Can I remove the mandatory on board gratuity charge?

[MrPete]

Plan on booking open seating and would like to tip my cabin steward and teh staff who serve me directly. What is Carnivals policy regarding onboard gratuities? Can I/should I have these removed from my onboard account?

 

Thanks.

 

Sure. Just curious what you will leave for each of your three meals.

[igo2travel]

Better yet.

 

 

OMG, that was so funny! I almost peed a little.

I agree with everybody who is against the removal of the tips and wholeheartedly agree with tipping over and above!

[chachi]

When you do anytime dining, isn't your tips split up between those waiters anyways? What is the purpose of removing the tips to give it back to them? Except that you will not possibly tip all of the people that you should, that you don't see.

Leave the tips alone and give more to the staff that goes beyond your expectations. I tip more than $10 on dinner at a restaurant. $10 for the whole day is pretty cheap. I consider it part of the price of cruising. It is not an area to be cheap and save money.

[bguppies]

Also, didn't I read in a thread some time ago that the names of people who have removed their tips are posted in crew's quarters or the gallery?

 

Sheryl

 

Somebody posted a photo of the e-mail they saw posted in the Galley, while doing the tour through there.

 

I think it is great that the staff gets to know who is removing their tips up front.

 

Bill

[SMSACE6]

When you do anytime dining, isn't your tips split up between those waiters anyways? What is the purpose of removing the tips to give it back to them? Except that you will not possibly tip all of the people that you should, that you don't see.

Leave the tips alone and give more to the staff that goes beyond your expectations. I tip more than $10 on dinner at a restaurant. $10 for the whole day is pretty cheap. I consider it part of the price of cruising. It is not an area to be cheap and save money.

 

I agree! And just think of the hassle running around looking for all of those folks to tip them personally and individually. And yes 10 dollars a day is more than reasonable, so I say; take a few extra envelopes in your bag and some extra 1, 5 and 10 dollar bills, and, then last night add a few extra bucks to the automatic tips for those who served you well.:)

[Ken076]

Plan on booking open seating and would like to tip my cabin steward and teh staff who serve me directly. What is Carnivals policy regarding onboard gratuities? Can I/should I have these removed from my onboard account?

 

Thanks.

 

Your Cabin Steward gets your Gratuity and whoever waits on you in Anytime gets your Gratuity therefore there's no real reason to remove same, which you CAN do (the crew WILL know this). ken

[caribbean dreams]

OK well, lets do a conservative breakdown....

 

The amount taken off you S&S card daily is $10pp

 

lets just say that if you were paying for your single dinner it would be $25pp...15% is 3.75x7=26.25

 

Lets just say your Lunch would cost $15pp...15% is 2.25x7=15.75

 

lets say your breakfast would cost $10pp...15% is 1.50x7=10.50

 

this is a total of $52.50

 

this leaves $2.50 a day for your Cabin Steward.

 

personally, I tip about 18% when at a restaurant and I always, atleast give my cabin Steward a $50 at the end of my cruise, this is on top of the gratuity i leave in place on my S&S card.

 

sooooo, what i'm trying to say here is that $10 a day pp is really really cheap.

 

I don't get mad at people who take the tips off, I just think they are misinformed.

[courtaz]

Can your emove them? Yes.

 

servers, stewards, etc are required to turn in any cash tips they receive anyway.

 

Please say this was a misquote. When I tip extra it does stay with that person correct?

[MrPete]

servers, stewards, etc are required to turn in any cash tips they receive anyway.

 

This is NOT true.

[dan40]

The crew WILL know if you remove the tips. They will know officially or unofficially, but they will know.

 

AND,

 

The crew is aware that OVER 90% of those that remove the tips to tip in cash----------DON"T.

 

Just don't think I'd like to be included in that group if I could avoid it. And I can avoid by leaving the auto-tip in place.

[bplazo]

Please say this was a misquote. When I tip extra it does stay with that person correct?

 

From what I understand is that if you leave the auto tip on they get to keep any extra that you give to them.

[courtaz]

Thank you MrPete.

[lillian marie]

I would not remove the tips. These folks use tips as their major income and work hard for you the cruiser. The tips are divided so it is fair, but people have the right to not tip or only tip those they choose to tip.

[caribbean dreams]

This is the rumor around the water cooler...LOL!

not sure if its reliable or not but it is supposed to have come from the cruiselines direct.

 

 

Direct Tipping

Question:

When a guest gives cash directly to a crew member, is that person required to report that they have received the money, including how much they got and from whom?

Carnival: No. Shipboard employees can keep all cash gratuities without reporting it.

Celebrity: No, our shipboard colleagues are not required to report that they've received it, nor how much.

Holland America: If a guest asks that the amount on the folio be removed so tipping can be done directly, the steward, waiters, etc. are required to report that amount for pooled tips (but most guests keep tips on the bill).

NCL: No.

