Gratuities and tipping

[rbtan]

19 hours ago, Shaver John said:

We ask to shake hands with the people we want to give an additional tip and have a bill in the palm of our hands as we leave the ship or before late in the cruise. On the last day, or the day before we do the additional tipping if we don't think we will see them on the last day as we are leaving. The staff seem to understand the palmed money and we have never had to hand it to the folks in front of others. Money always moves to the pocket of the person who deserves it.

We never slide a bill in someone's hand. Looks like a drug deal. Also with Covid & Noro, we, instead use the small envelopes provided at the service desk.We never tip before service. I think that's an insult.We tip the last day when the MDR is nearly empty from all those pax who skipped out to avoid tipping at all costs. They know who they are. We're in the service industry & know the proper etiquette. 

[david63]

18 minutes ago, rbtan said:

the MDR is nearly empty from all those pax who skipped out to avoid tipping at all costs

As there is no "requirement" to tip in the MDR (unless auto tips have been removed and even then it could be debatable) then there is no reason for any passenger to "skip out"

[Neil_c]

This is the usual discussion about tipping. There is a completely different culture over tipping in UK as opposed to US. Here in the UK we do not tip everyone who we deal with, service charges are added at some restaurants and we will tip if not. This is usually at a level of 10 to 12.5%.  We do not tip for every drink we receive at a bar. As far as being on a cruise, if we are on Princess and have the plus package (which we usually do), then we do not tip extra with the possible exception of the room steward. We do not tip in MDR as we use Freedom dining and rarely have the same waiters. I have no problem going in on the final night and not tipping. From discussion I have had with crew members it is more important that good service is noted on the end of cruise questionnaires. 

 

You should be aware that P&O which is a sister company but UK based has not got the daily tips or tipping on every drinks as it is all rolled into the fare, this saves most of these arguments

[antsp]

1 hour ago, Neil_c said:

This is the usual discussion about tipping. There is a completely different culture over tipping in UK as opposed to US. Here in the UK we do not tip everyone who we deal with, service charges are added at some restaurants and we will tip if not. This is usually at a level of 10 to 12.5%.  We do not tip for every drink we receive at a bar. As far as being on a cruise, if we are on Princess and have the plus package (which we usually do), then we do not tip extra with the possible exception of the room steward. We do not tip in MDR as we use Freedom dining and rarely have the same waiters. I have no problem going in on the final night and not tipping. From discussion I have had with crew members it is more important that good service is noted on the end of cruise questionnaires. 

 

You should be aware that P&O which is a sister company but UK based has not got the daily tips or tipping on every drinks as it is all rolled into the fare, this saves most of these arguments

The crew have no idea what passengers have left the auto tip on or not, if someone removes the tip why would the skip the last night in the dining room as the crew won't be aware. So it's makes no difference 

[2 cruises a year]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:46 AM, memoak said:

Only if you think that 5-6 drinks a day is a lot 

Make that 3-4 drinks a day, plus specialty coffee, soft dinks, bottled water, Perrier or San Pellegrino, special desserts.  You can try new and different drinks, desserts, etc., if you don't like it, no big loss.   Lots of little options that can be taken for granted, but add up.

Plus, just the convenience of no surprises on your final bill.

After tips (a constant), and Wi-Fi (a sliding scale value to everyone) it doesn't really take too much to break even.  I think that it really is a bargain unless you drink absolutely nothing.

[voljeep]

On 7/2/2023 at 9:45 AM, rbtan said:

We're in the service industry & know the proper etiquette. 

what kind of 'service industry' and at what position - just so we know your expertise with cruise ship tipping?  just wanting to learn about my tipping based on service hours and not price

 

Business Owners?

Managers?

Servers?

 

just a friendly inquiry and ignore if needed ... 

[Napagirl]

On 7/1/2023 at 4:38 AM, david63 said:

And in that time how many times have you been given a "tip" at the outset before doing anything for the customer?

I don't get where you're going...why does it matter? I have received tips before and after service, I have given tips before and after service. ::shrug::

[Napagirl]

On 6/30/2023 at 6:55 PM, Micahs Grandad said:

Somehow we almost always get great service from our room steward by leaving on the autotips, treating him as a human being always saying hello and thank you, picking up after ourselves and if deserved some extra dollars as we leave the ship. Never felt we had to tip before getting any service. Being in the hospitality business you should know what tip stands for.

