Help with Gratuities

sorry if this has been asked before... I tried searching before posting.

On carnival’s website, it says “For our guest's convenience, we automatically add the recommended gratuities to the guest's Sail & Sign account toward the end of the cruise.” (Or I know you can prepay as well).

Does this mean you don’t leave cash tips? I am very used to tipping after meals by leaving the money on the table... but I am wondering with the sail & sail card... maybe people don’t leave or give cash tips? Any advice or feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,

Very controversial topic. It comes up very frequently.

You will get all variety of answers from people who never tip extra, always tip extra, or even those who ask to have the automatic gratuities removed to save money.

We always tip extra to our room steward and bartenders that we like. We have tipped our dining room wait staff in the past if we dined with them more than once and found them to be exceptional.

Very controversial topic. It comes up very frequently.

 

You will get all variety of answers from people who never tip extra, always tip extra, or even those who ask to have the automatic gratuities removed to save money.

 

We always tip extra to our room steward and bartenders that we like. We have tipped our dining room wait staff in the past if we dined with them more than once and found them to be exceptional.

Thank you for your reply. So you CAN tip additional in cash.

But if you don't, it is automatically added at end of the cruise, correct?

Thank you for your reply. So you CAN tip additional in cash.

But if you don't, it is automatically added at end of the cruise, correct?

Yes and no.

Gratuities are added to your Sail and Sign account on either the 1st or 2nd day to cover the entire cruise.

You don’t have to leave any cash at all at any time.

If you feel that the room steward or your waiters in the Main Dining Room exceeded your expectations, then you may give them additional cash.

18% is also automatically added to any beverages you may order.

Thank you for your reply. So you CAN tip additional in cash.

But if you don't, it is automatically added at end of the cruise, correct?

There is an automatic baseline gratuity added to your account. This is added whether you choose to tip extra or not.

You can of course tip extra if you choose.

On the other hand if you find that the service was poor you can request guest services to reduce your baseline gratuity.

Yes and no.

 

Gratuities are added to your Sail and Sign account on either the 1st or 2nd day to cover the entire cruise.

You don’t have to leave any cash at all at any time.

 

If you feel that the room steward or your waiters in the Main Dining Room exceeded your expectations, then you may give them additional cash.

 

18% is also automatically added to any beverages you may order.

15% on beverages. Unless you’re on cheers then you pay 15% on the package cost upfront and they don’t add anything to the individual drinks.

No cash tips required, the gratuity they bill to your account covers the recommended amount.

Does this mean you don’t leave cash tips? I am very used to tipping after meals by leaving the money on the table... but I am wondering with the sail & sail card... maybe people don’t leave or give cash tips?

People don't leave cash tips on the table for each meal, in lieu of tipping up front or on Sail and Sign. It just is not feasible. You can't really give a cash tip to the folks behind the buffet or at the burger joint.

It is SO much easier to just tip all at once, I don't know why people would consider the harder route!

So, how all this started is that years ago the standard dining arrangement on cruise ships was traditional dining. So you had the same wait staff and room stewards each week. People never really left money at each meal as they went, they were just given envelopes at the end of the week to put tips in and give to people. Many people did not tip according to the suggested guidelines.

Then, your time dining came out where this was no longer feasible since you had different wait staff throughout the cruise. So they came up with this auto gratuity system where a set amount of tips were charged to your account daily and that money was given to the people who served you. Under the argument that it’s more convenient for guests and also covers behind the scenes workers, they apply it to everyone now, not just your time dining.

So the auto tips and you giving cash tips are entirely unrelated things. They will charge the auto gratuities unless you go to guest services and tell them to take them off. Some people do this and then don’t tip. Some people do this and then tip in cash. But tipping in cash won’t stop the auto gratuities from being assessed. Also, some people leave the auto gratuities on and tip extra in cash.

Personally, for me, it is more convenient to prepay the auto gratuities and forget it. The ship is cashless, outside of tipping, and its easier not to worry about carrying cash with me.

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Personally, for me, it is more convenient to prepay the auto gratuities and forget it. The ship is cashless, outside of tipping, and its easier not to worry about carrying cash with me.

 

This is the same for me. I don't deal with cash and I never carry any with me. I think right now in my wallet I MIGHT have $2? I hate having to take cash on a cruise for our excursions and porter tips, but it is what it is. The less cash I have to take, the better.

If I remember correctly, Don't you have to set-up "auto-gratuities" when you first book? We are booked on Dream in Dec. and I thought we had to set it up right away? I could be off, because my wife takes care of most of the booking, but I know all of our recent cruises were pre-paid tips. As stated above, the good old days of filling envelopes are gone.

If I remember correctly, Don't you have to set-up "auto-gratuities" when you first book? We are booked on Dream in Dec. and I thought we had to set it up right away? I could be off, because my wife takes care of most of the booking, but I know all of our recent cruises were pre-paid tips. As stated above, the good old days of filling envelopes are gone.

No, you do not have to do this. This isn't required.

