Gratuities [eeeek]

[HappyTexan44]

15 hours ago, Mikamarii said:

Yet we see on here constantly from our overseas friends how they don't have the tipping culture in their country yet Americans still do it because that is 'what they know'. Americans like to say when in our country do as we do....but don't take that same advice when they leave their own borders.

 

Well, it is a bigger problem when you stiff people than when you give them extra money. 

I used to spend a few weeks a year in Germany on business.  There were those situations where Germans would tip but answers were vague on how much, like a taxi.   So I learned to hand over a cash tip that I thought was good using small bills.   Then they'd look at it and hand me back most of the money keeping what they thought was a good tip.  I'd take it without fuss happy that I'd tipped the right amount.  I'd also gotten my bosses permission to tip 15% of the bottom-line price at restaurants.  Why?   Not because that is 'what I know', but because I got better service and I returned to the same places.  

 

[Mapleleafforever]

56 minutes ago, Jetdriver787 said:

I am resigned to the fact that a portion of every dollar/pound/euro I spend, pays the Captains wages, the Chief Engineers wages, the fat cats in Miami’s wages and every other cost to the business. Why should the lowest paid workers be any different? I think it’s also right that an individual can be rewarded by way of a “thank you” in the form of monetary gratuities where that is appropriate. However, let’s be honest about this. It is fundamentally a “tax” borne out of  corporate greed, whereby those lowly paid employees are subject to an 18% (or whatever,) “withholding tax” that allows their employer to both use a “carrot & stick” form of performance enhancement, and at the same time pretend they are offering a cheaper product. 

Absolutely.

[Ourusualbeach]

17 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Celebrity is removing tips from included.

 

They want to advertise as low as possible.

I wouldn't expect to see any real drops in price when they remove the gratuities, just a way for them to increase prices  or keep them the same and offer less

[Mapleleafforever]

22 hours ago, Vibe said:

If you are going to remove the automatic gratuities and stiff the crew, remember to hide your tooth brush, it could be mistakenly used to clean the toilet.

Or just do it on the last day. 

[Hutcha]

14 hours ago, Giantfan13 said:

Say we do decide to cancel the required tips and prefer to do it on our own. Do we HAVE to tip whomever we want in cash? Can we tell Guest Services that we would like to tip X waiter a certain amount and that be added to our ship's account?

 

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

There is no way they can do what you want nor will they. They do not want to encourage people removing tips. This will never happen.

 

Yes, you can definitely go to guest services and give them the name of the person(s) you want to tip. They will add it to your onboard account and the person will be notified that you gave them money. 

[cruiselvr04]

This is such a personal matter.  Sometimes people who don’t cruise a lot come to the boards looking to know what’s customary and that’s fine although you’ll get a lot of different answers. 

 

We are comfortable with what we tip.  We are neither cheap or extravagant.  Tipping has gone a bit crazy in the U.S.  I’m not tipping because you gave me a cookie at crumbles or fast food. If hotels don’t do daily service we don’t tip. We tip well for table service.

 

We talked about removing tips when they increased them and then decreased service to once a day in the cabin.  We decided not to but no longer leave extra like we used to. We tip bar staff at point of service.  I always tip for bags but not as much as some of you. We also tip on Caribbean excursions but I notice many people do not. I consider this all part of the cost of cruising.  In Europe and Australia on land, it’s not the custom but on the ship it still is.  

[pcur]

20 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I dont think it's coming. Carnival tried some rates with pre paid tips .. discontinued. 

 

Celebrity is removing tips from included.

 

They want to advertise as low as possible. Adding in tips, when most newbies dont even know about them, doesnt seem to be the direction I'm seeing. 

Makes sense.  I feel bad for the Customer Svc staff on board these ships, if removing them is getting to be a trend.

[RyderJ201]

Just now, pcur said:

Makes sense.  I feel bad for the Customer Svc staff on board these ships, if removing them is getting to be a trend.

Why? They don't care. They do what you ask. No questions asked. And they move on.

[pcur]

1 minute ago, RyderJ201 said:

Why? They don't care. They do what you ask. No questions asked. And they move on.

If it's causing a significant increase in the traffic at the CS counter, then I think it's putting a strain on the staff and the passengers both with long lines.

 

I usually go very early in the morning when there's no line, and avoid the first day and last day of cruises.

 

 

[RyderJ201]

1 minute ago, pcur said:

If it's causing a significant increase in the traffic at the CS counter, then I think it's putting a strain on the staff and the passengers both with long lines.

 

I usually go very early in the morning when there's no line, and avoid the first day and last day of cruises.

