Gratuities, does the employees actually get them?

[MikeACY]

At dinner we had a very friendly waiter and we started chatting. He mentioned that on this cruise there were 3000 passengers, next week there would be 3200 and the week after 4000. I ask him "That would be a good thing right?" He said he would be very busy. So I asked (i probably shouldn't, but he was very friendly) isn’t your salary depending on the amount of people on board? We all either pre-pay the gratuities or are charged daily. Therefore it makes sense the more people the more gratuities given to the staff. He shocked us by saying NO. He said his salary is fixed.

Now IF this is true, then wouldn’t it be best for us to take some gratuities off our bill and just hand them cash to make sure they get the additional funds?

I know this is a sensitive topic. Notice I didn’t say  NOT pay them gratuities. Just want to make sure they receive them. I don't think he misunderstood me. The others in our group did ask him again after his reply to make sure he understood. Maybe it is just NCL cruise line? 

[RocketMan275]

18 minutes ago, MikeACY said:

 

I know this is a sensitive topic. Notice I didn’t say  NOT pay them gratuities. Just want to make sure they receive them. I don't think he misunderstood me. The others in our group did ask him again after his reply to make sure he understood. Maybe it is just NCL cruise line? 

First of all, this is a waiter.  Waiters do not have assigned guests, therefore there is no way for he cruise line to track how many guests this person serves and allocate the gratuities accordingly.

 

Some of the other crew such as stewards do have assigned guests.  However, in this case,   if you remove all/part of the gratuities and directly give cash, the employee is required to turn the cash into the cruise line?

Edited November 20, 2022 by RocketMan275

[mianmike]

1 minute ago, RocketMan275 said:

You do know that if you remove all/part of the gratuities and directly give cash, the employee is required to turn the cash into the cruise line?

 

I didn't know that.  When that change?

[RocketMan275]

2 minutes ago, mianmike said:

 

I didn't know that.  When that change?

When was it ever otherwise?

 

If  you want to increase the amount your servers receive, the easiest way is to leave the gratuities intact and just give the employee extra cash.

Edited November 20, 2022 by RocketMan275

[ColeThornton]

Some people will tell you, yes they get them.   Some people will tell you, no they don't get them.   Some people will tell you they get part of them.   Some cruise workers will tell you stories to get more money.  

 

Take your pick.   🙂

[phillygwm]

5 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

However, in this case,   if you remove all/part of the gratuities and directly give cash, the employee is required to turn the cash into the cruise line?

Disclaimer:  I do not know this answer firsthand.  My understanding was that if you had DSC removed from your bill and gave a room steward cash instead, it had to be turned over.  What was unclear to me was if I give someone a tip in addition to the DSC, must that be turned over?   

 

I know bartenders have a tip cup behind the bar that they'll throw any cash into.  Though I do not know whether that gets split among the bar staff each night or if it's turned over.

 

I do usually throw tips to my steward, bartenders, specialty dining waiters, etc. in the hopes that they actually get to keep it.  If I were to learn otherwise, it would probably affect that habit.

[RocketMan275]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Some cruise workers will tell you stories to get more money.  

 

Take your pick.   🙂

I suspect that some cruise workers have grown quite adept at spinning sob stories to get more cash.

[www3traveler]

1 minute ago, ColeThornton said:

Some people will tell you, yes they get them.   Some people will tell you, no they don't get them.   Some people will tell you they get part of them.   Some cruise workers will tell you stories to get more money.  

 

Take your pick.   🙂

EXACTLY   Every crew member gets a "Base" Salary.  Many get gratuties added to it.  It is recorded on their payroll statement which many to not know how to read.  A good many have their salaries direct deposited which confusing them further.

[YVRteacher]

If you tip in cash, the person gets the tips.  If you add a tip to the paper slip the waiter will NOT get the tips and the money will go to NCL.

Bartenders’ salaries vary week to week depending upon how many people have the beverage package but waiters’ wages stay consistent.

[julig22]

Saying someone has a set salary doesn't necessarily mean they don't also get added tips. Depends on their definition of salary - which may or may not be the same as their actual paycheck amount.

