Another gratuities question...Advice????

[wrennies]

So my husband cannot stand this "automatic tipping" thing. It bothers him to the point of not wanting to tip because of the way cruise lines are doing this now. Don't going getting mad just yet, we are very gracious tippers and tip 15 to 20% for average service, but well above that for what we deem as personal service, where we are remembered feel like someone goes above and beyond. On previous cruises we have always tipped our server and assistant well more than the recommended.

What bothers him so is that he feels it should be done in person "with a handshake and a thank you". He also feels that it is wrong that the servers and such feel it is Automatic.

I have explained the "behind the scenes thing" but he is still really bothered and wants to have the automatic tips removed immediately and wants to handle it as was previously done.

SO.....my concern. People talk about list with peoples names that remove tips. Is there also a list for people that tip generously in cash? Also, if I remove these tips at the beginning of the cruise, will it effect our service. Is there a way to politely let our servers and such know that we plan to tip in cash accordingly?

[sparks1093]

So my husband cannot stand this "automatic tipping" thing. It bothers him to the point of not wanting to tip because of the way cruise lines are doing this now. Don't going getting mad just yet, we are very gracious tippers and tip 15 to 20% for average service, but well above that for what we deem as personal service, where we are remembered feel like someone goes above and beyond. On previous cruises we have always tipped our server and assistant well more than the recommended.

What bothers him so is that he feels it should be done in person "with a handshake and a thank you". He also feels that it is wrong that the servers and such feel it is Automatic.

I have explained the "behind the scenes thing" but he is still really bothered and wants to have the automatic tips removed immediately and wants to handle it as was previously done.

SO.....my concern. People talk about list with peoples names that remove tips. Is there also a list for people that tip generously in cash? Also, if I remove these tips at the beginning of the cruise, will it effect our service. Is there a way to politely let our servers and such know that we plan to tip in cash accordingly?

 

Leave the tips in place and have the best of both worlds when you give your server and assistant the extra tip at the end with a hand shake and thank you. I receive a salary and it's practically guaranteed but that doesn't impact my job performance. Some cruise lines do require that if tips are removed that all cash tips received need to be turned in and some cruise lines do have lists of passengers that remove the tip. Your husband is trying to re-invent the wheel and turn back the hands of time.

[iancal]

We view it a the labour component of our cruise price-much like port taxes.

 

We tip on top of it for good service.

 

We don't sweat the small stuff any more....and consider this to be noise level.

Edited June 12, 2014 by iancal

[leaveitallbehind]

Leave the tips in place and have the best of both worlds when you give your server and assistant the extra tip at the end with a hand shake and thank you.

 

I tend to agree with this as the best advice. The staff clearly understands the system and knows that they are receiving your gratuity through the automatic daily gratuity. Adding additional at the end in person would be seen as a very personal and separate "thank you" as with the auto pay system it is not expected unless their service is exemplary. Or you simply feel they deserve more than the recommended. But either way, IMO adhering to the recommended plan and adding more at your discretion would be the best way.

 

Besides, in our experience the staff does not look at or count the amount given while you are there (unless you are handing cash and indicate the amount, as customarily it is given in sealed envelopes) so they will not realize whether it is the recommended amount or an additional amount until later if you've opted out of the auto pay. By adding it at the end along with the auto gratuity, they will clearly understand it as extra.

 

That being said, at least with RCI, you can have the daily auto gratuity removed on board through guest services. So that option remains to pay at the end.

[denmarks]

The problem is that many cruises offer anytime and buffet dining. There would be no way to tip these people.

 

If you drop the automatic tipping and try to tip at the end the employee is supposed to turn the money in and only receives his share and any excess over the suggested rate.

Edited June 12, 2014 by denmarks

[sapper1]

If you leave the hotel service charge in place and tip extra at the end of the cruise, the recipients will get to keep what you give them. If you remove the service charge then any tip you decide to give will have to be turned into the pool. They cannot keep it. That is why a list is posted---so all the staff will know.

 

Also, if you remove the HSC, your stewards will be questioned about what they did to displease you.

 

Whether your husband likes it or not, the HSC is a fact of life while cruising. It is a cost of doing business. We make a point of giving extra tips to those who take good care of us and make our trip special. We would not even dream of removing the HSC.

 

Edited to add that this post pertains to Holland America ships.

Edited June 12, 2014 by sapper1

[Dayenu]

"On previous cruises we have always tipped our server and assistant well more than the recommended." - you do realize, they have to turn in the "recommended" amount of $12 per day or whatever this amount for that cruise? There is a tipping poll, and no way to avoid it.

 

Only if you tipped above the recommended amount of $12 (not $5.50 or whatever is on the schedule for this person) whoever got the cash would be allowed to keep the difference.

