QM2,Tipping?

[Bell Boy]

Like some others on this thread, I am a firm believer in using the automatic gratuity system. I recognise that a lot of behind-the-scenes people contribute to the enjoyment of my holiday and I want them to be rewarded.

 

Hopefully when we give extra to our room steward, he passes some on to the rest of his team, knowing that he would not have received the tip without their backup.

 

Thank You fantasy, at last ! someone who understands the Cunard procedure and the 'difference' between 'Pooling' additional gratuities and 'Sharing'. Yes there are individual crews members who do indeed share some of the extra cash gratuities that they may have received.

 

Example; Cabin stewards often share something with those from another department who may have offered or, have been scheduled/rostered to help out in the 'Turn Around' on embarkation days .

 

Restaurant waiters will ensure that their junior assistant are taken care of (that's one who often offers bread and water, clears the plates and hands out the menu)

 

Floor Bar waiters ( in the various Venues) will often share any extra gratuities with their Bar Team.

 

Butlers will ensure their assistant ( that's one who has to clean the loo and make the bed )

 

The suggestion from some posters that everything received in cash is thrown into a 'Big Large Pot' to be distributed between all, including those of officer status ( i.e. those who are entitled to have gold on their shoulders) is not only ridiculous, but would be almost impossible to police.

 

 

What goes on Royal Caribbean does not go on Cunard.;)

Edited January 25, 2017 by Bell Boy

[Aussieflyer]

........

The suggestion from some posters that everything received in cash is thrown into a 'Big Large Pot' to be distributed between all, including those of officer status ( i.e. those who are entitled to have gold on their shoulders) is not only ridiculous, but would be almost impossible to police.

 

 

What goes on Royal Caribbean does not go on Cunard.;)

 

I think it was a reasonable assumption that ships in the same company (i.e. Carnival) may follow the same model with regard to handling the auto-gratuities (as they have all basically adopted them). It is nothing to do with RCI passengers and the 'wink' denoting superiority is a bit off IMO.

 

In terms of handing in cash, if it were part of the crew's contract then those who did not do so would risk immediate dismissal so would have an incentive to follow the rules.

 

As this is apparently not the system in use on Cunard, it really doesn't matter and I am over the discussion now. I know what I do and what others choose is their business whether or not I agree.

[Bell Boy]

Oooops sorry Aussieflyer My apologies If you find a wink denotes superiority, than was not my intention at all. It was added in jest, never known an Aussie who doesn't like a bit of banter.

[Aussieflyer]

Oooops sorry Aussieflyer My apologies If you find a wink denotes superiority, than was not my intention at all. It was added in jest, never known an Aussie who doesn't like a bit of banter.

 

I misinterpreted your intention then, so apologies as well.

[Salacia]

PARTIAL QUOTE [quote name=Bell Boy;52103191

... The suggestion from some posters that everything received in cash is thrown into a 'Big Large Pot' to be distributed between all' date=' including those of officer status ( i.e. those who are entitled to have gold on their shoulders) is not only ridiculous, but would be almost impossible to police.

 

 

What goes on Royal Caribbean does not go on Cunard.;)[/quote]

 

 

What has been stated is the Hotel and Dining charge is shared amongst many, including Officers. See prior posts.*

 

Regarding Royal Caribbean: I have no knowledge or experience of that Line.

 

*"this entitlement widened and eventually included everyone in the whole Hotel Department, including officers."

Edited January 26, 2017 by Salacia

[Reuben's 3rd]

Dear Threeoverthree

 

I too sought advice on this thorny issue. You may find the following site as helpful as I did: “An Insider's Guide to Cruise Tipping” http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132 . It is an opinion piece (that is, NOT Cruise Critic's suggestion) on the Cruise Critic site. It gives reasoning for “who”, “how”, “when” and “how much” over and above the daily levy, and I have found it a useful guide. As it suggests, I leave the automatic levy in place. I do make variations; I would expect to leave the chambermaid $5 a night in a reasonable hotel, so I set aside the same for the cabin steward. We tend to eat all meals in the Britannia Dining Room, so we set aside $5 per person per evening. All of course, assumes reasonable service. I counted out what we would expect to pay at home (Canadians tend to pay wait staff minimum wage). Breakfast, lunch and dinner, to say nothing of Afternoon Tea, would far exceed the daily rate of $11.50 Britannia, $13.50 Grills.