Lots of people get a base salary, with bonuses, commissions, tips etc added to that salary, so while their salary is fixed, their paycheck varies based on other factors.

[YVRteacher]

Waiters on NCL do not work on commission.

[Pieson]

I was always under the impression that if you tip on the paper they give you it goes to a general tip pool. If you tip them in cash they get to keep it themselves. Which is why cash is king. 
 

I what I’m not sure about is how the prepaid gratuities work and who they go to 

 

I’ve heard people removing the grats once onboard. Does that hurt the employees?

[YVRteacher]

[hallux]

This other recent thread may be of interest, similar discussion - 

 

[SeaShark]

2 hours ago, MikeACY said:

At dinner we had a very friendly waiter and we started chatting. He mentioned that on this cruise there were 3000 passengers, next week there would be 3200 and the week after 4000. I ask him "That would be a good thing right?" He said he would be very busy. So I asked (i probably shouldn't, but he was very friendly) isn’t your salary depending on the amount of people on board? We all either pre-pay the gratuities or are charged daily. Therefore it makes sense the more people the more gratuities given to the staff. He shocked us by saying NO. He said his salary is fixed.

Now IF this is true, then wouldn’t it be best for us to take some gratuities off our bill and just hand them cash to make sure they get the additional funds?

I know this is a sensitive topic. Notice I didn’t say  NOT pay them gratuities. Just want to make sure they receive them. I don't think he misunderstood me. The others in our group did ask him again after his reply to make sure he understood. Maybe it is just NCL cruise line? 

If you give them a gratuity, then yes, they get to keep it. However, what you are referring to is a service charge...which differs from a gratuity. The service charge goes to the company who then uses it to support their salary and incentive programs.

[mianmike]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

When was it ever otherwise?

 

We've been tipping ever since we've been cruising.  Years ago, after hearing rumors that crew doesn't get to keep tips we asked numerous crew members if they kept the tips and we were assured they personally keep the tips.  A long time ago we stopped asking.  We want to reward exceptional crew members with an additional tip. 

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

First of all, this is a waiter.  Waiters do not have assigned guests, therefore there is no way for he cruise line to track how many guests this person serves and allocate the gratuities accordingly.

Really?  They know exactly who waited on each table and how many guests were at the table.  A very simple SQL query would tell them how many people a waiter served each day/cruise/month/whatever.  

But I think the point is that NCL would have you believe that a portion of the DSC goes to the waiters.  Assuming the same number of waiters from one cruise to the next it seems reasonable to assume that more guests would mean more money from the DSC going to the waiters.

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

However, in this case,   if you remove all/part of the gratuities and directly give cash, the employee is required to turn the cash into the cruise line?

I'd love to see something to support this claim.

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

If  you want to increase the amount your servers receive, the easiest way is to leave the gratuities intact and just give the employee extra cash.

So if I leave the DSC and give cash, they keep the cash?  But if I remove the DSC they turn the cash in?  Seems like a really loose system relying on some honor system to turn in some cash but not other cash?

1 hour ago, phillygwm said:

I know bartenders have a tip cup behind the bar that they'll throw any cash into.  Though I do not know whether that gets split among the bar staff each night or if it's turned over.

I believe the tip cup / pooled tips to be true.  I saw a gentleman this week on Encore hand an envelope to each bartender in Vibe Saturday afternoon.  Each one took the envelop and threw it on the counter.  Someone else later scooped them up.  No doubt they went into a common cup.  

I do hope that money stays with those bartenders.  I tipped them heavily on the assumption it does.

[PATRLR]

23 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

However, what you are referring to is a service charge...which differs from a gratuity. The service charge goes to the company who then uses it to support their salary and incentive programs.

Unfortunately both NCL and the major travel agents refer to the DSC as gratuities and NCL would have you believe they are treated like gratuities in so much as a portion goes to the servers and stewards and back of the house staff.

[www3traveler]

Waiters know who is being seated in their sections BECAUSE they are handed that information on a piece of paper handed by the Restaurant Hostess to the Restuarant Steward doing the seating and then to the waiter.  That piece of paper has the name of the guest, number of people in the party and if any of the guests have a food issue.

