Tipping...lol...

[tartana]

I am new to Celebrity. Just tried to book a cruise next Nov15 and discovered what I think is an absurd policy. Since fixed dining was booked I could only reserve anytime dining. By reserving AD I have to pay all tips prior to sailing; in lieu of being charged while on the ship against my large cabin credits. What does tips at AD have to do with cabin steward tips?

 

We have sailed many different cruise lines and have never seen or heard of this tipping policy :(

 

I wasn't impressed with that either. Hence, my daughter and I booked the early dining, (which I didn't really want) so we could us some of our onboard credit to pay the gratuities. I think that is silly as well.

[groryjm]

I drink beer with ice if its not cold:D:D:D

 

Isn't beer suposed to be warm :eek::eek:

[Loujul]

Silly question, but why am I pre-paying my gratuities three months before I sail? I was told it's because I chose select dining. Huh?

[springfire]

Silly question, but why am I pre-paying my gratuities three months before I sail? I was told it's because I chose select dining. Huh?

 

Yes a very silly policy!

[keithm]

Celebrity has not done "envelopes at the end of the week" in quite a

few years.

Normally, your gratuities are charged to your on board account on a

daily basis...UNLESS you have "select dining".....then your gratuities

are paid up front (when you pay for your cruise).

 

If you want to tip certain individuals extra? Go for it. I am a "regular cruiser"

and I just got off a cruise.....I had a bartender at the Passport Bar who

waited on me all week....I gave him some cash on the last day and a

big thank you. It is not corny (in my opinion)....some folks tip extra

and some do not......do what you feel comfortable doing:)

Never had a problem finding the envelopes at guest relations. At least on the Eclipse.

[keithm]

We also have pre paid the gratuities. On our last cruise we also gave a little extra to those who made the cruise so much more enjoyable for us, ie. the room steward and assistant and the MDR servers. I'm curious now if they get to keep those extra tips for themselves or if they are required to share it with everyone else. Does anyone know?

I think they get to keep any individual tips.

[SantaFeFan]

I am new to Celebrity. Just tried to book a cruise next Nov15 and discovered what I think is an absurd policy. Since fixed dining was booked I could only reserve anytime dining. By reserving AD I have to pay all tips prior to sailing; in lieu of being charged while on the ship against my large cabin credits. What does tips at AD have to do with cabin steward tips?

 

We have sailed many different cruise lines and have never seen or heard of this tipping policy :(

 

Silly question, but why am I pre-paying my gratuities three months before I sail? I was told it's because I chose select dining. Huh?

 

I wasn't impressed with that either. Hence, my daughter and I booked the early dining, (which I didn't really want) so we could us some of our onboard credit to pay the gratuities. I think that is silly as well.

 

Yes a very silly policy!

 

Since it is their ship, they get to make the policies. I am sure it isn't "absurd" to them, and they would know better what actually happens with tips more than we do. Not sure why people get their panties all in a bunch over this one issue. You are fine with hundreds of other decisions that the cruise line makes without complaint. Odd that this one irritates people so much. :confused:

Edited May 21, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[tartana]

The oddity is that you only pay in advance if you get the "open dining". If you select an actual seating time for every night, you are not billed until you are on the ship, and I think it's charged daily. (Therefore, you can use your onboard credits toward it if you have them). To me, there shouldn't be a difference. I don't object to the gratuity fee - just the way they get you to book set times for dining.

[KazAllen]

I always leave on the pre-paid gratuities. If there is a certain bar I frequent, I always give the bartender a $5 up front every evening. I always have my beer on Ice, and my wife's cosmo is always made from scratch when we arrive.

 

We have booked a Celebrity Cruise leaving from Sydney in March next year, have booked Traditional Dining and have had the gratuities removed from our cruise total as we prefer to tip those who we think deserves it instead of giving small percentages to lots of people we probably don't even see while on the cruise.

My concern is that from what I am reading on here the gratuities will be charged to our Sea Pass daily anyway or can we have that removed?

Does anyone know where we can find out what the percentages of the gratuities are shared out among the staff so we can increase our tips above that amount for the people who we feel have given us service "over and above"?

Thanks, Karen:confused:

[sloopsailor]

We have booked a Celebrity Cruise leaving from Sydney in March next year, have booked Traditional Dining and have had the gratuities removed from our cruise total as we prefer to tip those who we think deserves it instead of giving small percentages to lots of people we probably don't even see while on the cruise.

