Tipping

[billylen]

1 hour ago, ONECRUISER said:

Little different then OP's question but funny thing when they started having pay Restaurants the Fee/Service Charge for that was supposed to be the Tip. Even said so in Royal Press Release 24yrs ago

You actually touch upon the meat of my question. If I am paying for fees, and tips in specialty dining, then it seems redundant to also pay gratuities for serving staff. Also, another poster mentioned that in on-land restaurants that servers split their tips with other staff. That may be true in some establishments, but not all. 

But to anyone who is reading this, my intent is not to stiff anyone, but I am taking advantage of this forum to get responses on this topic...I'm not disappointed! 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

20 minutes ago, fredmdcruisers said:

On the other side of the coin, why would suggest that the OP tip MDR staff who provide absolutely no service in this situation?

because this same staff also works in the buffet and MDR lunch, so it's not like OP is not going to use their services at all.

 

8 minutes ago, billylen said:

28 days

so, do you have unlimited specialty dining, and will never use the buffet for breakfast or lunch, MDR for breakfast or lunch, Solarium bistro if applicable, or any other eateries besides the specialty ones? At all?

I still wouldn't cancel auto gratuities, though. MDR personnel are not the only recipients.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[billylen]

43 minutes ago, topnole said:

Been a long time, but I worked in several restaurants when I was young and never once did a place do what you are suggesting.  The only folks who got tipped out based on bartender and server tips were the bus staff (aka busboys back in the day), hostess staff, and bar backs.  Never seen any place where folks tip cooks, dishwashers, etc..   Not saying it doesn’t exist somewhere, but I’ve never heard of such a practice to this day.  

It hasn't happened often but there have been times I did tip the cook/chefs, why because they work their a**es off and are probably seldom acknowledged. 

[cruiselvr04]

This is personal choice.  We’ve had the UDP and never entered the MDR, don’t eat breakfast and never used the WJ either.  We used the specialty restaurants for every meal and even tipped extra there. In hind sight, I don’t think I’d leave the auto gratuity on again.  Was it for that one slice of pizza I got that week? 
 

If you remove gratuities, can you specify which ones or is it all or none? No I’ve never done it.
 

Prior to reducing stateroom service and increasing gratuities, I didn’t give it much thought.  Now…..

 

I would never stiff my stateroom attendant or wait staff or bar servers. But who else am I tipping?  I also use cash for room service.  
 

 

 

[billylen]

13 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

because this same staff also works in the buffet and MDR lunch, so it's not like OP is not going to use their services at all.

 

so, do you have unlimited specialty dining, and will never use the buffet for breakfast or lunch, MDR for breakfast or lunch, Solarium bistro if applicable, or any other eateries besides the specialty ones? At all?

I still wouldn't cancel auto gratuities, though. MDR personnel are not the only recipients.

Nope, I did not state that, and yes I will use the services you cited. Again, my purpose is to get a feel for how others view this topic. No drama, no attempts to get out of tipping, but there will be some double dipping going on and as the cruise industry is seeking tips from passengers to defray the effects of low salary I just want to weigh my options. 

[billylen]

3 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

 

If you remove gratuities, can you specify which ones or is it all or none? No I’ve never done it.
 

Well, the cabin stewards work their hindquarters off. Also, the various bartenders and specialty restaurants. There are also the one offs like in the windjammer etc. Not much for others unless I have a personal interaction with them that is worth tipping. 

[TYMAN]

14 minutes ago, billylen said:

Nope, I did not state that, and yes I will use the services you cited. Again, my purpose is to get a feel for how others view this topic. No drama, no attempts to get out of tipping, but there will be some double dipping going on and as the cruise industry is seeking tips from passengers to defray the effects of low salary I just want to weigh my options. 

I'm liking the attitude, refreshing. My side is this. Been sailing since 1990, and when autograts where available, I left them on. I also like to have envelopes that last night for a lot of folks, mostly room steward, main dining room, bartenders etc. Some might only have $5 in them, but it's the thought. I do tip a couple dollars with each drink I get. 

Now, on to the next part. Next cruise on the Wonder we have UDP. Yes, I'll tip extra after the meal and also leave the autograts on. My thought is, it's a few hundred dollars that will make more people happier than me keeping it in my pocket. Yes, I've been blessed. 

 

PS....I can't take it with me, and my son has more $$ than me. Ha!

Edited February 22, 2023 by TYMAN

[ONECRUISER]

25 minutes ago, billylen said:

You actually touch upon the meat of my question. If I am paying for fees, and tips in specialty dining, then it seems redundant to also pay gratuities for serving staff. Also, another poster mentioned that in on-land restaurants that servers split their tips with other staff. That may be true in some establishments, but not all. 

