Your opinion on gratuities, please

[lovedecruise]

Hi, as we have previously sailed on cruises leaving Australia or NZ, we have had our gratuities included in the fare and have tipped those we felt deserved it at the end of the cruise.  On this cruise, however, we have a daily gratuity to pay that is added to our onboard account.  This is because the cruise is en route to Australia from the US, sailing through NZ, where we join the cruise.  When I was speaking to our Princess Cruise Planner, I was rather surprised when he said we could just take the tips off as that is what some Australians and NZ's do, and then tip those who deserved it at the end of the cruise.  The way he said it, it sounded as though this was almost the norm.  To those out there in Australia and NZ, what did you do when you found yourself in this situation?  I know tipping is a personal decision but I just wondered what others thought.

[Cbtours]

1 hour ago, lovedecruise said:

Hi, as we have previously sailed on cruises leaving Australia or NZ, we have had our gratuities included in the fare and have tipped those we felt deserved it at the end of the cruise.  On this cruise, however, we have a daily gratuity to pay that is added to our onboard account.  This is because the cruise is en route to Australia from the US, sailing through NZ, where we join the cruise.  When I was speaking to our Princess Cruise Planner, I was rather surprised when he said we could just take the tips off as that is what some Australians and NZ's do, and then tip those who deserved it at the end of the cruise.  The way he said it, it sounded as though this was almost the norm.  To those out there in Australia and NZ, what did you do when you found yourself in this situation?  I know tipping is a personal decision but I just wondered what others thought.

We are aussies so used to gratuities being included and have always been generous to main servers esp room steward who is main consistent one. We just did Alaska, our first Princess trip not leaving from Australia, and had the gratuities added. We  realise that many workers behind the scenes would never get separate tips so we’re happy to pay, and then we also gave generous tips to those who served us.

 

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, lovedecruise said:

 To those out there in Australia and NZ, what did you do when you found yourself in this situation?  I know tipping is a personal decision but I just wondered what others thought.

Our opinion / practise…..?

We have been in the AUD versus USD situation many times.

What do we do on USD based cruises…..?

We keep the daily gratuities in place.

If we identify specific crew we relate with well we tip extra to them.

We are comfortable in our choice and let others with their own decisions do what they wish.

 

As you quite rightly say…..a personal decision .

 

Enjoy your cruise, no matter what you decide to do.

 

[Sparky74]

Before gratuities were included in Aussie sailings we always opted to prepay them. When we've sailed from O/S we’ve paid the auto gratuities. 
I don’t like the tipping culture and I think it’s got out of hand in the USA. I’d much rather employers pay a decent (living) wage but me withholding tips isn’t going to change that. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. 
 

On a lighter note:

What’s the difference between an Australian and a canoe?

Canoes sometimes tip. 🤣🤣🤣

[SinbadThePorter]

If the cruise line offers automatic gratuities, take advantage of it. You are on holiday, you don't need to be wasting time working out who deserves what and then chasing them around on the last day trying to hand over envelopes of cash.

Edited October 21, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[RosieCanberra]

We always keep the gratuities in place, in 58 cruises have never had them removed. And in all that time we have heard the jibes about Australians not tipping but in practice I've found most are very generous. 

 

I have met many Americans who have the auto tips removed. 

 

We also tip in cash directly to our room steward, and certain bar or wait staff, usually on the last day. 

[Aus Traveller]

I agree with the above comments so I won't repeat them. Keep in mind that on the cruises where gratuities are in place, the crew remuneration relies on tips to make up a major part of their income. On the Aussie-based cruises where gratuities are included, the crew are on a much higher rate of base pay.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

Our opinion / practise…..?

We have been in the AUD versus USD situation many times.

What do we do on USD based cruises…..?

We keep the daily gratuities in place.

If we identify specific crew we relate with well we tip extra to them.

We are comfortable in our choice and let others with their own decisions do what they wish.

 

As you quite rightly say…..a personal decision .

 

Enjoy your cruise, no matter what you decide to do.

 

Ditto.

 

Sometimes there is an option to prepay the gratuities. If the offer is in AUD check how it compares with the current exchange rate. For our upcoming 9 night Japan cruise we saved about $20pp by prepaying the gratuities. 

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Ditto.

