Brits don't like to tip

[Bobal]

I realise the above is almost a year old, but to be honest its right on the button. Bang on

 

:rolleyes:

[cruisebunnies]

It really flumoxes me that folks don't know anything about the cruise they are taking....they don't seem to understand tipping, the dress code.....anything! It's as if they don't research their vacation at all!

Our 1st cruise, I didn't know (in advance) that tipping was expected---until I read the brochure...readily available from the travel agent or cruiseline. Ok--that's an added expense, that I found out about....

Then, it's plainly stated about the different dress requirements....didn't know that, but again, the brochure stated it....we dressed properly.

Had we not AGREED to the guidelines, we wouldn't have booked the cruise!

Everyone should find out about their vacation BEFORE they take it!

 

What a well thought out sensible idea.I swear some folks on these boards have never seen a paved road or left the house.

[NorbertsNiece]

I despair. Really. My popcorn is stale.

[gyork0206]

if you don't want to tip don't go on a cruise as it's always expected and when pricing in the uk they usually ask now if you wish to include the tips up front. although I still like to leave the tip for the room steward

[Garyorient]

IN the UK cruise companies that are cheap usually include tips in the price ie Thomson , Island and P&O Ocean village.

 

.

 

I am trying to work out where this poster figures that P&O are "cheap" and also that their prices include tips.

 

Sometimes a little care with posting supposed facts goes a long way.

[spirite]

Can anyone name the 3 most common types of grape used to make wine in France?

 

Chardonnay, Pinot (Noir & Meunier), Sauvignon Blanc are the answers from memory and the person who called out correctly got a bottle of something nice.

 

Merlot and syrah (shiraz) surely?

[Stags14]

Did the dress code really get brought into this? Honestly... there is no dress code - they make recommendations. You are sharing this space with other people, it's not your space to say what is right or acceptable and also, understand that luggage gets lost and sometimes guests have to wear what they got - so don't worry about other people and enjoy your meal.

 

As for the tips - it is what it is. They are just trying to make sure that the staff gets a little something, and with all the cheap folks who would leave nothing at all, I think it's appropriate.

[stompy]

I was in the Hospitality Industry for 18 years and worked every position from dishwasher and scrubbing toilets to working the front desk at a 5 star hotel. Waiting tables was by far, the most demanding job I ever had in Hospitality.

 

In the US the wage was $2.13 and hour and your tips had to add up to $4.25 and hour or the employer had to make up the difference. (It's $7.25/hr now). Waiters had to claim at least 10% of their sales or all of their credit card tips (whichever was higher).

 

I worked in a small chain restaurant serving lunch and dinner and made about $100/shift. You always had cash on you as a waiter but the downside is as others have stated, you rarely have benefits and if you're not working you're not getting paid.

 

Now on a cruise ship that staff are working 6 or 7 days a week and making very low wages by US standards. The cruiselines aren't doing this to be mean to the employees-they are just trying to keep costs low so they can return a decent profit to their shareholders. Tipping is a courtesy to customer facing employees. If you've received good service you should tip accordingly.

 

I've often thought of getting a job on a cruise ship but I don't think I could pull the hours. I used to work split shifts and doubles in the restaurant biz but that was usually 11AM-11PM with a couple of hours off in the afternoon. Going from 6AM till 9PM with no downtime 7 days a week seems pretty tough...

 

Ironically one job I AM qualified for on a cruise ship is guest services rooms division manager. I looked at the qualifications once and ticked off everything on RC's website as jobs I have done or trained for. As I recall, the pay was decent-around $20K ten years ago. Would have been a great job of a young single person with no family ties...

 

Anyway, I'll be here all week folks. Take care of your servers-they work hard. That's my time!

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, breakfast is tough and most good servers don't pull that card - but unfortunatly some have to. I do live in a metro area, true, but you can have a diner atmosphere anywhere in this country. I tip much higher at breakfast too, personally. As I said, most good servers woulnd't apply for a breakfast job (or lunch unless it's in a business or tourist area) because you wouldn't make much. It's like a good doctor going to work in a town of 1000 people - they probably won't make as much as going to work in a hospital in a bigger town. However, we all know that some people don't have the luxury of choosing their workplaces - especially in small towns without a good economic outlook. I find these to be the exceptions, though. I imagine that the amount of servers working in NYC just today probably makes up about half of the servers serving in a $5 breakfast place in our small towns.

Your last example is a great example of a bad server that will be weeded out. It is not a job for the weak, pushy or impatient:) If you don't treat your diners well then they won't tip you well. It actually illustrates the point that her tip was in direct connection with her level of service - isn't it great that you could control the tip amount rather than having her get paid anyway for rushing you?

