Tipping on Carnival

[Love_to_cruise83]

I'm sorry, I tried to search the threads for a good thread on this subject and wasn't able to find one.

 

We are going on our next cruise next month, and did not do auto tipping so I wanted to see what is an average recommended tip for all areas of work, and then what a great or exceptional tip would be.

 

Thank you for your help!

[FlipFlopCruiser]

I'm sorry, I tried to search the threads for a good thread on this subject and wasn't able to find one.

 

We are going on our next cruise next month, and did not do auto tipping so I wanted to see what is an average recommended tip for all areas of work, and then what a great or exceptional tip would be.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

 

OH You're Brave!!!!

This should get interesting!

Good Luck!! :D

[tomboyyswife]

I don't think you can't "not do auto-tipping" You have to go to the service desk and have them taken off.

[momof4boys]

You will be billed $11.50 a day and it will be put on your S&S account, and they will divide it among everyone who serves you. You can add cash to those who like.....steward, waiter, etc. We always give extra cash for top service to our waiter, steward, and drink server!

 

If you want to you can go to Guest Services and have them take the tips off your S&S account....however the billed tipping is the way to go. You cannot possibly tip every person who assists you in the buffet, MDR, steward and assistant.

[Love_to_cruise83]

You will be billed $11.50 a day and it will be put on your S&S account, and they will divide it among everyone who serves you. You can add cash to those who like.....steward, waiter, etc. We always give extra cash for top service to our waiter, steward, and drink server!

 

If you want to you can go to Guest Services and have them take the tips off your S&S account....however the billed tipping is the way to go. You cannot possibly tip every person who assists you in the buffet, MDR, steward and assistant.

 

Excellent! Thats exactly the information I was looking for. So I'll look for 11.50 a day charges to take care of standard service, and can remove tips for unacceptable service, and add cash tips for exceptional service. Thank you very much! :)

 

No cans of worms here, next post :)

[Tapi]

You probably already know this, but this topic is one of those "stir the pot, let's get to 150 posts by 3pm" kind of threads.

 

Anyway. You're going on vacation. Time to relax and have as little as possible to worry about. That includes not having to worry about who to tip, how much to tip, who to tip more or less, or standing in line at guest services to remove tips, or figuring out envelopes with cash in various amounts, etc. Seems like a waste of vacation time, but to each his own.

 

IMHO, leave the auto tips as they are and forget about it. One less thing to worry about. That why auto tips exist. To make things easier. It opens up more time to truly enjoy your vacation! :)

 

 

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[Love_to_cruise83]

I don't think you can't "not do auto-tipping" You have to go to the service desk and have them taken off.

 

Sorry, I meant we didn't pay them in advance as part of our cruise how we had previously done.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Excellent! Thats exactly the information I was looking for. So I'll look for 11.50 a day charges to take care of standard service, and can remove tips for unacceptable service, and add cash tips for exceptional service. Thank you very much! :)

 

No cans of worms here, next post :)

 

Also of note, the charge of $11.50pp per day is added to your sign and sail account usually on the 2nd day of the cruise and is in a lump sum that covers the whole week.

 

Bill

[LKYGSR]

Also note the $11.50 per day is per person, so if two in your cabin, you can expect $23.00 per day; best to leave those on and tip extra if you feel service is deserving. Also, don't forget room service; they are not included in the standard $11.50 pp pd. So hand them a few bucks each time they come :)

[LKYGSR]

Oh, and all drinks you purchase will have a 15% gratuity added to the cost; again, tip extra if you feel service warrants extra.

[Love_to_cruise83]

You probably already know this, but this topic is one of those "stir the pot, let's get to 150 posts by 3pm" kind of threads.

 

Anyway. You're going on vacation. Time to relax and have as little as possible to worry about. That includes not having to worry about who to tip, how much to tip, who to tip more or less, or standing in line at guest services to remove tips, or figuring out envelopes with cash in various amounts, etc. Seems like a waste of vacation time, but to each his own.

