Why Not Call it Charity instead of Tipping?

[donaldsc]

Im glad Im not your server in a restaurant. Yikes.... people are human to me and Im able to get over it if they forget something. Iv even had a bad cabin steward and tipped him. He was always slow and late, forgot to give us stuff, came into the room when I had the sign out "do not disturb". Guess I still feel that I should tip. I think he did the best he could do, just was not meant for that job.

 

It is one thing to ignore occasional lapses. However, it looks like you got someone who lapsed consistently. IMHO, this means no tip. He is in the wrong profession and lack of tips might encourage him to leave. I would also comment to the cruise people if he was that bad.

 

DON

[mykidsrock76]

I disagree... people that are good tippers and reward for good service are going to give extra in cash... PLENTY of people do. The staff gets paid quicker with the auto-tip system, and they appreciate it, and they get stiffed less often with it in place (something like 90% of people that remove the tips and say they are going to tip in person, tip nothing at all according to a CC survey that was posted here last year) People can tip how they want, but to say that the auto-tip system creates sub-par service is not correct... anyone can get bad service from time to time, but they prefer the auto-tip system so that would not encourage bad service since they know you can adjust it. I think some people are high maintenance also and what one may consider bad service, another may consider getting the job done. We are all different... But I will continue to keep the auto-tip in place and if I ever get bad service (I highly doubt this will happen), I will adjust the tip down some... easy enough, and then the staff knows why they received what they did (as well as their superiors, in order to correct any issues)

 

I said sometimes the service is not up to par.... not always. And I do not think having a water glass refilled when empty is high maintenance. Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we had a great steward that paid special attention to my daughter. And he was tipped accordingly and very well. But I have no problem tipping less when service is bad.

 

If you work in the service industry, you should provide that service. That is your job. And if you cannot do it, then find other employment.

[GoinCruisin]

I'm not the op but I think the auto tips are for great service.

 

I see the auto-tips as the tips for them doing their jobs... It's only $10 a day... so for having them clean the cabin twice a day, and three meals a day, $10 is nothing... If they do more than "their job", I tip more. This last cruise our staff was "average", so they only got the auto-tips (except the bartenders)... had they gone above and beyond (they usually do) then I will tip extra. But for $80 for 8 days, they definitely at least got the job done... everyone has different views on tipping, but on land, I would have spent at least double that in tips, so it's still a good deal.

[woodey]

I'm not the op but I think the auto tips are for great service.

i feel the auto tip is for standard service (good service)... clean, make bed, new towels, this is there job function. just as the OP stated but if they take charge of your laundry get you ice or go above the call of duty so to speak...they deserve more then the standard tip...if you dont perform. Yes i agree they should get less

[GoinCruisin]

I said sometimes the service is not up to par.... not always. And I do not think having a water glass refilled when empty is high maintenance. Our last cruise was on Celebrity and we had a great steward that paid special attention to my daughter. And he was tipped accordingly and very well. But I have no problem tipping less when service is bad.

 

If you work in the service industry, you should provide that service. That is your job. And if you cannot do it, then find other employment.

 

And I agree... sub-par service happened prior to auto-tips and it happens now as well... auto-tipping is not the cause, that is life. And I don't think having a water glass refilled is high maintenance (and never said anything of the sort, nor did I imply that)

 

Like I said, I've never had bad service... but I also only expect them to do their jobs. I don't need them to remember my name, make me towel animals, keep coolers full of ice (unless I provide an extra tip), dote all over me, etc. I want my bed made, clean towels, trash cans emptied, tomorrow's capers, my food order correct and delivered timely... if they do that, they earn the $10 a day in my book. If they don't do those things, I'll lower the tip... that does not include the times I stay in the cabin and tell them they can pass on my cabin however (which I did a lot on the last cruise :D) Doesn't take much to make me happy :)

[woodey]

livtojump I'm still waiting for my Popcorn and Beer...Remember Light Beer please..:D :D

[Drew B]

I agree with the OP, in substance if not in tone. And I also get the feeling that the money these folks make (working their butts off) puts their families in VERY GOOD economic position given the per capita income in the countries they come from.