My concern is that from what I am reading on here the gratuities will be charged to our Sea Pass daily anyway or can we have that removed?

Does anyone know where we can find out what the percentages of the gratuities are shared out among the staff so we can increase our tips above that amount for the people who we feel have given us service "over and above"?

Thanks, Karen:confused:

 

By insisting on controlling the tipping amounts and to whom they are given to, you are making more work for yourself than you realize. When auto tips are removed, ALL personnel you give a tip to is required to turn it over to be shared between all of those who would normally get a share (this has been documented in many, many tipping threads over the years). These are behind the scenes people you never come face to face with, but who support the people you do interact with.

 

So, you go through all the effort of giving your tips to just those you deem worthy, and it still gets to those you want to deny. Pretty much a wasted effort in reality.

 

Best to just let the cruise line and the employees who contract with them work out who gets what. After all, the staff wouldn't continue to sign their 6 to 9 month contracts if they weren't satisfied with the way it is done.

 

Why this insistence on fixing something that isn't broken is beyond me? :confused::confused::confused:

Edited May 21, 2015 by sloopsailor

[donaldsc]

It is not clear from your post if you are going to do the envelope bit in addition to the standard charged tip or if you are going to do it in place of the standard charged tip. If the former - a bad idea. If the latter, perfectly acceptable.

 

DON

[tartana]

I was curious who the prepaid tip amounts go to. This is a quote from Celebrity: This gratuity is shared by your Dining & Culinary Services Staff, Stateroom Attendants, Other Housekeeping Services Personnel, as well as staff from other departments who work behind the scenes to enhance your cruise experience.

 

I too have read a few places that if you remove your prepaid gratuities then every dollar you tip to anyone on the ship goes in the pot to be shared amongst everyone... - the person you want to tip doesn't get to keep it.....UNLESS you've paid your prepaid amounts. This seems like an awful lot of "bookwork" to me lol....how would they ever keep track of it all?!

[G&G]

Since it is their ship, they get to make the policies. I am sure it isn't "absurd" to them, and they would know better what actually happens with tips more than we do. Not sure why people get their panties all in a bunch over this one issue. You are fine with hundreds of other decisions that the cruise line makes without complaint. Odd that this one irritates people so much. :confused:

 

I understand it is Celebrity's policy. You pay the same amount per day for tips whether it is paid while on the cruise or prior to the cruise at $12.50/day/person. There seems to be no common sense why fixed dining pays on board while anytime diners pay prior to cruise.

 

It appears it is a way Celebrity can increase their revenues; like paying for check bags on an airline.

 

We are booked on a 13 day cruise in Nov15 on the Eclipse; only could get anytime dining. We have a cabin credit of $575. I was expecting to use some of the credits for the automatic tips. Since we do not drink and do tours on our own I guess I will have to buy a watch or shirt I do not need.

 

Thank goodness other cruise lines like Holland America, Princess, Oceania, Regent, etc do not have this policy

[jono mono]

How would anybody else know that you have tipped the cabin steward?.When I tip the steward and assistant I expect them to keep it not share it.

[SantaFeFan]

How would anybody else know that you have tipped the cabin steward?.When I tip the steward and assistant I expect them to keep it not share it.

 

It's the rules. They are required to submit any cash tips if auto tips or pre-tips are removed. It's a condition of their contract. They can be fired if they don't.

 

If auto tips are not removed, they can keep any cash tips as that is seen as a reward over and above what they would already get.

 

Thank goodness other cruise lines like Holland America, Princess, Oceania, Regent, etc do not have this policy.

 

Well, looks like you have solved your problem! :D;)

 

I too have read a few places that if you remove your prepaid gratuities then every dollar you tip to anyone on the ship goes in the pot to be shared amongst everyone... - the person you want to tip doesn't get to keep it.....UNLESS you've paid your prepaid amounts. This seems like an awful lot of "bookwork" to me lol....how would they ever keep track of it all?![/b

 

No doubt the support staff who have an interest in these tips will watch very carefully that their co-workers hand over cash tips if auto tips are removed. ;)

Edited May 21, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[chamima]

[quote name='cle-guy']On my Connie TA I just got off, my final night, the cabin steward did leave 2 envelopes by the bed....

first time of my cruises i've seen this.[/QUOTE]



I think that little move might have cut his tip in half for us. :rolleyes:
(Unless, of course he had been absolutely fabulous for the whole cruise up to that point.)
Which I'll bet he hadn't been.


