Direct tips vs prepaid.....

[happy cruzin]

I read the article on the home page today with tips for tipping. I found it helpful. Although we have cruised several times I guess I do have a couple of questions.

 

Tipping is always such a hot topic on these boards I'm almost afraid to say this... :o

 

I still do not think that I understand how the staff benefits - or is hurt - by the prepaid tipping system. In the past we have taken the tips off of our accounts and paid them directly to the staff that assists us - assuming that this was best for them.

 

But, I have read on here - on many occasions - that removing the tips actually "hurts" the staff. That they "know" who has removed the tips and that they can not keep the money that is paid directly to them. So, I must not understand the system.

Can anyone clarify?

[Bandman]

Here is what I do not like about the automatic system: I really enjoy the interaction and expressing my appreciation to my waiter, bus boy, and steward. In the old days you gave them the envelope, shook their hand, and thanked them for all of their hard work. In addition to the personal contact, no one knew how much was "in" or "not in" the envelope.

 

On our last cruise we left the auto tips on our S&S card and I gave our waiter a liitle extra in an envelope. That night I witnessed waiters and bus boys looking over lists of who had removed their tips and who had not. I assume they could also see on those lists how much had been tipped. This made things sort of uncomfortable. In the old days the envelopes were dicreetly tucked away in a coat pocket and the focus was on the interaction. This last time I felt the need to let my server know that we had left the tips on the card but that this was a little extra... Brought the before unmentioned into the conversation. Tacky and Awkward.

 

As I said, I prefer the old days.

[Cotton]

Personally, I think the automatic tipping is a good way to go. It does benefit the wait staff, steward, etc., because in the old days, a lot of the passengers stiffed them...either no tip or very little. Now, there's little chance of that happening, as most passengers leave the tips in place. Some do adjust the tips, but I've heard of very few who actually remove the tips and tip in person.

 

I agree that the one-on-one way of handing them the envelopes was nice and personal, BUT with the new system, it's more fair to the staff, because they are pretty much assured their tips will be there. And yes, it is my understanding that they do receive a list of who has either prepaid (when paying for the cruise) or left their tips in place on the S&S account.

 

I would never consider adjusting the automatic tips. I believe they are fair amounts, and I always tip my cabin steward extra on the last evening.

 

You can certainly do whatever you choose. If you want to tip in person, the purser's desk has envelopes they will give you.

 

Happy cruisin'!:)

[MrPete]

Personally, I think the automatic tipping is a good way to go. It does benefit the wait staff, steward, etc., because in the old days, a lot of the passengers stiffed them...either no tip or very little.

 

Agreed. It is because of these deadbeats that this new system was "invented". Alternative dining also contributed. Before that, if you wanted to stiff the waitstaff, all you had to do was skip that meal on tip night. Once alternative dining/pizza showed up, just prior to the new system, the amount of empty tables on tip night were staggering. The looks on these poor guys faces, after giving their all, just not to be paid for it, was heartbreaking.

 

It is inevitable that if this "new"system does not work, where people are simply removing tips AND stiffing the staff, the tipping will simply be changed to a non adjustable "service fee". All this will do is make the stiffer cough up the money. It will affect them and them only.

 

It will not affect me. All it will do is prohibit me from ever (yet have never had to) decreasing the "tip" due to poor or inept service.

[MrPete]

This made things sort of uncomfortable.

 

For whom?

 

I gave entra on my last cruise, but I have the same good interaction whether I have handed them their tip, or knew it was just going to them. If they want to check me out, so be it. I imagine it's the same as bonus day for us at work, when everyone sees what they are getting.

 

I have ALWAYS gotten the same old great to know you interaction on ALL but one cruise, more so now with a child involved.

[Deb&Bert]

We have been on 6 Carnival cruises. SInce they started adding it to the sail and sign card we have ALWAYS left it on plus always were lucky enough to have a great waite staff.

 

We were on the Victory in Jan. 2005.

 

Night One: We have a group of 55. Someone at our table asked for something within the first 1/2 hour. Extra Butter I believe.. The HEAD WAITER ROLLED HIS EYES AND SAID YEA SURE.

 

Only got worse. By far it was the worst waite staff I have ever seen.

 

The bread guy we call him was good. But the head was bad!!!

 

So after day 3 THREE I went and took all the tips off my card. AnD I am almost sure most of our party did the same things.

 

I went right up to our Stewart and told him I would take care of him!! Which we did.

 

At the end of the week the head waiter got more friendly but he never got better. I bet he rolled his eyes nothing under 20 times for the week.

 

I was walking towards the spa on the 4th day and had a male in a white uniform stop and ask me how was everything???

 

Told him the cruise was wonderful, but our head waiter was the worst I have ever seen. He told me he would take care of that. LOL

 

Well at the last night We gave our bread guy 40.00 and our head waiter 10.00

 

YES 10.00 and believe me he did not deserve that..

