Pre tipping

If you pre-tip your room steward, does he or she get to keep this tip or is it put in the tip pool?

CaroylynB,

I typically tip both the cabin steward and our waiter the first day of our trip. I tip them in cash and based on that, there is no record of it. I tip them in a private conversation. We will based on the remainer of the trip, use the suggested $amount and ease of use of tipping via our folio for an additional tip. this means that we tip more than the suggested $amount in total, but we, in 90% of times we have done this, received great service. Not, that we would not get good service anyway. I perceive that we got even better service and attention to our wants/needs/requests.

For us, this has worked our great. Both the steward and waiter seem to be more attentive as I let them know that this is not the full tip if we get excellant service during our cruise.

If you indicate that you want to tip using your folio the first day to the guest relations desk, I would assume that money would be shared as you indicated to the guest relations desk or on the form and lacking any specific direction from you, it would be shared based on the guidelines provide by the cruise line.

Pre tipping as the cruise line indicates is that it is based on their suggested amounts. At least that is how they portray it. You can tip above the suggested amount per person or a single person. I believe they get the pretipped amount usually by mid cruise. That is what my room steward told me last cruise. I usually pretip them, then give them additional cash near the end of the trip. I have never heard of them "pooling it"

We are taking our all-time 1st cruise this October on Caribbean Princess. I like to tip fairly, and it appears that doing it up front, in addition to the standard tipping, will be helpful. I have not seen any mention of a fair amount to be given to the steward on the first day. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Many will disagree with this - but I always tip the room steward $20 upon arrival. At that time I request robes and ice refills daily. Always get it with daily smiles and ice refilled twice daily. As far as wait staff - I wait until the end of the cruise to see what our service has been. This past cruise we had different wait staff every night - we did not tip over and above the auto tip because we felt the service was not too great. On the cruise before last we loved our waiter and assistant waiter and requested their service for every night on the cruise - for sure we tipped extra on the last evening.

hope this helps a little,

Kaye

Way back when......I cruised with my parents.....they always pre-tipped. And I still do it today, but mainly for the room steward. The amount depends on the length of the cruise. We are going on a 18-day cruise in Sept from Sea-Alaska-Russia-Korea-Japan. I'll probably give him $100 on the first day (cash, so it's not documented) and let him know that a good tip will be following if he takes care of use during the cruise.

For the restaurant wait staff, it depends on the dining arrangements. If on Cunard, and have assigned seating in one of the Grill Rooms for the entire cruise, then I will pre-tip. However, if I elect PC on Princess, I'll probably never have the same wait staff on any two nights, so no need there.

Having worked for tips in the past myself and knowing how hard the cruise people work, I always tip the suggested amount and then slip some people like our cabin steward, a favorite bartender or cocktail waiter/waitress, some extra cash too. Once my sister and I made a big mess in the room (it's funny now, but don't ask) so we each gave the steward an extra $20. Another time Tommy and I gave the steward an extra $20 for getting us some glasses and ice when we had a bunch of people in our cabin for a party. I've seen people give the really good Lido deck cocktail servers (Like Martin of the Holiday then Imagination--he's legendary) up to $50, too. I usually try to have one or two be my main server out there and slip them an extra $20 during the cruise, esp if they are good.

I understand that most of us cruisers are on a budget of some sort and we can't just throw around $1000 bills but, these people come a long way from home for these jobs so they must really need the $ to come all this way and then work 7 days a week 12 hours a day. A "day off" to them is actually a shift of 4-6 hours off. I try to give as much in tips as I can possibly afford. Its just the right thing to do. We really have a hugely high standard of living in the US and so if we can give a little more, it helps them a lot more than it hurts us.

We are going with the pre-paid tips (part of the cruise fare) for an upcoming cruise and we will of course bring cash for any extras we feel like giving. Oh, another thing we do is have an envelope full of $1 bills and tape it to the back of the door for room service, which we use just about everyday for coffe and snacks after our afternnoon naps to help us get ready for dinner and also we usually get at least coffee for breakfast delivered. I think you are supposed to tip $2 for room service. That is what we tip anyway. The envelope is great--theres no scrambling and its always right there.

It takes us a long time to save for these cruises but part of the cost is tips and skimping on them is just plain gross.

Prepayment makes it easier for us to give more when we get there.

Oh, another thing we do is have an envelope full of $1 bills and tape it to the back of the door for room service, which we use just about everyday for coffe and snacks after our afternnoon naps to help us get ready for dinner and also we usually get at least coffee for breakfast

:) Great Idea!

We pre pay as part of our fare. Once onboard tip roomservice and my DH tips the bartenders.

