Tipping room steward after prepaying gratuities

[Donsyb]

44 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Exactly. I feel like I spend $100 every time I leave the house, just by doing things like buying coffee and picking up something at the grocery store. 
 

What people think is a lot of money is relative to their outlook on so many things; how much money that person is accustomed to regularly spending, how much discretionary money they allow themselves to spend, their age (my 70 year old mother still thinks $40 is a lot of money, so don't even get her started on $100), their income, etc.

 

Everyone views money differently, and while one person may feel $100 isn't a lot, another will feel it's outrageous. 

Agreed.  

As people’s income and circumstances can vary so much, what is a lot to one person is pocket change to another. Therefore I don’t think anyone should be telling someone else “it’s only $100 you can afford it” when they don’t know that persons situation.  People seem to assume if you’re going in a cruise you are wealthy, but some people will have saved for years to go  on one cruise and it may be the only time they get to do it.

 

Therefore IMO the best advice is - it’s discretionary, auto tips will be added to your account, if you are comfortable

paying more and think the service received warrants it, then pay what you are comfortable paying.

[cruiselvr04]

9 minutes ago, Donsyb said:

 

Therefore IMO the best advice is - it’s discretionary, auto tips will be added to your account, if you are comfortable

paying more and think the service received warrants it, then pay what you are comfortable paying.

 
This is the best advice I see on this subject.  Pay the auto tips and the rest is up to you. Above that shouldn’t be expected but will be appreciated.  

[rudeney]

Anytime I have ever tipped anyone onboard "over and above" the automatically added amounts - whether it's the stateroom attendant, a bartender or a restaurant server - it has always been accepted with genuine appreciation and a total lack of expectations.

[NotPayinExtra]

3 hours ago, Donsyb said:

Agreed.  

As people’s income and circumstances can vary so much, what is a lot to one person is pocket change to another. Therefore I don’t think anyone should be telling someone else “it’s only $100 you can afford it” when they don’t know that persons situation.  People seem to assume if you’re going in a cruise you are wealthy, but some people will have saved for years to go  on one cruise and it may be the only time they get to do it.

 

Therefore IMO the best advice is - it’s discretionary, auto tips will be added to your account, if you are comfortable

paying more and think the service received warrants it, then pay what you are comfortable paying.

I think this sums it up perfectly. 

[CanHardlyWait4NextYear]

4 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Exactly. I feel like I spend $100 every time I leave the house, just by doing things like buying coffee and picking up something at the grocery store. 
 

What people think is a lot of money is relative to their outlook on so many things; how much money that person is accustomed to regularly spending, how much discretionary money they allow themselves to spend, their age (my 70 year old mother still thinks $40 is a lot of money, so don't even get her started on $100), their income, etc.

 

Everyone views money differently, and while one person may feel $100 isn't a lot, another will feel it's outrageous. 

I love the order of this list. "How much money a person is accustomed to regularly spending", "how much discretionary money they allow themselves to spend", and way down at the bottom "their income, etc". Particularly love the comma etc.

For many of us "income" is at the top of that list. And I don't "view" $100 as a lot of money. The math of my life does that for me. It's not "relative to their outlook" it's just plain dollars and cents math. Not everyone gets to decide how important $100 is to their bottom line. The black and white math of their very existence does that for them. 

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, rudeney said:

Anytime I have ever tipped anyone onboard "over and above" the automatically added amounts - whether it's the stateroom attendant, a bartender or a restaurant server - it has always been accepted with genuine appreciation and a total lack of expectations.

I agree. However, I find their leaving envelopes in the cabin a bit annoying. It is as if they are asking for more.

[zeroed]

We usually give the steward 40 bucks at the beginning and ask for extra pillows and such. If they do a great job for the duration we give another 40-60. Most of them do an excellent job. 
After reading these tipping threads some of y’all need to cruise right on back to Carnival. 

[mpdog42]

1 hour ago, zeroed said:

We usually give the steward 40 bucks at the beginning and ask for extra pillows and such. If they do a great job for the duration we give another 40-60. Most of them do an excellent job. 
After reading these tipping threads some of y’all need to cruise right on back to Carnival. 