[sail7seas]

There is a list of those who remove automatic tip (hotel service charge) and the cabin/dining stewards are questioned by their supervisors if they are doing a good job and why would that guest not want to provide the expected automatic tip

They are told to try harder.

 

The best way for the stewards to know you will tip is to do so. I wouldn't 'tell' them you expect to tip, I would provide the tip.

 

If you plan to tip independently, know that on many cruise lines anything they receive must be pooled if the auto tip was removed by that guest.

 

Seeing you have cruised before and your husband understands tipping is expected, perhaps he may wish to rethink cruising?

 

Does removal of tips at the start of the cruise impact the quality of your service? I don't know.

 

 

[Bonnie J.]

We cruise a lot-6 times so far this year. I told a young tablemate that our waiter was paid only $75 a MONTH, not week or day, by the ship. You should have seen his expression. Then he asked our waiter and was told $75 a MONTH. He left auto tips in place and handed our waiter an envelop with thanks on the last night.

We have also give bar waiters cash at end of cruise even thought they get an automatic 15% of anything from the bar. I don't think these tips can be removed. A bar waiter told me he makes $75 a month too.

We used to get envelops in our cabin for tips but now you will find envelops at guest services.

Leave tips in place and tip cash at end of cruise!

Edited June 12, 2014 by Bonnie J.

[luddite]

Leave the automatic charge in place. Explain to him that it isn't a tip. It is actually how the crew gets paid.

Then, tip anyone who you guys feel is deserving of a tip.

Easy peasy.

[Langley Cruisers]

Also, if you remove the HSC, your stewards will be questioned about what they did to displease you... Whether your husband likes it or not, the HSC is a fact of life while cruising. It is a cost of doing business.

 

^ This, exactly. Don't you think it will be awkward for the crew member to somehow try to explain to his/her supervisor why your auto-grat was removed?

 

Leave the automatic charge in place. Explain to him that it isn't a tip. It is actually how the crew gets paid. Then, tip anyone who you guys feel is deserving of a tip...

 

Yes, please do this.

 

Hopefully you understand now and can explain it to your husband. I understand where he is coming from, but cruising has changed and passengers need to keep up with that. Remember that the crew does not get "your" tips up front. They collect a pay check after they work, just like the rest of us do. The tips are not paid to them in advance. Does this help?

 

.

[taglovestocruise]

The auto tips are also shared by people your husband will never see. The line cooks, buffet waiters and servers, all that work in the laundry and dry cleaning, and a few more that are not mentioned. When you order room service those that bring you your order are doing it on a voluntary basis and doing it for extra tips that they keep. When you remove your tips you are hurting a lot more than a few waiters.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Leave the automatic charge in place. Explain to him that it isn't a tip. It is actually how the crew gets paid.

Then, tip anyone who you guys feel is deserving of a tip.

Easy peasy.

 

We started going on cruises during the days of the tipping envelopes. Then flexible dining (with all the various venues) came about, and most mass market cruiselines started instituting auto-gratuities.

 

Personally, I like the auto-tips. Less playing "stuff the envelopes" on the last day of the cruise. Easy peasy for us, too. Then we decide about any extra tips to pass out.

 

I have heard that many of the premium cruise lines do not have tipping. So maybe you can research those lines and show your husband the usual fares for similar cruises you would normally do or want to do. These definitely won't be fares anywhere near Holland, Princess, Celebrity, etc.

[cruisead]

Please explain to your husband that auto tipping is the way of the world now. Basically, the cruise lines started the auto tipping for two reasons: One, people weren't tipping at all, therefore "stiffing" the workers. Two, the advent of open seating in the main dining room, which meant that you might have a different wait staff every night. How would you tip for that? You can't.

 

Tell your husband that if he gives cash, the person who receives it might not even be able to keep it, as they may be required to pool it for everyone else. Just keep the tips in place, and just let it go.

[SPacificbound]

There are some cruise lines that are all inclusive, so your husband wouldn't have to deal with the tipping.

 

Here are some of them.

Regent

Azamara

Crystal

Silver Sea

[donaldsc]

Bottom line is that if you are unwilling or can not afford the autotip (your husband is obviously in the first group), you should not be cruising. The autotip is an integral part of the cost of cruising. The crew depends upon that autotip for their salaries. The system stinks but that is what it is.

 

DON

Edited June 13, 2014 by donaldsc

[kitty9]

There are some cruise lines that are all inclusive, so your husband wouldn't have to deal with the tipping.

 

Here are some of them.

Regent

Azamara

Crystal

Silver Sea

 

Those are good choices, but the OP's husband should know that their fares will be 3 times or more higher than a mass market line.

[SadieN]

We started going on cruises during the days of the tipping envelopes. Then flexible dining (with all the various venues) came about' date=' and most mass market cruiselines started instituting auto-gratuities.

 

Personally, I like the auto-tips. Less playing "stuff the envelopes" on the last day of the cruise. Easy peasy for us, too. Then we decide about any extra tips to pass out.

