Gratuities & tips are not obligatory

[aubreyc1988]

trying to figure out how much anyone makes while on vacation is just distasteful to me. Personally, I am fine with doing what the cruiseline suggests, as I am sure it's considered fair and hope that RCI has factored that number based upon a living wage for the crew...and if that means the crew members make 1,000 per week because I paid my 13.00 daily gratuity or my 18% gratuity on drinks, more power to them!

 

and I would never remove my tips for bad service. To me, while the crew may be disgruntled at this, that doesn't solve the service problem effectively and punishes innocent parties, wether it's intended to or not. Talking to someone about it/commented on a comment card is much more effective for that.

[aubreyc1988]

I agree, the OP has done a wonderful job! He deserves a tip!

 

I think CC should institute a new tipping policy for the threads that get the CC crowd all riled up. Have all members sign up and deposit $100 per year in pre-paid tipping accounts and then allocate $.10 per post on these threads. So by 6pm Eastern tonight the OP could have earned $20 in tips (200 posts X $.10).

 

I just wonder how many of our fellow CCers would be down at the virtual CC service desk trying to remove those tips?:confused:

 

;)

 

P.S. The way things are picking up we might get to 200 by 5pm eastern.

 

YES, this is keeping me distracting from work, it's the best entertainment :D

[LMaxwell]

Just remember, proportionately speaking, as a percentage, those with interior cabins pay the highest effective rate on tipping. Tips can easily equal, say, 20% of the total cruise cost. Get into a very expensive suite and though the per diem is higher, the effective rate could be as low as 2% of the total cruise cost. Just something to take into consideration.

 

Would people be for or against a set percentage and then based off of your cruise cost? This could save people in interior and OV's some money, probably not much difference at balcony level, but cost those in suites substantially more money than today, but everyone would be paying the same percentage; more in line with accepted norms at US restaurants.

 

Just something to consider and an idea to think about.

[SRF]

I'm not sure why you quoted me, yes I've worked for tips, I clearly mentioned the lower minimum wage for servers, which is why I definitely think people should generously tip their servers, and never remove them on cruises. My daughter is a full time college student, plus waitresses three shifts every weekend. Her paycheck is usually around $2, since she is also taxed on tips.

 

What you said:

 

Staff on land vacations here in the US get paid at least a minimum wage for those positions.

 

 

Which is not true.

[spookyfudge]

Why are you being so insulting? You know nothing about the OP and have definitely misread or not understood the post #1.

 

Its because the people on the ship get their income from the tip pool. So if you cant afford $500 for a 3-4 K cruise, he cant afford to travel this way. Oh by the way, did you see this was his first post! It looks he dosnt know anything about cruising. He should just stay home and do a home vacation! Save his money!

[SRF]

OP hasn't indicated how much they would tip if they decided to tip a crew member

 

OP stated they would overall tip LESS than the charged tips.

 

Whether that is stiffing the crew depends on how much less he will tip.

 

From his tone, it sounds like a lot less to me.

[spookyfudge]

OP stated they would overall tip LESS than the charged tips.

 

Whether that is stiffing the crew depends on how much less he will tip.

 

From his tone, it sounds like a lot less to me.

 

He is crying about $500. So he should not go on this with his kids, and go to a holiday in and stay at the pool and have fun.

[spookwife]

Now this I would like to see if anyone can confirm? Do you think/know that this list exists of the names that removed auto tipping?

 

 

I ave personally seen that list on the carts of the cabin stewards. others have posted that they have seen it in the galley/prep area

[SRF]

What's funny is that I have a friend who is an entertainer on one of RCI's ships. She says that between free lodging and food, plus working and rehearsing all the time, she banks $1,000s of dollars a month working on a cruise ship. They're hardly the downtrodden wage slaves some on here are implying they are.

 

I guess you missed the post about certain employees getting paid about $100 per week.

 

Not everyone is paid the rate of an entertainer.

 

The Captain makes about $150,000 a year. So maybe he should not be getting tips.

[mjkacmom]

What you said:

 

 

 

 

Which is not true.

What I meant was, you tip less on a land vacation, because most of the folks who make your vacation a good one do get paid a livable wage (while some do not, such as servers). On a ship, many of the positions that are paid a livable wage on land, rely on the gratuities to pay their salary.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

If history is any kind of teacher...we're just at the early stages of this thread about this topic... :eek::eek::eek:

[broberts]

You also no nothing about the first poster.. It is a safe bet he is just plain cheap and jealous of those getting tips.

 

It must be a real burden to know so much from so little data.

 

Its because the people on the ship get their income from the tip pool. So if you cant afford $500 for a 3-4 K cruise, he cant afford to travel this way. Oh by the way, did you see this was his first post! It looks he dosnt know anything about cruising. He should just stay home and do a home vacation! Save his money!

 

None of us have any idea what portion of gratuities are actually paid to the staff. From other threads on CC it seems likely that the amount is somewhat less than 100%.

 

None of us have any accurate knowledge of what percentage of income is made up by gratuities.

 

Pretty judgemental to say that someone who cannot afford to pay 12.5%+ more for their cruise than the price charged should not be cruising. Even more judgemental to assume that someone who objects to autotips is only doing so because they find them unaffordable.

 

Just how much do you tip? Is it only the autotip amount, can't you afford more?