Can OBC be used for tips for YC butler?

[suometar]

I have $675 OBC from my TA. On NCL I am able to use the OBC from my account to tip the Haven butler, concierge and steward  In fact, the concierge has a form that is used for this purpose. Can this be done on MSC? 

[Av8tor]

Not sure if you can do that directly. However, you can add that OBC to a casino machine and then close it out to get cold, hard cash to use for tips or just fatten your wallet!

Edited February 29 by Av8tor

[Morgsmom]

54 minutes ago, Av8tor said:

Not sure if you can do that directly. However, you can add that OBC to a casino machine and then close it out to get cold, hard cash to use for tips or just fatten your wallet!

Just did that yesterday.  Easy Peasy.

[Brighton Line]

Easier to just charge a slot machine to your onboard account and then cash in the voucher at the cage or voyager machine if the ship has one.

[morpheusofthesea]

Of course. One can always use that OBC method to tip specific staff. One can even designate by name each individual at guest services. HOWEVER, they may only get a portion of what you designate and management will just send along a thank you note instead to the one you hoped would benefit. Or management will just pool all these OBC donations and take a 'house' cut and your staff member only gets pennies on your dollar tip. 

Found this post on another social media post:

"ElGofre

·11 mo. ago

Ex-crew here, although I wasn't part of the crew who received gratuities.

The simple explanation is that most of the service crew are guaranteed a certain wage per month, partially paid for by the cruise line and partially via gratuities, and if the amount of gratuities received during the cruise aren't enough to reach that guaranteed amount, the cruise will make up the shortfall. My understanding is that the maths is done so that if everyone on board the ship sailing at it's usual sailing capacity leaves their gratuities turned on, the amount in the pool will be enough to cover that wage for everyone. In the event people do overpay, it does indeed mean the crew get paid more- If the cruise line doesn't take a cut or reduce their contribution, the crew's pay does increase."

P.S. This is every cruise line, not just MSC.

Edited February 29 by morpheusofthesea
P.S.

[suometar]

Morpheus, thank you for that information. I have read on these boards that the crew is supposed to turn over cash tips to be pooled, but I did not think that this would apply to staff that are not part of the DSC, such as the butler and the concierge on NCL.

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, suometar said:

Morpheus, thank you for that information. I have read on these boards that the crew is supposed to turn over cash tips to be pooled, but I did not think that this would apply to staff that are not part of the DSC, such as the butler and the concierge on NCL.

There are all sorts of 'nuances' at play on a cruise ship. For example, having tipped the hostess that seated us every evening in the Celebrity Luminae I nonchalantly asked her if she was able to keep this tip. She shyly responded that her Luminae staff were a close knit group and they all pooled their tips. Maybe true, maybe not. But once I give a tip to whomever, it's really none of my business what they do with it. I did what I felt was right in giving the tip and I sleep most soundly.