Tipping on ships based in Australia?

[cjm66]

We saw the other side of working on a cruise ship or otherwise off shore when we visited the Phillipines. One day we needed to visit a bank in Cebu and our minder from the Phillipnes tourist office escorted us through the process to make sure we found the right queue. The bank was full of mostly women with young children in tow lining up to collect remittances from bread winners overseas. Some were young but most were middle aged - clearly grandparents.

 

We do not begrudge the tips we pay for service when travelling overseas or a cruise - regardless of the home port and do not see it as a form of charity or a subsidy - it is basically a service compris charge, added to our bill as a percentage or flat charge. We factor it into our budget as we would any other cost item. Any extra we choose to give or leave is up to us, the quality of the service and how the budget is holding out. :D

 

Colleen

[NSWP]

Thied, I have to ask, "are you for real?" or just a troll who has been keeping up this ridiculous charade for a very long time.

If it is the latter then you are excellent at annoying the vast majority of us on here.

If it is the former then I don't know what to say!

G'day Pete, have you only just discovered 'our Thied.' LOL. I am with you, I am not certain Thied is for real.

[thied]

Thied, I have to ask, "are you for real?" or just a troll who has been keeping up this ridiculous charade for a very long time.

If it is the latter then you are excellent at annoying the vast majority of us on here.

If it is the former then I don't know what to say!

have you not seen any nz workers on any Australian base cruise?

[Kiwi Kruzer]

have you not seen any nz workers on any Australian base cruise?

 

NO .

I have not, and I have not seen very many Australians on Australian based ships either...

apart from the Entertainment Staff ,who are employed as a token , to try and give a local flavour

 

 

.

[Talisker92]

if we Australians who wish to sub over sea's low wages good on you, but just think you are subing lower wages that take jobs off Australians.

I am sorry, but I do not think many Aussies would work under those conditions. NCL had a problem with the Hawaiian ships using US personnel. The turnover was horrendous

[The_Big_M]

besides the built in tipping we do not tip any one when traveling in Australia or abroad, and who cares for then if they wish to work for low wages and reliy on tips for income thats there problem,

...

if we Australians who wish to sub over sea's low wages good on you, but just think you are subing lower wages that take jobs off Australians.

 

Okay, so you'd be happy to pay fares some percentage higher if they were Australian workers. But as they're foreign workers you 'don't care if they're underpaid' and you'll take advantage of that.

[NSWP]

Okay, so you'd be happy to pay fares some percentage higher if they were Australian workers. But as they're foreign workers you 'don't care if they're underpaid' and you'll take advantage of that.

I am glad you can interpret some of Thied's comments, because I cannot.

[Aus Traveller]

I have seen NZ people working as members of the Cruise Director's staff, but not as waiters/stewards. Aussies work in similar jobs on ships in other parts of the world (for tax reasons).

 

Tipping - Only service staff (stewards/waiters/bar staff/head waiters) are part of the tipping pool. I am sure that they receive tips (on ships where auto-tips are in place) as I have seen a notice stating that they will receive the tips they are entitled to before they leave the ship at the end of their contract. The kitchen & laundry staff etc. receive a flat wage and do not receive tips.

[Sandielle]

Sandy

 

Fair enough but we are still way behind USA and European cruise fares. Some of the e- mails I have been receiving (as no doubt you have been too) for cruises out of USA and in Europe are ridiculously low and how I would love to get those prices for the Australian market. I agree that we are getting cheaper prices now than say two years ago but by the same token the New Zealand cruise we are doing at the end of the month was $400 dearer from the same TA than we paid 6 months ago. It seems to fluctuate wildly either way.

I might be cynical in my views of what cruise ships do with the compulsory tips but I still stand by my assertion that they are not benevolent societies. I will still go on tipping the crew members that deserve that little bit extra for good service but what the behind the scenes crew who we never see get up to should not be the responsibility of the passengers to tip by way of compulsory gratuities. That is the responsibility of the Cruise company and that is why I am highly suspicious of what happens with the gratuities.

No matter what, we will still enjoy our cruising.

 

John

 

Oh so do we, John, and we also still tip the three people we have most to do with - our waiters and cabin steward. Yes, the cruise companies are businesses, so I agree that their aim is to make money somehow.

 

I am ignorant regarding USA fares as I delete those emails. Being an Aviophobic, Aviatophobic or Pteromerhanophobic - whichever one you choose :D - we are not likely to cruise on one of those.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I have seen NZ people working as members of the Cruise Director's staff, but not as waiters/stewards. Aussies work in similar jobs on ships in other parts of the world (for tax reasons).

 

 

You will also find that those Aussies and Kiwis working for the Cruise Director are on a very lousy wage, usually tied to a contract. They are mostly young people who are off to see and travel the world .

The only Aussies and Kiwis you will see on a cruise ship are the those who have direct contact with passengers.

[johndon]

Hell Sandy, I dont know what those words mean (aviophobic, aviotophobic, pteromerhanophobvic) I presume you like Australia.

See you on a cruise someday.

