No more Simply More

[iowananny]

1 minute ago, Thought2go said:

On some of the Oceania FB pages you find people bragging how they always slip the Maitre’d a hundred each time -or the Sommelier a 50 -it makes me cringe. Because it will most definitely color the staffs impression of all of us.

My husband and I have never slipped anyone a hundred.  Well, I take that back we have slipped our kids more than a hundred more than once, but that's a different story.  

 

We've always received very good service on cruise ships without extra tips.  I really wonder if those who give big tips really do get that much better service or if it just makes them feel important.

[SEC Man]

17 minutes ago, iowananny said:

After Covid I was willing to tip more because I know many people in the service industry really did suffer when they couldn't work.  We spent less because there was no place to go so, I was willing to share what we had saved.  At the time it just seemed fair.

 

But now everyone wants more and more and more tips.  We went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday that gives the amounts to tip at the bottom of the receipt.  It used to be 12, 15 or 20%.  Now they suggest giving 15, 20 or 30%.  We didn't get that much service to even consider a 30% tip. 

 

This summer I went to a sweet corn stand that sold corn from the back of a pickup truck.  They had a tip jar out.  I'm not going to tip when I buy three ears of corn.  At least in our area the employees are grocery stores are not allowed to take tips even if they do help you take your groceries to the car. I hope it stays that way.

 

I'm tipping less and not feeling guilty about it.   Maybe I'm just a mean old lady but I don't care.  If I get outstanding service from someone on a cruise ship, and there have been times when I have, I'm willing to slip them a little bit something extra but I'm not going to just start throwing money at people because they've come to believe they deserve it.

It has gotten to the point in US restaurants that I prefer to pay cash to avoid paying an added credit card service charge and to avoid having the credit card processed at the table via a hand held device (Toast is a major brand of these) that has preset tip amounts while the server is standing over your shoulder in an intimidating (intentional or unintentional) fashion.  With cash I have a moment to think through the appropriate tip amount. 

[njhorseman]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

 

Since gratuities are now included in Oceania cruise fares, I hope they do not cave and let passengers get the grats refunded to their OBC accounts.

Since gratuities will be baked into the base fare and not a separate line item on the bill there will be no way to remove them.

[osandomir]

16 minutes ago, iowananny said:

After Covid I was willing to tip more because I know many people in the service industry really did suffer when they couldn't work.  We spent less because there was no place to go so, I was willing to share what we had saved.  At the time it just seemed fair.

 

But now everyone wants more and more and more tips.  We went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday that gives the amounts to tip at the bottom of the receipt.  It used to be 12, 15 or 20%.  Now they suggest giving 15, 20 or 30%.  We didn't get that much service to even consider a 30% tip. 

 

This summer I went to a sweet corn stand that sold corn from the back of a pickup truck.  They had a tip jar out.  I'm not going to tip when I buy three ears of corn.  At least in our area the employees are grocery stores are not allowed to take tips even if they do help you take your groceries to the car. I hope it stays that way.

 

I'm tipping less and not feeling guilty about it.   Maybe I'm just a mean old lady but I don't care.  If I get outstanding service from someone on a cruise ship, and there have been times when I have, I'm willing to slip them a little bit something extra but I'm not going to just start throwing money at people because they've come to believe they deserve it.

I’m totally agree with your observations. The tipping culture just got out of control and often doesn’t correlate with the level of service that we receive. And we’re definitely not in the position to throw our money right and left. That being said, as you mentioned as well, if we receive good personal service which often happens on the Oceania ships we are willing to tip more to express our gratitude. And we always feel good about it ourselves.

[osandomir]

36 minutes ago, SEC Man said:

It has gotten to the point in US restaurants that I prefer to pay cash to avoid paying an added credit card service charge and to avoid having the credit card processed at the table via a hand held device (Toast is a major brand of these) that has preset tip amounts while the server is standing over your shoulder in an intimidating (intentional or unintentional) fashion.  With cash I have a moment to think through the appropriate tip amount. 

We still prefer to pay with a credit card as we get rewards for spending that we value more than the savings for paying in cash. We also like when the credit card is processed at the table because it largely prevents the credit card fraud. By the way, it was always the case in many other countries where we have been recently traveling to. We also noticed that everywhere the servers were grateful for any amount of tip we provided.

