Gratuities & tips are not obligatory

[dcgrumpy]

Best part is the 18% on merchandise like t shirts, do you tip the check out person at old Navy??? Oh well we pay it because it's vacation.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

I've never been charged a gratuity on merchandise like clothing etc...

[Sea_Salt_Sailor]

Hi All,

 

I just wanted to share something with new cruisers (and old if they do not know this).

 

As I am sure you are aware each cruiser will have gratuities & tips added to their SeaPass account every day (unless you have paid these in advance with your booking).

 

I don't actually agree with these automatic tips, as I feel that I should decide who has earned this & most importantly how much I wish to tip.

 

As a family of 5 travelling the cost per day @ $13.50 for 7 days will be quite considerable at $472.50! Now I can honestly say that I would never tip this much during a weeks land holiday so will certainly not be forced to pay this at sea.

 

Now for those of you not in the know, please take note. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY. That's right, there is not obligation on your part to pay. The booking information and website will not highlight this as RC want you to pay. When reading their information is does make you feel like this is obligatory, however if you read the very, very small print you will note this is not the case. All you need to do is go to reception on Day 1 and ask that these gratuities & tips are removed from your account....and voila!

 

You can then reward the staff members that you want to reward.

 

Happy cruising.

 

Reading this make me sick... if you can't afford the tip suggestion, you should've not cruise at all... There is people working for you in the background that will receive part of that tip you desired not to tip because you "can't" afford. When you go to the Windjammer, did you tip the waiter that cleaned your table?, when you're walking around and leave a glass empty, did you tip the crew person that pick up the glass and cleaned?, did you went to the laundry and tipped the guys that are washing and cleaning your pool towel or bed cloth, you and your family dirty each day? I bet not...

 

I started cruising in my early teens and always saw my parent tipping all the crew that made our cruise amazing and now as young man taking my family I continue doing so, not even removing the tipping for the toddler kid I have.

 

Next time, book a trip to a desert where is no one and then you will not have to tip anyone.

 

Sailor

[Suzieanna]

When you go to a land based restaurant or stay in a land based hotel that $500 that you don't have to pay in "tips" you will have paid upfront in the fact that your room is $XX a night and your meals are $XX a night, and then you have to pay $XX for your entertainment and all these separate charges will have a service charge "built in"

 

You say you worked for 3 years to pay for this vacation??? How would you feel if you were relying on people giving you "tips", who then decided they weren't going to pay you because they had already paid enough for your company's product.

 

I HATE THIS SO MUCH.

 

All work is honourable, and all people deserve their pay. If they are rubbish, then that is a management issue and it is not up to us as customers to withhold their wages.

 

Pay is not Tips.

 

A tip is for "above and beyond". Pay is a right.

[katiel53]

Thanks for your comment nolesrules.

 

I get what you are saying, however staff wages should not be my concern.....there I have said it! Many will feel the exact same I am sure, but will not be brave enough say.

 

Having spent thousands on this cruise I do not feel it that I should automatically be forced to cough up almost $500 dollars.

 

That being said I always tip those I have had direct contact with that have given excellent service. Those behind the scenes will be missed, and that is something I honestly never thought about. Maybe I will offer something at the end to be shared, but most certainly not what that intend on adding.:(

 

My wish is that the tips would be made a non-removable service charge so that everyone would have to pay the same amount. I think that it's not the fault of the cruise line that there are 5 people in your family and 2 in mine. I feel as though by removing the auto tips, you (and I don't mean just you figuratively) are stiffing the staff.

 

For those who feel it's not their concern about the wages of the staff, another solution is to raise the fare for each person to that which would include the tips. Either way it is more fair to everyone. I'm sorry that you feel it is too much to pay, and I am sure you will be telling your wait staff, steward etc that you are removing the tips and will just give what you feel is fair. That way, they can give you the service you fully deserve.

[setsail]

http://www.cruiseadvice.com.au/2017/01/pays-tip-crew-cruise/

[MrsKC08]

I am part of the group that feels the cruise lines should just raise the rate to include the fee.

 

And then people would complain about the cruise prices...which many already do.

 

Here is the thing...if you can't afford the gratuities, then maybe you can't actually afford the cruise. The daily gratuities should always be the factor in whether or not you can afford the cruise or not, period! Now, you definitely should not feel that you have to tip EXTRA, but $13.50/day per person on a cruise is really insignificant when you factor in all the service that you receive and require during that day. And yes, even those children are taken care of as well (I've seen posts from people who are amazed that they charge that fee for a child).

 

As many will mention and come on here to say....there are SOOOO many people behind the scenes that take of things for you that you will never see. The kitchen staff, the cleaning of the deck staff, the laundry staff, etc. It takes everyone of the crew to keep the ship going and working like a well oiled machine.

