Shocking video regarding crew wages!

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

I didn't know you could even remove the tips. It is loaded into your fare from what I read. If it was able to be removed I would still leave it on & factor it in as part of my cruise fare. However we still tipped our steward & waiters on top of what we paid for our cruise recently, as they were fantastic.

 

I would assume that the mega more dollars I (as a non USA resident) have to pay for my cruises means the tipping has been loaded into my fare. I think this is a reflection on the greediness of the cruise companies. I subsidise a cheap cruise by paying more, so those getting the cheap cruises can subsidise the wages of the staff, (which is what gets hit hard so they can enjoy a cheap fare). My cruise cost means the staff can be afforded a better base rate. Again I see it as the cruise company's obligation to disperse this money. Not mine.

 

I have also become aware (particularly from reading these boards) that we are low maintenance cruisers. I would not dream of asking for some of the BS requests I see mentioned here. Our cabin was tidy from us, poured our own wine at the table, stood aside to allow staff through, pleased n thank you'd through our journey, used the stairs and brought our dishes / cutlery back to wait stations in the buffet. Our footprint was pretty small in comparison to other pax behaviours we observed.

[Aus Traveller]

I didn't know you could even remove the tips. It is loaded into your fare from what I read. If it was able to be removed I would still leave it on & factor it in as part of my cruise fare. However we still tipped our steward & waiters on top of what we paid for our cruise recently, as they were fantastic.

 

I would assume that the mega more dollars I (as a non USA resident) have to pay for my cruises means the tipping has been loaded into my fare. I think this is a reflection on the greediness of the cruise companies. I subsidise a cheap cruise by paying more, so those getting the cheap cruises can subsidise the wages of the staff, (which is what gets hit hard so they can enjoy a cheap fare). My cruise cost means the staff can be afforded a better base rate. Again I see it as the cruise company's obligation to disperse this money. Not mine.

 

I have also become aware (particularly from reading these boards) that we are low maintenance cruisers. I would not dream of asking for some of the BS requests I see mentioned here. Our cabin was tidy from us, poured our own wine at the table, stood aside to allow staff through, pleased n thank you'd through our journey, used the stairs and brought our dishes / cutlery back to wait stations in the buffet. Our footprint was pretty small in comparison to other pax behaviours we observed.

Currently on some cruiselines operating out of Australia there is no automatic tipping added to passengers on-board account every night (as used to be the case). On American-based ships passengers pay $10-$11.50 pp per night extra. This is what people are discussing. It is possible to go to the Guest Relations/Information/Purser's Desk and arrange to have this removed.

 

However, on the ships where this daily charge is levied, the staff wages are set on the basis that they will receive these tips and (in my opinion) it is not reasonable for passengers to remove the tips just because we are not accustomed to tipping at home. On the ships where there is no auto-tip levied, the staff receive much high wages.:)

Edited January 1, 2014 by Aus Traveller

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Thanks Austraveller that makes sense re the line ups!

 

Our waiter discussed in great length how he applied & reapplied to work for princess from the Philippines. He was on his 8th contract and finishing in approx 5 months. Keen to be home but with full intentions on re-signing. He had prior work in 5 star restaurants back home. He stated princess insisted on a minimum of 2 years experience before hiring. He spoke about his multiple attempts to get a contract so the conditions & wages must be higher than what is available back home due to competitive nature for employment.

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks Austraveller that makes sense re the line ups!

 

Our waiter discussed in great length how he applied & reapplied to work for princess from the Philippines. He was on his 8th contract and finishing in approx 5 months. Keen to be home but with full intentions on re-signing. He had prior work in 5 star restaurants back home. He stated princess insisted on a minimum of 2 years experience before hiring. He spoke about his multiple attempts to get a contract so the conditions & wages must be higher than what is available back home due to competitive nature for employment.

One waitress we were friendly with left her daughter at home being looked after by Grandma. When I asked her if she could work at a high-class hotel in the Philippines, she said she wouldn't get anywhere nearly as much money.

