Celebrity Gratuities

[Miss UK]

Hi, just a question..

 

Celebrity automatically adds gratuities for your restaurant and cabin services to your onboard Seapass account on a daily basis at $11.50 per person, per day, if you're in a standard cabin; would it be acceptable to ask them not to do this when you check-in and say at the end of your cruise you will give tips in envelopes to the staff who you think deserve it?

 

Thank you.

[Big Kev]

Hi, just a question..

 

Celebrity automatically adds gratuities for your restaurant and cabin services to your onboard Seapass account on a daily basis at $11.50 per person, per day, if you're in a standard cabin; would it be acceptable to ask them not to do this when you check-in and say at the end of your cruise you will give tips in envelopes to the staff who you think deserve it?

 

Thank you.

 

 

No, not really, when you understand the system.

 

I see that you probably book in UK .. As per in some other countries (including mine), where International ships sail, the lines automatically add this charge.. (Its really the major part of service staff wages)... Either its tips/service fees/service charges /Daily DSC or call it something else, whatever you want...

 

UK based ships will generally have it built in the fare, so there is no issue. However, if the ship is sailing the world, things are different..

 

If you have a service issue with any service, (or particularly those that work for "tips"), go to the desk and they will guarantee to correct the problem.. No need to try reducing the crew member pay by yourself... The cruiseline will take action for you.. If they dont, thats when you should jump up and down!!!!

 

Hope this helps..

 

Phil

 

.

[excitedofharpenden]

No, not really, when you understand the system.

 

I see that you probably book in UK .. As per in some other countries (including mine), where International ships sail, the lines automatically add this charge.. (Its really the major part of service staff wages)... Either its tips/service fees/service charges /Daily DSC or call it something else, whatever you want...

 

UK based ships will generally have it built in the fare, so there is no issue. However, if the ship is sailing the world, things are different..

 

If you have a service issue with any service, (or particularly those that work for "tips"), go to the desk and they will guarantee to correct the problem.. No need to try reducing the crew member pay by yourself... The cruiseline will take action for you.. If they dont, thats when you should jump up and down!!!!

 

Hope this helps..

 

Phil

 

I think that is a perfect answer.

 

Phil

[cruisestitch]

Here's part of the problem with your plan, the statement:

 

"you will give tips in envelopes to the staff who you think deserve it"

 

The service/gratuity/tips covers not just those who serve you at dinner and in your stateroom, but those you see at breakfast in the MDR or buffet, at lunch at the pool grill or Aqua Spa Cafe or MDR, the ice cream guy, the one who hands out pastries at the Cafe, and so on and so on. From a logistics point of view, how would you ever even find them? It's not just three or four people.

[jenpet]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

[cruisestitch]

You can sail on lines which include the gratuities in the price of the cruise.

 

If you choose to sail on those which do it differently, you need to understand that the gratuity is considered part of the crew salary. If you ask to have it removed, there will be an assumption that the crew has done something wrong. They will become ineligible for bonuses and extra time off if you remove the auto tips. It may not be fair, but that's the way the system works, and you know going into it and can budget accordingly.

[dkjretired]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

It is not "far too much" for the amount of work they do, probably should be more. Very few cruise lines add it to the price of the cruise.

 

Also, big kev gave an excellent description, the only item which should be pointed out is that if you choose Celebrity "Select" dining the gratuities must be pre paid and cannot be removed...

[4774Papa]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

jenpet, one could argue that effectively that is what some of the cruise lines have done by auto charging services. Many US restaurants autocharge the tips (service fee), especially if you have a large group.

 

Frankly, I just consider it part of the cost, and prefer it to having to go through the envelopes at the end of the cruise. I do tip a little extra sometimes for the cabin stewards if they are super.

 

Another thing, living in Germany for four years, the tip is generally included in the price of food, and the tip is generally just the leftover change. One gets used to the different customs.