 

John

[Sandielle]

Hell Sandy, I dont know what those words mean (aviophobic, aviotophobic, pteromerhanophobvic) I presume you like Australia.

See you on a cruise someday.

 

John

 

Haha John - fear of flying! Means I miss out on delights like Med and Alaskan cruises etc. :rolleyes: :cool:

[thied]

The question was as follows

 

have you not seen any nz workers on any Australian base cruise?

 

and nothing to do Australian workers.

 

it seems that most of you dont cruise on P&O Australia:rolleyes:

 

99% of the security staff are NZ and about 5% of the waiters are NZ and about 2% are other crew as cabin staff.

 

Just ask our NZ lady who's daughter work for P&O security, that last I herd she was in the teens security.

Edited March 7, 2012 by thied

[rkmw]

The question was as follows

 

have you not seen any nz workers on any Australian base cruise?

 

and nothing to do Australian workers.

 

it seems that most of you dont cruise on P&O Australia:rolleyes:

 

99% of the security staff are NZ and about 5% of the waiters are NZ and about 2% are other crew as cabin staff.

 

Just ask our NZ lady who's daughter work for P&O security, that last I herd she was in the teens security.

 

its a bit off topic but i have seen a few kiwis and vanuatu working on p&o but i dont think they are on princess australia

[icat2000]

Yeap there were a few Australians working on PO Australia when I was in Vanuatu last year. It would be in the miniority compared to other nationalities.

[thied]

But as they're foreign workers you 'don't care if they're underpaid' and you'll take advantage of that.

yes you would be correct to say that.

 

If they are happy to work for lower wages that is there problem not mine and I should have to sub there ways by tipping.

 

one day they will learn not to except a lower wages, just like taiwan did and look where they today very rich and high wages

[ceejay3377]

Tipping - Only service staff (stewards/waiters/bar staff/head waiters) are part of the tipping pool. I am sure that they receive tips (on ships where auto-tips are in place) as I have seen a notice stating that they will receive the tips they are entitled to before they leave the ship at the end of their contract. The kitchen & laundry staff etc. receive a flat wage and do not receive tips.

 

I can't speak for other cruiselines, but this is not the case on HAL. At all three disembarkation talks on my cruises the Cruise Director has made it very clear that the Hotel Service Charge ($11.50/person/day) applies to all service personnel - stewards, wait staff, laundry staff, general cleaners, etc. They even mentioned the % that goes to the different categories, but I don't recall the exact details (it is something like 35% food/bev/galley staff, 35% room stewards/cleaning staff and 30% ancillary service staff). I also asked one of the wine stewards who we have become friendly with about the handing in of tips, and Paul confirmed that if passengers have removed the Hotel Service Charge (HSC) they are instructed that all tips received from those people are to be handed in will be distributed as per the HSC. There is a list of those passengers in the crew area and it is regularly updated as people make changes to their on board account (some people leave it to the last day to remove all the HSC's).

 

Now this next comment is a general comment that is a reflection of my own values and opinions. It might not be our culture to tip, and it might be initially uncomfortable to do so, but I think the prepaid tips or daily charge is a great compromise for those (including me, even after several cruises and really TRYING to understand the purpose and benefits of tipping) who find the "palming of cash" transaction awkward.

 

My personal opinion is that if I can't factor in these charges into my budget, then maybe I can't afford to cruise. I have been to the countries that these people hail from, and it really puts "dirt poor" into perspective. To have or not have, based on where I was born, means that I really should be counting my blessings and NOT the savings I could make from not tipping these people. <steps off soapbox, with cap in hand:o>

 

To the OP, if you leave the daily charge in place, or have prepaid gratuities, all your tipping/gratuity obligations have been met. If you want to recognise individuals for exceptional service, then that is up to you, but certainly not expected. Can I suggest that on US ships that follow the US culture in Australia waters, like HAL and Celebrity, that you might like to consider the accepted US practice to tip a $ or two for any room service orders (like brekky or dinner in the cabin). We usually have $20 or so in US$1 notes for this purpose, and the stewards seem to appreciate this gesture.

 

(All the above was written with no intent to upset or offend anyone :))

 

Cheers,

[Sandielle]

I have seen NZ people working as members of the Cruise Director's staff, but not as waiters/stewards. Aussies work in similar jobs on ships in other parts of the world (for tax reasons).

 

On the several P&O cruises I've been on, I have NEVER seen NZ waiters or cabin stewards. They were mostly all from the Philippines or India.

 

On my recent Princess cruise, there were people from many countries as waiters, but I didn't see any from NZ.

[bar_20]

In the USA there is a saying that when you're with friends you never talk about politics or religion because your friends won't be your friends for very long. It looks like in OZ you could add tipping to that group. In the USA we have a minimum wage that an employer must pay their employees. In the service industry for employees who serve the customers of the business they usually make miimum or close to that. The employee needs to make up the difference between a liveable and unliveable wage with tips. If in OZ your sevice employees make a decent wage I can see why tipping isn't a common thing.