[TeamH]

It's interesting to note that the focus in this thread is on the staff we do see. The waitstaff, room attendants etc. I wonder what the pay and conditions are like for the crew who keep the ship moving day in and day out.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

TeamH. Interesting thought. I assumed the able sailors & engineers etc etc would be on a standard going rate. If they were on crud they would jump ship to a merchant vessel. Same skill set less demands so surely the cruise companies would need to match or better their pay.

 

I think hotel staff / laundry staff etc would be on similar miserable wages that they would be at home :(.

[cruisin-m]

The declared "guaranteed" amount probably is around accurate as the US ships use tipping as more of a wage in general than an actual tip.

 

For instance on Celebrity/ RCCL (where tipping is basically enforced anyway) each passenger pays $5 per person per day to the stateroom steward.

 

That's anywhere between $10-20 per day a room and just say they clean 20 rooms that's going to average out around $250 per day in gratuities alone(not including their guaranteed wage). These guys work 7 days a week which if you were to multiply out to a whole years worth is $91000 in gratuities alone, doesn't seem like such a bad gig anymore does it. That's why these guys put so much pressure on to say they were "excellent" so they collect all these tips and get the opportunity to renew their contract.

 

I understand they only work contracts but when you work out how much it is per year it's understandable why they are so eager to renew contracts.

 

Same can be said for dining room waiters at $3.50 per person a night in tips and also bartenders with 15% of every drink in tips.

 

If it were such a bad job where they got paid slave labour rates, you wouldn't be getting such great service.

[Royalty X]

I was talking to one of the girls I work with today and she mentioned how frustrated she gets when someone asks to remove prepaid gratuities for a booking. She then went on to tell me that when she worked on a few of a major cruiseline's ships (I probably shouldn't name the cruise line but she worked in the day spa area), she used to make 7% commission from any treatments she did, and that was it. So if she did a facial worth $100, she made $7! There was no base salary, so she relied on tips to get by.

[keagle]

I am constantly amazed at how people feel that they need to ask others what their work conditions are like. Would you ask the captain how much he is paid?

There are so many different stories in this matter that none of them could be looked at, and be thought, with 100% accuracy that they are 100% true. Cruise workers get asked the same questions 1000's of times over and could quite easily embellish their stories to make people feel for them, or change them depending on who asks the question. I would think that they would have a good eye for this.

 

If the job was not to their advantage, they would not do it.

[MMDown Under]

On a recent cruise on Grand Princess I met a young Australian bartender,he was doing a six month contract just for the experience.

 

He told me he couldn't wait for his contract to end.

 

His monthly income with grats was app $2500AUD

Crew from other countries earned less than $2000AUD.

Reason being that crew are paid according to the cost of living in their home country.

 

Furthermore, they only receive UP TO 75% of the gratuities collected according to how they are rated by pax.

 

He was a well educated young guy and I have no reason not to believe him.

 

Fire away.......:D

 

That is why you don't come across many crew from countries with a high cost of living, like Australia.

 

I also spoke with an Australian, who was doing one contract only, in the gym/spa area, for the experience.

 

I can understand why Australians, who are adventurous travellers, wouldn't want to work on a cruise ship, for minimum wage, when it costs so little to travel and live well in SEAsia (on Australian wages).

 

I have more of a problem with the working conditions, rather than the wages, for those crew from countries, with a low cost of living. (I try to make a difference, by just being kind, getting bins emptied, rather than cabin serviced, when I know the room steward is rushed, trying to go ashore, etc.)

[commodoredave]

The declared "guaranteed" amount probably is around accurate as the US ships use tipping as more of a wage in general than an actual tip.

 

For instance on Celebrity/ RCCL (where tipping is basically enforced anyway) each passenger pays $5 per person per day to the stateroom steward.