But to anyone who is reading this, my intent is not to stiff anyone, but I am taking advantage of this forum to get responses on this topic...I'm not disappointed! 

Also as I said on another TIP thread yesterday, when I started Cruising Daily per person Tip was $1.25ea for Room Attendant and Waiter, .50cent for Asst Waiter. Waiter normally had two 8passenger tables, Asst had four 8passenger tables. No other Tips including Drinks

[DaKahuna]

I do not know what is proper or not proper. All I can tell you is what we do and we are comfortable with how we do it.

 

We have never purchased a dining package. Since automatic gratuity is already added when we pay to eat in a speciality we do not add additional gratuities unless the server went above and beyond what we consider expected service. 
 

We leave the daily gratuities in place and tip our room steward and wait staff at the end of our cruise based on any extra service they provided over and above expectation. 
 

Since we travel in a suite and consume most of our meals in Coastal Kitchen, we typically leave a group tip for the staff there as unlike dinner, where we have the same waiter/waitress every night, we get different servers during breakfast and lunch.  As mentioned earlier, our waiter/waitress may or may not get additional depending on the service we received.

 

Servers and bar tenders are tipped at the time of service. We do not do the drink package but use the vouchers from our Diamond + status and the free drinks in the Suite Lounge. 
 

 

[ReneeFLL]

36 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

…On our most recent Princess cruise the ATD MDR service was unusually lacking (they routinely forgot to bring things we ordered, time between finishing food and ordering the next course was sometimes over 20 minutes, the service pace was slooooooooow), so we didn't tip anyone extra and we complained to the head waiter. But we did tip our cabin attendant extra because he was wonderful and super helpful.

Forgetting to bring things is on the server, but food coming out slow is probably on the cooks. They can’t bring it out if it’s not ready.

[Vibe]

My thoughts on tipping:

When a crew member signs a contract with the cruise line, they agree to the salary that they will be paid, that salary comes from the tipping system that is in place.  I do not bother to think about how that system works, that agreement is between the crew member and the cruise line.

I accept and pay the daily amount for the tips that the cruise line has established.  I consider it part of the cruise expense and feel that I contributed to the tipping system.

If a crew member goes over and above the normal for me, I discreetly give them some cash. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

18 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Forgetting to bring things is on the server, but food coming out slow is probably on the cooks. They can’t bring it out if it’s not ready.

it really looked like we were forgotten about... Seeing other patrons who arrived after us being served first, while we were still sitting there waiting for the waiter to bring a menu to us after being seated for 20+ minutes is inexcusable. And not just on one night. We got the same table 4 times out of 10, and a different table, but the same waiting team another time.

[Joseph2017China]

One part of me agrees with the poster.  Exactly how is all this tipping work, if you have the UDP?  I have questioned it also.

 

However, my next cruise I have a drink package and the meal package.  All tips prepaid, so I'm just not going to care.  It's part of the cruise, I accept it, (but question it).  But I do not and will not tip extra per drink or meal.  I will let the cruise line figure it out and distribute it with whatever formula the use. 

[resetjet]

1 hour ago, topnole said:

How does anyone know this?   They certainly don’t tell us that it goes to such staff.  I’ve adjusted my tips before and the sheet GS gave me had a specific list of who gets tipped and I don’t recall it having anything other than the normal positions like server, room attendant, head waiter, etc.  

I have confirmed this through alot of research.  The most obvious way to confirm it, is if the steward got all the grats, plus his salary listed on shiplife.org, he would be a rich man.  Pretty much every crew member gets tipped.  Dont confuse crew, with staff and officer.  The guys you see picking up and cleaning the common areas are all crew as well as the laundry, everyone in a dining room or buffett, and their supervisors that are not staff or officer.  Anyone who has anything to do with feeding, serving or cleaning up after you, even if that is behind the scenes washing your sheets.

[resetjet]

I have decided that in my mind, it is not gratuity, it is a resort fee.  Then I can live with it.  I still tip everyone a little extra and thats what I now call gratuity.  

[DallasGuy75219]

3 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

One idea would be bring cash for the auto-gratuity amount.  Then ask the steward who will be left out.  For example, the steward probably knows who in the windjammer could be trusted to spread out a lump sum tip.   
 

That's virtually impossible.   There are probably hundreds of people serving you indirectly, most of whom you never see, who share in the tip pool.  Not just in the WJ but doing laundry, cleaning common areas, washing dishes....

