Auto Tip

[coldbird]

So... In 2006 we were on another cruise line (Costa) that included the tip in the price... Venice to Venice, 7 days, 2400$$ cruise cost.

 

Our next Princess cruise, 20 day will cost me 840$$ in tips alone if I leave the auto tip on..

 

So are we saying that the other cruise line pays their people that much more?? Or are they making the employees take a pay cut while they are sailing in the Med since most of the people on these ships are from Europe and do not tip???:confused:

[Pam in CA]

Pam I completely agree which is why I really appreciate the auto tip. There are so many great crew members besides just our room steward and wait staff that help make our cruise wonderful that it would be really difficult to try to tip them all along the way. We always keep dollars handy in our room to tip room service, but I can't imagine running all over the ship with pockets full of dollars to tip each deserving crew member. At least with auto tip I feel comfortable that I am compensating those that help me along the way, and those in the background who I may never see. I am then free to tip extra at the end of the cruise to those special people who we have gotten to know and have gone above and beyond like certain bar staff, room steward, wait staff and children's club staff.

Right. I forgot to mention the cleaning crews who help all of the stewards. They aren't visible and you're probably not even aware of them but the stewards have helpers who clean the cabins so that if you're going to tip the steward, you should also tip the "invisible" people. If I'm dissatisfied with service or performance, I use the comment card. Believe me, that's a much more formidible way to express your satisfaction or dissatisfaction. And, it doesn't cost anything. :)

[WarmWaters]

I would love to know what percentage of cruisers actually do turn their tipping off? On our cruise I saw a long line up at the desk, the night before the end of the cruise and I was wondering how many of them is going to turn it off. Is there perhaps someone who worked/ is working on a ship that can enlighten us.

 

My partner is a heavy tipper. At the end of our cruise he gave our room steward $60 extra above and beyond our auto tipping and the guy didnt really looked too happy about it. I thought that was a very generous extra tip. We didnt once asked him for anything extra, he just did the normal cleaning of our room. Is $ 60 extra an average tip? Or how much should we give him next time ? :-)

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

Crikey..not ANOTHER Auto tip thread, OK here is my two bobs worth for what it is worth...;)

 

A lot of Aussies on P&O Australia CC..call the Auto Tip..the Automatic Wage Subsidy (AWS) because lets face it that is what it is, making up the very poor wages earned by ship's service staff.:mad:

 

Some leave the AWS on others turn it off, up to you, but paying for good service before you get it? Personally I would rather wait towards the end of the cruise before I make a decision re the AWS. If the service is good they get the AWS and if not???? I will leave it to your imagination, but I am reluctant to to leave a tip for bad service. If most of you are honest, you will probably feel the same.

 

Tipping is not bigtime in our culture, so god only knows what is happening tipping wise on the Sun Princess now it is operating from Australia for a couple of years. One would think Carnival is paying the ship's service staff a bit more to make up for the AWS shortfall, same on Pacific Dawn (ex Regal Princess.)

 

:confused: Cheers..Les:cool:

 

Lets look at the big picture here, Les. Cruising prices have not gone up for 20 years, this is just one of the reasons why. Would you rather have it added into the overall price of the cruise, then you would have absolutely no choice? Call it AWS if you would like, but at the end of the day we should have SOME compassion for the cruiseline staff. If you remove it, they hardly get paid and so on. If one member treats your poorly, that is no reason to remove the auto-tip, as the others have done their job. If the overall service is awful, maybe you would be justified.

 

Bottom line is, even if you remove it and try to reward someone individually, guess what? It goes right into the pool.

[daveco58]

It would be interesting to know if they are being paid more. More than one crew person has told us they do not like to get on ships going to Australia just because of the tipping.

 

On our first TA this past December we were told by several of the wait staff in the dining room that they don't like the long TAs because they do not make much on those cruises. They prefer the 7 day Caribbean cruises where the tips are the best.

 

We found these comments interesting and figured it must be that the older more "seasoned" cruisers don't tip as well as the younger ones or that more days of tipping results in more "auto" tips being removed. I guess it could also be that if one is inclined to leave an "extra" tip at the end of a cruise and the amount left frequently is not determined by the number of days for the cruise that would result in less "extra" tips for a 3 -4 week cruise. :confused:

 

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I am going to guess there are a lot higher bar tabs on a 7 day Carib than a T/A, resulting in more tips

[BJS]

My partner is a heavy tipper. At the end of our cruise he gave our room steward $60 extra above and beyond our auto tipping and the guy didnt really looked too happy about it. I thought that was a very generous extra tip. We didnt once asked him for anything extra, he just did the normal cleaning of our room. Is $ 60 extra an average tip? Or how much should we give him next time ? :-)

 

That is a very generous tip. Next time do not give anything extra unless the steward does something extra. The auto gratuity covers the good service you should receive.