 

That's anywhere between $10-20 per day a room and just say they clean 20 rooms that's going to average out around $250 per day in gratuities alone(not including their guaranteed wage). These guys work 7 days a week which if you were to multiply out to a whole years worth is $91000 in gratuities alone, doesn't seem like such a bad gig anymore does it. That's why these guys put so much pressure on to say they were "excellent" so they collect all these tips and get the opportunity to renew their contract.

 

I understand they only work contracts but when you work out how much it is per year it's understandable why they are so eager to renew contracts.

 

Same can be said for dining room waiters at $3.50 per person a night in tips and also bartenders with 15% of every drink in tips.

 

If it were such a bad job where they got paid slave labour rates, you wouldn't be getting such great service.

 

Sounds like they make more than the pathetic BBC reporter who did the story!

[fishtaco]

I have only sailed U.S. management plans except for the Pacific Princess and when it was here for its long Summer period,it was under P&O.It was obvious things changed to give Australians the ordinary of whatever?I had sailed at the near time on Star Princess and it was managed on board a hell of a lot of being better.than P&0.

Anywhere where you find some Australians and British and Europeans are lined up to crowd take gratuities away.

I sailed to Beijing 23 nights and it was crowded with pax for 2 days at Guest Relations so they could take their gratuities away on Princess last year,in February.We were booked on Emerald at the stern and the Filipino Steward was excellent, however he ended up with 5 gratuities only of 22 Cabins.This Steward was left in tears at the end and it was not very nice.

Obviously the pax took them away because he earned too much money according to mostly of the Australians and British and Europeans?

 

Strange how people profess to know for sure what others do with their tips and Grats when it is only a presumption!

 

The room steward may just have been giving you a sob story, how do you know people didnt leave removed grats "That You witnessed being removed" in the cabin as cash form? How do you know for certain your steward only received 5 out of 22 gratuities? It is against company policy and a breach of their contract to show guests a Gratuity list!

 

I did this on my last VOS cruise because others on our table were paying cash only, I removed my grats and paid steward cash in cabin last day just as we left and waiters cash at last dinner but with your theory I was a non payer because I removed my grats at guest services:confused:

 

I have travelled south east Asia quite a bit over the years and what you will find is many think all westerners are rich beyond belief, they grow dreaming of tourist areas learning how to prey on the inexperienced mega rich tourists with sob stories to get free cash from the silly rich westerners.

 

The moment you get into transport they tell you how they cant afford to feed the baby or how their kids cant go to school because its too expensive! ROTFALMAO every time!

 

I have not yet seen a cabin steward with a cheaper watch than my own,if you take the time to see them ashore they are not in rag tag clothing either once they discard the neatly pressed provided uniform and they have the latest mobile phones all while their family is starving to death at home due to cruise ship tip stiffer lol

[Aus Traveller]

Strange how people profess to know for sure what others do with their tips and Grats when it is only a presumption!

 

The room steward may just have been giving you a sob story, how do you know people didnt leave removed grats "That You witnessed being removed" in the cabin as cash form? How do you know for certain your steward only received 5 out of 22 gratuities? It is against company policy and a breach of their contract to show guests a Gratuity list!

 

I did this on my last VOS cruise because others on our table were paying cash only, I removed my grats and paid steward cash in cabin last day just as we left and waiters cash at last dinner but with your theory I was a non payer because I removed my grats at guest services:confused:

 

I have travelled south east Asia quite a bit over the years and what you will find is many think all westerners are rich beyond belief, they grow dreaming of tourist areas learning how to prey on the inexperienced mega rich tourists with sob stories to get free cash from the silly rich westerners.

 

The moment you get into transport they tell you how they cant afford to feed the baby or how their kids cant go to school because its too expensive! ROTFALMAO every time!

 

I have not yet seen a cabin steward with a cheaper watch than my own,if you take the time to see them ashore they are not in rag tag clothing either once they discard the neatly pressed provided uniform and they have the latest mobile phones all while their family is starving to death at home due to cruise ship tip stiffer lol

I agree with your comments. Crew seem to have the latest laptops, and on our last cruise, one of our table waiters wanted our advice on where he could buy an ipad for each of his children.

