About being cheap

[MMastell]

 

We took off the automatic tips because we simply cannot afford to have that plus tip all the people who clean our room, serve us dinner, and those who provide food on the Lido deck. On our last cruise our S&S card balance was $0.00 since we did not spend any money.

 

 

The above statement doesn't make sense. The Automatic Tip is your tip and is divided up to the people that clean your room and serve your dinner. There is no need to "double tip".

 

You may dislike how Carnival and almost every other cruise lines, except the ultra expensive luxury lines, handle their compensation but it's the way it is and if you don't like it then you should save for a couple more months or find an alternative vacation.

 

Take care,

Mike

[bodog402]

Originally Posted by cruiser4four

We took off the automatic tips because we simply cannot afford to have that plus tip all the people who clean our room, serve us dinner, and those who provide food on the Lido deck.

For those folks who claim that we are cheap, why don't you contact Carnival's main office and demand they pay their employees more? Instead of arguing with people here, why not type a letter to the people at Carnival who actually have the power to increase the employees' salary?

 

My dear,

you are incredibly naive, incredibly confused, incredibly misinformed, incredibly foolish or just incredibly CHEAP!

You really expect anyone to provide you good service for free; the tips are a majority of their salaries. Now put on your thinking cap---If any cruise line begins to pay higher wagers, and or more reasonable wages to their employees, who do you think will ultimately pay their wages???

[C Cruise Dude]

Understanding that the economy is in terrible shape and everyone wants to save a buck during their cruise, I personally have a "pet peeve" with those cruiser's who are just :mad:CHEAP:mad: !

My biggest pet peeve with those cheap cruiser's are those who remove all the auto-tips indicating that tipping should be voluntary based upon service and in reality these cheap cruisers really never tip at all !

What’s your experience involving the cheap cruiser ?

Thanks:)

 

Just curious, how many people have you personally known to do that? I ask because the only times I could imagine people would be tempted to do that (not to say that it's ok) is when there is a family. $10 per person times say, 4 is significant. :confused:

[FloridaMimi]

I consider myself to be a cheap cruiser, meaning my S&S bill is usually less than $100 for a 5 day cruise. However, I do not remove the tips and always tip my room stewards extra. It's kind of like tipping at a restaurant, if you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to go.

 

 

I very much agree !!!

[bodog402]

Just curious, how many people have you personally known to do that? I ask because the only times I could imagine people would be tempted to do that (not to say that it's ok) is when there is a family. $10 per person times say, 4 is significant. :confused:

 

I am basing my assumptions primarily from patrons from this board who honestly believe in not tipping and minimizing their tips and based upon my past experience from over 36 cruises over a 31 year period. Granted a family of 4 will generate a mandated daily tip of $40 each day, but have you ever thought how much time is involved in taking care and cleaning after a family of four each day while on a cruise ? :)

[screwsmcernst]

Who really cares what anyone else does? Just go and do what you do and enjoy your trip. That is the problem with this world, everyone worrying about what everyone else is doing.

 

And for the record(because I am sure on here someone will accuse me of it) we do autotip, we prepay gratuities before we leave.

 

 

Well Said!!!

[MissDiva1]

Just curious, how many people have you personally known to do that? I ask because the only times I could imagine people would be tempted to do that (not to say that it's ok) is when there is a family. $10 per person times say, 4 is significant. :confused:

 

I am going out on a limb here and will say it is all assumptions:D

 

I am basing my assumptions primarily from patrons from this board who honestly believe in not tipping and minimizing their tips and based upon my past experience from over 36 cruises over a 31 year period. Granted a family of 4 will generate a mandated daily tip of $40 each day, but have you ever thought how much time is involved in taking care and cleaning after a family of four each day while on a cruise ? :)

 

Oh look I was right.

If people were screwing the crew members out of tips as much as all the assumptions on here....Carnival would rethink and implement a better procedure.......it is a NON ISSUE.

[chipmaster]

My stupid or maybe naive question, how do you know about this cheapsaktes? You hovering around the pursor's desk? Maybe they choose to tip directly. I know that is niave as if they remove auto-tip all their envelops go back to the pool.

 

Understanding that the economy is in terrible shape and everyone wants to save a buck during their cruise, I personally have a "pet peeve" with those cruiser's who are just :mad:CHEAP:mad: !

My biggest pet peeve with those cheap cruiser's are those who remove all the auto-tips indicating that tipping should be voluntary based upon service and in reality these cheap cruisers really never tip at all !

What’s your experience involving the cheap cruiser ?

Thanks:)

[Kiln Wood]

Some people are totally ridiculous. For our last cruise we saved and planned for more than a year before we boarded the ship. We both worked hard and needed a vacation, a time to unwind, relax, and create some memories. Both of us are currently in school so we had school fees as well as bills at home to take care of, both before and after we cruised. We flew in to the port the day before and stayed at a hotel, not because we wanted to show off or anything of the sort, but simply because we could not afford to miss our cruise with all the planning, saving, and sacrificing we put into actually being able to treat ourselves to a vacation. What's funny is that this forum is a place where people praise the affordability of cruising; how much bang you get for your buck, but at the same time you belittle people who actually try to enjoy that very same inexpensive vacation which you promote. When we chose cruising we thought the employees were being paid from the money we paid for our place on the boat, but it appears we were wrong.