 

Sometimes there is an option to prepay the gratuities. If the offer is in AUD check how it compares with the current exchange rate. For our upcoming 9 night Japan cruise we saved about $20pp by prepaying the gratuities. 

We prepaid our Alaskan gratuities which got them out of the way, but also it was prior to the price rise so it saved us a bit.

[arxcards]

Whether you choose to keep them on or take them off is totally up to you.

 

US rules on auto-gratuities apply though. If you take them off, any cash tip you give requires the crew member to forward the cash back to the ship in lieu of the auto-gratuities you removed - just a lot of extra work for everyone.

 

We keep ours on, and have always considered it part of the fare. If a crew member is particularly awesome, we will pay them some extra along the way - they get to keep it when the auto-gratuities haven't been removed.

[Jean C]

We just bite the bullet and pay them, and also tip extra cash to the cabin stewards (some have been pretty average but we still tip them extra) and the wait staff, who have all been excellent. Don't like it and consider the daily gratuities rate as excessive, especially per person, but just do it anyway 🥴

[Yaya_in_Oz]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Whether you choose to keep them on or take them off is totally up to you.

 

US rules on auto-gratuities apply though. If you take them off, any cash tip you give requires the crew member to forward the cash back to the ship in lieu of the auto-gratuities you removed - just a lot of extra work for everyone.

 

 

I have heard that before but I find it hard to believe it would work in practice. How would Princess police it? They've got so many staff and so long as it wasn't caught on camera or not close up anyway it would be an absolute nightmare trying to keep track of a few dollars here and there. More trouble than its worth.

 

I always used to pay my tips in full until it was pointed out to me that a lot of people take them off, so now I just reduce my tips by $5 a day which gives me some money to give a little thankyou to those who directly assist me like steward, MDR, breakfast person. Now if they want to forward that to the ship, thats up to them, but I doubt particularly with small amounts that would happen too often. Also its about the customer recognising the work of individuals in some small way. I do the same in Aus when tips are included.

At home, it was all good so long as they paid me for my work, I didn't even need praise! Different world.

[arxcards]

11 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

I have heard that before but I find it hard to believe it would work in practice. How would Princess police it? They've got so many staff and so long as it wasn't caught on camera or not close up anyway it would be an absolute nightmare trying to keep track of a few dollars here and there. More trouble than its worth.

 

Breach of contract is how it works in practice, get caught, lose your job. Not too different to a cashier having their hand in the till. If the grats are taken off, it is their employers money and they know that.

 

Watch in the dining room of a $US ship on the last night as cash and envelopes are being handed over. The waiters do not secretly slip it into their pocket, but will be seen placing them at a spot at their serving station in view of their head waiter. That is the other reason why your head waiter is so visible on the last night, as he is looking to see where the envelopes are. Harder to police with a steward, but also hard to keep secrets on a ship.

 

I agree, more trouble than it is worth, most certainly in our culture. That is why we leave the auto-grats alone. It is also why we prefer to cruise on ships that have done away with their auto-gratuities.

[arxcards]

35 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Also its about the customer recognising the work of individuals in some small way. I do the same in Aus when tips are included.

 

Correct. Use the recognition or made a difference cards which will bring appreciation and job opportunities from their employer.

Or the best recognition of all - a smile, a thank you, you are doing a good job.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Correct. Use the recognition or made a difference cards which will bring appreciation and job opportunities from their employer.

Or the best recognition of all - a smile, a thank you, you are doing a good job.

 

I used to fill out the recognition cards for service but Princess seems to have done away with them and now you can only do that at the end of a long winded survey which sometimes I fill out and sometimes i don't. Its right at the end so I usually leave it blank as its too complicated, I've written enough.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

14 minutes ago, arxcards said:

 

 

Watch in the dining room of a $US ship on the last night as cash and envelopes are being handed over. The waiters do not secretly slip it into their pocket, but will be seen placing them at a spot at their serving station in view of their head waiter. That is the other reason why your head waiter is so visible on the last night, as he is looking to see where the envelopes are. Harder to police with a steward, but also hard to keep secrets on a ship.

 

 

How does that work? The envelopes look the same, how would they know which ones come from the people who already paid the gratuities which the staff are entitled to keep and those which go back to the ship? All seems to be rather unworkable to me. Too much margin for errors.