Now I know why we never received any service in our cabin and I had to make the bed, clean the bathroom, fetch water, ice and food every day - we didn't pre-tip. What on earth was I thinking (or not). I should have known that the cruise line suggested tip for cabin stewards, waiters, assistant maitre de and assistant head housekeeper would not be adequate compensation for their employees. But since this was probably all worked out in union arbitration meetings it makes me wonder what amount should I determine they earn without actually knowing salary, benefit, retirement and other pertinent information.

I suppose this means that if I continue tipping for room service as received, the suggested amount at the end of cruise, plus extra for superior service from individuals, I will still have to do these chores since I will not pre-tip.

That said, I will hold no ill feelings towards people who do pre-tip........wait......what am I thinking ?.... (not).......I mean as long as you don't have the same cabin stewards or waiters that are serving? me.

If anyone has any pre-tips for me, please send in U.S. currency to P.O. box PT at city in my heading. Any other useful information please post on this thread as I don't always read my snail mail regularly.

My philosophy is that every working person deserves to be justly compensated for doing an honest days work. That said, the problem is, who should be deciding what is just.

Please feel free to disregard any or all of the above statements. We may cruise together someday and I really do not want anyone to be offended by my post on this thread.

Now I know why we never received any service in our cabin and I had to make the bed, clean the bathroom, fetch water, ice and food every day - we didn't pre-tip..

What cruiseline was that you were on?

I have never heard of such a thing as making your own bed etc.... !

What cruiseline was that you were on?

 

I have never heard of such a thing as making your own bed etc.... !

Actually, of course, I did not do any of those things. It was meant to be a joke.

The point being that I did not pre-tip, meaning tip some amount at beginning of cruise, to influence the person before receiving service and then giving the expected tip at end of cruise, yet received excellent service from ship's staff.

The service I received on Celebrity Summit was excellent on all my cruises as was service on Celebrity Constellation.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. If we sail together someday, I will buy you a drink.

By the way, I love travelling in Canada. Have done the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver after visiting Niagara Falls; the Ocean train from Montreal to Halifax; and Sydney, Quebec City, Saguenay River Fjord and Halifax on my 9/04 cruise.

Actually, of course, I did not do any of those things. It was meant to be a joke.

 

 

By the way, I love travelling in Canada. Have done the Canadian train from Toronto to Vancouver after visiting Niagara Falls; the Ocean train from Montreal to Halifax; and Sydney, Quebec City, Saguenay River Fjord and Halifax on my 9/04 cruise.

Ok on the tipping!

I never pre-tip either.

Sounds like a good trip. I would like to do the Eastern trip on the train.

As I have mention earlier, I do pre-tip. I like John's email though!! I pre-tip for a couple of reasons. One, if I am going to provide the customary tip at the end, then I reason that I will do it at the beginning. Then the reality is that if they do a great job, then I will additionally tip at the end.

Secondly, I have always found that pre-tipping has given us better service. I have on two cruises early in my cruising career, not pre-tipped, and did get good service. NOT great service. I think that is the difference. Can you pre-tip and not get great service? I am sure that can happen and at some point will happen to us.

Finally, I think pre-tipping creates a relationship, at least we seem to have a better one with our cabin steward and waiter. In fact, I have found our waiters in particular seemingly "look out" for us and be more proactive and anticipate our needs and wants.

I hope everyone on your next cruise have a great time whether you pre-tip or not.

:confused:How would one go about tipping the dining steward on the first day without the rest of the table feeling awkward if they don't pretip? I love to sail with HAL, but the service hasn't been as good since they went to the autotipping system. I think the staff just assumes they'll get paid whether they deliver great service or not. If pre-tipping will improve my service, I'm ready to ante-up.

What do you think?

:confused:How would one go about tipping the dining steward on the first day without the rest of the table feeling awkward if they don't pretip? I love to sail with HAL, but the service hasn't been as good since they went to the autotipping system. I think the staff just assumes they'll get paid whether they deliver great service or not. If pre-tipping will improve my service, I'm ready to ante-up.

 

What do you think?

What? Think? See posts above. This tipping thing seems to be taking the fun out of cruising. Might I suggest, if service is not what you expect for amount you are auto tipping, go to customer service and have auto tip reduced to an amount you are comfortable paying. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for the staff that assumes (makes ass of u & me) they'll get paid whether they deliver great service or not.

If you want to pre-tip anyway and don't want your tablemates to know, just put it in an envelope and be last to leave the table and hand it to your waiter. I guarantee he will accept it.

When your tablemates see the great service you are getting, and they are not, they may become suspicious and think, as I did, what were we thinking when we failed to pre-tip our waiter?

