CCL advance tipping policy is hogwash

[sarge98]

i think i once calculated they make at least $60 an hour just in tips.

 

Simple true statement. Several years ago one of the women at our table on Carnival asked our head waiter how much $ he made, his answer was with tips about $3000 a month.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

Let's make it simple for the sheep. The sheep will meekly pay the autotip which amounts to $161 per couple on a 7 nighter. The wise cruisers, like us, will cancel the tips and pay them out in cash to the deserving service providers. Let's see how this might work.

 

1) First day the room attendant gets $20 shoved in his/her hand(can't you just picture the grin of appreciation?)

2) Our favorite bartender at our favorite bar gets $20 also up front to look after us for the cruise

3) $40 gets spread out to the dining room wait staff first night

4) A few fivers get given out to the pool waiters for good service(let's say a total of $20

5) A few fivers get spread out to the casino waiters for good service(let's say another $20)

 

That brings our tip total to $120 leaving at least another $40 to hand out to other deserving crew members. Now who do you think is going to have better service during the cruise? Us or the mindless sheep who blindly go along with CCL and hope their auto tips get distributed as advertised. Come on people........wake up and smell the coffee!!

 

I never had to bribe folks to get excellent service on my 2 Carnival cruises. Any cruise for that matter.

 

If they do their job, the auto is good enough or they would find other work. If they go above and beyond (usually the case) and EARN their tip, I give extra at the end. I prefer to let them earn it before I reward them.

 

If the service SUCKS, I remove the auto tips (never happened yet) I will never bribe folks for service I should receive. If they want extra, they need to show me they deserve it, and they always do.

 

I don't know how that makes me a sheep. If we are sheep then is your method basically saying you don't trust them to do an excellent job without a bribe? Its demeaning. Sure they will take the money, but you pretty much get the same service I got. Unless they massaged my feet and temples, the service couldn't really have been better in most cases.

[foilman2002]

Let's make it simple for the sheep. The sheep will meekly pay the autotip which amounts to $161 per couple on a 7 nighter. The wise cruisers, like us, will cancel the tips and pay them out in cash to the deserving service providers. Let's see how this might work.

 

1) First day the room attendant gets $20 shoved in his/her hand(can't you just picture the grin of appreciation?)

2) Our favorite bartender at our favorite bar gets $20 also up front to look after us for the cruise

3) $40 gets spread out to the dining room wait staff first night

4) A few fivers get given out to the pool waiters for good service(let's say a total of $20

5) A few fivers get spread out to the casino waiters for good service(let's say another $20)

 

That brings our tip total to $120 leaving at least another $40 to hand out to other deserving crew members. Now who do you think is going to have better service during the cruise? Us or the mindless sheep who blindly go along with CCL and hope their auto tips get distributed as advertised. Come on people........wake up and smell the coffee!!

 

 

You're joking, right? The auto tip does not include bartenders, who gets tips added on each drink, casino workers or pool waiters (who may or may not get part of that 15%).

 

So you didn't tip generously, or even tip anywhere near properly, you stiffed the workers who are supposed to get the tips.

 

If you just take the proper amount of tips for a hotel cleaning service and apply it to the ship, you stiffed your steward. If you take eating out in restaurants of equal quality, and by that I mean including the service and "ambiance" of the dining rooms, at $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch and $25 for dinner per person (try that at Disney or in NYC), the wait staff tips would be $7.50 per day per person, on the moderate side. That's $105 for a week. You "generously" allow $40. I'm willing to guess that your steward smiled largely because he figured that $20 was in addition to the percentage of your autotip he was getting, and the same for your wait staff.

 

An article on Cruisecritic talks about an American working on Carnival ships, http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1059

which I think should be a definitive statement on tipping among other things. He says:

 

"CC: Can you talk a little about what a crewmember earns and how tips play into it?

BDB: Tipping is serious stuff. It represents well over 95% of what the crew makes. Carnival gave me something around $60 a month or so when it was all said and done. "Salary" also included the cabin you share, plenty of food and two crew parties a month. There was also an unfulfilled promise of medical care, but I knew several waiters who either got sick or had some sort of chronic condition who were immediately sent home indefinitely without pay. A few women who became pregnant while working onboard were immediately sent home without pay, as well. I don't remember the exact amount, but it was less than $80 for sure.

