Tipping

[Love my butler]

Could you please supply the facts behind this statement, so that we will all know.

 

I will answer your question with a question. Day one we eat lunch in the MDR or buffet. We will often leave a $5 cash tip to the server. They probably do not know our name. Fast forward seven days and we remove the DSC for the week. Can you explain to me how the lunch server on day one could possibly know who we are or if we tipped them anything? Of course they cannot.

 

The myth that suddenly all crew we interacted with, usually anonymously, throughout the week will suddenly know our names and faces and remember any and every cash tip we handed them is ridiculous. Remember, this is freestyle not traditional style.

 

You are of course free to believe whatever you wish. I prefer the logical over the illogical.

 

In the extremely unlikely event the staff turns in all the cash we gave them, the DSC pool is filled. This acts as a safeguard. Not really sure why so many people here bristle at the thought of removing the DSC, especially since it is my money and my choice.

[SteveH2508]

I will answer your question with a question. Day one we eat lunch in the MDR or buffet. We will often leave a $5 cash tip to the server. They probably do not know our name. Fast forward seven days and we remove the DSC for the week. Can you explain to me how the lunch server on day one could possibly know who we are or if we tipped them anything? Of course they cannot.

 

The myth that suddenly all crew we interacted with, usually anonymously, throughout the week will suddenly know our names and faces and remember any and every cash tip we handed them is ridiculous. Remember, this is freestyle not traditional style.

 

You are of course free to believe whatever you wish. I prefer the logical over the illogical.

 

In the extremely unlikely event the staff turns in all the cash we gave them, the DSC pool is filled. This acts as a safeguard. Not really sure why so many people here bristle at the thought of removing the DSC, especially since it is my money and my choice.

 

They swipe your room card when you enter the dining room (granted not in the buffet) - that's how they know. Very logical...

[NLH Arizona]

I will answer your question with a question. Day one we eat lunch in the MDR or buffet. We will often leave a $5 cash tip to the server. They probably do not know our name. Fast forward seven days and we remove the DSC for the week. Can you explain to me how the lunch server on day one could possibly know who we are or if we tipped them anything? Of course they cannot.

 

The myth that suddenly all crew we interacted with, usually anonymously, throughout the week will suddenly know our names and faces and remember any and every cash tip we handed them is ridiculous. Remember, this is freestyle not traditional style.

 

You are of course free to believe whatever you wish. I prefer the logical over the illogical.

 

In the extremely unlikely event the staff turns in all the cash we gave them, the DSC pool is filled. This acts as a safeguard. Not really sure why so many people here bristle at the thought of removing the DSC, especially since it is my money and my choice.

So, you have no concrete facts that this is true, it is just conjecture.

 

I think people don't understand how one could removed the DSC, thus stiffing a lot of behind the scenes staff that helps make your vacations so good. I personally don't see the cook that makes sure my steak is cooked correctly, but certainly appreciate his attention to detail. I don't see the person that washes off the pool deck and chairs, but appreciate that I have a clean place to sit. I don't see the person that makes sure the laundry I send to be done is done perfectly, but appreciate what they have done. I guess it is just how you look at things. Obviously you only feel that those you see doing something for you are responsible for your great vacation and should be the only ones rewarded. I feel that every crew member (sans those not in the tip pool; ala, officers, entertainers, etc., who received a much higher wage for their services), whether I see them or not, should be rewarded, because they all had a part in making my vacation great.

[njhorseman]

They swipe your room card when you enter the dining room (granted not in the buffet) - that's how they know. Very logical...

 

Actually, that doesn't identify who left the tip in all cases. When we've cruised with friends, only one person in the group has their card swiped, not a person from each cabin. So, how would they know who might have left the tip? Let's say we had the DSC deleted from our account and our friends didn't. Someone leaves a $10 bill on the table as a tip. Did it come from the cabin that deleted the DSC or the one that left it in place? There's no way to tell. Also at the time the tip was left you might still have the DSC in place on your account, but then you end up deleting from your account it on the last night. By that time that tip is long gone into the waiter's pocket.

[SteveH2508]

Actually, that doesn't identify who left the tip in all cases. When we've cruised with friends, only one person in the group has their card swiped, not a person from each cabin. So, how would they know who might have left the tip? Let's say we had the DSC deleted from our account and our friends didn't. Someone leaves a $10 bill on the table as a tip. Did it come from the cabin that deleted the DSC or the one that left it in place? There's no way to tell. Also at the time the tip was left you might still have the DSC in place on your account, but then you end up deleting from your account it on the last night. By that time that tip is long gone into the waiter's pocket.

 

True - but I bet a dime to a dollar that they pool the tips and the Maitre D will be keeping a sharp lookout!

[njhorseman]

True - but I bet a dime to a dollar that they pool the tips and the Maitre D will be keeping a sharp lookout!

 

I suspect you're right.

 

I was told by someone on the staff in Cagney's that the money left as tips by suite passengers eating breakfast and lunch there was pooled and shared by the Cagney's wait staff working those shifts. I can't say how it might work in the MDRs...but I suspect that money is supposed to be turned in and is pooled in some fashion.

[edawn]

I don't know if anyone else has stated this in this thread, but, the way I see this whole tipping issue is: You cannot go anywhere, pay what we pay to cruise, get the full service we get, free meals at anytime and at many different places, visiting different ports, transportation, great views, pools, spas, shows, games, great memories and fun for the cost of a cruise. Including the tips. Especially if you have children that go to the kids club and have babysitters to watch them for a few hours a day. I will gladly pay tips/gratuities/service charge, whatever you call it because it's well worth it. Sometimes we run into those odd servers or room attendants that don't do as well as others. If it's a major thing that is not corrected, then adjust as you see fit. I personally, don't decrease the charge because whatever I get from the cruise is worth every penny just because I make the most of the situation. Have a great cruise! :)

 

Amen!Cruising to me is such a value. I really do not mind paying $12 to have someone make my bed, clean my bathroom, find my shoes under the bed and pair them up for me :p, bring me ice, serve my dinner, wait for me to drag myself out of my cabin so they can clean it, find some extra "fluffy stuff" for my too hard bed...it's a bargain!

[lowroller]

They swipe your room card when you enter the dining room (granted not in the buffet) - that's how they know. Very logical...

 

We had parties of 20, 18, 16 and 14 on different nights in the following dining rooms on the Breakaway, Mahattan, Savor and Taste. No one swiped a room card. I was asked for my cabin number twice when I arrived b-4 the others. There were only 2 in my cabin, so how did they know where the others were staying?

Glenn