To all non-tippers!

[Silque1964]

Lol

[orville99]

Tips also paid for my education also, so I feel your pain. That is why at nowhere did I imply tipped positions were degrading to the individual receiving them.

 

 

Having both waited tables and tended bar during my college days (back when dinosours roamed the earth, and the minimum wage was ~$3.00), I agree with the statement that good waitstaff and bartenders don't feel at all degraded by their jobs. On a good night, I could clear $200+ in tips (about 10X minimum wage), and on a bad night, I still cleared more than $100. In fact, when I graduated and took my first "corporate" job, I effectively took a 40% cut in "pay" to do so.

[Albert Ross]

Something I learnt last week:

 

The 15% added to all bar tabs is pooled and split amongst the 40 bar tenders aboard Explorer. The 15% added to bar bills that are brought to you around the pool area is not pooled that goes straight to the waiter that took your order and brought your drink to you.

Sorry but what is the difference between a 'bar tab' and a 'bar bill'?

A 'tab' is a 'bill' in my book.

 

There is a story, of a British family, parents and 2 children who spent 2 weeks on Independence out of Southampton. At the end of the 2 weeks they handed their envelope to their cabin steward - it had a tea-bag in it. They walked off.

That is why you should tip.

[Jo and Rob]

Sorry but what is the difference between a 'bar tab' and a 'bar bill'?

A 'tab' is a 'bill' in my book.

 

There is a story, of a British family, parents and 2 children who spent 2 weeks on Independence out of Southampton. At the end of the 2 weeks they handed their envelope to their cabin steward - it had a tea-bag in it. They walked off.

That is why you should tip.

 

How do you know? Maybe they just joked that that was what they were doing?

[temple1]

Having both waited tables and tended bar during my college days (back when dinosours roamed the earth, and the minimum wage was ~$3.00), I agree with the statement that good waitstaff and bartenders don't feel at all degraded by their jobs. On a good night, I could clear $200+ in tips (about 10X minimum wage), and on a bad night, I still cleared more than $100. In fact, when I graduated and took my first "corporate" job, I effectively took a 40% cut in "pay" to do so.

 

My apologies to the OP for hijacking the topic. I suppose if we should move this elsewhere. :o

 

True enough about the wages being good for someone in school. It is also true about taking a "cut" when you went into the corporate world. What we don't think about at that age is what else goes into that corporate salary - vacation, sick leave, in the old days - retirement, and other goodies.

[49holding]

I consider myself a generous person, a a good tipper.. always tip over and above to cruise staff and bar waiters...However once I received terrible service from a surly room steward on the carnival triumph 11 years ago..He was the pits so instead of tipping for 4 people in our cabin I tipped for 2.for what he did he was over compensated..This same cruise our DR service was awful..but at least the waiter tried so they get the recommended amt

[octagonmike]

Sorry but what is the difference between a 'bar tab' and a 'bar bill'?

A 'tab' is a 'bill' in my book.

 

There is a story, of a British family, parents and 2 children who spent 2 weeks on Independence out of Southampton. At the end of the 2 weeks they handed their envelope to their cabin steward - it had a tea-bag in it. They walked off.

That is why you should tip.

 

 

Just covering all the bases for our Amercan Cousins who actually call it a "cheque" which we all know is something totally different ;)

[Muushka]

Our tipping

 

We always tip at least the suggested. But one time a maitre'd refused to address the females at the table, overly friendly with the male wine drinker and overly friendly to all of us on the last evening. Our assistant waiter more than made up for her shortcomings so he got his tip plus hers.

 

Also, a very good friend of mine is also a cruiser. I really don't understand her reasoning, but here goes.

 

She said she will NOT tip what is suggested at the end of a cruise because they simply don't deserve to receive that much money. I think she just doesn't add up the days to see why it is justified. But when we go out to a restaurant, she always tips normally. I don't understand why she feels this way, but it is not my job to make her understand.

[DCwom]

We must be the exception to the rule. We have taken eleven cruises and I can honestly say that there were very few nights where the Head Waiter did not visit our table. On our last cruise on the Mariner we were visited EVERY night. I'm not advocating the tipping aspect (although we always have tipped) but am curious to know if we are the only people visited by the Head Waiter.

 

On our 1st and only cruise (so far) we saw and spoke with our head waiter every night. He often greeted us when we entered, and always checked with us during the meal, often several times, we were even off the beaten path in the back corner of the dining room. He was definitely running his section. Part of his job is also to chase down missing diners, the 1st night there were only 2 couples at a table for 10, by the third night he had the skinny on where everyone was for the week, Portafino, Windjammer, etc one couple skipped the MDR the entire trip and he apologized to our table because he couldn't convince them to join us.

 

An interesting side note, our waiter's wife was a head waiter (they met on the AOS), we ended up meeting two head waiters that night.

[Carol4158]

When in Rome, do as......

 

Part of travel is to familiarize yourself with the local customs and go along with it, don't assume that if it's okay at home, it's okay everywhere else.

 

If you can't do that then stay home. (and no, I'm not talking about you, just a general observation....:) )

 

 

If that's the case then surely those who travel to Europe from the US should stop trying to impose their tipping culture on us! Tipping is not the accepted norm over here.

