Automatic Gratuities

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Out of curiosity, (coming from European non-tippinng environment), is it really possible to over-tip? I mean what do you consider over-tipping?

I am in trouble with land based US vacations, as I fear I leave somebody out since I cannot fully comptehend as to who alll expect to be tipped. Like in a hotel or hair salon. Restaurants are easy!

 

Like giving 1$ extra for every drink that you order.....

How many drinks do you think - a bartender at a busy bar delivers an hour?!:eek::D

Edited August 19, 2016 by germanfflyer

[hapster85]

Out of curiosity, (coming from European non-tippinng environment), is it really possible to over-tip? I mean what do you consider over-tipping?

I am in trouble with land based US vacations, as I fear I leave somebody out since I cannot fully comptehend as to who alll expect to be tipped. Like in a hotel or hair salon. Restaurants are easy!

 

Don't feel bad. I'm from the US and, other than restaurants, I'm usually at a loss as to who should be tipped and how much. I'm sure I've ticked some people off over the years because of it.

[SamTimeDining]

Thanks all, even those who chose to get a little pissy. And actually, yes, we are old school and we do tip in cash, and for what it's worth, very well. Just never liked the idea of tipping before service. And we also go on the many comments we've had over the years from crewmembers who told us they prefer cash. So no, we aren't monsters out to rip off the crew.

 

And how might you be planning to tip the behind the scenes crew working hard to make your vacation enjoyable that you will never actually see or meet?

[Fred the ferret lover]

And how might you be planning to tip the behind the scenes crew working hard to make your vacation enjoyable that you will never actually see or meet?

 

The cruiseline should pay them. I will remove the automatic gratuity also and will tip cash to the people who serve me directly.

[Biker19]

Entertainment thread du jour.

 

PW+1.

[packercruising]

Thanks all, even those who chose to get a little pissy. And actually, yes, we are old school and we do tip in cash, and for what it's worth, very well. Just never liked the idea of tipping before service. And we also go on the many comments we've had over the years from crewmembers who told us they prefer cash. So no, we aren't monsters out to rip off the crew.

 

You may have saved a few unkind words between posters, had you mentioned that in your original post.:rolleyes:

[ColoradoGurl]

Thanks all, even those who chose to get a little pissy. And actually, yes, we are old school and we do tip in cash, and for what it's worth, very well. Just never liked the idea of tipping before service. And we also go on the many comments we've had over the years from crewmembers who told us they prefer cash. So no, we aren't monsters out to rip off the crew.

 

 

They prefer cash because they don't have to wait for it to come in their checks, and because it doesn't have to be split with other crew. You can always tip those people additional cash, while still tipping the auto-gratuities on your account each day. Those auto tips go to people you don't see or realize, and when you remove them, you stiff staff whose salaries are dependent on those tips. Yes, we all understand the purpose of a "tip," but in this instance, just look at it as a service charge and know that by removing them, you are nit-picking about $13 that actually makes a huge difference to the people you just stiffed. (Who aren't getting the whole $13 by the way).

 

Leave the measly $13 a day on your account, you won't even notice it, and bring extra cash to tip the people who you want to tip extra...you know, like nice people do. (Sorry I couldn't help it).

 

 

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Edited August 19, 2016 by ColoradoGurl

[packercruising]

And how might you be planning to tip the behind the scenes crew working hard to make your vacation enjoyable that you will never actually see or meet?

 

This is a good point. No idea how experienced a cruiser the OP is, but there is a whole lot more going on in terms of service than we see. Saying the cruiseline should just pay them more, doesn't cut it. Where is that extra money going to come from? Us, of course.

 

I hope the OP reconsiders. We are good tippers and love prepaid gratuities. One less thing to be concerned about. Everyone gets their share and we bring cash for those that go above and beyond.

Edited August 19, 2016 by packercruising

[oldguysandgalls]

One Price/Fare:

I'd suggest the cruise lines implement a One Price/Fare (depending on which staterooms one selects) including all taxes, port charges, gratuities etc.

 

Hopefully this will put a long overdue and merciful end to this eternal gratuities debate.

[rt1092]

A few cruises ago. We had a really obnoxious assistant waiter. The waiter wouldn't help the situation at all. After sitting at the table for 3 days. Hoping that is was just a bad day. We booked restaurants for the remaining 4 days.

We went to guest services to remove the assistant waiters tips. I would have had to fill out forms to take off their tip. But they could just remove all tips easily. We did that and gave our stateroom attendant the tip in cash.