 

Tips were everything. Auto-tips were a Godsend, because anyone who thinks he/she tips enough voluntarily is usually wrong. The auto-tips were figured by how many guests are assigned to your dinner section. If you had a small section, say only 18, you were constrained by that number. The biggest sections were 22 or 24, which are a whopper of a section. But there is a lot more money to be had for that extra strain during dinner. Thus, even if the guests don't go to dinner, you get those auto-tips. They are automatically split between you and your assistant waiter for the cruise. Since you work breakfast, lunch, midnight buffet, and room service without any specific pay, those tips are well earned even if the guest opts out of the dining room constantly (by going to the supper club, for example, or eating in port).

 

I am not aware of Carnival ever taking a slice of this particular pie. And the timeclocks the waiters use nowadays? You don't get paid by the hour, they are just there to prove that they are not slaves."

 

Restaurants around here routinely add an 18% gratuity to any party of 6 or more, The Playboy Club routinely added a tip to all bills, I think 17 1/2 %, and I'm pretty sure it's done because of people like TommyCanuck, people who undertipped or didn't tip, whether because they're cheap, controlling or maybe of a culture where tipping was not a factor.

 

On my last cruise I did remove some of the autotip, and gave the difference in cash to my room steward and wait staff. Next cruise I'll just add the extra and give it to them separately, leaving the auto tip alone.

 

Sorry for the length of this. Ba-a-ahhh!

[Carnivaluver]

Part of me feels this custom comes from the rich not the poor

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ~ sign the awesome Gailerina!

 

In many countries people in the service industries are paid a living wage and customers know that. They pay for a service and expect to get a service. Why pay more money for something you have already paid for.

 

I the US most servers are rarely paid a living and they rely on tips to live. It is more an American thing in some ways IMHO.

 

In Japan it is not the custom to be tipped and servers would probably not know what to do with the extra money. Australia is the same way and also in many European countries. it is more an American idea because people in the service industry are usually not paid a living wage and tips are used as a subsidy to these low wages.

 

And in quite a few countries people are proud to be of service, take pride in what they do and do not expect anything in return for exemplary customer service. Also, the service charge could already have been factored in the bill but you may not be made aware of that when you receive the bill.

 

Let's face it...the automatic tips are just a way for Carnival to get around not paying it's service employee a living wage.

 

You can Google tipping 101 around the world and you will learn that it is not really the norm in most places. :)

[Rilaxmom19]

how many hours a day do you say they work?[/QU

 

A generous guess! They may only work 10 or 12, depending on how many rooms they have. I was trying to figure out the least amount they would make. Obviously if they work less they get paid more.

I think many people are unaware that the cabin stewards have other responsibilities that fall under the Hotel Director's department. For example, the cabin stewards have slide duty - the huge slide out on the Lido deck (or thereabouts), and that is a two hour shift. A lot of times the Camp Carnival staff help out, because they also fall under the direction of the Hotel Director, but for the most part, the cabin stewards shoulder the responsibility. This is in addition to servicing the rooms.

[Amy Giard]

i think i once calculated they make at least $60 an hour just in tips.

 

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

How exactly did you come up with that figure?

[English Tim]

No one on this thread has said they don't tip.....

 

They're not brave enough!

[Mulege]

let's call it for what it is. Just another form of boosting fares with a cash grab, similar to the resort fees some hotels are starting to charge. Carnival should be paying their staff a living wage and not relying on passengers to augment their income.

 

Next cruise, i am going to cancel the tips and reward the deserving staff directly. Now some of you are going to howl "what about the dishwashers and other crew members you don't come in contact with". That's just my point. If we all stopped rewarding carnival for paying starvation wages, they would soon change. Tips should be given out in recognition for outstanding service not as a wage supplement. I've had enough of it!

 

cheap!

[seasidemama]

yes, but how much longer are we going to accept the adverts up top that say cruise for as little as $299, or .... $499?

 

um, sorry, but you can't do that, unless you have a 0 ballance on your sail and sign account, which includes removing tips.

 

hell, tax and fees add more than $200 alone.

 

make cruises free, and pay as you go, why don't you?

 

Should be a new regulation where all advertised prices INCLUDE port charges and taxes - part of honesty in advertising and consumer protection.

[CdrescherRBL152]

Have I missed somthing, Carnival has had prepaid tips since at least 2008. And if you really belive that they are skimming your prepaid tips. Then get proff and fill a lawsuit as it would be false advertising.

[H82seaUgo]

Have I missed somthing, Carnival has had prepaid tips since at least 2008. And if you really belive that they are skimming your prepaid tips. Then get proff and fill a lawsuit as it would be false advertising.

