Tipping statistics

[Newtoncruise]

Sure, but we can't do anything about until the corporation changes

 

you did!!!!!!

[monn_a]

you did!!!!!!

what did i do??? :):confused:

[Ourusualbeach]

Simple, because if I have to pay more because some do not tip, it makes me UNHAPPY!:rolleyes:

 

In addition, there's an issue of fairness here.

 

Let's say the person who pays recommeded tips will spend $1000 total for a cruise, while the person who has exactly the same cabin but doesn't pay recommended tips will spend $850.

 

Is that fair???

 

No. But what about when the price drops after final payment. Is that fair.

 

Many things in life aren't fair, when you book your cabin and get the cabin you want for the dates and itineraries you want at a total cost that you feel comfortable with paying then you should no longer worry about what others happen to pay.

[luvsunnydayz]

OP- if you had the data you want, what would you do with it?

 

I don't understand why so many people worry about what other people do- if you tip, and extra, then do it. If your table mate does not- what are YOU going to do about it? Outside of uselessly getting upset, there's nothing you can do.

 

Pay, be happy, don't worry about others. On YOU can control how you treat other people.

 

Like!

[chnsuz]

I have heard that Europeans don't tip like Americans do. Does anyone know I'd that is true?

[Ocean Spirit]

I was sailing with NCL when they made the big switch to a automatic billing a maintain fee to the sign and sail card a daily. Wow was that a hot topic. They had to do it since they were adding so many dinning opportunities rather than just the main dining room.

 

If you haven't noticed, seems tons of things you buy come at a basic price and then you have more cost involved. I brought a camera, still had to buy the batteries, the media card and carry case. If you go for direct TV or cable, there is an advertised price but that's not what the "real" cost. It's all marketing.

 

As far as Europeans, I wouldn't lump everyone together, but in general, they don't tip when they go out to eat. When we went to Spain, people reminded us not to tip... it was included. So for some, it just isn't part of there regular life.

 

Tips aren't included in the basic price and it is expected to pay additional for the service. We pay it and when someone has made our stay even better by their actions, we tip a bit more. Most likely our income would rank in the lower 3rd of everyone on these boards, however I know we make far more than the servers and deserve to be paid for their hard work.

[Cuizer2]

Is it possible to find out what percentage of cruisers DON'T pay ANY gratuities?

 

I would like to know if this is a big problem for the staff! As their wages are made up largely out of tips.

 

I am not advocating not tipping. I always tip more than recommended. But is seems a policy that allows people to opt out of tipping anything at all is bound to be abused.

 

Is this an issue? Do RCCI care?

 

The only way you are going to find this out is to get a job with the cruise line.

[caribbean sailor]

Hi Everyone

 

Mrs Ozone34 and me cruised for the first time for a week on Adventure of the Seas last year. We both enjoyed the cruise so much we have booked again for 2014 and this time it will be our honeymoon (can't wait).

 

Last year we had MTD so pre-paid tips up front, we also tipped as we went along, for example: spa staff for massage, room service, bar staff and speciality restaurant waiters.

 

At the end of the cruise week we gave the cabin attendant $25.00, Head Waiter $25.00 and Assistant Waiter $20.00 does this sound about right are would we have been seen as cheap skates?

 

Cheers.

 

IT'S your money give it away as you please.:confused:

[Newtoncruise]

Thanks everyone for their replies

 

What I've learned is.......

 

All of us posters like to tip more than expected. But that wasn't the question I asked!

We don't care if 25% of people don't tip

We don't stiff the staff

Fellow cruisers stiff us!

 

I am disappointed with the quality of debate and understanding about what is being said. But hey ho......

 

I will stick to simple posts in future. Cruisers seem to just want to party. Understanding I suppose......it's a lovely holiday choice. Especially with Royal Caribbean.

 

Less than two months to go to my next cruise......looking forward to it immensely.

[Byron_1978]

I have heard that Europeans don't tip like Americans do. Does anyone know I'd that is true?

I don't want to generalize, but being European I can say that tipping is not the culture here. Most people do not tip (in Europe).

 

I do think that most Europeans (if they are aware of the tipping culture) will tip on a cruise.

 

For myself, I even tip here in Europe when I feel I'm getting a service above the expected level. When I don't leave with that feeling, I will not tip.

When on a cruise, I do the same thing. If I feel I get the expected service, I will tip the normal amount/prepaid amount. If I feel that the staff is going beyond that, I tip higher or give an additional tip.

 

In the 2 cruises I've been on, the only person I did not give an additional tip was the cabin steward on our NCL cruise. And this was only because we could not see him anymore before debarking (we even called him saying we wanted to thank him in person for the service he provided).

[Big_G]

Is there anyway to find out the percentage of threads that are tipping threads on Cruise Critic?

