Am I tipping too much?

[Blockschip]

I also agree - the bar staff is already getting 18% on every drink you order and you are automatically also paying the daily gratuity with your cabin. Maybe some extra at the end of the cruise...but paying $4 to $5 tip on each drink? Sorry, too much in my opinion.

 

 

 

Likely, 3% of the 18% is going to the cruise line to cover the processing by costs of charging your card. That leaves 15% as the gratuity, I would probably question whether all of that actually makes it to the line staff. But, then again, I tend to be a skeptic

 

 

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[Quo Vadis?]

a. Now I am perplexed and wondering if I am over extra tipping! Here's what I tip for a family of 4 on a 7 night cruise:

Waiter / Steward $140 - 150

Ass't Waiter / Steward $100 - 125

Sommelier $80

Bar Runner $60

Favorite Bartenders $50 - 60

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

Yes

[PhD-iva]

Bless your heart, I love a good tipper!

Seriously though, staff on cruise ships work a whole lot harder than I would ever want to. I’m sure they deserve everything you give them, and a whole lot more.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

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[ted1973]

I wish I were certain that each individual bar server gets the 18% from a beverage package I received as a perk from Celebrity. As I am not, and we like/appreciate good service we do tip a bit extra with each drink.

 

 

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We saw a waiter from a previous cruise on another cruise once. He asked us to wait for a couple of minutes. When he came back he showed us the card I wrote 2 years prior thanking him for his service. That made me cry. I'm a big mush I guess.

[helen haywood]

Awww. Now I’m mush! [emoji4]

 

 

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[NLH Arizona]

As long as you are comfortable with what you are tipping, that is the only thing that matters.

[Grandmaanne7]

OP, if you are comfortable leaving those tips, please continue to do so. It is not my business or anyone else's how much extra you leave above and beyond the automatic gratuities. I'm sure that every dollar is appreciated by the hard working crew.

 

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[riclop]

Hi! We are going on our 6th Celebrity cruise this Sunday (4/1-8/18 Celebrity Silhouette) and I can never remember exactly how much I tipped, but I do have a general idea. Now I am perplexed and wondering if I am over extra tipping! Here's what I tip for a family of 4 on a 7 night cruise:

Waiter / Steward $140 - 150

Ass't Waiter / Steward $100 - 125

Sommelier $80

Bar Runner $60

Favorite Bartenders $50 - 60

 

Thanks for your feedback!

It's good to have $$$$.

[George C]

Hi! We are going on our 6th Celebrity cruise this Sunday (4/1-8/18 Celebrity Silhouette) and I can never remember exactly how much I tipped, but I do have a general idea. Now I am perplexed and wondering if I am over extra tipping! Here's what I tip for a family of 4 on a 7 night cruise:

Waiter / Steward $140 - 150

Ass't Waiter / Steward $100 - 125

Sommelier $80

Bar Runner $60

Favorite Bartenders $50 - 60

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

You tip more than we do, but if this is in your budget that’s great l am sure crew appricates your generosity .

[bstrong3]

From a tipped employees point of view there is no such thing as over tipping, if you think they deserve it, it will be appreciated.

[bighairtexan]

Look. If you have the extra money and you feel the service was excellent, honestly I'd not presume to tell you that you're tipping "too much". That's quite a personal choice depending on so many circumstances. I tip a fair amount extra to most of the crew that are also included in the auto tip; but you definitely tip more than I normally would. (not trying to imply it's a competition). However, I can afford it, I'm ASSUMING you are not tipping something you cannot afford, and in the grand scheme of things I won't miss that money one teeny tiny bit. I think it makes a bigger difference to the ones receiving the tip than it does for me or for you.

 

So, do you tip more than most? I'd bet the answer is a great big YES. Are you tipping too much? I don't think so, if you feel comfortable with it and feel it's a fair remuneration for services rendered and I bet that they are grateful for your generosity. You GO!!

[sweetpotatoqueen]

We saw a waiter from a previous cruise on another cruise once. He asked us to wait for a couple of minutes. When he came back he showed us the card I wrote 2 years prior thanking him for his service. That made me cry. I'm a big mush I guess.

 

 

 

ted1973, this is the best reply I’ve seen on CruiseCritic. Thank you.

 

 

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[Bo1953]

We saw a waiter from a previous cruise on another cruise once. He asked us to wait for a couple of minutes. When he came back he showed us the card I wrote 2 years prior thanking him for his service. That made me cry. I'm a big mush I guess.

 

A true testament about the type of person you are and how you influenced and impressed another.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Bon voyage

[Bo1953]

It's good to have $$$$.

 

Yes, it is.

 

That is the reason most of us can and do SAIL X, unabashedly, otherwise there are a lot of other lines where it is very cheap, along with the experience.

 

Unless your comment was tounge in cheek and I missed it?

 

Bon voyage

[Bo1953]

I wish I were certain that each individual bar server gets the 18% from a beverage package I received as a perk from Celebrity. As I am not, and we like/appreciate good service we do tip a bit extra with each drink.

 

 

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h - you have to have the faith until you find out differently.

 

Bon voyage

[cruiseerf]

We usually give the auto tips. Then we usually tip the waiter an additional $5 per day per person....Sommelier probably the same if they are good and quick. Yes we have many special requests. Room attendant an additional $100 per person and if Butler $100 per person. we usually end up tipping around $750 for two for a three week cruise. These people work hard, are away from home and deserve it. IMHO. So I think your tipping is a very nice gesture. Also keep in mind....It is a large ship but a small industry....the staffs know who tips and who doesn't AND they all talk to and know each each other. It's a small world.