 

i also think you are confusing prepaid tipping to auto tipping.

[tommycanuck]

Have I missed somthing, Carnival has had prepaid tips since at least 2008. And if you really belive that they are skimming your prepaid tips. Then get proff and fill a lawsuit as it would be false advertising.

 

I don't know if 100% of the auto-tips are being distributed directly to the staff without an administration skim and neither do you. That's my point! However, if I remove the auto-tips and pay it out in cash myself then I do know exactly where the $ is going.....to those who provide me a service above and beyond what is expected. CCL should cancel their auto-tip policy and quit using the money to augment wages. I'd rather pay a higher fare if necessary knowing that I'm not being duped.

[Rottweiler Puppy]

nevermind, lol

[Amy Giard]

:confused::confused::confused::confused:

 

How exactly did you come up with that figure?

 

i also think you are confusing prepaid tipping to auto tipping.

 

Still waiting to see how you came up with the $60 per hour figure.

[H82seaUgo]

Still waiting to see how you came up with the $60 per hour figure.

 

as i said, i need to go back and find how i arrived at that. be easier searching on a pc.

 

or break down and buy a new abacus.

[Amy Giard]

as i said, i need to go back and find how i arrived at that. be easier searching on a pc.

 

or break down and buy a new abacus.

 

Did you sit there and count how many drinks per hour they served?

 

getting ready to hit the BS button

[H82seaUgo]

Did you sit there and count how many drinks per hour they served?

 

i take it you never worked with figures or statistics.

 

here's an exercise for you. figure out how many drinks can be served in a minute. add some beers to that mix.

 

multiply by 60.

 

attach an average retail to that amount and multply.

 

take that figure and multiply by 15%.

 

enter answer on line 1.

[Amy Giard]

i take it you never worked with figures or statistics.

 

I take it you can't back up your words with facts.

[Amy Giard]

i take it you never worked with figures or statistics.

 

here's an exercise for you. figure out how many drinks can be served in a minute. add some beers to that mix.

 

multiply by 60.

 

attach an average retail to that amount and multply.

 

take that figure and multiply by 15%.

 

enter answer on line 1.

 

You do realize that those tips are shared amongst ALL the bartenders, right?? so you need to add some division in there smart guy.

[H82seaUgo]

I take it you can't back up your words with facts.

 

not while i'm sitting here at the beach?

 

and facts? absolutely not. did you complete the above exercise?

[Amy Giard]

not while ii'm sitting here at the beach?

 

and facts? absolutely not. did you complete the above exercise?

 

 

yes looking for the division sign somewhere in your equation because it is missing.

[H82seaUgo]

You do realize that those tips are shared amongst ALL the bartenders, right?? so you need to add some division in there smart guy.

 

no. multiply by how many are serving and divide by the same amount (or did you think one was working and the others were just standing there?).

 

should be almost the same.

 

enter that answer on line 2.

 

(btw, someone just ordered a foo foo drink in a tiki glass for $20. that's a $3.50 tip!)

[Amy Giard]

no. multiply by how many are serving and divide by the same amount (or did you think one was working and the others were just standing there?).

 

should be almost the same.

 

enter that answer on line 2.

 

You forgot all the roaming servers and the bartenders who work the slow bars... tips gets divided amongst everyone.

 

 

Just for fun, let's do it with your math:

 

$60 per hour x 10 hours per day (and that's being conservative) = $600 per day

 

Let's say they only work 180 days a year (again conservative) =

$600 x 180= $108,000 per year

 

Does that look right?

[amybear912]

As someone who has worked for tips...

 

I find it utterly disgusting and classless that so many of you spend this much time:

 

1. Figuring to the cent how much these people make.

2. Figuring out how to avoid tipping these people.

3. Coming up with excuses for why and how these people should or should not be paid.

4. Determining who is worthy of your pitance.

 

The very idea that you put this much thought into someone else's paycheck... Doesn't that seem... Tacky?? It must be nice to have the sort of job where every penny you earn isn't left up to such scrutiny nor based on whether or not someone has budgeted their vacation responsibly.

 

But really... If you want to spend your vacation time doing mathematical gymnastics... Have at it! I'll be on deck enjoying a drink and relaxing...

[Amy Giard]

But really... If you want to spend your vacation time doing mathematical gymnastics... Have at it! I'll be on deck enjoying a drink and relaxing...

 

Yes our friend is on the beach now counting others tips.