Several years ago we took a last minute 3 day cruise in a suite.
Had a very "eh" room steward.
We gave him $50 in addition to leaving the gratuity on our account and he gave us a slightly disgusted, obviously unhappy look when we gave it to him.
I thought about saying we had made a mistake and just asking for it back but I bit my tongue.
Anyways, the point of the story is that it has been my experience that those who give the worst service expect the biggest tips.
(And also the reverse. Those who are fabulous expect nothing)

[jono mono]

So if there are 3000 people onboard,every steward/barman/server etc knows who has paid the gratuities and who has not !! Can't believe that !!!!

[chamima]

[quote name='jono mono']So if there are 3000 people onboard,every steward/barman/server etc knows who has paid the gratuities and who has not !! Can't believe that !!!![/QUOTE]



Most people leave it on but they do get a printout (and from what I've heard get reprimanded from their supervisors) of those who cancel them.
Our waiters have always asked for our cabin number when we give them the cash tip at the end of the cruise.
(The room stewards obviously don't have to do that)
If they weren't checking that against a list of those who've removed them, why would they need our cabin number?
(Interestingly, any bartenders we've given extra to have NOT asked for the cabin numbers. :confused:) Edited May 21, 2015 by chamima

[jono mono]

I can't answer that Karen as I have never been asked by anyone for cabin No while giving tips !! Perhaps it's a "celebrity"thing,as we have only been with them twice !! and never seen any envelope that have been left on any of our cruises.I wish they would put all tips etc on the cruise price.That would be my answer.

[SantaFeFan]

[quote name='jono mono']So if there are 3000 people onboard,every steward/barman/server etc knows who has paid the gratuities and who has not !! Can't believe that !!!![/QUOTE]

You need to read up on how tips work. A "barman" doesn't share in the auto tips. They share in the automatic tip amount that is added to the price of each drink. Thankfully for them, this tip amount cannot be removed by people wanting to cheat them out of it.

Whenever someone removes their tips, their name is added to a list that is posted in crew areas for all crew to see. People posting on this board have reported seeing such lists during back-scenes tours.

Whether you choose to believe it or not does not alter the reality that this is how it works.

[Suzy Smith]

I don't pretend to know how the tips distribution works, but I'm not sure that anyone else on CC does either. The theory that staff can only keep tips given personally if the passenger has paid the auto tips is widely believed on these boards, but it seems to be based on the fact that a list of those who have paid the auto tips is given to the staff. Isn't it equally likely that the staff get the list so that they know how much they can expect to receive from their share of the auto tip in their next payslip? If you ask staff if they can keep personal tips, who can blame them for saying they can only keep them if you also pay the auto tip, as that way they get tipped twice.;)

If you really are "stiffing" some of the staff by removing the auto tip, surely Celebrity would want to let their customers know this. There is no mention of it on the tipping section of the Celebrity UK website, which states.
[I][B]What if I wish to reward service personnel by my own choice?[/B]
Hotel service charges are shared amongst all the crew members from the hotel and dining room areas that have looked after you during your cruise, from the waiters in the restaurant to your stateroom attendants. If you wish to make your own arrangements, all guests are more than welcome to give monetary rewards personally.
[/I]
What would happen if a cabin steward was given a tip on day 2 of a two-week cruise by a passenger who was paying auto tips and the steward spent it at the next port of call If that passenger then decided to remove the auto tips on day 10 of the cruise, does Celebrity contact any staff member who may have been tipped by that passenger and demand that the personal tips are returned?

I don't know how it all works, but whatever the system is, it has been agreed between the staff and the cruise line and we can discuss it forever on CC and probably never find out the whole story. I leave the auto tip on because it is easy, but would never tell anyone else what to do, as all our various theories are just guesswork at the end of the day.:confused::) Edited May 21, 2015 by Suzy Smith

[Suzy Smith]

My quest to discover the truth continues .......:D

Is this the type of list pax have reported seeing in crew quarters? It is a copy of an email from the Paymaster of the Carnival Splendor to department heads and, as you will see, it asks them to let the crew members concerned know that as some passengers had removed the auto-tips, there would be a discrepancy on the report the department heads would be posting at the end of the cruise. Presumably the end of cruise report would detail the auto-grats the crew members could expect to receive a share of. I wonder if passengers on some ship's tours have taken a cursory glance at a similar list on a Celebrity ship, put two and two together and made five?

[IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/05/12/article-1180762-04E7BAB2000005DC-400_468x286.jpg[/IMG]

Again, I am not claiming to know how the system works, just asking more questions! :)