 

 

Removing automatic gratuities is the fastest (60 seconds or less) and easiest request they face in a day.

[PATRLR]

On 9/4/2023 at 6:40 AM, bjlaac said:

We learned a lesson on our very first cruise which happened to be on Holland America.  This was late 70's early 80's for a reference.  At that time Holland America advertised with the slogan to the effect of "no tipping policy", your cruise fare was all inclusive.  Being a novice at the time, we did not tip any of the waiters or stewards on that cruise and when we disembarked, could not find our luggage.

 

After 30 minutes or so, a long shoreman helped us find our luggage which was tucked in a corner with all of the identiying tags "missing".  Naively we asked what happened and he responded did you remeber to tip the stewards and waitors?  After replying its a no tipping cruiseline, he looked at us as if we each had teo heads.  Now we never really knew for sure what happened but from then on we always tipped accordingly.

 

I bring it up because while the idea that rolling up gratuities into the fare makes sense on some level, it does not always result in the desired objective.  Like Holland America learned back then, the staff eventually "forgets" they are automatically being tipped and eventually expects more.  Holland America eventually had to abandon that no tipping policy.

 

I suspect if the lines did in fact roll that up in the fare we would be back to the crew expecting more.  Just think of your last raise, great feeling for all of one week before you are looking for the next one.  It"s the same with the crew and it doesn't help the cruise line constantly bombard you with tipping "extra" for good service througjout the voyage.

 

I don't know what the answer is, but perhaps its somewhere inbetween. 

Having cruised HAL in 1987, our group of 4 cabins was part of a larger group of over a hundred cabins and we were told emphatically "no tipping" by our group leaders.  You are correct, HAL used to promote this benefit to cruising with them.   None of us tipped anything, I suspect most of the larger group did not either.  We didn't experience any problems. 

I really liked that model and would very much like to see a return to that model.  

Funny anecdote:  As I said we were told many times in materials we received before the cruise "no tipping".  When my girlfriend (at the time, now wife) and I met our cabin steward, his name was "Atip".  Really.  

[yogimax]

28 minutes ago, pcur said:

Makes sense.  I feel bad for the Customer Svc staff on board these ships, if removing them is getting to be a trend.

It's certanly not proven that removing tips is a "trend."  Making that assumption based on one's subjective observation is hardly a trend.

 

If RCCL management made the claim, then it would be more believable.

[vswan]

In the past (very long ago) I worked in a restaurant and both of my children have at one time or other worked in a service industry. After things opened up following covid, I made a conscience choice to tip generously - knowing that these workers have been the hardest hit by lack of work and wages. But, things have gotten crazy. When even the workers are hitting the "no tip" button when I don't have my reading glasses on to actually see what they are asking about on one of the screens, you know things have gotten out of hand.

 

I am one of those that feels tips should be included in the fare price. If I choose to tip extra to a server or waitstaff, that's fine, but I don't feel it's my job to pay the salary of workers - it should be a bonus on top of their fair salary. That should be covered by the fare charged.

[RyderJ201]

34 minutes ago, vswan said:

In the past (very long ago) I worked in a restaurant and both of my children have at one time or other worked in a service industry. After things opened up following covid, I made a conscience choice to tip generously - knowing that these workers have been the hardest hit by lack of work and wages. But, things have gotten crazy. When even the workers are hitting the "no tip" button when I don't have my reading glasses on to actually see what they are asking about on one of the screens, you know things have gotten out of hand.

 

I am one of those that feels tips should be included in the fare price. If I choose to tip extra to a server or waitstaff, that's fine, but I don't feel it's my job to pay the salary of workers - it should be a bonus on top of their fair salary. That should be covered by the fare charged.

I think everyone who thinks tips should be part of the fare price assume it would all then go to the crew. I wouldn't count on it.

[time4u2go]

23 minutes ago, RyderJ201 said:

I think everyone who thinks tips should be part of the fare price assume it would all then go to the crew. I wouldn't count on it.

Do we know for sure that it all goes to the crew the way it is now?

[RyderJ201]

12 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Do we know for sure that it all goes to the crew the way it is now?

No. Only a cash in hand tip can do that.

[vswan]

It also bothers me that the gratuities now go to all of those who have made our "cruise experience exceptional." I can see paying tips to those I interact with, but the cruise line should be paying fair wages to those we don't interact with - can't they pay those who do the laundry a fair wage? Why am I expected to do that? And, if I am expected to do that it should be part of my initial cruise fare, not a gratuity. Of course I'm also one that doesn't think the hotels should be charging a resort fee - that is a mandatory charge that is actually part of the room rate and should be shown as the final price.