 

It just amazes me the people who want to state "the wages of the employees is not my concern", well...then don't cruise. It's as simple as that!

[DCGuy64]

Hi All,

 

 

 

I just wanted to share something with new cruisers (and old if they do not know this).

 

 

 

As I am sure you are aware each cruiser will have gratuities & tips added to their SeaPass account every day (unless you have paid these in advance with your booking).

 

 

 

I don't actually agree with these automatic tips, as I feel that I should decide who has earned this & most importantly how much I wish to tip.

 

 

 

As a family of 5 travelling the cost per day @ $13.50 for 7 days will be quite considerable at $472.50! Now I can honestly say that I would never tip this much during a weeks land holiday so will certainly not be forced to pay this at sea.

 

 

 

Now for those of you not in the know, please take note. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY. That's right, there is not obligation on your part to pay. The booking information and website will not highlight this as RC want you to pay. When reading their information is does make you feel like this is obligatory, however if you read the very, very small print you will note this is not the case. All you need to do is go to reception on Day 1 and ask that these gratuities & tips are removed from your account....and voila!

 

 

 

You can then reward the staff members that you want to reward.

 

 

 

Happy cruising.

 

 

 

Thank you, I was not aware of that. Personally, I'd always assumed they were obligatory and I'd probably rather pay up front than try to pay each crew member individually. But it's good to know, thanks.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[postmeome]

You don't have to pay extra on the items that receive the 18% auto gratuity (and it's not added to ALL onboard purchases). But that money doesn't go to the same service personnel as the daily gratuity charges.

C'mon then,tell us all what an auto gratuity is,what do you pay it on,is it drinks,is it food,who gets this 18% auto gratuity,hurry up footballs on in 10 mins and there's a queue at the bar.

[texascruiser17]

Don't forget to tip yer bartender.... or not [emoji6].

 

 

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I know you guys are joking around, but as a first time cruiser, I have a lot of silly questions, like, do you tip your bartender on a cruise or is the gratuity included in the price of the drink?

 

Also, if you choose to tip a certain person extra because they made your trip awesome, are they required to share that extra tip with everyone?

 

As a first time cruiser, and a person who spends all day at their job cutting costs, tipping is just not somewhere you cut costs. I loved that I could prepay my gratuity upfront, that way I factor it into the price of my cruise, just as I do with the port fees and taxes and not have to worry about budgeting it later.

[Mommy1971]

We do both. On the first day we tip the room steward and his assistant in cash because we know our kids are slobs and depending on their service again on the last night. We also tip the pool butler and never have a problem with seating.

 

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[Tommy3putts]

I know you guys are joking around, but as a first time cruiser, I have a lot of silly questions, like, do you tip your bartender on a cruise or is the gratuity included in the price of the drink?

 

 

 

Also, if you choose to tip a certain person extra because they made your trip awesome, are they required to share that extra tip with everyone?

 

 

 

As a first time cruiser, and a person who spends all day at their job cutting costs, tipping is just not somewhere you cut costs. I loved that I could prepay my gratuity upfront, that way I factor it into the price of my cruise, just as I do with the port fees and taxes and not have to worry about budgeting it later.

 

 

 

Hi welcome to cruise critic. Your questions aren't silly but rather they are also hotly contested and debated items in the past on numerous threads. Im guessing probably best not addressed here.

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[Doug S]

Sad... I hate seeing posts like this. It's one thing to withhold tips for bad service. It is also fine not to throw around any additional tips. But to decide in advance that you are not going to pay the standard amount just because you choose to travel with 5 people and the bill would be more than you want to pay is just a real downer. I could not look myself in the mirror if I treated people that way, but I guess we all have our own standards to live up to.

[dpostman]

I know you guys are joking around, but as a first time cruiser, I have a lot of silly questions, like, do you tip your bartender on a cruise or is the gratuity included in the price of the drink?

 

Also, if you choose to tip a certain person extra because they made your trip awesome, are they required to share that extra tip with everyone?

 

As a first time cruiser, and a person who spends all day at their job cutting costs, tipping is just not somewhere you cut costs. I loved that I could prepay my gratuity upfront, that way I factor it into the price of my cruise, just as I do with the port fees and taxes and not have to worry about budgeting it later.

 

To answer your first question, If you purchase a drink and you don't have a beverage package, you will be charged the cost of the drink + 18% gratuity to your seapass card account. If you purchase a drink package, 18% of the package amount will be added to your total and are now covered for grats for all your drinks that are included in that package. If you order wine/drink that is above the package limit, the difference +18% of the difference will be added to your seapass account. You can chose to bring some small cash bills with you and tip extra to the bartenders/servers that you feel deserve it. Some people do this, others don't. Servers/bartenders do not expect extra cash, but are usually very grateful when given.