We almost always tip extra in cash on the last night. We are not "cheapies"

[MrsKC08]

Thanks all, even those who chose to get a little pissy. And actually, yes, we are old school and we do tip in cash, and for what it's worth, very well. Just never liked the idea of tipping before service. And we also go on the many comments we've had over the years from crewmembers who told us they prefer cash. So no, we aren't monsters out to rip off the crew.

 

My husband and I are also old school and prefer to hand out cash on the last day/evening of our cruise. We generally do remove some of the prepaid grats because quite frankly, the amount you pay doesn't all go to the people you think it goes to, and that is just fact. The cruise line itself does get a good portion of all the gratuities, whether you believe it or not. People like our room steward, and our wait staff are the ones we handsomely tip WITH CASH so that it goes directly to who is deserving of it.

 

Many people just assume that when you remove the gratuities that you are stiffing the people who earn and deserve it. I am sure there are a small percentage that do that, but for the most part I think that those who have cruised for many years actually give much more than would go to them through the auto gratuity system.

[kc320]

A few cruises ago. We had a really obnoxious assistant waiter. The waiter wouldn't help the situation at all. After sitting at the table for 3 days. Hoping that is was just a bad day. We booked restaurants for the remaining 4 days.

We went to guest services to remove the assistant waiters tips. I would have had to fill out forms to take off their tip. But they could just remove all tips easily. We did that and gave our stateroom attendant the tip in cash.

We almost always tip extra in cash on the last night. We are not "cheapies"

 

In this case I think I would have filled out the forms....and I would have contacted the head waiter & asked to be moved...why should you have to pay to dine because of poor wait staff?

[MonkeyPants2]

I can understand asking about this. I understand why cruiselines went to including it on the bill. It's definitely convenient, and I am sure it helps cut back on some people getting stiffed altogether, but it's also a drawback in a way. I've always tended to tip well, whether it's on a cruise or at a restaurant, but personally it irritates me when they take the decision of what to give as a tip away from me and just add to the bill. In most cases my servers end up getting less they otherwise would have. Where I might have added 30% to a bill in a restaurant, when the bill comes with the tip already on it my thought (right or wrong) is okay fine, I wanted to be the to decide how much I think your service was worth, but now you've taken the decision of how big a tip you are going to get out of my hands. Could I always add more? Sure I could, but I find that I don't, not unless something extra special occurred. I suppose in the end it end up 'saving' me money, but I still find the practice a bit irritating. Other the other hand, as I said it likely works out in favor of the servers/staff who might have gotten stiffed or undertipped if it was completely left up to everyone to handle on their own.

 

I guess also on the plus side is that I find I now travel with less cash. I used to always ensure I had plenty of cash expressly earmarked for tipping. (which kind of made me a bit paranoid I was going to lose my wallet, lol)

[looking4info]

They didn't ask vaguely. They asked a simple question and got a simple answer. Stop being so condescending and judgmental towards others based on your assumptions.

 

Good luck with that:rolleyes:

[MonkeyPants2]

good luck with that:rolleyes:

 

lmao ;)

[postmeome]

They prefer cash because they don't have to wait for it to come in their checks, and because it doesn't have to be split with other crew. You can always tip those people additional cash, while still tipping the auto-gratuities on your account each day. Those auto tips go to people you don't see or realize, and when you remove them, you stiff staff whose salaries are dependent on those tips. Yes, we all understand the purpose of a "tip," but in this instance, just look at it as a service charge and know that by removing them, you are nit-picking about $13 that actually makes a huge difference to the people you just stiffed. (Who aren't getting the whole $13 by the way).

 

Leave the measly $13 a day on your account, you won't even notice it, and bring extra cash to tip the people who you want to tip extra...you know, like nice people do. (Sorry I couldn't help it).

 

 

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Who are these people we don't see or realize ?

Family of 3,13 night cruise $507 tips measly ?

[llkingsz]

This board is an information exchange platform. The OP asked a question whether something was possible to do or not? Simply answer the questions if you know the answer and wish to answer. Otherwise move on, don't assume what the intention of OPs questions and intent is and start lecturing.

