Opinions on tipping please.......

[imsulin]

Actually, Terry, I think that the servers your kids encounter would prefer the [B]full[/B] tipping amount. Gifts are "cute", but money is better. It's nice of you to offer to buy CDs and calling cards. - which they may or may not appreciate - but they really do count on the actual money they receive. I've seen a few crew cabins - four to a room - and not nearly as big or as nice as [B]your[/B] cabin. Most of them support families back in the Phillipines or Indonesia and support these families by sending money to them...much of which is obtained by TIPS. Hope you're not trying to "bow out gracefully" by offering to have your "just turned 13" son present a "CD" to a hard-working staff member who has no use for it. Suck it up and pay the guy the recommended tipping amount!

[pg.]

Imsulin, This forum is for opinions and advice, not for someone to tell someone what they must do. Telling someone to "suck it up" and follow your suggestion sounds like you think your way is the only way.
Tom why if " someone did less" should I tip them less but "not less than 15 %"If someone does less than they are supposed to then why would you hand them 15% . That just encourages poor service. It is also a waste of money.

You all tip how you like, and stop going on about "cheapskates" , it is tacky to call names and act so "holier than thou" like you are helping the poor in the south east Asia single handedly with your big tips.
Americans do tip well, but you know it doesn't neccisarily give them a better reputation as travellors throughout the world.

The "my way" is THE way is certainly not endearing.
I have yet to see a poster say they wouldn't tip at all, so would you all relax and get a grip!

[hilltopfamily]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NotADude:
If they were just a couple of years younger, the expected tip would only be $5. each.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Where has anyone seen this? Maybe I haven't read my brochures/documents/etc. very well, because I don't remember ever seeing a statement about tipping at different levels according to age. Can someone direct me to where I can find this info? Or is it specific to a cruise line? (I've only cruised Disney & Carnival thus far). I'd sincerely like to know where to find this info. Thanks!

Penny
Disney Magic~~Eastern 7/03
Carnival Celebration~~Western 3/04
Aug 1, 2004 Carnival Elation--Yippee, Our 3rd Cruise!!!
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[lougee1043]

can i turn this around for a minute - the question is should i tip fully for a child who has just had his birthday

if your birthday was yesterday and that qualified you for a discount at the movie theatre or in a restaurant would you refuse the discount because your birthday was yesterday???how long would you wait after your birthday to claim the discount

the childs birthday puts him into the full pay catagory whether his birthday was yesterday or last week -- pay the other 5.00 for the younger child and you should definitely be paying it for the older girl

lougee1043


Since we last sailed on the Oosterdam
<img src=http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&prgb=2325FF&cdt=2004;03;28;08;00;00&timezone=GMT-0800>

til our next cruise on the Galaxy
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9/87 HAL - Noordham
10/92 HAL - Westerdam
4/01 HAL - Zaandam
5/02 HAL - Maasdam
8/02 HAL - Zaandam
3/03 HAL -Statendam
cancelled due to surgeries
12/03 HAL - Statendam replacement cruise
3/04 HAL Oosterdam
3/05 Celebrity Galaxy

[serene56]

I have only sailed Royal and Carnival. And I see on their web site that tipping under 2 in not expected.

I have never seen where a child age 10-12 or 14 tips half price.

Going NOWHERE
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Miracle, February 13, 2005
Legend, October 22,2004
Voyager August 31,2003
Victory September 22,2002
Regal Empress,June 2001
Sensation,August 2000

[98Charlie]

serene56 - Terry is booked on Celebrity. From their web site:<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> For children less than 12 years old, as third or fourth person in the stateroom, half the above amounts are recommended. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>For full text go to [url="http://www.celebrity.com/prepare/faq/answer.asp?s=D91F5B534D&sid=73&fid=332"]Celebrity Tipping Guide[/url] Some other cruise lines have similar policies. NCL, with their auto tipping, goes with ½ price for passengers under 18.

[imsulin]

pg: I don't think I'm the one acting "holier than thou". I think the OP is the one doing that by stating she would only pay half the recommended tipping amount for her "just turned 13" son. That's the "holier than thou" attitude that invites opinions and discussions. And I [B]was[/B] giving "opinions and advice", regardless of how you may have read it. My "opinions" reflect those of many posters here. Oh - BTW - please read the OP's post in which she says "[B]BITE ME[/B]". Now - if [B]that[/B] isn't "tacky", I don't know what is! Terry was obviously "telling me what to do"! Terry is the one who indulged in the "my way is the right way" attitude....not the rest of us. It's certainly not endearing, is it? Now, please relax and get a grip - by reading this thread from the beginning! Thank you.