[temple1]

When it comes to tipping on cruises, I've been broken. I used to care, and I used to tip generously, usually above the standard. Generally that is what I do on land, and I figure why do it any different on cruises. But the fact that it has just become this constant issue has worn me out. So I officially no longer care. I pre-pay the tips, or have them put on my account, or whatever the option is that involves absolutely NO effort on my part, and I'm done with it. I have decided wasting any more of my mental energy on this issue is pointless. The cruise line has told me what is expected, okay, I'll do that. End of story.

 

 

You summed up my feelings quite well. We always prepay for that reason. I don't want to think about it. I'm on vacation. This is why I like to cruise - it is all bundled up nice and neatly for me.

 

I did leave our room steward extra on our last cruise because we asked more of him and he performed extraordinarily well. We did MTD and was not happy with any of the waiters and only one really good assistant waiter (I heard several complaints about service on the cruise).

 

Of course the other venues as mentioned - spa, room service, specialty, etc. are tipped if used.

[Paul65]

Thanks everyone for their replies

 

What I've learned is.......

 

All of us posters like to tip more than expected. But that wasn't the question I asked!

We don't care if 25% of people don't tip

We don't stiff the staff

Fellow cruisers stiff us!

 

I am disappointed with the quality of debate and understanding about what is being said. But hey ho......

 

I will stick to simple posts in future. Cruisers seem to just want to party. Understanding I suppose......it's a lovely holiday choice. Especially with Royal Caribbean.

 

Less than two months to go to my next cruise......looking forward to it immensely.

 

 

What I learned is.....

 

The answer to your question is no - we have no way to know how many people don't tip.

You won't listen, no matter how many people tell you that.

You will instantly cling to a number that someone told you that some captain once said.

You will insult all others who don't respond in a manner that suits you.

 

Hey ho...enjoy your upcoming cruise. :D

[BeachChik]

Thanks everyone for their replies

 

What I've learned is.......

 

All of us posters like to tip more than expected. But that wasn't the question I asked!

We don't care if 25% of people don't tip

We don't stiff the staff

Fellow cruisers stiff us!

 

I am disappointed with the quality of debate and understanding about what is being said. But hey ho......

 

I will stick to simple posts in future. Cruisers seem to just want to party. Understanding I suppose......it's a lovely holiday choice. Especially with Royal Caribbean.

 

Less than two months to go to my next cruise......looking forward to it immensely.

 

You are rude. YOU seem to be the one not understanding what is being said. No one here knows how many people do and don't tip. No one here can force those that chose not to tip, to tip. At this point the cruise line has made tipping voluntary, until that changes there will always be people that dont tip. What other answer would you like?

 

Just because you don't get the answer you think you should does not mean people don't understand. But please, stick to simple posts in the future as that is all us simple minded partiers can understand. :rolleyes:

[lucywestie]

These type of threads always degenerate after a while. But the one think that runs through all of them is the sense of one upmanship. The whole, "we always tip more" etc. Really, good for you, but it just seems like bragging when you read it in these threads.

 

Also, its really a moot point because [even though I have no actual facts or statistics to show this], only a very small percentage of cruisers on any given cruise are probably members of Cruise Critic. This has been cited time and time again on these forums and as such, the majority of people on a ship probably read through their contract and just go with whatever the cruise line suggests. They don't check out these boards to find out the options available to them, its not like you get on board and the crew tell you that you can opt out of tipping etc.

 

So in reality, well, lets be honest, a cruising holiday isn't reality!!

 

Live and let live when it comes to tipping, whatever someone else does has no effect whatsoever on my enjoyment, only I can control that

[Nebr.cruiser]

We prefer the prepaid gratuities, or automatic deduction of grats very much over handing out the individual envelopes like we used to. So much easier!

 

It would take some extremely bad service for us to remove any gratuities--I can't even imagine a scenario that would be that bad. Even if there was one employee who was terrible, the chance that all who receive the prepaid grats being bad would be unlikely.

 

We usually give the steward and extra $20-$40 dollars depending on the length of the cruise (we've never gone over 15 days). We don't normally tip dining staff extra, partly because we usually do Anytime dining.

 

When we cruised with 7 grandkids a couple of years ago, in Mytime dining, we did get the same dining room staff every night and they were so fantastic with the kids that we did tip them $20 extra each.

[Grandma Dazzles]

I wouldn't say nothing could be done. Perhaps, in order to reduce the number of people who do not pay gratuities, Royal Caribbean could start automatically adding gratuities to your onboard account each day. That way, a person would at least have to go to guest services and request it be removed in order to not pay.

 

 

They have been adding gratuities to your sea pass account on a daily basis (required, not optional), for a while now. Going from memory, on our cruise in March, I believe it was $12 per person, per day.