[chipmeister]

Well, this did get entertaining. And I seem to recall over the years, that tipping threads do tend to run away. But a few points did come up that I found interesting. For us, tips are tips, not salary (although it is a pretty lousy system that the cruise industry sets them up as salary). Crewmembers (just like a waiter in the restaurant down the street) need to earn them. Now before someone else jumps on this and thinks we're those people who are never satisfied with anything and make people jump through hoops for a shiny penny, we're the opposite. We are easy going, and fully appreciate the hard work that ship staff does for us. And again, we do tip very well. We know it's a hard life. But still, we tip for good service rendered. I can honestly say that in all the cruises we've taken (yes, we are experienced cruisers), maybe only once have we had what can be called less-than-stellar service. And even then, we still tipped that person the standard rate, we just didn't add extra. As to tipping the 'unseen, behind the scenes' personnel, my question would be, in the days before automatic tips became the rage (and that was not that long ago), how did those people get paid? And then you can get into the whole argument about service suffering because people already know they're getting their tips so why bother going above and beyond the bare minimum. It's a whole other issue but we have friends who have run into that exact situation with auto tipping. So several ways to look at it.

[mjkacmom]

Well, this did get entertaining. And I seem to recall over the years, that tipping threads do tend to run away. But a few points did come up that I found interesting. For us, tips are tips, not salary (although it is a pretty lousy system that the cruise industry sets them up as salary). Crewmembers (just like a waiter in the restaurant down the street) need to earn them. Now before someone else jumps on this and thinks we're those people who are never satisfied with anything and make people jump through hoops for a shiny penny, we're the opposite. We are easy going, and fully appreciate the hard work that ship staff does for us. And again, we do tip very well. We know it's a hard life. But still, we tip for good service rendered. I can honestly say that in all the cruises we've taken (yes, we are experienced cruisers), maybe only once have we had what can be called less-than-stellar service. And even then, we still tipped that person the standard rate, we just didn't add extra. As to tipping the 'unseen, behind the scenes' personnel, my question would be, in the days before automatic tips became the rage (and that was not that long ago), how did those people get paid? And then you can get into the whole argument about service suffering because people already know they're getting their tips so why bother going above and beyond the bare minimum. It's a whole other issue but we have friends who have run into that exact situation with auto tipping. So several ways to look at it.

 

My daughter is a waitress (poor college student). Her only wages are her tips, because her salary is $2.13 an hour, which gets eaten up in taxes (the government assumes she is getting tips). Back in the day, traditional cruising had fixed people you saw everyday, every meal, and you would tip them at the end of the cruise (or hide from them). Now you could have a different server at every meal, and they changed the salary structure.

[loubetti]

Entertainment thread du jour.

 

PW+1.

 

But where's the popcorn? :cool:

[Biker19]

But where's the popcorn? :cool:

 

Like RCI likes to say, that costs extra.

[wendychloecruiser]

Living in the UK our gratuities are pre payed and included in the price of the holiday. We wouldn't do it any other way, I see it as part of the cost of the holiday and like to have it payed and out of the way. We have just done our 4th cruise and never had bad service, it would never cross my mind to remove gratuities.

 

 

past Cruises

independent, Oasis, Radiance, Rhapsody.

 

You will find that your tips are not always included in your holiday regardless of living in the UK. You may get a promotion that includes gratuities, but that is not the norm.

[MonkeyPants2]

Like RCI likes to say, that costs extra.

 

I'll pay for it if it's good popcorn! :D The popcorn they served for the movies on deck on Princess was the worst popcorn I've ever had in my life!

[chipmeister]

My daughter is a waitress (poor college student). Her only wages are her tips, because her salary is $2.13 an hour, which gets eaten up in taxes (the government assumes she is getting tips). Back in the day, traditional cruising had fixed people you saw everyday, every meal, and you would tip them at the end of the cruise (or hide from them). Now you could have a different server at every meal, and they changed the salary structure.

 

 

I know that's true, especially as the lines like to push all the specialty restaurants. But in our specific case, we are doing traditional dining so we should have the same staff. We pretty much never do the specialties. If it ever gets to point where that doesn't exist, and specialties are the only choice, then i could see going with the auto since that's the only way to be sure everyone gets paid.

[bigsky]

This board is an information exchange platform. The OP asked a question whether something was possible to do or not? Simply answer the questions if you know the answer and wish to answer. Otherwise move on, don't assume what the intention of OPs questions and intent is and start lecturing.

 

 

Amen...

 

I always pay cash. I'm old school. I wouldn't dare ask a question about tipping here. You get flamed! No one would believe me if I told them I paid cash. I go to customer service, have them removed and collect my envelopes.

 

 

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