Royal Caribbean: No.

Notification

Question:

When tipping is done via the folio (i.e., your onboard account), how and when is the person being tipped notified?

Carnival: Shipboard employees are notified of their tip amounts the day after the cruise ends (as to not impact service standards) and are paid about a week later.

Celebrity: Any guests who opt for tipping via the folio receive printed cards/vouchers acknowledging that their gratuities have been prepaid. Envelopes are provided with the vouchers so the guests can present them to tipped personnel to assure them suggested gratuities have been handled, and to allow guests to offer additional amounts if they wish.

Holland America: Shortly into the next cruise.

NCL: They're not, but this is partially based on the Freestyle Concept since virtually all guests do not dine with the same wait staff every night.

Royal Caribbean No later than the last night of the cruise. There are lists prepared by the Pursers' Office stating the guests who have paid onboard gratuities on their folio. These lists are also available in the crew working areas. Also, vouchers for prepaid gratuities are given to each guest so that they can slip the voucher into the tipping envelopes to hand to the crew members on the last night of the cruise.

[chickie_mite]

To remove the tips from your Sign & Sail card, go to the Guest Relations desk; if you are married, bring your spouse with you. Don't wait until the last evening of the cruise (the line is very long)---do it sometime during the day or in the morning of your last day.

 

They will print out a receipt that these have been removed from your S&S account--one receipt for you, one for your spouse (on the Dream in May, they initially would not remove my husband's b/c he wasn't with me---they said that since he was the primary card holder, they had to have his permission to remove the tips. I exchanged a few words with them about that, as I sure didn't need his permission to charge 100s of dollars on the card throughout the week...why did I need his permission to remove charges? LOL). Do not feel intimidated or guilty or ashamed; this is an individual's choice.

 

We remove gratuities and tip privately, both throughout the week (heck, I tipped a drink server and additional $5.00 b/c he brought me french fries from the grill) and on the last night. We received exceptional service throughout the week.....and no one slammed a door on our fingers when were were leaving b/c we canceled our tips. :)

[springfire]

To remove the tips from your Sign & Sail card, go to the Guest Relations desk; if you are married, bring your spouse with you. Don't wait until the last evening of the cruise (the line is very long)---do it sometime during the day or in the morning of your last day.

 

They will print out a receipt that these have been removed from your S&S account--one receipt for you, one for your spouse (on the Dream in May, they initially would not remove my husband's b/c he wasn't with me---they said that since he was the primary card holder, they had to have his permission to remove the tips. I exchanged a few words with them about that, as I sure didn't need his permission to charge 100s of dollars on the card throughout the week...why did I need his permission to remove charges? LOL). Do not feel intimidated or guilty or ashamed; this is an individual's choice.

 

We remove gratuities and tip privately, both throughout the week (heck, I tipped a drink server and additional $5.00 b/c he brought me french fries from the grill) and on the last night. We received exceptional service throughout the week.....and no one slammed a door on our fingers when were were leaving b/c we canceled our tips. :)

 

Just a Great Post!!! I agree!

[DEBnGAB]

To remove the tips from your Sign & Sail card, go to the Guest Relations desk; if you are married, bring your spouse with you. Don't wait until the last evening of the cruise (the line is very long)---do it sometime during the day or in the morning of your last day.

 

They will print out a receipt that these have been removed from your S&S account--one receipt for you, one for your spouse (on the Dream in May, they initially would not remove my husband's b/c he wasn't with me---they said that since he was the primary card holder, they had to have his permission to remove the tips. I exchanged a few words with them about that, as I sure didn't need his permission to charge 100s of dollars on the card throughout the week...why did I need his permission to remove charges? LOL). Do not feel intimidated or guilty or ashamed; this is an individual's choice.

 

 

 

We remove gratuities and tip privately, both throughout the week (heck, I tipped a drink server and additional $5.00 b/c he brought me french fries from the grill) and on the last night. We received exceptional service throughout the week.....and no one slammed a door on our fingers when were were leaving b/c we canceled our tips. :)

 

Just curious, how did you tip the buffet staff? did you just leave cash on the table for the buffet staff once you were done?

[chickie_mite]

Just curious, how did you tip the buffet staff? did you just leave cash on the table for the buffet staff once you were done?

 

In all honesty, I didn't even think about them. :(

 

We had tipped the Maitre 'd $50.00 on night one, and we also tipped the ass't maitre 'd $50.00 on night one; we tipped our waiter and ass't waiter the last night. Obviously, we incorrectly thought that the other dining staff (those who bus tables, for example), received a portion of what we tipped the maitre 'd/ass. maitre 'd.

 

We didn't discover CC until we got back from our cruise in May. You can bet from now on we'll tip the staff as they provide service.

