Service Gratuity ?

[Love my butler]

 

And let me play devil's advocate, even if they aren't pooled, you are perfectly fine with the guy,... who is cleaning your toilet,... after your 12th meal of the day,... to get no more than his $1.25 - $3.00 hour because "hey, that's more $ than he'd get scrubbing poop at home?":rolleyes:

 

I am PERFECTLY fine with the amount they make versus what they could make at home. Most, if not all, are making a VERY good living working on a ship compared to what they could earn back home. They are not slaves and are free to leave anytime they want if the pay/work is not to their liking. You don't seem to understand differences in economies.

[cruisinfanatic]

My statement is correct. You're the one who is saying it is non-removable in prior posts and you must pay it. Check your facts, the employees get paid a salary.

so does your server in your favorite restaurant, but you tip them, right?

[lovesublime]

Why would you not want to pay this? Did you not sleep in your bed, use towels, eat or use your cabin on your cruise?

 

Sent from my LePanII using Tapatalk 2

 

 

 

I agree that gratuities should be left in place...unless service is really awful. But come on, "sleep in your bed", "use your cabin"? What the heck is the cruise fare paying for? Are you saying it doesn't cover "use of a cabin"?

[MissMeggieMurphy]

isn't the bottom line that people believe in tipping or they don't. some, like an old friend of mine used tipping to prove what a great guy he was and so generous, people caught on to his act quickly and milked him for every extra dime.

 

i travel with people who believe in tipping and don't have a problem with it and because they tend to treat the staff with friendliness and respect they get great service without pre tipping. personally, i like a set tip amount. easier to deal with and i'm ok with the system. sometimes i'll leave more, sometimes not. i don't worry about what anyone makes, cruise ship staff or otherwise. life is life, people make what they can, spend what they want. its all about circumstances and choices.

[TerReuv]

Very well said MissMeggie! No one should have to "pre-tip" (not talking about the ones in place but tipping extra to get good service). Would you go out to a restaurant and give the wait staff a tip before you ordered so you could get good service from him/her? Or would you be polite and friendly and if your wait staff responded in kind and with great service then give a great tip? It boggles my mind that people will tip ahead just to get good service. Shouldn't we get that anyway?

 

People will or won't remove auto tips as they see fit. They will or won't tip extra at the end of a cruise. They will or won't care what the crew makes. Is any of this my business? Do I have a hotline to their way of thinking so I can decide if they want to tip better to the people that actually take care of them or if they are just cheap and don't plan to tip at all? I do not know what is in other people's minds and I never will. I won't judge them because I do not know the circumstances.

 

The crew does earn a salary (just like wait staff in the states). It is better than they would earn at their home country and if it is not, then they can quit. It is Carnival's job to pay their employees a salary. It is my job to decide if they have earned a small tip, a good tip or an exceptional tip depending on how they serve me and my family. It is not my job to pay their salary. A tip is not a salary. A tip is an extra amount given for good service. If Carnival wants to pay their crew more then they can make the auto tips a service charge and make it non-removable.

 

I honestly just don't get why people are so affronted on behalf of the crew when the crew is obviously fine with how things are or they would not be working on a cruise ship.

 

Gratuity - money given in appreciation: a small gift, usually of money, given to somebody such as a waiter as thanks for service given. Note that it says service given - not a salary or for service expected.

 

And just for anyone who decides to get snarky about this (and make accusations) - no I do not remove the tips and we do tip more. Even though I don't like someone else deciding who is deserving of tips for me.

[NavarreCruiser]

YES and no one is the wiser!! BUT your conscience:D

All the staff is told when you take off the tips. So everone is the wiser.

[truecruiser]

isn't the bottom line that people believe in tipping or they don't...

 

This is probably the absolute best post ever on any tipping thread i've seen.

 

Tipping threads are so heated because people feel very strongly about the way they do it (or not) and the bottom line is people are gonna do what they're gonna do. The chances of changing someone's mind are very slim unless they are brand new to cruising and are looking for opinions from both sides of the table. But the people who have already formed their opinion are not going to change because of anything we post, which is why I was mad at myself for posting earlier, lol.

 

Great post Miss Meggie.

[JaniceB]

Do you think it is ok to remove tips from the dining room if you never ate there, especially if you dined at one of the pay venues? I overheard this conversation on the Breeze. They were in line to have the tips removed.

[MrPete]

Do you think it is ok to remove tips from the dining room if you never ate there, especially if you dined at one of the pay venues? I overheard this conversation on the Breeze. They were in line to have the tips removed.

 

Absolutely!

[Shipbound]

Absolutely!

 

I have been on several CCL cruises and have not eaten in the MDR once and I never took the tips off,my god if I can not afford 30 dollars to give these people a tip and I just got done spending 1500 dollars on a vacation how cheap can I be.

 

Gary

[MrPete]

I have been on several CCL cruises and have not eaten in the MDR once and I never took the tips off,my god if I can not afford 30 dollars to give these people a tip and I just got done spending 1500 dollars on a vacation how cheap can I be.

 

Gary

 

A tip to do nothing for you? Indulge yourself.

 

If this was still the day before auto tip went into effect, I'd love to see the look on their face as you handed them a tip and they never even met you!

[firemanbobswife]

The tipping debate is something that will never end. I would be happy if they just included it in the fare or made it a mandatory service charge as others have said.

 

Celebrity does this when sailing out of Southampton for all the drinks on board because of the custom of not tipping. They just increased the price of the beverages by 15%.

 

Now if the cruise lines would do this on all cruise fares, it would be better in my opinion. It would leave more time for discussing how to smuggle booze on board, or the dress code threads. LOL!!

