Removing Partial Tips?

[Thetrail]

We are booked on Oasis in January and are traveling with a group so we booked through a TA. He suggested that if we choose to go to a specialty restaurant instead of the MDR for dinner, go to the customer service desk and remove the gratuities for that night for the MDR staff. He said it was something like $7 per diner ($21 for our party of 3).

 

Do people really do that?

 

Is that considered rude? Or is it considered fair?

 

Constructive thoughts are appreciated.

Rude, not sure, fair NO. The tips are distributed to other crew members besides your cabin, steward and dining room staff.....K.O.

[kevinyork]

A couple of years back I was pricing a cruise across agents, when one agent mentioned a lower price than I had already been quoted I queried how it was made up and they said 'this includes an assumption you would be removing tips when onboard as you don't need to pay them'. I went elsewhere and have not been back to that agent. Worryingly they are one of the largest online cruise agents in the UK.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tlatrice]

A couple of years back I was pricing a cruise across agents, when one agent mentioned a lower price than I had already been quoted I queried how it was made up and they said 'this includes an assumption you would be removing tips when onboard as you don't need to pay them'. I went elsewhere and have not been back to that agent. Worryingly they are one of the largest online cruise agents in the UK.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Wow!!!

 

When I went on my first cruise, auto-tipping had just started. Someone I know had gone on another line around the same time that I did. She had cruised before, but had had a child since her last cruise. She said "Those tips didn't make sense! And I had to pay for my son! He don't eat that much or require that much work. They just getting over!"

 

She then proceeded to tell me that he'd wet the bed one night and that he couldn't wait to get back to school and tell his friends how mommy got sick and threw up one night. Ummm, that's a lot of work!!!

 

Yep, and this is why you have to tip even for your little ones.

Edited June 17, 2016 by tlatrice

[kidlessatsea]

Just my opinion......I HIGHLY doubt the TA, out of the clear blue sky, said "oh, by the way...go to customer service and remove the tips for the nights you don't go to the MDR". It makes WAY more sense to ME, that one of the people in the GROUP said "why should we pay tips on the nights we do not go to the MDR?" and THEN....the TA made the suggestion.

 

It actually came about while we were talking about dining packages. I was asking about the 3 restaurant package for $80. And he did! Out of the blue it was something like, "you know, since your daughter is 5, she will be free at the specialty restaurants. Also, for some more savings, you can remove your gratuities for the waiters on the nights you don't eat at the MDR. This will add up to a little over $60 and make the specialty restaurant package that much better."

I said, "you can do that?"

He said "absolutely."

 

I kid you not.

 

A few couples that are coming, it is their first cruise. Others have cruised MANY times with Royal (including us). Tipping is a personal matter so I don't intend to push my thoughts on the rest of my group.

 

Side note: I got my booking paperwork yesterday and on it says, "...gratuities are pooled and shared by various dining and service staff..."

SMH.

 

I must say, I am enjoying your comments and I appreciate the lack of anger, frustration, what have you, in this thread. :)

[champagne123]

It actually came about while we were talking about dining packages. I was asking about the 3 restaurant package for $80. And he did! Out of the blue it was something like, "you know, since your daughter is 5, she will be free at the specialty restaurants. Also, for some more savings, you can remove your gratuities for the waiters on the nights you don't eat at the MDR. This will add up to a little over $60 and make the specialty restaurant package that much better."

I said, "you can do that?"

He said "absolutely."

 

I kid you not.

 

A few couples that are coming, it is their first cruise. Others have cruised MANY times with Royal (including us). Tipping is a personal matter so I don't intend to push my thoughts on the rest of my group.

 

Side note: I got my booking paperwork yesterday and on it says, "...gratuities are pooled and shared by various dining and service staff..."

SMH.

 

I must say, I am enjoying your comments and I appreciate the lack of anger, frustration, what have you, in this thread. :)

 

Wow..very surprised that someone would say this. Thank you for clarifying. :)

[TubbyMrT]

I always cancel the auto-paid gratuities as mandatory gratuities are not gratuities at all.