 

Now I always give atleast another 100 towards tips for the week.. But I refuse to give someone that is that bad a better tip.

 

I only hope by what he recieved that gave him a clue..

 

The one time he rolled his eyes at my son (29 Years old) I said buddy you have got to be kidding me!!!!

 

Its always a wonderful Cruise and you have to make the most of it!!

 

Just don't fuel the fire!!!!!!!

[bigsky]

I believe a tip is earned. You give me crappy service, you get a crappy tip or none at all. I always take the automatic tipping off and like to give it to them at the end. We don't stiff them either. Never got that bad of service.

We just returned and had the best service from all. But I did notice that as we went to dinner on our last night, our waiter was not his happy friendly self to us. Our envelopes were not in our rooms to give them a tip...so we went to dinner without it. We had planned to come back with it as we figured the envelope would be in our room after dinner. THey used to give you these the prior night.We found out they don't give u envelopes at all except for the matri d..sp?... Anyways, I'm sure when we went to dinner, our waiter knew we took off the automatic tips. But how did he know we weren't going to hand him a tip after dinner? It wasn't until I asked how long he'd be there cuz we had something for him that he seemed to become himself again.

I really don't understand why they get a list of the ones that remove it anyways. What are they going to do about it?

 

I did ask this question at the main desk this past week. He assured me tips were NOT pooled either. They get what you give them. He said he used to be a waiter and promised me they don't pool.

Interesting though...when the cd was giving his talking about disembarking, he mentioned at that time they do NOT pool tips. This has never been mentioned on a ship before that I've been on.

 

ok..more info that you wanted. Just my opinion about things. :D

[Grayce]

On our Elation cruise we left the tips on the sign and sail card and we had such excellent wait staff we also gave them envelopes with extra cash on the last day.

[SanFranBayCruiser]

Grayce - I'm like you. I always do the pre-tipping thing but, then at the end of the cruise, if anyone has done an outstanding job, I give an extra envelope of cash.

[JrMafia90]

We pre-pay our tips but then we also give some extra money to our room steward and dining room waiter. They work hard and they do a good job.

[Bandman]

For whom?

.

 

For the diners in the dining room and I would say the wait staff as well. It was obvious that some passengers had removed the tips as you could see waiters and bus boys huddling over the lists and then looking up to see if they could find the party that had stiffed them. It was an unsettled feeling.

 

It is unfortunate that people remove the tips for pure "cheapness". And I agree with another poster that the automatic service fee is not far behind. - which could be good or bad. Might sort of make it a return to the old days, or could lower the level of service. But I'll bet no cruise co. wants to be the first to raise the price of their cruises to do it.

[MrPete]

I really don't understand why they get a list of the ones that remove it anyways. What are they going to do about it?

 

Answer the question honestly to yourself, and you don't have to post it.

 

If you had his job, or you had a job that you sort of expected everyone puts in a share of your salary (call it anything...tips, etc., it's still your salary), what would you do about it? Probably nothing, but how would it make you feel?

 

And more importantly, would YOU want to see "THE LIST"?

 

And for the record, I believe a tip is earned as well. I just don't understand why people remove them, especially before any service is even rendered. My expectation once I get on board is always GREAT service.

[big_duck]

From an Article on NCL switching to a service charge.:

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/nf40726.html

 

"As part of their research to see if this was going to be a problem for their customers, they looked at how many people ask to have the charge removed from their account and why. They found that 95% of the people never change the charge. Of the 5% who do ask that the amount be changed or removed, they gave three reasons: (a) At the end of the cruise they say the service was not acceptable. (b) They prefer to tip the crew members in cash. © They don’t want to tip or they just don’t want to tip that much.

 

Then they delved into things a little further. For reason (a) about unacceptable service, NCL doesn’t want to know about it at the end of the cruise. They want the feedback up front as soon as a passenger is unhappy so they have an opportunity to correct the problem and the customer will go away with a positive experience. Since the service charge is mandatory, it should, in theory, drive people to the front desk to talk about unacceptable service rather than letting them put up with it and remove the gratuity.

 

They found something interesting about (b) those who said they preferred to tip in cash. Since for pooling purposes, they track what those people actually give the crew members in cash, they found that usually those who SAID they prefer to tip in cash, actually do not tip AT ALL.

 

And for those in the third group who just don’t want to tip, they’re not doing their part. In America, people providing service expect to be tipped, and those who prefer not to, according to NCL, are just getting a "free ride."

 

With those things in mind, NCL decided to go ahead and make the service charge mandatory on the internationally-flagged ships."

 

 

I imagine if Carnival did the same research they would find the same results.

[MrPete]

those who said they preferred to tip in cash. Since for pooling purposes, they track what those people actually give the crew members in cash, they found that usually those who SAID they prefer to tip in cash, actually do not tip AT ALL.

 

I have always suspected this. Why go through the hassle to wait on line, be interogated, just to give the same directly in cash, to somehow benefit "them"?People usually do things to benefit THEMSELVES.