Yeah🙄 and when you go, Hire two armed Police Officers to go with you!!!😁

[rudeney]

15 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I agree. However, I find their leaving envelopes in the cabin a bit annoying. It is as if they are asking for more.

 

At first I thought that, too, but then I realized that he left two envelopes so I took it more in the spirit of being for anyone who gave us exceptional service.  I saw these envelopes in the SL, along with copies of pretty much any of the papers we had delivered to the stateroom each day, so that also reinforced my thoughts of it being for anyone, because I didn't assume the envelopes in the SL were the concierge asking for tips.  And this was the first cruise I did not tip the concierge.   He just didn't do anything for us.

[Sancho_proudfoot]

We tipped our room steward extra as he had found a tiny piece of jewellery  we had lost. We asked him if he could keep it all, or if he had to pool it with other crew . He said yes, he can keep it, BUT he's  supposed to declare it, and an equivalent  amount is deducted  from his wage! ( With a knowing wink he said they don't declare every cent....

 

)

[beckyboo1986]

Such an interesting thread. 

 

I have always thought we should tip more. I'm from the UK, where we don't tip often. I would pre-paid gratuities then I've left $50 for the stateroom attendant and roughly $40 for the waiters.

 

I have a slight dilemma where it's just me and my toddler travelling on our next cruise and I decided not to pre-pay the tips as when I booked I was told that if I speak to Guest Services onboard, they'll only charge for one persons tips.

 

Some would argue that toddler should pay too (considering I've paid double occupancy). He won't be trashing the cabin as I tidy up after him anyways but I'm not sure morally what's correct.

[Ret MP]

When I cruise with friends and family, especially the first timers, I recommend that they don't prepay the gratuities.  Why?  Because if for some reason you lose a night or two on the front of the cruise or back or both (which has happened to us, twice.  Both on Rustbucket Cruise Lines, Inc.  Think Hurricane Sandy, for one) you have to wait on a credit to show up on your C.C. or a FCC, or whatever they do.  In any case, it's just another thing that you have to  keep track of, post cruise (usually) and hope they handle it quickly and efficiently.  If you let them charge the gratuities daily, if you start late or end early, or both, it just isn't charged to your Set Sail Account, done!  Oh, and if you have OBCs, you can use them for the gratuities, if you want.  

 

Tip often, tip generously! 

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, beckyboo1986 said:

Such an interesting thread. 

 

I have always thought we should tip more. I'm from the UK, where we don't tip often. I would pre-paid gratuities then I've left $50 for the stateroom attendant and roughly $40 for the waiters.

 

I have a slight dilemma where it's just me and my toddler travelling on our next cruise and I decided not to pre-pay the tips as when I booked I was told that if I speak to Guest Services onboard, they'll only charge for one persons tips.

 

Some would argue that toddler should pay too (considering I've paid double occupancy). He won't be trashing the cabin as I tidy up after him anyways but I'm not sure morally what's correct.

The gratuity goes to those who wash the sheets and towel, those who prepare meals, servers, hosts, those who keep the ship clean, heck when my kids were little I tipped big time at restaurants.

[time4u2go]

43 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

The gratuity goes to those who wash the sheets and towel, those who prepare meals, servers, hosts, those who keep the ship clean, heck when my kids were little I tipped big time at restaurants.

Really?  How do you know this?

[Ret MP]

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/onboard-service-gratuity-expense

 

"....gratuities are shared among dining, bar & culinary services staff, stateroom attendants and other hotel services teams who work behind the scenes to enhance the cruise experience".

 

Based upon this, I don't know where the tips go to, specifically.  

 

I don't know who the "hotel service teams who work behind the scenes" are.

[rudeney]

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

Really?  How do you know this?

 

It seems that every tipping thread always ends up discussing how all of these "behind the scenes" crew members get and need a piece of the gratuity pie.  The only time official mention I've seen is this:  

 

 

I believe "Other Hotel Services" are crew directly related to serving staterooms and not dishwashers and the crew cleaning the decks.  I noticed a crew member on our hall whose only job was to collect dirty towels and replace them with fresh towels.  I assume he would be art of that "Other Hotel Service" crew.