[parrotthead]

One thing I do like that RCI does is give you the vouchers/envelopes to hand to the steward and waitstaff. I like being able to hand them the envelope and say thank you. (we usually add a 'little something' along with a short hand written note, saying how much nicer they made our cruise.) I still do the same on Carnival, however, sometimes I will want to tip the (main) Waiter extra and perhaps not the asst waiter (say if his service is not up to what par--it happens) this puts the cruiser in an awkard position handing one member of the wait staff and envelope and not the other. (on RCI, for instance, this is avoided, because you have the voucher/envelope to hand to each, so -in theory- I can tip extra to one if I choose, without looking like Im stiffing the other--which Im not, cuz I have left autotips on anyway...):o

:confused:--did that make sense>?

[caribbean dreams]

To remove the tips from your Sign & Sail card, go to the Guest Relations desk; if you are married, bring your spouse with you..

 

I sure didn't need his permission to charge 100s of dollars on the card throughout the week...why did I need his permission to remove charges? LOL). Do not feel intimidated or guilty or ashamed; this is an individual's choice.

 

 

Only the Primary card holder can remove the tips, they can be removed for 1 person or everyone.

 

LOL!...good point about using "his" card all week with no questions asked.

 

On a side note...for those with kids that may go wild in the arcade, you can have there signing privilages taken off their S&S card and give them cash for the arcade, I've been doing this for years & it works out very well.

[chickie_mite]

One thing I do like that RCI does is give you the vouchers/envelopes to hand to the steward and waitstaff. I like being able to hand them the envelope and say thank you. (we usually add a 'little something' along with a short hand written note, saying how much nicer they made our cruise.) I still do the same on Carnival, however, sometimes I will want to tip the (main) Waiter extra and perhaps not the asst waiter (say if his service is not up to what par--it happens) this puts the cruiser in an awkard position handing one member of the wait staff and envelope and not the other. (on RCI, for instance, this is avoided, because you have the voucher/envelope to hand to each, so -in theory- I can tip extra to one if I choose, without looking like Im stiffing the other--which Im not, cuz I have left autotips on anyway...):o

:confused:--did that make sense>?

 

Yes, it makes total sense!

 

I guess DH and I are just "old school." I don't like giving donations to charities because I am skeptical about whether my donation makes it to those who need it, rather than to "administrative" costs; the same holds true for tipping (either when cruising or at a resort)---if I give it directly to them, I know they get it.

 

BUT---I DO realize that many people who remove the tips don't provide any gratuities, so I understand why it's an issue.

[Fairhope]

I thought since 9/11 Homeland Security needed to be informed of tip removal 72 hrs prior to sailing :confused:

[chickie_mite]

Only the Primary card holder can remove the tips, they can be removed for 1 person or everyone.

 

LOL!...good point about using "his" card all week with no questions asked.

 

On a side note...for those with kids that may go wild in the arcade, you can have there signing privilages taken off their S&S card and give them cash for the arcade, I've been doing this for years & it works out very well.

 

I'm pretty sure my husband wishes there were that option for me in the casino! LOL!!

[parrotthead]

Yes, it makes total sense!

 

I guess DH and I are just "old school." I don't like giving donations to charities because I am skeptical about whether my donation makes it to those who need it, rather than to "administrative" costs; the same holds true for tipping (either when cruising or at a resort)---if I give it directly to them, I know they get it.

I can see that. I can understand.

 

 

Only thing about Cruising is the *way* the tip system is set up.(they tell you the breakdown in advance)

To me Its not condusive to 'individule' tipping. Like a land based resturant, you tip the waitstaff, they tip-out the hostess/bus-boy/expiditer etc. On Cruises its all 'set up' for you, so it would make it hard to 'be sure' all who *deserved* to be tipped, was indeed tipped if your trying to do it 'individually'

Just my take on it, but the $10per day seems like so little, I just add it to my cruise fare, its paid along with final payment, so by the time Im on that ship, I have Long forgotten about it, anyway.

Its just another thing that I have 'prepaid'

[chickie_mite]

I can see that. I can understand.

 

 

Only thing about Cruising is the *way* the tip system is set up.(they tell you the breakdown in advance)

To me Its not condusive to 'individule' tipping. Like a land based resturant, you tip the waitstaff, they tip-out the hostess/bus-boy/expiditer etc. On Cruises its all 'set up' for you, so it would make it hard to 'be sure' all who *deserved* to be tipped, was indeed tipped if your trying to do it 'individually'

Just my take on it, but the $10per day seems like so little, I just add it to my cruise fare, its paid along with final payment, so by the time Im on that ship, I have Long forgotten about it, anyway.

Its just another thing that I have 'prepaid'

 

I absolutely see your point, too, and I agree 100% that the $10 per day is sooooo little.

 

I like your viewpoint---it really isn't conducive to individual tipping, is it? For example, I never gave the buffet staff a thought. We've never had it paid in advance before we sail, I'll have to give that one a try (at the very least, it saves one trip to the Guest Relations desk! LOL).