 

Having said that, I pre-pay my gratuities and do not remove them. Figure that is part of the cruise rate at this point and figure into total when comparing cruises.

[cynt]

I loathe tipping. But I tip anyway because that's what I'm supposed to do. But since C19 it has gotten RIDICULOUS in every avenue, and service has gotten worse. We just tipped $22 last night on our dinner. We ran out of water about 2/3 the way through our meal. He never refilled it and we couldn't find him. SMH!

 

We leave the automatic tips on our account when we cruise. I wish they would bring back the envelope system. It seems like we received better service when everyone had to earn it. I am a firm believer that the cruise line should pay the behind the scene employees accordingly. I don't believe it is my responsibility to tip them. WTW! Maybe I should remove gratuities day one and tell everyone if you earn it, I'll reinstate tips at the end of the cruise.

 

We, I should say I do not tip the porters any more. I would always tip $1 a bag. About 10 years ago I was reading a thread, kinda like this one about how much the shoremen earn and that some of them are unionized. I stopped tipping. I'm reading in this thread that some tip $5 a bag. WOW! My DH might give $5 for all our bags. I had to stop him from giving $20 for 2 bags. 

 

An example - $5 per bag X 5000 passengers = $25,000. Divided by 50 shore men equals $500 per shore men divided 8 hr day = $62.50/hr on top of their $20-30/hr wage = $82-$92/hr. SMH!

 

$1 a bag yeilds $12.50/hr. $32 - $42/hr. That makes more sense to me. 

 

This is a rough guesstimate and I might be way off base, but I think you understand what I'm trying to say. 

 

So no, I'm not tipping the shore men for taking 2 seconds to put my bag on a cart and wheeling it on the ship. They usually don't care and if I hear a grumble, I take their picture. You are not going to miss my $1. LOL!

 

Great debatable topic. I understand both sides. Do you and don't worry about what other people do. 

 

 

[pcur]

9 hours ago, RyderJ201 said:

Removing automatic gratuities is the fastest (60 seconds or less) and easiest request they face in a day.

Not trying to argue, however it's the looooong lines of people I'm referring to here.  I don't remove tips, but I avoid Customer Service on embarkation day and the last day on all cruises.

[pcur]

9 hours ago, yogimax said:

It's certanly not proven that removing tips is a "trend."  Making that assumption based on one's subjective observation is hardly a trend.

 

If RCCL management made the claim, then it would be more believable.

I said "IF" it's becoming a trend, "THEREFORE" (implied) yada, yada, yada...............

[Ret MP]

59 minutes ago, vswan said:

but the cruise line should be paying fair wages to those we don't interact with - can't they pay those who do the laundry a fair wage?

Other than post-COVID, finding crew members hasn't been a problem.  I believe the employment problem is seeing signs of relief and everything "should" be back to normal, again, soon <employee wise.  So, if people are applying for the known position(s) and wage, isn't that fair, TO THEM?  Nobody is holding a gun to their head and forcing them to work for a cruise line.  Isn't it ultimately up to the employee/crew member if they are getting a fair wage?  I know it isn't up to me.  I provide a gratuity to "individuals" who provide me with at least average service, the more above average they get, the better the gratuity (I've been known to leave a single penny at restaurants for poor service), regardless of how much their employer is paying them.  How much their employer is paying them is none of my business.  BTW, if there are employees/crew members that I don't and can't interact with, that's the position they accepted.  If they get a piece of the gratuity pot, more power to them.  But, like you, I don't feel obligated to seek them out and give them a tip, but they signed up for it.  

 

 

[Kbonner]

Actually its Royal that removes the tips - from the employees. The cabin attendant i.e. supposed to get 3.55$/pp/day. Royal though removes .50$ from their guest gratuities for-------what?

[little britain]

$3.55pppd x 2 in a cabin x 7 day cruise x 20 cabins ….

=$994 pw x 4 weeks a month = $3976.

 

 

 

[artvlay]

After all the comments on this thread I still have questions.

Does anyone know definitively how the tips that are automatically collected are distributed to what staff members? And in what percentage per job title?

And, when you give cash to an employee at the end of the cruise is it mandatory that they turn these monies in?

[little britain]

6 minutes ago, artvlay said:

After all the comments on this thread I still have questions.

Does anyone know definitively how the tips that are automatically collected are distributed to what staff members? And in what percentage per job title?

And, when you give cash to an employee at the end of the cruise is it mandatory that they turn these monies in?