 

I hand them cold, hard, cash throughout the journey. Great service earns a cash tip.

 

What they do with it, I do not care. They can share it with the "behind the scenes crew" or throw it overboard. Not my concern.

 

The meaning of a tip has not changed in 100 years. Royal should not try and change it. What Royal is doing is nothing more than payroll and provides absolutely NO incentive for any service person to provide good service. This is clear as the level of service is declining since the mandatory gratuity was implemented.

 

Their loss, not mine.

[gerif]

I always cancel the auto-paid gratuities as mandatory gratuities are not gratuities at all.

 

I hand them cold, hard, cash throughout the journey. Great service earns a cash tip.

 

What they do with it, I do not care. They can share it with the "behind the scenes crew" or throw it overboard. Not my concern.

 

The meaning of a tip has not changed in 100 years. Royal should not try and change it. What Royal is doing is nothing more than payroll and provides absolutely NO incentive for any service person to provide good service. This is clear as the level of service is declining since the mandatory gratuity was implemented.

 

Their loss, not mine.

 

Yes, it is the loss of those who serve you. If you remove autograts and tip in cash, those cash tips must be turned in or the employee risks immediate dismissal. You are doing them no favors. Is it an ego thing with you that you want to look like a big shot spreading cash around?

[sandancer]

Just curious ..... I pay my tips before I get on board

 

But I do give extra to certain staff ..... Does that amount stay with that person only?

 

Yes. As long as it is in addition to the auto tip. We also pre-pay tips. We consider it to be part of the cost of the cruise and never think about it again after final payment. We will also tip a little extra in cash when we have recieved service over and above what is expected.

[Thetrail]

It actually came about while we were talking about dining packages. I was asking about the 3 restaurant package for $80. And he did! Out of the blue it was something like, "you know, since your daughter is 5, she will be free at the specialty restaurants. Also, for some more savings, you can remove your gratuities for the waiters on the nights you don't eat at the MDR. This will add up to a little over $60 and make the specialty restaurant package that much better."

I said, "you can do that?"

He said "absolutely."

 

I kid you not.

 

A few couples that are coming, it is their first cruise. Others have cruised MANY times with Royal (including us). Tipping is a personal matter so I don't intend to push my thoughts on the rest of my group.

 

Side note: I got my booking paperwork yesterday and on it says, "...gratuities are pooled and shared by various dining and service staff..."

SMH.

 

I must say, I am enjoying your comments and I appreciate the lack of anger, frustration, what have you, in this thread. :)

well not really, but sounds like a poor excuse for a TA....

[Thetrail]

Yes, it is the loss of those who serve you. If you remove autograts and tip in cash, those cash tips must be turned in or the employee risks immediate dismissal. You are doing them no favors. Is it an ego thing with you that you want to look like a big shot spreading cash around?

His post shouted ignorance to the max. Some folks type and look foolish.....K.O.:o

[Mnamom1105]

When we were on Oasis in May, we took the auto gratuities off. Yes, that means, in the views of some, we screwed over the dishwashers/cooks/laundry washers/etc.

We DID however, leave cash tips to our room steward EVERY. DAY.

We did NOT step food in MDR nor windjammer all week.

We DID do the specialty dining package and there is already a tip figured in as well as we left extra tip.

 

Are we cheap? some say yes, some say no.

You will find a lot of discussion on this - some say it is ridiculous that wages need to be supplemented by auto gratuities that are dispersed between not only the person who took care of you face to face but those that were all the behind the scenes.

 

I CAN tell you we paid our room steward more than he would have gotten from the auto gratuities. You have to decide what to do for yourself.

 

 

****I am not sure you can remove just one tip - I was under the impression it was all or none.

[whoops]

I was going to say that the enthusiasm for tipping is because many of the posters seem to be from the USA where tipping is a normal part of daily life unlike in the UK where us Brits do tip but not as enthusiastically as our American cousins. However the previous poster is from Florida so perhaps my initial thoughts are incorrect.

