Tipping Over and Above Suggested Gratuities

[cruzsnooze]

You are almost correct.. The Autotip $$ and any tips received by passengers that remove the Autotip are pooled with other ships in the same class and distributed. Any $$ given by a passenger that has not removed the Autotip is kept by the recipient. That is why you put your name & cabin number on the envelope.

 

People want to believe that the tipping they give stays on the ship and the crew that served them but you and I know it's just not that way. I have found out that it is indeed divided based on which class of ship. I'm also told that the reason the amount went up is to compensate for countries and people that don't tip sooooooooooooooooooooooooo we supplementing them which is 100% unconscionable.

[moki'smommy]

We spent August on the Diamond. While I didn't specifically count, I'm certain our steward had about 18 cabins on each leg. There was another steward who did our cabin twice during the month.

[shredie]

People want to believe that the tipping they give stays on the ship and the crew that served them but you and I know it's just not that way. I have found out that it is indeed divided based on which class of ship. I'm also told that the reason the amount went up is to compensate for countries and people that don't tip sooooooooooooooooooooooooo we supplementing them which is 100% unconscionable.

 

So who is your expert source for this information?

[caribill]

You are almost correct.. The Autotip $$ and any tips received by passengers that remove the Autotip are pooled with other ships in the same class and distributed.

 

People want to believe that the tipping they give stays on the ship and the crew that served them but you and I know it's just not that way. I have found out that it is indeed divided based on which class of ship.

 

And when I asked the person in charge of crew pay on a recent Princess cruise I was told there is no sharing of tips between ships.

 

What you tip on a ship goes to staff on that ship only.

[antsp]

A room steward usually has approx 17 cabins to service, next time you walk past a cart look at his list of pax on his board.

 

a room steward receive $5 per person a day from the share of the fixed gratuities and he services approx 17 cabins he is earning $170 a day tax free. That's approximate $46000 per 9 month contract. Just as a guide the average inco

Edited September 25, 2016 by antsp

[GUT2407]

Tipping is personnel and private. Each should do as they feel is the right thing to do. That is why envelopes are avaiable at the Customer Service desk. I would never ask how much someone types and would consider it a rude and insulting question if anybody asked me.

 

Yep, tipping seems so hard.

 

Do if you want don't if you dont want to.

[SinbadThePorter]

Yep, tipping seems so hard.

 

Do if you want don't if you dont want to.

 

Agreed.

 

If someone is tipping so that they will get better service than everybody else, then tip away. Although I would imagine that cruise management would not be impressed that stewards have to be bribed to provide better than standard service.

 

If someone is tipping because they want to top up poor wages, then tip away. Ship gratuities basically function as a labour surcharge anyway, and extra tipping is just an inefficient way of achieving the same thing.

 

If someone is tipping to make themselves feel good about themselves, then tip away. Just don't expect anybody else to be impressed.

[Aus Traveller]

A room steward usually has approx 17 cabins to service, next time you walk past a cart look at his list of pax on his board.

 

a room steward receive $5 per person a day from the share of the fixed gratuities and he services approx 17 cabins he is earning $170 a day tax free. That's approximate $46000 per 9 month contract. Just as a guide the average inco

17 cabins at an average of $10 per cabin is $1,170 per week in their share of the auto tips. Add tips given personally and the small amount of remuneration as per their contract, and their take-home pay isn't too bad:).

[Geoffa30]

Slightly confused by the suggestion that tips do not stay on the ship but get shared across the fleet so I have a question...

 

We always give our steward a tip on the last night - do they keep this money or have to hand it in for it to be shared with others?

[GUT2407]

Slightly confused by the suggestion that tips do not stay on the ship but get shared across the fleet so I have a question...

 

We always give our steward a tip on the last night - do they keep this money or have to hand it in for it to be shared with others?

 

If you have ever read a crew contract it states all cash tips MUST be handed in.

 

There is argument over what happens then.