[macro duck]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

There is a big disparity between say P and O and Celebrity. P and O recommend £3.10 pp per day whereas Celebrity charge $11.50. which is more than double. I think we'll opt for somewhere between the two and add tips for good service as we see fit.

[jimzgoldfinch]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

If you had done some home work, you should be aware of the tipping policy and how much is expected. The cruise staff rely on their tips to make up their wage.

 

The attitude to tipping by some cruisers is one of the reasons that Celebrity are no longer showing the 15% gratuity separately on the Eclipse out of Southampton.

 

However, I agree that all service charges should be included in the price of the cruise and I think this will happen more often on cruises out of the UK in the future.

 

Jim

[scotslizzy]

I cannot abide the attitiude of mostly UK customers getting all upset about the gratuities . We all are tarred with the same penny pinching brush and I think that if you decide to sail on an American cruise line you should abide by the rules and pay up or stay with P&O .

 

When you consider how hard the staff work and that they are away from home for months on end I think they deserve every penny /dollar they get . I usually end up giving more at the end of the cruise as well as paying the automatice gratuity.

 

Scotslizzy

[kelmac]

There is a big disparity between say P and O and Celebrity. P and O recommend £3.10 pp per day whereas Celebrity charge $11.50. which is more than double. I think we'll opt for somewhere between the two and add tips for good service as we see fit.

 

macro duck, you silly goose!:)

 

P & O pays it's service workers a salary and adds in the tips. Celebrity only pays $50 per month base amount and All their salary is from Tips. This keeps the cash flow steady for the workers, even though cruise prices ebb and flow.

The service I've received on all of my 39 cruises, is way better than anything I've experienced on land. We pay the standard service fee (tips) and give out additional cash to those who really make our holiday special.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[cafediem]

There is an argument for those companies selling services to the UK market, from a UK presence, to include gratuities in the price - and perhaps to call it something different. It's a difference of how things are done - in the UK we are used to paying people a wage, then paying tips on top of that, for good service, without expecting those tips to form part of someone's wage for doing the job. If I get great customer service at a restaurant in the US I will hand over 20%, maybe 25%. If I did that in the UK I suspect waiting staff would think I had won the lottery.

 

Calling these fees/ service charges them gratuities makes people here think they should be optional, whereas as many posters have said, in truth the service staff rely on this money to form a major part of their wages. I don't think it's necessarily penny-pinching, more a misunderstanding on the part of some of us in the UK.

 

Personally I consider gratuities as an integral part of the price for the cruise and add them in when I compare prices. I booked by phone direct with Celebrity and they quoted me a price including gratuities (very sensible of them). If all cruise lines did this in countries without a strong 'tipping culture' life would be more straightforward.

 

I am always happy to pay the gratuities, and then give extra to those who have offered particularly good service.

[babs135]

Perhaps one way round this 'problem' is for the cruise lines to pay their staff a proper wage that doesn't need 'topping-up' by the passengers; or is that too simplistic?! Whilst it would almost certainly raise the price of the cruise we would at least then have the option of tipping those members of the crew who we wanted to.

[cruisestitch]

Sadly, it would raise the price of the cruise, and whichever line chose to do it would suffer in comparison to those lines which don't. We have all seen the advertisements "Insides from $399!" Suddenly that would become "Insides from $450 including gratuities!" and the competition would still be advertising "Insides from $399". It would attract cruisers to the lines that offer the deep special prices, and away from the line that had the higher price in the ad.

[Denny01]

There is a big disparity between say P and O and Celebrity. P and O recommend £3.10 pp per day whereas Celebrity charge $11.50. which is more than double. I think we'll opt for somewhere between the two and add tips for good service as we see fit.

 

And as I understand, there is a big difference between the level of service between the P&O and Celebrity. I'd suggest you experience the Celebrity service before you decide it's not worth it. And please explain how you plan to tip those you don't have direct contac with who are providing the service that makes your cruise so special. I'll not make assumptions, but it sounds a bit like, you plan to tip those that can give you 'thank yous' and you get direct acknowledgment.

