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cabin steward tipping

retcwby

By retcwby,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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S.S.Oceanlover

S.S.Oceanlover

Posted
Posted
Does anybody else tip the cabin steward at the begining of the cruise?? I usually do and get tip top service compared to when i tipped at the end.

 

I don't know how you could tell if you got better service by tipping at the beginning.

 

How can you tell if your cabin steward wouldn't have been that good regardless of when you tipped.

 

When you tipped at the end, maybe that steward was a dud and wouldn't have done better if you tipped in the beginning.

 

Bill

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G'ma

G'ma

Posted
Posted
Does anybody else tip the cabin steward at the begining of the cruise?? I usually do and get tip top service compared to when i tipped at the end.

 

Not necessary.... I guarantee you'll get tip top service either way. That's what they DO.

 

You are not getting any better service than those who don't tip upfront.....believe me.

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caribbean dreams

caribbean dreams

Posted
Posted

The only time i will tip the Steward at the beginning of the cruise is If i ask for a few more chairs for my Balcony, he delivers, he gets a tip.

 

All other things the Steward does is part of his job and he will get tipped at the end of the cruise.

Usually an extra $60 on top of the pre payed tips, depending on service or length of cruise.

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MrPete

MrPete

Posted
Posted
Does anybody else tip the cabin steward at the begining of the cruise?? I usually do and get tip top service compared to when i tipped at the end.

 

I don't, and get tip top service. I start my "week" EXPECTING that I'm going to get great service.

 

You will read that many workers don't like this, as it doesn't give them the opportunity to work for their tip , and some consider it a bribe.

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UKCruiser_2008

UKCruiser_2008

Posted
Posted

$60 plus the basic tip? Wow! Do you pay that to the restaurant staff too?

 

That is quite a few tips in total - almost $200 pp, not including other tips for room service, at ports etc.!

 

As a British person, I find it bizarre that they have this automatic tipping thing in the first place. It seem logical to add these 'auto-tips' to the price of the actual cruise. I thought tips were kind of an extra for good service ... but it seems that cruise lines, restaurants and so on

take advantage of this by paying their staff a pittance and demanding that the customers make up the difference.

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Cotton

Cotton

Posted
Posted
....As a British person, I find it bizarre .....I thought tips were kind of an extra for good service ... but it seems that cruise lines, restaurants and so on

take advantage of this by paying their staff a pittance and demanding that the customers make up the difference.

 

I have a British friend who visits here annually, and she is appalled that we tip so much, so often. It's the way of life here, my friend. You Brits are infamous for non-tipping. Not being critical of y'all; just the way it is. But, "when in Rome.....".:D

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UKCruiser_2008

UKCruiser_2008

Posted
Posted

I do not have a problem with tipping - in fact I like the idea!

 

However, I do not like the idea of a company automatically charging tips when (IMO) tips should be something exchanged between the person providing a service and the customer.

 

I worked for a server in the USA for a while so I understand how it is with the low pay. I think it is fair that if you give a good service you get paid more. :)

 

In the UK, the hourly rate is more for servers, but the service is often not so good, because tips are not expected.

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ArkieCruiser

ArkieCruiser

Posted
Posted
$60 plus the basic tip? Wow! Do you pay that to the restaurant staff too?

 

That is quite a few tips in total - almost $200 pp, not including other tips for room service, at ports etc.!

 

As a British person, I find it bizarre that they have this automatic tipping thing in the first place. It seem logical to add these 'auto-tips' to the price of the actual cruise. I thought tips were kind of an extra for good service ... but it seems that cruise lines, restaurants and so on

take advantage of this by paying their staff a pittance and demanding that the customers make up the difference.

 

You are able to adjust the automatic tips up or down. CCL just automatically puts the recommended amout on your S&S but if service was not good you can adjust it down. I have never gotten bad service to make me want to lower it.

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JRock59

JRock59

Posted
Posted

Yes we leave the tip on for the end of the Cruise. But we also give a little extra during the week for things like keeping an extra bucket of ice full, really greal towel animals, all the little extras that some Stewards do that others don't. :) We also tip wait and bar staff extra during the week if the service has that little extra your not expecting. Can't count the number of times we've been told "THANKS there's a crew party tonight and now I can have a little extra fun." :D on the last cruise my DH had bar waiters fighting over him in the Casino as he always gave an extra Dollar in cash. Can you even imagine that happening anywhere in the US at a lounge or bar?:rolleyes:

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katiel53

katiel53

Posted
Posted
$60 plus the basic tip? Wow! Do you pay that to the restaurant staff too?

 

That is quite a few tips in total - almost $200 pp, not including other tips for room service, at ports etc.!

 

As a British person, I find it bizarre that they have this automatic tipping thing in the first place. It seem logical to add these 'auto-tips' to the price of the actual cruise. I thought tips were kind of an extra for good service ... but it seems that cruise lines, restaurants and so on

take advantage of this by paying their staff a pittance and demanding that the customers make up the difference.

 

I guess I don't understand why you feel it's bizarre to tip here when in England as an example, a service charge was added to our bill in a restaurant. The same happened in hotels. Carnival and some other lines do the same thing, but travelers call it a tip.

 

I know that when we were in London and didn't realize there was a service charge of 10% added automatically to dinners, we tipped extra and no where did we hear any waiter say, excuse me, you were already charged a service charge. My point is that each country has it's own system and even if your service people are paid more than a pittance, they still get extra money.

 

If I resented the service charge, I wouldn't continue to travel to Europe as England isn't the only country doing so. The same goes here, if you resent the "tipping" perhaps there is a cruise line that doesn't expect you to tip.

 

Holland America used to be like that, but they are no longer. Perhaps Seabourn or Oceania might not have those bizarre charges.

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woodman

woodman

Posted
Posted

I prepay the grats. before our cruise as we have never had bad service on a Carnival ship.

Yes a little extra at the end when appropriate and I almost always add $1. to a bar bill. At the Capt. party and past guest party I give each server that serves us 1$. They line the drinks up.

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pursediva

pursediva

Posted
Posted

I was on the Liberty November 1-8, I tipped the room steward the first day and didn't get treated any differently than I ever have before. He did seem "PUT OUT" by the tip. I tipped Tommy at the paparazzi bar, he took it looked at it funny, put it on the counter, not even in his pocket. I am not going to tip like that again. He did not give me any different service than he did everyone else.

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UKCruiser_2008

UKCruiser_2008

Posted
Posted
I guess I don't understand why you feel it's bizarre to tip here when in England as an example, a service charge was added to our bill in a restaurant. The same happened in hotels. Carnival and some other lines do the same thing, but travelers call it a tip.

 

Hi Katie, you're right, they add the service charge to the bill here too - it is not all that common but I don't like that either!

 

But I do think it's reasonable with larger groups of 10 + - that requires more effort in general.

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fargodakota

fargodakota

Posted
Posted

Our steward did a great job on the room. Almost everytime we left the room you could tell he had gone in a straightened things.

 

Not sure if tipping early would have changed that. I do know he sure does work a good deal and earns everythign he got from us and others.

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ray98

ray98

Posted
Posted

I have stayed side by side with friends on a cruise. They tipped in advance and I did not. I guarantee they recieved no better service that I did. I even requested a few small things that they did not which were always done with a smile.

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