[andrzej5914]

If that's the case then surely those who travel to Europe from the US should stop trying to impose their tipping culture on us! Tipping is not the accepted norm over here.

 

I agree and at least me personally, I don't tip, but like anything else there are few exceptions. I've noticed that in London and Manchester nightclubs, not pubs, tipping has/is becoming a norm and if it's really busy and you want to get a drink within reasonable amount of time, you tip..... otherwise prepare yourself for a nice looooong wait ;)

[Aquahound]

If that's the case then surely those who travel to Europe from the US should stop trying to impose their tipping culture on us! Tipping is not the accepted norm over here.

 

I totally agree. However, on my last European cruise, the guides and bus drivers of all my tours in 3 different countries were right there with their hands out at the end. With that in mind, you can not place the blame solely on visiting Americans when the locals are asking for it.

[galavant3]

If that's the case then surely those who travel to Europe from the US should stop trying to impose their tipping culture on us! Tipping is not the accepted norm over here.

 

When you go on a cruise, the tipping expectation is well publicized. It would be helpful if in non-tipping countries, they printed on the menu, "the gratuity is included in the price of your meal". When I was in England, if I wasn't with someone from there, I would have had no idea that tipping wasn't customary. I think most of us are happy to not tip if that is what is customary and expected. Many just don't know.

[Missus Makkem]

I totally agree. However, on my last European cruise, the guides and bus drivers of all my tours in 3 different countries were right there with their hands out at the end. With that in mind, you can not place the blame solely on visiting Americans when the locals are asking for it.

 

But who started tipping them in the first place?

[Aquahound]

But who started tipping them in the first place?

 

There's no way of knowing. It could have likely been Americans, but who knows? The point is, they are asking for it, so do not solely blame Americans. Place some of the blame on your own countrymen who are changing your ways.

[morgan1312]

On one of our cruises we had a really bad waiter but an excellent assistant waiter. Whenever we wanted something our waiter was no where to be found the entire week, he would take the order sometimes deliver the food and then disappear. At the end of the cruise we switched up the tips and gave our assistant waiter the recommended tips for the waiter and gave the waiter the lower assistant waiter amount.

 

Other than that one time we've always followed the guidelines.

[jobowl]

I was just wondering how this can be. the people who serve on the pool deck I see in the shows working and other places not just the pool. does the shows and other places on the ship all fall under this categories.

 

 

Something I learnt last week:

 

The 15% added to all bar tabs is pooled and split amongst the 40 bar tenders aboard Explorer. The 15% added to bar bills that are brought to you around the pool area is not pooled that goes straight to the waiter that took your order and brought your drink to you.

 

The Bartenders do not get a wage as such they get a guaranteed weekly minimum of around $50. They rely on the genorosity of passengers that wish to leave an additional tip to make any real money.

 

I know this as I was told this by a friend of mine that works as a bartender on the ship.

 

Just thought I'd share that with you.

[louthebowler]

it doesnt matter where you are from, i think we all tend to tip, its just being TOLD to that some of us dont like, and we certainly shouldnt be blaming our friends over the pond as when holidaying in cuba last year, tips were very much expected ( and gladly given) but it wouldnt have been the fault of the americans!! we should just be guided by our concience, if we've got one.

[kyriecat]

I tried to remove tips once due to the horrible service, but RC wouldn't do it because I had prepaid my tips. I was told that they were "non-refundable" so I won't prepay ever again.

 

On that cruise we had the absolute worst waiter and cabin steward. The waiter would barely speak to anyone. He was so soft spoken that it was hard to hear the recommendations if you were seated at the other end of the table. If I asked him to repeat them, he would huff and roll his eyes at me. His only duty seemed to be taking orders, delivering the entrees, and occasionally complaining about how busy he was. The assistant waiter (who was excellent) delivered the other courses, cleared plates, refilled drinks, poured wine, and even chatted with us.

 

The cabin steward and I got off on the wrong foot from the start. I asked for an extra towel because I have long hair and like to wrap my hair in one towel while I dry off with another. She told me she wouldn't do that because of "Save the Waves". First time I have ever been told I couldn't have an extra towel. I started using the pool towels for my hair since we rarely use the pool. The steward eventully caught on to what I was doing and stopped leaving any towels. I thought that was being ridiculous so after a couple days of having to get our towels from the pool deck, I complained to the head of housekeeping. The cabin steward got upset that we complained and left us towels but quit cleaning our cabin. I complained again. This time the steward quit leaving towels or cleaning the room. Fortunately we're not messy people, but I do like having clean towels and a made bed.

 

That was the first time that I was ever glad to get off a ship. I couldn't believe that RC wouldn't let me have any of the prepaid gratuities back because they were aware of the issues with the cabin steward. I guess the steward knew she already had her money so she didn't bother trying to do a reasonable job for us. We gave the assistant waiter extra because of the extra work he did to make up for the waiter's lacking.