You must have misunderstood me. I never said you have to tip to get good service. Nor did I say that you won't get good or even great service if you don't tip. 

[memoak]

23 minutes ago, Napagirl said:

I don't get where you're going...why does it matter? I have received tips before and after service, I have given tips before and after service. ::shrug::

Used to be we always tipped the manager of a show lounge in Vegas to get good tables. Yes give them the money and hoped

[Thrak]

On 7/2/2023 at 6:45 AM, rbtan said:

We never slide a bill in someone's hand. Looks like a drug deal. Also with Covid & Noro, we, instead use the small envelopes provided at the service desk.We never tip before service. I think that's an insult.We tip the last day when the MDR is nearly empty from all those pax who skipped out to avoid tipping at all costs. They know who they are. We're in the service industry & know the proper etiquette. 

 

When was the last time you cruised with Princess? We've only cruised twice since the restart (Royal Princess and Ruby Princess) but neither cruise has had the small envelopes available. I couldn't find them so I asked and was told they no longer have those available.

 

Tipping wait staff on the last night has declined drastically with the change from Traditional Dining to the current "whatever" free-for-all. People don't have the same wait staff every night which has changed things quite a lot. Many people also don't eat in MDR the last night because all of their clothes are packed to be picked up by the crew and they only have their travel clothes to wear which are much more suited to the buffet or the Lido eateries.

 

If you want to point fingers at the people who no longer tip the waitstaff on the last night try looking at the line of people who are removing gratuities at the end of the cruise.

[cr8tiv1]

@Thrak There was a box of envelopes on every cruise I've been on since the restart.  Latest was Emerald in May.  { picked up enough envelopes for three people.  If they are not in full display, just ask, they will have them behind the counter.  

 

I prefer to hand out envelopes since I can either enclose a short note or write directly on the envelope.  The teacher in me always tries to let one know what I thought was a positive experience. 

[Thrak]

25 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@Thrak There was a box of envelopes on every cruise I've been on since the restart.  Latest was Emerald in May.  { picked up enough envelopes for three people.  If they are not in full display, just ask, they will have them behind the counter.  

 

I prefer to hand out envelopes since I can either enclose a short note or write directly on the envelope.  The teacher in me always tries to let one know what I thought was a positive experience. 

 

As I said before, I did ask and on both occasions I was told they don't have them anymore. Glad to hear they are coming back.

[Korimako]

Am I right in thinking that on ships based in Australia/New Zealand, gratuities are already included in the fare and there is no need to tip?

[2 cruises a year]

36 minutes ago, Korimako said:

Am I right in thinking that on ships based in Australia/New Zealand, gratuities are already included in the fare and there is no need to tip?

Yes

[rbtan]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

When was the last time you cruised with Princess? We've only cruised twice since the restart (Royal Princess and Ruby Princess) but neither cruise has had the small envelopes available. I couldn't find them so I asked and was told they no longer have those available.

 

Tipping wait staff on the last night has declined drastically with the change from Traditional Dining to the current "whatever" free-for-all. People don't have the same wait staff every night which has changed things quite a lot. Many people also don't eat in MDR the last night because all of their clothes are packed to be picked up by the crew and they only have their travel clothes to wear which are much more suited to the buffet or the Lido eateries.

 

If you want to point fingers at the people who no longer tip the waitstaff on the last night try looking at the line of people who are removing gratuities at the end of the cruise.

WE were among the last cruisers as the pandemic hit,  so I guess Princess no longer does the envelopes. We do the envelopes on Oceania. We have Princess cruises booked in in 2024 & 25. We are really looking forward to the Sun Princess in '25. If it's as good as I hope it will be, we'll switch more cruises to Princess. I guess we'll bring our own envelopes just in case.

[rbtan]

7 hours ago, Korimako said:

Am I right in thinking that on ships based in Australia/New Zealand, gratuities are already included in the fare and there is no need to tip?