 

IMHO, leave the auto tips as they are and forget about it. One less thing to worry about. That why auto tips exist. To make things easier. It opens up more time to truly enjoy your vacation! :)

 

 

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Thats great Tapi! I think thats exactly what I will do, I just want to try to tip a little extra if I get outstanding service :) But I love the whole "don't worry about it" thing.. :)

[xCajunGurlx]

We are three in our cabin and have pre-paid the week's gratuities already, because I want to walk on board with as little responsibility as possible.

 

We will bring 2 packs of $1 bills to keep in the safe so we can tip above and beyond as we see fit.

 

These people really work for it!!

 

 

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[atate75]

We have prepaid our tips for our upcoming cruise on the Dream. How much and who should we tip extra?

 

 

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[funmamas]

We have prepaid our tips for our upcoming cruise on the Dream. How much and who should we tip extra?

 

 

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We take extra 5's, and ones and tip whoever we'd like (we like to tip :)). Tour guides, stewards, people who help us at any restaurant, it's your choice, and most definitely not required, but most definitely appreciated by the overworked and underpaid people onboard.

[crabgrass]

Carnival automatically add gratuity to your sail and sign card once on board. You do have the option of increasing or decreasing it while on board.

[A2Mich]

OK, I'll give my pre-paid $.02 here. I would never remove the auto tips for any reason, but will tip extra cash above and beyond. The problem I have with the auto-tipping is that, from my understanding, is that some of that tip money goes to behind-the-scenes employees whom you will likely never see. If I lower or remove tips because I was unhappy with one worker's services, I am therefore shafting other workers that I am not aware of, or who may be doing a great job, but was boned up by the "front line" staff.

 

On the subject of tipping, I really think the cruise lines should ALL simply tack that cost onto their base fare and get away from the whole "gratuity" system by simply paying their workers a fair base wage rather than relying on the passengers to pay "extra fees/gratuities." While I understand that cruise lines can advertise lower fares like they do now, I would much rather have my base fare be $100 higher per person upfront and not have to worry about it rather than the way it is now, where I booked at what I feel is a great rate, and then feel like the cruise lines are "fee happy." I know it all works out in the end to be the same amount, but the cruise lines have set themselves up for the "nickel and diming" feeling that many people have, including myself. It's simply a psychological thing.

[winddawn]

Excellent! Thats exactly the information I was looking for. So I'll look for 11.50 a day charges to take care of standard service, and can remove tips for unacceptable service, and add cash tips for exceptional service. Thank you very much! :)

 

No cans of worms here, next post :)

Hi, Brandon. I usually leave the auto tip for the cabin steward and others on the S&S card alone, and then tip cash extra on the spot when someone goes out of their way or provides exceptional service.

 

Before my cruise, I go to the bank and get a stack of tip money to take with me on my cruise. Carnival staff really go out of their way to provide great service. It brings me joy to show my appreciation.

 

I tipped a beach bathroom attendant $20 once when I was in Jamaica on a cruise. All the beach servers were getting tipped, and I couldn't see where anyone recognized how the older restroom attendant was keeping the restroom clean for everyone. You would have thought that I'd given her a hundred bucks. It brought us both joy. There is so much poverty in the Caribbean. A small amount of money can really make a difference to some.

 

Happy cruising to you too! I hope you get the same great service that I do.

[OCruisers]

I don't think you can't "not do auto-tipping" You have to go to the service desk and have them taken off.

 

This is true! You would need to go to the Customer Relations Desk to have it removed.

We do the auto-tipping and also tip additional to those we wish.

No, $20 in cash extra to your room steward is certainly not too much.

