Tipping question

[Florida_gal_50]

11 hours ago, albingirl said:

Well, I  do sometimes and I  think you are right. My husband always reminds me that we already tipped but I  guess I  am soft. 

I’m the same.  I often tip extra even when it’s not really deserved.

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, floridababa said:

It happened on Celebrity. It was very clear that he was not happy with our tip

We constantly see people tipping bar tenders after every drink. I understand that they work very hard but I too worked hard for my money.

Exactly.  I have yet to feel anything over 18 percent is warranted.  I don’t sit in bars for hours.  I sometimes will sit at the bar if I go.  Making me a drink and putting it on the bar doesn’t warrant more than 18 percent to me.

[floridababa]

I appreciate all the comments. I know on the last night of my next cruise my husband will ask me are we tipping and how much . We usually watch in the MDR how many people give tips on the last night.  I guess I feel better now if we don't tip

[morpheusofthesea]

Gratuities charged to ones account ($98 pp for the week) go to paying the staff's wages. Those that remove the gratuity, for whatever lame reason, then the cruise line has to make up the difference. OBC used to tip a particular staff member may not go 100% to the designated person, and may be shared. Tip in cash directly to service provider.

I got permission from a FB poster to repost this: "Recently I saw a Tik Tok by Captain Kate. She was giving out envelopes to her staff that a passenger asked her to do for them. One staff member opened the envelope to find $5. He went crazy with joy, you would have thought it was a $100. She received so many comments on why the young man was overly excited and happy for such a small amount. A few days later she did another Tik Tok with him asking him why his reaction was so grand. He said that he would have reacted the same way if it was only $1 dollar. He said with those $5 dollars he can buy rice, bread and a lot more stuff for his family back home. That video opened my eyes on tipping anyone who serves me and our family. Please tip extra by cash. The included tips are the bare minimum that are divided between many

[VMax1700]

6 hours ago, ski ww said:

In Europe gratuities are included in the price.   

Not quite true.

On most European cruise lines, the gratuities are included (or no gratuities required), but on USA based cruise lines eg HAL, gratuities are extra.

If you are speaking about Europe in general having gratuities included in the price, then again yes and no.  Some restaurants have 'service charges' which go to staff.

[loveheart]

I'm from the UK and we always leave the gratuities on and we do tip extra if we feel it's deserved although we have met lots of British cruisers who remove the gratuities at the start of the cruise and hand an envelope over at the end to waiting staff and cabin stewards. I expect there are some who don't tip at all.

[Nickelpenny]

On my last cruise (NS 03/18-25) several people I met stated the crew got very little in terms of the crew appreciation because officers (up to the captain) got a cut based on their salary; therefore they routinely removed the daily gratuity and paid cash to those who served them.  (I didn't argue the point)  I thought officers were not included in the crew appreciation pot.  Am I wrong?

[Florida_gal_50]

39 minutes ago, Nickelpenny said:

On my last cruise (NS 03/18-25) several people I met stated the crew got very little in terms of the crew appreciation because officers (up to the captain) got a cut based on their salary; therefore they routinely removed the daily gratuity and paid cash to those who served them.  (I didn't argue the point)  I thought officers were not included in the crew appreciation pot.  Am I wrong?

Wow, that’s quite the excuse.  Officers do not get any part of it.  When someone removes the auto grats cash needs to be turned in.

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

On my last cruise (NS 03/18-25) several people I met stated the crew got very little in terms of the crew appreciation because officers (up to the captain) got a cut based on their salary; therefore they routinely removed the daily gratuity and paid cash to those who served them.  (I didn't argue the point)  I thought officers were not included in the crew appreciation pot.  Am I wrong?

I am curious why you thought these people might be credible?

[Nickelpenny]

9 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I am curious why you thought these people might be credible?

They have cruised a lot more than I have.  

[Haljo1935]

On 3/23/2023 at 8:24 AM, albingirl said:

We liked them so much on the NS that I wish I could tip them all.  They were awesome.  I did receive a list from the manager of all of their names so that I could give special recognition to them all.  They were excellent.

I believe the Captain sets the tone (as w/most close work environments) and NS has a fabulous one! He recognizes crew members birthdays, makes daily announcements, keeps passengers looped in on what's happening and is very approachable when out on the ship. Sounds pretty basic, right? But after having been on several ships where I've only heard the Captain when we got on then not again until we got off and never saw them mingling out on the ship, I can say it's rare. The ships with Captains that are less engaged seem to have less friendly, "lively" crew.