[Ret MP]

2 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

It seems that every tipping thread always ends up discussing how all of these "behind the scenes" crew members get and need a piece of the gratuity pie.  The only time official mention I've seen is this:  

 

 

I believe "Other Hotel Services" are crew directly related to serving staterooms and not dishwashers and the crew cleaning the decks.  I noticed a crew member on our hall whose only job was to collect dirty towels and replace them with fresh towels.  I assume he would be art of that "Other Hotel Service" crew.

Very possible!

[time4u2go]

2 minutes ago, rudeney said:

 

It seems that every tipping thread always ends up discussing how all of these "behind the scenes" crew members get and need a piece of the gratuity pie.  The only time official mention I've seen is this:  

 

 

I believe "Other Hotel Services" are crew directly related to serving staterooms and not dishwashers and the crew cleaning the decks.  I noticed a crew member on our hall whose only job was to collect dirty towels and replace them with fresh towels.  I assume he would be art of that "Other Hotel Service" crew.

I agree that it is definitely not obvious who gets a part of the pie.  That's why I was asking how the poster knew that those specific positions were included.

[DaKahuna]

6 minutes ago, rudeney said:

I believe "Other Hotel Services" are crew directly related to serving staterooms and not dishwashers and the crew cleaning the decks.  I noticed a crew member on our hall whose only job was to collect dirty towels and replace them with fresh towels.  I assume he would be art of that "Other Hotel Service" crew.

 

 On our last cruise, I never saw anyone other than our room steward.  I remember previously there would be a second person assisting from time to time but this last time I did not see anyone assisting the room steward. 

 

[rudeney]

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 On our last cruise, I never saw anyone other than our room steward.  I remember previously there would be a second person assisting from time to time but this last time I did not see anyone assisting the room steward. 

 

 

This guy was hard to miss - he was a big, tall, nice looking young man - think young George Clooney.  We'd see him walking the halls with a stack of about 20 towels slung over his shoulder.  He always greeted us with a huge smile.

[Donsyb]

15 hours ago, rudeney said:

 

This guy was hard to miss - he was a big, tall, nice looking young man - think young George Clooney.  We'd see him walking the halls with a stack of about 20 towels slung over his shoulder.  He always greeted us with a huge smile.

I would tip him just for looking like George Clooney 😂

[goldfish65]

Apologies for my comment about $100 not being "a lot of money." My mouth gets ahead of my brain and I can see how that comment can be insensitive. What I meant to convey is that $100 doesn't really buy much nowadays. 

[rudeney]

40 minutes ago, goldfish65 said:

Apologies for my comment about $100 not being "a lot of money." My mouth gets ahead of my brain and I can see how that comment can be insensitive. What I meant to convey is that $100 doesn't really buy much nowadays. 

 

That's how I took it.  Years ago, we used to joke about milk costing $20 because every time we went into the store for a $1.50 gallon of milk, we came out with $20 worth of groceries.  Now, it's well over $100 for a milk run.  

[Tulsacoker]

On 10/11/2022 at 7:48 AM, rudeney said:

  And this was the first cruise I did not tip the concierge.   He just didn't do anything for us.

This bring up a point I've not thought much about. The SL concierge? are they in any part of the suite gratuities? I generally tip the concierge if I have they do anything specific and only a few time not tip of I really had no interaction with them. That being said what I have asked from them is typically what is listed as a part of the suite amenities. 

 

i.e. on our last cruise Romana (sp?) on Quantum was the best concierge we have ever had.  

[rudeney]

1 hour ago, Tulsacoker said:

This bring up a point I've not thought much about. The SL concierge? are they in any part of the suite gratuities? I generally tip the concierge if I have they do anything specific and only a few time not tip of I really had no interaction with them. That being said what I have asked from them is typically what is listed as a part of the suite amenities. 

 

i.e. on our last cruise Romana (sp?) on Quantum was the best concierge we have ever had.  

 

In the past, we've had concierges who helped us with all sorts of things and I tipped based on the amount of their time I used.  This time, the only thing he did for us was to pre-book our UDP reservations when I responded to the email the week before we boarded.  Once onboard, we decided we wanted to try the Chef's Table, so I asked him about it and his response was, "You can book that in the app".  😮