 

On our visit to India, our driver was really pushing for more money. He said "You Mercedes, me -this my Mercedes (it was a tuk tuk)" and many other comments along the same lines. We ended up paying him around 25% more than the agreed price, but his comments left a nasty taste is our mouths. On other occasions, we gladly give a generous tip, but I don't like the blatant asking for money.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Aus Traveller

[NSWP]

On a long cruise, look how many empty seats there are in the MDR at dinner. Gratuity removers not wanting to have to face those who have faithfully served them.

 

I can tell you now, there were more than a few pax on the 3 months Arcadia WC last year who did not pay one penny in tips, some were bragging so. 4 poms at our table doing the 3 months cruise were amongst them. Many empty seats in the MDR, last night before Southampton.

[fishtaco]

On a long cruise, look how many empty seats there are in the MDR at dinner. Gratuity removers not wanting to have to face those who have faithfully served them.

 

I can tell you now, there were more than a few pax on the 3 months Arcadia WC last year who did not pay one penny in tips, some were bragging so. 4 poms at our table doing the 3 months cruise were amongst them. Many empty seats in the MDR, last night before Southampton.

 

But it is their choice is it not? and it is a choice!

 

If it was not their choice to remove then the Grats would be built into the fare price on all cruise lines or be made compulsory for all?

 

Some people (self included) feel as if they may be embarrassed if they do not leave a substantial "Extra" Tip at the last dinner even though pre paid or Auto,s have been left in place! each to their own on that score because you know from this forum I am all for pre paid tips as a fair way to tip.

 

I tip my Barber every haircut,I have never seen another patron tip him but that doesn't mean he looses out on tips from the majority of his clientele because I am in there infrequent and for a very short period.

 

Swings and roundabouts! The staff that get stiffed on your cruise may get plenty extra over and above the next cruise but "You will never know"

 

Only the service staff know and thats why they stay or leave.

[Tomo72]

How much is the normal amount to tip?

[rkmw]

How much is the normal amount to tip?

 

$11.50 to $12.00 pp per day depending on the cruise line

 

RCI come in at the dearest $12 up to $14.25 for suites in USD

Edited January 4, 2014 by rkmw

[windsor26]

On a long cruise, look how many empty seats there are in the MDR at dinner. Gratuity removers not wanting to have to face those who have faithfully served them.

 

I can tell you now, there were more than a few pax on the 3 months Arcadia WC last year who did not pay one penny in tips, some were bragging so. 4 poms at our table doing the 3 months cruise were amongst them. Many empty seats in the MDR, last night before Southampton.

 

You are taking for granted that people missing their last night's dinner in the MDR is to hide from their waiters You could be wrong of course Many cruisers will be packing and getting ready Many will want to go to bed early as they have a long flight or journey ahead and the late sitting is difficult under those circumstances

 

You cannot be sure of your 'facts' really particularly about the 'Poms' They would have had a long journey ahead and anyway Poms do tip as a way of life in their own country just not as much or as blatantly as the USA Taxis, Hairdressers, Couriers, Pizza delivery and the list continues. In most cases the tip is added automatically and not left to the payer to organise (ie restaurants with service charges)

[NSWP]

You are taking for granted that people missing their last night's dinner in the MDR is to hide from their waiters You could be wrong of course Many cruisers will be packing and getting ready Many will want to go to bed early as they have a long flight or journey ahead and the late sitting is difficult under those circumstances

 

You cannot be sure of your 'facts' really particularly about the 'Poms' They would have had a long journey ahead and anyway Poms do tip as a way of life in their own country just not as much or as blatantly as the USA Taxis, Hairdressers, Couriers, Pizza delivery and the list continues. In most cases the tip is added automatically and not left to the payer to organise (ie restaurants with service charges)

 

But you did not see the sad and gloomy faces of the waiters, I did, they well know who has removed the auto tips and are thus expecting a 'cash tip on the last night of a cruise. It is well known that some Poms are tight, just like many Aussies. Tipping is not a 'born with' culture in the UK, it is optional like Australia.

