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Tipping on ships based in Australia?


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I think any cruise line that wants to operate out of Australia and sell cruises to Australians should have it as part of the fare. We dont need to know what fraction of the fare the tips are and do not care.

 

The world would be a better place if they followed our lead and had a non tipping society. Australia is not the only country in the world not to practice tipping and many societies do not like it. I recently went on a cruise that went to Nagasaki and Osaka in Japan. I did shore excursions in both ports and when the English tried to tip the guide and driver the Japanese refused to take it and did not budge under any pressure applied. They even told them that they do not practice tipping in Japan.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Everyone,

 

I love my cruises and never agreed with tipping.....until I decided to take a gap year (at 35 years old) and work on a cruise ship. Now my perspective has completely changed. I was paid a base rate of $10us per day. I was in the casino, and the way our tipping worked, was that we only participated in the casino tip pool, but it was also shared amongst all ships in the fleet. I was lucky, we had shorter, party cruises and our ship was the third highest tipping in the fleet, so we got more than most, but did share it with the entire fleet of cainos. We worked hard for it, around 60-65 hours per week and we were not entitled to days off. We were lucky, our manager was a good bloke and gave us 1 day off every 3 weeks. I lasted 4 months out of a 7 month contract.

 

I had a good job, but some of the crew really did it tough. We're talking 14 hour days, no days off and sharing a room with 4 crew and 1 bathroom between 8 people. The workplace bullying is rife, I was abused everyday, I missed my family and it was so tough to come out smiling everyday, but I did. The conditions on the ships would never be allowed under Australian workplace laws.

 

Many staff come to Australia on their final contract. They expect not to earn much money here, but most of them would never be able to afford to come to Australia, so they take the contract.

 

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't tip. It's a conscience call and depends on your financial situation. I look at tipping on ships as a kind of 'charity donation', and feel good about doing it, even if it's not customary here. If it weren't for these people doing what they do, for the price they do it, our cruise fares would probably increase ten fold.

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Hi Everyone,

 

I love my cruises and never agreed with tipping.....until I decided to take a gap year (at 35 years old) and work on a cruise ship. Now my perspective has completely changed. I was paid a base rate of $10us per day. I was in the casino, and the way our tipping worked, was that we only participated in the casino tip pool, but it was also shared amongst all ships in the fleet. I was lucky, we had shorter, party cruises and our ship was the third highest tipping in the fleet, so we got more than most, but did share it with the entire fleet of cainos. We worked hard for it, around 60-65 hours per week and we were not entitled to days off. We were lucky, our manager was a good bloke and gave us 1 day off every 3 weeks. I lasted 4 months out of a 7 month contract.

 

I had a good job, but some of the crew really did it tough. We're talking 14 hour days, no days off and sharing a room with 4 crew and 1 bathroom between 8 people. The workplace bullying is rife, I was abused everyday, I missed my family and it was so tough to come out smiling everyday, but I did. The conditions on the ships would never be allowed under Australian workplace laws.

 

Many staff come to Australia on their final contract. They expect not to earn much money here, but most of them would never be able to afford to come to Australia, so they take the contract.

 

I'm not saying you should or shouldn't tip. It's a conscience call and depends on your financial situation. I look at tipping on ships as a kind of 'charity donation', and feel good about doing it, even if it's not customary here. If it weren't for these people doing what they do, for the price they do it, our cruise fares would probably increase ten fold.

Thanks for your insight as only an employee could do. I see you did it on carnival triumph, $10 a day might be good if you live in a third world country but coming from Oz it's unbelievable, even taking in your food and lodgings.you must have spent that much on your own bar bill , wow one drink a day after working all those hours. So I guess you wouldn't recommend it? Lol

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If it weren't for these people doing what they do, for the price they do it, our cruise fares would probably increase ten fold.

 

Very much agree - I don't believe it's a job I'd last long at either. Conditions are much harder than we are used to, even just in terms of hours.

 

One thing that surprised me was you said you worked every day, but many sailings the casino isn't open every day. Was your working arrangement just because of your specific sailings being shorter and the casino being able to be open every day, or were you doing other things when the casino was closed?

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Thank you for posting, I was not aware until recently that the casino staff were not part of the regular "tips/hotel charge" pool.

 

The policies/coverage are different by cruise line, but usually the daily per pax tip doesn't cover the optional tipped staff (e.g. bar, casino, spa) and doesn't include line staff e.g. reception, officers, maintenance, engineering. It's usually only for dining staff and room attendants.

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I was on the Carnival Triumph. Would I recommend it, yes definitely, but in your early 20's when you have no commitments, cares or responsibilities. Depending on the ship, it can be ok money. I was able to see exactly what the other ship dealers were making and was gobsmacked that some were making less than $100 per week (ie. Australian ships and world cruises).

 

We were treated with suspicion because who in their right mind from Australia would work for $10 a day. We were also promoted a lot faster than others which caused friction as we could fully understand. The English language can take you a long way on the ships.

 

Ha ha, crew drinks were very cheap, but I'm not much of a drinker and by the time we closed the casino, the crew bar was closed most of the time.

