Gratuity breakdown?

[13cheermom]

58 minutes ago, nascartim said:

Just attended my 1st P&D party on Mardi Gras last week. They had all drinks lined up outside the entrance and handed you a glass of your choice(beer, wine, or rum punch). I did sit towards the back and was able to walk out and get another drink. And then when the little dog & pony show was over, they were handing out everything that was leftover on the way out. 

We were also on that cruise, but my husband said it wasn't worth going and sitting just to get a free beer or 2.  I agree as I prefer mixed cocktails of my choosing.  We did use our free drink voucher however at the bar during the show in the atrium area. 😉  Sure do miss the food appetizers that they use to serve many many years ago and the drinks of our choice. 🥲

[rellersi]

1 hour ago, 13cheermom said:

We were also on that cruise, but my husband said it wasn't worth going and sitting just to get a free beer or 2.  I agree as I prefer mixed cocktails of my choosing.  We did use our free drink voucher however at the bar during the show in the atrium area. 😉  Sure do miss the food appetizers that they use to serve many many years ago and the drinks of our choice. 🥲

you can usually order a mixed drink of your choice from the waiters, or if there is a bar in the venue, just go up to the bar

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, rellersi said:

you can usually order a mixed drink of your choice from the waiters, or if there is a bar in the venue, just go up to the bar

Not on the Mardi Gras

[Elaine5715]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:27 PM, kalmich said:

Do the room stewards, dining room waiters, etc. know if you've prepaid your gratuities?  I always do it that way, and tip a little extra in cash on the last day. I would to hate to think that they're feeling shortchanged.

They surely do.  There is a list of prepaids and then a list of removed.  More importantly, Guest Services and Accounting live with guest facing crew and share bad guest stories like in every hospitality industry

[Elaine5715]

On 2/1/2023 at 2:04 PM, audcc77 said:

I believe I read somewhere that you’re allowed to move your grats around from one destination to another.  
 

I told my cabin steward yesterday that I’ve never removed my tips ever but I was thinking of doing it this time, and which would she like best. I told her that in the past, I didn’t mind tipping people I didn’t see because the amount was nominal.  However, they keep raising tips and it’s no longer nominal.  I don’t have a problem with increasing my tips to the people I come into contact with.  
 

She said they’re not allowed to say which way they prefer.  

I’m thinking of going back to the old days and just spread the tips to the cabin steward and dining room and be done with it.  
 

 

So you aren't planning on eating on Lido, brunch or lunch?  Not planning on having laundry done? Not attending any past guest party or casino party?  Not using the public restrooms?  Not using towels on the pool deck or the pool?  

[Elaine5715]

On 2/1/2023 at 12:49 PM, mz-s said:

They should make the breakdown public. $16 a day per person is a lot, I think it's fair for guests to know where it's going. For a family of 4 on a 4 day cruise we're talking over $250 just in gratuities. $250 is more than I'm personally willing to just wave away.

Not when you consider the sheer number of people that get divided between...3 dining room members at each seating..  two room stewards at the very least

[mz-s]

I think the crew just shrug off the gratuity thing. There is probably a relatively stable percentage of guests that remove gratuities every cruise. 15%, 20%, something to that effect. It comes out in the wash.

 

What probably gets them talking in the crew mess is all the crazy stories people come up with to justify why they're removing gratuities instead of just being honest.

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

So you aren't planning on eating on Lido, brunch or lunch?  Not planning on having laundry done? Not attending any past guest party or casino party?  Not using the public restrooms?  Not using towels on the pool deck or the pool?  

Anti-tippers never run out of excuses. It doesn't matter that Carnival is following (not leading) the industry on tipping and is less than some.

[mz-s]

1 minute ago, Elaine5715 said:

Not when you consider the sheer number of people that get divided between...3 dining room members at each seating..  two room stewards at the very least

 

Devil's advocate. I may or may not feel that all those people deserve gratuities.

 

It's up to me to decide who gets my money. Now they may end up pooling it after I hand over cash, but that is beyond my control. At least with cash, I know who I have handed gratuity to.

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Devil's advocate. I may or may not feel that all those people deserve gratuities.

 

It's up to me to decide who gets my money. Now they may end up pooling it after I hand over cash, but that is beyond my control. At least with cash, I know who I have handed gratuity to.

You may not feel that  all those people deserve gratuities, but I guarantee without all those people working behind the scenes, you would not receive the service you do from the people you think deserve gratuities.

[Qextor]

On 2/6/2023 at 3:06 PM, ninjacat123 said:

On 2/6/2023 at 2:18 PM, 13cheermom said:

We prepaid our gratuities with our final payment prior to sailing.  We usually give additional for room steward for the extra work the they do.  However, never saw anything on our sail and sign account where gratuity were added and marked as prepaid.  Is that the way they are done now?  I thought previously they showed on your account and then marked as paid.  Anyone help clear this up for me?