 

For your second question, I think it depends. I assume extra cash given to stateroom attendants is most likely kept to themselves but I could be wrong.

 

dp

[toyisland8]

I don't think you'll get any arguments from any of us that RC should just pay the staff a proper wage and then leave tips in the hands of passengers as they see fit, but that's not how they currently do it. When you don't pay the service charge, you are making a choice to not pay that part of their salary (especially now that it's been clearly explained to you that this is how it works). Not just not tipping them for their good service, but actually not paying them for the work they did.

 

So sure, you don't have to pay the gratuity. But you should.

 

Agree with above poster. With everyone reading these comments and knowing full well that these folks are being paid very little salary and that the tips truly are what make up their actual pay, it saddens me to hear that so many are willing to accept their services (most which I've experienced while cruising have been stellar) and deny them their tips. To each their own, I guess. I personally prefer to prepay so there is no question, and extra special service, garners extra special tips on board - when someone goes out of their way to make my vacation special, I am more than happy to make their day as well. Maybe it's because I worked in the service industries myself and know how hard their jobs can be, how long their days are and can't even fathom having to leave my family behind for months on end. All that, and while doing this job, they are many times left to deal with (some) rude and (some) unappreciative folks who feel they are entitled to behave like they are royalty all while their plan is not to reward those that are doing their best to make them feel that way (like royalty). Sad indeed.

[helpthejuggler]

A few have posted how much they tip while not on a ship which doesn't seem relevant.

 

In the same way, your normal behaviour is should not dictate how you travel. Fit in with the custom.

 

My beef is with those who cite "When in Rome" them get on a ship to visit Rome and continue as if they were in Kansas....

[wolfganghowell]

So let me get this straight. Someone joins CC and immediately posts a thread to "inform" everyone that they don't have to tip. I realize that tipping is not the norm in Great Britain but perhaps it would be the classy thing to find out the accepted standards where you are going and then abide by them. Tips for crew are an accepted standard. If you feel your service was subpar, by all means remove or adjust them, but to blatantly state before you step onboard that the crew's pay is not your concern shows a fundamental ignorance of the cruise industry. If you don't like how the industry operates, don't cruise.

 

Thanks for deliberately stirring up antagonism here - but then I think that was your intention all along.

 

I seem to recall that there have been cruises out of Great Britain where the gratuities cannot be removed due to this very problem. I do know there is a large percentage of crew members who dread those sailings because they don't make any money. What a shame.

[MrsKC08]

I know you guys are joking around, but as a first time cruiser, I have a lot of silly questions, like, do you tip your bartender on a cruise or is the gratuity included in the price of the drink?

 

Also, if you choose to tip a certain person extra because they made your trip awesome, are they required to share that extra tip with everyone?

 

As a first time cruiser, and a person who spends all day at their job cutting costs, tipping is just not somewhere you cut costs. I loved that I could prepay my gratuity upfront, that way I factor it into the price of my cruise, just as I do with the port fees and taxes and not have to worry about budgeting it later.

 

 

Your questions are not silly at all.

You should not feel required to pay anything additional to your bar staff when you order your drink. There is already 18% added to the price of the drink for gratuity.

As far as the second question, if you tip someone cash they are required to share it. We didn't know about this until our recent Oasis cruise. We handed our waiter and a bar tender that we frequented often an envelope with cash and then we were thanked by other staff in the dining room and at the bar. Apparently the persons we gave the tip to mentioned it to their coworkers because they would be sharing in that money. I asked the bar tender specifically about this and he said that all cash tips are split between those that are on staff with them (not the entire bar crew or wait crew).

[SRF]

Very valid. BTW...that average annual income of people in Guatemala is $1,619 (US)...so if he is getting $100 a week in base salary he is making three times the national average...before anyone pays "gratuities". I understand crew members work hard...but a lot of people work hard...and those people asked for those contracts.

 

I am part of the group that feels the cruise lines should just raise the rate to include the fee.

 

I will not even try to address your first paragraph. I hope you sleep well at night.

 

The one advantage of the tip system is that you CAN adjust a tip for poor service. If it was built into the cabin rate, you could not adjust if, and thus loose the advantage or a tip system, ie you can reward or not required based on good service.

[squadron]

Hi All,

 

I just wanted to share something with new cruisers (and old if they do not know this).

 

As I am sure you are aware each cruiser will have gratuities & tips added to their SeaPass account every day (unless you have paid these in advance with your booking).

 

I don't actually agree with these automatic tips, as I feel that I should decide who has earned this & most importantly how much I wish to tip.

 

As a family of 5 travelling the cost per day @ $13.50 for 7 days will be quite considerable at $472.50! Now I can honestly say that I would never tip this much during a weeks land holiday so will certainly not be forced to pay this at sea.