 

That being said, I've never once thought of lowering my tip because I've never gotten service that is less than adequate (one waiter I had was only adequate). If service was bad, I would feel wholly justified in lowering the auto tip, but I have never gotten service I would consider bad. I would also never tip nothing - IMO, that would be insulting. In every instance except for that one waiter, I have INCREASED my auto-tip or tipped extra in cash.

[Kurbanfan]

I see the auto-tips as the tips for them doing their jobs... It's only $10 a day... so for having them clean the cabin twice a day, and three meals a day, $10 is nothing... If they do more than "their job", I tip more. This last cruise our staff was "average", so they only got the auto-tips (except the bartenders)... had they gone above and beyond (they usually do) then I will tip extra. But for $80 for 8 days, they definitely at least got the job done... everyone has different views on tipping, but on land, I would have spent at least double that in tips, so it's still a good deal.

 

That just shows how everyone is different. I don't care if It's only $10.00 or 100.00 a day. That is the standard the cruiselines set so this is what we pay. How little the crew makes is irrelevant to me as is what I make to anyone else and it should play no part in tipping.

Service on a cruise ship should be no less then great and that's what I expect. I have not been disappointed yet.

[GoinCruisin]

That just shows how everyone is different. I don't care if It's only $10.00 or 100.00 a day. That is the standard the cruiselines set so this is what we pay. How little the crew makes is irrelevant to me as is what I make to anyone else and it should play no part in tipping.

Service on a cruise ship should be no less then great and that's what I expect. I have not been disappointed yet.

 

What they make is also irrelevant to me as well... and it plays no part in my tipping. We all have different levels of expectations... When I am paying about $100 a day for a place to sleep and 3+ meals a day, my expectations are in line with that... if I were cruising on an upscale cruise line, and paying more than what I pay on Carnival, my expectations would be adjusted accordingly...

[Glama]

If a person cannot perform their job, then they should not have it. How long would you last in your position, if you could not perform even the basic functions of you job? Not long I'm sure, and would you be rewarded? I think not.

 

I'm sorry, if the service I expect is not provided, I will not reward that person.

 

I do agree with you on this, but it seems like for some people, crew providing "just" the basic functions of their job could be considered excellent service by some, and poor service by others. I know what I deem to be excellent service, and I've only experienced a handful of times on all my cruises. Then again, the wait staff serves me every night at dinner, the cabin steward cleans my cabin daily, so therefore they have provided me a service. Sometimes the actual service isn't great, but they are very friendly and take the time to chat and be pleasant, and that (for me) can sometimes make up for lousy service.

 

I consider auto tips to be "minimum" tips, and have never adjusted them down, as the people whom I'm tipping DID work for me all week. I tip extra for excellent service. If I received VERY poor service, I would consider adjusting them down, but it would have to be really, really bad. I consider the $70's in tips as part of my cruise fare, for basic services provided. I'm sure others feel differently (as we can see by this thread).

 

It's a very personal thing, this tipping. Do what you want, and don't judge others, as everyone has a different idea of what good service really is.

 

The question is, are we tipping for GOOD service, or tipping because overall, they are providing us service all week, good, bad or ugly.

[NCTribeFan]

It doesn't matter to me that it is *only* Carnival. I expect excellent service on a cruise.

 

If I don't receive that, I adjust down. I have, occasionally, given exceptional service.

 

But, to me, excellent service is part of the cruise experience. I don't want crew fawning over me to get extra money. I just want them to be efficient, be pleasant, and do what they're supposed to do.

 

Where I have a problem is what to do if you happen to get a lousy wait staff? If you adjust down, doesn't that affect the people behind the scene (kitchen and buffet staff) that may be doing just fine? Is there a way to decrease ONLY one or two individuals out of that group and still reward the others?