I looked at my print out for my Sign and Sail from my Magic Jan 14, 2023 cruise.  I paid my gratuities ahead of time and there is no indication of this on my print out.

 

They were never charged to your Sign and Sail account, because they were paid ahead of time.  So, the only payment record you would have is in the 'Guest Confirmation' email you received after booking.

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Devil's advocate. I may or may not feel that all those people deserve gratuities.

 

It's up to me to decide who gets my money. Now they may end up pooling it after I hand over cash, but that is beyond my control. At least with cash, I know who I have handed gratuity to.

Correct, if the auto tips are removed, all cash given to crew must be turned in.  

[sparks1093]

8 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Devil's advocate. I may or may not feel that all those people deserve gratuities.

 

It's up to me to decide who gets my money. Now they may end up pooling it after I hand over cash, but that is beyond my control. At least with cash, I know who I have handed gratuity to.

That's the thing, when pools are tipped (and I believe that the cruise lines do pool the tips, even Carnival) you really don't have any say about who gets your money. As you say, you know who you handed the gratuity to, but the person you feel undeserving of gratuities still get their share. As pointed out, the folks who receive a share make it possible for the others to provide the excellent service that you receive. (Just playing devil's advocate to your devil's advocate 🙂.)

[BoozinCroozin]

Someone posted a pic a while ago somewhere how it is broken out. It is crazy how much goes to wait staff and how little went to steward staff. Regardless of what you do, they breakout was the same they said. Wait staff pool got like 60% even if you never went to a place that had wait staff. Cabin stewards got about 15%. I don't mind the daily gratuities. I am fine with the price. I just want to determine where that money goes based on my use of services. If I eat in the MDR 1 time (that is the most we will on a cruise), they don't get 60% from me. I would give them 10% (~$30 for the one dinner). I would give the cabin stewards at least 50% (~$150). 

 

It really needs to be broken out how your tips get divided. Or, go back to cash tips directly.

[sparks1093]

23 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Someone posted a pic a while ago somewhere how it is broken out. It is crazy how much goes to wait staff and how little went to steward staff. Regardless of what you do, they breakout was the same they said. Wait staff pool got like 60% even if you never went to a place that had wait staff. Cabin stewards got about 15%. I don't mind the daily gratuities. I am fine with the price. I just want to determine where that money goes based on my use of services. If I eat in the MDR 1 time (that is the most we will on a cruise), they don't get 60% from me. I would give them 10% (~$30 for the one dinner). I would give the cabin stewards at least 50% (~$150). 

 

It really needs to be broken out how your tips get divided. Or, go back to cash tips directly.

The waitstaff are serving in other dining venues at other times. I have routinely seen my waitstaff on Lido. Since the tips are pooled what you pay isn't paid directly to "your waitstaff" anyway. I suspect that they no longer provide a breakdown because folks do what you just outlined, which skews the distribution of the tip pool which is based on the agreements the cruise line has for each class of employee.

[mz-s]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

That's the thing, when pools are tipped (and I believe that the cruise lines do pool the tips, even Carnival) you really don't have any say about who gets your money. As you say, you know who you handed the gratuity to, but the person you feel undeserving of gratuities still get their share. As pointed out, the folks who receive a share make it possible for the others to provide the excellent service that you receive. (Just playing devil's advocate to your devil's advocate 🙂.)

 

I appreciate the banter. My point is even if I can't control how the cash I hand over is split, I can control the proportion if I remove automatic gratuities. I may feel my steward deserves more of my gratuity, and dining staff less. Or whatever the case may be. And besides, even if I pay to the penny the same amount to the same people - cash can be spent that day, or tomorrow when we're in Nassau, etc., versus automatic gratuities that can't be spent until they get paid.

[Elaine5715]

8 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I appreciate the banter. My point is even if I can't control how the cash I hand over is split, I can control the proportion if I remove automatic gratuities. I may feel my steward deserves more of my gratuity, and dining staff less. Or whatever the case may be. And besides, even if I pay to the penny the same amount to the same people - cash can be spent that day, or tomorrow when we're in Nassau, etc., versus automatic gratuities that can't be spent until they get paid.

That is just it, you can't when you remove the auto gratuities.   Crew must turn in (and they do, hold-outs are easily found and ostracized) all cash received when the auto grats are removed since they still get a distribution from the auto grats.  The crew keep the extra only when the auto grats are in place.  

FYI-Casino table dealers tips are pooled across the fleet and divided back, not so with the dining, room, Lido, etc.

[audcc77]

12 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

So you aren't planning on eating on Lido, brunch or lunch?  Not planning on having laundry done? Not attending any past guest party or casino party?  Not using the public restrooms?  Not using towels on the pool deck or the pool?  

Wow, Elaine.  I didn’t realize how much I don’t do on my cruises until you’ve listed them here.    😳.  
Although I do eat in the lido.  
 

No worries for now.  I left my tips in place, but the jury is still out on whether I will in the future.  
 

