Prepaid tips vs cash

[tbillcruising]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Similar to why I don’t do “auto” tip. I tip cash, and ONLY of if it is EARNED. 

I do the same. For some reason according to many posters on this thread this practice = being cheap, not tipping at all and doing it wrong! LOL

[springfire]

3 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Do you buy goods in a store on land such as Macy's?  Kohl's?  Publix?  Piggly Wiggly?  Tiffany's?  CVS?

 

Do you know that when you spend money there, some of that money goes to pay the people  who work there?  That $10 shirt does not cost the store $9.00 with $1 profit.

 

EVERY business pays its workers from the money that it takes from its customers.

And no tips are required to pay any of those employees!

[tbillcruising]

7 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

Do you buy goods in a store on land such as Macy's?  Kohl's?  Publix?  Piggly Wiggly?  Tiffany's?  CVS?

 

Do you know that when you spend money there, some of that money goes to pay the people  who work there?  That $10 shirt does not cost the store $9.00 with $1 profit.

 

EVERY business pays its workers from the money that it takes from its customers.

Correct. The are paid from the cruise fare that we pay for the vacation.  The tip is something extra for extra special service rendered not contribution to salaries.

[tbillcruising]

4 minutes ago, springfire said:

And no tips are required to pay any of those employees!

Correct!!!

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, springfire said:

And no tips are required to pay any of those employees!

AMEN

[Brew City G]

Hi Guys, OP here, I didn't intend to cause a fire storm here, but I just heard stories that I wanted to debunk, that employees on different ships were sharing my tips. I was also told, by a bartender, that when you tip a dollar in cash, it goes to that bartender, when you write 1 dollar down on the receipt they give you, it goes to the team working that night at the casino for instance. I just want to know from all the veteran cruisers who monitor this site. I am somewhat of a newbie, 9 cruises all with RCI.

 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

10 hours ago, Cruiselover0426 said:

It is a personal, optional thing to do.

Yes and nobody here has the power to change that! 👍

[Thorben-Hendrik]

8 hours ago, mayleeman said:

How do you calculate that? Do you have a set amount in mind that they could earn, and reduce it when service is subpar? Or do you start at zero and add something whenever particular service deserves it?

 

Does someone doing his or her job get a tip for merely doing the job their job description entails, or do they have to perform beyond expectations all the time?

 

I am not trying to be snarky. I am just highlighting how hard it is to calculate the tip over 1, 2 or even 3 weeks, and wonder how that is done. Can one bad day negate 9 good days in that equation?

 

Auto tips help avoid that quagmire for us. But we are "share the wealth" people very aware of how lucky we are to have resources sufficient for cruising, and we enjoy finding ways we can add something to the lives of people not so blessed. I fear that some people look for reasons to withhold, even to punish. While it is their right, I couldn't live like that.

I like this approach.... even so I do not agree! 👍

[DISFANS3]

We also tip extra for good service..

[dpostman]

8 hours ago, Brew City G said:

Hi Guys, OP here, I didn't intend to cause a fire storm here, but I just heard stories that I wanted to debunk, that employees on different ships were sharing my tips. I was also told, by a bartender, that when you tip a dollar in cash, it goes to that bartender, when you write 1 dollar down on the receipt they give you, it goes to the team working that night at the casino for instance. I just want to know from all the veteran cruisers who monitor this site. I am somewhat of a newbie, 9 cruises all with RCI.

 

 

Hey OP,  The tipping subject is always a fiercely debated subject on CC.  Feel proud that this thread has not been locked yet.  They usually don't last this long before a moderator has to shut it down,  and rightfully so.  Some posts sometimes get out of hand.  If you want to start another one, try posting that you intend to share drink package, or bring on Rum Runners. 😱 (Just kidding BTW)

 

Anyway, you probably got more than you bargained for but as far as I know, the statement above is correct.  Cash tips are kept (probably for the most part, perhaps a few of them do pool the cash tips) and tips paid by adding to the slips are pooled.

 

I stated some of this in an earlier post but here goes.  We leave the Auto gratuities.  I usually tip $1 or $2 in cash when I get drinks depending on the complexity of the drink(s).  I tip more when we have our Formal night pre-dinner drinks, Usually we go to our favorite bar and favorite bartender and we are "In the mood".  We give a cash tip to our server after a specialty restaurant meal usually between $10 and $20.  At the end of a cruise, we leave cash tip to MDR server and assistant server, maybe the drink waiter if they were attentive.  And of course, also to our room attendant.

 

We know in advance that this is going to be paid out and we just figure it in our total cost.

 

dp

Edited February 23, 2019 by dpostman

[tbillcruising]

12 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

The good news is that as grumpy as the casino cashiers are about this, the people  at Guest Services are delighted to help you.  🙂

In the 2 weeks we were just on b2b not one time was a casino cashier grumpy to us when we broke down large bills into 5's and 1's.  They were happy to do it.  You certainly cannot speak for all casino cashiers or for all guest service employees either for that matter.  

