Is tipping mandatory

[tvo7]

How do the crew divide the tips?

Is it like a mom and pop restaurant,  all tips go into the jar and divide by 5 employees?

Does  my 18 dollar per day per person go directly to my cabin steward and waiter?  Or is it combined all together and divided by 2000 employees?

So the people who have the genie give him 1000 dollar tip so he has to put it in the pot to divide with 2000 other crew?

 

If it is all put together, then me not doing autograts and giving 50 cash dollars total will not be even noticeable to the crew.  Just, do not  know how my stateroom will treat me if he knows what I am doing.  But again, I am paying for his services in my cruise total fees.

Edited December 25, 2023 by tvo7

[crazyank]

14 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Not true. Staff has a list. But just hand cash to those you want to tip.

NOPE, urban myth, fairy tale, nasty rumor,  call it what you will

13 hours ago, time4u2go said:

The staff has a list of people that removed auto gratuities on their previous cruise?

again, nope

Edited December 25, 2023 by crazyank

[jean87510]

8 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

How do my comments not make sense? Most main line cruise lines have established a system where a significant number of their employees depend on tips. I don’t know any land based business that has a similar compensation structure, so your question about land businesses is irrelevant. You may not like the way cruise lines use tips to pay crew members, but the fact remains passengers who remove gratuities screw over crew members. It’s been a long time since I only had 55 cruises, so you are definitely a novice in my book, although I realize people with less cruises than one would likely think otherwise.  

Unless you or anyone on cruise critic have an actual copy of the crews contracts where it states how exactly they are paid, your arguments are baseless.  The little spreadsheet showing the distribution of tips is meaningless because it doesn't show their contract.  I'm ready to embark on only cruise 32 but it doesn't matter if it's cruise 32, 55, 1, 10...etc...  It would be helpful to actually see or read what is the real story behind this conversation.  

[not-enough-cruising]

8 hours ago, gmerick said:

First and foremost, removing prepaid gratuities does not significantly affect the contracted salary of anyone. 

I love your post, to clarify the firs line however, removing pre paid gratuity doe not affect the contracted salary of the crew member AT ALL. None, zero, zilch

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, jean87510 said:

Unless you or anyone on cruise critic have an actual copy of the crews contracts where it states how exactly they are paid, your arguments are baseless.  The little spreadsheet showing the distribution of tips is meaningless because it doesn't show their contract.  I'm ready to embark on only cruise 32 but it doesn't matter if it's cruise 32, 55, 1, 10...etc...  It would be helpful to actually see or read what is the real story behind this conversation.  

Well said. As long as the entire thing is steeped in such mystery and chinese arithmetic, I (and more and more every day) will distribute our funds our own way.

[cruiseboy89130]

19 hours ago, shandryl said:

When Guest services/they asked why?

Did they really ever ask you?

Never had that happen in all the years!

I usually give them a call so....

[cruiseboy89130]

18 hours ago, shandryl said:

They are charged a % for every transaction. it a Win Win!

Handling the cash is WAY more expensive than the cc% you are costing them extra money by paying cash - so they loose!😝

[cruiseboy89130]

17 hours ago, tvo7 said:

Would I be flagged in their computer for the next trip?

Absolutely! Do it 3 times and you are out!😱

[cruiseboy89130]

16 hours ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Not true. Staff has a list.

How would that work?

You can remove until you leave the ship!

No true at all - just a scare myth! The cruise line has no interest in spending any resources on compiling auch a list! The list does not make any sense and would not benefit anybody - especially the cruise line!

[cruiseboy89130]

16 hours ago, time4u2go said:

The staff has a list of people that removed auto gratuities on their previous cruise?

Yes it is fleet wide and takes up about 40% of their cabin space!😁

[cruiseboy89130]

13 hours ago, tvo7 said:

Do the staff ever treat you differently?

Only if they can find his name on that long list!😝

[glentally]

1 hour ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

 

I usually give them a call so....

