Towel Animals and Tipping

[mugtech]

this is for ready2cruzagain ---your calulations are wrong ---the $14 per person per day goes to not only the room stewards but food people and behind the scene people

Yes, those calculations were just another attempt to justify being cheap. Always tip the last day, never see the need to do so before then, not like they are going to spend it somewhere. Seems silly to imply anyone working on cruise ships is over paid.

[ClevelandCruisin]

 

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[swedish weave]

Yes, those calculations were just another attempt to justify being cheap. Always tip the last day, never see the need to do so before then, not like they are going to spend it somewhere. Seems silly to imply anyone working on cruise ships is over paid.

Where are YOUR figures?

 

Calling people cheap and silly is easy, but the crews salaries are contracted and the numbers are available in their union website. NCL doesn't furnish any details on the distribution of the DSC, so if you can post some verifiable numbers, it would be welcome.

[swedish weave]

Only about 1/3 of that $14 goes to the cabin steward. Some goes to waiters, some to those working behind the scenes, like laundry workers.

 

Where can we find the information you have regarding the distribution of the 14 dollars per day?

 

If we use your figures and the info posted elsewhere that the Steward has 27 cabins to service, that calculates to more than 250 dollars per day if each cabin has two occupants .

 

That triggers my curiosity and I would like to see accurate in formation in posts.

Edited October 28, 2017 by swedish weave

[DMH15]

Ok. I tip very well. At the end of the cruise. But I have my own fun thing to do.

 

After seeing the poor stewards using torn paper for eyes on the towel animals I now buy a few bags of googly eyes at Dollar Tree and give them to the steward when I meet them. Every one has smiled ear to ear.

 

 

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[DMH15]

Not a bribe, a tip, you know, a small token of appreciation. Makes me feel good inside.

 

 

 

So not a bribe? But you called it a "trick[emoji849]". LOL.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

First timer here....how does one tip? Leave it somewhere, or hand it directly to the person? Sorry,,,I have a lot to learn!

 

 

I come from a country where tipping is rare, I just hand it to them and say thanks. If I tip extra, sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.

[NLH Arizona]

First timer here....how does one tip? Leave it somewhere, or hand it directly to the person? Sorry,,,I have a lot to learn!

I hand it to them in person and thank them.

[ncklhaus]

We always tend to overtip, but that's because we spent plenty of time in the service industry.

When we cruise, we make a list of the people we believe should be tipped. Then depending on the length of the cruise, we choose how much we would tip for satisfactory service. I split that in half and write up Thank you cards to be given on day 1 with half of the cash tip in it. The note usually says something like "Thank you in advance for making our cruise special." We include our names, room number, and reservation number. At the end of our cruise, the second thank you card goes with a note saying how much we appreciated the fantastic cruise and the other half of the tip. Plus we tend to tip a bit more during the cruise when someone goes above and beyond what is expected.

I'm not saying that you should do what we do, but we've never had poor service.

[oncruisecontrol]

We always tend to overtip, but that's because we spent plenty of time in the service industry.

When we cruise, we make a list of the people we believe should be tipped. Then depending on the length of the cruise, we choose how much we would tip for satisfactory service. I split that in half and write up Thank you cards to be given on day 1 with half of the cash tip in it. The note usually says something like "Thank you in advance for making our cruise special." We include our names, room number, and reservation number. At the end of our cruise, the second thank you card goes with a note saying how much we appreciated the fantastic cruise and the other half of the tip. Plus we tend to tip a bit more during the cruise when someone goes above and beyond what is expected.

I'm not saying that you should do what we do, but we've never had poor service.

What I've highlighted in red: I did not mention it in my earlier post, but I have service experience as well, and I know the lengths food servers and stewards go to to deliver exemplary service, often in the face of unwarranted rudeness from guests. It is not easy to still keep a smile when guests are rude and condescending. Not saying that rude guests are the rule, only that in my 15 years of food service on the "somewhat higher end" of causal dining, I have seen the gamut of customer behavior and too much of it has not always been on the best behavior. Not sure why a person has to be rude when asking for a request; you get more bees with honey than with vinegar. So, when I am the customer on the receiving end of the service, I let the server or steward know unequivocally how much their service means to me, and I'm polite and tip extra, and like you, I've never had poor service.

[cbelc]

First timer here....how does one tip? Leave it somewhere, or hand it directly to the person? Sorry,,,I have a lot to learn!