[Hoopster95]

It is clearly documented in this thread, as well as the hundreds of other previous tipping threads, that RCL (and all cruise lines) incorrectly call them "gratuities".... they truly are not, they are wages. As mentioned in previous posts and pages on this very thread, I also feel the cruise lines should be forced to include these WAGES into the cruise fare (like any other profession/job in the world) and cease to incorrectly call them "tips". 

 

If they were included in your cruise fare, you would embark a RCL ship and truly "tip" at your discretion.... $0 or as much as you want.... just like anywhere in the world.... and only when you want to (ie. for exemplary service as always mentioned). Unfortunately RCL and other cruise lines have put this on us, the cruiser, to have the option (of removing those "gratuities") to screw employees out of their WAGES by those who refuse to comprehend and understand that they are, in fact, NOT gratuities.

 

[Amberle3]

I agree.  Cruise lines long ago figured out that there are several advantages (to them) to paying their service staff a very, very small base salary.

- They get to advertise lower fares because they don't have to factor salary in to the equation

- They have a tighter hold on their employees because they can move them to other positions where they may not earn the same type of tips at any time.

 

I've been trying to find recent articles on what cruise line wait staff/room steward BASE salary is.  The most current one I found was from 2014 and states that wait staff and room stewards get a base salary of $50 a month, with the cruise line expecting that tips from the guests will bring that up to a decent wage.

 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2014/02/articles/crew-member-rights/royal-caribbean-the-rich-get-richer-the-poor-get-poorer/

 

I have seen that $50 wage mentioned other places as well.

 

I've also seen articles that mention that many cruise lines go to agents to find new hires for positions - these agents  often charge applicants anywhere from $500-$2000 to find cruise line jobs for them.  Cruise lines will sometimes pay for airfare for new hires, which is then deducted from their salaries so that they actually start their jobs in debt to the cruise line.

 

Staff also have to pay for internet, uniforms etc.

 

We're on Oasis right now.  I asked our head waiter what he does during the day, he said that he's lucky because he gets to work Coastal Kitchen for breakfast & lunch then has a 2 hour nap, and then MDR for dinner.  That was a port day, so his work hours were from 6:30/7:00am (have to be there to help get the dining room set for service) until around 9:30/10:00pm (MDR closes at 9, have to stay until guests are finished and then get it cleared), with a 2ish hour break during the day. We're talking 12-13 hours of work every day, 7 days a week, for 6-10 months (however long his contract is for), with the odd day off awarded here and there.  For a base salary of $50 a month.  

 

That's why tipping is so important.  I know some people choose to remove auto-gratuities and then not tip because they think it's somehow going to send a message to the cruise line, but it's not.  The cruise line doesn't care if you don't tip, it doesn't hurt them.  In fact it helps them because they use that as leverage to keep control over their workers. If they know you've cancelled tips, but they don't know that you're tipping in any other way, then they assume the worker is doing a substandard job and they can punish or intimidate them to get them to work even harder.

 

1 hour ago, Hoopster95 said:

It is clearly documented in this thread, as well as the hundreds of other previous tipping threads, that RCL (and all cruise lines) incorrectly call them "gratuities".... they truly are not, they are wages. As mentioned in previous posts and pages on this very thread, I also feel the cruise lines should be forced to include these WAGES into the cruise fare (like any other profession/job in the world) and cease to incorrectly call them "tips". 

 

If they were included in your cruise fare, you would embark a RCL ship and truly "tip" at your discretion.... $0 or as much as you want.... just like anywhere in the world.... and only when you want to (ie. for exemplary service as always mentioned). Unfortunately RCL and other cruise lines have put this on us, the cruiser, to have the option (of removing those "gratuities") to screw employees out of their WAGES by those who refuse to comprehend and understand that they are, in fact, NOT gratuities.

 

[Amberle3]

My first cruise was before auto-gratuities were commonplace and tips were handled through envelopes handed out.  I'd already been told by others that since tip envelopes were given to the wait staff at the last dinner that it would be the emptiest night of the cruise.  Sure enough that last night I'd say 20-25% of the guests didn't eat in the MDR, and presumably didn't hand in their tip envelopes either.

[Merion_Mom]

3 hours ago, tbillcruising said:

In the 2 weeks we were just on b2b not one time was a casino cashier grumpy to us when we broke down large bills into 5's and 1's.  They were happy to do it.  You certainly cannot speak for all casino cashiers or for all guest service employees either for that matter.  

I would like to know which ship this was, since every ship that I have  been on recently has this we-don't-give-out-change attitude.

[not-enough-cruising]

16 minutes ago, Amberle3 said:

I agree.  Cruise lines long ago figured out that there are several advantages (to them) to paying their service staff a very, very small base salary.

- They get to advertise lower fares because they don't have to factor salary in to the equation

- They have a tighter hold on their employees because they can move them to other positions where they may not earn the same type of tips at any time.

