Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[kirtihk]

6 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

That’s my point exactly. Dishwashers get paid to wash dishes. Why should I tip them? They are only doing the job they were hired to do. 

... and a "funny" part is they might get paid less that waiters (or table/restaurant attendants as some describe them now).

[Vibe]

9 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No I do not. Those venues are listed as “included in my fare” by Royal Caribbean. 

Correct. Stateroom cleaning, main dining room is also “included in your fare”. You said that you give that crew a cash tip,

 

Edited August 15 by Vibe

[not-enough-cruising]

2 minutes ago, Vibe said:

Correct. Stateroom cleaning, main dining room is also “included in your fare”. You said that you give that crew a cash tip,

 

I rarely of ever use the MDR, but yes, I do tip in the specialty restaurants. 
Stateroom attendants usually receive a tip (but not always) it is 100% dependent on performance. Just making the bed and changing the towels doesn’t warrant much 

[Badatz2]

1 hour ago, bjlaacjlc said:

Just so I understand your logic and reasoning you are telling me when you go anyplace that tips are generally part of the expected bill you leave the same amount?  I'm just curious if you ate in two different places with one costing $200 and another $50 you would leave the same amount of tip in both places?

You are almost correct..

I usually ask before I sit down if service is included and how much. If I get a positive answer I ask if it could be waived and if they say no, I say goodbye.

I do not give the same tip for a $200 meal and a $50 meal.  I tip according to the service I get from the server.

There should be no correlation between the price of the meal and the tip.

As was mentioned numerous time above, the server does the exact same amount of work bring out a rib steak or a hamburger.

If there are multi courses and extras of course I take that into consideration.

I hope this clarifies my position.

 

[Vibe]

20 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I rarely of ever use the MDR, but yes, I do tip in the specialty restaurants. 
Stateroom attendants usually receive a tip (but not always) it is 100% dependent on performance. Just making the bed and changing the towels doesn’t warrant much 

Speciality restaurants automatically add a 18% gratuity.

Removing the automatic gratuity, rarely eating in the MDR and not tipping the stateroom attendant for the basic service saves  a lot of money 💰 at the expense of the crew that come from parts  of the world where people don’t have the opportunities that we have. 

Edited August 15 by Vibe

[Charles4515]

34 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

That’s my point exactly. Dishwashers get paid to wash dishes. Why should I tip them? They are only doing the job they were hired to do. 

At land restaurants the back room staff get a share of tips. It is called tipping out.

[andrewwilliamnewman]

10 minutes ago, Badatz2 said:

I do not give the same tip for a $200 meal and a $50 meal.  I tip according to the service I get from the server.

There should be no correlation between the price of the meal and the tip.

As was mentioned numerous time above, the server does the exact same amount of work bring out a rib steak or a hamburger.

If there are multi courses and extras of course I take that into consideration.

I hope this clarifies my position.

 

I don't want to get dragged into this aspect of my thread...however i feel compelled to respond...

 

If you went to Dennys, ordered a appetiser, followed by burger and fries, then a desert, and a drink for $50 for lunch...

 

Then went to Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen for dinner and paid $600 for a 3 course meal...

 

You would still tip the Denny's waiter $100, like you would be expected to tip the Hells Kitchen waiter?

 

It makes no sense to me personally - price is always in correlation to the tip given...or am i wrong?

[ONECRUISER]

15 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

Isn’t that the whole idea of a gratuity? I think this keeps getting lost. It’s a reward for above and beyond … or at least that’s what it’s meant to be. 

Not quite... "A gratuity (often called a tip) is a sum of money customarily given by a customer to certain service sector workers such as hospitality for the service they have performed, in addition to the basic price of the service"

Edited August 15 by ONECRUISER

[kirtihk]

2 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Not quite... "A gratuity (often called a tip) is a sum of money customarily given by a customer to certain service sector workers such as hospitality for the service they have performed, in addition to the basic price of the service"

It's a generic definition (meaning) of the word, not a detail description of how exactly it's implemented.

