Longford

Lounge chairs are plentiful, not just at the pool or in the Sun. I sat in the shade and towel bands helped me avoid the annoyance of towels constantly slipping down/ off the chairs - especially when lounge chairs are so close together.

Sounds like someone who doesn't know what they are, and how many people use them and/or the clips.

I was a first-time solo cruiser in November 2022. I bought towel bands to bring with me, and think they were important to my enjoying sitting in the loungers ... because the towels didn't slip and fall. Some people had towel clips, but I liked the bands.

Troubling to me is the seemingly condescending attitudes / comments about waiters. I suspect persons making those comments might be accustomed to stiffing waiters, generally (not just on cruise ships) or leaving gratuities not commensurate with service they may receive ... because they think better of themselves. I hope my suspicion is inaccurate.

From the article, if accurately reported: "Cabin Stewards: Average Salary of $650-$1,150 monthly, including gratuities. If they work on a luxury cruise line, they may receive over $2,000 each month with tips."

This one was the "official" excursion offered via the cruise line.

Not currently, but early last Fall I renewed my passport ... paid for expedited service ... and received my new passport back in 10 days or less.

I was on a 7 nighter out of Tampa on Serenade in November 2022. A family I spent a day with afterwards in Costa Maya raved about the zipline excursion in Roatan.

I grew up in Chicago in the 50s and 60s, and never heard of tipping more than 10% ... until maybe the 1990s.

Yes, it's the ignorant who over-tip.

Thank you for the explanation. I doubt I'd ever not pre-pay the cruise line "customary" gratuities (I just consider it part of the overall cruise cost) ... but anything additional in cash will depend on whether or not the level of service rises above what is customarily expected for the job category. I can't remember the last time I left no gratuity for a land-based food/beverage service.

"So … you do understand that for those crew who get service charge, a large part of their contract wages come from tips." Yes, I understand. If the contract entered into by crew says, in so many words, that a large part of their wages come from gratuities not guaranteed to be received nor paid by the employer … that reinforces my earlier statement that cruise lines are not paying a fair or decent wage in the eyes of many people but are, in fact, expecting passengers to make up the difference between a low wage and something greater … because the cruise lines will not do that themselves. "Florida has a minimum wage is $11/hour. BUT … if you are a tipped employee in Florida like a waiter in your local diner, an employer can pay you as little as $3.03/hour and the expectation is that the first $8 per hour of your tips goes to getting you to minimum wage before you start earning more." I am not an accountant nor an attorney, however, as I understand Florida's minimum wage regulations: it's $11 per hour for workers that do not earn tips. For tipped workers such as waiters / waitresses the minimum tipped wage is reported to be $8.46 - of which $5.44 is in the form of direct payment from the employer, and $3.02 is in the form of a tip credit. Source: https://www.minimum-wage.org/florida/tipped-employee-minimum-wage "… your local diner waiter struggles to get to minimum wage based on the lose change people leave as tips." Again, you further reinforce my assertion(s) that restaurant owners, like cruise ship companies, unfairly pay their employees and seek and do push that burden of fair and just compensation onto the backs, the pockets of customers. Describing tips waiters / waiters receive in restaurants as "lose change" is a bit disingenuous, is it not? "Your stateroom steward is the same. They get a minimum salary from the cruise line, the first $xx of the gratuities goes to getting them up to their minimum contract salary. Then it become real gratuity after that, if any. And you k now that cruise lines do not get a compensated like US employees based on working the hours they do, 7 days a week." Ahhh … yet another reinforcement for my assertions regarding those who are the lowest paid on the foreign flagged vessels which afford cruise lines to pay lower wages and avoid stricter employment regulations than they would otherwise adhere to if flagged in the United States; it allows the lines to offer wages differently depending upon the country of origin of many of the crew members and to ask passengers to in effect pay the wages the employers will not.

What is the "customary amount" and who decided what it is on an international level?