[stompy]

The server should be controlling how they order the food from the kitchen. I was pretty good at selling chips & queso (and it wasn't even in a Mexican restaurant). I'd gauge my tables and order the entrees at the right time.

 

Where things get a bit tricky, is if, as you mentioned, you have managers just wanting to burn and turn the tables. There's no flow of service, you get in the weeds, and service to customers suffers.

 

Ironically, the one thing that never suffered were my tips. I averaged 14-20% of my sales regardless of the level of service I provided. I was always shocked when things got screwed up (usually by me) and the customers still gave me 15%...

 

As hard as the job is, it is really tough getting good help for middle of the road chain type establishments. Waiters come and go all the time and the good ones migrate to steak houses and fine dining. My record for leaving one place and getting a job at another was 8 hours... and that was only because I went home and changed first.

 

I guess you couldn't do that if you got fired on a ship... Well maybe if there was a Princess ship docked at the same time...

 

Ugh - I hate it when a server brings out one course before the other is finished! It's not too difficult to 'fire' them in order - although to be fair sometimes the kitchen jumps the gun and yells at you to get them out - but mostly its just the server not paying attention.

There are lots of 'turn and burn' places in the U.S. They turn the tables and get folks in and out - but it's not the servers that regulate that - the managers need to make a certain amount of money so they want the place filled then get that group out and refill it all day/night long. It's the restaurant that wants to make money - they don't care about the servers tips so much, lol:p Kind of like when hotels oversell - another thing that gets me soooo mad!

[stompy]

Economic rules will always sort out the staffing situation. The employees will stop working in places where they can't make what they feel they deserve. They work hard on cruise ships but make tons more than they would back home and they can take extended time off between contracts.

 

You also have a great opportunity to move up. No one would stay an assistant waiter for 20 years. You'd learn the ropes and move up to being a waiter, then head waiter, and upper levels of management.

 

We all work to make money and hopefully you grow and learn from the experience. At some point you earn enough to go on a cruise and hopefully you remember what your days were like when you were starting out and tip accordingly.

 

Back to the original post with the link to the article:

 

I'm glad RCCL is rethinking their policy, which I interpret to mean they will start including the tips in the price of the cruise, and pay the crew members out of that after the cruise is over.

 

Our assistant waiter on our Rhapsody cruise in Australia, ending 11/3/09, told us that when the Rhapsody transferred from Alaska to Australia the last two years, quite a few crew members put in for transfers back to ships leaving from US ports. He said the large number of Aussies and Brits on the Australian cruises causes the crew members to have a serious decrease in income, because the majority of the passengers either don't tip at all, or tip way below the suggested amount.

 

I know it's a cultural difference, and I know that each side has it's arguments and justifications, but what bothers me is the crew members are suffering because of this difference. RCCL will have a serious issue with it's staff if they don't solve this issue pronto, because the service will start to suffer.

 

The crew members work very, very hard as we all know, and SOMEHOW they need to be paid appropriately. I accept tipping with no problem, but both my husband and I wish they would just include the amount of the tips in the price of the cruise, and we will tip extra in cash for exceptional service.

[gyork0206]

I have noticed that on our invoice for our med cruise in June that the tips have been added automatically, as we have picked the 'my time dining' option, the travel agent told me today that RCCL will add the tips automatically, as I thought the invoice was wrong.

 

If we do go to the main dining room (which we never normally do), then I will tip the waiters, as I would normally in the UK. I will also give the steward extra, as I feel they work really hard, and the tips that RCCL charge are a bit on the low side for the service that is provided.

[Tanderra]

And that would be true for passengers from New Zealand, too. In addition, we can never benefit from the price drops/ military discounts/ state residency discounts that US cruisers can claim.

 

You are very correct celle.

After we booked our cruise I asked our TA about 'price drops'..being as I saw many people on here saying they had looked at their cruise and saw (and got) quite substantial 'price drops'.

The TA said "This is not the USA, there are no 'price drops' on cruises from Australia or anywhere for Australians" :confused:

Oh yes, our gratuities were prepaid as requested, plus we also gave certain staff extra.

Would I do it again?...in a heartbeat :)...but I really do wish there was some parity in the price of cruises.

 

Just as an aside...our room steward (his wife worked on the deck above) came from the Philippines. They are both at sea for nine months of the year and they have two children back home who are being looked after by their grandparents. I didn't like to ask him "why?" :confused: