i wonder if this happens at rc

[help04me]

I was reading a letter to cruise travel magazine jan/feb edition on page 6 . paul Jensen from canyon county ,ca wrote in and complained he said he had bad service on the golden princess and with held tips to everyone other than the wait staff. the wait staff asked for their cabin # when asked why the wait staff said they have to turn in all tips to be distributed to everyone . this is NOT a thread on the merits tipping or not rather the burning question is this a practice used throughout the industry or one individual companies business practices any one have similar experiences with rc ???????

[summersigh]

I know that on Holland America the tips you pay on account are split as it says they will be.

THEN ... and IF the tipper kept the automatic account tipping, the server or steward can personally keep the "above and beyond" tips.

 

I understand that if they don't turn in cash tips from "non-automatics" they can lose their job.

[Big_G]

this is NOT a thread on the merits tipping or not rather the burning question is this a practice used throughout the industry or one individual companies business practices any one have similar experiences with rc ???????

 

Even that question is like opening a can of worms. It's as much of a debate as how much.

[SECdawg]

I thought this was happening on RC now. We do prepaid but don't they charge your account daily. I thought I heard or read they are doing this and spreading the tips around.

[Kartgv]

From what we've read on these boards in the past and been told by cruise staff (on RCI, X, and Princess), standard tips either charged to your account or delivered personally in envelopes given out for that purpose are shared. I believe that tip pooling does somewhat affect the service level on board - there's little incentive to give that little extra bit of service, other than personal pride. Luckily, personal pride is still around with many of the staff/servers that we encounter.

 

Additional cash that is given personally and discretely to an individual may or may not make its way into the tip pool. I'd like to see them get to keep it, but it's their decision how to handle it. If they turn it in, it's possible that someone notices which staff members routinely contribute extra to the pool and they may be rewarded in some way over time - I'd like to think so!

[dealer9296]

I was under the impression that any tips above and beyond the required tips are kept by the one receiving them. I sure would like an answer on this if true. The reactions I get when giving extra seem to infer they keep it. I will find out the next time I cruise if not here.

 

I had extra OBC that I went down and asked if I could apply it to my room steward. They said yes. I asked for a receipt for the room steward and they hesitated for a moment and then went and got one for me. I gave the receipt to the room steward and explained it would be on his check. His supervisor came by and he said yes I could do that at customer service. I told him I had already done it and this was his receipt. The Supervisor told the room steward. "Yes that's fine, you will get it."

[Guest maddycat]

I was under the impression that any tips above and beyond the required tips are kept by the one receiving them. I sure would like an answer on this if true. The reactions I get when giving extra seem to infer they keep it. I will find out the next time I cruise if not here.

 

I had extra OBC that I went down and asked if I could apply it to my room steward. They said yes. I asked for a receipt for the room steward and they hesitated for a moment and then went and got one for me. I gave the receipt to the room steward and explained it would be on his check. His supervisor came by and he said yes I could do that at customer service. I told him I had already done it and this was his receipt. The Supervisor told the room steward. "Yes that's fine, you will get it."

 

What cruise line?

[dealer9296]

Rccl

[shipshape sam]

We tip and wish the tip would be come what it is a service charge below the advertised price.

[Thetrail]

I was reading a letter to cruise travel magazine jan/feb edition on page 6 . paul Jensen from canyon county ,ca wrote in and complained he said he had bad service on the golden princess and with held tips to everyone other than the wait staff. the wait staff asked for their cabin # when asked why the wait staff said they have to turn in all tips to be distributed to everyone . this is NOT a thread on the merits tipping or not rather the burning question is this a practice used throughout the industry or one individual companies business practices any one have similar experiences with rc ???????

It a bad post to start period, and a very touchy one on these boards....:o

[LMaxwell]

I just want to make sure I understand the question correctly. I am going to use round numbers for discussion sake.

 

On ABC cruise line they add $10 per person, per day, to your onboard charge account. This goes towards gratuities/service charge. This is split amongst dining, housekeeping, and back of the house support.

 

If a guest is unhappy with some services on ABC cruise line and removes their $10 per person, per day charge and chooses to recognize the one area they were most satisfied with; say they choose at the end to give the dining staff $5 for each day they were onboard.

