Tipping

[Travelcat2]

Let's go back to the beginning of this thread:

 

March 31st, 2015, 07:55 AM

RLK33853's Avatar RLK33853 RLK33853 is offline

Cool Cruiser Join Date: Dec 2009

Location: Manitoba Canada

Posts: 332

 

Default Tipping

 

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I am sure this has already been asked but do people still tip even though it is discouraged. If so, what is normal?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

The OP asked a question that was answered on the first page (although it was apparently not what a handful of posters wanted to hear -- Regent's policy was posted).

 

It is sad to read a post that seems to dismiss the opinion of someone that has actually worked on a cruise ship (plus the comments of a Regent Captain).

[Prada Cowboy]

My experience is not that long ago! :D

 

For example a Stateroom attendant makes on mass market lines around $300-500 a months in basic salary and is depending on tips while one on a luxury line on a tip included ship will make around $1500-2000. Then we have to see they are as somebody posted mostly out of not so fortunate countries where the living cost is a lot less then in Europe or the USA!

I have worked on my 1st contract 9 months 24/7 and I am from one of the most fortunate countries, I was tip based and on a basic minimum wage. You work you bum off to make it worth while, but then fun and camaraderie are second to none.

 

There is NO crew member who will deny a tip, by the end the are doing a job for money!

 

As well though, with tip included ships if guests now are thinking to tip extra and extra and extra it splits the crew. Some will fight about who gets which guest to make the extra $, which should not be.

 

I only see a Butler or Concierge if they do a really special and personal service to you and goes above and beyond what would be normally asked for to be able to get a little extra appreciation.

 

YES tipping went out of the hands in the USA! Everybody feels they must do give extra! Tips on included ships are really included...one pays for it already and it is reflected in the wages of the crew.

 

Giving a extra to crew fund is the way to go since the whole crew, even the one behind the scenes who do as much or even more then your room cleaner will benefit from!

 

Front of the house crew is well off!

 

By the way after being so long on ships, on many different lines I still have all around the world friends who tell me exactly how it is.

 

I hope I gave my 2 cents on this and YES the HD on a luxury line makes more or should make more then $6K a months to put up with all of you!!!:D

 

Also wages are TAX FREE!!!!:eek:

[Prada Cowboy]

Travelcat2,

I am more then happy to put a box in front of my Suite on our cruise just in case people want to loose money...maybe I should take my Credit Card charger as well!!!!:eek::D:eek::D:eek:

[gnomie1]

 

 

Also wages are TAX FREE!!!!:eek:

 

Tax-Free salaries and wages has been a long time myth in the cruise industry but is simply not true for the majority of cruise employees.

 

U.S. citizens are taxed just like all other employees based in the U.S. There is some tax advantage for working outside of the country, but since most cruise employees who are U.S. citizens are considered management and get quite long breaks between contracts, most of the time they are not eligible for this benefit.

 

With regard to the other employees, depending on what country they are a citizen of, are REQUIRED to report their income and pay taxes on it. Some cruise lines actually require proof of filing and payment.

 

gnomie :)

[Travelcat2]

Travelcat2,

I am more then happy to put a box in front of my Suite on our cruise just in case people want to loose money...maybe I should take my Credit Card charger as well!!!!:eek::D:eek::D:eek:

 

That would really be funny!:D Thank you so much for sharing "real" information. It is really helpful to most of us.

[Prada Cowboy]

Tax-Free salaries and wages has been a long time myth in the cruise industry but is simply not true for the majority of cruise employees.

 

U.S. citizens are taxed just like all other employees based in the U.S. There is some tax advantage for working outside of the country, but since most cruise employees who are U.S. citizens are considered management and get quite long breaks between contracts, most of the time they are not eligible for this benefit.

 

With regard to the other employees, depending on what country they are a citizen of, are REQUIRED to report their income and pay taxes on it. Some cruise lines actually require proof of filing and payment.

 

gnomie :)

 

Yes, but you are only in parts right!

 

For example Americans have only to pay taxes if the ship is registered in the USA like NCL America. Europeans only if the ship is flagged European.

Most ships are flagged from the Bahamas or Monrovia or whatsoever due to tax reasons. Crew will get paid mostly cash each month. Most Crew are from lets say Philippines or India or Easter European countries and wont pay taxes! I did only pay tax when working for Hapag Lloyd, ship registered in Germany and contracts where Swiss!

[Zqueeze1]

Prada:

 

Well said response in post 127. Thanks for maintaining composure and civility. Looking forward to meeting you on the TA next year.

 

Z and TB

Edited June 19, 2015 by Zqueeze1

[Travelcat2]

Prada:

 

Well said response in post 127. Thanks for maintaining composure and civility. Looking forward to meeting you on the TA next year.