 

However on a cruise ship the service employees are very low payed and rely on tips to live. The cruise lines find it hard to get workers to work on ships that cruise around Australia because they know that many passengers will go to the pursers office and take the tips off their accounts. Thus the cruise lines charge more for their cruises to Australians because of their refusal to tip, so they can make up the difference to their employees.

Edited March 7, 2012 by bar_20

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

In the USA there is a saying that when you're with friends you never talk about politics or religion because your friends won't be your friends for very long. It looks like in OZ you could add tipping to that group. In the USA we have a minimum wage that an employer must pay their employees. In the service industry for employees who serve the customers of the business they usually make miimum or close to that. The employee needs to make up the difference between a liveable and unliveable wage with tips. If in OZ your sevice employees make a decent wage I can see why tipping isn't a common thing.

 

However on a cruise ship the service employees are very low payed and rely on tips to live. The cruise lines find it hard to get workers to work on ships that cruise around Australia because they know that many passengers will go to the pursers office and take the tips off their accounts. Thus the cruise lines charge more for their cruises to Australians because of their refusal to tip, so they can make up the difference to their employees.

 

I think everyone on these boards know how the USA tipping works on the USA ships. It is run differently in Australia on Australian based ships. The employees get a wage here that is comparable to the US employee with tips. It might have been the case in years past that the cruiselines were finding it hard to get employees for the Aussie based ships.... that is not the case anymore.

 

One our Diamond Princess cruise last may we were astounded at the number of employees that had applications in for transfer to the Aussie based ships. Bear in mind these were employees that look after Aussies for part of the year because the Diamond is based down here for part of the year. According to everyone when we asked why, there were two MAIN reasons.... 1. The money was good and 2. Aussies were much less demanding than Americans (sorry).

[Rassa]

I think everyone on these boards know how the USA tipping works on the USA ships. It is run differently in Australia on Australian based ships. The employees get a wage here that is comparable to the US employee with tips. It might have been the case in years past that the cruiselines were finding it hard to get employees for the Aussie based ships.... that is not the case anymore.

 

One our Diamond Princess cruise last may we were astounded at the number of employees that had applications in for transfer to the Aussie based ships. Bear in mind these were employees that look after Aussies for part of the year because the Diamond is based down here for part of the year. According to everyone when we asked why' date=' there were two MAIN reasons.... 1. The money was good and 2. Aussies were much less demanding than Americans (sorry).[/quote']

 

Well said Eileen. I guess that is why the older Princess ships are down under (seeing we don't complain much) but I actually don't mind the Dawn, though the Sun gets a bit of a beating from those who have been on her. However, I also don't the Americans demanding more, they pave the way for us and we just reap the benefits of better service etc.

Rosie

[Aus Traveller]

In the USA there is a saying that when you're with friends you never talk about politics or religion because your friends won't be your friends for very long. It looks like in OZ you could add tipping to that group. In the USA we have a minimum wage that an employer must pay their employees. In the service industry for employees who serve the customers of the business they usually make miimum or close to that. The employee needs to make up the difference between a liveable and unliveable wage with tips. If in OZ your sevice employees make a decent wage I can see why tipping isn't a common thing.

 

However on a cruise ship the service employees are very low payed and rely on tips to live. The cruise lines find it hard to get workers to work on ships that cruise around Australia because they know that many passengers will go to the pursers office and take the tips off their accounts. Thus the cruise lines charge more for their cruises to Australians because of their refusal to tip, so they can make up the difference to their employees.

I don't agree with your comment. Aussies generally have a similar view on tipping. The only difference I see is that those who have travelled extensively overseas (particularly to the US) understand that tipping is a part of life in some other countries and are prepared to go along with it.

 

If you really want to see an unpleasant debate on tipping, just mention the word 'tipping' on the US section of this forum. :D Very unpleasant words are used such as 'stiffing'. Sorry if I offend anyone by using this term. This is the first time I have ever used it.

[Mothballs]

Billy and Charlies Mum,I agree with your statement regarding Aussies being regarded as less demanding as this was a topic of conversation on our cruise, Honolulu to Sydney on the Radiance last september but it wasn't the passengers talking about it but the waiters! They would come to the table and say frequently you Aussies are so easy.I felt bad for the American couple at our table as they were easy going people too but they took it in good humour.

Regarding tipping, I think some people are just mean with their money and always find an excuse not to tip.I work hard for my money and don't mind showing appreciation for others that also work hard.

Regards Elaine.

[pomgo]

Here here Elaine. I have met a person now on several cruises and it is her topic through the cruise, mostly informing newies :they really dont need to tip.: When I commented that they work hard was told it is their choice and there I beg to differ they dont have any other choice.

[thied]

I don't agree with your comment. Aussies generally have a similar view on tipping. The only difference I see is that those who have travelled extensively overseas (particularly to the US) understand that tipping is a part of life in some other countries and are prepared to go along with it.

 

If you really want to see an unpleasant debate on tipping, just mention the word 'tipping' on the US section of this forum. :D Very unpleasant words are used such as 'stiffing'. Sorry if I offend anyone by using this term. This is the first time I have ever used it.

but we are not on a US forum we are on an Australia and NZ forum, and talking about Australian based cruise ships.