 

I am not a fan of tipping and feel that if the cruise operators paid their staff an appropriate wage there would not be the dilemma of whether you tip or how much but take the whole issue totally out of the equation. I would rather pay more for the cruise and be done with it.

 

However, while the existing procedure prevails I feel I must tip but am a reluctant participant in rewarding people simply for doing their job.

[PortableTech]

Oh tipping, there are few things more controversial in the cruise industry than this. Before I get into this, let me say I do enjoy cruising immensely and do plan to continue to do so in the future. I also believe that service above and beyond does warrant recognition and I do tip when warranted.

 

First, as has been discussed by a few others, tipping is a concept that varies throughout the world. Here in the USA, it is customary to tip, but views on the extent and amount vary. It is an unfortunate result of poorly paid wait staff and how our labor system allows tips to be considered part of their wage for minimum check purposes.

 

We also see cases where others will tip for things such as luggage delivery, cab service, and even help from a concierge. All these things have one thing in common, they are services which you directly interact with and requested.

 

Now, lets look to the cruise industry. While we may be more accustomed to tipping here in the USA, I have never been to a hotel where I was expected or felt I should tip the desk staff, the kitchen staff, housekeeping (with some exceptions), day manager, night manager, phone operator, landscaper, laundry cleaner, pool cleaner, cook, or even security. Yet, when we look at the cruise ship this is essentially what is happening. This industry has taken the USA idea of low wage wait staff using tips to compensate to a whole new level by applying it to virtually every single position on the entire ship.

 

There is no other industry that I can think of that believes that not only should the consumer tip everyone to compensate for absurdly low wage levels, but that they should do everything short of making it mandatory and effectively using language to drive a feeling of guilt for those who do not comply. Add to that that many cruise lines have been caught pocketing parts of the tips into their own corporate coffers by levying fines and penalties against their staff based on a system where scoring them low increases corporate profit and you really have to ask if the problem is one of people not tipping, or a company taking advantage of their work force.

 

So, with these thoughts in mind, I do tend to remove the auto gratuities on my cruise and rather come on board with several hundred dollars, typically in $2 bills, and give it where I used services and where I saw service that made my vacation more than average. In all I spread around a bit over $300 in tips on that 7 day cruise and all of it was deserved. I also made a point to bring the names of those truly exceptional individuals to the attention of Royal Caribbean in my post-cruise survey as several staff have told me that this makes a big difference in how the company ranks them.

 

On my last cruise I dined almost exclusively in specialty restaurants which have their own 18% mandatory gratuity and several times I tipped additional cash above and beyond that due to exceptional service I did not step into the main dining hall the entire cruise and am uncertain why anyone would expect me to feel guilty about not tipping them since they did nothing for me. My room steward was tipped well each day and within the first two days he had my common requests identified and was already anticipating my them each and every night. Always quick for the oddball item, and cheerful in his duties. His actions contributed directly to making my vacation a great one. These are but two examples of individuals I felt were deserving on my last cruise.

 

As for all the other under paid positions that the cruise industry feels we, as consumers, should tip rather than paying them a livable wave to begin with, I challenge you all to identify another industry that has expanded the list of positions not only deserving of a tip, but who requiring one, anywhere near as much as we see here.

 

I am sure this will bring on the flames, but please take a moment to think this through logically. If the supermarket suddenly cut their employees wages by 80% and added a mandatory tip to your receipt unless you felt you had bad service and specifically requested it be removed would you find this acceptable? What if the Postal Service did this, would you be obligated to tip all of the mail delivers? How about when you go fill up your cars tank with fuel, perhaps we should include a tip for the truck driver who delivered the fuel to the station, the guy running the register, and lets not forget the janitor who cleans the bathrooms.

 

Again, this was not meant to offend anyone or incite a riot, but rather to hopefully spark some critical thinking. If you feel that mandatory tips would be appropriate, then by all means. On the other hand, if someone feel it should be reserved for recognition of great service rather than represent a participation trophy everyone gets I don't believe they should ridiculed or hated on.

