gratuity

[mrsmagnolia]

Is it easier to do envelopes at end of cruise or put it on pass?

[jackdiamond]

It is very simple. If you do select dining, your tips are prepaid along with your cruise fare. Otherwise, they are added to your account daily. If you wish to tip extra, you can add it to your account, or simply give cash; and, I believe that you can acquire envelopes for the aforesaid from Guest Relations. We do not bother with the envelopes; and, we simply give cash for any additional tips over those charged to our account.

[retired067]

Is it easier to do envelopes at end of cruise or put it on pass?

 

I perfer the pass, means I have to carry less cash. If you want to do the envelope thing go to guest relations when you board and let them know you don't want the tips added to your pass and the last night of the cruise you will receive envelopes with the names of the attending staff members on them.

[Wine-O]

A couple days before the end of the cruise, if you desire Celebrity will allow you to add additional tips for your waiter, stateroom attendant, or asst waiter onto your seapass card should you desire.

[Albert Ross]

X does not do envelopes any more. You either prepay or they are automaticaly added to your daily account. If you absolutely insist on paying cash then you can ask for envelopes at GR.

[klam_chowder]

X does not do envelopes any more. You either prepay or they are automaticaly added to your daily account. If you absolutely insist on paying cash then you can ask for envelopes at GR.

 

First time X cruiser here - does that mean you don't hand out envelopes to the appropriate staff on the last nite/day? :confused:

 

On my last Disney & Princess cruisers, you could add your tips to your onboard acct but they still had designated envelopes in your stateroom with slips of paper indicating your tip amt and you gave these out on the last nite/day. Of course if you missed giving it to someone, they still rec'd the tip which was already on put on your acct.

 

Not a big deal but would be good to know in advance; don't want any of the staff thinking we're stiffing them. :o

 

cheers,

:)

[dzcruisers]

It's just so much easier to prepay or leave your tips on your account. We don't bother with envelopes but just hand over any extra we may want to tip. Figure the employees don't need extra paper in their pockets with the cash.

[Lsimon]

First time X cruiser here - does that mean you don't hand out envelopes to the appropriate staff on the last nite/day? :confused:

 

On my last Disney & Princess cruisers, you could add your tips to your onboard acct but they still had designated envelopes in your stateroom with slips of paper indicating your tip amt and you gave these out on the last nite/day. Of course if you missed giving it to someone, they still rec'd the tip which was already on put on your acct.

 

Not a big deal but would be good to know in advance; don't want any of the staff thinking we're stiffing them. :o

 

cheers,

:)

 

The staff on Celebrity receive a printout before the last day of the cruise which indicates the charged or prepaid gratuities they will receive for the guests they serve. So there is no need to worry about them thinking you've stiffed them unless you've had your tips removed (and they'd be aware of that too). When they first started the charged tips they used to pass out envelopes and vouchers but this was just unnecessary and wastefull paperwork and has been eliminated. If you feel you need something to hand them you can get envelopes at customer relations and include a note, or do as we do and bring along a stack of Thank You cards so you can write a note of appreciation for staff who have provided great service.

 

Whatever you do don't forget a favorable comment on the evaluation form or a note to the ship's management if you've had great service. Those comments and notes are very important in the way Celebrity evaluates staff and grants them assignments and work schedules.

[klam_chowder]

Lsimon, thx a mint for the reply. Great to know I won't have to worry when the envelopes are not delivered to our cabin on the 2nd to/last day.

 

I think this system is great - what a waste of all those envelopes and labor since the tips go to the staff accts anyways. We chose Select Dining so our gratuities are prepaid.

 

To start off the cruise, I make an envelope at home for our Cabin Steward. On Disney cruises & resorts the envelope is labelled for "Mousekeeping" :p On the front I leave a space for their name for me to fill in when I meet them, and the graphic on the front is destination themed (e.g., Mickey on the beach) along with a message, something like "we look forward to sailing with you" and inside I just leave a "pre-tip" in cash in the cabin for him/her. Every steward has always thanked me for "the note". I think cabin stewards have such a hard job and every one we've ever had was exceedingly polite and friendly, addresses us by name every time they see us and do such a wonderful job with our room. I very much appreciate how they add to our cruise experience.

 

cheers,

:)

[eandj]

It is sooo much simpler now. And we too just hand over a couple bills when we want to add to someone's personal service. Skip envelopes.

 

I can remember years ago sitting the night before disembarking counting out currency and stuffing envelopes for our cabin as well as my mom's and our daughter's. Took forever and a total waste of time. :rolleyes:

[jackdiamond]

It's just so much easier to prepay or leave your tips on your account. We don't bother with envelopes but just hand over any extra we may want to tip. Figure the employees don't need extra paper in their pockets with the cash.

We do the same.