We still tip over the standard as we find Princess staff really go out of their way for the pax.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, rbtan said:

WE were among the last cruisers as the pandemic hit,  so I guess Princess no longer does the envelopes. We do the envelopes on Oceania. We have Princess cruises booked in in 2024 & 25. We are really looking forward to the Sun Princess in '25. If it's as good as I hope it will be, we'll switch more cruises to Princess. I guess we'll bring our own envelopes just in case.

They still have envelopes if you want to use them.

[joeyancho]

22 hours ago, Korimako said:

Am I right in thinking that on ships based in Australia/New Zealand, gratuities are already included in the fare and there is no need to tip?

Correctamundo. 

[donaldsc]

On 7/3/2023 at 6:08 PM, Thrak said:

 

When was the last time you cruised with Princess? We've only cruised twice since the restart (Royal Princess and Ruby Princess) but neither cruise has had the small envelopes available. I couldn't find them so I asked and was told they no longer have those available.

 

Tipping wait staff on the last night has declined drastically with the change from Traditional Dining to the current "whatever" free-for-all. People don't have the same wait staff every night which has changed things quite a lot. Many people also don't eat in MDR the last night because all of their clothes are packed to be picked up by the crew and they only have their travel clothes to wear which are much more suited to the buffet or the Lido eateries.

 

If you want to point fingers at the people who no longer tip the waitstaff on the last night try looking at the line of people who are removing gratuities at the end of the cruise.

 

My wife asked for several at guest services and got them w/o any issue.  We were on the Grand Princess.  What ship were you on>

 

DON.  

[Thrak]

10 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

My wife asked for several at guest services and got them w/o any issue.  We were on the Grand Princess.  What ship were you on>

 

DON.  

 

Both Royal (May) and Ruby (December).

[memoak]

19 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Both Royal (May) and Ruby (December).

We have gotten them on the Royal, the Ruby and the Emerald over the las 9 months 

[Thrak]

13 minutes ago, memoak said:

We have gotten them on the Royal, the Ruby and the Emerald over the las 9 months 

 

Probably depends on the staff. Newer people likely don't have a clue what I'm asking for. No biggie. It's pretty easy to write the Steward's name on a piece of paper and leave it on the desk with cash. I'm pretty sure they can figure it out without an envelope and bartenders certainly know how to accept a bit of cash. The only place it could be awkward is in MDR. People who want to tip extra will find a way even if they can't find small envelopes.

[david63]

It seems that the issue of finding envelopes is almost as big as that of tipping.

 

It is not rocket science that if you intend to give tips in envelopes then take some with you (after all if you can afford to give extra tips you can afford to buy a few envelopes!)

[shandryl]

On 7/3/2023 at 7:08 PM, Thrak said:

 

When was the last time you cruised with Princess? We've only cruised twice since the restart (Royal Princess and Ruby Princess) but neither cruise has had the small envelopes available. I couldn't find them so I asked and was told they no longer have those available.

 

Tipping wait staff on the last night has declined drastically with the change from Traditional Dining to the current "whatever" free-for-all. People don't have the same wait staff every night which has changed things quite a lot. Many people also don't eat in MDR the last night because all of their clothes are packed to be picked up by the crew and they only have their travel clothes to wear which are much more suited to the buffet or the Lido eateries.

 

If you want to point fingers at the people who no longer tip the waitstaff on the last night try looking at the line of people who are removing gratuities at the end of the cruise.

Oh yes, There’s a huge lineup! I always found it so entertaining to watch! It becomes really busy the day before the end of the cruise. People taking off gratuities or making adjustments or a really good one is when the CC has been declined and you hear their name over an intercom being called over to come to guest relations/service desk right away.  I lost track how many times people were making calls to the CC company that they deal with trying to get it all straightened out. 😄

 

[chrysalis]

6 minutes ago, shandryl said:

Oh yes, There’s a huge lineup! I always found it so entertaining to watch! It becomes really busy the day before the end of the cruise. People taking off gratuities or making adjustments or a really good one is when the CC has been declined and you hear their name over an intercom being called over to come to guest relations/service desk right away.  I lost track how many times people were making calls to the CC company that they deal with trying to get it all straightened out. 😄

 

If your on board account at the end of the cruise is less than +$25, they also call your name to give you the cash owing directly instead of having to issue checks/cheques post cruise.