[keithm]

Regarding gratuities, I read where some leave cash (a couple of dollars) daily for their room stewart and others mentioned they give their room stewart a $20 tip on embarkation.. This is over and above the suggested gratuities. Curious to know if this is a widespread practice. Thanks

We always tip on the last night. Some just do the "auto-tip" and no more. Then there are those who remove the tip & pocket it. Opinions can't say enough about those types! We found the staff on the Regal to be some of the nicest we ever met. We'll tip the attendant on the last night & then our waiter & their assistant. We'll only tip the Maître D if a special request was granted such as a prime table spot etc.

[triptolemus]

 

If you have ever read a crew contract it states all cash tips MUST be handed in.

 

Source?

[floridalover5623]

Source?

 

Well known fact.

[tonit964]

Regarding gratuities, I read where some leave cash (a couple of dollars) daily for their room stewart and others mentioned they give their room stewart a $20 tip on embarkation.. This is over and above the suggested gratuities. Curious to know if this is a widespread practice. Thanks

 

We leave the auto tips on. So easy.

 

We will give extra, on the last day, to those that may have gone above and beyond and for those staff members, we also fill out the card explaining what they did to make our cruise fabulous.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Well known fact.

 

And in my experience "well known facts" are very often neither well known nor facts! Now if you have a printed document of some sort, that might be a fact.

 

Tom

Edited September 25, 2016 by Pierlesscruisers

[sloopsailor]

Well known fact.

 

Another "well known fact" is that if auto tips have been removed, they must turn in any cash tips since it replaces the auto tip amount that is shared. If auto tips are left in place, they can keep it since it is additional to the auto tip amount that is shared. The key is whether the cash tip is an additional bonus above the standard tip amount or not.

 

This "well known fact" has been confirmed by people involved in the cruise industry who post here regularly, so I prefer to believe it rather than other "well known facts" posted here. :D

Edited September 25, 2016 by sloopsailor

[triptolemus]

Well known fact.

 

Sorry, but no.

[CallistaSkye]

I plan on paying the gratuity before we go on the ship, so that way we don't have to worry about that part.

 

But we do tip if people are extra nice, or help us out in some way. We also make sure to get their names and fill out the little cards.

My work has a similar "kudos" system with the feedback cards, so I know how nice it is to get one with meaningful comments on it about how you have helped someone. I try to be very specific on them because of that. It seems like a very small thing, but getting comments about how you made a difference to someone really is a day brightener.

 

We also try to "preclean" our room. My mom cleaned hotel rooms and the stories she has about how people left their rooms is horrifying. I can ONLY imagine the things that the poor stewards have to deal with on a daily basis.

[floridalover5623]

Source?

 

And in my experience "well known facts" are very often neither well known nor facts! Now if you have a printed document of some sort, that might be a fact.

 

Tom

 

Take my word for it. :D

[triptolemus]

Take my word for it. :D

 

I'll pass.

[floridalover5623]

I'll pass.

 

That's your choice.

[triptolemus]

That's your choice.

 

[nanabananna]

Regarding gratuities, I read where some leave cash (a couple of dollars) daily for their room stewart and others mentioned they give their room stewart a $20 tip on embarkation.. This is over and above the suggested gratuities. Curious to know if this is a widespread practice. Thanks

 

My personal opinion is, I tip the normal suggested gratuities and then at the end of the cruise I give a Thank You cash tip to my room steward. I never tip on embarkation.

 

You do not have to tip at all, but I feel that is wrong to do, again MY opinion.

 

Do what you feel like doing. No matter what others say or advise.

 

Remember this is MY own opinions. :)

[MGAfhc]

A while ago someone posted a link to the Princess Crew Contract http://crew-center.com/princess-cruises-crew-wages-details . My reading of it is that all tips must be turned in to the pool and become a part of the pool. It may be that any excess after making up for those who cancel tips will be returned to the employee who received the tip.

[plan09]

CallistaSkye

I agree with you. I cleaned hotel rooms as a part time job and am always amazed that folks tend to readily tip the server who delivered food but not the person who cleaned your toilet. I think it has something to do with being face to face.

My opinion, I don't presume to tell others how to spend their money.

 

 

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