[Charles4515]

7 minutes ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

I don't want to get dragged into this aspect of my thread...however i feel compelled to respond...

 

If you went to Dennys, ordered a appetiser, followed by burger and fries, then a desert, and a drink for $50 for lunch...

 

Then went to Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen for dinner and paid $600 for a 3 course meal...

 

You would still tip the Denny's waiter $100, like you would be expected to tip the Hells Kitchen waiter?

 

It makes no sense to me personally - price is always in correlation to the tip given...or am i wrong?

The customary tip is 20%. So So I would tip $10 at Dennys and $120 at Gordon Ramsay. Cruise ship tipping is not based on % of bill except bar drinks. 

[ONECRUISER]

16 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

At land restaurants the back room staff get a share of tips. It is called tipping out.

Managed many different Restaurants, some where Tips are Pooled all together and divided 100% evenly among Wait Staff only, then others where each Waitress kept what they received but yes the Back Staff gets a cut. Seen a few where even the Cook got a percent

[seahorse001]

On 8/13/2024 at 12:02 PM, andrewwilliamnewman said:

Hello all.

I know this is a touchy topic, so I thought I would ask to gauge opinions, and find information from those that have done this...

If you go to guest services onboard and remove gratuities (I know its frowned upon but hear me out...), do your dining staff/stateroom attendant get informed of this?

I like to tip in cash, so I know the money goes directly to the people that go out of their way to help me out, so this ambiguous daily charge, is thought provoking as you don't know who gets it, and exactly at what percentage.

$18pd/pp for a 1 week is $252 (2 person).

Surely tipping for example $100 to stateroom, $50 each to dining server/attendant, $50 split to people who help you throughout the week is a better way of making sure the staff that support you are paid what they deserve?

I just worry that by remove onboard gratuities at guest services on day 1/2, and these staff you see daily being informed about it in advance (or having a black mark on your account or something) before the usual last day tipping frenzy of the above, could lead to lacklustre service/attentiveness throughout the cruise.

Let me know your thoughts, better ideas, and experiences.

 

a very interesting post Andrew.

I'm not sure if the staff will know so cannot answer that sorry.

 

However - I have removed (half) of the gratuities once on a RC cruise mainly because I had absolutely awful service form the cabin steward (never had this before or since) and also the way my wheelchair companion was treated in regard to the cabin (long story for another day).

 

When I asked to remove them at customer service they didn't like it one little bit and put a lot of pressure on me NOT to do so and basically humiliated me. I didn't really want to mention the cabin steward as did not want to get them in trouble so declined to do so. In the end, under duress, I agreed to pay half - which I didn't mind as all the other staff were great.

 

Even though I think the gratuities are overpriced and not always worth it I would be reluctant to ask this again re as described above. 

 

I'm not sure if you are in the UK/Europe?  but I think these passengers may remove them more than USA as tipping is not really a thing. Also UK companies ie P & O , Marella do not charge gratuities and are part of the fare (and not any more expensive than other cruise companies sometimes).

 

Also, I had another thought - are the gratuities per cabin or per person ? I travel solo so just wondering if I am paying double !! 

 

 

[bjlaacjlc]

46 minutes ago, Badatz2 said:

You are almost correct..

I usually ask before I sit down if service is included and how much. If I get a positive answer I ask if it could be waived and if they say no, I say goodbye.

I do not give the same tip for a $200 meal and a $50 meal.  I tip according to the service I get from the server.

There should be no correlation between the price of the meal and the tip.

As was mentioned numerous time above, the server does the exact same amount of work bring out a rib steak or a hamburger.

If there are multi courses and extras of course I take that into consideration.

I hope this clarifies my position.

 

Not how I grew up regarding tips but certainly you are within your rights to tip as you see fit.  RCCL and other cruise lines  are kind of a hybrid in that they follow your formula for Stewards, Waiters, and other hotel staff but not the specialty restaurants and bars where they charge the 18% on the sales price.

 

Again just curious, how do you reconcile that?

[Billy Baltic]

19 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

The customary tip is 20%. So So I would tip $10 at Dennys and $120 at Gordon Ramsay. Cruise ship tipping is not based on % of bill except bar drinks. 

