Who tips their cabin steward

[marcyjane]

Yes, Always :)

[grapau27]

We found some info on here about putting together a sort of grab bag with chocolate and stamps and other small tokens from our area to give to our cabin attendant on either day 1 or 2. We sailed on FOS last April and Wendy from Jamaica was our cabin attendant. Whether it was the goodie bag which by the way she was blown away by (nearly cried). or just that she was already a great cabin attendant I will never know. Only been on three cruises before that but she was far and away the best cabin attendant we've had yet. We also added some $$ at the end. I will be on Jewel in a few weeks with the plan to repeat what I see as a nice gesture either way, we will see if the results are as good.

That's lovely and you sound lovely x

 

love sailing with RCCL

[grapau27]

Interesting about equating tips with sales commission comparison. I was in sales most of my adult life. I was always one of the top sales people in whichever career I picked. Right from the start of each sales career I demanded to be put on 100% commission. I knew I worked hard, was very organized, thus could make a lot more money than others that did not put in the true effort. I was in control of the money I made, and did not go hungry. ;)

 

If I was on a guaranteed salary, what would my incentive be? I was happy that I made much more money than some of my slacker counterparts who really needed to be on salary to survive.

 

I tip extra for service that deserves it.

I have been in sales for 40 years employed, commission and had a good living and my wife has worked for the British government for 39 years with good benefits.

Anyone on commission only is doing it because there are no other jobs.I believe a lot of crew and employees in US are exploited by their employers.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Thorben-Hendrik]

RCI lets you remove grats any time.....no questions asked- al you need is to pick up the cabin-phone....so they are OK with it!

No need to change

cruise-lines.....

[island lady]

Me.

 

love sailing with RCCL

 

 

No .....really??!! :')

Edited March 20, 2017 by island lady

[grapau27]

RCI lets you remove grats any time.....no questions asked- al you need is to pick up the cabin-phone....so they are OK with it!

No need to change

cruise-lines.....

Even though i pay my tips upfront and always give extra your comments will be welcomed I'm sure by many cruisers and reading threads in the UK about tipping many go along with your views even if our American friends don't.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[island lady]

I have been in sales for 40 years employed, commission and had a good living and my wife has worked for the British government for 39 years with good benefits.

Anyone on commission only is doing it because there are no other jobs.I believe a lot of crew and employees in US are exploited by their employers.

 

love sailing with RCCL

 

 

LOL!!! ;p:'):'):') Wow...that's the first I heard that I could not find another job except for the commissioned sales business. I could have stayed on salary if I wanted, but I made much more money on commission than on salary. I was regularly offered jobs from head hunters of other companies, knowing I was very good at what I did, and made very good money, for both myself and company. I loved my job, plus my company treated me very well...go figure. :cool: Guess I am stupid eh?

 

That career enabled me to retire early at age 54 with enough money to do a lot of cruising. ;)

[grapau27]

No really??!! :')

The question was meant to get a reflection on how many people gave extra and how much on top of prepaid or autogratuities for their cabin steward.I always​ give extra and sometimes the cabin steward is pleased and sometimes they look huffed with my 30-40 dollars on a 7 night cruise.we are due on our 44 the cruise next month.

Regards Graham.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[grapau27]

LOL!!! ;p:'):'):') Wow...that's the first I heard that I could not find another job except for the commissioned sales business. I could have stayed on salary if I wanted, but I made much more money on commission than on salary. I was regularly offered jobs from head hunters of other companies, knowing I was very good at what I did, and made very good money, for both myself and company. I loved my job, plus my company treated me very well...go figure. :cool: Guess I am stupid eh?

 

That career enabled me to retire early at age 54 with enough money to do a lot of cruising. ;)

Good for you but that is the reality in the UK.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[grapau27]

Good for you but that is the reality in the UK.

 

love sailing with RCCL

And no you are not stupid but the vast majority of these jobs in the UK are companies getting people on the cheap but still act as if they employ them.We are going on cruise 44 in April and 45 in June.Balcony or above on our last 35.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[bucky0926]

We only tip extra if we feel they have gone above and beyond. We have few requests and if those aren't met then we do not. If we feel they have then we do.

 

Find it hard to tip the MDR crew since we are MTD and never have the same wait staff. However, if we hook onto a team early in the cruise that we like we usually ask for them and if the wait isn't too long we usually do the wait. If we get them say 4 or 5 nights we will tip extra.

[cocod08]

I cannot remember which sailing it was but there was one I did not leave an extra tip. I never saw him (her) the entire week. And he(she) was not there the morning I left.

 

 

 

That is how I do it too. I will tip extra but if I haven't seen them all week and they haven't done anything "extra" I just leave the standard tip. This has happened my last 2 cruises. Never saw the cabin steward all week. Not sure if it's a solo traveler thing[emoji848] or it's just been the luck of the draw. The cabins have always been clean and well sorted. So never any complaints.

 

 

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[grapau27]

To date we have always seen our cabin steward but for you not to have seen them you do right not to leave any extra.

