Interesting PBS article on tipping and wages

[GoinCruisin]

You have a great point above in your reply, If Carnival has taken it upon themselves to be the "Tip" police and put it on the sail and sign.When are they going to enforce their Clothing policy? Or the Liquor policy as well?

 

When it came to the Paradise and no smoking they certianly enforced that?Off the ship!!!

 

Would it be proper to call the Matre"d over and ask him to enforce the clothing policy in the dining room?

 

Steve

We were talking about passengers knowing about these things, not Carnival's enforcing them... Carnival obviously doesn't enforce tipping either as it is easy to take the tips off.

 

As far as what they make. Most stewards have 12 cabins. They are given 30 minutes to clean each cabin, replenish, etc. They have an assistant (if you watch the PBS special you will see that the steward pays the assistant $800 per month, regardless of their tips)... They do NOT work 12 months a year, most contracts are 4-10 months. Considering they average between 1200-2200 per month, then take out the 800 for the assistant, then keep in mind they are working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week... it's not THAT great of a wage. Sure, they may make less in their country... they have left their families, children behind to do this to make a living that they cannot make at home. Believe me, if they were making $40K a year and it was a posh living, you would see ALOT more Americans working cruise ships....

[lisacas1]

I knew this article would make a great "tipping" topic and hopefully inform the consumer before cruising.

 

What I learned from it was, the tip is more than just something "extra", it's a large part of the cruise worker's wage.

 

I intend to tip above and beyond the mandatory tip and for those who go above and beyond for me, I will go above and beyond for them to show my appreciation.

[newbie2cruise]

Sorry!

[momofmeg]

Interesting article - but im sure there are other motivational reasons, other than it ensures good service, for keeping wages low and keeping the tip policy in place.

 

1. Lower wages on the cruise ship = More profitable CCL Financial Statments

2. The price of the cruise seems lower to the average consumer because they dont consider the tips at the time they are making the buy decision.

Only a first time cruiser. Repeat cruisers know better.

[momofmeg]

It's not just a Carnival thing...

 

My last cruise was $399 for a 4 day, per person. With tips it was $439. For 2 it was $878. If I went on a 4 day resort vacation, it would have cost far more...

 

Hotel (if I am lucky I find one for $129 a night)

Meals (we'll say 3 per day, breakfast at hotel, inexpensive lunch and a decent dinner for two $80-$100 per day)

Entertainment (we'll take in just one show, rather than something each night $100)

 

That is over $1000, and does not take into account any entertainment other than one night, no extra meals or late night pizza, the ability to eat until your head pops off, comedy shows, or any of the other amenities offered. On a land vacation, we still have to pay for excursions, and anything else we might do... it's still a great value, even with tipping.

 

I guess I am just strange... I read through the entire brochure when I got it, when I wondered what the deposit was, I read it on the back page, in normal print... and there were all the terms including the tips...

 

 

I agree with you. The last few land vacations I have kept tabs on costs. We spent 3 days in Tybee Island last year. It cost us around $1000 and this was just normal stuff-only once did we eat at a super nice resturant that did not really compare to cruiseship dinners. To me crusing is more affordable even considering tips and excursions.

[gumdrop38]

Cruise ship employees do not seem as "happy" as they used to be....

Although my family loves to cruise ..I just dont like hearing about tipping...

I have always tipped the suggested amount or more except once..

 

Maybe more is expected from us, as people who can afford to travel??

They expect tips and maybe think they should get more??

With the sign and sale thing some people may not tip extra...

I am not as well traveled as alot of you....but I have been on 4 cruises...

The best customer service was on the BIg Red Boat...

 

I was made well aware of the tippy policy before boarding but I guess some people are not.

On the Big red boat these people were in competition with thier sister ship, I think they said the best customer service boat got a bonus...

Great Idea....They worked for and earned thier tips.

Happily we tipped extra.

 

On both Royal Carribean and Carnival.....employees had lectured us about tips...not just my family. It just seems to be the "rule" We had a situation where we were supposed to go to Bermuda with RCCL and went to Bahamas instead....and people were very upset and daily all 6 remaining days we were asked not to take it out on staff. Please tip accordingly......the staff was over tired and because were were on ship 6 of the 7 days...My other RCCL cruise was fine... Another time on Rccl it was only a 4 nighter and staff ..lectured about tips...but the service was very good. I don't mind the cruise director reminding ....but staff bothers me.

 

I am considereing doing CCL this year....

I am hoping my experience was the exception....

I had only had one carnival cruise...the ship but great customer service was not good... Our waiter...would leave us sitting 20 minutes before taking our order. Twenty minutes before noticing we were there. One day he would actually threw.....the menus on our table...lol

( I came to realize...that because of him doing so well the week before he was granted extra tables for our cruise.He had 30 people??...He and the assistant looked like models...

He would pick our deserts out each nite.., instead of taking our order.

One night my daughter said could i please have...for desert and he said try what I picked out for you first....lol

Maybe some people like that??

 

Weird...At the same time we had a two families next to us who had great customer service

We did not want to cause problems so we just did not say anything until the last night.....when we got our tips put on our sign and sale....at that point. I thought thats a good idea to do it that way because then I can go and explain why I was taking $5.00 off his tip.