 

To weigh in on the pros and cons expressed in discussion:

 

In an ideal world, everyone would be paid a reasonable wage and tipping would be a thing of the past. I know that being in a position to take the QM2 makes me a very fortunate person, so, until that ideal world comes to be, I will continue to anticipate the cost of these tips in my planning.

 

Reuben's 3rd

[resistk]

In reality few of us can afford to tip everyone. Sure you want to tip the maid at the hotel which is gouging you $400 a night plus $12.95 for Internet and $40 for valet parking. But how many of us do? But enough is enough. On Cunard I kill the auto tip and tip the wait staff and steward personally and call it a day. Solving pay inequities in the multi billion cruise industry is not my problem. And I thank my lucky stars Cunard let's one do it that way.

[Pushka]

In reality few of us can afford to tip everyone. Sure you want to tip the maid at the hotel which is gouging you $400 a night plus $12.95 for Internet and $40 for valet parking. But how many of us do? But enough is enough. On Cunard I kill the auto tip and tip the wait staff and steward personally and call it a day. Solving pay inequities in the multi billion cruise industry is not my problem. And I thank my lucky stars Cunard let's one do it that way.

 

 

Hope the luggage arrives in your cabin, your sheets get washed, the food cooked and dishes washed, that the plumbing holds, the ship engines keep moving and the tenders work on your voyage. Just sayin. Autotips solves that issue for me.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Pushka

[Pennbank]

In reality few of us can afford to tip everyone. Sure you want to tip the maid at the hotel which is gouging you $400 a night plus $12.95 for Internet and $40 for valet parking. But how many of us do? But enough is enough. On Cunard I kill the auto tip and tip the wait staff and steward personally and call it a day. Solving pay inequities in the multi billion cruise industry is not my problem. And I thank my lucky stars Cunard let's one do it that way.

 

I agree completely, I often wander why people post on these forums about how much they tip and how they visit venues around the ship on their last night to do so.

 

The staff on Cunard do appear to enjoy their job and have been returning on and off for many years. Wonder how many are staff on these forums,

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=132

 

False News :eek: possibly !

 

It is strange that in these days of technology we are completely unable to find out the truth about Cunard auto gratuities.

 

OK their is a sticky with clarification from Bellboy who has a personal retired Cunard Hotel manager friend, but even that information does not lay out all the facts about Auto tips. Only about "Lists"

 

What does Cunard do with the Auto tips ?

 

Are they used by the cruise line to top up the staff wages to an agreed minimum amount per person ?

Then anything left from that amount is shared out to the whole staff.

If so then people removing auto tips are making some staff less well off especially those behind the scenes and probably the least paid.

 

Or are the auto tips actually shared out on top, of Cunard paying the full minimum wage to their employees ?

 

Perhaps we will just never know as Cunard employees never appear to tell.

 

I do not believe that most passengers go around the ship on first and last nights dropping $20 about and also keeping the auto tips on.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Pennbank

[resistk]

Hope the luggage arrives in your cabin, your sheets get washed, the food cooked and dishes washed, that the plumbing holds, the ship engines keep moving and the tenders work on your voyage. Just sayin. Autotips solves that issue for me.

 

Then the published fare is not the published fare? You are making it sound like Cunard runs a pirate ship and engages in false advertising. Fact is, regardless what anyone says here, a tip is a tip on Cunard. It is optional. Regardless what you tip or do not tip, service should be first class. It puts people off cruising when they think service and clean sheets is related to how much you bribe the staff.

[MarkBearSF]

As this particular dead horse is brought out for another round of kicking, it remains true that I've never read a rationale for not tipping that doesn't sound to me like an excuse to be cheap on the backs of the hard working crew.

 

Perhaps it's just me.

Edited January 31, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[Pushka]

Then the published fare is not the published fare? You are making it sound like Cunard runs a pirate ship and engages in false advertising. Fact is, regardless what anyone says here, a tip is a tip on Cunard. It is optional. Regardless what you tip or do not tip, service should be first class. It puts people off cruising when they think service and clean sheets is related to how much you bribe the staff.

 

 

Not at all. It's the culture of travelling on ships.

[Salacia]

Not at all. It's the culture of travelling on ships.

