Possible answer to cash tipping

[cruzsnooze]

So what about room service? I order coffee and tomato juice every morning and always give the deliverer $2.00. Do you think they get to keep it or have to turn it in?

The passage is up to you to interpret , but my interpretation would be NO they have to turn it into the pool.

"Each and every crew member also agrees to deliver any such voluntary passenger contribution he or she receives from any passenger under any circumstances to the Pool immediately upon receipt."

[cruzsnooze]

Well, we know it isn't complete, because complete would be the whole contract, not one little snippet.

The whole contract is posted in #20 so read it and then you won't feel you only got one snippit although the snippit was the one pertinent to tips.

[Tedferg]

This is correct. I’ve spoken to Captains, Staff Captains, Hotel Managers, etc.

 

The beverage/bar service staff have a different system since every drink is automatically charged 15%. All extra tips are pooled since some bars/lounges are much busier than others.

 

Interesting, the OP is somewhat ambiguous, I can easily read it as referring to whether Automatic Gratuities are in place, specifically the comment towards the end about ' company not obligated to make up the difference' Like Thrak I would be reluctant to make an extra contribution to a fleet-wide pool.

 

Regarding bar staff, it makes sense that 15% is shared across all venues - we had a drink in Adagio and I felt sorry for the server since we were the only ones in there. I could see that servers would pool extra tips with bar staff in their bar - if this too is shared across all bar staff, then maybe extra tips to favorite server are a waste too.

[thinfool]

Y'all need a lawyer to read and explain this.

 

While everyone makes an interesting point, until someone with an accurate understanding of contract verbiage weighs in...no one is right.

[WAMarathoner]

That really sucks for those who go above and beyond. On our last cruise, even though we used gift cards, the waiter asked for our room number. No other person who received them did so, but obviously the steward knew. Into pockets for the rest -- AS WAS INTENDED.

 

Back to letter-writing, I guess. A positive letter will have a greater impact than the .03 they'd get from a pooled tip. *sigh* Sucky, sucky, sucky.

[sprint180]

That really sucks for those who go above and beyond. On our last cruise, even though we used gift cards, the waiter asked for our room number. No other person who received them did so, but obviously the steward knew. Into pockets for the rest -- AS WAS INTENDED.

 

Back to letter-writing, I guess. A positive letter will have a greater impact than the .03 they'd get from a pooled tip. *sigh* Sucky, sucky, sucky.

 

If I may ask, what kind of gift cards? Like the "visa" kind or walmart and the like?

[Mike45LC]

I always do the full auto-gratuity, and I (almost) always hand in extra cash to the cabin steward, waiter and busboy (I do Traditional Dining, so I get the same wait-staff the entire cruise). Since the advent of the auto-gratuity, I do not use envelopes. I hand over cash, very discretely. I have no idea what the recipient does with the cash -- keeps it or pools it? Not my business.

[CruiseGal999]

I think Nukesubsailor is correct.

When I read the contract, my take is...it doesn't say anything about tips over and above the auto grats. It seems to say, if you leave the auto grats in place or give the auto grats to Princess (i.e. take it to Passenger Services) OR hand the total of the auto grats to your room steward, it goes into the pool regardless of how you do it.

It doesn't mention extra tips.

 

It doesn't use the word 'extra' ... but it does cover the extra/additional tips.

 

Each and every crew member also agrees to deliver

any such voluntary passenger contribution he or she receives from any passenger under

any circumstances to the Pool immediately upon receipt

[chengkp75]

As noted, that contract is over 10 years old, and much has changed in that time. I believe the term "discretionary hotel and dining charge" refers to when there was a "recommended" gratuity, not when there is a daily service charge added to the passenger's bill daily, but then only removed as a conscious act by the passenger. This contract also pre-dates the Manila Labor Convention, which went into effect in 2013, and which guarantees a minimum wage for all seafarers, which this contract does not address in any way. I would disregard reading anything into this contract with regards to the status of DSC or "additional tips" in today's context.

[cruzsnooze]

As noted, that contract is over 10 years old, and much has changed in that time. I believe the term "discretionary hotel and dining charge" refers to when there was a "recommended" gratuity, not when there is a daily service charge added to the passenger's bill daily, but then only removed as a conscious act by the passenger. This contract also pre-dates the Manila Labor Convention, which went into effect in 2013, and which guarantees a minimum wage for all seafarers, which this contract does not address in any way. I would disregard reading anything into this contract with regards to the status of DSC or "additional tips" in today's context.

The date on this is......................copied and pasted not old and certainly after 2013

 

Submitted by jozo on 15 November, 2015 - 19:32

 

As to The post stating the OP is ambiguous, I only copied and pasted and never inserted my opinion nor tried to interpret anything, I specifically only posted the contract via a copy and paste. I do personally believe the crew tells tales to extract extra tips even though they may go into the pool. There are never two crew members who tell the same story , just like Princess customer service, ask two reps and get 2 answers. It's up to those who read this thread to make their opinion of what actually happens.

 

Princess Cruises Crew Wages Details

 

[GUT2407]

Y'all need a lawyer to read and explain this.

 

While everyone makes an interesting point, until someone with an accurate understanding of contract verbiage weighs in...no one is right.

Well I’ll chip in, it means all cash tips need to be handed in to the pool.

 

Unless there has been something inserted into recent contracts that’s it, in to the pool. There is no mention of getting it back in the contracts I’ve seen, nor in the one linked here.

[SharkieRools]

The date on this is......................copied and pasted not old and certainly after 2013

 

Submitted by jozo on 15 November, 2015 - 19:32

 

This looks like it was copied/pasted from the crew center website at http://www.crew-center.com/princess-cruises-crew-wages-details and is excerpts of the doc I gave a link for from 2007. In fact if you look at that site you'll see page numbers and "PCL 11/07" within their posting.