 

Z and TB

 

Agree with you 100% (okay -- this may not happen all the time..... but, in this case, IMO, you are completely correct:D

 

There are posters that think they know what is going on in terms of cruise ship employees, tax laws, etc., but most of us know nothing because we have not worked for companies that are registered outside of the U.S. I truly wish that we had more posters that are as intelligent and as well spoken as Prada because he can set all of us straight! As you have seen, it is not easy to maintain "composure and civility" on the Regent board. Prada has been able to do this effortlessly. Think we may need to include he and his partner in our cocktail party (in our suite) on the Explorer!

[Techno123]

1. As well though, with tip included ships if guests now are thinking to tip extra and extra and extra it splits the crew. Some will fight about who gets which guest to make the extra $, which should not be.

 

2. I hope I gave my 2 cents on this and YES the HD on a luxury line makes more or should make more then $6K a months to put up with all of you!!!:D

 

prada thank you for your insight. I have quoted 2 of your points.

Re quoted point 2 having read these boards pretty thoroughly prior to going on our first Regent cruise I thoroughly agree with you :)

 

Re the first point quoted, included tips should ensure equality of service for all. To want to work with the guests who tip extra is only human nature. Several of you have stated the idea that you can do what you want with your money and of course you can, you earned it, (although I am afraid to say there are some who 'flash the cash' just to make them look good and tipping before you receive a service - where did that idea come from?) but as Prada states, this can cause problems that we are not aware of behind the scenes.

I am all for the crew fund and naming and praising where due.

[Prada Cowboy]

Agree with you 100% (okay -- this may not happen all the time..... but, in this case, IMO, you are completely correct:D

 

There are posters that think they know what is going on in terms of cruise ship employees, tax laws, etc., but most of us know nothing because we have not worked for companies that are registered outside of the U.S. I truly wish that we had more posters that are as intelligent and as well spoken as Prada because he can set all of us straight! As you have seen, it is not easy to maintain "composure and civility" on the Regent board. Prada has been able to do this effortlessly. Think we may need to include he and his partner in our cocktail party (in our suite) on the Explorer!

 

We are so honored!!!!:D

[computerworks]

How long ago did you work for the cruise lines?

[Prada Cowboy]

How long ago did you work for the cruise lines?

 

2001-2013! With some off time in between!

[vireya]

I will be in Boone in a few weeks after our July cruise

[Prada Cowboy]

I will be in Boone in a few weeks after our July cruise

 

Ill be here too!:D

[Sunprince]

I thought US citizens were taxed based on citizenship and world income, not residency?? So it wouldn't matter if a US citizen was working on a ship (registered anywhere) or on land in the US. Each country has direct tax laws, in Canada you are taxed on residency, meaning if you do not reside in the country then you don't pay income tax ( but you might have to wherever you might be living).

 

Prada, where did you get your facts?

Edited June 21, 2015 by Sunprince

[HanaleiSailor]

Sun Prince,

 

I lived and worked abroad for much of my adult life. It is true that a US citizen who is working abroad must file US income tax forms; however, if one is a temporary resident of a foreign country and earns all of one's income in the foreign country, a US citizen is exempt from US income taxes up to a specific amount each year. When my wife and I were living in Japan, we could each earn something like $77,000 per year before incurring any US income taxes. However, each country varies concerning how much one will pay in income tax to the host country, But for many foreign nationals in many countries, they pay a much reduced rate.

 

Over our seven years spent in Japan, I think that our average rate of income tax was approximately 10% to the Japanese government. Thus, for US citizens, at least, working abroad does have significant tax advantages.

 

Aloha.

[Sunprince]

Sun Prince,

 

I lived and worked abroad for much of my adult life. It is true that a US citizen who is working abroad must file US income tax forms; however, if one is a temporary resident of a foreign country and earns all of one's income in the foreign country, a US citizen is exempt from US income taxes up to a specific amount each year. When my wife and I were living in Japan, we could each earn something like $77,000 per year before incurring any US income taxes. However, each country varies concerning how much one will pay in income tax to the host country, But for many foreign nationals in many countries, they pay a much reduced rate.

 

Over our seven years spent in Japan, I think that our average rate of income tax was approximately 10% to the Japanese government. Thus, for US citizens, at least, working abroad does have significant tax advantages.

 

Aloha.

 

There are various tax treaties with different countries that will determine the tax treatment. The point is that a US person still needs to file a tax return and pay taxes (somewhere). To say a US person can work on a ship tax free I don't believe is a correct statement, they would still need to have a permanent address in the U.S or somewhere and pay tax on their earnings.