[pg.]

I agree that saying " bite me" is tacky( actually it's rude) .

[imsulin]

Thank you, pg. I sincerely hope that Terry makes the appropriate decision.

[later]

pg:

my apologies. I have not had a chance to respond due to being out of contact for a few days. You are right 20% tip is a US standard not a Canadain standard. My only point was for a $15 meal the tip is $3. It does not take a very big meal at any restaurant to hit $15 with food, desert, and beverage (Excluding fast food restaurants and buffets). I realize not everyone will use the dining room for breakfast and lunch so I did not use them as an example.

I do agree though that tipping is a matter of preference and up to each individual. I think The cruise industry has always thought of the tip as an extension of the cruise price and that is why in my opinion it is so low. With the change over in the past several years to push family cruising the new breed of passenger is not as open to accept an automatic tip no matter what the level. This is not a flame this is just my opinion.

[pg.]

Later,
You have a point there, now that cruising is sold as a "family" vacation, it is being sold as being "all inclusive ". Most people(not all) do realize that booze is extra, but many who have never cruised are not aware of the tipping policies, since when you " land cruise" tips are not automatic. Meaning if you stay in a hotel, many do not tip the maid, and no hotel I know of would add a tip to your bill. Same with restaurants, tips, although expected, are not automatically added to a bill, leaving people the choice of whether or not , and how much , to tip .I believe that some cruisers are reacting to the fact that they have no "choice " intipping. Many would tip more at meal times if they tipped as they go, but, since food is included, and ships maintane a " cashless" system they don't.
By the way I think the cruise lines like the automatic tip system because then they get to see how much in tips are coming in, so they can insist on pooling tips with staff that is not in contact with the public each day., therefore saving them having to pay a higher wage to those in "non tip" jobs.

[bUU]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pg.:
Wow rich folks.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>It's probably not a good idea to make assumptions about how rich other people are or are not. It's unnecessarily antagonistic.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>We do not as a rule spend 16 dollars per child for lunch. We have 3 kids . <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>This seems rather irrelevant to tthe issue being discussed.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>And the reasoning that kids should tip the same as an adult is baloney since kids eat less their portion of the bill ( at a normal restaurant) is less therefore the portion they would tip is less.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That's faulty logic, since the tip isn't for the food, but rather for the service. Generally, children occupy as much (if not more) of a server's time than an adult.

I have to say that it seems like you're searching for some legitimacy for the rationalizations you put forward. I'm sorry, but I don't see a way of providing that for you.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[bUU]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 98Charlie:
This is something that I am currently trying to sort out for myself. The cruise lines call it a tip. The passengers call it a tip. Is it really a tip or is it really part of their pay? More and more I see it as pay for my employee (see the previous paragraph).<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Gratuities haven't been "tips" since the 19th Century. Rather, gratuities are a means for service providers to give direct control over a portion of the compensation of a server in the hands of the person in the best position to know how good the service provided was: the person who received the service. As such, gratuities are a fundamental portion of a service worker's compensation, and should be considered as such by server, employer and customer, alike.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[bUU]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by lougee1043:
can i turn this around for a minute - the question is should i tip fully for a child who has just had his birthday<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I can see the logic behind an assertion that it doesn't make sense for the amount to go up on one specific day -- in that case, though, it makes sense to apply a sliding-scale prior to the "deadline" and raise the amount you'd tip for the child gradually, so that by the time you reach the "deadline" you're tipping the appropriate adult amount. It would mean that you should tip more than the recommended amount for a child below the "deadline" age, not less for a child just about the "deadline" age, though.

I think most folks would prefer to just stick with the regular arrangement, though, where you pay the "child" amount before the "deadline" date, and the "adult" amount on and after the "deadline date.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[imsulin]

Well said, bicker! I think I've said before that the "deadline" date is always put into service and enforced regarding things like getting a driver's licence, being 21 at the time of the cruise, voting, buying alcohol (sans fake ID), buying cigarettes (sans fake ID), retiring and receiving retirement pay/Social Security/IRA/401K monies, and entering the job force full-time. I don't understand why someone would chose to skip out on paying tips (or adult buffet prices) for a child whose age "deadline" has come and gone.

[pg.]

Bicker, ( what an interesting choice of online name) , I am sick of you guys saying that it doesn't matter what a child consumes it's the service that determines the tip. BALONEY, tips are calculated on a BILL , if the bill at the restaurant is 100$ then the average/standard tips is 15% RIGHT? SO if I have a CHILD who eats only a little their portion of the bill would only be say 10$ therefore the portion of the tip for them would be $1.50. Meanwhile an adult who had the steak and lobster which cost $30 so theri portion of the tip is 4.50, so the adult portion is higher than the kids portion, even though the waiter still has to give the kid the same service!

