Is pre-tipping your cabin steward a good idea?

Don't worry about the judgemental posters on this forum, there are too many of them for that.;)

I take Alfred E. Newmann to higher levels.

They look after 19 cabins a couple of dollars wont kill you

First day on board I just stuff $100 bills into everyone's hand.

 

The captain even steers better that way.

I am guessing that you do it with such great skill that no one even sees you doing it! ;)

I'm still not sure why there is a debate here. If folks want to tip, what is the big deal?

And bribe? Big deal. I want better service, I'm willing to bribe a service person to go the extra step. I pay more for a balcony. And even more for a suite. Even more for a selection of food at a specialty restaurant. Bribe, OK. Call it what you want, I'm willing to give my money to get better a better product.

As for the choices service personnel make while providing me their service being immoral, that's just ridiculous ploy to sway naive readers toward your opinion. Tips are not immoral.

Burt

I don't think the debate here is whether or not to tip, but whether to do it prior to services being rendered. We do not. We have always had excellent service from our cabin stewards and have offered an additional cash gratuity at the end of the cruise. We have never received anything less than stellar service without the need to "pre-tip" or "grease any palms". If some others choose to do so that is for them to decide. The way I was raised it was considered tacky.

The way I was raised it was considered tacky.

I am incredibly "tacky" as well as "immoral".

I don't tip for potential - I tip for performance. Even though we prepay our gratuities (hey, that's tipping up front isn't it?) I always add a cash bonus to our farewell hand shakes for our new friend our cabin steward plus the staff that attended to our every need that we dealt with on a repetitive daily basis. Those earned [extra] tips are appreciated by the staff who have become friends and as an added bonus - they make us feel good.

I am incredibly "tacky" as well as "immoral".

You sound like my kind of girl *LOL*

Seriously. I could see if you have some very special requests or needs and know you are asking a bit more of a steward than the norm, asking politely the first day, and slipping him/her a little something is a nice gesture.

Throwing cash around like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack is a different story :)

We tip a couple of days in if they are doing ok. I assure you it does make a difference. Tip at the end too, OK. It's a bribe, so what.:p

In 90 cruises I've never seen any difference whatsoever in service if I pre-tipped or tipped half way through---don't pre tip anymore. Actually, we did pre-tip on Cunard hoping for more attentive service for our elderly mom, but the service we got from the butler was downright awful. From my experience, if you're going to have a bad crew member, he/she is going to be bad whether you pre tip or not.

And BTW, we tip VERY generously at the END of the cruise, above and beyond the regular daily rate.

You sound like my kind of girl *LOL*

 

 

Seriously. I could see if you have some very special requests or needs and know you are asking a bit more of a steward than the norm, asking politely the first day, and slipping him/her a little something is a nice gesture.

 

 

Throwing cash around like Rodney Dangerfield in Caddy Shack is a different story :)

I trust you mean like this?

Ignore all the posts that try to associate gratuities as either a bribe or other negative action. They are trying to discourage you in fear that not only you will get something they don't or that they will be forced to spend more cash. "Georges" as great tippers are known in the service industry, recognize that the cabin stewards have already been at work preparing for their arrival. That initial gratuitiy is usually proffered in recognition of that advance effort and is accompanied by service requests. It also indicates the guest will be making requests and that the expectations that those requests will be completed and in return, the steward will be amply compensated.

Funny post, thanks for the laugh.

OP, there is no need to tip at the beginning but if you feel you should, go for it.

I did that on our last Carnival cruise. I gave our steward $20 and told him I was going to empty the fridge of the mini bar stuff so we could use the fridge and not get charged for using the mini bar stuff. I also asked for an ice bucket.

The bucket was always full and our cabin was spotless. I also tipped him on the last morning before we disembarked.

Funny post, thanks for the laugh.

 

 

OP, there is no need to tip at the beginning but if you feel you should, go for it.

Ah, a condescending backhand. Not going to make any friends, but well performed.

However, since your reply isn't cordial, your opinion on the subject is obvious; thus your note to the OP was unnecessary.

Burt

I trust you mean like this?

Exactly :) A classic..... God Love Him

Worked for a guy many many years ago. He made a lot of money in the service industry and knew he got where he was hustling for a buck here 5 bucks there . Always treated his workers like gold. When he went out or traveled he took care of everyone, (Not as over the top as Rodney) and everyone took care of him.

Ah, a condescending backhand. Not going to make any friends, but well performed.

 

However, since your reply isn't cordial, your opinion on the subject is obvious; thus your note to the OP was unnecessary.

 

Burt

Well thanks for that Burt.

We have never tipped our cabin attendant at the beginning of a cruise, however with our consecutive cruises we always tip the night before the cruise is ending, even though we stay on, and of course we tip our last night also. We have never had a bad cabin attendant.