 

We have found reactions will vary when an extra tip is given. For some reason those that really go all out to make the cruise special are the ones who express the most appreciation. Maybe those who don't express pleasure when receiving the extra tip feel they are due a tip and those that deserve it are the ones who make the effort hoping that they will be rewarded and are pleased that their efforts are being rewarded.

 

 

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[BJS]

I am going to guess there are a lot higher bar tabs on a 7 day Carib than a T/A, resulting in more tips

Very true but most of these come with a 15% added grautity and don't involve the wait staff in the dining rooms who were the ones commenting to us.

[MichCook]

I agree. What a terrible idea and if I saw a post like that, I'd jump all over them. Not only doesn't it send a message to Princess but it sends the wrong message about the steward and waitstaff. They are evaluated frequently and tip removal is a mark against them since it's assumed, unless otherwise noted, that the steward or waitstaff hadn't done their job. In order to be promoted, they need a good evaluation. Shame on anyone who removes the autotip to "send a message."

 

 

I agree. We like the autotip. Unfortunately, those folks who "send a message to Princess" by canceling their autotips, do so without truly knowing the full impact it has on crew members. It's only through these types of boards that we can be educated on such matters....the cruiselines don't share such information, such as you stated, about what affects a crew member's chance for promotion.

[dforeigner]

Crikey..not ANOTHER Auto tip thread, OK here is my two bobs worth for what it is worth...;)

 

A lot of Aussies on P&O Australia CC..call the Auto Tip..the Automatic Wage Subsidy (AWS) because lets face it that is what it is, making up the very poor wages earned by ship's service staff.:mad:

 

Some leave the AWS on others turn it off, up to you, but paying for good service before you get it? Personally I would rather wait towards the end of the cruise before I make a decision re the AWS. If the service is good they get the AWS and if not???? I will leave it to your imagination, but I am reluctant to to leave a tip for bad service. If most of you are honest, you will probably feel the same.

 

Tipping is not bigtime in our culture, so god only knows what is happening tipping wise on the Sun Princess now it is operating from Australia for a couple of years. One would think Carnival is paying the ship's service staff a bit more to make up for the AWS shortfall, same on Pacific Dawn (ex Regal Princess.)

 

:confused: Cheers..Les:cool:

 

You are right, it is a cultural difference. Wages in the service industry are much hire than in the US. Those who receive tips in the US earn a lower wage than those who do not earn tips. But as the old saying says: "When in Rome..."

[Pam in CA]

Very true but most of these come with a 15% added grautity and don't involve the wait staff in the dining rooms who were the ones commenting to us.

BTW, I believe that 15% is shared among all the barstaff. There are some bars that are consistently busier than others and the barstaff assigned to the less-busy lounges would otherwise lose out. I could be wrong but I believe that's the case.

[rdsqrl]

BTW, I believe that 15% is shared among all the barstaff. There are some bars that are consistently busier than others and the barstaff assigned to the less-busy lounges would otherwise lose out. I could be wrong but I believe that's the case.

I hope you're right about this -- I felt so sorry for the poor bartender and waiter in Adagio on the Crown, evening after evening with hardly anyone in there. It was great for us, who wanted a quiet place to listen to music, chat, read, etc., but hardly did much to line their pockets with tips (although, doing my bit for the cause, I certainly ordered more than my fair share of martinis over the course of the cruise!!).

[tinker 4]

After reading this board I realize that I forgot to tip the guys in the engine room, the doctor and nurse, the people that bring up the food from storage, they late crew that clean the pool decks, and lets not forget the bridge crew (after all they are also in the service industry and do not get paid well). That being said when you are at a restraunt do you go into the kitchen and tip the dish washer and the cook and anyone else back there? Yes I tip the people that I come in contact with that make my cruise better. Again it is not the passengers responsiblity to give the workers a decent wage, it is the company.

[dforeigner]

After reading this board I realize that I forgot to tip the guys in the engine room, the doctor and nurse, the people that bring up the food from storage, they late crew that clean the pool decks, and lets not forget the bridge crew (after all they are also in the service industry and do not get paid well). That being said when you are at a restraunt do you go into the kitchen and tip the dish washer and the cook and anyone else back there? Yes I tip the people that I come in contact with that make my cruise better. Again it is not the passengers responsiblity to give the workers a decent wage, it is the company.