You can call them on the phone from your cabin vs stand in the line of shame on the last day of the cruise?

[scorpluvsdolphins]

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

How do my comments not make sense? Most main line cruise lines have established a system where a significant number of their employees depend on tips. I don’t know any land based business that has a similar compensation structure, so your question about land businesses is irrelevant. You may not like the way cruise lines use tips to pay crew members, but the fact remains passengers who remove gratuities screw over crew members. It’s been a long time since I only had 55 cruises, so you are definitely a novice in my book, although I realize people with less cruises than one would likely think otherwise.  

I’m definitely not a novice to Royal with over 150 cruises.
Many, many Pinnacles remove the auto gratuities especially on Oasis and Quantum class ships. They eat in CK and tip every meal. If they do go to the MDR, they tip every meal and tip the head waiter at the end of the cruise. They give the host in CK a tip at the end as well as the CK manager. 
If they go to the WJ, they leave $1-$3 under the plate or give it to the person clearing away the dishes. 
How do I know?  I’ve witnessed it.
The cabin stewards prefer cash tips. Many Pinnacles give the cabin steward $5pppd or MORE. 
Cabin stewards prefer $70+ cash for 2 people for a week, than auto left on and $20+ cash. 
Many Pinnacles bring specific gifts, snacks, candy and quality chocolate that crew want or requested on top of the cash tips. 

Many D+ are following suit. 

[not-enough-cruising]

24 minutes ago, glentally said:

You can call them on the phone from your cabin vs stand in the line of shame on the last day of the cruise?

I call them, usually the morning of day 2; the wait times seem to have died down by then. 

[not-enough-cruising]

12 minutes ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

I’m definitely not a novice to Royal with over 150 cruises.
Many, many Pinnacles remove the auto gratuities especially on Oasis and Quantum class ships. They eat in CK and tip every meal. If they do go to the MDR, they tip every meal and tip the head waiter at the end of the cruise. They give the host in CK a tip at the end as well as the CK manager. 
If they go to the WJ, they leave $1-$3 under the plate or give it to the person clearing away the dishes. 
How do I know?  I’ve witnessed it.
The cabin stewards prefer cash tips. Many Pinnacles give the cabin steward $5pppd or MORE. 
Cabin stewards prefer $70+ cash for 2 people for a week, than auto left on and $20+ cash. 
Many Pinnacles bring specific gifts, snacks, candy and quality chocolate that crew want or requested on top of the cash tips. 

Many D+ are following suit. 

Well said

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

I’m definitely not a novice to Royal with over 150 cruises.
Many, many Pinnacles remove the auto gratuities especially on Oasis and Quantum class ships. They eat in CK and tip every meal. If they do go to the MDR, they tip every meal and tip the head waiter at the end of the cruise. They give the host in CK a tip at the end as well as the CK manager. 
If they go to the WJ, they leave $1-$3 under the plate or give it to the person clearing away the dishes. 
How do I know?  I’ve witnessed it.
The cabin stewards prefer cash tips. Many Pinnacles give the cabin steward $5pppd or MORE. 
Cabin stewards prefer $70+ cash for 2 people for a week, than auto left on and $20+ cash. 
Many Pinnacles bring specific gifts, snacks, candy and quality chocolate that crew want or requested on top of the cash tips. 

Many D+ are following suit. 

Speculation 

[HappyTexan44]

2 hours ago, cruiseboy89130 said:

Handling the cash is WAY more expensive than the cc% you are costing them extra money by paying cash - so they loose!😝

 

How does that work?   I can't see how paying cash for dinner causes extra handling expenses.  

 

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

How does that work?   I can't see how paying cash for dinner causes extra handling expenses.  

 

They have to secure the cash, count the cash, and take it to the bank.  All involves human interaction, which has a cost factor.

[RoperDK]

13 hours ago, tvo7 said:

My debate is this.  Lets say I eat in buffet all 7 days and not once go to main dining room.  Should should be in the hook for tipping the mdr crew?

