Yet another tipping question

[JGmf]

1 hour ago, capriccio said:

You are, of course, entitled to your own opinion on tipping but please do not include me and others in "the rest of us."

 

Amen to that.  The wonderful staff on these ships are there to make a living for themselves and their families, working unfathomable hours Americans would never contemplate.  It's not their hobby. They count on tips.

[dockman]

I  prefer to tip some of the exceptional crew members who provide me with fantastic service with a smile and go out of their way to talk to me and make sure i am taken care of as i usually am solo

 

...heck of lot better than feeling forced to tip on land everytime i turn around whether tip jars or now presented with computer tablets to select 20 or 25  or 30% %or more.....problem is often the service on land is very basic or awful but they still think they should get an extra 25% or so for just showing up, never saying a nice word etc...and most people me included somehow feel shamed into tipping even when got bad service... i have never felt pushed to tip extra by the crew on cruise and when i do give extra they seem to genuinely appreciate it and give you thanks...seems on land even to get a thank you is not all that frequent anymore.  Lot of times on cruise all i want is a glass of ice water in bar etc and they bring it and of course free so no tip added...I carry few $1 bills to give tip for that which they always seem to appreciate as just as much effort to bring me a glass of free water as to bring me a $15 cocktail.  Not sure but i think they get to keep those $1 ++ tips in cash for water or maybe they get pooled?

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

44 minutes ago, dockman said:

I  prefer to tip some of the exceptional crew members who provide me with fantastic service with a smile and go out of their way to talk to me and make sure i am taken care of as i usually am solo

 

...heck of lot better than feeling forced to tip on land everytime i turn around whether tip jars or now presented with computer tablets to select 20 or 25  or 30% %or more.....problem is often the service on land is very basic or awful but they still think they should get an extra 25% or so for just showing up, never saying a nice word etc...and most people me included somehow feel shamed into tipping even when got bad service... i have never felt pushed to tip extra by the crew on cruise and when i do give extra they seem to genuinely appreciate it and give you thanks...seems on land even to get a thank you is not all that frequent anymore.  Lot of times on cruise all i want is a glass of ice water in bar etc and they bring it and of course free so no tip added...I carry few $1 bills to give tip for that which they always seem to appreciate as just as much effort to bring me a glass of free water as to bring me a $15 cocktail.  Not sure but i think they get to keep those $1 ++ tips in cash for water or maybe they get pooled?

Good for you!  The crew works very hard and deserves recognition.  There are still some here who advocate removing tips and paying directly to those that serve them.  This obviously lowers the total net tip pool and eventually lowers everyone's compensation.  Always better to leave auto tipping on and supplement as called for!

[dockman]

44 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Good for you!  The crew works very hard and deserves recognition.  There are still some here who advocate removing tips and paying directly to those that serve them.  This obviously lowers the total net tip pool and eventually lowers everyone's compensation.  Always better to leave auto tipping on and supplement as called for!

I always leave on the auto tipping and then spread a few more dollars around here and there...i really sort of enjoy tipping people who go out of their way to assist me and act like they care and maybe even a smile and a thank you....i don't expect them to bow etc when i sit down but it is nice to at least get greeted with a smile or a hello and then some semblance of good service which i get quite often on cruises.  I have also found that sometimes I want to give a few dollars to some buffet line employee who is super nice and maybe goes out of their way to fix or find something just for me....i don't think they often get this and not saying i do it all the time but wow sometimes some of them are so good and a pleasure to come into contact with.

 

unfortunately the vast majority of people i tip in USA seem to think that they are entitled to tips just for showing up, ignoring you, getting orders wrong, playing on their phone and never bothering to look around to see is a customer might need something. 

 

I am slowly getting to the point that I try not to reward these types and leave very little or even nothing sometimes as i would rather give a bit more to the ones who actually are nice and take care of you....not easy to do but something that i feel needs to happen more often in many instances..

[Crystaltipps67]

On 1/25/2024 at 8:03 AM, sailing canary said:

But this isn't really helpful as I've already said I don't go to the bar nor eat in the buffet nor use room service.  And where would I get USD on a cruise out of Southampton?