 

Since the charges were removed from the onboard account the dining staff must turn in that $5 cash they received for it to be pooled amongst the entire tip pool staff thus ensuring everyone gets a cut. The only way for that dining staff to be able to pocket the cash is if it were in ADDITION to the daily added charge, not in lieu of, correct?

 

If I have that correct it is a flawed system and I would agree does not encourage staff to work harder and basically holds the guests money hostage so that if they want to recognize one person for above and beyond service they must recognize all at at least the basic level.

[summersigh]

Frankly, in our 8 cruises, we've never gotten service that did not warrant the pre-paid service charge / pre-paid "tips".

We then tip extra for service above and beyond our expectations. I believe many, many cruisers do the same so that would keep an extra incentive as they wouldn't know who was going to tip the extra.

[shmthaus]

We usually pre-tip our cabin steward and leave a note that we are looking forward to an enjoyable week. Then at the end of the cruise, if we really have enjoyed the services rendered, we tip in addition to the required tip.

 

Sometimes the pre-tip has helped, sometimes not so much. BUT we understand how hard they work without giving us preferential treatment, so we are glad to help them out.

 

We don't pre-tip our waitstaff, since we usually have great service anyway. But we do tip in addition to required.

 

I really hope they get to keep the cash that is given to them.

[Paulette3028]

DH and I see our onboard account tabbed each day for the automatic 'tips', and realize that they are pooled. Do I believe that is fair, no....but it is the way it is.

 

I believe the automatic tip, represents a 'bare minimum' in my view. If the service that we receive is more personal (better?) then we absolutely have no problem giving a larger tip. I can say it has almost always happened on every cruise we have gone on. I can't remember a cruise where we did not get our dining room experience somehow more personalized or our service from our cabin attendant.

 

I would HATE to feel that that tip, for the personal attention we received had to be 'shared'.

[pspercy]

On Mariner cash tips in at least a couple of the bars were going into a jar not the individuals' pockets.

[rancan]

In addition to tipping, I think the comment cards that they ask us to fill out can either help or hurt those we are commenting on. Even though I also feel it's unfair to pool the tips, grading your experience and leaving names might make somewhat of a difference. I asked a server one time if the comment cards do anything for them and she said if they are positive, it will help if they want to get promoted. The more positive feed back the better. I'm assuming the opposite happens for negative comments. At least I hope so.

I have to say though that so far the six RCI cruises we have gone on, we have been pretty lucky and have always gotten good service.

[Clarea]

On Mariner cash tips in at least a couple of the bars were going into a jar not the individuals' pockets.

That's been my experience. Bartenders tend to pool cash tips, and bar servers tend to pocket cash tips.

[help04me]

In addition to tipping, I think the comment cards that they ask us to fill out can either help or hurt those we are commenting on. Even though I also feel it's unfair to pool the tips, grading your experience and leaving names might make somewhat of a difference. I asked a server one time if the comment cards do anything for them and she said if they are positive, it will help if they want to get promoted. The more positive feed back the better. I'm assuming the opposite happens for negative comments. At least I hope so.

I have to say though that so far the six RCI cruises we have gone on, we have been pretty lucky and have always gotten good service.

great point on the comment cards one of the wait staff told me they earn perks with the positive responses. I always fill out the comment cards with praise of someone who wowed me with their service. on the freedom my wife forgot her camera in the bathroom nearest to the main dining room . we sprinted to the bathroom after we discovered it wasn't there.we went to customer service and it was already up there .a janitorial employee turned it in. it took 2 days to find that worker but I finally did and tipped her for her honesty . I would have hated to think she had to share that tip

[PattyG12]

After spending MUCH time with a favorite bartender, I found out that yes, the basic $11pp per day is pooled. If you choose to pay half of that, it's pooled. Any cash you give on top of the $11 is at their discretion. The bartenders often work in teams. Meaning, the tips will go into a jar and split between them at the end of the week. The bar servers can pocket any additional tips they receive, if you give it in cash. If you add additional to your ticket, that goes into the pool.

[avgsuperheroine]

I worked as a waitress in a small place that was super busy, we pooled our tips. It still came back to us, we still worked hard for every customer, and we held each other accountable. Also gave the behind the scenes folks a chance to benefit a little (even though their share was less).

[Barb Nahoumi]

In the days of the cash envelopes, how were the "back of the house" employees tipped, or were they?