[Caroldoll]

and it is my understanding that if you stay out of the country for 18 months then there is no US tax. Medical personnel went there all the time.

[Goofyisme]

The US Federal tax-ability of foreign income can be a bit complicated.

 

Key issues include nationality, tax home, period of residency, tax treaties and treatment of housing and meal allowances.

 

It is quite possible that a US citizen could avoid US federal income tax on a significant amount of foreign income ($99,200 per tax-payer in 2014). In any case there would be a requirement to file a US federal return.

 

The rules for states and local earned income vary dramatically across the country and thus an individual may not owe taxes, but may owe state and/or local earned income tax.

 

Individuals should always check with a qualified tax specialist about his/her specific situation and liability.

[Travelcat2]

Perhaps the reason there are so few crew members from the U.S. is due to tax laws. Most of the crew receive their salary in cash (U.S. currency). On our April cruise, we learned how happy they were with the stronger U.S. dollar - especially against the Euro.

 

Hope that Prada Cowboy returns to this thread. His input is recent, relevant and helpful.

[HanaleiSailor]

and it is my understanding that if you stay out of the country for 18 months then there is no US tax. Medical personnel went there all the time.

 

One must pass a physical presence test and live outside of the US for a given number of days in a single tax year to get the Foreign Earned Income Exemption. There is no such thing as "no US tax," one must file, but each year, the amount of foreign-earned income which one can exempt from US Federal Income Taxes rises slightly.

 

For 2014, it was 99,200, so if you earned less than 99,200 and lived and earned income abroad, you could exempt all of your income from Federal Taxes and have a Federal AGI of 0.00 for US Federal Income Tax purposes.

 

The IRS form and instructions are quite clear: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Foreign-Earned-Income-Exclusion

 

This form explains exactly how one qualifies for exempting foreign-earned income and how much can be excluded. This is not a complicated tax law; one can easily figure out if one qualifies and how much the exclusion is for each year. My wife and I figured this out on our own and filed our taxes while working in Armenia, Palau and Japan.

[rallydave]

Perhaps the reason there are so few crew members from the U.S. is due to tax laws.

 

While tax laws might be a very small part of why there are so few US crew membrs, the biggest reasons are the relatively low pay on most cruise lines, the lack of work effort by many US emloyees, the long hours which most US employees don't want to work the long hours required on cruise ship and the fact that many foreign workers are happy to work the long hours and relatively low pay on cruise ships.

 

For many foreign workers, the pay on the cruise ships is relatively high compared to what they would earn in their home country and their work ethic is much higher that US workers with skills needed to work on cruise ships making it a no brainer to hire mostly foreign workers on cruise ships.

 

As the Jones Act requires only US workers on US Flagged ships, when the first ships started doing Hawaii cruises several years ago with US Flagged ships, there were many issues with the all US crew with crew actually leaving the ship during cruises and it was reported that cruises were less acceptable then other cruises using mostly foreign crew. Now down to one ship doing Hawaii only cruises and things have improved so taxes are a miniscule reason for very few US crew members on cruise ships.

[newlondon]

rallydave, Same is true of agriculture workers etc.

[commodore2010]

While tax laws might be a very small part of why there are so few US crew membrs, the biggest reasons are the relatively low pay on most cruise lines, the lack of work effort by many US emloyees, the long hours which most US employees don't want to work the long hours required on cruise ship and the fact that many foreign workers are happy to work the long hours and relatively low pay on cruise ships.

 

For many foreign workers, the pay on the cruise ships is relatively high compared to what they would earn in their home country and their work ethic is much higher that US workers with skills needed to work on cruise ships making it a no brainer to hire mostly foreign workers on cruise ships.

 

As the Jones Act requires only US workers on US Flagged ships, when the first ships started doing Hawaii cruises several years ago with US Flagged ships, there were many issues with the all US crew with crew actually leaving the ship during cruises and it was reported that cruises were less acceptable then other cruises using mostly foreign crew. Now down to one ship doing Hawaii only cruises and things have improved so taxes are a miniscule reason for very few US crew members on cruise ships.

 

Very true.

 

I remember NCL having a heck of a time with the crew in the first year or so. If I recall correctly , they had 2 ships US flagged in Hawaii at one time.

[commodore2010]

Sometimes we tip, sometimes we don't. It really depends on the service provided. I do believe that exceptional service deserves something extra at the end of the cruise.

 

On our Regent Cruises, we have never felt like the butler, steward, waiter, etc. was asking or hinting for a tip. All tips have been gratefully accepted.

 

Have not done the Crew Fund. Something to consider, but I would still tip exceptional service as well.