15% gratuity on all drinks

[Ewoodspark]

It appears that as well as the high cost of beer and wine on board ship, NCL charge a standard 15% gratuity on all drinks. Is this 15% gratuity enforceable or is it like in a restaurant, when if you do not consider you have good service, you refuse to paying any service charge. When I go to a bar in England, I do not give the barman a tip for him/her to pour me a pint or give me a bottle. If I guess that you sign for all drinks with no actual cash taking place, can you delete the gratuity and sign for the actual drink. I am not too sure whether this may rather annoy or upset the bar staff, but what is the gratuity actually for? I know that all Americans seem to live on tips, but I am not American, and the cruise is in the Caribbean.

[colinsgram]

The 15% gratuity is not only NCL, but is standard on all cruise lines I have been on. I have never tries to remove the service charge but others may have experience with this.

[CrasyLynne]

It appears that as well as the high cost of beer and wine on board ship, NCL charge a standard 15% gratuity on all drinks. Is this 15% gratuity enforceable or is it like in a restaurant, when if you do not consider you have good service, you refuse to paying any service charge. When I go to a bar in England, I do not give the barman a tip for him/her to pour me a pint or give me a bottle. If I guess that you sign for all drinks with no actual cash taking place, can you delete the gratuity and sign for the actual drink. I am not too sure whether this may rather annoy or upset the bar staff, but what is the gratuity actually for? I know that all Americans seem to live on tips, but I am not American, and the cruise is in the Caribbean.

 

Every cruise I have been on has had automatic 15% gratuity on all bar orders.

 

You may want to research cruises more - the staff truly live on the gratuity received.

[Beaver1975]

You cannot remove the tip from the drink charge as it is a mandatory charge. You can however add an additional tip, for your server, when you sign your check. Besides weren't you the one that was so adamant about following rules and regulations?

[FLAHAM]

If you're not crazy about a server, find another one. Don't begrudge them the buck tip.

[david_sobe]

You cant compare Europe and the USA with bar and restaurant tipping. Tipping in the USA and cruise ships is how the service industry people get their wages. Many Euros dont understand this concept.

 

I actually thought it was 17% and not 15%

[rsinj]

but I am not American, and the cruise is in the Caribbean.

 

So your contention is that when you visit somewhere, local customs mean nothing to you, and you're exempt because you live by your own standards everywhere you go and you expect that others should be understanding of that?

 

Interesting.

 

Howard

[bplazo]

If you do not want to pay the gratuity then just drink the free drinks which are included in your fare.

[Ewoodspark]

So your contention is that when you visit somewhere, local customs mean nothing to you, and you're exempt because you live by your own standards everywhere you go and you expect that others should be understanding of that?

 

Interesting.

 

Howard

Howard, thanks for your comments and I note where you live. The point I am asking is what is the gratuity actually for? For somebody to pour a drink or pass me a bottle, are you saying that this should warrant a 15% tip. For what? Doing his or her job? I am certainly not objecting to tipping a bar person if I have been served a number of drinks, but I certainly do not hold with the concept of being forced to pay a 15% gratuity for ordering i drink.

[Agent999]

Howard, thanks for your comments and I note where you live. The point I am asking is what is the gratuity actually for? For somebody to pour a drink or pass me a bottle, are you saying that this should warrant a 15% tip. For what? Doing his or her job? I am certainly not objecting to tipping a bar person if I have been served a number of drinks, but I certainly do not hold with the concept of being forced to pay a 15% gratuity for ordering i drink.

 

Having a hard time understanding your basic objection here.

 

Let me explain with an example.

 

Under "American" standards, you order a drink that costs $5.00. The 15% gratuity is $0.75. For that service, you are charged a total of $5.75.

 

On the other hand, by "English" standards, you order the same drink. However, the cost is now $5.75. Being that we're not tipping, the gratuity is $0. For that service, you are charged a total of $5.75.

 

 

$5.00 + $0.75 = $5.75 versus $5.75 + $0.00 = $5.75.

 

Seems like a lot of hoopla just over semantics.

 

 

John:

 

On a serious note, if you are going to let things like this concern you, you might want to consider a different type of vacation experience. This is a large part of cruising. Don't get yourself into a situation where you are just going to be miserable because all you worry about is what every cent is "for".

[jame_g]

Howard, thanks for your comments and I note where you live. The point I am asking is what is the gratuity actually for? For somebody to pour a drink or pass me a bottle, are you saying that this should warrant a 15% tip. For what? Doing his or her job? I am certainly not objecting to tipping a bar person if I have been served a number of drinks, but I certainly do not hold with the concept of being forced to pay a 15% gratuity for ordering i drink.