[orville99]

My apologies to the OP for hijacking the topic. I suppose if we should move this elsewhere. :o

 

True enough about the wages being good for someone in school. It is also true about taking a "cut" when you went into the corporate world. What we don't think about at that age is what else goes into that corporate salary - vacation, sick leave, in the old days - retirement, and other goodies.

 

Back on topic, never had any reason to undertip/not tip on RCI - even with the Head Waiter gratuity being "optional". Service in MDR has always been outstanding. On other lines, however (most notably DCL), waitstaff have a tendency to be pushy and hard of hearing. Once a waiter starts arguing with me about how I should be ordering my steak, and lecturing me on the health risks of "rare" meat, or brings me something I did not order, because he thought I'd like it better than what I requested - two things happen: 1) tip evaporates, and 2) we find somewhere else on board to eat. DCL is so annoying, in fact, that we haven't eaten in the MDR in our past six cruises with them (2-3 nights at Palo, and the rest in their casual rest. - Topsiders) The MDR staff still try to track us down and get us back to the mdr.

 

BTW, we ultimately tip more at the other venues than we would have in the MDR because the staff there know we're there because we want to be there, not because we were assigned to them, and treat us like real guests.

[bmazzo]

I'm not sure why so many are so fasinated by how much folks tip, or even how much the staff makes...it's certainly none of our business, and the ship employees willingly work for the pay they recieve...they are NOT shanghaied aboard! They sign a contract!!!

 

That said...only once have we not tipped someone, and that was a head waiter we never saw. We did bring his tip envelope with us on the last evening, but he never came to the table, and we didn't know who he was, so we gave the envelope to no one!

We've never tipped less than the suggested amount (with that one exception), and have, on occassion, tipped more than the recommended amount.

 

 

The same thing happened to us on a Celebrity Constellation TA a few years ago. The Head waiter introduced himself the first night. Our table saw him talking to all of the other tables for the entire cruise except ours. We were at a large table, all booked in concierge class who had never met each other before. One night he actually looked like he was comming over to talk to us but turned and walked over to another table. We all just laughed and made a joke of it. We all had a great time. The last night he actually had the audacity to show up and ask how our cruise was. I replied "Wonderful! but it would have been better if our head waiter didn' ingore us for the entire trip." The Matre D' was within earshot when I said it. Oh well.

[swwake]

The 15% added to all bar tabs is pooled and split amongst the 40 bar tenders aboard Explorer. The 15% added to bar bills that are brought to you around the pool area is not pooled that goes straight to the waiter that took your order and brought your drink to you.

Does anyone know what happens if you add more tip beyond the 15%? I would hope that the individual would get to keep this, as, from me, it would be intended to be extra for that person's above-and-beyond service. I'm just curious.

 

While I'm responding - my 2c. I believe, although there are stated guidelines, tipping should be highly individual and based on service. I typically tip no less than 15% at restaurants and bars, even for mediocre service. Exceptional service gets 20% or beyond.

 

Head waiter - I agree with one poster who said that if you had a great experience, he/she did his/her job, regardless of whether you saw him/her. The cruise industry guidelines have established reasonable gratuities. If you saw him, and he made an impression, perhaps he deserves more than the recommended amount.

 

Cabin steward - $3.50 per person per night as recommended is less than we generally tip for housekeepers in 5-star hotels where we don't receive nearly the level of service we do on a cruise ship. Tips at this level are a bargain.

[MMCS Cruiser]

When you go on a cruise, the tipping expectation is well publicized.

 

I don't agree with the above statement.

 

Most people (99%) who cruise don't go near "The Boards".

 

So where is it "well publicized"?

 

And if I don't tip in my own counrty why should I tip on a cruise ship?

 

If everyone needed to pay the tip is would be part of the cruise fare.

 

And called a surcharge!

[gerif]

I don't agree with the above statement.

 

Most people (99%) who cruise don't go near "The Boards".

 

So where is it "well publicized"?

 

And if I don't tip in my own counrty why should I tip on a cruise ship?

 

If everyone needed to pay the tip is would be part of the cruise fare.

 

And called a surcharge!

 

Suggested gratuities are clearly stated in your cruise documents - we started cruising long before there were computers in every home any many years before "The Boards" existed and always knew the suggested amount for tips.

 

Again, "when in Rome" - tips are expected on a cruise ship, so that's why you should tip regardless of what you do or do not do in your own country. Some lines have already instituted a set "service charge" so it might not be long before it spreads to others.

[galavant3]

I don't agree with the above statement.

 

Most people (99%) who cruise don't go near "The Boards".

 

So where is it "well publicized"?

 

And if I don't tip in my own counrty why should I tip on a cruise ship?

 

If everyone needed to pay the tip is would be part of the cruise fare.

 

And called a surcharge!

 

 

I wasn't referring to message boards. I think it would be hard to miss the fact that tips are expected on most cruises. When you book you are usually asked if you want to prepay tips. The tipping guidelines are on the cruise line website. I am fairly certain the recommended gratuities are listed in the cruise documents.

 

At some point during the cruise, you will be left with information on how to insure that the staff member receives their tip. Whether you choose to tip or not is up to you but it would be hard to say that you didn't know it was customary.

 

Geri, sorry to duplicate...must have been posting at the same time.