[imsulin]

pg (what an interesting choice of an on-line name!) - with all due respect, I think you are too enmeshed with land-based restaurants in the US and Canada, and the tip percentages which are paid in cash or by CC most of the time, according to the price of the meal. This has absolutely nothing to do with tipping on a cruise ship! It's a whole different ball game, OK? Passengers on cruise ships are NOT charged for food , unless they choose to eat in one of the alternative restaurants, and then it's just a flat fee.

[bUU]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by pg.:
I am sick of you guys saying that it doesn't matter what a child consumes it's the service that determines the tip.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm sorry it distresses you to hear, but it is indeed the truth.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[98Charlie]

It seems we continue with a confused definition of "tip".

For those who take the view that a tip is a gratuity and therefore "a gift of money for a service, especially as an amount above what is owed" (from Encarta dictionary) there is no discussion. The tip is for extraordinary service. Since most cruise lines tout extraordinary service as their norm, you shouldn't have to tip at all. (Maybe if the room steward carried you piggy back to the main dining room. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img][I]The humor impaired should ingnore this comment[/I])

Those who view tip as part of the pay of the cruise employees will go ahead an pay their employees at a rate that they are comfortable with, generally in excess of the minimum suggested by the cruise line.

[bUU]

Great summary, 98Charlie. The reality is that everyone will make their own mind up regarding what gratuities are to them, and then act accordingly.

By the same token, there is typically little variance with respect to what gratuities are to the folks who earn them, based objectively on the extent to which the expectation that folks will receive gratuities is factored into computation of base compensation. For example, many restaurant servers in the United States receive less than "minimum" wage, specifically because restaurant operations (i.e., menu prices, pay rates) are structured specifically factoring in consideration of gratuities as an integral part of the server's compensation. I'm not sure what information is available to help shed some light on how much that line-of-reasoning applies to cruise ship employees.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[bUU]

Well, I take that back. Seems like some folks do have such information: [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=538097554&m=600104252&r=496104252#496104252"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=538097554&m=600104252&r=496104252#496104252[/url]

Very interesting. $65 per month, plus whatever they get in tips. That seems pretty definitive to me.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?srgb=00ff00&dd=cd&trgb=ffffff&prgb=ffd700&cdt=2005;1;29;22;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500&ft=5&frgb=ffd700[/img]
RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)

[spongerob]

Plus room and board, of course.

It's not an easy life, but someone earning $3000 per month tax free is doing nearly as well as a $75K per year wage slave in US who pays their full share of federal, state, county, city, and sales taxes.

Completed:
Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess

[dst]

imsulin: I would have to agree with you. I am not sure why htis is so dramatic. Youunderstand the tipping guidelines when you book your cruise. If you don't like the rules don't play!!!! I like the way you explained the ages for drinking, retiring etc..... Maybe that would get thru to someone. (however I don't think it will get thru to pg)

You can not compare a cruise ship to a restaurant just as you could not compare "Ruths Cris Steakhouse" with McDonalds........don't be so cheap these people work hard; pay them accordingly!!!

Days are always longer when at sea...

[karen_cpa]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 98Charlie:
serene56 - Terry is booked on Celebrity. From their web site:<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> For children less than 12 years old, [B]as third or fourth person in the stateroom[/B], half the above amounts are recommended. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Doesn't this imply that the room steward is already receiving tips from two adults? Isn't this just a way to compensate for the incremental difference of cleaning a room for 2 people versus four?? I don't think this necessarily applies to Terry's situation, as she appears to only be traveling with two "children".

Voyager of the Seas - 05/04
Tahitian Princess - 10/03 (Our Honeymoon)
Carnival Paradise - 08/02

Plus . . . An Open Booking with Princess!!

[bUU]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dst:
imsulin: I would have to agree with you. I am not sure why htis is so dramatic. Youunderstand the tipping guidelines when you book your cruise. If you don't like the rules don't play!!!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Not specifically commenting on imsulin's points, and not looking to get into another discussion about "suggestions" (or in this case, "recommendations") and "rules," but.... let's keep in mind that there is clearly the tip-er's discretion involved here. The gratuity recommendations are just that, recommendations. It is my decision to exceed them (generally), but I can understand others electing to look at them differently than I do. It sure seems a shame, though, that some folks do such hard work without any assurance that they'll be treated consistently by their patrons.

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RCI - Serendade of the Seas (S. Carib.)