 

We used this as a base and tipped extra in cash to those who we thought deserved the extra.

[Grandma Dazzles]

I wouldn't say nothing could be done. Perhaps, in order to reduce the number of people who do not pay gratuities, Royal Caribbean could start automatically adding gratuities to your onboard account each day. That way, a person would at least have to go to guest services and request it be removed in order to not pay.

 

PS - I saw Post #11. That doesn't change the fact that I don't trust some statistic that cello56 says that a captain said once upon a time.

 

They have been adding gratuities to your sea pass account on a daily basis (required, not optional), for a while now. Going from memory, on our cruise in March, I believe it was $12 per person, per day.

 

We used this as a base and tipped extra in cash to those who we thought deserved the extra.

[Debde]

Is it possible to find out what percentage of cruisers DON'T pay ANY gratuities?

 

I would like to know if this is a big problem for the staff! As their wages are made up largely out of tips.

 

Is this an issue? Do RCCI care?

 

With all due respect-it really is none of your business.

If you want an answer-don't go to a forum. Write the company and ask them directly. Poll all the employees you come in contact with if you care to get involved that much.

 

I swear-I have never met anyone that I asked how much money they make or how much tip money they get or don't get. Some things are just plain and simple, personal and none of our business as passengers.

[Norwegianlatvian]

I don't want to generalize, but being European I can say that tipping is not the culture here. Most people do not tip (in Europe).

 

I do think that most Europeans (if they are aware of the tipping culture) will tip on a cruise.

 

For myself, I even tip here in Europe when I feel I'm getting a service above the expected level. When I don't leave with that feeling, I will not tip.

When on a cruise, I do the same thing. If I feel I get the expected service, I will tip the normal amount/prepaid amount. If I feel that the staff is going beyond that, I tip higher or give an additional tip.

 

I.

 

 

What Byron said.

 

The culture for tipping is very different. For most Europeans tipping is on top of the regular salary - a bonus. Very few got a salary that relies of tipping.

 

Personally I tip when I am on a cruise, or visiting US. I am also tipping for great extra service on restaurants, taxis etc.

 

I think it is strange with a system where the customer/client is directly responsible for the salary of an employee - I believe that that the employer should have that responsibility.

[bigque]

These type of threads always degenerate after a while. But the one think that runs through all of them is the sense of one upmanship. The whole, "we always tip more" etc. Really, good for you, but it just seems like bragging when you read it in these threads.

 

Also, its really a moot point because [even though I have no actual facts or statistics to show this], only a very small percentage of cruisers on any given cruise are probably members of Cruise Critic. This has been cited time and time again on these forums and as such, the majority of people on a ship probably read through their contract and just go with whatever the cruise line suggests. They don't check out these boards to find out the options available to them, its not like you get on board and the crew tell you that you can opt out of tipping etc.

 

So in reality, well, lets be honest, a cruising holiday isn't reality!!

 

Live and let live when it comes to tipping, whatever someone else does has no effect whatsoever on my enjoyment, only I can control that

 

[NJcruisenewbie]

See post #11.......cello56 says a Captain said that 25% don't pay........

 

A few posters here don't seem to understand the point being made....just bury your head in the sand peeps......

 

You say nothing can be done to change things that are not fair.......well tell that to Martin Luther king!

 

Where's the ROFL icon? Seriously, the possibility that some people are undertipping or not tipping at all is akin to civil rights:confused:?

 

I've never seen where cruising is sold as a completely all inclusive vacation with no other fees, taxes etc required. Anyone the does even the most basic vacation planning would know about tipping on a cruise ship. They might not know the actual suggested amounts but they would know the expectation exists.

[sandravb79]

As a European, I tip when on a cruise, in the US, ... in places where tipping is a custom.

At home, I don't tip in restaurants, as a +/- 18% service charge is included and the staff is paid by the employer.

 

 

I don't know how many people don't tip on board, just as I don't know how many people in my company do or don't receive a bonus at the end of the year.

I know my situation, and I don't have any business knowing someone else's situation.

[NEMMRRC]

I believe Martin Luther King fought for what was just (as in justice) rather than what was fair. But hey, this is a forum to yap about vacations.

 

To keep it somewhat on topic, if the cruise lines were to increase their staff wages so no tipping was necessary, we'd all be paying for that increase in the price of our cruise fare. The bananas don't come for free. Just saying...

[lady_cruiser]

Is it possible to find out what percentage of cruisers DON'T pay ANY gratuities?

 

I would like to know if this is a big problem for the staff! As their wages are made up largely out of tips.

 

I am not advocating not tipping. I always tip more than recommended. But is seems a policy that allows people to opt out of tipping anything at all is bound to be abused.

 

Is this an issue? Do RCCI care?

While you would like to know, I rather not know.