 

But you keep cruising. :rolleyes:

[tinker 4]

Yes why not. I still tip but only the people that make the differance.

[dforeigner]

Yes why not. I still tip but only the people that make the differance.

 

Even though you well know that since you remove the auto tips, those individuals who you tip will have to turn in their tips to the general tip fund? Therefore, you are not helping them out but rather hurting them. Your comments about tipping the doctors, nurses, engineers, Captain, etc. is also off based as those at a professional level do not work for tips.

 

Question: What are the tipping guidelines for my cruise?

Answer: During your cruise, you will meet staff throughout the ship who provide you with excellent service. Many more crew support those who serve you directly. To save you the worry of who to tip and how much, Princess makes it easier for you to reward excellent service by automatically adding a discretionary Hotel and Dining charge of $11 USD for suites and mini-suites and $10.50 USD for all other staterooms per person per day (including children) to your shipboard account on a daily basis. This charge will be shared amongst those staff who help provide and support your cruise experience, including the wait staff, stateroom stewards, buffet stewards, galley staff, laundry staff and others. Casino dealers and Lotus Spa personnel do not share in the Hotel and Dining charge as not all passengers utilize these services.

Casino dealers and Lotus Spa personnel do not share in the Hotel and Dining charge as not all passengers utilize these services.

A 15% charge is automatically added to your bar charges and dining room wine account. This is shared amongst the beverage staff and their support staff, including cleaners and utility staff.

 

http://www.princess.com/customer_care/faqs/onboard_experience/index.jsp

[tinker 4]

Having said that, why do you not tip the guys that clean the deck's after you have gone to bed. Why not the pursers desk (they are not professionals). all I am saying is that if you are just going to but in a few of the behind the scene people then why not them all. Tipping is a way to thank a person for doing a good job or going out of his or her way to help you. I have no problem with the cruise ship raising the price and then doing away with all tipping. Tell me where the skill is in opening a can of beer and wanting 15% or .75 cents on a 5.00 dollar beer to do it. When I am eating out I tip by the whole bill (not per drink). I still say it is up to the crusie industry to pay fare wages. If they don't, then the cruising public should not cruise with them. Last thing I am saying on this topic.

[LARGIN]

BTW, I believe that 15% is shared among all the barstaff. There are some bars that are consistently busier than others and the barstaff assigned to the less-busy lounges would otherwise lose out. I could be wrong but I believe that's the case.

Pam I was told that the 15% is shared as follows: Half goes to the server or bartender if you are seated at the bar and half is placed into the pool for all of the bar staff to share. Those waiters in a less-busy lounge are there for a reason.. They are newbies or being punished.. :eek:

[Pam in CA]

Pam I was told that the 15% is shared as follows: Half goes to the server or bartender if you are seated at the bar and half is placed into the pool for all of the bar staff to share. Those waiters in a less-busy lounge are there for a reason.. They are newbies or being punished.. :eek:

Interesting. On our Island Princess cruise a couple of years ago to/from HI, we often went to the Explorer's Lounge (looks like it's now the Bayou Cafe) for a pre-dinner drink and had great service. There was a band that we liked that played/sang 50's and 60's music but it was weird -- hardly anyone was ever there at night: maybe 3 or 4 groupings. The band wasn't that bad!

[dforeigner]

Having said that, why do you not tip the guys that clean the deck's after you have gone to bed. Why not the pursers desk (they are not professionals). all I am saying is that if you are just going to but in a few of the behind the scene people then why not them all. Tipping is a way to thank a person for doing a good job or going out of his or her way to help you. I have no problem with the cruise ship raising the price and then doing away with all tipping. Tell me where the skill is in opening a can of beer and wanting 15% or .75 cents on a 5.00 dollar beer to do it. When I am eating out I tip by the whole bill (not per drink). I still say it is up to the cruise industry to pay fare wages. If they don't, then the cruising public should not cruise with them. Last thing I am saying on this topic.

 

I will agree with what I highlighted in red up to a point. Why up to a point? Because if you were to stay at a regular resort and eat there, the tip would be higher than 10-11 dollars a day per person. I can also see your point about the bar auto 15% tip. When I go to a bar and ask the bar tender for a drink, say a Scotch, I normally give the bar tender one dollar. That is about 15% above the price of the drink.

 

On a different note, I do not see the tip issue as a subsidy to wage issue. People from Latin America and the Eastern Countries are making more money working 7 days a week for a cruise line than if they were to stay and work in their home countries.

[tinker 4]

Thanks for the good debate.