 

.............................[/quote']

 

We also started cruising when tipping was done the last night in the envelopes. PITA to figure out how much to whom. It was amazing how empty the MDR was that last night.

[Mim Lloyd]

Basically, the cruise lines started the auto tipping for two reasons: One, people weren't tipping at all, therefore "stiffing" the workers.

 

The people 'stiffing' the workers are their employers - the cruise lines by not paying decent wages in the first place. Us Europeans and Australians hate the American culture of a tip being expected for everything. We put up with it but don't like it. And you've only got to see the huge amount of posts on this board about it to see how it stresses people out.

 

What's wrong with just paying people proper wages with no expectation of customers having to supplement that with tips? Yes, it will increase prices slightly but not by 3 times the cost. That's how we do it in Britain and Australia and it's all very straightforward and stress free and it works! You know what you're paying upfront and if you want to leave a small tip for exceptional service that's entirely up to you but you're not going to be flamed if you don't - which I probably will be now for daring to question the holy grail practice of tipping in the American culture! :)

[dorisis]

We view it a the labour component of our cruise price-much like port taxes.

 

We tip on top of it for good service.

 

We don't sweat the small stuff any more....and consider this to be noise level.

 

Ditto

[sparks1093]

The people 'stiffing' the workers are their employers - the cruise lines by not paying decent wages in the first place. Us Europeans and Australians hate the American culture of a tip being expected for everything. We put up with it but don't like it. And you've only got to see the huge amount of posts on this board about it to see how it stresses people out.

 

What's wrong with just paying people proper wages with no expectation of customers having to supplement that with tips? Yes, it will increase prices slightly but not by 3 times the cost. That's how we do it in Britain and Australia and it's all very straightforward and stress free and it works! You know what you're paying upfront and if you want to leave a small tip for exceptional service that's entirely up to you but you're not going to be flamed if you don't - which I probably will be now for daring to question the holy grail practice of tipping in the American culture! :)

 

The only way you would get flamed is if you said that you disagreed with the cruise lines practice and as a result you remove the autotip and leave nothing because then you would be punishing the workers for something beyond their control.

 

First, your comment that the crew doesn't receive "decent wages". The tipping structure, as imperfect as it may be, allows most crew to earn two to four times what they could earn if they were performing the same job in their home country. Just because someone relies on tips for a large part of their income doesn't mean that they aren't earning decent wages.

 

Second, your comment that it would only raise prices slightly. I happen to think that it would raise them more than slightly because that's the nature of business and we would also have to pick up the tab for those sailings that don't sail full. No, it wouldn't be as high as three times what you would pay but it would be higher. And add to that the fact that none of the cruise lines want to be first because passengers only look at the bottom line and many wouldn't stop to consider that they don't have to worry about tips.

 

Tipping is not a perfect system by any means but it allows passengers to directly control how much the crew that serves them makes- they may reduce or remove a tip for substandard service or they may increase the amount of the tip for excellent service. The crew knows that if they work hard they may earn instant bonuses.

 

The bottom line is that this is the way the cruise lines have decided to handle it, the crew has agreed to it and all that it takes to work properly is for the passenger to leave the auto tips in place. If you want the amount included in your fare most cruise lines will allow you to pay the gratuity/service charges when you book your cruise, so if you do that then you've completed your obligation and only need to worry about tipping those onboard that provide exceptional service.

[goose30]

Yes cruise fares would rise if automatic tipping were discontinued. They would rise approximately $12-15 per day per person. Exactly the same as if you either left the auto tips or prepaid tipping in place.

 

The solution as always is if you don't like it then vote with your pocket and don't cruise.

[Bonnie J.]

Before the auto tips when you got envelops they were for your room steward, dining room waiter and what then was the bus boy (assistant waiter). But some people would not go to the dining room the last night or hand out empty envelops. They all work hard every day, 7 days a week, more than 8 hours a day, for 6-8 months before they go on vacation. They more than earn their tips.

Once we canceled our tips. We only wanted to cancel our room steward's for serious problems we had with her. But we could only cancel ALL tips, so we did. This was on NCL when they just started free style dining. But we had one fantastic waitress and sat at her table every night. Every night we would give her and her assistant cash. Then they got a big thank you tip at end of the cruise.

We also left a smaller tip for our steward, however

[SPacificbound]

Those are good choices, but the OP's husband should know that their fares will be 3 times or more higher than a mass market line.

 

Yes, that was my point. :rolleyes:

[luddite]

Yes cruise fares would rise if automatic tipping were discontinued. They would rise approximately $12-15 per day per person. Exactly the same as if you either left the auto tips or prepaid tipping in place.

 

The solution as always is if you don't like it then vote with your pocket and don't cruise.

 

No, it would rise more than that. It costs more than 12 dollars to pay an employee 12 dollars.