Auto Gratuties Distribution Formula

[HJH]

Just finished our 14 day cruise on the Ocean in Dover yesterday and I was asked by table mates what the current distribution formula among the various parties is. Even thought we've been elite for several years now, I don't actually know who is in the pool and who gets what. I assume it is everyone who is not salaried. There was an opinion put forward that waiters, room stewards received a higher percentage.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Pam in CA]

I don't know the formula. However, the auto-tip is distributed among all waitstaff whether room service, buffet, grill area, dining room or specialty restaurant plus the cabin attendants. People often forget when they remove the tip and prefer to tip individually that the buffet staff work just as hard as they clear tables, set them, bring you beverages or even food. Bar and lounge staff get their tips from the 15% beverage charge.

[cb at sea]

On most cruiselines, the cabin attendant and waiter get the bulk of the tip...followed by the ass't waiter and head waiter. Princess includes lots of other staff that the other cruiselines don't include.

[Loonbeam]

Princess recently moved to a ship-class wide pool system, which changed the formula.

 

Passenger facing staff (stewards, head servers, asst servers, head waiters in that order) get the bulk of it. The rest is distributed by support staff (dish staff, bussers, laundry, runners, etc - never found out if kitchen staff (cooks) were in the pool.

 

Bar staff is a separate pool and is not ship-class wide. There are some crossover staff who work bar duty and buffet, not sure how they are handled.

 

The actual formula now takes into effect evaluations, seniority and some other factors like time worked in buffet versus MDR. From what I understand, most of the staff are happy with it as a lot of the fluctuation has been taken out. The actual formula is confidential.

[Mrs.Gosse]

I don't know the formula. However, the auto-tip is distributed among all waitstaff whether room service, buffet, grill area, dining room or specialty restaurant plus the cabin attendants. People often forget when they remove the tip and prefer to tip individually that the buffet staff work just as hard as they clear tables, set them, bring you beverages or even food. Bar and lounge staff get their tips from the 15% beverage charge.

 

Hi Pam, you are always so helpful so may be able to help me out here. I am a person who is overly concerned about looking bad about not tipping enough and etc. When you say the bar staff gets its tip from that Beverage charge, does that mean that I do NOT need to add an additional tip to any drinks bought at the bar and that will be totally ok?

 

On another note, A person who works with my husband used to be a steward on Princess and Carnival (he loved it BTW) and he said you CAN tip your steward extra at the end of the cruise, maybe $20 if you want to but it is not expected. We can't remember but we think he said he gets to keep cash tips. he has gone back to the cruise lines now and we can not ask him again.

[caribill]

I am a person who is overly concerned about looking bad about not tipping enough and etc. When you say the bar staff gets its tip from that Beverage charge, does that mean that I do NOT need to add an additional tip to any drinks bought at the bar and that will be totally ok?

 

On another note, A person who works with my husband used to be a steward on Princess and Carnival (he loved it BTW) and he said you CAN tip your steward extra at the end of the cruise, maybe $20 if you want to but it is not expected. We can't remember but we think he said he gets to keep cash tips. he has gone back to the cruise lines now and we can not ask him again.

 

Every beverage purchase includes a 15% tip and you are not expected to tip additional. However, some people will give extra to a bar server who gives outstanding service.

 

If you keep the auto-tip in place, your cabin steward can keep any extra cash you give to him/her. As you were told, it is not expected, but it is definitely welcome.

[rdsqrl]

Just finished our 14 day cruise on the Ocean in Dover yesterday and I was asked by table mates what the current distribution formula among the various parties is. Even thought we've been elite for several years now, I don't actually know who is in the pool and who gets what. I assume it is everyone who is not salaried. There was an opinion put forward that waiters, room stewards received a higher percentage.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Why did they need to know or feel it was any of their business in the first place?

[KarateMan]

I have been told that there is a split for individual waiters re serving drinks. For the bill that comes with the 15% gratuity included apparently the waiter that puts their name on the bill gets 60% of the gratuity and the remaining 40% goes into the tip pool and distributed evenly. If you write down an extra amount on the bill then the waiter gets 70% and the tip pool gets 30%. I had a good waiter on my last cruise and ended up purchasing a bottle of Dom Perignon, obviously the gratuity amount is much higher on that, and I commented that I hope he gets what is stated on the tab for his hard work and he told me he does but it is based on percentages. He said that it is a combination of individual reward based effort and tip pooling so that the hard workers are not carrying the lazy ones.

[Disconnections]

Why did they need to know or feel it was any of their business in the first place?

 

It's not their business to know who they are tipping or how much?

[Loonbeam]

As a point of general info - here's another blast from the FAQ...

 

Princess Hotel Charge (Auto-Tip) – Standard Policies

 

Official Princess standard guidelines as follows for ships other than those based in australia, however individual ship’s pursers have latitude to modify the process as appropriate for their ships.

 

1> The auto-tip added to your bill is pooled among dining servers and housekeeping and their support staff. If you remove the hotel charge any cash tips are put into the pool up to the pool amount. If you retain the hotel charge, the individual receives the additional amount. It is that individuals decision to ‘tip-out’ any support staff from the overage.

1a (added 4/25/14) – It has been reported that Princess now pools the hotel charge across ship classes in an effort to make things a little more consistent for crew members. A point system is in place that determines how gratuities are divided (the exact nature of the point system is not available). The individuals involved in the pool have not changed.

 

2> The 15% bar charge added to bills are pooled among the bar and bar support staff. I have not confirmed if this is across all bars or specific to venue. Cash tips given directly to a server or bartender are retained by that individual. Tip outs are at the discretion of the individual, tho most servers will feed a little back to the bartender, and the bartender often tips out to the support staff. It’s also not unheard of for bar staff to tip out a particularly productive server, hence the sometimes hard sell.

 

3> Casino tips are pooled among all dealers and cashiers (not sure if even split) and MUST be deposited in tip boxes by the dealer/host. Drink tips in the casino follow the rules above.

 

4> Servers in specialty restaurants receive a portion of the service charge (pooled). They would not tell me what this amount is. Additional tips may be kept or pooled depending on the policy at that particular venue and ship. There does not appear to be a corporate guideline for this.

 

5> Tips given to other activity/support staff (passenger services, kids programs, etc) are generally pooled by department but there is no set policy.

 

Again, I must stress these are Princess guidelines as confirmed by corporate, however specifics may vary from cruise to cruise based on ship operations policies. If you have questions on your cruise, the purser may be the best resource to ask.

[Colo Cruiser]

You will get 17 different ideas on how tips are distributed here on CC.

Nobody really knows the true tip dispersion except Princess.

Its like an old wives tale. :eek:

[fishywood]

When auto tips began in 2001 they were $6.50 per person per day for MDR staff only.

A few years later when cabin stewards entered the pool the rate became $9.00 pp/pd.

The next increase was to $9.75 pp/pd to incorporate the HC staff.

Subsequent increases have come without explanation.

[likeadisguise]

When auto tips began in 2001 they were $6.50 per person per day for MDR staff only.

A few years later when cabin stewards entered the pool the rate became $9.00 pp/pd.

The next increase was to $9.75 pp/pd to incorporate the HC staff.

Subsequent increases have come without explanation.

 

How about because it's been 13 years since 2001? :)

[Loonbeam]

Simple cost of living would take it from $9.75 to the current amount almost (COL increases are higher in developing markets)

 

How about because it's been 13 years since 2001? :)