Tipping in cash, how do you do it?!

[amaranthus]

Hi! We've cruised a few times with Royal Caribbean and always prepaid gratuities, in October we are thinking of doing it in cash as it seems more personal and will actually reflect the service we receive. Our waiters were great last time but the state room attendant was terrible.

We come from England though where we rarely tip! So here's my question, how do you do it? All at the end of the week? Or for every service? Also how do you tip the MDR staff I heard people get envelopes at the end of the week or do you just leave cash on the table?

 

I don't really want to stiff anyone out of money or offend anyone so advice is greatly received!

[Clarea]

At the end of the cruise, with envelopes.

[swoopy2110]

Being from the UK too I understand your dilemma

 

We always pre-pay tips and then give extra cash to anyone we feels deserves it. That's about it. No need to fell like you've done anyone out of any more then :)

[eaglesfaninfl]

Generally, room stewards leave an envelope(s) in your room a night or two before you disembark. Envelopes are also available at Guest Services, which I use for MDR, if appropriate. Waitstaff in bars who perform exceptional service, I just give them cash when they deliver the drinks.

[cb at sea]

Tipping on cruises is done on the last night of the cruise....not "as you go".

[katiel53]

I only tip in cash when it is extra. The way that the tipping is set up, if you only tip in cash, some members of the tip pool don't get their tips as you might not even know who they are.

 

The automatic gratuity is $13.50 USD, or $16.50 USD for suite guests, applied to each guest's SeaPass® account on a daily basis. Here's how it is shared between your onboard service team:

Standard Staterooms:

 

• $6.35 - Dining Services
  
• $3.45 - Stateroom Attendant
  
• $3.70 - Other Hotel Services
  

Suites:

 

• $6.35 - Dining Services
  
• $6.10 - Suite Attendant
  
• $4.05 - Other Hotel Services
  

I realize tipping is a personal thing, but, to me, just paying the tips daily work out well. If I had a problem with someone, I might consider reducing that part of the tip. Our last cruise we were left envelopes to tip extra to those we felt deserved more. We gave that to them the last night.

[markeb]

A couple of things to consider...

 

RCI breaks down gratuities as:

 

$6.35 - Dining Services

$3.45 - Stateroom Attendant

$3.70 - Other Hotel Services

 

I'm not going to get in the usual arguments about taking care of the workers, etc., but RCI no longer gives a further breakdown on gratuities and it's common practice in the US to pool tips. You theoretically would need to give $6.35/person/day to "someone" in dining services to go into the pool (it would be pooled and split). I don't know who gets the $3.70 per day for other hotel services, which could easily mean that if you give less than $7.15/person/day to your stateroom attendant, it will get pooled and split by some formula. Giving a tip to the person you want to tip, at least if they're in one of those categories, up to the daily gratuity, will almost certainly have the exact same effect as simply leaving autogratuities in place. Tips above and beyond "may" go to the recipient.

 

And, just to be clear, pooling is the "norm" ashore in the US as well. I have no idea how much of my tip my waiter, busser, sommelier, drink server, etc. receives ashore. It only seems to be on cruise ships where the cruise line tells you a little about how they manage gratuities that people care. The pooling and splitting concept seems to be especially confusing to UK, Australia, etc., where tipping just really isn't done (much).

[Grandma Dazzles]

So much easier to either prepay your gratuities, or have them billed to your account daily. As others have pointed out $13.50 per person, per day. This way you make sure that everyone is adequately taken care of. If you don't eat in the MDR the staff still works in other locations, so you are making sure that they receive their gratuity. If you wish to tip extra, on top of the daily gratuities, you may do so in cash, either the last night of your cruise, or on an individual basis. Very difficult to try and tip appropriately in cash all the time, and not necessary if you prepay, or have the tips billed to your account.

 

You mentioned that last time your room steward was terrible ...... did you try to resolve any issues you were having? You could have asked to speak to his/her supervisor, or spoken directly with the steward as to what the problem was. I have had some stewards who were perhaps better than others, i.e. more personable, quicker, etc., but have never had a steward that I thought was "terrible."

[Ocean Boy]

On this cruise that we just finished I prepaid the gratuities but felt our room steward deserved extra so I handed him cash on the last night. He did not seem to mind at all the missing envelop.

[jfogle2017]

So, they aren't automatically billed to your SeaPass? That's what I would assumed per my TA. I haven't cruised since 2009 and we did the envelope system but my understanding was they automatically did them now. If you prefer to do it yourself with cash, how do you do that so that the SeaPass isn't charged?

[juliea344]

So, they aren't automatically billed to your SeaPass? That's what I would assumed per my TA. I haven't cruised since 2009 and we did the envelope system but my understanding was they automatically did them now. If you prefer to do it yourself with cash, how do you do that so that the SeaPass isn't charged?

You have to go to guest services and get the tips removed. I hate that they allow this, personally.

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Forums mobile app

[cruiseguy1016]

So, they aren't automatically billed to your SeaPass? That's what I would assumed per my TA. I haven't cruised since 2009 and we did the envelope system but my understanding was they automatically did them now. If you prefer to do it yourself with cash, how do you do that so that the SeaPass isn't charged?

 

You can go to Guest Services and ask to have the auto tips removed. Then you tip cash to whomever you choose.

[tonyweir]

If you have a crew member who has above and beyond. Get a WOW card from guest services and put your tips and the card in the envelope you can get from guest services.

[DisneyDatknee]

I only took off pre-paid tips on my last cruise due to poor service in the MDR in our section and just ate in the Windjammer instead. I know my decision is not the most keen upon, but I felt it was best at the time and I have no regrets. We tipped with envelopes instead that time, but that's not our habit. If you want to tip by envelope, they give them to you on the last day, but really they are there to give "an extra tip", like we normally do. It's sad that basically tips is the majority of the ship's employees' income, but it's really a personal decision.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[AbeFroman2]

Tipping is tough because you are dealing with the fallout of corporate greed.. Cruise lines have auto gratuities so the passenger is put in a situation to pay more so the company has to pay less to its employees. Shame but true.

 

I keep them on because we have always been treated by kings/queens for the duration of our trip by various staffers. We tip our favorite bartenders, MDR staff, and room steward in cash (like most U.S. servers, they pocket that cash and do not pool it) so we know they are benefiting from our appreciation of all the ways they benefitted our trip.

 

Of course, sometimes this isn't warranted, and each cruiser must make their own decision on that.

 

I'm always tempted to turn the auto-tip off because it annoys me that cruise lines use it almost as an added tax to pay employees, but they so often make the trip for us that I never have the heart to do it. Definitely a to each their own situation, though.

[easyboy]

We just prepay the gratuities, knowing that the system will take care of the crew that were indirectly involved in servicing our needs. At the end of the cruise, we hand out cash tip to crews only to those that have exceptionally served us.

[gerif]

So, you go to guest services and remove the automatic tips - not difficult and the staff knows exactly who has done this. If you then tip anyone in cash, they must turn this in to be pooled. If, however, you leave the automatic tip in place, you can give extra to whomever you please at any time and they can keep it. Also, I would never tolerate "terrible service." A discussion with the person's supervisor will bring about a vast improvement, trust me. On one occasion we received a new waiter, but if we hadn't complained we would have had to endure poor service for the entire cruise.

 

I know many of you feel the cruise line should pay their staff a living wage and not charge gratuities but in the end it's a pay me now or pay me later situation. You either tip or pay more for your cruise upfront. Ever stay in a hotel that charges a "resort fee?" Try to get out of that one whatever it is.