 

Yes, it is also my understanding that historically passengers gave gratuities to crew members. I remember an older couple describing how the 'system' worked years ago (cash in suggested amounts placed in envelopes given to cabin steward and restaurant waiters). National cultural customs regarding tipping does not apply on ships - passenger ships have their own culture :)

Edited January 31, 2017 by Salacia

[MarkBearSF]

It wasn't that long ago. You'd get envelopes (sometimes labeled for the crew position) on the penultimate day. Typically with a reminder of suggested tip amounts - except for HAL (which caused issues). Near the end of the cruise, it could become an issue to the unprepared on how to get the appropriate currency for each envelope. (Often the casino held the answer, until they started charging for cash advances and making change.) Note, these memories are from many cruises on a number of lines, so the specifics above may have been different on Cunard.

 

After the final dinner, the waiters and assistant waiters were always around for farewells and a discreet passing of the envelope in thank you. This was also the evening when some cheapskates would decide to dine in the buffet.

 

On our aborted Rembrandt cruise in 2000, luckily, we had assembled the cash at the start of the cruise, so on the third night, when the captain announced that they had declared bankruptcy and we'd be returning to Halifax and offboarded, I was able to rush to may cabin and get the cash tips into the hands of the much-worse-off crew that night.

Edited January 31, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[Salacia]

It wasn't that long ago. You'd get envelopes (sometimes labeled for the crew position) on the penultimate day. Typically with a reminder of suggested tip amounts - except for HAL (which caused issues). Near the end of the cruise, it could become an issue to the unprepared on how to get the appropriate currency for each envelope. (Often the casino held the answer, until they started charging for cash advances and making change.) Note, these memories are from many cruises on a number of lines, so the specifics above may have been different on Cunard.

 

After the final dinner, the waiters and assistant waiters were always around for farewells and a discreet passing of the envelope in thank you. This was also the evening when some cheapskates would decide to dine in the buffet.

 

On our aborted Rembrandt cruise in 2000, luckily, we had assembled the cash at the start of the cruise, so on the third night, when the captain announced that they had declared bankruptcy and we'd be returning to Halifax and offboarded, I was able to rush to may cabin and get the cash tips into the hands of the much-worse-off crew that night.

 

Wow! You were on a ship that got arrested! That doesn't happen too often (thankfully)! How nice that your 'envelopes' were prepared in advance - I'm sure the crew really appreciated your thoughtfulness. Cheers, -S.

[MarkBearSF]

Wow! You were on a ship that got arrested! That doesn't happen too often (thankfully)! How nice that your 'envelopes' were prepared in advance - I'm sure the crew really appreciated your thoughtfulness. Cheers, -S.

 

Yes. Exactly. A few hours before the announcement, as we were reboarding the ship in Halifax we were remarking on how surprisingly interesting the city was and that we might want to visit it again. Little did we know it would be the next morning.

 

As a matter of fact, as we were loading our luggage into our two cabs the next day (there were 3 of us with cruise luggage) after talking our way off the ship instead of returning to NY, the sheriff (I think they have sheriffs in Canada) drove up accompanied by another cop car and we heard him ask to talk to the captain. We sped off and caught the last Air Canada flight from Halifax to Montreal. The hotel was able to accommodate us 4 days early, and we woke up to news all over CNN and CBC about a cruiseline bankruptcy and three ships and over a thousand vacations ruined with an interview with a "very New Jersey" woman we knew from the cruise saying "last night was pirate night and today they made us walk the plank."

 

Instead of 3 days post-cruise in Montreal, we had a week. c'est la vie!

 

- Mark

Edited January 31, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[balf]

Hope the luggage arrives in your cabin, your sheets get washed, the food cooked and dishes washed, that the plumbing holds, the ship engines keep moving and the tenders work on your voyage. .

 

Which of course they will, whether or not.

 

David

[MarkBearSF]

Thank You fantasy, at last ! someone who understands the Cunard procedure and the 'difference' between 'Pooling' additional gratuities and 'Sharing'. Yes there are individual crews members who do indeed share some of the extra cash gratuities that they may have received.

 

Example; Cabin stewards often share something with those from another department who may have offered or, have been scheduled/rostered to help out in the 'Turn Around' on embarkation days .

 

Restaurant waiters will ensure that their junior assistant are taken care of (that's one who often offers bread and water, clears the plates and hands out the menu)

 

Floor Bar waiters ( in the various Venues) will often share any extra gratuities with their Bar Team.