 

Since all of you that find this cheeky and are bothered by Lines not adding it to the crews' pay as they do in your country/culture, next time you go to a country that doesn't have the same payscale as yours, you should make up the difference. You know, if your barenders and waitsaff get twice the pay of those in another country, you should double your check.

 

Funny, you want the low cost benefits, but then grouse about gratuities. I find That cheeky.

 

Den

[Lsimon]

...I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do....

 

So do I! But they don't. And the fact that you don't like the way they bill this charge is not a good reason to stiff the staff and cut their pay.

Besides, the procedure of automatically including the tipping more or less IS Celebrity's way of including it in the price of the cruise. Please don't circumvent this just to stiff a poor working person out of their pay.

 

There is a big disparity between say P and O and Celebrity. P and O recommend £3.10 pp per day whereas Celebrity charge $11.50. which is more than double. I think we'll opt for somewhere between the two and add tips for good service as we see fit.

I bet there is also a big difference between the way Celebrity and P&O compensate their staff. For better or worse Celebrity uses the money from the tips to provide almost all of the staff compensation. I agree that it would be far better to do away with all the tipping nonsense and just put a fair salary or wage for these hard working people. But just because you don't like the system they use is no reason to stiff these hard working people out of their pay for the cruise. How would you like if if I went to your boss and explained that I think your employers compensation plan doesn't match my own background and customs and because of this they should cut your pay?

 

Perhaps one way round this 'problem' is for the cruise lines to pay their staff a proper wage that doesn't need 'topping-up' by the passengers; or is that too simplistic?! Whilst it would almost certainly raise the price of the cruise we would at least then have the option of tipping those members of the crew who we wanted to.

 

I agree with you 100% !! Unfortunately that is not the case so we have no other responsible choice other than to pay the basic auto tips and then tip more if we want to and no additional if we don't. But as I said above don't take out your displeasure with the system by stiffing the workers.

[librayacht]

Perhaps one way round this 'problem' is for the cruise lines to pay their staff a proper wage that doesn't need 'topping-up' by the passengers; or is that too simplistic?! Whilst it would almost certainly raise the price of the cruise we would at least then have the option of tipping those members of the crew who we wanted to.

One of the great problems here is the difference between the two countries. I am a Brit living in Florida and find that visitors from the UK just do not have a grasp on the differences between the system in the UK and here in the US.

In Britain all employees are paid a minmum wage which is the same for non-catering as it is for catering workers whereas here in the US the Federal minmum wage for "non-tipped" employees is $7.25 per hour however for "tipped" employees, for example in the restaurant business, the Federal minimum wage is $2.13 cents per hour.

This means that when a waiter or waitress first comes on duty and they have to set up the tables, do general maintenance etc. before the arrival of the first "tipping" customer they are earning $2.13 per hour. (There will be slight differences depending on State regulations).

That is why in the United States gratuities are a major part of their income. This has extended itself to US cruise lines who operate the same policies. In some cases the cruise line automatically adds gratuities to the cruise fares; Royal and Celebrity do not do this.

Please do not penalise the majority of the "tipped" employees on the ship because of the actions of one or two crew members, but please, as has been suggested, allow guest services to sort the problem out.

[cruisestitch]

From another forum:

 

"So you are in disagreement with the cruise line, and you punish the employees?"

 

The OP may find the cruise line's policies "cheeky" but the men and women who work for them should not be deprived of their income, in my opinion.

[kelmac]

Perhaps one way round this 'problem' is for the cruise lines to pay their staff a proper wage that doesn't need 'topping-up' by the passengers; or is that too simplistic?! Whilst it would almost certainly raise the price of the cruise we would at least then have the option of tipping those members of the crew who we wanted to.

 

American corporations are taxaphobic (not a real word). RCI (Celebrity's parent) paid less than 1% in Federal corporate taxes last year. How do they do this? Keep the number of Americans working for the corporation to a minimum; hire dozens of tax lawyers; foreign flag your ships; hire foreign workers and let them deal with tax issues with their own country; tip salaries never hit the books of RCI. Last year, Richard Fain, the CEO of RCI made $8,615,185.00 -- which is pretty modest compared to most American CEOs. That's 259 times the amount the average American makes.