 

We took off the automatic tips because we simply cannot afford to have that plus tip all the people who clean our room, serve us dinner, and those who provide food on the Lido deck. On our last cruise our S&S card balance was $0.00 since we did not spend any money.

 

For those folks who claim that we are cheap, why don't you contact Carnival's main office and demand they pay their employees more? Instead of arguing with people here, why not type a letter to the people at Carnival who actually have the power to increase the employees' salary? I agree, the services provided are excellent and second to none, but don't shake a finger at people who cannot afford to give more than they have. I have a life to come back to and bills to pay when I disembark the ship, so don't sit on your thrones and lecture me about tipping. There's a reason many folks stay in interior cabins...because they cannot afford the suites like the royalty in here.

 

You are clear about the fact that your Sign and Sail card balance was zero, but you did not mention whether or not you tipped your cabin steward, waiter and assistant waiter in cash?

[DebJ14]

I'm not trying to stir any pots - but this is one area where my friends who usually go to all inclusives, say they hate about cruise - the tipping.

 

Do they not have anything like the tipping at the all inclusives?? I have never been to one - since we love cruising.

 

We go to all inclusives all the time. Gratuities are included in the price by law in Mexico. Some chains like Sandals supposedly prohibit tipping, yet we never met a bartender or maid who wouldn't take one

All inclusives in Mexico add a mandtory gratuity that the government requires hotels to collect. The situation is the same as on the cruise ships. Some people tip over and above what is included in the price and some brag about how they don't tip at all. The non-tippers are often the ones on Trip Advisor and other sites complaining about lousy service.

 

When the poor girl is walking 100 yards in the hot sun through the sand carrying a tray of drinks that people ordered, to not tip is just plain rude and cheap. They are grateful for a buck or 2. We found that if we give our beach waiter or waitress $10.00 - $15.00 in the morning we get great service all day. Sometimes the beach waiter has turned out to be the waiter at dinner and guess what - we get exceptional service because they know they will be tipped. We also tip our maids daily and as a result have all the towels we could ever use, flower petals and huge towel swans on the bed etc. We always tip our breakfast and lunch waiters a few extra bucks the first days so they know we tip. Needless to say they are anxious to have us sit in their section. At the all inclusives TIPS really do mean "To insure prompt service." We end up tipping more at an all inclusive than we do on a cruise- probably between $35.00 and $50.00 per day just because there are so many more people to tip. We have found the service at the all inclusives in Mexico to be better than that on a cruise ship or in any US hotel we have ever visited. The food is usually better too!

[charliedog]

Twice I have asked to have the tip for the MDR removed due to not going there one single time on those cruises. If I had gone even once I would have left the tip alone. I feel if I did not require their services then I shouldn't tip.

 

I also always tip my cabin steward alittle extra at the end of the cruise.

[Vettebuf]

We go to all inclusives all the time. Gratuities are included in the price by law in Mexico. Some chains like Sandals supposedly prohibit tipping, yet we never met a bartender or maid who wouldn't take one

All inclusives in Mexico add a mandtory gratuity that the government requires hotels to collect. The situation is the same as on the cruise ships. Some people tip over and above what is included in the price and some brag about how they don't tip at all. The non-tippers are often the ones on Trip Advisor and other sites complaining about lousy service.

 

When the poor girl is walking 100 yards in the hot sun through the sand carrying a tray of drinks that people ordered, to not tip is just plain rude and cheap. They are grateful for a buck or 2. We found that if we give our beach waiter or waitress $10.00 - $15.00 in the morning we get great service all day. Sometimes the beach waiter has turned out to be the waiter at dinner and guess what - we get exceptional service because they know they will be tipped. We also tip our maids daily and as a result have all the towels we could ever use, flower petals and huge towel swans on the bed etc. We always tip our breakfast and lunch waiters a few extra bucks the first days so they know we tip. Needless to say they are anxious to have us sit in their section. At the all inclusives TIPS really do mean "To insure prompt service." We end up tipping more at an all inclusive than we do on a cruise- probably between $35.00 and $50.00 per day just because there are so many more people to tip. We have found the service at the all inclusives in Mexico to be better than that on a cruise ship or in any US hotel we have ever visited. The food is usually better too!

 

We've only tipped the maid at the few AI's we've been to and our breakfast servers at the one we went to in Punta Cana this year. After reading your post, you've inspired me to tip the bar and dinner waiters too. Hopefully, our favorite waiters will still be there when we return to the AI in Punta Cana next year so we can belatedly show our appreciation. We were treated royally. That's why we're going back.

[michelle1836]

You can remove auto tips!!!! that's good to know!