I'm single and when I'm away from home, I'm a neat and clean person. At home it's something different! 😬 After the morning cleaning by the Steward I rarely need additional service throughout the remainder of the day. I don't have cruise experience to compare, beyond my one and only, my first solo cruise of November 2022. That said, for the 7 nights I cruised to the Western Caribbean - I told the Steward I didn't need anything. He turned-down the bed and gave the cabin a quick glance seeing that it was tidy and moved to the next rooms nearby ... which were horribly trashed (as I saw when walking down the aisles). So, for me ... this one and only cruise ... 5 minutes was probably sufficient. But mine is certainly the exception to what the Steward encounters.

Amen! to that.

The daily service charge - described by the cruise lines as "gratuities" - is, IMO, meant to shift the burden of paying a decent wage to employees from the employer onto the passengers. I subscribe to the belief that gratuities are appropriate when someone providing the service to you directly goes above and beyond what the job descriptions call for. It's not a charity payment, it's for services rendered. Go ahead and raise the price of a cruise by xxx Dollars to fairly compensate back of the house staff or other staff we don't often come into contact with.

Yes, the cruise lines are cheap ... and take advantage of many of the crew who are from poor countries because those individuals can earn more onboard than they would doing jobs back home. In the USA, restaurant owners are notoriously and abusively cheap ... well, not all but most. Rather than raise wages on the price of a cruise or a meal in a land-side restaurant in order to pay a better wage we're pressured to leave a big tip. In the USA 20% is being pushed as the norm.

I was on Serenade 11/5/2022 for a 7 nighter, solo. I brought 2 bottles of wine with me and I didn't drink but several times at one of the bars. I ordered a total of 3 Pina Coladas at a bar above the pool deck. I tipped an additional $2 cash the first drink. The female bartender double poured, maybe triple ... the rum. The next 2 drinks I gave her $5 each time. Yes, I paid the automatic gratuity added to the check, but the $5 cash was worth the spectacular drink, IMO. Of course, I was feeling pretty good. By the way, when the second, male, bartender showed up to work with her she poured only the prescribed amount. 😁

Answer: No

"entitled:? Really? Well, that's your perspective. For an AI vacation where most people pay cruise line determined gratuities in advance ... an additional 10% for restaurant waitstaff seems appropriate to me ... unless the service was spectacular and a higher tip is warranted. I subscribe to the belief that tips are for service rendered over and above what the staff is already being paid to do the job. Some people view tips as a sort of charity for what they believe is low wages paid to restaurant staff / crew - so they over-tip. Not me. And I've been in the hospitality business. When tipping, I oftentimes deduct the liquor portion of the check when tipping ... because drink prices inflate the check and it's the bartenders who do the work, and waitstaff just carries the drink to my table. Others can do as they wish, it's their money ... but I'm not subscribing to some sort of guilt trip when tipping (not that it's what you do).

I'm a newbie, with just one solo cruise experience. My cabin attendant liked it that I was out of the room from 8 a.m. until after lunch ... and took the opportunity to clean my lightly-used room early before tackling the mess left in other cabins. 😁 Evenings, I was out until 9 p.m. or so ... and didn't mess the room throughout the day.

As a cruising newbie in November 2022 for a 7 nighter, I didn't understand / know about the custom / tradition of ships' crew placing towel animals in the cabins. I was surprised and amused.

"upon request" is fair enough - if the report is accurate. You get it whichever days you want - every day, or none at all. No problem with that. The guest wishes are honored.

This may say more about you than the ship. 😇

Cruise lines, like restaurant owners, shame customers into leaving large tips so that the owners can skimp on wages paid to the staff. I've always believed a tip/gratuity is left for service over and above what the typical job description calls for. I paid and assume I'll continue to pay the ship gratuities in advance. However, if I believe the service I receive ... at a shipboard bar, restaurant or from the room steward isn't up to my expectations ... any cash tip I may leave will be less or not at all. For a 7 night solo trip in November 2022 I gave room steward $50 cash the day preceding arriving back in Tampa ... for which there was no "thank you." Gratuities aren't charity, they're given for services rendered. Less service, less gratuity.