Tipping

[cnjnj1]

My wife and I are leaving on our first cruise April 28th. I elected to have the tips prepaid when I set up our cruise. My question is do the staff on the ship know that we have chosen to tip this way? Also from what I have read tipping is done at the end of the cruise versus each occurence such as each meal, etc. Am I correct? Thanks for any advice.

[cruzin w chris]

people say that the staff knows who tips and who does not but no one really knows. some people chose to tip xtra for above and beyond service during the cruise as well as on the final night but that is completely at your discretion. i have always had " good service " but i have yet to see " above and beyond " so my pre paid tips are good enough.

[sail7seas]

My wife and I are leaving on our first cruise April 28th. I elected to have the tips prepaid when I set up our cruise. My question is do the staff on the ship know that we have chosen to tip this way? Also from what I have read tipping is done at the end of the cruise versus each occurence such as each meal, etc. Am I correct? Thanks for any advice.

 

 

They know who has left the automatic tips in place and who has removed them.

 

The stewards' supervisors speak with the stewards to determine why the guest would have removed the tips and what they can do to make the guest happy. The steward has to 'answer' for those who choose to not tip and if there is no good reason, that is added stress that seems so inappropriate, IMO.

 

[cb at sea]

Yes...they will know by the final night, when tips are normally distributed. They will not receive their tips until the cruise is over, so they aren't actually being prepaid....just the cruiseline is!

 

Yes...the suggested amount of tips are fine...no need to do more. I, too, have seldom had such "above and beyond" service to warrant additional tipping. Only twice have we felt the need to tip additionally.

[fabnfortysomething]

My wife and I are leaving on our first cruise April 28th. I elected to have the tips prepaid when I set up our cruise. My question is do the staff on the ship know that we have chosen to tip this way? Also from what I have read tipping is done at the end of the cruise versus each occurence such as each meal, etc. Am I correct? Thanks for any advice.

f

 

yes the staff will know you have chosen to pre pay-this means you do not need to worry about anything else being added to your on board bill

[ranger10!]

We don't pre-pay. We wait until the end of the cruise to decide our tips. We have experienced bad service. And tip accordingly. One cruise we never did meet our room steward. Don't know if it was a girl or boy. We like meeting them, talking to them and letting them know how much we appreciate the work they are doing. Twice our room didn't get made up all day. After the first time we complained. It didn't seem to help since the next day it happened again! So we adjusted our room stewards tip. If I believe someone has gone over and beyond I then tip more. I like the option of being able to control my tip. Usually we give more. We only had the one experience, but I do like being able to change it if possible.

[spunkie4]

The crew is aware of who have pre-paid gratuties.

 

Any addditional tip you feel is needed is normally paid on the last day/evening.

 

If you chose to not pre-pay gratuities or have it removed from your bill, any tip you give is turned into the supervisor. The employee is not allowed to keep the tip. The money is placed in the "pool" for distribution with the pre-paid gratuties.

 

Likewise, if you chose to retain the auto tips and tip extra, the money is still turned into the supervisor who verfies the auto tip has remained intact. At that time, the employee is allowed to keep the individual tip.

 

This was discussed in length with the cruise director on a recent cruise under the CCL umbrella.

 

Shirley

[sail7seas]

Yes...they will know by the final night, when tips are normally distributed. They will not receive their tips until the cruise is over, so they aren't actually being prepaid....just the cruiseline is!

 

Yes...the suggested amount of tips are fine...no need to do more. I, too, have seldom had such "above and beyond" service to warrant additional tipping. Only twice have we felt the need to tip additionally.

 

 

 

Each person decides for themselves whether they wish to tip additional. It is not a question of 'no need'. It's a personal choice and for everyone to determine what they are comfortable with.

 

I would never tell anyone else what they should do.

 

[iheartbda]

Each person decides for themselves whether they wish to tip additional. It is not a question of 'no need'. It's a personal choice and for everyone to determine what they are comfortable with.

 

I would never tell anyone else what they should do.

 

A "certain" poster has a very bad habit of always telling people what they should do.;)

[Algebralovr]

The pre-paid tips are fine. You have paid what is expected.

 

If someone goes out of their way to make your trip better, you are free to tip additional cash, but not required. For example, my DH is a language junkie. I loves to learn bits and pieces of other languages. On our last cruise, our server let my DH practice his home language, corrected him when he mis-spoke, and taught him a couple of additional phrases. Needless to say, we gave an additional tip!

[sail7seas]

The pre-paid tips are fine. You have paid what is expected.

 

If someone goes out of their way to make your trip better, you are free to tip additional cash, but not required. For example, my DH is a language junkie. I loves to learn bits and pieces of other languages. On our last cruise, our server let my DH practice his home language, corrected him when he mis-spoke, and taught him a couple of additional phrases. Needless to say, we gave an additional tip!

 

 

That's nice..... very special. :) despite how busy they all are they took the time and interest.

[marypat01]

people say that the staff knows who tips and who does not but no one really knows. some people chose to tip xtra for above and beyond service during the cruise as well as on the final night but that is completely at your discretion. i have always had " good service " but i have yet to see " above and beyond " so my pre paid tips are good enough.

 

I just did a Royal Caribbean cruise (Freedom of the Seas) where I prepaid and they provided "vouchers" and envelopes to give to our stewards, etc.