It still has not been answered: Who paid the mystery people behind the scenes when people cruised in the 1980s and you only tipped 2 people, the dining room & cabin and let THEM pass out tips to their helpers?   

[sparks1093]

11 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I appreciate the banter. My point is even if I can't control how the cash I hand over is split, I can control the proportion if I remove automatic gratuities. I may feel my steward deserves more of my gratuity, and dining staff less. Or whatever the case may be. And besides, even if I pay to the penny the same amount to the same people - cash can be spent that day, or tomorrow when we're in Nassau, etc., versus automatic gratuities that can't be spent until they get paid.

If you remove the gratuities and hand out cash they can't spend it at all, they need to turn it in. They only get to keep cash that is given over and above the autograts. As for who deserves more that's all decided in how the pooled tips are distributed (for instance, the wait staff is normally a team of 3 whereas the steward is one, so it stands to reason the waitstaff would receive more since more people are benefitting from it).

[sparks1093]

2 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

Wow, Elaine.  I didn’t realize how much I don’t do on my cruises until you’ve listed them here.    😳.  
Although I do eat in the lido.  
 

No worries for now.  I left my tips in place, but the jury is still out on whether I will in the future.  
 

It still has not been answered: Who paid the mystery people behind the scenes when people cruised in the 1980s and you only tipped 2 people, the dining room & cabin and let THEM pass out tips to their helpers?   

Just like in land establishments they received a portion of the tips from the frontline folks. I was pressed into service as a busboy one night at the hotel I worked at as a teenager, from my normal position as bellhop. I was miffed because I was counting on my tips for the night to fill my gas tank the following day. At the end of the night all of the waitresses came up to me and gave me a share of their tips (I think 10% of what they received for the night, maybe 15%), something that up until that time I didn't know happened. I got my tank of gas.

[2wheelin]

11 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

I appreciate the banter. My point is even if I can't control how the cash I hand over is split, I can control the proportion if I remove automatic gratuities. I may feel my steward deserves more of my gratuity, and dining staff less. Or whatever the case may be. And besides, even if I pay to the penny the same amount to the same people - cash can be spent that day, or tomorrow when we're in Nassau, etc., versus automatic gratuities that can't be spent until they get paid.

This is why the cruise lines have crunched the numbers and determined the proportion (on average) of effort each group provides to the average cruiser. By your own admission, you would change that based on your assumption that if you don’t eat in the MDR the wait staff are just sitting around playing cards. You replenish the buffet, clean up empty serving dishes, wipe up spills, and clear your own table? I think the cruise line reps making these determinations know a little more about this than we do. 

I keep my cabin orderly and only need clean towels every couple of days but if I decide the wait staff do more for me, they would get extra without taking away from others.

As for having cash readily available, do you really think you make the difference as to whether a crew member has spending money that day? At your job, did you get paid daily so you could stop at the store on the way home?

[mz-s]

Just now, 2wheelin said:

This is why the cruise lines have crunched the numbers and determined the proportion (on average) of effort each group provides to the average cruiser. By your own admission, you would change that based on your assumption that if you don’t eat in the MDR the wait staff are just sitting around playing cards. You replenish the buffet, clean up empty serving dishes, wipe up spills, and clear your own table? I think the cruise line reps making these determinations know a little more about this than we do. 

I keep my cabin orderly and only need clean towels every couple of days but if I decide the wait staff do more for me, they would get extra without taking away from others.

As for having cash readily available, do you really think you make the difference as to whether a crew member has spending money that day? At your job, did you get paid daily so you could stop at the store on the way home?

 

No I don't get paid daily, but I also don't hold out my palm when I do my basic job responsibilities.

[sparks1093]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

No I don't get paid daily, but I also don't hold out my palm when I do my basic job responsibilities.

But folks in the hospitality field do their job mostly for tips. Yes, it's their choice to work in that field but I don't personally see that as a reason to punish them by withholding their due. I look at tips as a commission on sales paid by the customer instead of the company.

[2wheelin]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

No I don't get paid daily, but I also don't hold out my palm when I do my basic job responsibilities.

I have never experienced a crew member hold out their hand for a tip—since gratuities became auto. 

[mz-s]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

But folks in the hospitality field do their job mostly for tips. Yes, it's their choice to work in that field but I don't personally see that as a reason to punish them by withholding their due. I look at tips as a commission on sales paid by the customer instead of the company.

 

I don't withhold anything. I just don't agree with automatic gratuities. Especially after Carnival hiked the rate and cut the service we get.

 

Everyone gets all holier-than-thou when gratuities and tipping is discussed and everybody wants to argue. It's their way or the highway. Well I'm sorry but I don't see it that way. Some people go way overboard on gratuities and have all these speeches planned out when they hand over their pack of oreos, good for them, that's not me. I take the automatic tips off and pay cash the amount I think is fair to the people I think earned it. It works for me. What works for you, do it. Life goes on.