Edited 4 hours ago by osandomir

[terrydtx]

32 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Since gratuities will be baked into the base fare and not a separate line item on the bill there will be no way to remove them.

That doesn't mean there will not be some trying to get them back as an OBC. I have seen that like I said above on other cruise lines like Holland America.

Edited 4 hours ago by terrydtx

[iowananny]

1 hour ago, Thought2go said:

On some of the Oceania FB pages you find people bragging how they always slip the Maitre’d a hundred each time -or the Sommelier a 50 -it makes me cringe. Because it will most definitely color the staffs impression of all of us.

My husband and I have never slipped anyone a hundred.  Well, I take that back we have slipped our kids more than a hundred more than once, but that's a different story.  

 

We've always received very good service on cruise ships without extra tips.  I really wonder if those who give big tips really do get that much better service or if it just makes them feel important.

 

We will never stop tipping at restaurant with a server, I'm just tired with the excessive tipping and tipping at places where it was never expected before.  I'll never tip a self-serve machine when I check out myself.  But they do ask.  

[njhorseman]

52 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

That doesn't mean there will not be some trying to get them back as an OBC. I have seen that like I said above on other cruise lines like Holland America.

They can try all they want.  You can't get a refund of something that doesn't exist. You also won't get a refund of port taxes when O misses a port call because O also bakes the port taxes into the base fare. 

This isn't Holland America. 

[janecambridge]

1 hour ago, iowananny said:

 

 

We've always received very good service on cruise ships without extra tips.  I really wonder if those who give big tips really do get that much better service or if it just makes them feel important.

 

 

It is frustrating to see people pre tip. It is obvious they are ‘paying’ for a better service. Embarrassment  to the staff who give amazing service. Embarrassing to see it and it is crass. 

[osandomir]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That doesn't mean there will not be some trying to get them back as an OBC. I have seen that like I said above on other cruise lines like Holland America.

I don’t know what’s going on the Holland America but don’t confuse like you said the pre-paid with the included gratuities. It’s two different ways how they are incorporated in the total cost of the cruise. It was possible to adjust gratuities paid separately whether pre-paid or not. Not that much when they are included in the price of the cruise.

[Cruzin Terri]

6 minutes ago, janecambridge said:

It is frustrating to see people pre tip. It is obvious they are ‘paying’ for a better service. Embarrassment  to the staff who give amazing service. Embarrassing to see it and it is crass. 

A”pre tip” is not a tip.  It’s a bribe.

Terri

[terrydtx]

24 minutes ago, osandomir said:

I don’t know what’s going on the Holland America but don’t confuse like you said the pre-paid with the included gratuities. It’s two different ways how they are incorporated in the total cost of the cruise. It was possible to adjust gratuities paid separately whether pre-paid or not. Not that much when they are included in the price of the cruise.

When you book the Early Booking Have it All promo, the gratuities are included on HAL. 

[osandomir]

11 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

When you book the Early Booking Have it All promo, the gratuities are included on HAL. 

Well, then I guess like I say there’s also no way to remove the included gratuities on HAL as well.

[DrHemlock]

4 hours ago, Thought2go said:

On some of the Oceania FB pages you find people bragging how they always slip the Maitre’d a hundred each time -or the Sommelier a 50 -it makes me cringe. Because it will most definitely color the staffs impression of all of us.

Yes, but that's not the same thing as what most of us are talking about -- or I'm talking about, anyway -- which is something in an envelope at the end of the cruise for excellent service rendered even though they theoretically receive whatever from the automatic gratuities.  Sure, excellent service is their job but some excellence is more excellent than others.

[DrHemlock]

4 hours ago, Thought2go said:

 

Deleted due to mysterious duplication.

Edited 1 hour ago by DrHemlock

[Harters]

4 hours ago, iowananny said:

I really wonder if those who give big tips really do get that much better service or if it just makes them feel important.

I used to play on a now defunct food/restaurant forum where most contributors were American. Tipping cropped up regularly, as it does on CC, and I have a very definite view that for many of those who are "big tippers" it makes them feel good about themselves. That their largesse is able to help less well off folk. I'm definitely not against folk doing things that make them feel better about themselves.