 

 

Yes, this is how they get paid for doing their job! You do get paid for doing your job don't you? The 15% gratuity constitutes the vast majority of the pay for those crewmembers. It's how they earn their money. That's just how it is. It's not extra money.

 

Where you live, that 15% (probably more) is already built into the price of the drink. So the best way to think about it is as part of the price. And before you try remove it, ask yourself how you'd feel if one of your company's customers decided to subtract your pay from what they were billed, and your boss allowed it, and then removed that amount from your paycheck.

 

Removing the gratuity shouldn't be done unless there was poor service and you brought it to someone's attention and gave them the chance to correct it first.

 

It really tickles me that people put up such a fuss in order to try to cheat these hard working crew members out of a few dollars. Yet they never give a thought to how they'd feel if someone could do the same to their paycheck. Just because it doesn't work that way for your job, doesn't mean it's right to do it to someone else.

[Starry Eyes]

When I travel, I try to respect local customs. I may not always understand every custom, so I may occasionally mess up. Still, I try. If you are sailing NCL (or any of several similar cruise lines) to the Caribbean, the custom is to tip. You may not like it, but you should do it. Just consider the drink to cost 115% of the list price...if the drink is not worth that to you, do not buy the drink...easy, isn't it?

 

About your phrase "High cost of beer and wine": really, the prices of these beverages on board the ships is generally not significantly higher than in US based bars and restaurants...in fact, the cost on ship is lower than in many major cities. Of course, those beverage are more expensive on the ship than in the supermarket...if you really want to save money, stay home and drink at home...Does that sound like more fun? Or just drink water and iced tea; they are free.

[Husky61]

It really tickles me that people put up such a fuss in order to try to cheat these hard working crew members out of a few dollars. Yet they never give a thought to how they'd feel if someone could do the same to their paycheck. Just because it doesn't work that way for your job, doesn't mean it's right to do it to someone else.

 

I hardly agree that the people on this forum who object to a mandatory tip are trying to "cheat" someone out of a few dollars. Tipping is an individual choice, and quite frankly, if I decided not to tip someone, I wouldn't let your opinion influence me one bit.

[bplazo]

I hardly agree that the people on this forum who object to a mandatory tip are trying to "cheat" someone out of a few dollars. Tipping is an individual choice, and quite frankly, if I decided not to tip someone, I wouldn't let your opinion influence me one bit.

 

Don't use the service if you do not want to tip.

[jame_g]

I hardly agree that the people on this forum who object to a mandatory tip are trying to "cheat" someone out of a few dollars. Tipping is an individual choice, and quite frankly, if I decided not to tip someone, I wouldn't let your opinion influence me one bit.

 

 

Okay, so maybe "take advantage" of another person's situation is a better choice of words... It's not referred to as "stiffing someone" for no reason.

[mjkacmom]

First of all, NCL drink prices are much better than those in US cities (I paid $12 for a glass of house wine at the Philadelphia Marriott last month at the bar, plus a $2 tip). I found the prices even cheaper than bars and restaurants in my home ton!

 

Second, here in the US, folks know to throw down a buck or two for the drinks made by the bartender, or delivered by a server in a bar table. Unfortunately, not everyone knows this (especially overseas travellers on a US ship). Therefore, it makes sense to add it, even though they'll end up with a little less from those of us who will always hand over $1 for a $5 beer.

[DAGVBSB]

I hardly agree that the people on this forum who object to a mandatory tip are trying to "cheat" someone out of a few dollars. Tipping is an individual choice, and quite frankly, if I decided not to tip someone, I wouldn't let your opinion influence me one bit.

 

First of all, it is not a "tip" but a "service charge." That is why it is not removable for bad service or cheating or any other reason.

 

Service charges are actually becoming more of the norm these days.

 

So, the OP is not trying to "cheat" the servers for two reasons:

1.) it is a "service charge" (although it acts like a tip.)

2.) it is non removable on every cruise ship I have sailed on.

 

So case closed.

[DAGVBSB]

Howard, thanks for your comments and I note where you live. The point I am asking is what is the gratuity actually for? For somebody to pour a drink or pass me a bottle, are you saying that this should warrant a 15% tip. For what? Doing his or her job? I am certainly not objecting to tipping a bar person if I have been served a number of drinks, but I certainly do not hold with the concept of being forced to pay a 15% gratuity for ordering i drink.

 

The gratuity is for both the server and the bartender.

 

It is a Service Charge and not a gratuity, so you can complain about it all you want....it is non removable.

 

It is the same on every major cruise line (and in many US resorts) that I have been on.