Greetings from a fellow Brit. Please don't panic - we pay the auto gratuity but rarely anything more. I certainly wouldn't ever be carrying round a stack $ bills to dole out to people as we go. It's not our culture and I'd feel really uncomfortable about doing it. Room stewards do their job. I've never felt that they were doing anything above and beyond to deserve anything more. The only additional tip we've ever given was to a MDR waiter who saved us a table in his section every night, got the chef to cook us Phillipino food because we mentioned a Phillipino dish that we like, always spotted when the wine glass was getting low and appeared with a fresh one, and was the funniest man we've ever met. He got £20 in cash (cruising out of Southampton) on the last evening and a mention in the post cruise survey. Hope that helps.

[dog]

Canadian here:

we pre pay crew appreciation 

Give cash tip to elite mini bar setup delivery, elite afternoon tea delivery & elite laundry delivery if we are there when it happens.

 

write up crew appreciation forms at GS during the cruise

 

Recently did away with extra cash to dining room, bars & cabin crew, except in over and above service.

 

None of my business or judgement as to what others do about tipping.

 

 

[Korimako]

9 hours ago, Crystaltipps67 said:

Greetings from a fellow Brit. Please don't panic - we pay the auto gratuity but rarely anything more. I certainly wouldn't ever be carrying round a stack $ bills to dole out to people as we go. It's not our culture and I'd feel really uncomfortable about doing it. Room stewards do their job. I've never felt that they were doing anything above and beyond to deserve anything more. The only additional tip we've ever given was to a MDR waiter who saved us a table in his section every night, got the chef to cook us Phillipino food because we mentioned a Phillipino dish that we like, always spotted when the wine glass was getting low and appeared with a fresh one, and was the funniest man we've ever met. He got £20 in cash (cruising out of Southampton) on the last evening and a mention in the post cruise survey. Hope that helps.

 

Edited January 27 by Korimako
Answered wrong post

[charliedalrymple]

17 hours ago, dockman said:

heck of lot better than feeling forced to tip on land everytime i turn around whether tip jars or now presented with computer tablets to select 20 or 25  or 30% %or more

 

We were recently in the U.S. and saw that places like Starbucks now have a screen for the tip when you tap your credit card.  Seems a little coercive to me.  🙂.  I would never tip at Starbucks, fast food outlets and the like.  It's a bit out of control.

[charliedalrymple]

9 hours ago, Crystaltipps67 said:

Greetings from a fellow Brit. Please don't panic - we pay the auto gratuity but rarely anything more.

 

I'm guessing that crew members become accustomed to the tipping habits of various nationalities and adjust their expectations accordingly.  Australia does not have a tipping culture, and it would never occur to most Australians that they should be tipping beyond the mandatory crew appreciation. 

 

Bottom line:  you do you.  Nobody should feel pressured one way or the other when it comes to tipping.

[nini]

19 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

We were recently in the U.S. and saw that places like Starbucks now have a screen for the tip when you tap your credit card.  Seems a little coercive to me.  🙂.  I would never tip at Starbucks, fast food outlets and the like.  It's a bit out of control.

 

As an American, DH and I draw the line at Starbucks, fast food and the like. I have to admit that I was very surprised when it began showing up when paying with a debit or credit card. AND... most consumers are unaware that adding a gratuity in this way, adds to what the business will pay in these card fees, so it costs the business to do this. The business, not the bank, has to pay for YOUR airline miles, cash back, and other "rewards".

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, nini said:

 

As an American, DH and I draw the line at Starbucks, fast food and the like. I have to admit that I was very surprised when it began showing up when paying with a debit or credit card. AND... most consumers are unaware that adding a gratuity in this way, adds to what the business will pay in these card fees, so it costs the business to do this. The business, not the bank, has to pay for YOUR airline miles, cash back, and other "rewards".

Well then, I guess we can save the business some of the trouble and expense of paying for our rewards by not paying tips.

[nini]

39 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

Well then, I guess we can save the business some of the trouble and expense of paying for our rewards by not paying tips.

 

Very true......