 

Here's a short video of our room. Mind you in the hierarchy of the ship we were in the middle, below the officers and above the crew. We had a stateroom steward and tipped him $20 a week to change our towels, sheets etc and make the bed. We also used to tip our own waiters in the mess. Any questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to have had the experience and certainly appreciate my life here in Australia a lot more.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDZ8rUGEMhI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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Big M, we were open everyday. Some countries allowed us to remain open whilst in port. We used to start work before the ship sailed, counting cards, chips etc and would close when the last people left and count the cards and chips once again. We did a charter with Kid Rock on board and didn't close until 7am most mornings. On sea days we started around 9am.

 

Each ship is different, as is the case line. Casino Managers get a commission, so it's in their best interest to keep tables open, it's not like he has to pay overtime!!! Not complaining, it's just is how it is.

 

I wish I could share with you all the stories of my colleagues and friends on board from war torn countries and poverty, but I don't want to guilt people into tipping. Do what feels right for you and what sits well with you.

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Big M, we were open everyday. Some countries allowed us to remain open whilst in port. We used to start work before the ship sailed, counting cards, chips etc and would close when the last people left and count the cards and chips once again. We did a charter with Kid Rock on board and didn't close until 7am most mornings. On sea days we started around 9am.

 

Each ship is different, as is the case line. Casino Managers get a commission, so it's in their best interest to keep tables open, it's not like he has to pay overtime!!! Not complaining, it's just is how it is.

 

I wish I could share with you all the stories of my colleagues and friends on board from war torn countries and poverty, but I don't want to guilt people into tipping. Do what feels right for you and what sits well with you.

 

Did you work for a contracted company like the dancers and they put you on board a ship, or did you work directly for the cruise line?

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I worked directly for Carnival. Carnival runs all of the casinos (for the ships in group of companies it owns), so if I was on HAL or Princess etc, I would be considered a concessionaire, if that makes sense.

 

The dancers have the best job of all!!! They had the same rooms as us, but they worked about 25 hours a week and were always at the crew bar. I wish I was that talented.:)

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I was on the Carnival Triumph. Would I recommend it, yes definitely, but in your early 20's when you have no commitments, cares or responsibilities. Depending on the ship, it can be ok money. I was able to see exactly what the other ship dealers were making and was gobsmacked that some were making less than $100 per week (ie. Australian ships and world cruises).

 

We were treated with suspicion because who in their right mind from Australia would work for $10 a day. We were also promoted a lot faster than others which caused friction as we could fully understand. The English language can take you a long way on the ships.

 

Ha ha, crew drinks were very cheap, but I'm not much of a drinker and by the time we closed the casino, the crew bar was closed most of the time.

 

Here's a short video of our room. Mind you in the hierarchy of the ship we were in the middle, below the officers and above the crew. We had a stateroom steward and tipped him $20 a week to change our towels, sheets etc and make the bed. We also used to tip our own waiters in the mess. Any questions, feel free to ask. I am happy to have had the experience and certainly appreciate my life here in Australia a lot more.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDZ8rUGEMhI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

can i be so bold as to ask what you were making per week?
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The lowest we got was $250 in tips up to $480 on a very good week. As I said we were the 3rd highest earning ship, so nothing to write home about. Happy to share with you all.
would that be is US $ and tax free and every thing suppllied except personals?

 

did you only get paid in tips or was it $250 in tips up to $480 plus your wage?

Edited by thied
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I worked directly for Carnival. Carnival runs all of the casinos (for the ships in group of companies it owns), so if I was on HAL or Princess etc, I would be considered a concessionaire, if that makes sense.

 

The dancers have the best job of all!!! They had the same rooms as us, but they worked about 25 hours a week and were always at the crew bar. I wish I was that talented.:)

 

One last question ,and thanks for your wonderful insight. Have you heard how the princess cruises policy of no tipping works as far as the crew go , on OZ ships???

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Dave, I can only share from a casino perspective really. The dealers get their income topped up from the other ships in the fleet. As far as other staff go, I believe the tips are included in the cruise fare. I haven't seen a big increase in fares, but I don't cruise from Australia all that much. As I said before, a lot of crew are just happy to be in Australia visiting our beautiful country, a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of them.

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Dave, I can only share from a casino perspective really. The dealers get their income topped up from the other ships in the fleet. As far as other staff go, I believe the tips are included in the cruise fare. I haven't seen a big increase in fares, but I don't cruise from Australia all that much. As I said before, a lot of crew are just happy to be in Australia visiting our beautiful country, a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of them.

 

LOL, Elisha, you never know who is on here!! :D I wouldn't give away too much information. :D It could end up anywhere.

Edited by Sandielle
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It opened straight away for me.

 

Agree with Sandy that it's been updated now.

 

I have read Elisha's posts and her posts some so much more credible than a few others on here ;):p

 

Indeed. Some posters seem to spend more time accusing others and causing trouble, rather than contributing with their own insights.

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Wow, conspiracy much? As I said in my original post, I took a gap year (long service leave) and worked on the ship.

 

I had set the you tube videos to private because as you can see, people delve a little too deeply into your personal life. I have now allowed the ship video to be public, but as Thied so nicely pointed out, yes I have another job as seen on my Millionaire Hotseat video which is private.

 

Thanks guys, I learnt a valuable lesson here, I shared far too much information.

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