 

Another piece of advice: don't order coffee or tea in the bars...it will come with the 15% service charge as well. Simply go to the buffet or Blue Lagoon before you go and get those beverages for Free from there. (no service charge!)

[weltek]

So by your standards, I should've tried to talk my waitstaff in Australia down from the $10 beers I was ordering, since I'd only pay about $5 plus 15% tip in the U.S. I mean, I'm not from Australia, so why should I pay using their wage standards?

/sarcasm

 

I think someone said it best above. When I visit elsewhere, I try to respect local pricing and tipping standards. If it makes something unaffordable for me, I don't do it.

[che5904]

OP you are certainly not alone in this feeling and it is quite a common statement from U.K. posters and a couple of other countries that do not understand the tipping custom.

I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are serious with this post and that perhaps you are not an experienced traveler. I won’t assume that this post is trying to be mean, cheap or whatever else others will accuse you of.

I don’t claim to understand or agree to all tipping even growing up in a country that has tipping as a custom. But I will try and explain my thoughts in the one area that I do understand. For some, unknown to me, reason someone years and years ago thought employment like a waiter/ess fell under a different standard than a minimum wage of other employment. In our case those minimum standards are set by our Government. So the employer gives the waiter/ess the minimum wage set out for servers and the customers are expected to give the rest in cash to make up the difference for that person to take home what would be equivalent to the minimum wage for other employment. That has now progressed to other service employment where the worker does make standard minimum wage but for some reason the public guesses that job doesn’t make very much money (that’s the part that always drives me a little crazy). But this has all grown into the customs of Canada, the U.S. other countries and some if not all cruise ship.

Also unlike some I will not claim this as a U.S. ship (it’s not, it’s flagged in the Bahamas), I also won’t say this tipping is because it follows U.S. customs. It follows cruise ship customs which is tipping like Canada, the U.S. and other countries that do have tipping. It doesn’t matter where the ship is traveling to when you are on it. BTW you say you are traveling to the Caribbean (at least the places I have visited), also have tipping as a custom if you plan on going into port the expectation would be tipping for taxis, tour guides etc.

So in my opinion I think wherever you travel, that a person should try to respect the customs of those places that they travel to. You don’t have to understand or agree with those customs but I believe you should respect and try to follow them.

[Fishbait17]

Just a little note about tipping in general (not really the same as the service charge on drinks on NCL, but it might help people understand). This is the one important difference: In places where tipping is NOT the norm, service workers are paid a fair wage and only receive a tiny bit, if any, gratuity income. In places where tipping is the norm, service workers are paid at a MUCH lower wage and tipping constitutes a huge percentage of their income. For example, most waitresses in the USA are paid wages far below legal minimum wage and are absolutely reliant on tips, and this is the norm (service workers in tipped positions are exempt from minimum wage laws). So yes, paying a gratuity is for them simply doing their job - that tip IS the compensation for just doing their job. A minimum is expected for decent service, and generally added to for great service. It's just the way a tipping society works, the worker's wages are not built into the price of the service, they are paid mostly in the gratuities you provide. Hope this makes sense! :).

 

Robin

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Husky61]

Don't use the service if you do not want to tip.

 

Thanks do much for that advice. The issue isn't or wasn't whether or not to use the service, but whether or not tipping is an individual choice.

[Husky61]

Okay, so maybe "take advantage" of another person's situation is a better choice of words... It's not referred to as "stiffing someone" for no reason.

 

First let me say that I usually tip very well. But for those who choose not to trip, in my opinion, it is not taking advantage of a person's situation. I didn't read where any cruise ship employee was forced to take the job.

[Don Haynes]

Passenger ship tipping has been around for more than a century. No one less than Samuel Cunard implemented it. If you do not desire to tip cruise on a British ship and forgo the Caribbean. If you desire to cruise the Caribbean, do as the Romans do when in Rome, live up to their tipping guidelines.

 

The folks who make this argument would make this argument against state sales taxes and federal excise taxes when purchasing anything when in foreign nations. Unfortunately, you have to pay them too.

[Agent999]

Thanks do much for that advice. The issue isn't or wasn't whether or not to use the service, but whether or not tipping is an individual choice.

 

Swing and a miss. Go and read the OPs initial posting. They question they posed (and there for the topic/issue here) is: "...but what is the gratuity actually for?"

 

This isn't about choice, it is about purpose.

 

First let me say that I usually tip very well. But for those who choose not to trip, in my opinion, it is not taking advantage of a person's situation. I didn't read where any cruise ship employee was forced to take the job.

 

I don't know what your "tipping habits" have to do with anything, but just because you didn't read something doesn't mean that the point is negated. Perhaps (that means maybe, btw) you need to broaden the scope of your reading material.