Are gratuities getting excessive or am I mean?

[Wordzz]

You make an interesting point about the tips being included in the fare on the World Cruise. Effectively this works just like most customers would like it to work by including them in the fare for all voyages. Why do it just on the World Cruise?, because of the shock many would have when they saw the total on their account. And no I don't believe you would be permitted to remove them, any more than the refuseniks would be able to if the system was changed.

 

What do you base that on?

[balf]

You must have noticed that most posters on this large thread favour the tips being added to the fare.

 

David.

[keithm]

We are travelling in a couple of months and have worked out that we will be paying around $750/800 in gratuities on daily charge,table wine,bars etc.I know I can have the standard charge deducted on arrival but I would like other people's opinion.The British pound equivalent of about £600 is becoming a considerable percentage in addition to the cruise price.

We have worked out that if every other couple pay around the same in gratuities as we will, then the total collected by Cunard will be roughly the equivalent to $750/800 per member of staff,excluding officers, for a 21 day trip.......at $250 per week per employee I would not be surprised if the gratuities covers ALL the wage cost

Does anyone know how the distribution of these gratuities actually works for the staff??

If my figures don't add up then let me know where I am going wrong !

The auto tip is there to see that staff get a fair wage. The higher priced lines usually include the tips as the trip is usually far higher than a standard cruise fare. Since a luxury cruise is much more costly, they generally pay the staff a much higher wage. This is one reason that most cruiselines are not "headquartered" in Europe as they would all have to pay the EU prevailing wages. If the lines all paid the higher wages, you can bet your fare would be MUCH higher than it currently is.

[Ray66]

You must have noticed that most posters on this large thread favour the tips being added to the fare.

 

David.

 

Yes but we wouldn't be able to use our OBC to pay the Auto Gratuity Charge.

Also travel agents would be getting more commission because the fares will be higher.

[insanemagnet]

You make an interesting point about the tips being included in the fare on the World Cruise.

...

Why do it just on the World Cruise?, because of the shock many would have when they saw the total on their account.

 

"Included" is such an interesting word.

 

However the $64,000 question is - Does Cunard pay the calculated gratuity into the tip pool.

 

If they don't then they are no better than any passenger removing the tips, but I would bet that even if they pay over something, it isn't 100%.

[Wordzz]

You must have noticed that most posters on this large thread favour the tips being added to the fare.

 

David.

 

So you're saying that 'customers' who sail on Cunard are all posters on this forum. Really?

[resistk]

So you're saying that 'customers' who sail on Cunard are all posters on this forum. Really?

 

Well no one really knows what percent of passengers on average go to the pursors' desk and remove the auto tip. Also no one really knows how the autotip is distributed. But I think the number who do not like the auto tip is significant though not the majority. Another line, MSC, once tried to dissuade removal of the autotip by making it very difficult to get it removed and required justification in writing delivered in person at a designated place at the end of the cruise. They stopped that nonsense after momentous complaints by the pax.

 

I would also add the crew are often from economically distressed countries where the prevailing wage paid to crew would be considered reasonable that is why you see a lot of well educated Serbs and Ukrainians these days on various lines squirting hand sanitizer instead of being employed as teachers or civil servants.

[Classiccruiser777]

Crew work 70 hours/week, every week while on board.

[Maid Marion]

I think the tipping arrangements are good.

On a cruise I was not happy with the attention of my cabin steward so went to the Pursers Office about a week into the cruise to have them removed. The Purser asked for my reasons and told me that the crew member would have his share of the pot reduced. The Purser asked me to hold on for a few more days. By the evening the attention by my steward had improved to my total satisfaction and it continued to the end of the cruise. The Purser contacted me a few days after my complaint to see if the service had improved and I was pleased to report that it had. Accordingly, I was happy for the full amount to be added to my onboard account.

The system in effect makes the staff members semi self employed and they know they will suffer financially if their service drops below what is expected of them.

[balf]

So you're saying that 'customers' who sail on Cunard are all posters on this forum. Really?

 

I didn't say that. I said most posters on this thread.

 

David.

[balf]

"Included" is such an interesting word.

 

However the $64,000 question is - Does Cunard pay the calculated gratuity into the tip pool.

 

If they don't then they are no better than any passenger removing the tips, but I would bet that even if they pay over something, it isn't 100%.

 

They say they do, don't you believe them?

 

David.

[BlueRiband]

I think the tipping arrangements are good.

On a cruise I was not happy with the attention of my cabin steward so went to the Pursers Office about a week into the cruise to have them removed. The Purser asked for my reasons and told me that the crew member would have his share of the pot reduced. The Purser asked me to hold on for a few more days. By the evening the attention by my steward had improved to my total satisfaction and it continued to the end of the cruise. The Purser contacted me a few days after my complaint to see if the service had improved and I was pleased to report that it had. Accordingly, I was happy for the full amount to be added to my onboard account.

The system in effect makes the staff members semi self employed and they know they will suffer financially if their service drops below what is expected of them.