I have learned a lot since i started this thread.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[widallas]

As an introvert, I am not always big on meeting people, smiling, making small talk, etc. Its a bit of a challenge, really...but I always do above and beyond and I know my work shows that. I agree with the people who have mentioned their "ghost" stewards....if they do the extra things that I ask, then I don't need to find out their life story for them to earn an extra tip. Leave ice and fresh glasses every day, pose the animals in funny poses in my kids room, check in on them even when we weren't around (all of which happened the last cruise)...you've gone beyond just wiping down and emptying the trash. Our steward was super pleasant and helpful when asked, and did extra without being asked...but was always on the run and not one to stop and chat. And I was happy leaving a monetary thanks. Very different scenario than not seeing the steward AT ALL (and I understand leaving just the auto-grats for that) but something to think about.

[MrsKC08]

Though there may be another reason for that. Back in the day, gratuities for housekeepers at hotels was actually a geographically specific phenomenon: IIRC hotels based on the East Coast generally paid their staff based on the assumption that patrons would tip them. That was the standard practice on the East Coast. Meanwhile hotel chains that grew up on the West Coast operated differently. They paid their housekeepers a full living wage and made no Provisions for them to receive gratuities. Of course around the nineteen-sixties hotel chains from the East and the West started overlapping each other's territories and things got very messy. Eventually hotel chains saw the financial benefit for themselves from treating their housekeepers as tipped employees. The industry has rallied around the East Coast model but there are still many folks old enough to have the established their perspectives regarding tipping housekeepers back when things were different. Old habits are hard to break.

 

 

 

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I was actually a hotel maid back several SEVERAL years ago (on the south east coast) and I can recall only one time that I EVER got a tip and that from a group that stayed in a room New Years Eve and trashed the place. They probably felt sorry for leaving it in such shape....but then again, the tip was only about $5 or so.

My husband and I travel a lot and stay in hotels sometimes for a night and sometimes for 3-4 nights...and we have only left a tip for a hotel maid once, and that was because it was exceptional!

[es0]

I have a question for long time cruisers. It is my understanding, there was a time when the the tips were handed out manually and at the cruisers discretion.

 

What I would like to know is.. if you spent more in tips back then, or if you spend more now with the pre-paid/automatic tips+extra that you give? Or is it about the same?

[bUU]

I have a question for long time cruisers. It is my understanding, there was a time when the the tips were handed out manually and at the cruisers discretion. What I would like to know is.. if you spent more in tips back then, or if you spend more now with the pre-paid/automatic tips+extra that you give? Or is it about the same?

On Majesty of the Seas and Serenade of the Seas, we were given a bunch of envelopes to stuff and then hand to the appropriate crew member. Since we received no especial service above and beyond, we gave the recommended amount to each one.

[davekathy]

The gratuities we leave are what the cruise lines we are traveling with suggests. Nothing more nothing less. Even back in the day when we use to stuff the envelopes and hand them out to each staff member that render a service.

[sellwingri]

If you want to tip over and above the standard gratuity, had that person cash. So not use the envelopes they give you at the end of the cruise. Money in the envelopes is shared with all so your room steward/server isn't personally getting it.

[bUU]

If you want to tip over and above the standard gratuity, had that person cash. So not use the envelopes they give you at the end of the cruise. Money in the envelopes is shared with all so your room steward/server isn't personally getting it.

Are you saying that the crew is allowed to accept gratuities outside the established system of tip sharing?

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[grapau27]

I have a question for long time cruisers. It is my understanding, there was a time when the the tips were handed out manually and at the cruisers discretion.

 

What I would like to know is.. if you spent more in tips back then, or if you spend more now with the pre-paid/automatic tips+extra that you give? Or is it about the same?

We gave more then because the service was a lot better then and it felt like a personal thank you for excellent customer service.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[grapau27]

I was actually a hotel maid back several SEVERAL years ago (on the south east coast) and I can recall only one time that I EVER got a tip and that from a group that stayed in a room New Years Eve and trashed the place. They probably felt sorry for leaving it in such shape....but then again, the tip was only about $5 or so.

My husband and I travel a lot and stay in hotels sometimes for a night and sometimes for 3-4 nights...and we have only left a tip for a hotel maid once, and that was because it was exceptional!

In November in Orlando i left a couple of dollars with a thank you /Gracia's note for the maid daily and everything was perfect and we never had anyone banging on our hotel door like other TripAdvisor reviewers had experienced.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[Cel_cruise]

In the old days (my first cruise was in the Carnival Festival in 1987 maybe??) we tipped the recommended amount for good service in the envelopes at the end of the cruise. I much prefer the auto grats for the basics and adjust from there.

 

The same general group - steward, waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter, maitre de were on the list back then...

 

 

ETA - and the breakouts were similarly weighted to the current ones as well...the totals were lower (it was 1087!) - but not THAT much lower...I vaguely recollect the original one being closer to 9$/day. 4$/day more than 30 years ago doesn't seem too bad..the room costs are still similar too!!

 

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Edited March 20, 2017 by Cel_cruise

[grapau27]

In the old days (my first cruise was in the Carnival Festival in 1987 maybe??) we tipped the recommended amount for good service in the envelopes at the end of the cruise. I much prefer the auto grats for the basics and adjust from there.

 

The same general group - steward, waiter, assistant waiter, head waiter, maitre de were on the list back then...

 

 

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Then you felt you were rewarding friends who had looked after you but now the prepaid is a cold way and we are told it is shared by many others out of a pot and the service is no way as good nowadays.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[okieyankee]

We always tip above the prepaid gratuities. We also leave little treats and snacks in the room almost each day when we go to dinner. We just enjoy spreading the love!

What a lovely idea. Did you bring things from home to share?

 

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