[USVI-4-me]

Take a stack of one dollar bills for the cocktail servers, and you won't have any problem getting drinks when you want them. Even with a pre-paid drink card the dollar per drink will add much to your cruise experience.

 

We always have a stack of fives for other services, pass them out in multiples whenever the service warrants and you'll have a great time.

 

It's good insurance to add those extra tips to your cruise budget.

 

-Marisela

[mrsmagnolia]

Thanks for all the answers and opinions!;)

[caribbean52010]

The staff on Celebrity receive a printout before the last day of the cruise which indicates the charged or prepaid gratuities they will receive for the guests they serve. So there is no need to worry about them thinking you've stiffed them unless you've had your tips removed (and they'd be aware of that too). When they first started the charged tips they used to pass out envelopes and vouchers but this was just unnecessary and wastefull paperwork and has been eliminated. If you feel you need something to hand them you can get envelopes at customer relations and include a note, or do as we do and bring along a stack of Thank You cards so you can write a note of appreciation for staff who have provided great service.

 

Whatever you do don't forget a favorable comment on the evaluation form or a note to the ship's management if you've had great service. Those comments and notes are very important in the way Celebrity evaluates staff and grants them assignments and work schedules.

 

This is the best info yet. Thanks for clearing it up and I feel much more comfortable at the end of the cruise. I like the "thank you cards" idea.

 

Bob

[Janet987]

Good info. Although saving paper is good, I do write a thank you note with extra tips. In some classes you receive personalized paper anyway, and since I won't use it at home (really what are we suppose to do with it.?) a personal thank you note with name printed seems a good way to use it up.

[Denny01]

Funny story about envelope gratuities. On our 1st cruise on a Carnival ship in '95, we show up the last night with our envelopes after stuffing them with the right amount we'd brought on as cash. One of our table mates saw my envelope and asked what it was. When I told her, she turned to her husband and said they needed to go to their room and get theirs, and the both left. Since they had spent the entire cruise telling us how they'd not paid for this and how expensive this and that was (they had a suite, and I just love people who tell you how much something cost them), I turned to our other table mates and said we'd not see them again. And of course, we didn't.

 

I'm sure they bragged how they didn't pay those tips and everybody else did, not realizing how that makes them look.

 

Love the gratuities added to the OBC or prepaid. Cuts down on the 'the waiter brought me the wrong bread - too many seeds on it. He doesn't deserve my tip!'.

 

Den

[SusieV]

Call us old school, but we really do prefer the old style cash with envelopes. I always bring my own thank you cards and envelopes with me and ask them not to charge the tips to our Seapass accounts.

 

Cash is king- this way I know the employees I wish to tip receive what I want to give them; what happens to it after that is none of my concern. I know they receive it more quickly than they would have otherwise if it was posted to their accounts since I am putting it directly in their hands.

 

We spend a lot of time in the casino so we have cash anyway. Whatever we have left after tips we just put on our account.

 

We also like to take care of the staff that really makes our trip memorable. I bring extra envelopes so we can thank the bar staff in the casino and at Cafe al Bacio for their great service. I had a Premium package on my last cruise and still always got wonderful service.

[miched]

The last time first an only time we sailed on RCI we had the prepaid gratuity option. The last day they had envelopes and vouchers in our cabin to hand out to the staff. I called the desk and asked what to do if you had different servers because of the any time dining. Was told it didn't matter as all those TIPS are distributed evenly. Thought that envelop and voucher thing was a little corny, but some passengers still like to have that experience of being able to personally hand the staff something. So it is probably a good way to do it.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Call us old school, but we really do prefer the old style cash with envelopes. I always bring my own thank you cards and envelopes with me and ask them not to charge the tips to our Seapass accounts.

 

Cash is king- this way I know the employees I wish to tip receive what I want to give them; what happens to it after that is none of my concern. I know they receive it more quickly than they would have otherwise if it was posted to their accounts since I am putting it directly in their hands.

 

We spend a lot of time in the casino so we have cash anyway. Whatever we have left after tips we just put on our account.

 

We also like to take care of the staff that really makes our trip memorable. I bring extra envelopes so we can thank the bar staff in the casino and at Cafe al Bacio for their great service. I had a Premium package on my last cruise and still always got wonderful service.

 

I also like to take care of the staff that makes my trips memorable. That's why I leave the gratuities charged to my sea pass in place and tip extra to those who have made the trip memorable. I also fill out attention to detail cards on them so management gets the message about how great they are.

Do you know that if you remove the autotips, the people you tip in cash have to turn in the cash you give them? So it doesn't seem to me that you're doing them any favors.

[sammyt]

What are gratuities now for regular rooms and concierge rooms per day? I read somewhere that they were going up, but don't remember which cruise line it was.