 

I'm glad the situation was finally resolved to everyone's satisfaction. If the Purser never asked you why you were removing them, and had not followed through on your complaint, it might not have been known that your steward was failing to do his job as should be expected.

 

FWIW, NCL will no longer remove gratuities on board. If one wants to do so they have to get a form from the Purser, complete it with their complaints and how they were not resolved, then image it to a shore side email address for credit. Brilliant. They now have a digitized central database in the passengers own handwriting on why they are removing gratuities. The genuine service failings can be investigated while Cheap Charlie and Tightwad Terry will have to invent a new excuse with each sailing.

[Yoshikitty]

 

I would also add the crew are often from economically distressed countries where the prevailing wage paid to crew would be considered reasonable that is why you see a lot of well educated Serbs and Ukrainians these days on various lines squirting hand sanitizer instead of being employed as teachers or civil servants.

 

So you basically say that it's ok to cut them off from parts of their earnings by removing the autotip ? [sarcasm]

 

All I am hearing from you sounds like you are well aware what you do to the weakest of the staff and need excuses for doing so to keep your concience clean.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Yoshikitty

[Zippy99]

I do not think that you can attach concerns about currency fluctuations to the delegation of gratuities.

I would LOVE to be able to book my entire World Cruise in the UK but pay in my USD.

IF you do not agree with gratuities, then remove them.

The gratuities for a 21 day double occupancy Britannia cabin amounts to 367 GBP. Either you accept it or you don't.

 

Is there anything stopping you? The reason I ask is that in the past I've booked Cunard cruises in the US for travel from the UK and the US. The cruise was cheaper at the time and gave me price drop protection which I thought was great when one of the cruises dropped considerably in price. On Cunard cruises though the loyalty card systems of the US and UK weren't joined up and probably still aren't and at the end of the cruise you had to phone the relevant office to get the cruise recognised against your 'in country' loyalty membership. I guess a few emails to relevant cruise travel agents in the UK would determine this for sure, but be aware the earlier you book, could cost you, as we don't get price drop protection.

[insanemagnet]

They say they do, don't you believe them?

 

They say the gratuities are included in the cost of the fare.

 

That is not the same as saying that they will be paying $13 per day into the tip pool.

[resistk]

So you basically say that it's ok to cut them off from parts of their earnings by removing the autotip ? [sarcasm]

 

All I am hearing from you sounds like you are well aware what you do to the weakest of the staff and need excuses for doing so to keep your concience clean.

 

Carnival PLC and Carnival Corp. are public companies. Anyone that is that incensed about crew not getting paid enough can buy a 100 shares and put a resolution up at the next annual meeting. I am just a customer who can decide what they want to tip and how, so don't make me responsible for alleged hiring practices that you disagree with.

[alc13]

I am just a customer who can decide what they want to tip and how, so don't make me responsible for alleged hiring practices that you disagree with.

 

Carnival knows some people will remove the auto-tip and takes you into account in their pricing. They still have to meet the same payroll, after all, to say nothing of profit. It is probably a very dynamic formula.

 

But in that sense, by removing the auto-tip you get a little something for free. Someone else has to pay for it, if not on your cruise then on the next one.

 

I still vote for renaming it a service surcharge.

[Merry Maid]

See post #3, and the two links there, for answers to both questions.

Thank you for pointing out those links B.R.

MM

[Merry Maid]

Personally I think that the mods should ban all tipping threads. The arguments for and against are so well documented on this board and positions are so entrenched. Really, one could construct an entire thread oneself.

And sooner or later the epithets start to fly. Cheap Charlies, tightwads etc. The Americans condemn those who remove the charge, the Aussies declare it's not their custom, the Brits are embarrassed and defensive. Can we not just shut up about the whole thing and get on with what we do ourselves because we will anyway irrespective of any online squabble.

MM

[bananavan]

Personally I think that the mods should ban all tipping threads. The arguments for and against are so well documented on this board and positions are so entrenched. Really, one could construct an entire thread oneself.

And sooner or later the epithets start to fly. Cheap Charlies, tightwads etc. The Americans condemn those who remove the charge, the Aussies declare it's not their custom, the Brits are embarrassed and defensive. Can we not just shut up about the whole thing and get on with what we do ourselves because we will anyway irrespective of any online squabble.

MM

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

None of these posts have resulted in an epiphany in a guest, nor a change in the cruise system.

It is time we stop beating the dead horse and bury it.

[Host Hattie]

It is time we stop beating the dead horse and bury it.

 

The easiest way to do that is to stop posting on the thread !

 

 

I don't have the power to ban certain subjects unless they do not comply with our guidelines. I have had to delete a number of posts but in general this has been an interesting and civilised discussion.

You should see the tipping threads on other boards :eek:

Many thanks for your contributions.

[Alanxx]

As I started this thread perhaps I could end it with a quotation from Edmund Burke

 

" All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"

 

Gratuities may not be evil but the principle is the same !!