Edited January 4, 2014 by NSWP

[campingman]

But you did not see the sad and gloomy faces of the waiters, I did, they well know who has removed the auto tips and are thus expecting a 'cash tip on the last night of a cruise. It is well known that some Poms are tight, just like many Aussies. Tipping is not a 'born with' culture in the UK, it is optional like Australia.

 

Being addiction to Voyages all around,WE, have found much more joy to experience with friends is the service,My Time Dining.

 

Superb Service,that all of our crowd have experienced and do not want to go back to the pax that MAY not want to tip as they think they don't need it as they THINK, get a plenty to CREWMAN as wages.

[keagle]

But you did not see the sad and gloomy faces of the waiters, I did, they well know who has removed the auto tips and are thus expecting a 'cash tip on the last night of a cruise. It is well known that some Poms are tight, just like many Aussies. Tipping is not a 'born with' culture in the UK, it is optional like Australia.

 

I have seen the opposite of this though, and it is as bad.

 

If they know who has removed tips, then they do not need to hang around your table gunning for a cash bonus top up, as happened to our table of six once. We had all pre paid and none were removed.

 

Very bad form.

[fishtaco]

You are taking for granted that people missing their last night's dinner in the MDR is to hide from their waiters You could be wrong of course Many cruisers will be packing and getting ready Many will want to go to bed early as they have a long flight or journey ahead and the late sitting is difficult under those circumstances

 

I agree!

 

We have though noticed some glum faces and almost rudeness from some wait staff our past few cruises at last breakfast in MRD. (not to us mind you)

 

Remember many that miss last dinner as presumed to not pay tips still face the waiters next morning MRD and on some ships the Buffet area:eek:

 

So I am sure if all those not at last dinner were hiding from the waiters and were all tip dodgers then they would all be hiding from breakfast waiters as well as last dinner waiters?

[fishtaco]

Being addiction to Voyages all around,WE, have found much more joy to experience with friends is the service,My Time Dining.

 

Superb Service,that all of our crowd have experienced and do not want to go back to the pax that MAY not want to tip as they think they don't need it as they THINK, get a plenty to CREWMAN as wages.

 

 

Unless a person actually tells you personally that they will not or do not tip on a cruise then you have no idea who tips and who doesnt!

 

If a person has pre paid Grats or has daily autos you would not know unless they told you! do they also have to tip wait staff extra last night? If so then in whos opinion? not the cruiselines thats for sure!

[Aus Traveller]

How much is the normal amount to tip?

On some cruiselines an automatic tip is added to your on-board cruise account every day and you can give extra if you wish. On some ships you can remove this automatic tipping, but unless you personally tip your stewards & waiters, they will be missing out on part of their expected wage.

 

On several Australian-based ships (P&O, Princess and I think Carnival also) tips are not required. They are built into the cruise fare, and staff wages have been adjusted upwards to account for 'no tips'. However they won't refuse it if you give them something.:) Whether or not you give extra, and also the amount is totally up to you. The amounts that rkmw mentioned are the automatic tips applicable on some cruiselines.

 

I venture to suggest that on cruiselines where there is automatic tipping, most Aussies don't tip more on top of that. I also have the impression that where there are 'no tips' most people just go with this policy, but fill in a card commending the staff member for the job they did.:)

[campingman]

Unless a person actually tells you personally that they will not or do not tip on a cruise then you have no idea who tips and who doesn't!

 

If a person has pre paid Grats or has daily autos you would not know unless they told you! do they also have to tip wait staff extra last night? If so then in whose opinion? not the cruiselines thats for sure!

 

I used the words (The service,My Time Dining, also the word MAY and THINKS?

 

Obviously SOME PAX dont know what the service is ,MY TIME DINING is?