[sailing canary]

On 1/28/2024 at 1:26 AM, Crystaltipps67 said:

Greetings from a fellow Brit. Please don't panic - we pay the auto gratuity but rarely anything more. I certainly wouldn't ever be carrying round a stack $ bills to dole out to people as we go. It's not our culture and I'd feel really uncomfortable about doing it. Room stewards do their job. I've never felt that they were doing anything above and beyond to deserve anything more. The only additional tip we've ever given was to a MDR waiter who saved us a table in his section every night, got the chef to cook us Phillipino food because we mentioned a Phillipino dish that we like, always spotted when the wine glass was getting low and appeared with a fresh one, and was the funniest man we've ever met. He got £20 in cash (cruising out of Southampton) on the last evening and a mention in the post cruise survey. Hope that helps.

Yes that does help, thank you. I think it's quite difficult for some cruisers from a tipping culture to understand just how uncomfortable tipping is from those of us from a non-tipping culture. As far as I can see, having already paid the automatic gratuities, why would I pay someone extra for doing their job?

Thanks again

 

PS - is your other half called Alistair???

[1965]

27 minutes ago, sailing canary said:

Yes that does help, thank you. I think it's quite difficult for some cruisers from a tipping culture to understand just how uncomfortable tipping is from those of us from a non-tipping culture. As far as I can see, having already paid the automatic gratuities, why would I pay someone extra for doing their job?

Thanks again

 

PS - is your other half called Alistair???

This American agrees whole heartedly with you. 

[Titanfan22]

Gratuity is up to each individual, but the definition of gratuity is:

 

1. a gift of money, over and above payment due for service, as to a waiter or bellhop; tip.

2. something given without claim or demand

    

   Does anyone truly believe all of the prepaid gratuities go to the staff?  Just say 3,000 people on a 7-day cruise at an average of $15 per day per person.  That’s $315,000 for a week.  I feel the cruise lines are most likely supplementing their payroll and giving “some” back with the gratuities.  After all, there are admin costs, wink-wink.  But I think it’s more of, one for you, one for me.  One for you, one for me. Etc.

    

   I believe wages should be paid for the service rendered and the gratuity added if it was above and beyond.  Jmo 

    

    

    

    

[MacMadame]

25 minutes ago, Titanfan22 said:

Does anyone truly believe all of the prepaid gratuities go to the staff?  Just say 3,000 people on a 7-day cruise at an average of $15 per day per person.  That’s $315,000 for a week.  I feel the cruise lines are most likely supplementing their payroll and giving “some” back with the gratuities.  After all, there are admin costs, wink-wink.  But I think it’s more of, one for you, one for me.  One for you, one for me. Etc.

Princess is upfront that some of the crew appreciation and service charges go to regular compensation. They raised pay when they went to the pooled tipping system and use crew appreciation/service charges to cover it. The rest goes to bonuses.

 

Most cruise ships have almost as much staff as customers. So a 3,000-person 7-day cruise could have as many as 2000+ staff. Not all of them are in positions that get tips so let's say it's only 1,000. If they got all the crew appreciation, that would be $315 per person. That's not very much for a week of hard work. If they work 10-hour days (as has been reported), that's an extra $4.50 an hour.

 

Bottom line: Princess is not raking in the big bucks with our CA so that they have plenty left over for other things.

[Titanfan22]

Thank you for the clarification.  That being said, they are collecting and determining how to distribute or if to distribute gratuities.  Then those who provide the great service share with many that don’t?  No wonder service levels have seemed to diminished over the years unless you throw the extra cash out. 
Does the Captain share his bonus with anyone?

[capriccio]

35 minutes ago, Titanfan22 said:

Then those who provide the great service share with many that don’t? 

We consider the daily crew appreciation and service charges part of the cost of the cruise and don't even think about it now that we always get the Plus package where they are included.  Tips that are given directly to a member of the staff are not shared according to stewards and wait staff. 

[Titanfan22]

It smoke and mirrors marketing.  I look at it the same way you do, I was just making a point the by collecting the gratuities, the service employees are penalized.  