 

Maybe give the assistant waiter a 10.

I am sure many on here would be glad to tip 20 plus 20 plus 10 for total of 50 rather than 725 dollars.  

Three of my family were .kids 10 8 8.  Why am I having to tip .RCi 18 dollars a day for each one?

I hate to dive into this, but here I go.  Your kids (10,8,8) use towels, sheets, make trash, and mess up a cabin just as much as adults do.  Even infants require extra work in the cabin clean up. So, I feel that the cabin steward should get full tips for each occupant of a cabin. If your family goes to the MDR, then the same thing applies.  The staff must take their orders and deliver their food and drink just as much as an adult.  An infant only takes up space in this instance and does not impact the servers.  If you never set foot in to the MDR, then I can see this as a gray area.  However, servers from the MDR also tend to the tables in the buffet.  They may not provide the same level of service as the MDR, but nonetheless, they are working there.  I never thought about how much gratuities must add up for families before as there are always only 2 of us.  Some families must be shocked at how much their vacation actually costs them in the end.  We always do auto tips and never adjust those.  For us, that is part of the cruise cost.  We do tip extra for those that we feel go above and beyond.        

[scorpluvsdolphins]

17 minutes ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Speculation 

What is speculation?

[cruiseboy89130]

1 hour ago, glentally said:

You can call them on the phone from your cabin vs stand in the line of shame on the last day of the cruise?

A absolutely! Give them a call before you go to bed the last night 👌

[Another_Critic]

8 minutes ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

What is speculation?

This entire thread.  No one on this thread knows how tips are allocated, unless you are the person responsible for allocating tips to the crew.

[cruiseboy89130]

1 hour ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

How does that work?   I can't see how paying cash for dinner causes extra handling expenses.  

 

Paying cash is the expensive way of paying for anything!

Debit cards are the cheapest way (1–2% max) followed by CC (2–3% max)

Cash handling costs about 5%+ total.

[Morecruisesplz]

3 hours ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

What is speculation?

  4 hours ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

I’m definitely not a novice to Royal with over 150 cruises.
Many, many Pinnacles remove the auto gratuities especially on Oasis and Quantum class ships. They eat in CK and tip every meal. If they do go to the MDR, they tip every meal and tip the head waiter at the end of the cruise. They give the host in CK a tip at the end as well as the CK manager. 
If they go to the WJ, they leave $1-$3 under the plate or give it to the person clearing away the dishes. 
How do I know?  I’ve witnessed it.
The cabin stewards prefer cash tips. Many Pinnacles give the cabin steward $5pppd or MORE. 
Cabin stewards prefer $70+ cash for 2 people for a week, than auto left on and $20+ cash. 
Many Pinnacles bring specific gifts, snacks, candy and quality chocolate that crew want or requested on top of the cash tips. 

Many D+ are following suit. 

[scorpluvsdolphins]

3 minutes ago, Morecruisesplz said:

  4 hours ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

I’m definitely not a novice to Royal with over 150 cruises.
Many, many Pinnacles remove the auto gratuities especially on Oasis and Quantum class ships. They eat in CK and tip every meal. If they do go to the MDR, they tip every meal and tip the head waiter at the end of the cruise. They give the host in CK a tip at the end as well as the CK manager. 
If they go to the WJ, they leave $1-$3 under the plate or give it to the person clearing away the dishes. 
How do I know?  I’ve witnessed it.
The cabin stewards prefer cash tips. Many Pinnacles give the cabin steward $5pppd or MORE. 
Cabin stewards prefer $70+ cash for 2 people for a week, than auto left on and $20+ cash. 
Many Pinnacles bring specific gifts, snacks, candy and quality chocolate that crew want or requested on top of the cash tips. 

Many D+ are following suit. 

Again, please specify what is speculation?

Maybe you don’t know what speculation means. 
Seeing with your own eyes Pinnacles tipping everyday this way on a cruise is an observation, not speculation.