[MikeACY]

43 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

If you give them a gratuity, then yes, they get to keep it. However, what you are referring to is a service charge...which differs from a gratuity. The service charge goes to the company who then uses it to support their salary and incentive programs.

This is what we were thinking..the cruise line gets to keep it and uses it to help pay the salaries. Again I'm not trying to cause trouble about tipping...i just want to make sure the waiters/room steward, etc gets to keep the extra money. Perhaps the "old system" of handing out envelopes to the waiter/room steward was better. Since I didn't pre pay, my account showed a "Service charge" every day. 

Edited November 20, 2022 by MikeACY

[hallux]

28 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

So if I leave the DSC and give cash, they keep the cash?  But if I remove the DSC they turn the cash in?  Seems like a really loose system relying on some honor system to turn in some cash but not other cash?

I'm trying to figure out how the waiter in the MDR is going to know you removed the DSC and the money needs to be turned in, especially if you don't remove it until day 6 of a 7 day cruise.  What the person you quoted is suggesting seems quite far-fetched!

[SeaShark]

30 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Unfortunately both NCL and the major travel agents refer to the DSC as gratuities and NCL would have you believe they are treated like gratuities in so much as a portion goes to the servers and stewards and back of the house staff.

Actually wall they refer to it as doesn't matter...NCL specifically states that the service charge supports salary and incentive programs.

[PATRLR]

2 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

Actually wall they refer to it as doesn't matter...NCL specifically states that the service charge supports salary and incentive programs.

Of course it matters.  The fact that the fine print says it's a service charge doesn't override the fact that the marketing says gratuities.

[mafig]

24 minutes ago, hallux said:

I'm trying to figure out how the waiter in the MDR is going to know you removed the DSC and the money needs to be turned in, especially if you don't remove it until day 6 of a 7 day cruise.  What the person you quoted is suggesting seems quite far-fetched!

I have personally seen photos of papers hanging in crew areas of rooms that have gratuities removed.    This has been posted a couple of times (and quickly removed by CC) by folks who have taken behind the scenes tours.  This has never been denied by the cruise lines however they say that if was for the prior week and not the current one.  Believe what you will.  I think the wait staff knows who removed tips/gratuities/ service charges ...whatever you call it.

 

 

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, MikeACY said:

At dinner we had a very friendly waiter and we started chatting. He mentioned that on this cruise there were 3000 passengers, next week there would be 3200 and the week after 4000. I ask him "That would be a good thing right?" He said he would be very busy. So I asked (i probably shouldn't, but he was very friendly) isn’t your salary depending on the amount of people on board? We all either pre-pay the gratuities or are charged daily. Therefore it makes sense the more people the more gratuities given to the staff. He shocked us by saying NO. He said his salary is fixed.

Now IF this is true, then wouldn’t it be best for us to take some gratuities off our bill and just hand them cash to make sure they get the additional funds?

I know this is a sensitive topic. Notice I didn’t say  NOT pay them gratuities. Just want to make sure they receive them. I don't think he misunderstood me. The others in our group did ask him again after his reply to make sure he understood. Maybe it is just NCL cruise line? 

 

You did not pre-pay or get charged daily GRATUITIES, you pre-pay or get charged daily the DAILY Service Charge.  The only GRATUITIES that you pay are the 20% on dining and drink packages, etc.  You are absolutely free to tip anyone on the ship, any amount you want, at any time you want.  While NCL specifically states that the service charge supports salary and incentive programs, that does not at all mean it is additive to the base salary as a tip would be.  It SUPPORTS salaries meaning it is used to pay the salaries, it does not say it replaces tipping.  Unless a person has access to the supporting details of the payroll system for NCL, no one here knows for a fact how the DSC is utilized or distributed.  Anyone who says that they do is merely stating opinion and/or tin foil hate conspiracy theories.

The bottom line is that it is none of the passengers' business how the NCL employees are compensated.  Further it is quite rude and tacky to inquire of someone how much they make and where it comes from.  How much the NCL employees are compensated for the work they do is between them and NCL.  As long as they agree to whatever their contract grants them then let them work as they please.