Some ideas...make the ships competetive...when you fill out cards see which ship has best customer service and reward them...Pay a little more so staff is a little happier about thier job..

I am guessing the reason for lectures and I mean its ussually waiters...not cleaning staff...is because sometimes people skip out??

 

I would also like to mention I have went to all inclusives...such as this summer A group of us went to the Bahia Principe in Punta Cana the land portion for a 4 night stay drinks and tips included for $265.00 plus air.

Kids under 12 were only $18.00 the cost of transfers..

I was never lectured once about tipping and the service was wonderul. Perhaps be cause these people do not have to be away from thier families???

I don't know the solution....I mean if you say to staff first day I have prepayed gratuties..would you then not hear about it th rest of cruise..would it affect customer service eith way..? I dont know the answer...

Comments are welcomed....is this the exception on the rule...

[GoinCruisin]

I am booking that resort today! Good gracious, of the 7 all inclusive resorts I have stayed at, we have paid a fortune!!!! But then again, we had a great time and they definitely lost money on us drinking! $265 for 4 days, it's like staying and eating for free!!!! LOL!!!

 

The staff knows about the gratuities, you don't have to tell them upfront... have a fun trip!!!

[PlaneJoy]

In my opinion, most consumers go to a TA for help in making an informed decision on their vacation. They trust what the person tells them about their vacation and assumes that they are hearing everything there is to know. It isn't any different when booking a cruise, all inclusive, tour package, or whatever. TA's earn repeat business and referrals by doing so, which is very important in today's environment.

 

I personally don't use a TA, but I wouldn't recommend to another person or rebook with a TA that doesn't outline even the basic expectations - including tipping - to a client that is new to crusing. Even if that client received a brochure.

[SevenVII]

Too many people placing blame for things

Like blaming webmasters because its too easy to steal images off their sites, so therefore justifiable, hehe. jk GC :D

[lpglarry]

Hey we went on Holland America, before carnival toke it over, and waitstaff were great, our rooms were spotless, help was terrific, and it was tips optional, they had to have paid there help more money. So when you gave room attendant extra they really appreciated, larry

[hstrybuf]

I've never been lectured about tipping on any cruise or line. I know what the policies are and I don't think I'd like to be reminded by a member of the staff that it is expected. Hmmmmm.

[SevenVII]

Yeah, both my PVP and TA said nothing to me about the tipping policy. And my PVP was pretty much telling me everything about the ship, activities, excursions and what not. So, if not for this board(I never got a brochure) I wouldnt have known about it till I got my docs. I dont think they should be blamed, but it wouldnt hurt if they made a habit to tell their travelers about the policy or encourage them to read the fine print for anything they didnt know about.:cool:

[NewCruzer1]

Most services are tipped at about 15% of the cost. For a 7 day cruise you might pay $1200/person and Carnival suggests $10/day for steward and waiters. That is less than 6%!

 

Well, actually, we got a great deal on our cruise, so the tips @ $10 a day are more like 12%. But, that's beside the point, because we get services on a cruise we wouldn't ordinarily tip for, or at least not 15%. For example, even in the ritziest hotel (not that I ever stay in ritzy hotels), I wouldn't leave 15% (e.g., a $15 tip for a $100 room?) for maid service, especially since I rarely ask them to do anything other than standard cleaning and replenishing towels/washcloths. A dollar or two per person, per night is more like it. It's inappropriate to tip the ship's officers, so we're not tipping for transporation. So, if I were onshore that leaves $8 per day (after my $2 maid tip) for food-service tips. At 15%, that would work out to $53 per person for meals. Well, I might spend that, if I don't do any fast food or buffets (where I tip $1 per person for the waitress, since it's essentially serve-yourself) -- but I might not.

So, bottom line, I don't feel like $10 per person, per day for all cruise service personnel is either extravagant or cheap. We'll leave it on the S&S card, but won't feel obliged to tip extra unless we request and receive special services (for example, room service) for which a 15% service charge hasn't already been added, as they do for drinks.

If others want to tip more, I feel neither ashamed of my own tipping level nor challenged to meet theirs.

[gumdrop38]

I have stayed at some..not all Embassy suites where they would turn down your bed at night and leave chocolates......although they have never made a towel animal....lol You are correct today on cruise ships it is similiar to hotel services...

 

I never even thought of the rooms cabins stewart... How some people might feel they get the same service elsewhere and only leave then a 5.00 tip smaller than suggested tip...and it is true?? Maybe they should raise thier rate and let a tip be what it is??

Years ago the stewarts would hang up clothes...on the Big Red boat...

My first cruise experience...We had arrived on ship late ,had fire drill then we dressed for dinner ,there was not time to put luggage away ect...When we came back....stewart had placed suitcases in neatly in closet...and anything that was lying around he hung up..I was mordified....lol.

 

 

It is usually the waiter and attendent who let you know that they rely on thier tips......I would like to know if anyone else has had this same experience of getting these lectures...

For my part 3 of my children have all worked in the restaurant industry thought college...so needless to say we are good tippers...lol