Tipping

[amusea]

I am wondering how many passengers on MSC actually tip in addition to the automatic $12.00 a day. Europeans customarily leave only small change as a tip in a restaurant in addition to the percentage added to the bill. And, it has been my observation that they do not tip nearly as liberally as Americans. Therefore I wonder if the cabin attendants and waiters receive less extra tips on MSC than employees of cruise lines that cater much more heavily to Americans. Any comments are helpful.

[Magwa]

Europeans do not make a big show of leaving tips, and by and large anyone else would have no idea how much had been left. It is personal and done discreetly.

 

If one has left the auto tipping in place then there is no requirement to leave anymore, that is personal again, and if one does, one would not tell anyone else, let alone how much. Observation means nothing, as it is discreet and not made a show of. Read previous posts of mine on the subject, about how rude and completely wrong people observing can be. It is not $12 per day on MSC in Europe, that is only for ex US sailings.

[amusea]

Europeans do not make a big show of leaving tips, and by and large anyone else would have no idea how much had been left. It is personal and done discreetly.

 

If one has left the auto tipping in place then there is no requirement to leave anymore, that is personal again, and if one does, one would not tell anyone else, let alone how much. Observation means nothing, as it is discreet and not made a show of. Read previous posts of mine on the subject, about how rude and completely wrong people observing can be. It is not $12 per day on MSC in Europe, that is only for ex US sailings.

You have misunderstood my question. I realize that the $12. a day is only for cruises in the U.S and that is why I posted the thread. I have been staying with friends in Europe since 1969 and they number in the dozens. I also have relatives living there currently (France) and I have worked in Europe for months at a time at the major European opera houses - Milan, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Paris, London. I know for a fact that in Europe, if the tip is added automatically, most people, not all, just add a small amount. This is the custom and, of course, it is personal and discreet. But I also have escorted European friends and business colleagues around the U.S. who are somewhat mystified by the American tipping system and I was wondering if that may cause confusion just as Americans can be confused when they travel in Europe. There is much discussion currently on other CC boards about the proper amount to tip for room service, extra charge restaurants, etc. so this is not a unique discussion and it can be perplexing even to folks who have cruised before. Therefore they discuss tipping matters in an attempt to seek guidelines. That is what these boards are about and they are very helpful to many people. As an example, there are many posts about tipping on the HAL board currently. Perhaps you find that distasteful and, of course, that is your right to do so but hopefully we can avoid a discussion based on subjective opinions of rudeness, etc. in this thread.

[amusea]

I stand corrected about the tipping policy for MSC in Europe. According to

the Musica review by "Racing" here is the quote from his review:

Tips: MSC charges automatically 6 EUR/person/day and 3 EUR for a child on your on board account. However if you like you can ask specifically at the accountancy desk to change this system and pay directly to the people you know without charging your account or not to pay anything if you were not well served.

 

That is certainly a lesser amount than is charged on the Caribbean cruises. At the current rate, 6 Euros would equal about $8.50. I wonder why there is such a discrepancy.

[amusea]

For anyone who has questions about additional tipping on cruises, especially now that the automatic tipping policy is in effect on most lines, I would suggest that they read the thread entitled "HAL's tipping policy" on the first page of the Holland America board. It was posted by a member called "Italy 52".

There are presently 186 posts on this thread and includes some tipping customs in other countries such as Japan and Germany. It shows how much confusion and difference of opinion there is on the subject and is fascinating as well as helpful. Unfortunately the MSC is very quiet so there are few discussions of any length.

[Magwa]

When 'auto tipping' started being introduced, the cynics commented to the effect of 'Oh yeah, then it will become *expected* to leave an additional tip'.. they were right is seems.

 

Tipping is so varied the world over as you have seen. Europe cannot be classed as a whole, as customs differ from country to country within. A standard auto tip in fine; everyone then knows where they stand, and anything additional should not be expected or even suggested. This is where some lines [eg Celebrity] are going too far imo, in handing out extra envelopes for expected extra tips.

 

On MSC [in Europe] and most European lines, tipping is low key. Some lines still include the gratuities within the overall cruise fare [Thomson, Island Cruises, Travelscope, Swan Hellenic, HIC...]

 

Maybe MSC's crew have different contract terms re pay in Europe? I have no idea, but the overall cruises in comparison are far more expensive ex Europe than ex US; so perhaps that is why the auto gratuities are less.

 

There is no correct or incorrect answer to any question over tipping. I for one would just wish there was no such thing and all crew were paid a decent wage with initial fares higher to cover it. We need to go back in time too imho... get rid of all the blasted nickel, diming and penny pinching on board, and charge a proper rate for the cruise. This might also wheedle out those who pay next to nothing, buy nothing, leave nothing and then rant about the cruise:) Such is life!!

 

My next cruise is more far flung.. do I tip in Dirhams, Euro or US$? LOL, I'll leave it up to the cruiseline to take their standard rate and forget about it..

[amusea]

I would hope some adventurous mass cruise line would institute an auto tip that included everything and then advertised absolutely no extra tipping. On Cunard the tips are automatically added on but everyone seems to tip extra.

Staff seem insulted if they don't get an extra tip. There is also the question raised on the HAL board of whether, on some lines, all extra tips must be added to the tip pool (honor system). The problem is that there is no uniformity within the cruise business and it is easy to be suspicious about how that auto tip is actually distributed. Of course the whole thing started because some people didn't tip at all and now we are all paying the consequences. I prefer to tip for service well performed but that seems to be

a vanishing system at sea.

[va 4 the lovers]

i have a tipping question too.one of the ship,only for one night on the bar when i ordered the drink, bill came with the sign on it that said %15 tip will be automatically added to..any other night i did not see this sign,normally i was filling the tipping section with my preferense.why is this?.what's coused this differant,still don't know.