[Debmacd]

Hi! We are going on our 6th Celebrity cruise this Sunday (4/1-8/18 Celebrity Silhouette) and I can never remember exactly how much I tipped, but I do have a general idea. Now I am perplexed and wondering if I am over extra tipping! Here's what I tip for a family of 4 on a 7 night cruise:

 

Waiter / Steward $140 - 150

 

Ass't Waiter / Steward $100 - 125

 

Sommelier $80

 

Bar Runner $60

 

Favorite Bartenders $50 - 60

 

 

 

Thanks for your feedback!

 

 

 

Ted..... I think it’s great that you tip well.... but are we missing the whole point of pre paying our tips... I love the fact that we no longer have those little envelopes to deal with at the end of the cruise and love that I don’t have to carry money on me while hanging out at pool or having tea or drinks at the Cafe...

We only tip for room service and sometimes if that certain person goes above and beyond...

Looking forward to another great cruise this weekend with all expenses taken care of before we get on the ship.

 

 

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[fizzy1]

Yes, you're tipping too much. (You asked!) If that's what you want to tip, though, go ahead.

 

I just don't see tipping the wait team an extra $240-$275 as necessary unless you're asking for an exceptional number of special requests.

 

 

 

I ageee

 

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

We usually give the auto tips. Then we usually tip the waiter an additional $5 per day per person....Sommelier probably the same if they are good and quick. Yes we have many special requests. Room attendant an additional $100 per person and if Butler $100 per person. we usually end up tipping around $750 for two for a three week cruise. These people work hard, are away from home and deserve it. IMHO. So I think your tipping is a very nice gesture. Also keep in mind....It is a large ship but a small industry....the staffs know who tips and who doesn't AND they all talk to and know each each other. It's a small world.

Really? I have no time for people who don't tip the recommended amount and stiff the crew, but neither do I for those who come on a public forum and show off how much extra they give. Which is what you are doing.

 

Phil

[Expat Cruise]

Likely, 3% of the 18% is going to the cruise line to cover the processing by costs of charging your card. That leaves 15% as the gratuity, I would probably question whether all of that actually makes it to the line staff. But, then again, I tend to be a skeptic

 

 

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This needs to be corrected. Credit Card Companies charge a fee to the business to process the card. Yes it averages around 3% but cruise lines with the volume of business they do and the average transaction size get a deep discount and pay much less.

 

But let's use 3%. If a person has $500 dollars of drink charges the 18% service fee is $90.00 the credit card processing fee 3% of $90.00 would be $2.70. That leaves 87% of the service fee after processing. It is 3% of 18% service fee not 18% service fee - 3% = 15%.

 

But the cruise line could tell the staff 3% and pay on only 15%. In truth I do not think the people you would ant tipped get even half of the service fee. This is a profit center for the cruise line.

 

OP the tip you leave is up to you. But if you ask me my opinion you are over tipping.

[cb at sea]

My business does NOWHERE NEAR the amount of sales that a cruiseline does....and we only pay 2%...the cruiseline is likely paying less than 1.8%....big difference!

[Blockschip]

This needs to be corrected. Credit Card Companies charge a fee to the business to process the card. Yes it averages around 3% but cruise lines with the volume of business they do and the average transaction size get a deep discount and pay much less.

 

But let's use 3%. If a person has $500 dollars of drink charges the 18% service fee is $90.00 the credit card processing fee 3% of $90.00 would be $2.70. That leaves 87% of the service fee after processing. It is 3% of 18% service fee not 18% service fee - 3% = 15%.

 

But the cruise line could tell the staff 3% and pay on only 15%. In truth I do not think the people you would ant tipped get even half of the service fee. This is a profit center for the cruise line.

 

OP the tip you leave is up to you. But if you ask me my opinion you are over tipping.

 

The 3% would be on the $500, or $15 of processing fees, leaving $75 of the $90 to go to the tip (75/500=15%). Agreed, though, the processing charge is probably lower due to volume

[Expat Cruise]

The 3% would be on the $500, or $15 of processing fees, leaving $75 of the $90 to go to the tip (75/500=15%). Agreed, though, the processing charge is probably lower due to volume

 

Sorry some may need to go back to basic math class. If the bill is $500 and the service fee 18% that is $90, so the total bill is $590.

 

The service fee is $90.00 the credit card processing fee 3% (agreed it could be less but max of 3%) 3% of $90.00 is $2.70 not $15.00. Which leaves $87.30 not $75.00.

 

The whole bill processing charge should not be charge to the service fee.... but with creative account that the cruise lines use they could say Total bill $590.00 3% is $ $17.70 and then take the whole processing fee from the tip $90.00 less $17.70 = $72.30. This could be one of the many ways a cruise ship shorts crew.

[Blockschip]

True ;-)

Didn't intend to hijack the thread. We probably should have a separate thread on how much of the tip we think the staff actually gets.

And one on basic math for those of us who have not had enough coffee this morning. ;-)

[helen haywood]

But this math really refers to drinks you are actually purchasing. I’m talking about drinks rung up from a beverage package I did not purchase myself but received as a perk. If my bill is zero do I believe that Celebrity’s internal accounting calculates 18% of my drink price and puts that amount on the servers paycheck?

 

And to Bo, faith is what gets me through most days! [emoji56]

 

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