 

In any case as chengkp75 and others note, things have changed in the past 10 years, and even if this doc is still valid there is no guideline on how the gratuities are actually distributed within it.

[TheRabbit]

Does anyone have info a crew member has told him directly over the last year?

It seams like every time one of these boards pops up, the conjecture is all over the place. In talking with a Princess rep on the phone who cruises quite often with her company, any tip given to any crew member is kept by that crew member. Again, more third hand knowledge and the pot keeps getting stirred!:eek:

[Happy2cruise]

Does anyone have info a crew member has told him directly over the last year?

It seams like every time one of these boards pops up, the conjecture is all over the place. In talking with a Princess rep on the phone who cruises quite often with her company, any tip given to any crew member is kept by that crew member. Again, more third hand knowledge and the pot keeps getting stirred!:eek:

We've been told by several room stewards ( the last being in December) that if the auto tips are left on they get to keep the extra tip and if auto tips are removed the extra tip goes in a pool.

[mellon1]

Seconded

 

THIRD! We were told this by multiple waiters/assistants. They have to put it in the pool as the last minute some passengers delete the tip, like after dinner unfortunately.

[elliair]

drew69

 

 

 

Posted Today, 08:55 AM

 

Originally posted by LazyMary So does that mean ....If I leave the daily tips in place and then give my room steward , waiter and assistant waiter and room service person an extra cash gratuity , they must pool it ?

Yes

 

 

 

Well I was under the impression that the steward/waiter got to keep the "extra" tip. I even asked our room steward if that were so and he said "yes." Now maybe he just wanted to turn it in for a pat on the back. So, that's the end of my extra giving because I don't believe that EVERYONE getting the tip helped me and DH like our room steward did. Sad for the room steward.

[TheRabbit]

We've been told by several room stewards ( the last being in December) that if the auto tips are left on they get to keep the extra tip and if auto tips are removed the extra tip goes in a pool.

Thanks for the info. This is what I had heard years ago and have left the auto function on so I could "extra" tip the servers who helped us.

[AmazedByCruising]

That's not my read of the contract. It explicitly says that any money delivered to a crew member is not a wage, but a contribution to the pool, and the crew member must deliver that money to the pool immediately.

 

If this is accurate and there are no other clarifying documents, it means that all tips are pooled, regardless of passenger intent or auto-gratuities.

 

IANAL, and not native to English, but "Nonetheless, to the extent passengers follow the suggested contribution guidelines in whole" IMHO means "you always need to pool your tips, unless the passengers paid as 'we suggested'". "to the extent"="this gets void only when". Why would a contract say anything about passengers paying DSC when that has no implications at all?

 

I think the conventional wisdom is right. I also think that the wording "to the extent" is meant to imply that people not removing DSC are expected to be the exception, and the crew member should count on not getting anything from the pool either.

[MTNestr]

If all tips including the extra tips go into the same pool then why are we required to write our names and room number on the tip envelopes that we give to our waiter and room steward? Isn’t it so that they are returned to the waiter and room steward once they verify that we also gave Auto Gratuities?

[thinfool]

If all tips including the extra tips go into the same pool then why are we required to write our names and room number on the tip envelopes that we give to our waiter and room steward? Isn’t it so that they are returned to the waiter and room steward once they verify that we also gave Auto Gratuities?

 

Not sure what this means...we never put our names on the plain, white envelopes that we receive from Passenger Services. We just add cash and hand it to whomever we want.

[frugaltravel]

If all tips including the extra tips go into the same pool then why are we required to write our names and room number on the tip envelopes that we give to our waiter and room steward? Isn’t it so that they are returned to the waiter and room steward once they verify that we also gave Auto Gratuities?

 

Writing name and room number on extra tips is not always done. Definitely not "required."

[MargoK]

All very interesting.

 

Australian and New Zealand passengers sailing on local and South Pacific cruises do not pay daily gratuities at all as the it is inclusive of the cruise price.

 

After being on the Sun Princess twice in the last 12 months we meet a number of staff who had left and returned on a new contract as they prefer to be on ships 'downunder'. No further explanation was received or asked.

 

Also we were told by crew that they prefer commendations in writing to Princess as this 'counts' more towards promotion.

 

Despite there being no requirement to tip I also understand the Aussies and Kiwis are the best tippers!

 

So what to believe?

 

At the end of the day, we tip (auto or not) as we see fit. We have no say in their employment contracts and I do not believe it is for us to interpret or otherwise discuss their employment contracts. I certainly do not ask the public to scrutinize my employment contract nor would I be happy for others to make judgments.

[GUT2407]

If all tips including the extra tips go into the same pool then why are we required to write our names and room number on the tip envelopes that we give to our waiter and room steward? Isn’t it so that they are returned to the waiter and room steward once they verify that we also gave Auto Gratuities?

I Never use envelopes just give them some $$$$.

[cruzsnooze]

We have no say in their employment contracts and I do not believe it is for us to interpret or otherwise discuss their employment contracts. I certainly do not ask the public to scrutinize my employment contract nor would I be happy for others to make judgments.

You are missing the point entirely. It's definitely our business to know if the money we give as a cash tip is allowed to be kept by the recipient. That information can determine if and when and how much people choose to give. As far as salary and other benefits, I agree it's not our business.

[Luvmyrotti]

Y'all need a lawyer to read and explain this.

 

While everyone makes an interesting point, until someone with an accurate understanding of contract verbiage weighs in...no one is right.

Not only an attorney, but a Princess attorney. Ultimately, it is the Princess' attorney interpretation (until challenged in a court and ruled on by a judge) that governs.