 

And then there are the few that have a point to prove.

 

And I'm sure there's a minority that DO have good intentions.

 

ALL MOP!

 

Thanks Don!

[tipfamily]

As a waitress I can tell you that if someone came in to the restaraunt and we knew them to be bad tippers or stiffers from the past, then most servers did not want to wait on them and if they did then they did not get the most of the server's attention. That's why I don't think it would be a good idea to remove the tip before hand because they may see that as a sign of being stiffed and you may not get the best of service. On the other hand, most of the time I had waited on guests whom I had no idea how they would tip and always gave my best service. Those who I knew tipped well, I went above and beyond for. Just my input. :D

[CruiseIsGood]

Here is the easiest answer.

 

Ask the person, waiter or steward, if they want the tips on the card or in cash. Problem solved. :)

[Cotton]

I always have conversations with my stewards and waiters. Each one I've asked that question of, said they like the tips on the S&S account. Two of them told me they have to pool any cash tips.

[corina27]

I always have conversations with my stewards and waiters. Each one I've asked that question of, said they like the tips on the S&S account. Two of them told me they have to pool any cash tips.

eeeww!:(

[Earthworm Jim]

Is pre-paid tipping and automatic tipping the same thing?

 

I tought you had to pay tips upfornt, but on the bookmodify page for my booking it says "Pre-pay tips: No", which makes it sound like you don't have to pre-pay your tips. But based on Cotton's comment now I'm wondering if prepay just means you are paying the money for automatic tipping up front, when you pay for your cruise, and if you choose not to do that they'll just wait until you board and put on your sign and sail card.

 

I'm fine with it going on my sign and sail card, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on.

[MrPete]

Tweety,

 

Pre pay means you pay it with your cruise fare with your final deposit. these tips are non adjustable.

 

Auto tipping is where it is charged to your sail and sign account.

[Earthworm Jim]

Tweety,

 

Pre pay means you pay it with your cruise fare with your final deposit. these tips are non adjustable.

 

Auto tipping is where it is charged to your sail and sign account.

 

Thanks Pete. (But Tweety?? I think that's a joke that went over my head.:))

[Sablerose]

So just so I'm sure of the etiquette... I should either bring some envelopes with me or get some from the purser, and then when do I give out my cash tips at the end?

 

Last evening's meal for the wait staff?

 

When should I plan on seeing my cabin steward? What if I hardly see them at all for the cruise, will he make a point of coming by and being seen on the last night or the last morning?

 

How do y'all handle it if you can't find them?

[mrg0433]

On our Norwegian cruise, we ate at 10 different restaurants. Prepaying tips made sense in that format. It was the way to be sure everyone got their proper share. However, on Carnival, I will have my prepaid tips removed on my upcoming cruise and pay in cash because we usually don't like eating in one dining room night after night. On our last 10 day cruise, we only ate in the dining room 3 times. My husband prefers Buffets and Poolside BBQ. Paying in cash lets us reward those individuals who have taken care of us over the entire cruise.

 

Our waiter on our last (RCCL) cruise in March gave new meaning to the word "WAIT" because we waited so long to be served that we gave up and went to the Buffet to wait on ourselves. Generally, I like to prepay my tips on my seapass account, and my husband pays his tips in cash. That way if we have a problem with service, we adjust the cash tips accordingly. We've only had to adjust tips downward a couple times on cruises, but the extra cash in those cases ended up as a bonus to our cabin steward.

[KruznKel]

On our Norwegian cruise, we ate at 10 different restaurants. Prepaying tips made sense in that format. It was the way to be sure everyone got their proper share. However, on Carnival, I will have my prepaid tips removed on my upcoming cruise and pay in cash because we usually don't like eating in one dining room night after night. On our last 10 day cruise, we only ate in the dining room 3 times. My husband prefers Buffets and Poolside BBQ. Paying in cash lets us reward those individuals who have taken care of us over the entire cruise.

 

Our waiter on our last (RCCL) cruise in March gave new meaning to the word "WAIT" because we waited so long to be served that we gave up and went to the Buffet to wait on ourselves. Generally, I like to prepay my tips on my seapass account, and my husband pays his tips in cash. That way if we have a problem with service, we adjust the cash tips accordingly. We've only had to adjust tips downward a couple times on cruises, but the extra cash in those cases ended up as a bonus to our cabin steward.

From what I understand the 10pd is for all staff not just your wait staff it is distributed to each .. So removing the tips doesn't make sense to me.. I would leave them on and decrease as needed or if needed.. you can always tip extra to those that you feel went above and beyond.. There is a breakdown of how the tips are distributed I just don't know where that is.. Cotton where are ya when we need ya LOL...

[Grayce]

I always have conversations with my stewards and waiters. Each one I've asked that question of, said they like the tips on the S&S account. Two of them told me they have to pool any cash tips.

 

That's too bad. I purposely gave extra cash to the people who did an outstanding job. I never realized they would have to pool it. :(