Princess Auto-Tip Question

[DaphneD]

Hello,

 

I'm a first-time cruiser and I've been hearing conflicting things about Princess's auto-tip. I was wondering if someone could clarify for me.

 

My TA told me that the auto-tip covers all tipping for the entire cruise and that I shouldn't feel obligated to tip any additional, although I can if I feel someone gave really exemplary service. Elsewhere I've read that since the auto-tips are pooled among all the staff, my room steward and waiter will be shortchanged unless I leave them more.

 

Who's right? Sadly I'm on a tight budget (student loans, eck!) and the $100 auto-tip that Princess is adding to my account is already a fair chunk of change by my standards. Is it true that I should leave even more?

 

Thanks for the help.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Your travel agent is correct. Nobody is getting shortchanged with leaving the auto tip on. Like she said you can always tip extra if you found somebody that goes over and above of what you expect, which I find is almost 99% of them.

 

Bill

[cruzbabe]

Are you considering a 10 day cruise? The auto tip is $10 per day per person. When I see an exemplary service, I do give additional tip to that person. For example, we had a great cabin steward, or the head waiter that took care of us every night, or my favorite waiter (even though we had personal choice dining).

 

Bottomline, you don't have to pay additional tips but if someone goes out of their way to take care of you, it is nice to pay additional tip to that person.

[Pam in CA]

My TA told me that the auto-tip covers all tipping for the entire cruise and that I shouldn't feel obligated to tip any additional, although I can if I feel someone gave really exemplary service. Elsewhere I've read that since the auto-tips are pooled among all the staff, my room steward and waiter will be shortchanged unless I leave them more.

 

Who's right? Sadly I'm on a tight budget (student loans, eck!) and the $100 auto-tip that Princess is adding to my account is already a fair chunk of change by my standards. Is it true that I should leave even more?

For the most part, your TA is correct. The auto-tip is $10/day and should cover all tipping for dining and the cabin steward. It's the same amount as the previous "recommended" tipping so you're not doing anyone a disservice or undertipping them if you leave the auto-tip on. You are under no obligation to tip anything above that unless you've received exceptional service or someone's gone above and beyond.

 

The caveat is that the auto-tipping covers only those services that everyone uses and does not include tips on alcoholic drinks, room service or the soda card (not everyone orders drinks, room service or gets the soda card.)

 

If you remove the auto-tipping, thinking that you want to tip only those who have served you directly, keep in mind that if you do leave a tip individually, the crew member MUST turn that money into the pool or else they could be fired so that you haven't really tipped them individually. If you've left the auto-tipping on and want to leave them something extra, then they get to keep it.

 

There are some people who feel you should tip your steward some money up-front to get good service. That isn't, or shouldn't be, the case so don't feel you have to do that.

[vmom]

If you find someone who has given exceptional service, and the extra money for additional tip is an issue, go the the purser's desk and look for cards and a box at the end of the purser's desk. You can write out an additional note of why that person provided exceptional service and drop it in the box.

 

We were told that these comment cards are read and are important to crew members. Also on Thr. night you will get a questionaire. At the end of the questionaire you can leave comments about crew members who supplied excellent service. We were told by members of the crew staff that these comments hold alot of weight and are important to the staff.

[JimF]

This is the way I tipped:

 

Signed up for auto-tip.

 

When my DW and I wanted meals on the balcony, We tipped $5 for that room service. If it was something smaller, i.e. ice, etc., a couple of bucks.

 

We were with a group of 6 couples and ate dinner together each night in Personal Choice dining room. The second night out, we found a TERRIFIC waitress. We asked for her each night after that. Each couple tipped her $5 at each dinner.

 

I felt that our room stewart did a much more than adequate job. At the conclusion of the cruise I tipped him at the rate of $3/day.

 

It was interesting that when we got our statement at the conclusion of the cruise, the $10/day auto-tip was broken down as t0 $3.50 for Room Gratuity and $6.50 for Meal Gratuity

[Roboat]

I don't think you should feel obligated to leave more and should expect very good service.