 

Now for those of you not in the know, please take note. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY. That's right, there is not obligation on your part to pay. The booking information and website will not highlight this as RC want you to pay. When reading their information is does make you feel like this is obligatory, however if you read the very, very small print you will note this is not the case. All you need to do is go to reception on Day 1 and ask that these gratuities & tips are removed from your account....and voila!

 

You can then reward the staff members that you want to reward.

 

Happy cruising.

 

 

I would hope that you would tip at least $472.50 for FIVE people - less than $100 each. Why did you post this?

[Bratface1005]

My problem with the automatic tip is the level of service. I find that when the tip is just that a tip the service is better. When the tip is earned and not just expected the service is better. Since they started the automatic tip the service has gone WAY down. I have removed a portion of the tip a few times and given it to others as the services has been bad at times. I tipped my mother's stateroom attendant because she made extra animal towels because she knew my kids stopped by "Nana's" room each night to see what she had. When I handed her the tip she even said "but I am not your attendant." My response was but you made our trip more enjoyable so you get the extra tip. I understand that the staff makes their money from the tips but the company should either raise the rates and raise their salary so the customer doesn't have to worry about it or no mandatory tipping policy. I shouldn't be told I have to tip a curtain amount or it is not a tip it is a charge. So I guess I am not against paying them a fair wage just call it what it is a charge not a tip.

[SRF]

Nope, not going to be made to feel guilty.

 

Bottom line is if I have booked a land holiday in a hotel or apartment I would not be expected to pay almost $500 in tips. Yes, I would tip waiters, doormen, room service, room cleaners etc.... but this would not go towards the behind the scenes staff.

 

Let's see. 5 people, you go out for a nice dinner (MDR) every night. Say $25 per person (which is CHEAP for a 3-4 course meal). So $125 base bill. 15% is $18.75. 7 nights = $131.25. Good service is 20% and some people are tipping a base of 18%. But 20% would be $25 per night x 7 = $175.

 

How about lunch? Say you do a buffet, at $15 per person. Or $75 per meal, tip for buffet is normally 10%, so $7.50 a day x 7 = $52.50.

 

Breakfast. Again $15 per person per day, even with buffet, another $52.50.

 

And for your room? At better hotels, say $5 per day per room. 5 people, two rooms (few hotels will let you put 5 in one room), so $10 per day x 7 days = $70.

 

So far we are at $306 already at 15% for dinner tip, at 20%, you are at $350.

 

It seems that the tipping is not far off.

Edited August 15, 2017 by SRF

[SRF]

Land vacations and cruise vacations are two different things. Staff on land vacations here in the US get paid at least a minimum wage for those positions. Therefore, the cost of these vacations is higher. We also saved three years for our last cruise, family of 7, 1 income. When we go out to eat, I don't stiff the server because of the cost for the 7 of us to eat (and the minimum wage for servers here is $2.14 an hour). If I didn't agree with the pay structure, I'd stay home.

 

Obviously you have never worked in a tipped service profession.

 

There are TWO minimum wages. One for most jobs and a separate LOWER one for jobs that expect tips.

 

If you want to see the cost of not tipping, try Copenhagen. There, the servers are insulted if you tip. They are paid a reasonable wage, so do not need or want to be tipped. But then again, lunch there can easily run $40 - $50 PER PERSON.

 

Go for it.

[cruzeluver]

Sad... I hate seeing posts like this. It's one thing to withhold tips for bad service. It is also fine not to throw around any additional tips. But to decide in advance that you are not going to pay the standard amount just because you choose to travel with 5 people and the bill would be more than you want to pay is just a real downer. I could not look myself in the mirror if I treated people that way, but I guess we all have our own standards to live up to.

 

 

Here! Here! To knowingly be ok with withholding someone's wages is shameful. The gratuities are not "extra". Cruise lines could add them to the base cost, but not only would that cause fares to be higher but it would increase the amount they would have to pay out to TA's.

[Johnamac123]

I would hope that you would tip at least $472.50 for FIVE people - less than $100 each. Why did you post this?

 

DiddyBuddy, how would you like to live on a salary of $50/week in Great Britain? All while working for 60+ hours a week in a service job. The service staff on a cruise ship are not paid the same living wage as they are in your UK. Don't you get that??

[SRF]

i actually feel like the prepaid gratuities system lets me off easy.

on holidays i would always tip the hotel cleaning staff $5/day... and eating a 3-course meal for dinner, would nett a bill that would have a tip in excess of $20... not to mention eating breakfast & lunch out as well...

i shudder to think how much in tips i dole out in a place like Vegas. easily $30+ per day every day. with a fraction of the service level vs on a ship.

so ya. $13/day per person is a steal as far as i'm concerned and I'm happy to pay it, plus i almost always give a little extra.

 

Agreed, wholeheartedly.