[Ozwoody]

I believe it works this way, if your on a cruise that includes daily gratuities, the fare is cheaper, where there not included the fare is dearer.

So both ways your paying the wages of the crew, and a profit to the line.

Its semantics really. but I have always reduced mine and paid tips direct to serving staff, however Geoff makes a interesting point about the crew having to hand it in, never thought that may have been the case.

I have always found when tipping at the end of a cruise, it seemed to me that the serving crew were much more attentive. On cruises where daily gratuities were paid they did their job well, but felt they were not as personal with passengers, you may feel I imagine it, but that is what I feel and others have commented similar to me.

 

[SinbadThePorter]

8 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

All seems to be rather unworkable to me. Too much margin for errors.

 

You could say that about the whole system of tipping on cruise ships. The process is almost completely opaque to those who are providing the cash. Essentially we are trusting the cruise lines to do the right thing by their staff, and we all know how eager multinational corporations are to do the right thing. 🥸

 

I just go with the flow.

[arxcards]

31 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

How does that work? The envelopes look the same, how would they know which ones come from the people who already paid the gratuities which the staff are entitled to keep and those which go back to the ship? All seems to be rather unworkable to me. Too much margin for errors.

How do they get the right meals in front of you every day, know whether you like to dine fast or slow, know if you are waiting on ground pepper? I have no idea, it is just what they do.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

What about those that take off the tips and then don't tip anyone? Do Princess assume the staff are not handing in money? I'll stop there before I do my head in 😄.  Awful way to make a living.

[arxcards]

4 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

What about those that take off the tips and then don't tip anyone? Do Princess assume the staff are not handing in money? I'll stop there before I do my head in 😄.  Awful way to make a living.

Not assume, but money does move in predictable patterns. It only gets complicated when we think of it in our own terms.

 

On a ship, a crew member with sticky fingers will be outed by those around them. Loyalty to their employer, not really. When money leaves the auto-grats payroll bucket and cash tips don't replace it, the bucket isn't as full. That bucket is shared among much of the service crew so they are all penalised, while the one hanging onto the cash is double-dipping.

[Ondine]

I wondered if auto tips are taxed in a different way to your cruise fare and maybe the company pays less tax.  Also if crew members are given money do they bank it on board because many do not get to go ashore.  Therefore they couldn't really hide tips.

I am happy to leave things as they are and tip my cabin steward and any others who look after me extra.  

[LittleFish1976]

8 hours ago, lovedecruise said:

Hi, as we have previously sailed on cruises leaving Australia or NZ, we have had our gratuities included in the fare and have tipped those we felt deserved it at the end of the cruise.  On this cruise, however, we have a daily gratuity to pay that is added to our onboard account.  This is because the cruise is en route to Australia from the US, sailing through NZ, where we join the cruise.  When I was speaking to our Princess Cruise Planner, I was rather surprised when he said we could just take the tips off as that is what some Australians and NZ's do, and then tip those who deserved it at the end of the cruise.  The way he said it, it sounded as though this was almost the norm.  To those out there in Australia and NZ, what did you do when you found yourself in this situation?  I know tipping is a personal decision but I just wondered what others thought.

 

I leave the auto gratuities on. It doesn't feel right to refuse to pay it. I then tip, by cash and at the end of the cruise, my steward and main waiter if they've been very helpful.

 

I don't know what the 'norm' is for Australian cruisers although I am one. I do know some people from other countries say they remove them (although not all of them of course). Each to their own but I always keep it low key and never tip at the beginning of the cruise as some people report they do, or on entering the restaurant or buffet which I have seen on a largely US-passenger cruise.

 

 

[arxcards]

25 minutes ago, Ondine said:

I wondered if auto tips are taxed in a different way to your cruise fare and maybe the company pays less tax.  Also if crew members are given money do they bank it on board because many do not get to go ashore.  Therefore they couldn't really hide tips.

I am happy to leave things as they are and tip my cabin steward and any others who look after me extra.  

Tax is muddy. If registered in Australia with Australian staff, we couldn't afford to cruise as local awards and taxes would apply. 

 

Correct, cash tips are hard to hide. Most hand them in for banking to their US accounts so they can send money home.

[MicCanberra]

As what Rosie said, auto gratuities left on. Some staff really do go that extra for you so we like to thank them with something extra as well.