 

I've been trying to find recent articles on what cruise line wait staff/room steward BASE salary is.  The most current one I found was from 2014 and states that wait staff and room stewards get a base salary of $50 a month, with the cruise line expecting that tips from the guests will bring that up to a decent wage.

 

https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2014/02/articles/crew-member-rights/royal-caribbean-the-rich-get-richer-the-poor-get-poorer/

 

 

By posting a link to the above website you have shot all chances you had at credibility. 

[Amberle3]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

By posting a link to the above website you have shot all chances you had at credibility. 

 

Although I've had an account here for several years I'm not a frequent poster or even a lurker, I'm only here sporadically.  I mean this in all sincerity - if you know of a more recent, more credible source of actual base salary then please tell me, I honestly would appreciate knowing.

 

The $50 base salary figure is in line with what I've heard from several other sources, so I saw no reason to doubt it.

[frank808]

On 2/22/2019 at 6:44 AM, dpostman said:

 

Thanks.  This gives me enough options that I won't worry about bringing 2 weeks worth of 1$ bills .  I'l just bring enough to cover the first few days.

 

dp

Just got off 21 days on serenade.  Juat went to guest services or the casino and they were able to break large bills.  Couldnt imagine bringing that many $1 bills for happy hour over 21 nights.  On the first day I stopped by guest services to get some singles.

[sun_lovin!1]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 7:34 AM, BNBR said:

 

Will you be tipping in the buffet or any other non-dining room venue?  Grab a slice of pizza, here's cash.  Walk around to each buffet station handing out money?  Maybe you can take the ship behind the scenes tour so that you can see the laundry folks and hand them tip money, too? 

As a matter of fact, I do tip the person that makes my omelet in the buffet line, as well as anyone else in the buffet that I think helps me out over and above.  I have also tipped the person that makes my gluten free toast each morning.  And my bartenders, and my waiters, and my room steward, and the entertainers.  I bring cash specifically to tip these wonderful people who work so hard to make my vacation fun, relaxed and happy.

[dpostman]

1 hour ago, frank808 said:

Just got off 21 days on serenade.  Juat went to guest services or the casino and they were able to break large bills.  Couldnt imagine bringing that many $1 bills for happy hour over 21 nights.  On the first day I stopped by guest services to get some singles.

That is great news.  Probably throw my back out carrying that many dollar bills in my wallet.

 

dp

[frank808]

1 minute ago, dpostman said:

That is great news.  Probably throw my back out carrying that many dollar bills in my wallet.

 

dp

No problem.  I only went to the casino once as it was smoky and I didn't like going through there.  Guest services had no lines and it was by the dining room so was a lot more convenient.

[tbillcruising]

21 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

I would like to know which ship this was, since every ship that I have  been on recently has this we-don't-give-out-change attitude.

The latest was Harmony. We use the casino for all $ transactions (i.e. breaking large bills, getting cash to take on shore, etc) and have never encountered an attitude or grumpiness at any time.  We are regulars in the casino and we TIP very well there (in cash, never auto) and have been treated well by ALL employees there.  This would be on Anthem (Hannes is running a great show in that casino), Allure, Harmony, Oasis, Symphony, Independence.

[Cruiselover0426]

On 2/22/2019 at 10:08 PM, tbillcruising said:

I do the same. For some reason according to many posters on this thread this practice = being cheap, not tipping at all and doing it wrong! LOL

You will never win here. You are not cheap, tipping is personal and you don't owe anyone here an explanation.  I too don't understand how they interpret not using auto tips as not tipping at all.  Just do your thing.  We are not wrong. They are wrong for thinking tipping is required, automatic or whatever else they think. 

[Cruiselover0426]

On 2/23/2019 at 2:33 PM, Merion_Mom said:

I would like to know which ship this was, since every ship that I have  been on recently has this we-don't-give-out-change attitude.

You have to ask nicely. LOL.

Edited February 25, 2019 by Cruiselover0426

[LMaxwell]

On 2/21/2019 at 12:09 AM, Brew City G said:

Hi Guys, I'm sure this has been brought up before, but I just want to be positive before I do this on my next cruise. I have heard with pre paid tips, charged to your sea pass daily, don't nessecerrly  go to who you expect them to go to. I have heard tips are pooled and distributed to employees who "grade well in surveys", even on other cruises. Don't get me wrong, we always pre pay gratuities, and throw an extra $20 in an envelope for our stateroom attendant, head waiter and asst waiter, we also give the matride $10 bucks for clearing our table and asking us to dine in one of the pay restuarants.  We also tip $1.00 on every drink we get with the drink package, so we are not cheapskates. So if I go to customer service and ask to have my gratuities taken off my account, and then, give my stateroom attendant ( for a party of 4) $6.00 x 4 = $24.00 x7 = $168.00 + $20.00 (which we normally add on ) and ect for everyone else, would I be upsetting the apple cart? 

Let me know, and thanks in advance for your replies

 

Wanna see 'em jump?  Use cash.