Is 20% the norm in the US???? If so I’m telling my kids we’re moving. 

[bjlaacjlc]

16 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

That is EXACTLY how tips work, it makes zero sense that the expected tip from a $400 bottle of wine is incrementally greater than the tip on a $40 bottle of wine.

Um..NO....Order a bottle of wine at NCL and they charge 18% on the $400 or $40 dependig on which you buy.  Same for specialty restaurants.   Which I believe is BS but that's how tipping works in most places.

 

Except maybe bars in the US

[ONECRUISER]

22 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Is 20% the norm in the US???? If so I’m telling my kids we’re moving. 

"While a tip of 15 to 20% at sit-down restaurants has been commonly recommended in countless articles over the years, just over half of customers are tipping their servers 20% or more"  ...Know I typically have unless the Service is lacking. Having a Large Family and many Restaurants have mandatory minimum Tip, this for Groups of over 8, 10, 12, 15 depending of Rest. Percent can be 14-18%. Once was moonlighting waiting Tables 4hrs a week, with just the Coins I received it paid my new Car Payment. And this was 38yrs ago, and I wasn't good at it. As Restaurant Manager had multiple Waitresses making more bring home income then me. Though they were good at it and worked hard

Edited August 15 by ONECRUISER

[Charles4515]

8 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Is 20% the norm in the US???? If so I’m telling my kids we’re moving. 

A 20% tip has become the norm in the US. 

[Billy Baltic]

2 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

A 20% tip has become the norm in the US. 

So an (very) average meal at $100 , they get $20. They could comfortably multipe tables at a time. Over a shift that’s a few hundred dollars. 

[not-enough-cruising]

15 minutes ago, bjlaacjlc said:

Um..NO....Order a bottle of wine at NCL and they charge 18% on the $400 or $40 dependig on which you buy.  Same for specialty restaurants.   Which I believe is BS but that's how tipping works in most places.

 

Except maybe bars in the US

You just said exactly the same thing that I said. 

[ONECRUISER]

8 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

So an (very) average meal at $100 , they get $20. They could comfortably multipe tables at a time. Over a shift that’s a few hundred dollars. 

As said my Waitresses made that in the 80's and many places they have to split the Tips with others. At time their Min Wage $2.35hr so Tips were their real wages

Edited August 15 by ONECRUISER

[Charles4515]

7 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

So an (very) average meal at $100 , they get $20. They could comfortably multipe tables at a time. Over a shift that’s a few hundred dollars. 

An average meal is not $100. Last night I ate at an above average restaurant and my bill before tax was $18. I took my niece to dinner last week and the bill was $55 before tax for the two of us.

[yogimax]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Just making the bed and changing the towels doesn’t warrant much 

Sounds like an excuse to avoid tipping.  Do they also vacuum the floor, clean the sink and toilet, and bring ice if asked, etc., etc..

 

I am glad to hear that, at least, you tip in specialty restaurants.  Oh wait, that gratuity is automatically added.

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, Vibe said:

Speciality restaurants automatically add a 18% gratuity.

Removing the automatic gratuity, rarely eating in the MDR and not tipping the stateroom attendant for the basic service saves  a lot of money 💰 at the expense of the crew that come from parts  of the world where people don’t have the opportunities that we have. 

All the more reason to just pay their staff more and include the gratuities to the price of the initial cruise fare, right?

[Mapleleafforever]

37 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Is 20% the norm in the US???? If so I’m telling my kids we’re moving. 

Some restaurants where I live now auto populate 22% on the tip screen and it's up to you to notice and change it. 15% is now gone and the 3 options are now 18%, 20%, 22%, or custom $ or %. 

[kirtihk]

11 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

An average meal is not $100. Last night I ate at an above average restaurant and my bill before tax was $18. I took my niece to dinner last week and the bill was $55 before tax for the two of us.

Where, in Argentina?  A lot plain restaurants charge now more than that just for a burger (without any drinks, salads, whatever else).