[TerReuv]

I have been on several CCL cruises and have not eaten in the MDR once and I never took the tips off,my god if I can not afford 30 dollars to give these people a tip and I just got done spending 1500 dollars on a vacation how cheap can I be.

 

The point is you are not being cheap by doing that. If they did not serve you then why should you tip them? Tip the ones that do serve you. Have to agree with Mr. Pete! Indulge yourself!

[mairead224]

Ok my thing is as a european we dont tip as much as our american friends. In addition, I am from Ireland and the only thing we would tip for here is meals in a restaurant (never a deli, bar etc etc). I normally cruise with MSC and prepay the tips. Thats fine and a much easier way of doing. This will be my first carnival cruise and I really cant understand double tipping. You are automatically added the tips then are told to also tip Room service, bar tips etc etc. On MSC that staff are not allowed to accept tips. Not saying that I didnt give our waiter in the MDR extra but it had to be done under the table as he would have gotten into trouble.

[got2shop]

I've always wondered what that long line was for.:(

Please dont believe this, it is not completely TRUE~That line is also for the guests who have all received their bills aNd may have charges to dispute..which happens quite frequently!!

[MrPete]

Please dont believe this, it is not completely TRUE~That line is also for the guests who have all received their bills aNd may have charges to dispute..which happens quite frequently!!

 

Or settling their accounts with cash. I hardly think anyone here knows all the transactions are that are going on at that desk. Pure surmation to fit some agendas.

[Brenna's Mom1]

Question?

 

For the specialty dining is a gratuity added beyond the flat fees?

 

Thanks

[LWiening]

WHAT!!! You must have had bad service at the desk too. I have taken then off on my last cruise and that was that. When the final bill came I made sure that they were not there. i PAId cash to tip.

THAT'S JUST MESSED UP WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU... SORRY:D

 

Friends who are going on the next cruise with us. Said that they have it taken off right away when they do the ship to shore card. We are bringing envelopes so that we will leave tips for all that serve us.

 

We tip excellent to everyone that we come in contact with. I was a waitress and a restaurant Manger and found that when people receive the tip at end they work harder. Also found that those that didn't receive any know they have to change.

 

My thoughts now are we do not tip at home til the service is done. I would hate for Our dining room server or room Stewart to get a little tip. I rather make their day at the end of the cruise with $50 each. Seems they could use that amount more then a little dollars that get divided up amongst others.

 

But I agree my friend went through so much with Carnival. Her bed was never made when they went tot heir room and they waited forever for table service. From what I have been reading about Carnival lately food is late and nothing is up to par.

[MrPete]

Question?

 

For the specialty dining is a gratuity added beyond the flat fees?

 

Thanks

 

The gratuity is included in the fee.

[LWiening]

http://www.carnival.com/careers.aspx

 

http://www.carnivalentertainment.com/

 

Every cruise we talk to our servers and Stewards to learn where they come from . When we are in port on tours we ask about the economy. Here is an example of money they make in third world Country's

 

Costa Rica we went to Doles Banana Factory. The workers make $20 a month and told us they are looked at like they are rich.

 

In America we expect and receive high wages that allot of American will not work the minimal jobs. So the illegals do . They look at the money we make as a fortune. Plus they still send money home.

 

So to us it maybe nothing but to those on the ship they are rich. Plus they travel the sea. Yes they work long hours but to them its worth it. But at the same note if they are going to wear the Carnival Uniform they need to do an outstanding job that we expect for on our Carnival Cruise.

[LWiening]

All the staff is told when you take off the tips. So everone is the wiser.

 

So what you are saying that when you take the tip off the staff stops working. Fine with me its their loss to receive what they deserve..

[cruisinfanatic]

A tip to do nothing for you? Indulge yourself.

 

If this was still the day before auto tip went into effect, I'd love to see the look on their face as you handed them a tip and they never even met you!

The dining room staff work all around the ship, not just at your assigned table. I'm sure you eat at other places than the specialty restaurants.

[Disconnections]

so does your server in your favorite restaurant, but you tip them, right?

 

I never said I have removed tips before on a cruise/not tipped on land. I was just simply adding substantive information to this discussion by saying the crew gets paid a salary. It is not my business what a server in a restaurant makes, nor an employee on a ship. However, it should be known that the gratuity on Carnival is used to supplement their salary. Carnival legally has to pay the minimum wage in Panama and the Bahamas, and nothing more.

 

In the future, I will give heavy consideration to modifying the automatic gratuities. On Princess, you cannot modify- it is all or nothing. If I receive service comparable to my last cruise on the Carnival Miracle, I will definitely be going to the pursers desk to modify them. After 15 Carnival cruises in two years, the service/quality of that cruise led me to drift away from Carnival and I left the auto gratuities on. I regret that.

[MrPete]

The dining room staff work all around the ship, not just at your assigned table. I'm sure you eat at other places than the specialty restaurants.

 

Only Service areas are the MDR and the specialty restaurants.

[TerReuv]

The dining room staff work all around the ship, not just at your assigned table. I'm sure you eat at other places than the specialty restaurants.

 

If they work in other areas of the ship then that is their job. If they are not serving me or doing something specificially for me, why should I tip them? If I never go to the MDR and I only eat at the buffets, who should I tip? The person standing behind the counter that is doing nothing for me? They are not serving me. They are standing there. I pick my own food, I serve myself, I carry my plate and anything else necessary myself, I clean up after myself (and yes I do that by taking my plates to a central location). I got my own refills. Why should I tip someone for doing nothing????

 

If I go to a buffet at home and do everything myself (including drink refills) why should I tip the person who wanders over once to say hello and make sure I have a receipt showing I have paid? Not happening.