Tipping on Princess (Regal)

[Cruisin' Chick]

Bringing up one of my previous posts again: the person delivering your room service order (breakfast rolls, sandwich from room service menu or other food items) is different from the cabin steward who services (cleans) your cabin.

[Colo Cruiser]

We tipped our cabin steward on the Ruby at the end of the cruise even though we never got room service.

 

 

One has nothing to do with the other.

[Happy2cruise]

Bringing up one of my previous posts again: the person delivering your room service order (breakfast rolls' date=' sandwich from room service menu or other food items) is different from the cabin steward who services (cleans) your cabin.[/quote']

That is true on Princess cruises but we were surprised to find that on our Celebrity cruise the cabin steward delivered our room service orders:confused:

[cruzsnooze]

While tipping is optional for room service, I think most people give one or two dollars as a tip.

I think most people don't but would be afraid to say so because of all the flaming that frequently comes with admitting it.

[golf2005]

We just got off the Island Princess. We tipped the standard amount included in our room charge. Our table neighbors went to guest services and asked NOT to be charged that amount because they were going to tip directly. After I saw the reaction of the staff as they were tipped, I wondered if I had chosen correctly, or should I have asked for the standard tip to be reduced so I could tip some of that amount directly to the staff that served us. The only exception was giving $20 to our room service guy because he was awesome and cheerful and our kids (in the room across from us) tormented him by ordering more and more for each breakfast as the week went on.

 

After I got home it turned out that my VP's daughter worked on a Princess ship for 6 years. What an eye opener. Staff gets paid horribly, gets horrible food, looooong hours, miniscule quarters. I am guessing many of you know this, but I didn't really take the time to question how the staff is compensated. I guess what I am trying to say is that I don't really like the fact that Princess (and other cruise lines) use our fixed gratuity to pay staff enough to work for them. I guess I assumed our gratuity was paid over and above a reasonable salary.

 

Our dining staff and room steward were just okay, but they worked hard and I now wish I had given them a tip personally rather than leaving it to Princess to give them a reasonable amount.

 

 

Read on previous posts that if a passenger cancelled the auto-charge,

the waiter and/or room attendant receiving a direct tip is required to forfeit his tip by turning it in to his supervisor. Apparently, this must be the case since I gave an extra tip to our waiter and his assistant they both asked for my cabin number. I should have asked them why they needed to know my cabin number.

 

The bottom line is....people shouldn't be so cheap about tips by cancelling the room charge. . They are hurting the people who serves them.

[Colo Cruiser]

After I got home it turned out that my VP's daughter worked on a Princess ship for 6 years. What an eye opener. Staff gets paid horribly, gets horrible food, looooong hours, miniscule quarters. I am guessing many of you know this, but I didn't really take the time to question how the staff is compensated.

 

The crew are not forced to work for Princess, they sign a contract and are happy to have the job. No they don't get paid by US standards but compared to wages in their home country they do very good.

 

What did she do onboard?

[AE_Collector]

I tend to think of the auto tip as a part of the crews pay and while some argue that it doesn't promote good service since they automatically get it anyway...I disagree. However they administer it, it seems to work well because in my opinion the service from all departments is always great to exceptional. Much better than you would average at home in hotels and most restaurants on average.

 

I also don't feel particularily good about having someone paid such low wages and giving me this exceptional service so it simply makes me feel better about myself to give a little extra at the end of the cruise for a job well done. I would never consider removing or reducing the autotip unless something was very very wrong.

 

I have recently settled on an additional 25 to 30% of the autotip amount for the cruise as my cash tip fund to be divided between room stewart and both waiters. I dont tip people to see their reaction, I put it in an envelope with our names and cabin number printed on it and put the envelope inside one of the Consummate Host cards that I have written up personally for them. I have neveer seen a crew member open it to see what is inside and thats the way I like it.

 

For the person who just got off of Island Princess and wished they had tiped a bit extra, you can still do a big favor for the crew members when the email survey arrives. List them by name in the survey (it asks if you want to recognize any crew members) as this is BIG for them. I dont think the Consumate Host cards are that big of a deal but naming them in the survey is big for their career. It doesnt matter that you don't know their last name, give first name and mention assistant waiter table 50 early seating or something like that.

 

I have seen people at passenger service cancelling autotips for various reasons and personally i think they should restrict this by you having to go to a private meeting room with a person of authority to discuss the reasons and come to a reduced figure if neccesary. Just as you cant use cash onboard, you cant cancel autotips becasue you want to give them out yourself unless you are giving extra over and above the autotips amount. Autotips are a part of the cost of the cruise and if you cant afford them then you cant afford to cruise.

 

This is all my opinion of course and I didnt tell anyone to give more than the autotip amount. I do though because I find the service onboard to be exceptional and I know the crew member will get a lot more mileage out of an extra $25 than I will.

 

And yes, we tip room service but only $1. If it made any difference to the amount, our room service is usually just coffee and a small snack to get us going. I also tipped the guy a couple of $$ for helping us move from one cabin to another on a B2B. Im sure I didn't have to but he made a difficult job for us to accomplish very easy for us. I appreciate that.

 

Terry

Edited August 6, 2014 by AE_Collector

[lorri111]

Well my topic sure got a lot of you talking! I have enjoyed reading everyone's posts and can I take this opportunity to all who have responded to my various posts over the last couple of months. It has been very useful for someone new to mega ship cruising and I have certainly learned a lot from the replies and from reading the other posts on various topics on Cruise Critic. Where would I have been without you :-)

[Potstech]

Great now someone wants people to go to a naughty room to discuss something that before was an individual decision. What a way to attract more passengers to force them to do something they do not want to do. Yep that is going to work great. NOT.

[AE_Collector]

I'm sorry but the autotip is part of the price of the cruise.

 

Terry

[SwissDave]

I'm sorry but the autotip is part of the price of the cruise.

 

Terry

 

No it's not. It's an optional part of the overall cost.

 

if it was part of the price of the cruise then it would be included in your invoice from the cruise company or travel agent to be paid before you sail.

[caribill]

No it's not. It's an optional part of the overall cost.

 

if it was part of the price of the cruise then it would be included in your invoice from the cruise company or travel agent to be paid before you sail.

 

If you are on RCCL and use their version of anytime dining, you must prepay the autotip so it does become part of the invoice.

 

If you are in traditional, you do not have to prepay.

[janecambridge]

Definition of tip:

A gratuity (also called a tip) is a sum of money customarily tendered, in addition to the basic price, to certain service sector workers for a service performed or anticipated. Tips and their amount are a matter of social custom, and the custom varies between countries and settings. In some locations tipping is discouraged and considered insulting; while in some other locations tipping is expected from customers. The customary amount of a tip can be one of a specific range of monetary amounts or a certain percentage of the bill. In some circumstances, such as with U.S. government workers[1] or more widely with policemen, receiving gratuities (or even offering them) are illegal, as they may be regarded as bribery.[2] A service charge is sometimes added to bills in restaurants and similar establishments. Tipping may not be expected when a fee is explicitly charged for the service.[3]