 

Just kidding. I figured I would wake everyone up this Monday morning

 

we always leave the auto tips on and pay extra for service that we feel deserves it. even if we had bad service we would still leave the autotips on. Just like for a waiter. we would never not tip but just not tip above and beyond

[mcwebber]

So if you get poor service in your restaurants you would still tip i think that is total insanity, it looks like common sense has failed somwhere perhaps this is why the tipping culture is rife in the states.:confused:

 

The poster said:

in the uk we pay if we recieve good service only

Many from the UK tip a minimal amount at restaurants in the US regardless of the service because that's how they do things in the UK. They don't just not tip when the service is poor they often don't tip if they have no complaints about the service. They think they should only tip in a restaurant if the service is excellent.

[mcwebber]

I am basing my assumptions primarily from patrons from this board who honestly believe in not tipping and minimizing their tips and based upon my past experience from over 36 cruises over a 31 year period. Granted a family of 4 will generate a mandated daily tip of $40 each day, but have you ever thought how much time is involved in taking care and cleaning after a family of four each day while on a cruise ? :)

 

Certainly a lot more than a couple of adults who don't spend much time in the cabin.

[klo28910]

I overheard a conversation on my last cruise where some people were discussing the auto tips. One lady was saying that she wasn't even aware that they would be charged gratuities. Obviously she didn't read all her paperwork. A man in front of her was telling her that she could go to the purser's desk and have it removed. He said that he had removed his because he only budgeted a certain amount of money for alcohol and couldn't afford the tips. He already had over $600 in charges and that would put him over his budget if he paid gratuities.

[LaJollaCruiser]

From experience yes they do but it is usually a couple of dollars a barmen at the start of the week not 10 dollars per person per night we have travelled all around the world and this is the first cruise we have been on in the usa we have been on many out of southampton and tips\gratuities are much better ie. if you get service above and beyond then you tip if you get standard service then that is what you have already paid for.

 

Australians don't tip at all. And in the former Soviet Bloc, service was uniformily shoddy and surly as tipping was illegal. If one travels in Britain, one immediately notices that service there is not at all the equal of service in the United States. This is because of the tipping culture. British don't tip much, and British service is sub-par, often. You get what you pay for. If most American cruisers tipped like the British, then service on U.S. ships would be deplorable.

[Flyguy35]

This topic always stirs up a lot of opinions. When I look at the amount of the auto tip compared what I tip at a very good restaurant, it is by far a lot less. I am not the type of person that goes over the top with tips, but I believe good service should be rewarded. We leave the auto tip in place and if we feel that someone has gone beyond the normal level of service we are happy to give more.

 

What I find objectionable is on the last evening; you will have certain people parading around handing out big bills and not being discrete about it. I am sure it makes some people feel like they should do that as well even if the level of service was not above normal.

 

Then there is the other end of the spectrum where some people will find the slightest little thing wrong to justify not leaving any tip at all. On one of our cruises, a lady was very vocal that she was not leaving any tip because the ship had to skip a port of call due to weather. Wow, the crew is responsible for the weather now.

 

Tipping is a very personal thing but I encourage all to remember that excellent service from people in the service industry is no longer the norm. If someone goes above and beyond the call of duty reward that person. Remember how good you felt we you got a bonus at work.

[Crusin6]

If the parking is owned by the government, you do.

anyone know who owns the port parking in NYC?

[Shelli]

anyone know who owns the port parking in NYC?

 

I believe it's owned by the NY City Economic Development Corp. I have no idea if that's a public or private corporation, though.

[mcwebber]

anyone know who owns the port parking in NYC?

 

I was referring to Florida only as it's part of Florida law.

[elcuchio24]

Well, those are really two different issues. I would consider myself a cheap cruiser, just because I spend allot of time making sure I'm getting the best possible deal I can. At the same time, I would never dream of removing tips unless the waiter pulled a knife on me.

[wannago35]

double post sorry!

[wannago35]

I'm a first time cruiser & after reading 2 pages of this thread I had to ask a couple questions,

 

We have traveled in almost every way possible (all inclusives, timeshares, booking the old fashioned way) except cruising. We're decent tippers, even at all inclusives where the tips are already included we tipped anyway.

 

Hubby & I discussed the auto tip thing (I"m assuming you all are talking about the $150 that will be charged at the end of the cruise?). I was willing to pay it up front and he is not because he doesn't want to pay in advance for services he hasn't received yet which is understandable - he didn't like the idea of the all inclusive either for the same reason but gave it a shot. Which leads me to

 

1. Is there anywhere online with solid evidence of what cruise employees make? Hubby doesn't believe they make $50/day (I see here many say its actually $75/day). We both did searches & came up with several different prices ranging from $25/day to $4000/month.

 

2. Why doesn't the company just pay livable wages, so as not to put that burden on their customers (us)? Nobody here may have the answer to that, but is this how it is on all cruise lines or just Carnival?

 

Thanks in advance & I hope I don't get flamed, some of these responses seem kinda harsh!

[Chowder_17]

1. Is there anywhere online with solid evidence of what cruise employees make? Hubby doesn't believe they make $50/day (I see here many say its actually $75/day). We both did searches & came up with several different prices ranging from $25/day to $4000/month.

 

 

 

No, it's $75 PER MONTH, not day