[rideev]

Just got off of a cruise last week.  Prior to getting onboard the ship, we had breakfast in our hotel.  The host that sat us did a wonderful job.  My wife mentioned that he should work on a cruise ship, he said that he did.  We talked for a little bit, then he had to go back to his job as others were coming in to be seated.  After breakfast, I went and had a little conversation with him.  I wanted to talk to him about the tipping on the cruise ship.  I asked him if I took off the auto gratuities if he would know, and if it would affect his pay.  He stated that he would know, but it would not affect his pay.  His pay was a set amount.  I then asked him if I gave him cash did that go into the tip pool or did he get to keep that.  He stated that he got to keep it.  He stated that he would recommend that I take off auto gratuities (or now, service charge or whatever) and just give the money to whoever did a good job.  He stated that the cruise line just uses that money to reduce the cruise lines payroll as he is on a set contract with a set pay.  I did not remove tips on that cruise as it was short and we had already prepaid those.  However, I will be doing this in the future, and will be giving the full amount, plus some, to the staff that earns it.  Our last cruise we had a great wait team and a useless cabin steward.  The cruise before that we even had a maitre d that went above and beyond and got us an orange souffle in the middle of the cruise.  You know, that one they have on embarkation day lunch in the MDR.  It was special as they only made a couple just for us.

 

I wish that the cruise line would do away with the auto gratuities.  But that's just me.  If they need to charge more, then so be it, charge more and pay your staff what they are worth.

 

That being said, tipping is an individual decision and I wish all businesses would do away with it.  Pay your people what you need to pay them and charge the price you need to charge.

 

On a land side note... One of the guys I play pickleball with has retired from the restaurant management business, and now has gone to work at a resort as a part time waiter.  I asked him about the tipping business and how that works, and if he gets the tips, etc.  He stated that he prefers that customers give him cash, as he keeps all of that.  If they tip by Credit Card, then the business usually keeps 3%, then the rest goes in the tip pool.  

[memoak]

I think a lot of people on this thread never worked at service jobs. If there was no tipping then your restaurant prices would be at least 25% higher and you would then complain about that. Many restaurants have tried that and got lots of push back

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, rideev said:

I wish that the cruise line would do away with the auto gratuities.  But that's just me.  If they need to charge more, then so be it, charge more and pay your staff what they are worth.

They already do.

On AUD currency based ships, if booking from Aust or NZ, there are no daily auto gratuities charged.

The fare is the fare.

This is on worldwide itineraries on any AUD currency based ship....including their World cruise.

[MacMadame]

On 1/29/2024 at 1:35 PM, Titanfan22 said:

Thank you for the clarification.  That being said, they are collecting and determining how to distribute or if to distribute gratuities.  Then those who provide the great service share with many that don’t?  No wonder service levels have seemed to diminished over the years unless you throw the extra cash out. 
Does the Captain share his bonus with anyone?

I don't think the Captain gets bonuses from this pool as he's not a service worker. 😉

 

Supposedly the people you mention as doing a good job on your post-cruise survey get a bonus of some sort from the pool.

 

We have Plus so couldn't remove CA if we wanted to. But I am not going to count on the people who go above and beyond getting a bonus and will tip them as we see fit. It's a case where everyone has to do what they feel comfortable with and that's what I feel comfortable with.

[dog]

2 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

They already do.

On AUD currency based ships, if booking from Aust or NZ, there are no daily auto gratuities charged.

The fare is the fare.

This is on worldwide itineraries on any AUD currency based ship....including their World cruise.

I was on a Princess ship and had auto tips on my account. Sydney round trip. Sydney- NZ as, well.  Booked in Canada. Embarked/ disembarked in Australia 

[Tranquility Base]

3 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

They already do.

On AUD currency based ships, if booking from Aust or NZ, there are no daily auto gratuities charged.

The fare is the fare.

This is on worldwide itineraries on any AUD currency based ship....including their World cruise.

 

24 minutes ago, dog said:

I was on a Princess ship and had auto tips on my account. Sydney round trip. Sydney- NZ as, well.  Booked in Canada. Embarked/ disembarked in Australia 

Correct.

As you mentioned you booked in Canada.

My phrase highlighted above meant if booking through an Aust or NZ entity; not where the cruise originates from.

Other cruiselines operate the same system for Aussies .... Celebrity, Oceania come to mind.

Such an easy system, and stops all this "who do gratuities go to, and how much do they get to keep" stuff.

Same with alcohol onboard an AUD ship, the price on the menu is the total price paid....easy peasy.

 

Edited January 31 by Tranquility Base