 

I agree with Pam in Ma and others regarding tipping a little for Room Service, if you use it. (There is no charge for the room service food, btw.) FWIW, I tip $2-3 for room service, maybe a little more once in a while.

 

The other thing I do is tip $1 for a soda but I don't really know why. I don't drink more than 6-8 on a cruise, so it's only $6-8. And you don't need to. For alcoholic drinks, I don't usually add a tip on top of the built-in service charge. If I'm at the bar and ask the bartender to add a little more rum to my rum drink, I'll leave an extra dollar - or 2 if he loads it up. (I did this one time, and also left my camera! The bartender chased me down the hall to give it back to me. OK, I tipped him another $5 for that. ;) )

 

Tipping above the auto-tip is the subject of many a discussion. I personally don't feel it's necessary unless I have made an unusual request of a staff member and he or she had to do more to accommodate me.

 

And of course, this is just ME. Lots of folks tip more, some way more, some less. I think almost everyone agrees that the auto-tip is certainly earned.

[FredS]

Maybe I did not read close enough to each comment, but alcholic drinks you order will have a 15% tip added automatically to the order; so no need to tip the bar keep unless you want to do extra.

[Rusty]

When we go on a cruise we ask Princess, etc. to remove the automatic tip from our billing and we tell our steward/waiter, etc. that their gratuities will be in cash and given individually at the end of the cruise. We have always received better service this way.

 

Except for the rare individual service person, there is little or no incentive except to give average service when all tips are pooled and when they are automatically added to your bill. In many hotels there is also an automatic "service charge" added per day.

 

It would be nice of course if the service staff was paid a fair wage, but they are not, and thus tipping amounts to most of their salary. Exceptional service deserves more, adequate service the suggested amount, and poor service possibly the suggested amount and a low rating on the comment cards.

[cactusrose]

Rusty, I think you missed something here. If you remove the auto tip then what ever you give in cash at the end of the cruise is pooled anyway. If you leave the auto tip on and give a little extra, that individual can keep that extra.

[cruzluvr2]

Can anyone give me an idea of how much to tip the youth counselors?

[Pam in CA]

Maybe I did not read close enough to each comment, but alcholic drinks you order will have a 15% tip added automatically to the order; so no need to tip the bar keep unless you want to do extra.

Fred... absolutely correct. However, getting back to the OP's original question, the auto-tip doesn't cover that 15% drink tip.

[Love Cruis'n]

Hello,

 

I'm a first-time cruiser and I've been hearing conflicting things about Princess's auto-tip. I was wondering if someone could clarify for me.

 

My TA told me that the auto-tip covers all tipping for the entire cruise and that I shouldn't feel obligated to tip any additional, although I can if I feel someone gave really exemplary service. Elsewhere I've read that since the auto-tips are pooled among all the staff, my room steward and waiter will be shortchanged unless I leave them more.

 

Who's right? Sadly I'm on a tight budget (student loans, eck!) and the $100 auto-tip that Princess is adding to my account is already a fair chunk of change by my standards. Is it true that I should leave even more?

 

Thanks for the help.

Daphne,

Sounds like you’re a young person just starting out and on a budget. My personal opinions, just leave the autotips in place, and don’t worry about anything else. If someone on board really impresses you, then either pull a few $$ out of your pocket, or write up one of those "praise" cards on their behalf.

My guess is that in the future, you will cruise a lot, and as your personal success place you in a position to do so, you can supplement the basic tips with something more substantial. :)

For the moment, I think that to be considerate enough to ask these sorts of questions, you are to be commended.

[Pam in CA]

When we go on a cruise we ask Princess, etc. to remove the automatic tip from our billing and we tell our steward/waiter, etc. that their gratuities will be in cash and given individually at the end of the cruise. We have always received better service this way.

Actually, you're doing your steward and waitstaff a real disservice since they have to put whatever you give to them into the pool and they wind up getting a lot less than if you'd left the auto-tip on. If they keep what you give to them (with the auto-tip off), they could get fired so you're putting them in a very difficult position. I really don't recommend this.