 

I think any of us who have ever worked in service know the difference between poor, good, and excellent and whether it is the kitchen's fault or something unrelated to the server. It isn't fair to punish the kitchen if the waitstaff is poor, and it isn't fair to punish the waitstaff if the kitchen is poor!

 

The only poor cabin steward I had was on my Empress cruise. She was really the only negative on that cruise (loved it!). I just had a feeling that she was hanging around when we boarded not to see if she could do anything, but to suck up and get an upfront tip. I did not do that and the service was lousy.

[popsec]

I guess I'm in the minority here....I take into account the poor pay the stewards and waiters receive on the ship, the extremely long hours and the fact that they have to leave their families for long stretches of time. I consider the auto-tip as part of the cruise fare (if Carnival paid their employees more, the price of some of our ridiculously cheap cruises would go up). I can't think of any instance where I'd EVER lower the auto tip. Where poor service would be reflected is at the end of the cruise when I hand out "thank you" cards with extra cash.

[johnritt]

TIPS, IMO, are for good service. If I don't receive good service, I'm lowering my auto tip. I'm not picky either. I want a clean cabin, fresh towels, turn down service from my cabin steward. I'd like my server to remember what I order and be pleasant. Is this too much?

 

I'm sick of all these posters stating that they would NEVER remove or lower the automatic gratuities no matter what the service was like b/c those poor stewards, waiters, etc. are from 3rd world countries and send all of their money home to their families, etc. If I get poor service, I will lower the tip or remove it all together and explain why. I don't care where the steward or server is from or how many children they have starving in some godforsaken place, if they don't do a good job, they're not getting any money from me. If I wanted to tip them just because their poor, then lets just quit calling it tipping and call it charity.

 

 

No, you're not asking for too much. I also expect that level of service on a cruise.

 

I would guess that about 90% or more passengers also recieve what both you and Iexpect on an average cruise.

 

I would say that an occasional snafu isn't going to make me lower a tip (I never have) as it is almost always made up by some other service that wasn't looking for or didn't expect.

 

The only people that I have an issue with are the people who board the ship looking for issues so they can justify to themselves or others that no tip is deserved by anyone. As near as I can tell, that applies to no one on this thread, but we all know that they are out there.

[shipgirl56]

I have pre-paid my tips for my upcoming cruises. If I tip extra, for instance, to my cabin steward, does he/she get to keep the extra? Or, does it go into a pool of tips?

[Kurbanfan]

The only people that I have an issue with are the people who board the ship looking for issues so they can justify to themselves or others that no tip is deserved by anyone.

 

 

Why would you have a issue with something that is out of your control:confused:

[CountryFox]

Im glad Im not your server in a restaurant. Yikes.... people are human to me and Im able to get over it if they forget something. Iv even had a bad cabin steward and tipped him. He was always slow and late, forgot to give us stuff, came into the room when I had the sign out "do not disturb". Guess I still feel that I should tip. I think he did the best he could do, just was not meant for that job.

 

 

YIKES.......you sound like my grandmother....(not such a bad thing)

Just a difference in generations I guess:D ......I tip according to service....not sympathy:D

ps - no I am not that young 46 to be exact

[SheriNtexas]

For sale? I can't afford any...I didn't get many tips at work last night! :D

 

 

Here you go:

[johnritt]

Why would you have a issue with something that is out of your control:confused:

 

Never said it was in my control, but I don't have to like it

[FromHereToThere]

I dont agree with it being called a charity. And yes I beleive that the level of tipping should be based on the level of service. However, services are rendered to you the whole length of a crusie. And I think you're entitled to provided something. Leaving nothing at all is rude to any service industry, cruise employees, shoreside bartenders, servers. There are too many people who spend all thier money to eat or to go on vacation and don't tip at all. Well, if you can't afford to tip, you can afford to go out to eat, or afford to take a cruise in my opinion. Furthermore, the cruise employees do a fantastic job for what they do. I dont see any one here working practicalyl 24/7, 6 months out of the year. So if thier service is a little under par, hey, we all have a bad day/week. Show some love:D