[setsail]

When we were on Oasis in May, we took the auto gratuities off. Yes, that means, in the views of some, we screwed over the dishwashers/cooks/laundry washers/etc.

We DID however, leave cash tips to our room steward EVERY. DAY.

We did NOT step food in MDR nor windjammer all week.

 

 

 

****I am not sure you can remove just one tip - I was under the impression it was all or none.

 

It's pretty simple, those like you that remove the autos and pay in cash just skip a night

[Mnamom1105]

setsail - skip a night of what? I feel as though you only gave half a thought...

[Robo1098]

The math he is telling you isn't even close. The tips are about $13.50 per day per person. That is for the day for everyone, not just your mdr waiter. Would a person really want to adjust the tip for $3 because you didn't eat a meal there? I agree with the thought about spending $3000 on a cruise and not being cheap about a few dollars.

[Merion_Mom]

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2369159

[Ferris42]

Does anyone know what happens, if tips are removed, with the cash given to staff? There was a couple on my last voyage who insisted that they never take the easy way out and use the auto gratuities. Instead they pay cash to their servers. I am under the impression that in a case like this servers are required to hand in these cash tips if the autos have been removed. If autos have not been removed then servers are allowed to keep any extra $. Anyone know for sure?

 

IMHO: I love the tips being added to my account. I think it makes it easier and we always give extra to the servers and cabin stewards.

 

 

Hi Lady Hudson,

I am a first time cruiser (come December anyway :-) ) and have done a significant amount of digging into this as I had exactly the same question.

 

All I have found suggests that staff MUST hand in all cash during the cruise.

 

If you have pre paid or left auto tips in place, then any extra cash goes back to the staff member you gave it to, along with their share of the tip pool.

 

If you remove auto tips ( or did not pre pay tips) then any cash you hand out gets pooled and distributed as per normal pool distribution.

 

I have not found out explicitly, but I assume that if you tip ONLY in cash (with no pre pay or auto tip), AND you reach the amount that auto tips would be (i.e. approx 12.95 per person per day), then anything over and above this might go back to the individual.

 

Interestingly ( and I assume worryingly for some !!! ) I have read on a cruise ship staff blog site that staff DO tend to find out who has pre paid, and also who has removed auto tips onboard.

There were a few references to this being known as the "SPIT LIST"

( I do NOT !!!! want to be on the spit list lol )

 

All the above is anecdotal, so I am not suggesting it applies to all staff, or all lines.

 

There is strong anecdotal evidence, however, that this is the reason many wait until the last day to "complain" and have their tips removed, in the hope they will get good service until that time. It is the current equivalent of the older practise (prior to auto tip and pre paid) of skipping the MDR on the last night to avoid tipping your waiter. GRRRR

This is probably the reason some lines are making it harder or impossible to have tips removed.

 

As an Australian I have found the whole subject somewhat distressing. The concept of mandatory gratuities seems bizarre, and a contradiction in terms. Whilst I understand the American employment model, I do not agree with it.

Hence my initial thoughts prior to this research was to have it removed, and tip manually.

However, much as I might find the cruise line employment practises objectionable, and wish to protest against it, it is not the fault of the staff. Had I done this, the explicit people I was intending to reward may well have been worse off.

I am NOT willing to punish those people just to make a statement,and trying to keep track of exactly how much cash I had handed out to make sure I reach the base level is too much like hard work at a time I will be trying to relax.

 

So, Pre Paid it is for me.

 

There seem to be many many posts from cruisers on how they always have tips removed, and tip manually.

To those who are genuinely well intentioned, please read the above and perhaps rethink...

 

To those who are are otherwise, I call you out as liars and cheapskates.

( I wanted to use much stronger words here, but do not wish to run foul of Board rules !!)