LuLu

~~~~

[SadieN]

OK, I'll give my pre-paid $.02 here. I would never remove the auto tips for any reason, but will tip extra cash above and beyond. The problem I have with the auto-tipping is that, from my understanding, is that some of that tip money goes to behind-the-scenes employees whom you will likely never see. If I lower or remove tips because I was unhappy with one worker's services, I am therefore shafting other workers that I am not aware of, or who may be doing a great job, but was boned up by the "front line" staff.

 

On the subject of tipping, I really think the cruise lines should ALL simply tack that cost onto their base fare and get away from the whole "gratuity" system by simply paying their workers a fair base wage rather than relying on the passengers to pay "extra fees/gratuities." While I understand that cruise lines can advertise lower fares like they do now, I would much rather have my base fare be $100 higher per person upfront and not have to worry about it rather than the way it is now, where I booked at what I feel is a great rate, and then feel like the cruise lines are "fee happy." I know it all works out in the end to be the same amount, but the cruise lines have set themselves up for the "nickel and diming" feeling that many people have, including myself. It's simply a psychological thing.

 

 

I'm glad that some of the tip moneygoes to the laundry and dishwashing staff. Don't want to eat from dirty plates or sleep in dirty sheets.

 

If included inthe fares then taxes go up.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I'm glad that some of the tip moneygoes to the laundry and dishwashing staff. Don't want to eat from dirty plates or sleep in dirty sheets.

 

If included inthe fares then taxes go up.

 

Why would taxes go up if the tips were included in the price?

 

Taxes have nothing with to do with the amount of money you pay?

 

Bill

[Lerin]

I'm sorry, I tried to search the threads for a good thread on this subject and wasn't able to find one.

 

We are going on our next cruise next month, and did not do auto tipping so I wanted to see what is an average recommended tip for all areas of work, and then what a great or exceptional tip would be.

 

Thank you for your help!

What did you tip on your last 2 Carnival cruises? :confused: If it worked, then do that.

[fishtaco]

I'm glad that some of the tip moneygoes to the laundry and dishwashing staff. Don't want to eat from dirty plates or sleep in dirty sheets.

 

If included inthe fares then taxes go up.

 

In Australia Gratuities and tips for carnival parent company cruises have been included in the fare price for quite some time and it has worked out very well and there are no tax hikes or other hidden costs.

 

In fact many US cruisers who cruise Princess Australia are livid when they find out they are still paying out tips but other guests had them included.

 

People can and do still tip extra in cash but there are no surprise gratuity costs for first time cruisers especially family 4 pax cabins who can find themselves owing a fairly substantial sum on their S&S before they have spent a penny.

 

I beleive Carnival is "testing the water" in Australia and will eventually include Gratuities in the price of USA cruises because it works so well.

 

Cruise prices did not seem to raise dramatically because of the tips being included because prices still fluctuate due to demand and competition:)

 

I also know that people should read the T&C,s about Gratuities or listen to their T/A but simple truth is many first time cruisers are not happy about being hit with gratuities once they see the amount on the print out.

 

I am not trying to push any Tipping buttons but am sure the many cruisers in USA who already prefer pre paid grats would welcome the change:)

Edited March 23, 2014 by fishtaco

[fishtaco]

What did you tip on your last 2 Carnival cruises? :confused: If it worked, then do that.

 

Very good question;)

[cruisecraze96]

On our cruise this past week we had 3 in our cabin, I did remove auto tips from the 4 year old but I took the $80 and gave $40 to camp carnival and $40 to the room steward since she had so much fun in camp and they were a life saver at dinner :) plus the room steward had extra messes from her as well :)

[A2Mich]

On our cruise this past week we had 3 in our cabin, I did remove auto tips from the 4 year old but I took the $80 and gave $40 to camp carnival and $40 to the room steward since she had so much fun in camp and they were a life saver at dinner :) plus the room steward had extra messes from her as well :)

 

 

So did you end up stiffing the MDR staff for the 4 year old then? I would imagine so because some of that money was earmarked for dining room staff. The youth camp counselors are also much better paid staff members than the people in the tipping pool. I would have left the tips in place and tipped over and above.

 

 

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