 

Butlers will ensure their assistant ( that's one who has to clean the loo and make the bed )

 

The suggestion from some posters that everything received in cash is thrown into a 'Big Large Pot' to be distributed between all, including those of officer status ( i.e. those who are entitled to have gold on their shoulders) is not only ridiculous, but would be almost impossible to police.

 

 

What goes on Royal Caribbean does not go on Cunard.;)

 

Thank you, Bell Boy, for confirming what had been my understanding.

 

As a fine point, I believe on most lines, for those cabins which had chosen to REMOVE the auto-tip option, the stewards and waiters are required to put cash tips into a pool for the immediate crew described above (NOT officers). I might think this is also true on Cunard - although, as you mention, enforcement depends upon voluntary reporting.

 

If auto-tip is selected, commonly additional cash tips are handled differently, depending upon the line. On Cunard, I think there is no required distribution.

Edited January 31, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[balf]

Thank you, Bell Boy, for confirming what had been my understanding.

 

As a fine point, I believe on most lines, for those cabins which had chosen to REMOVE the auto-tip option, the stewards and waiters are required to put cash tips into a pool for the immediate crew described above (NOT officers). I might think this is also true on Cunard - although, as you mention, enforcement depends upon voluntary reporting.

 

If auto-tip is selected, commonly additional cash tips are handled differently, depending upon the line. On Cunard, I think there is no required distribution.

 

I believe that at least P&O operate in just the same way as Cunard. As to waiters and room stewards "sharing tips" this is just obvious, they work as a team and it would be a very poor functioning team, and one that would not survive long, where the "leading hand" kept all the tips.

 

And Cunard need have no input to this, it's just the way work teams work.

 

DAVID.

[david,Mississauga]

...

 

As a matter of fact, as we were loading our luggage into our two cabs the next day (there were 3 of us with cruise luggage) after talking our way off the ship instead of returning to NY, the sheriff (I think they have sheriffs in Canada) drove up accompanied by another cop car and we heard him ask to talk to the captain.

...

- Mark

 

Yes, we do. A sheriff in Canada is different than in the US: an officer of the court (who can arrest a ship, etc.) as opposed to being a police constable.

 

We were on our annual train trip to Halifax and made a point of watching the Rembrandt sail away as it was the ex-Rotterdam of Holland America. When we got home we were shocked to hear about what happened.

[newcruise]

"... an interview with a "very New Jersey" woman we knew from the cruise..."

 

I'm certain you meant that as a compliment as I resemble that remark!;)

[MarkBearSF]

"... an interview with a "very New Jersey" woman we knew from the cruise..."

 

I'm certain you meant that as a compliment as I resemble that remark!;)

Within moments after boarding, she found us, a group of 3 men ages 35-51, to introduce her unattached daughter. She was actually a lot of fun and her (I assume long-suffering) daughter was good natured and fun as well - on a cruise where a reasonable guess of the average age would be 70. I forget, she may have been from Long Island. In any event, if Jimmy Fallon was playing Linda Richman next to her on TV, you'd be hard-pressed to identify the comedian.

 

And I can name about 8 of my favorite people who live in New Jersey. One of whom runs a business there (a bar in Jersey City).

 

- Mark

Edited February 1, 2017 by MarkBearSF

[Aussieflyer]

Thank you, Bell Boy, for confirming what had been my understanding.

 

As a fine point, I believe on most lines, for those cabins which had chosen to REMOVE the auto-tip option, the stewards and waiters are required to put cash tips into a pool for the immediate crew described above (NOT officers). I might think this is also true on Cunard - although, as you mention, enforcement depends upon voluntary reporting.

 

If auto-tip is selected, commonly additional cash tips are handled differently, depending upon the line. On Cunard, I think there is no required distribution.

 

From my understanding of what Bell Boy posted, this is not the system in use on Cunard. I assumed it was but this was corrected by others earlier in the thread.

[Salacia]

From my understanding of what Bell Boy posted, this is not the system in use on Cunard. I assumed it was but this was corrected by others earlier in the thread.

 

Apparently, my understanding of how gratuities are distributed on Cunard ships was also incorrect. The gospel, as it were, is written on this locked "sticky thread" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2413808

[Pushka]

Apparently, my understanding of how gratuities are distributed on Cunard ships was also incorrect. The gospel, as it were, is written on this locked "sticky thread" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2413808

 

 

And that goes against what I overheard at Passenger Services desk to a customer who was removing their auto tip. He was told that the person in charge of their stateroom area would be informed but not the attendant - to which I am adding .......directly.