[resetjet]

2 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I am very pro-tipping, but this bugs me.   Tipping should be for customer-facing jobs where what they do isn't pass-fail.   For example, washing sheets is pass-fail.   They either do their job, or they don't.   The sheets are clean or they aren't.   There isn't a super-sparkly clean on sheets.  
But room stewards, it is possible to do a minimal job and it is possible to do a super-sparkly job.  For waiters, it is possible to do more than minimal.   



 

I understand where you are coming from and I feel the same.  You just have to rationalize it as they could raise your cabin rate and pay him cash. They keep it as tips because that money is given directly to the employee so they do not have to report it as income or pay any kind of fees on that payroll.  They should just be more transparent about it, so we could dispense with all this nonsense.

[topnole]

7 minutes ago, resetjet said:

I have confirmed this through alot of research.  The most obvious way to confirm it, is if the steward got all the grats, plus his salary listed on shiplife.org, he would be a rich man.  Pretty much every crew member gets tipped.  Dont confuse crew, with staff and officer.  The guys you see picking up and cleaning the common areas are all crew as well as the laundry, everyone in a dining room or buffett, and their supervisors that are not staff or officer.  Anyone who has anything to do with feeding, serving or cleaning up after you, even if that is behind the scenes washing your sheets.

That is how you confirmed it?   Forgive me if I’m not convinced by your method of confirmation.  I’m not saying your wrong.  But a back door estimate of a stewards salary based on shiplife.org is far from why I would call confirmation.  

[Scotico]

I just wish they would go back to the days where they give you envelopes and tip out cash instead of placing it on your account.  

 

I somewhat agree with OP though.  If you have the UDP and never use the dining room/windjammer/food stations then you should be obligated to only tip the room stewards.  I don't believe back of the house/maitre D/laundry workers should be part of the tipping pool.  They should be given an adequate wage and not rely on gratuities. Most restaurants do not tip the back of the house and how many of you actually tip when you go to starbucks, pick up your dry cleaning or even stay in a hotel.  

 

We pre-paid our gratuities since we are sailing with kids and they tend to be more high maintenance but really wish they would just go back to cash tipping at the end of the cruise.

[soremekun]

If don't take out a home equity loan to cover additional tips (every time you cruise), you're not tipping enough.

Edited February 22, 2023 by soremekun

[topnole]

12 minutes ago, Scotico said:

I just wish they would go back to the days where they give you envelopes and tip out cash instead of placing it on your account.  

 

I somewhat agree with OP though.  If you have the UDP and never use the dining room/windjammer/food stations then you should be obligated to only tip the room stewards.  I don't believe back of the house/maitre D/laundry workers should be part of the tipping pool.  They should be given an adequate wage and not rely on gratuities. Most restaurants do not tip the back of the house and how many of you actually tip when you go to starbucks, pick up your dry cleaning or even stay in a hotel.  

 

We pre-paid our gratuities since we are sailing with kids and they tend to be more high maintenance but really wish they would just go back to cash tipping at the end of the cruise.

I believe you can still adjust tips?   Maybe not.  But if so, you can keep them for one position group and remove for others.  Basically, you can add or remove as much as you want for any position group or so it was not long ago.  

[karena1]

I don't care where I eat or anything, I would never take off the auto pay.. Everyone works so hard to make our cruise great.  And even though we buy the beverage package and tips are included, we still tip per drink because they deserve it.

 

I was in the service industry for years, so I know how hard they all work.  For us, it is just part of the cruise cost.

[resetjet]

30 minutes ago, topnole said:

That is how you confirmed it?   Forgive me if I’m not convinced by your method of confirmation.  I’m not saying your wrong.  But a back door estimate of a stewards salary based on shiplife.org is far from why I would call confirmation.  

Nope tons of web searching, looking at crew sites, cruise line sites, videos, etc.etc.  I just wanted to make sure that the cruise line wasn't keeping any of it, and they don't as far as I can see.

[jencruzin]

3 hours ago, Cayman1 said:

While I understand both sides to this, it seems that more and more cruise lines are raising tips overall, yet decreasing some service. I feel everyone should be tipped if they are deserving, but I also feel the cruise lines are using the customers to gain/retain employees by this, all at the customers expense, thus we are paying a portion of their increased salaries. As with everything related to inflation, it all falls back on the end consumer to absorb in some sort or way.

Yes. And it surprises me how people will still forge ahead and pay extra tips! We pay extra tips if something out of the ordinary goes down and they're on it.

[springfire]

8 minutes ago, Carnival Cheerleader said:

Tipping is all on you. No need to ask anyone else what they think. Adjust your gratuities as you see fit.

Well said!