 

Keeps cruise prices really low, but of course, the United States is almost bankrupt.

We want the biggest and best military; our Social Security system was raided of all it's money early on; we won't fund a social program unless there is a herd of corporations that benefit from the program. As long as you embrace denial, we live in the best country in the world. Having said that, "it's really cheap to cruise" and we love it.:)

[helpthejuggler]

The cruise lines could keep their same practices, market as Gratuities in the US as the do now. Call it a service charge where there are cultural differences and encourage the default option to pre-pay in the UK as they are starting to do from what I have seen.

 

I always take the pre-pay option as I believe the service will be good. The cost is itemised so it is easy to be content in the cost. It is out of the way before I step onboard.

 

I'll add true 'tips' as I go along knowing that it is a related to those who did something extra. There is still an incentive to exceed the acceptable level of service.

 

If passengers do not pre-pay charge to the onboard account as a service charge at the fixed level. It is transparent and covers the service throughout the ship. The lines would then feel more legitimate to robustly defend a service charge when passengers try to remove/reduce their service charge.

 

The word 'expected tip' is problematic for me at least. If 'expected' it should be included/itemised within then mandatory cost for the service provided. Tips should be for above the necessary service level.

 

Mixing expected and optional parts is the root of the problem.

'Tip' suggests it is optional but not intended to be.

 

Most of us know the score, but minor changes in terminology would aid the new passengers learning the ropes. Outside of cruising it is common to have a base income with extras/bonus for great performance. It is not that unconventional is it?

 

Now for some ideas...;)

 

Catamongthepidgeons#1

Why not offer the ability to boost the service charge. Your stewards and waiters will know you are doing this and you can be even better looked after.

Not too different to people I hear about who slip the barman a little at the start of the trip. The cash route remains an option.

 

Catamongthepidgeons#2

Lines could market on higher service for a higher service charge. The race to the bottom rung of cruising is not where I want to be, so choose based on the balance of service. This is how the speciality restaurants work currently.

 

Catamongthepidgeons#3

Higher suite service charges. I think the differential is perhaps too low as the service in suites is expected to be proportionally higher. Again another marketing tool for the lines to target their customers.

 

Catamongthepidgeons#4

I dislike the obligation to rush around trying to catch staff on the last night. The envelope thing seems tacky to me at least, and spoils the atmosphere when it should be more about actual thanks being offered for a job well done. So I pre-pay and tip during the cruise and don't mess up the final night for me at least.

[ORV]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

Yes, there's a few that do, perhaps you should try them. Here's a list for you, Silversea, Regent, Seabourne, Crystal and a few others.

 

That should get you started, get back with us on how you like the fares.

[yayvacation!]

I think it is a damn cheek a cruise line telling you how much you should tip & automatically charging it to your on board account! You can ask to have it removed & that is what we will do.

 

I think $11.50 a day is far too much.

 

I wish cruise lines would include the tips in the price of the cruise, I believe a few do.

 

jenpet

 

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

$11.50 is "far too much"? That amount goes to tipping 4 people daily! Your waiter gets a very small $3.65 per day!!!

 

Don't remove the tips please, for the sake of the hardworking people onboard. Add the the $150 onto the cost of your cruise.

[helpthejuggler]

Yes, there's a few that do, perhaps you should try them. Here's a list for you, Silversea, Regent, Seabourne, Crystal and a few others.

 

That should get you started, get back with us on how you like the fares.

 

Not a valid comparison. The price difference is way beyond the 'tip/grat/service'.

[Lsimon]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

$11.50 is "far too much"? That amount goes to tipping 4 people daily! Your waiter gets a very small $3.65 per day!!! ....

 

Actually it goes toward a lot more people than that. Those waiter tips get shared. And that's before we even start talking about the "other service personnel"