If I remember correctly, Don't you have to set-up "auto-gratuities" when you first book? We are booked on Dream in Dec. and I thought we had to set it up right away? I could be off, because my wife takes care of most of the booking, but I know all of our recent cruises were pre-paid tips. As stated above, the good old days of filling envelopes are gone.

No. The auto-gratuities are just that, automatic. They will be charged to your S&S card unless you go to Guest Services to "opt out," which creates a reversal on your S&S account. What you are talking about setting up before sailing are prepaid gratuities, which are exactly the same as the auto-gratuities, just paid prior to cruising instead of being charged to your S&S account.

If I remember correctly, Don't you have to set-up "auto-gratuities" when you first book? We are booked on Dream in Dec. and I thought we had to set it up right away? I could be off, because my wife takes care of most of the booking, but I know all of our recent cruises were pre-paid tips. As stated above, the good old days of filling envelopes are gone.

Prepaying grats when you book is an option. You don’t have to though. You have to setup an account as part of the check-in process and they will add the grats to it later in the cruise if you haven’t prepaid. The only way around it is to go to guest services and remove them.

Does this mean you don’t leave cash tips? ,

Correct .... you don't need to leave any cash tips anywhere.

Sometimes folks feel they've gotten service above and beyond from their cabin steward or dining room staff and choose to tip some extra cash at the start or end of the cruise - but it's not required.

Room Service is not included and you might want to tip them. We tip $1 per person for coffee and juice and $2 per person for full meal service.

A 15% tip is included in all drinks you order so you don't need to tip those servers extra either. There are some who feel tipping a buck or so extra gets them better service but again it's not a necessity.

Thank you for your reply. So you CAN tip additional in cash.

But if you don't, it is automatically added at end of the cruise, correct?

Yes....For a 7 day cruise, Grats come to about $90 per person (I think its $12.95 per person per day)....You want to tip more, go for it

I just leave it to the prepaid grats and put it to the back of my mind. There is typically 5 people in my cabin (small children) so our room steward is getting 100+. If I were at a destination vacay I would only tip half that. With turn down service being changed to just once per day I feel that is plenty.

As for dining I typically base it off the price of my meal. Unfortunately cruising meals are included so there is no way to calculate that for me. So meh, I probably would tip more if it was at my digression and I received good service. But I cant calculate anything sooo....

So no I don't leave cash tips.

Thanks everyone for all your feedback - it really is appreciated. I enjoyed reading all the comments.

You certainly don't need to leave cash on the table! Cruises are "cashless"...everything, including your tips goes on your account. The only "cash tips" you might need would be for room service delivery, if you use that.

Thank you for your reply. So you CAN tip additional in cash.

 

But if you don't, it is automatically added at end of the cruise, correct?

It is automatically added even if you do tip extra in cash. I pay my gratuities ahead, and leave cash for room steward and bartenders. As a matter of fact, I paid for my last cruise in full at booking and included gratuities and insurance at that time. Now, going forward, I am paid in full and can concentrate on excursions, etc.

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We pay the pre-paid tips. It's just easy and convenient and I don't have to think about it (I remember our very first cruise and all those envelopes we had to pass out and then you worry you forgot someone!!). We usually spot the cabin steward and extra $20 when we get on the ship to make sure that they keep our room spotless, bring us extra whatever and generally remember us (it's nice to get that cheery welcome). We don't drink so we don't worry about the bars. We may give our table waiter and extra few $$ at the end if he/she was good. Usually if we get a waiter we like, even if we are on Anytime Dining (or whatever CCL calls it). We will usually ask for the same waiter if possible.

Don't forget though to tip your excursion guide or porters. Those aren't included.

To the original poster, butterflysweeti_cdn:

 

You see... a very controversial topic!

 

;):'):cool:;p

yes, and I do really appreciate everyone's opinions and points of view. I do agree tipping is a way to Thank the person for the Extra service provided, and shouldn't be mandatory; but I also agree that there are so many people that work hard behind the scenes that should share in the gratuities too, and likely wouldn't get the chance too if it weren't for the automatic gratuities.

I have only cruised once before, many year ago, and I was "surprised" to see the gratuities charged automatically, but I see the benefit of it as well. I just wanted to be educated so there wasn't any "surprises" on my bill at the end of the vacation.

Once again, thanks everyone!!!

sorry if this has been asked before... I tried searching before posting.

On carnival’s website, it says “For our guest's convenience, we automatically add the recommended gratuities to the guest's Sail & Sign account toward the end of the cruise.” (Or I know you can prepay as well).

Does this mean you don’t leave cash tips? I am very used to tipping after meals by leaving the money on the table... but I am wondering with the sail & sail card... maybe people don’t leave or give cash tips? Any advice or feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,

You can leave as much as you want or none at all.

you don't need to leave cash, tips are automatically added to your account. I have only left extra tips in cash one time, and that was because I took my 2 year old son on the cruise and he was messy. I was happy to not have to clean up after him! But I feel that the auto tips are enough and I have never received any special over and above service.