[rynosmom]

Oddly enough as someone who has worked and supported children on tips, I would have to agree with you! Bet you didn't expect that, huh? lol :D If I provide poor service, I certainly would not expect to be tipped even though I am a single mom with three children and putting myself through college. We all have a story....just because I have it rougher or easier than some shouldn't mean my tips are a given. Tips should be given based on service, not the server's life situation. However I did get a lot of sympathy tips when I was waddling around 7-8 months pregnant! ;)

 

The only problem though is that there are people who are just plain cheap. You could provide 5 star service and still get the shaft. Fair? Not really, but the current system Carnival has does provide a safety net for that scenario. I wish my boss would have let his servers have that option. I couldn't tell you how many times I've seen staff tipped poorly or not at all even though they go above and beyond.

 

We ran into a couple in Cozumel that were on another Carnival ship and she told me that she took off her tips as soon as she got on the ship and was only giving the room steward $5.00 per day. They were a family of four and she felt that it was more than enough. She flet that she already spent enough money going on the vacation why spend more giving out tips.

 

We almost always leave the suggested amount with the exception of this past cruise where our room steward was totally rude the entire cruise.

[NCTribeFan]

You have no idea how many hours I work. That has nothing to do with the discussion, imo.

 

I just don't consider the "standard" tip to be a minimum tip. I consider that it should be the recommended amount IF you receive very good service.

 

Lesser service will be adjusted downward. Exemplary service will be rewarded.

 

I ask again, is it possible to adjust the portion of the tip that is allocated to the wait staff for a particular person only? It just isn't right to penalize the kitchen and buffet staff if I happen to get dreadful service in the dining room.

 

What happens if you complain to the Maitre D? If you're moved to a different table, do they pro-rate your tips to the different wait staffs, even if you asked to be moved because of lousy service?

[In2why]

TIPS, IMO, are for good service. If I don't receive good service, I'm lowering my auto tip. I'm not picky either. I want a clean cabin, fresh towels, turn down service from my cabin steward. I'd like my server to remember what I order and be pleasant. Is this too much?

 

I'm sick of all these posters stating that they would NEVER remove or lower the automatic gratuities no matter what the service was like b/c those poor stewards, waiters, etc. are from 3rd world countries and send all of their money home to their families, etc. If I get poor service, I will lower the tip or remove it all together and explain why. I don't care where the steward or server is from or how many children they have starving in some godforsaken place, if they don't do a good job, they're not getting any money from me. If I wanted to tip them just because their poor, then lets just quit calling it tipping and call it charity.

 

 

 

This will be an interesting thread....but....I agree. I would lower tips if I didn't get expected service, and I do not even need turn down service. Basically if they keep me in clean towels, remove the trash bag from the trash can, and make sure I don't run out of TP paper and we are good. I don't care if they smile, speak english well or act like long lost family.

[cruizer4662]

Ever had a soda drink card?:confused: When you purchase them the 15% gratuity is automatically added.

 

When you go to the bar or catch a waiter, it takes forever to get a drink.:mad:

 

Then it is placed in a completely different glass so at a quick glance the barmen or waiter can see if they will get a tip for their services. Unfortunally, they have missed out on a additional tip.

[In2why]

Im glad Im not your server in a restaurant. Yikes.... people are human to me and Im able to get over it if they forget something. Iv even had a bad cabin steward and tipped him. He was always slow and late, forgot to give us stuff, came into the room when I had the sign out "do not disturb". Guess I still feel that I should tip. I think he did the best he could do, just was not meant for that job.

 

 

If he was bad at his job, isn't it better for him to realize that and get better or find a new line of work? To me that is the kinder thing to do for the guy.

[direfun2000]

Ill take two of each Please but the light Beer:D

 

 

 

Ditto!!:D