how does tips work

[blonby1970]

i have heard when you board they place you at a table that is mixed

with other cruise members and that you are assighned a waiter for the

entire cruise. so do we tip them at the end of each meal?

i understand that somethings are paid for when you purchase

the ticket just not sure how everything works

[cb at sea]

Tipping is done at the END of the cruise. Depending on your cruiseline, most now add the tips to your shipboard account, so you actually never have to "hand" tips to anyone.

 

If you are on a ship that does not charge tips to your account, on the last night, you will get a sheet with how much to tip each person....and envelopes to put the money in...

 

You can also request to "pre pay" your tips, so you don't have to worry about it at all!

 

All drinks will have 15% added to the cost.

 

Room service delivery is the only thing that isn't included in the tips you pay....tip on delivery, $1-5, depending on how much they have to carry!

[John Bull]

With pretty-well all cruise lines nowadays, a daily gratuities charge is automatically added to your on-board account. Vaguely around $12 per passenger per day. This covers tips for your waiters & cabin steward.

 

You can ask at guest relations for the charge to be removed or adjusted, & you can instead pay whatever tips you like in person on your last evening.

Most folk simply leave the auto-tips in place, this is simplest & fairest, and staff will know that you've paid them.

If you want to give one person extra, do so in cash because auto-tips go into a pool to be shared out - make sure that they know that it's extra, for them personally. On most cruise ships, staff have to hand personal tips over to the pool if the auto-tip has been removed - so removing the auto-tip in order to hand over cash to any particular waiter or steward is pretty pointless.

 

Tipping waiters & stewards during the cruise isn't usual, it's normally via the auto-tip or a lump sum at the end.

 

On most ships, a 15% service charge is added to drinks prices & some other services. This is a fixed charge, cannot be removed or amended.

Some folk do also tip favourite bar staff every now & then, most don't.

 

That's the bones of it.

There's a few rare differences & exceptions, so don't take my post as gospel.

 

JB :)

[blonby1970]

With pretty-well all cruise lines nowadays, a daily gratuities charge is automatically added to your on-board account. Vaguely around $12 per passenger per day. This covers tips for your waiters & cabin steward.

 

You can ask at guest relations for the charge to be removed or adjusted, & you can instead pay whatever tips you like in person on your last evening.

Most folk simply leave the auto-tips in place, this is simplest & fairest, and staff will know that you've paid them.

If you want to give one person extra, do so in cash because auto-tips go into a pool to be shared out - make sure that they know that it's extra, for them personally. On most cruise ships, staff have to hand personal tips over to the pool if the auto-tip has been removed - so removing the auto-tip in order to hand over cash to any particular waiter or steward is pretty pointless.

 

Tipping waiters & stewards during the cruise isn't usual, it's normally via the auto-tip or a lump sum at the end.

 

On most ships, a 15% service charge is added to drinks prices & some other services. This is a fixed charge, cannot be removed or amended.

Some folk do also tip favourite bar staff every now & then, most don't.

 

That's the bones of it.

There's a few rare differences & exceptions, so don't take my post as gospel.

 

JB :)

 

great info thank you

[Langley Cruisers]

I noticed you have only posted in this forum, First Time Cruisers (which is fine, just an observation). Cruise line policies differ from line to line - what line and ship will you be sailing or are you still just thinking and planning right now?

[Cruisin' Chick]

i have heard when you board they place you at a table that is mixed

with other cruise members and that you are assighned a waiter for the

entire cruise. so do we tip them at the end of each meal?

i understand that somethings are paid for when you purchase

the ticket just not sure how everything works

 

Again, depending on which cruise line you're going on, but if you're talking about Carnival, Royal, Princess, Holland, or pretty much most of the mass market cruiselines:

1) when you book your cruise you can be given what's called "traditional" dining, where you are given an assigned table, waitstaff, dining time OR a flexible dining assignment (called different things on different lines) where you would go to the flexible dining room sometime during the dinner period. The latter, you are not guaranteed a table immediately so if you go at a popular time, you will be given a pager until a table is ready.

 

It used to be (when there was only traditional dining) you would give the tip envelope to your waitstaff (plus one to your cabin steward) on the last day of the cruise. When flexible dining was started, most cruiselines went to the auto-gratuity system. In this system, your tip (sometimes called a hotel charge) is put on your cabin folio each night. On some lines, you might be required to prepay the tip.

 

This is so that you don't have to carry money around on board (all of the charges -- including anything you purchase in a ship's store and any drinks you buy -- are placed on the account that is charged to your credit card at the end of the cruise). Some people might give a "green fisted" handshake to a waiter at the end of a meal, but the auto-tips are much more convenient, IMO.

 

Some people will state that they go to the purser and remove their tips (and very often will claim they give a tip directly to the crew member), but this really isn't good for the crew members. Here's why:

1) the cabin stewards and waiters are part of a tipping pool. They share in the auto-gratuities, plus those who help them -- including the dining room bus persons. Many of them also work in the buffets and other dining options.

2) if you give them cash, they are required to hand that over to their supervisor (who will check to make sure you didn't remove the tips). If you kept the tips on, they are given this extra money. If you remove the tips, that money is put into the pool, so they end up getting a reduced tip anyway. They also might be quizzed as to why you removed the tip (the assumption is that you were dissatisfied with the service -- so another way it's bad for them). If they pocket the cash and are caught (and it's hard for them to hide the money in their shared tight quarters), they are usually immediately fired and must pay their own way home.

 

If you feel the service is iffy, go to the front desk and ask to talk to a supervisor about it. Let the supervisor try to resolve any problems. Don't wait til the cruise is over and then complain.

[John Bull]

Oooos, ... the Cruisin Chick has reminded me of one point that I overlooked. On most cruise lines you have the opportunity to pay those cabin/dining tips in advance when you buy your cruise tickets, to give you one less thing to worry about. And, as the Chick mentioned, if you've chosen anytime or similarly-named dining most cruise lines require you to pre-pay, on the grounds that you're likely to have different waiters every time so tipping direct gets pretty complicated.

Normally tips cannot be removed if you pre-pay.

 

May seem strange to pay tips before you've had the service? :confused:

Don't think of it as tips - although staff get their board & lodging, their basic wages are derisory, I've seen mention of as little as $50 per month. Some cruise lines don't seem to know the difference between "tips", "gratuities" & "service charge", I've even seen all three used in one sentence :rolleyes:. That's because those "tips" are effectively their wages.

Hence the immorality of removing them.

 

Whether "wages" should be included in your cruise ticket price instead of coming out of "tips" is often a subject of hot debate on threads on CC.

Best we keep that debate out of this thread ;)

 

JB :)

[jaylay]

i usually hand my waiters and stewards/stewards extra tip in an envelope during the last dinner and night i stay on the ship ...

[Cruisin' Chick]

i usually hand my waiters and stewards/stewards extra tip in an envelope during the last dinner and night i stay on the ship ...

 

That is certainly okay. My point is not to remove the already established auto-tips. Any extra money you give them, they can keep (some may pass along some of the money to their assistants). You can also write down any names of crew members who you felt went the extra difference and fill out one of those made a difference cards (ask at the front desk if they have them for your cruiseline). Usually you need the first name/country/work station which you can get from their name tags (eg. Mario, Spain, Tradewinds Bar). These go into their personnel files and will be considered when they're up for a raise or promotion.

 

And not every cruiseline requires you to prepay the tips. Princess doesn't, but you can buy an on board credit for your folio which is like prepaying some of your account.