On our last cruise, we had a roll call, and agreed to meet up at the pool bar at 3:00 PM boarding day.

 

I got to the pool bar about 2:00, introduced myself to the bartender, told him I arranged to bring about a dozen people to his bar at 3:00, ordered a beer, and wrote him a $10 tip.

 

Next day, go back, order a bloody mary, hand him my sea pass, he hands it back, no charge. Later in the day, I bring my oh so handy cooler, order three beer and ice, he charges me for one beer. Again, write in nice tip.

 

This happened the entire cruise.

 

So, those of you that don't tip, don't. I do. It seems to really really work for me.

This starts out as tipping and ends up as theft. I'm guessing that you don't think the bartender is paying the cruise line for the drinks that he is giving to you for free. If you don't think that, then you realize they are being stolen from the cruise line and you are accepting stolen property. This is way beyond the theory of tipping early for better service.

If my post gets deleted for this, so be it.

This starts out as tipping and ends up as theft. I'm guessing that you don't think the bartender is paying the cruise line for the drinks that he is giving to you for free. If you don't think that, then you realize they are being stolen from the cruise line and you are accepting stolen property. This is way beyond the theory of tipping early for better service.

 

If my post gets deleted for this, so be it.

Tacky, immoral, and now a thief.

OK.

Therefore, the time I did not tip the bartender and he had a bad day, and killed his roommate, I am also an accessory to murder.

And why would your post be deleted? Oh, yeah, this is Cruise Critic.

Tacky, immoral, and now a thief.

 

OK.

 

Therefore, the time I did not tip the bartender and he had a bad day, and killed his roommate, I am also an accessory to murder.

 

And why would your post be deleted? Oh, yeah, this is Cruise Critic.

Apparently none of the people on here have ever received free drinks before. That explains a lot of the posts. ;)

I did that on our last Carnival cruise. I gave our steward $20 and told him I was going to empty the fridge of the mini bar stuff so we could use the fridge and not get charged for using the mini bar stuff. I also asked for an ice bucket.

 

The bucket was always full and our cabin was spotless. I also tipped him on the last morning before we disembarked.

We receive all of this and more without needing to provide anything up front. Pretty sure there is no correlation between you getting your mini bar emptied, receiving ice and a clean cabin and giving money out prior to services being rendered. Those are pretty basic parts of their job after all. I say this only so others do not think that pre-tipping is necessary in order to receive the most basic service.

We have always offered an additional cash gratuity at the end of the cruise on top of the gratuities charged by the cruise line.

Apparently none of the people on here have ever received free drinks before. That explains a lot of the posts. ;)

I am sure when a bartender slides them a drink and says "this one's on me" they refuse to accept it and tell the bartender he/she is a thief.

I did that on our last Carnival cruise. I gave our steward $20 and told him I was going to empty the fridge of the mini bar stuff so we could use the fridge and not get charged for using the mini bar stuff. I also asked for an ice bucket.

 

The bucket was always full and our cabin was spotless. I also tipped him on the last morning before we disembarked.

I also request daily ice to keep my wine chilled and an empty refrig. I also ask for a wine bottle opener and clean wine glasses every day. They always do it. I never pretip. I guess that you wasted your $20.

DON

If I want extras or anything special, I give them a little something when I'm asking for it. Otherwise I wait until the end and tip based on service received.

Sounds like the midline consensus is give an extra tip when you know you'll be asking for things way above and beyond the normal, but also to recognize the extra hard work afterwards as well. I'm a bit on the needy side, but since I can recognize it I think it's only fair to compensate the person (bartender, steward, valet) who doesn't complain about me or ignore my requests and graciously takes care of my needs.

I think maybe a pre-tip of $20 is a little out there, but I think tipping as the trip goes would be a nice middle ground.

And I don't think getting a "free drink" is stealing on the part of the bartender. It's all about making the customer feel special and unique, and they will undoubtedly end up spending way more than the cost of that drink in other areas of the ship. Also, along that logic I guess you could also say those people who sneak alcohol onboard are denying money to the company as well!

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Ignore all the posts that try to associate gratuities as either a bribe or other negative action. They are trying to discourage you in fear that not only you will get something they don't or that they will be forced to spend more cash. "Georges" as great tippers are known in the service industry, recognize that the cabin stewards have already been at work preparing for their arrival. That initial gratuitiy is usually proffered in recognition of that advance effort and is accompanied by service requests. It also indicates the guest will be making requests and that the expectations that those requests will be completed and in return, the steward will be amply compensated.

I agree with you for the most part. we always tip our steward on the 1st day we meet as recognition of the cabin set up & to show we can appreciate the hard work we know it will entail. Everyone likes to be appreciated & we feel it does help them do their jobs. We are not people that have a lot of special requests so we are not bribing them. We do also leave an additional tip on our way off the ship as we know the paid gratuities divided up does not amount to much.