Wages / Employee Benefits of Waiters and Cabin Stewards

[staygulf]

Thom - I have already pre-paid tips for our upcoming Celebrity cruise because we chose Select Dining and have done the same when we did Open Dining on Royal Caribbean. I consider this situation no different than when the recommended guidelines are charged to our account during a cruise. Then if the service warrants it I will give more than the recommended guidelines. I have always been generous with my tips but base them on how well someone does their job, not perceived need.

 

Let me relate a personal situation to illustrate the point I was trying to make. I am now retired but owned a real estate appraisal business for many years. At that time I could have registered with the government as a female owned business to get work based on minority status but never did. That is because I felt I should get business because I do good work not because I was a female owner and I think most people feel the same way.

 

I'm afraid I don't follow this comparison. If you were entitled to register as a minority what has that got to do with service ? Your customers or clients, having agreed your remuneration for your appraisal (ie the oruise price including tips), did they reward you extra for good service ?

[Bridge Maven]

I'm afraid I don't follow this comparison. If you were entitled to register as a minority what has that got to do with service ? Your customers or clients, having agreed your remuneration for your appraisal (ie the oruise price including tips), did they reward you extra for good service ?

 

Staygulf, the point I was trying to make is that if I had registered as a female owned business with the government I would have had an opportunity to get business, based solely on that status, whether I earned it or not. The answer to your other question is twofold. I was able to charge more per appraisal than a lot of other appraisers because of the quality of my work and I got a lot of repeat business from the same clients for the same reason.

 

I gave this comparison to show that I think most crew would rather get good tips because they felt they earned it by providing good service than because passengers perceived them to be needy and gave them tips whether they deserved them or not.

[2SeaWithMe]

Staygulf, the point I was trying to make is that if I had registered as a female owned business with the government I would have had an opportunity to get business, based solely on that status, whether I earned it or not. The answer to your other question is twofold. I was able to charge more per appraisal than a lot of other appraisers because of the quality of my work and I got a lot of repeat business from the same clients for the same reason.

 

I gave this comparison to show that I think most crew would rather get good tips because they felt they earned it by providing good service than because passengers perceived them to be needy and gave them tips whether they deserved them or not.

 

 

While I agree with you on the tipping, registering as a minority owned business is more to do with taxable status and easily accessed loans or low-interest government loans than "getting business". Actually it has nothing to do with getting business.

 

It's actually smarter business to get all the tax breaks you can qualify for. I'm surprised a business accountant/lawyer would let you do that.

[Bridge Maven]

While I agree with you on the tipping, registering as a minority owned business is more to do with taxable status and easily accessed loans or low-interest government loans than "getting business". Actually it has nothing to do with getting business.

 

It's actually smarter business to get all the tax breaks you can qualify for. I'm surprised a business accountant/lawyer would let you do that.

 

 

2SeaWithMe - I can't speak for all businesses, but at that time the government was required to give a certain percentage of their appraisal assignments to companies that had registered as female owned businesses. In fact the New York Times frequently had ads from New York State about obtaining business that way. That is why it was a guaranteed way to get business that I chose not to use for reasons stated in my previous post. Since I never needed a business loan that wasn't an issue for me, but if I did I might have felt differently.

[2SeaWithMe]

Yes, when contracts are put out for bid, usually it's a boon if it's registered as a minority business owner.

 

It's more of a contractor based thing...building ships, land development, building, etc...but I'm absolutely not very familiar with your line of work, other than I know people whom own appraisal and home inspection businesses...and of course, we've had them done! LOL

 

I totally understand where you are coming from, and understand the sentiment. I guess I'm more of the mindset of keeping as much of the money I can that the taxes take. :)

[JEDIKNIGHT]

It's fine to have concern for wages and tips.

 

But like anything else...action is what matters.

 

If one is really concerned, write the cruise company, demand they raise fares, and pass money along to staff.

 

Or tip heavy when onboard.

 

Otherwise, one is no better than the cruise company who supposedly isn't paying enough.