Crew earnings

[owl61]

Does anyone know how much a waiter earns in total per month? Assistant waiter? Cabin steward?
Does anyone know whether the tips automatically added go 100% to waiters, asst waiters, room stewards, and their immediated mgrs ( e.g. housecleaning mgr, head waiters and maitre 'd)?

[cruisePRN]

What do you earn? How much do you pay in Taxes?
Do you see how unrealistic these questions are. It's none of our business:eek:

[nlvc12]

It would be so hard to gauge the 'real' earnings for the crew. Many of them work 6-9 months straight and then go unpaid when they go home. The value of the currency that they are paid in versus the value in their local currency.

I can understand that you would probably be more generous if you knew for sure what their pay was, as well as how much of the tip they get. However, there does seem to be a lot of commentary I have seen elsewhere on the boards noting that they are paid very low, relatively.

Nancy

[mncruise]

I think it is a good question. I know that have low pay however they have room and board included in their wages. I never find a lack of crew members on any ships so they must make better than home. We always tip the recommended amount and sometimes add a little extra directly to the person.
Most cruise lines have a set amount and I like that as we found we were tipping extra and hoped the right person got the money. When we once did a 60 day cruise on Princess which was actually 4 cuises and we tipped our room stewardess at the end of each cruise section so she could send home the money to her children and parents. I realize tipping is personal and if you do not want to tip the recommended amount that is charged to your account, you can change it.
Hope this helps.

[owl61]

What do you earn? How much do you pay in Taxes?
Do you see how unrealistic these questions are. It's none of our business:eek:
For comment on this subject by a ship captain's wife see: http://www.cruisecritic.com/features...les.cfm?ID=261
Sorry, I cannot comprehend why my question is unrealistic or none of my business. Your questions to me seem odd. Are you ok?

[jjb415]

What do you earn? How much do you pay in Taxes?
Do you see how unrealistic these questions are. It's none of our business:eek:

I agree with you.

[cruisePRN]

For comment on this subject by a ship captain's wife see: http://www.cruisecritic.com/features...les.cfm?ID=261
Sorry, I cannot comprehend why my question is unrealistic or none of my business. Your questions to me seem odd. Are you ok?

The tip should not depend on what anybody earns but the value of the service they perform. Again, It's none of our business what anybody earns

[Host Andy]

Hi Everyone !

I have to say, that I feel that these folks work VERY hard for their salary and tips. I am the type of person that tries very hard to get to know the Crew when onboard. To this day, I stay in touch with many past Crew members. Some even send me photos of their families etc. It is always wonderful, when you meet up with past Crew Members on future cruises. It's like meeting old friends !

We all know that they do not get paid very much, based on American standards. However, their compensation is significant to them, as their economies are on different scales than ours.

With that said, I hope this thread doesnt get into salary specifics or personal attacks. I feel we should respect the Crew's privacy. I will keep this thread open for now, but please be try to be considerate of what I mentioned above. Thank you !

[jjb415]

Hi Everyone !

I have to say, that I feel that these folks work VERY hard for their salary and tips. I am the type of person that tries very hard to get to know the Crew when onboard. To this day, I stay in touch with many past Crew members. Some even send me photos of their families etc. It is always wonderful, when you meet up with past Crew Members on future cruises. It's like meeting old friends !

We all know that they do not get paid very much, based on American standards. However, their compensation is significant to them, as their economies are on different scales than ours.

With that said, I hope this thread doesnt get into salary specifics or personal attacks. I feel we should respect the Crew's privacy. I will keep this thread open for now, but please be try to be considerate of what I mentioned above. Thank you !

Well said. Thanks.

[WCAB]

I am sure the OP had only good motives for asking and was trying to establish a fair tip that would make a difference in the life of those he/she comes into contact with on a cruise. That being said, my advise is to tip according to the service rendered and reward a bit extra when the service is exceptional.

Carol

[owl61]

Host Andy, if you or anyone else were to search my reason posts you would see that I have written very supportively of crew. It's no secret that they work ridiculously long hours in several shifts over the course of a very long work day, 7 days a week, with an occasional day off and with little or no benefits aside from the room and board they receive while at sea. After all, CC has posted a feature article on this very subject authored by a ship captain's wife. The article http://www.cruisecritic.com/features...les.cfm?ID=261 (http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=261) provides details about earnings of most "tip based" jobs. For these workers the actual salary after deduction for maritime association dues is about $1 per day.
It is also no secret that the total earnings from tips is good enough to motivate a lot of Jamaicans, Phillipinos, Indonesians and eastern europeans, but as NCLA's experience with US flagged ships shows, you won't easily get many motivated US crew. They had severe labor problems even though they had to limit work hours, pay overtime and give benefits. As you correctly point out, the standard industry pay scale (based on tips) appeals only to those with limited options.
I have been on over 50 cruises on all but one or 2 of the most popular lines. I make it a practice to tip over and above the recommended amounts because an extra $50 means a helluva lot more to my cabin attendant or wait staff than it does to me. But with all due respect, it wouldn't hurt if CC readers ( who don't access your features link) learned a bit more about the treatment of crew by the companies. If anything, it would get people to think twice before stiffing their servers.

[cruisePRN]

I'm also supportive of the crew how hard they work and they earn every penny of their tip and always tip the suggested amount. I'm not supportive of nosy people who want to know what everybody earns.

[Ships R Great]

This may be a bit off topic but you may want to know: the crew sees the comments that are made on the questionnaires. I was once on a B2B. On the second leg when I saw Anna (many know Anna) in Cova she thanked me for the nice comments I had made in the comment section about her. It seems they make copies and post them on a bulletin board or such like after each cruise.

[Host Andy]

This may be a bit off topic but you may want to know: the crew sees the comments that are made on the questionnaires. I was once on a B2B. On the second leg when I saw Anna (many know Anna) in Cova she thanked me for the nice comments I had made in the comment section about her. It seems they make copies and post them on a bulletin board or such like after each cruise.

Hi Ships !

There is no doubt that word gets back to the Crew. I have recieved "thank you" emails from past Crew. I have also heard that positive comments get them better assignments, some additional time off, and promotions. That is another reason why I always like to give credit, where credit is due.

On almost every Cruise, I add extra pages to my Questionnaire, and add many extra comments. I then staple it to the preprinted page and put the whole thing in the lockbox. That's how much thought I put into it.

I am sure there must be some poor person back at Celebrity/Azamara's corporate offices, that get my questionnaire on their desk, and says ... "Oh no.... not HIM again" :).

[Host Sheila]

Hey, Andy, your survey files must be as thick as mine :)...I do the same and, as I've reported on this board, after sailing on Journey in May, I wrote individual letters to several crew members who were especially nice to us - in addition to the comment card. Dominique specifically told me that he posted my letter on the staff bulletin board and how much of an impression it made. I always encourage people who say that 'the comment cards don't change anything' to complete the cards because they are a significant part of the performance assessments on every ship.

[Host Andy]

Hey, Andy, your survey files must be as thick as mine :)...I do the same and, as I've reported on this board, after sailing on Journey in May, I wrote individual letters to several crew members who were especially nice to us - in addition to the comment card. Dominique specifically told me that he posted my letter on the staff bulletin board and how much of an impression it made. I always encourage people who say that 'the comment cards don't change anything' to complete the cards because they are a significant part of the performance assessments on every ship.

Hi Sheila !

I totally agree with your comments. BTW, I hope that Dominique is still planning to join Quest in October. I am truly looking forward to seeing him again.