Then, they also will be faced with the dilemma of how to slip a few bucks to your waiter as a pre-tip, even if it is a day late and a dollar short.

Hey, I was thinking (not, again) if maybe we could get some pre-service from staff this pre-tipping might not be a bad idea after all.

Feel free (or not) to take any or all of this advice. I accept no responsibility whatever for the actions (or inactions) of your tablemates when their (your) waiter ignores them before they think to pre-tip.

That said, have an outstanding cruise regardless of the financial stresses imposed by this tipping situation.

As I have mention earlier, I do pre-tip. I like John's email though!! I pre-tip for a couple of reasons. One, if I am going to provide the customary tip at the end, then I reason that I will do it at the beginning. Then the reality is that if they do a great job, then I will additionally tip at the end.

 

Secondly, I have always found that pre-tipping has given us better service. I have on two cruises early in my cruising career, not pre-tipped, and did get good service. NOT great service. I think that is the difference. Can you pre-tip and not get great service? I am sure that can happen and at some point will happen to us.

 

Finally, I think pre-tipping creates a relationship, at least we seem to have a better one with our cabin steward and waiter. In fact, I have found our waiters in particular seemingly "look out" for us and be more proactive and anticipate our needs and wants.

 

I hope everyone on your next cruise have a great time whether you pre-tip or not.

This sums up my feelings on pre-tipping too. I have never pre-tipped and have always gotten good service. We're going for a 10-day in October and I plan on pre-tipping on that cruise. We'll see.

awm

One question for those that pre tip...do you also tip at the end of the cruise?

Sorry 2 questions

If there are automatic tips do you have them taken off or reduced if you have pre-tipped?

Just curious!:)

I've never pretipped before, but I did find out from my room steward on my last Princess cruise that the automatic tips are divided among several different people including laundry staff. We tipped him an additional cash amount. We also had awful dining room service on this same cruise and since we had tried to address the situation with our headwaiter several times we actually cancelled our dining room tips because of poor service. Now that I've read all these posts maybe the waiters were ignoring us because we didn't pretip. :)

:DOkay, I've got a new strategy for the pre-tipping. I'll hand out twenties torn in half. Half the first day, the matching half the the last day if service is good.

(Now, I'm just kidding really)

I'm not 100% sure about this, but I have read in other posts that tips given to a staff member are for that person alone and not pooled or distributed.

:DOkay, I've got a new strategy for the pre-tipping. I'll hand out twenties torn in half. Half the first day, the matching half the the last day if service is good.

 

(Now, I'm just kidding really)

That's a great strategy if you want your room service half delivered, your room half cleaned and bed half made. Also your meals half served in dining room.

But, hey, if you don't like the service, ask them for their half back at end of cruise.

Let us know how this works. Also, just kidding.

For a recent four day cruise, we tried pre-tipping. In addition, at the end of the cruise, we did the suggested automatic (voucher) tip plus an addiitonal cash amounts for outstanding service.

In your stateroom you will find RCI stationery and envelopes. In (3) envelopes we put our pre-tip with a brief handwritten note to let the staff member know how much we appreciate them and how we look forward to the coming cruise.

We pre-tipped our room steward $15, and we were amazed at the steward's high visibility and service throughout the cruise. This included extra towels, extra ice, removal of the "for-sale" stuff from our room to allow extra room, immediate attention from the maintenance dept., etc., etc.

We prepared the described pre-tip envelopes for our waiter and assistant waiter, but we waited until the end of the first meal to be certain that we liked our table, our table mates and the first night's service. Then at the end of the meal, we discretely gave the envelope to our waiter and assistant as we were preparing to leave the dining room. We were always addressed by our names. We were doted over. We never had to beg for additional appetizers, double meat entrees, extra desserts to "sample", etc. Maybe it was our imagination, but I think the pre-tip was worth every penny of the $15 for the waiter and $10 for the assistant waiter that we "invested."

For the seven day cruise we have coming in September, we plan to pre-tip the steward and waiter $20 each, and the assistant $15. We shall see what happens.

Lightsluvr

Just back from the carnival Pride. Did not pretip but gave out tips at end of cruise. You might try and go to the bank and get $2.00 bills for tipping they are a neat way to tip with and they do remeber you.

I still wonder exactly what people think they are getting by bribing the staff when they check in.

It does strike me as the height of crassness.

Extra towels - How many do you need to dry yourself?

Extra Ice - Don't normally use the ice in the first place, god knows what I would do with extra ice.

I think I'll stick with my method, if you clean the room, serve the food, you get the tip.

If I don't get the basic service you get nothing, simple.

Cheers,

Peter