 

Happy cruising from an excited newbie :D

Edited June 30, 2016 by Ferris42
spelling

[kazy66]

As most people know, tipping in the UK is not ' the norm' and where given, is usually, at most 10%

Whilst our upcoming cruise (Eastern Carribean)will be our first, we are seasoned disneyworld visitors and well aware of tipping protocol in the US.

We have experienced servers who over emphasise where to add gratuities when in restaurants in disneyworld, probably due to other Brits ' ignorance' or lack of acceptance to acknowledge usual practice.

We always give at least the expected 18% in restaurants, often exceeding 20% for excellent service.

We have prepaid gratuities for our upcoming cruise and have no intention of having them removed on board!

We are often critical of visitors to the uk, or any other country for that matter who refuse to go with accepted custom and practice and feel we should tip according to practice when visiting the US- when in Rome...!!!

Edited June 30, 2016 by kazy66

[densol]

We are off on 14 night Med cruise in August in a Grand suite. Its cost with excursions around £10k and my pre paid tips are £500. All paid for in advance, all forgotten - around 5% of my holiday cost. In the grand scheme of things a neglible cost.

 

I'll also have dollars for room service and dollars for anyone I " latch " onto like bar staff who keep me well topped up with drinks as Im greedy :) . I dont really like handing out cash like Im some sort of god, so removing pre paid tips and paying cash would be awful and stressful for me ! Im on my cruise to relax.

 

Those who march down to guest services and remove all tips and say they will pay cash ? Yeah right I bet they do

[Paul65]

We are booked on Oasis in January and are traveling with a group so we booked through a TA. He suggested that if we choose to go to a specialty restaurant instead of the MDR for dinner, go to the customer service desk and remove the gratuities for that night for the MDR staff. He said it was something like $7 per diner ($21 for our party of 3).

 

Do people really do that?

 

Is that considered rude? Or is it considered fair?

 

Constructive thoughts are appreciated.

 

Yes, some people really do that.

 

Yes, I would consider it rude.

 

No, it's not really fair, because that amount isn't only for the MDR staff.

 

But some people get really touchy about gratuities and want to make sure they don't pay one dime more than they think is "right." In my opinion, it's best just to leave the automatic gratuities alone and not worry one bit about it, nor spend any of your vacation time at Guest Services asking for some of it back. That said, the choice is yours, if you want to do that kind of thing.

[Paul65]

I LOVE all of your responses. Thank you.

 

I wanted to add (but it was too late to edit) - this is not MY actual travel agent. This is the agent I had to use in order to stay with the group booking. I bet if I called my agent, she would be appalled as well.

 

And regarding the saving money comment, I was thinking...if I can afford to pay $3k+ for a cruise, almost $2k for airfare plus transfers, plus drinks etc, is $21 going to make a difference for me? No. But it will for the servers.

 

Thank you all for your comments. I did truly wonder if anyone had done that or even heard of that being done.

 

We've heard just about everything, when it comes to tipping. :D It's a big deal to some people, but sounds like it's not to you, so I think you'll be just fine leaving your auto-gratuities alone and not wasting a moment worrying about it.

[whoops]

Is it really the expectation of staff that those who leave auto gratuities on also are expected to tip individually? If that is the case the system is flawed in my view.

Edited June 30, 2016 by whoops

[Paul65]

Is it really the expectation of staff that those who leave auto gratuities on also are expected to tip individually? If that is the case the system is flawed in my view.

 

No. There is no expectation of double-tipping.

 

Actually, let me back-track on that a little. I'm sure the staff expect that some people are going to give them a little extra, because it's not unusual to do that. There's probably also an expectation that some people aren't going to tip them at all. But it's certainly not expected that everyone should tip above and beyond. If they get the standard gratuity from you; they'll be happy. If you enjoyed their service enough that you want to give them a little extra, they'll appreciate it. It's no more complicated than that.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Paul65

[Biker19]

I did truly wonder if anyone had done that or even heard of that being done.

 

Do you think anyone would admit that here? As another poster has mentioned, hang around GS on the last night of the cruise to find out.:cool: