or it is set by the restaurants individually , but we'll be looking a little more closely. Not a huge deal, but feels kinda misleading....

 

I think we can drop our 20 down to 18 where it is... which is then 20% on the dining bill.

 

[the penguins]

33 minutes ago, jean87510 said:

All true except "get us" is a little harsh.  Based on my experiences plus family members from overseas in Ireland and Italy and past coworkers from the Caribbean, the US customer is targeted because they are known to be a tipping culture.  If I was in the tourism business, I would certainly try to get the US customer.  They don't normally haggle and they usually tip. 

Sorry I said that I didn't think anyone was out to get us. As for Americans not haggling you have obviously never travelled with many of our US friends who have this down to a fine art.

[RichYak]

19 hours ago, Obobru said:

Nah I will just stop tipping on lines that want me to directly pay their staff I only use the OBC to give to staff as that's the cruise lines money anyway and isn't real money. The more people that stop the quicker the staff will turn on their employer and cruise lines will be forced to change. Some cruise lines are doing this already higher end and ones in Europe who don't pretend it's a tip and and have decided to just pay staff. 

Just made-up excuses from the cheap seats is all.

[Pinboy]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

Just made-up excuses from the cheap seats is all.

Exactly--- NO different than the folks in that long line at GR on day one that remove the Gratuities and say they will tip separately.  All BS--- 

What GR should do in these cases is have them fill out a form with who they will tip and amount to be put on their account---- BUT, It won't work because they will say " It depends on the service we receive"  and some other excuses.

[Dahani]

Being from the UK we dont have the tipping culture of our American cousins. It is an alien concept to us and really rare that we tip anybody apart from giving cash to the cabin steward.

 

I have no qualms whatsoever in removing auto tipping and always have done on Princess and HAL, this is based on the opinion that having paid the company to provide a service, it is then up to the company to remunerate employees to provide said service to a satisfactory standard. 

 

We use P&O a lot where its not an issue, and yes we are fully aware its in the price. We will not go with lines that do not allow us to remove tips.

 

And, lets face it, not all the 'gratuities' finds its way to the staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

29 minutes ago, Dahani said:

And, lets face it, not all the 'gratuities' finds its way to the staff.

 

 

 

And you know this is a fact because?

 

[RichYak]

36 minutes ago, Dahani said:

based on the opinion

And another excuse from the cheap seats. It's fine to have an opinion, but if you don't tip where it's culturally appropriate, you're just cheap and your stated "opinion" is only an excuse.

[RichYak]

On 2/4/2023 at 12:06 AM, jelayne said:

No they don’t equally share the gratuity.  If you leave the auto gratuities in place and give your cabin attendant / waiter an additional $40 or 50 they get to keep that

My understanding, and I could be completely wrong, was that this is true of the cabin attendant and butler, but waiters and bartenders pool any additional cash tips.

[TeeRick]

You are wealthy enough to go on a Celebrity Cruise.  Just tip the staff please.  It is how they make their living.

[markeb]

1 hour ago, Dahani said:

We use P&O a lot where its not an issue, and yes we are fully aware its in the price. We will not go with lines that do not allow us to remove tips.

 

 

So would you sail Celebrity if they added $18/day/person to the fare? (Aqua/Concierge. Splitting the difference from standard cabin to Retreat.) Or would they drop off your search engine because of price comparison to another cruise line that kept the price down but expected gratuities? Same cost to you either way...

 

Honestly, I think they should raise the prices to account for gratuities, but they haven't. Their pricing is based on a business model where people pay gratuities. And from past discussions on this topic, some countries appear to tax a gratuity differently from wages, so they might have to raise the fare more than $18 to offset the tax difference. If the entire industry raised fares and dropped gratuities and increased direct compensation, it might work.  

[markeb]

45 minutes ago, RichYak said:

My understanding, and I could be completely wrong, was that this is true of the cabin attendant and butler, but waiters and bartenders pool any additional cash tips.

 

Only quoting you because yours is the last comment on this! I don't know why this even gets discussed. I just go with the concept that tips are split according to the agreement between an employee and their employer. Or groups of employees. If someone gives more to a specific person because they think they deserve it and that person has to share, they still got more than they would have if you hadn't tipped them.

[Cruising89143]

When in Rome…………..This Rome ( Celebrity cruise line) has a gratuities system in place. 

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, Dahani said:

And, lets face it, not all the 'gratuities' finds its way to the staff.

 

Let's face it--- How the %$^# do YOU know that not all the gratuities finds it's way to the staff ?

Oh, I get it--- You work on a cruise ship and are the one that " pockets " 25% of the gratuities.

Total nonsense to even think that !!

Here's a " tip "----- Get on the ship early , head straight to GR , and avoid the long line of people like you removing the Gratuities !! 

 

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Let's face it--- How the %$^# do YOU know that not all the gratuities finds it's way to the staff ?

Oh, I get it--- You work on a cruise ship and are the one that " pockets " 25% of the gratuities.

Total nonsense to even think that !!

Here's a " tip "----- Get on the ship early , head straight to GR , and avoid the long line of people like you removing the Gratuities !! 

 

No problem Pinboy. I asked my Magic 8 Ball if @Dahani knew what they were talking about. The answer is, " my reply is no". 🎱😂

[NutsAboutGolf]

11 hours ago, the penguins said:

Thanks. The replies have already demonstrated the confusion that we all suffer/enjoy when travelling to other countries. i e. some tip the guy in the supermarket some don't, some tip18% some 20%,  some calculate tips before  tax and some after. 

None of these countries/stores etc are out to get any of us it's just the way it is. Accept and embrace the differences and above all celebrate that we have the health and finances to enjoy travelling 

One random dynamic is that the younger you are the lesser the odds you carry cash on you

[dlh015]

Reading a thread like this helps me understand how/why automatic grats came into being. I had no idea (just call me naive I guess)  that there were really that many people willing to stiff the crew.

 

I should have known after reading threads where folks were 'screaming' about a $1.50 increase in daily grats... 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, dlh015 said:

Reading a thread like this helps me understand how/why automatic grats came into being. I had no idea (just call me naive I guess)  that there were really that many people willing to stiff the crew.

 

I should have known after reading threads where folks were 'screaming' about a $1.50 increase in daily grats... 

 

On your next sailing, park yourself at the seating near guest services on the last evening to get a sampling of how many remove them.  I don’t know how it works with AI if it even can be removed.  Full disclosure, I have never removed auto-Grats on X

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Dahani said:

Being from the UK we dont have the tipping culture of our American cousins. It is an alien concept to us and really rare that we tip anybody apart from giving cash to the cabin steward.

 

I have no qualms whatsoever in removing auto tipping and always have done on Princess and HAL, this is based on the opinion that having paid the company to provide a service, it is then up to the company to remunerate employees to provide said service to a satisfactory standard. 

 

We use P&O a lot where its not an issue, and yes we are fully aware its in the price. We will not go with lines that do not allow us to remove tips.

 

And, lets face it, not all the 'gratuities' finds its way to the staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rubbish - I could say something else but might get banned. Celebrity publish how the autograts are distributed (you can get a copy at Guest Relations) and confirm that none of the money is retained by the company and not do they deduct anything for handling the distribution. Refusing the autograts has only one result - crew members that are part of the Autograts system get less money. If you can live with that fine. The rest of your arguments simply don't stack up especially as you cruise P and O which simply rounds the Grats into the fare and I notice you don't ask them to refund you.