Tipping

[cruisingbarb]

We will be on the Star Clipper this summer from Athens to Venice. How much should you tip? Do you put all the money in an envelope or do you tip individuals? And do you need to tip in Euros or can you tip in US Dollars? Can the tip be put on a credit card?

[MSN-Travelers]

We will be on the Star Clipper this summer from Athens to Venice. How much should you tip? Do you put all the money in an envelope or do you tip individuals? And do you need to tip in Euros or can you tip in US Dollars? Can the tip be put on a credit card?

 

Unless you do something to change it, the suggested tip (per day, per passenger) is automatically added to your shipboard account and paid by whatever method you plan to use in paying that bill.

 

They have a tip envelope method if you wish to give extra.

 

There is no need to bring foreign currency to cover any expenses aboard ship.

 

Enjoy!

[FirstClassDiva]

Oooooo I'm so glad you asked this CruisingBarb. My husband and I are doing that cruise in August and I wondered about the tipping thing. Great to know they'll be billing it to our account and then I can give them all extra at the end in an envelope.

 

Yay for us cruising the Med. I'm so excited I could explode. Enjoy it :-))

[Med Cruiser TR]

I have read that tipping is Euro 8,00 per person/day.

Is that a fix amount which I have to pay or do I decide how much I'll tip.

Thanks !

 

Unless you do something to change it, the suggested tip (per day, per passenger) is automatically added to your shipboard account and paid by whatever method you plan to use in paying that bill.

 

They have a tip envelope method if you wish to give extra.

 

There is no need to bring foreign currency to cover any expenses aboard ship.

 

Enjoy!

[MSEm]

We received a separate form and envelops for tips. The suggested amount for the tips is printed on the form. You could tip more or less than the suggested amount.

I filled out the form and put the tips on my credit card. I also tips a few individuals a little extra in person.

 

Service was generally very good. Many choose to work on Star Clipper after working with other cruise lines.

 

Have a great time.

 

MSEM

 

PS Things I wish I had taken: 120 V hair dryer for Star Clipper or Star Flyer (voltage is 120 on those ships with 220V hair dryer. Glad I took plastic cloth hangers with clips.

[MSN-Travelers]

I have read that tipping is Euro 8,00 per person/day.

Is that a fix amount which I have to pay or do I decide how much I'll tip.

Thanks !

 

There will be a briefing session near the end of the cruise. You will be told that the food service wait staff and the cabin staff are not salaried employees and work for the tips they earn on each cruise. On our March 2009 cruise, we were told the suggested amount was 8 Euros per person per day. We were all given a form that listed the total "suggested" amount for that 7-day cruise. We were also given a tip envelop.

 

We were afforded two options: Complete the form with the amount we want to give and turn it in. This form was your authorization for them to add/charge that amount to your ship-board account ... OR

We were given the option of placing a cash tip, in whatever amount we wanted to give, in the envelope. They had a "tip box" located at the ship's store where you could deposit the envelopes.

 

Star Clippers does not operate like several major cruise lines that automatically place a gratuity charge against against you account for these services. They do include a gratuity charge to all bar orders (I believe 15%).

 

I guess the only thing you have to remember is all monetary transactions/charges aboard ship are in Euros. No need to obtain/take them for spending aboard ship unle you really want to. We used our regular US credit card and let the bank work out the exchnage rate (for a small fee ... of coarse). International currency exchange fees vary by bank and yours may or may not charge one.

 

Enjoy!

[new salt]

If this is indeed correct (working for tips only) I think it is scandalous, I was under the impression that cruise crew salaries were set at a standard level, albeit an ungenerous one. Certainly I would never sail with a line that indulged in such mean spirited behaviour. I intend to look into this further since we were actively considering a cruise with Star Clippers.

[reic0002]

I suggest you grow up and understand what happens in the world around you. I hope you realise that if you make too big a fuss all those hard working employees would be out of a job and their families would starve just to satisfy your comfortable rant about 'minimum' wage.

[new salt]

For Rei 0002

 

Thank you for what you may reflect was a hasty reply at 0148 hours. Perhaps you may consider it gratuitously offensive, albeit unintentionally, and may wish to review your response.

[MSN-Travelers]

If this is indeed correct (working for tips only) I think it is scandalous, I was under the impression that cruise crew salaries were set at a standard level, albeit an ungenerous one. Certainly I would never sail with a line that indulged in such mean spirited behaviour. I intend to look into this further since we were actively considering a cruise with Star Clippers.

 

There are a couple different models used in the cruise industry.

One has the passenger assigned to the same staff throughout the cruise. This is the case where the dining option is fixed and the same wait staff takes care of you from first to last meal. A base salary plus tips works well in this model.

Another (and growing in popularity) has has non-structured dining options where the passenger and wait staff may meet for only one meal for the entire cruise. It is hard to earn a tip from individual passengers so the "tip pool" model is used. A minimal base salary may be used but working for tips as the primary compensation method is an inducement to provide superior service to each and every passenger at all times.

 

I don't know what the split is for the tip pool on Star Clipper ship. For the sake of discussion, assume it is split 50-50 between the cabin stewards and food service wait staff. Assume the ship is staffed to have one food service waiter for every 20 passengers and each cabin steward responsible for 10 cabins. If everybody pays the suggest rate of 8 Euros pp per day, then each wait staff and steward will receive 560 euros in "pay" each week, roughly 2,426.67 euros per month, 29,120 euros per year ($41,610 USD).

 

That is a pretty good annual wage for individuals that perform what most countries would consider essentially unskilled labor. Especially when you take into account that they get free room `n board.

 

I have noted that "tipping" can be a hot-button issue with passengers from different national backgrounds. Tipping is common place in the US and no so in many European nations.

 

I suggest you get past the term "tip" and think of is as a fare surcharge that goes to a very select group of employees. It is just an accounting trick that allows cruise lines to have lower advertised fares while extracting more cash from you for employee pay under a different title.

[new salt]

Paul and Marilyn,

Thank you for your illuminating reply, all light and no heat. I have also learnt that there is a guaranteed base level of income for staff, should tips not reach the anticipated level. I note your observation that there is an element of accounting creativity in this whole business of tipping

 

Rgds

 

New Salt.