 

 

 

Gratuities are standard, although they can be adjusted, and that standard lump sum can be paid in advance or paid through your on-board account that is either attached to a credit card or cash you put on it. The day before the last day, there are envelopes placed in the room along with luggage tags, etc. We put a bit extra in the envelopes and hand them to our crew that has worked so hard to make our cruise memorable. That would be our dining room staff and room steward, typically. I consider gratuities to be part of the cost of my cruise and pay it with the fare.

 

 

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[mypleasure]

I have a simple trick to getting the best service from your room steward and seeing one towel animal per day in your stateroom.....

 

Tipping above and beyond the daily service charge

 

Start with a $5.00 or $10.00 tip on the first day.

 

Works like a charm - to date, after 8 cruises, we have never experienced an unfriendly steward, run out of towels or found messy a messy cabin after a day away. :):):)

 

After 21 cruises of only paying DSC I have never had an unfriendly steward, run out of towels or found a messy cabin upon my return from a day away. I have never given a tip upfront or daily in addition to paying my obligation to the cruiseline in the form of DSC. I have never removed my DSC.

 

What I have had is in one case an average steward and 20 excellent stewards.

[busymom_ot]

This is from the Carnival website:

Here is the breakdown, per day:

Housekeeping Team: $4.05 ($5.05 for suites)

Dining Team: $6.40

Alternative Services: $2.50

 

I imagine other cruise lines are similar. Room stewards & waiters have assistants so these amounts are shared.

 

 

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[SeaShark]

Burt she does so that is all that matters in her case! :)

Who's Burt??

[mugtech]

Who's Burt??

And is Burt a she?

[Zany lady]

First timer here....how does one tip? Leave it somewhere, or hand it directly to the person? Sorry,,,I have a lot to learn!

 

 

 

We always hand it to the steward.

 

 

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[ready2cruzagain]

this is for ready2cruzagain ---your calulations are wrong ---the $14 per person per day goes to not only the room stewards but food people and behind the scene people

Duh, you are right. I thought that was an awful lot. LOL.:o

 

 

There is no way to know how much NCL gives a room steward. It use to be (on Carnival) $4.05 pp pd to steward. Still if you figure that amount ($4.05 x 2 x 7 x 30) that is $1,701.00 a week. That is still a lot more than some of our public school teachers make in the US. (I came up with the 30 because I have had more than one cabin steward tell me that is how many cabins they clean).

 

As I said before, the DSC is harder to remove now than it use to be and it seems as though the cabin stewards expect more. I do tip extra when they do something extra but I will not hand them money in advance (oh wait I do, the DSC) to bribe them to do their job.

Edited October 28, 2017 by ready2cruzagain

[ready2cruzagain]

Yes, those calculations were just another attempt to justify being cheap. Always tip the last day, never see the need to do so before then, not like they are going to spend it somewhere. Seems silly to imply anyone working on cruise ships is over paid.

Excuse me? Being cheap? My calculations were wrong, I never said I don't pay my DSC or have it removed and yes I do tip extra.

 

 

Oh, and you are so wrong about anyone working on cruise ships being overpaid. You do realize that most of them are able to go back to their country and retire when they are in their 30's. I have talked to many cruise members that have stated that is why they do it. How many jobs can someone retire in their 30's.

[swedish weave]

A simple calculation will show that the DSC if distributed fairly will more than pay the minimum contracted salary of the crew.

 

This belies all the "sympathy" comments about stiffing the crew if someone removes the DSC from their bill. If enough people do this, the cruise line is required to make up the shortfall in order to pay the crew.

 

That could explain why some cruise lines are going through all their gyrations to secure that fund. It also sheds some light on the,reason some cruise lines are secretive about how the funds are handled.

[swedish weave]

Oh and because someone posts something on the interwebs it MUST be true.

 

Also CCL DOES have prepaid gratuities, NCL does not. You are comparing two different fees.

 

Not a valid assumption.

 

WRONG AGAIN!!! NCL DOES ADVERTISE PREPAID GRATUITIES .

 

At least they did unless they have made recent changes in their ads which I have stopped reading.

[swedish weave]

Ok. I tip very well. At the end of the cruise. But I have my own fun thing to do.

 

After seeing the poor stewards using torn paper for eyes on the towel animals I now buy a few bags of googly eyes at Dollar Tree and give them to the steward when I meet them. Every one has smiled ear to ear.

 

 

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Every time anyone mentions giving gifts to crew members they are met with the comments that say "THEY ONLY WANT MONEY"

 

Interesting. !!! Another example of misinformation that is common.

[Kev&Sha]

Owen from Breakaway was the worst ever,,,1 towel animal for the week and it was a rolled up towel to look like a snake, never said hello, never brought ice or fresh towels and complained when you had to pass in the hallway.

[NMLady]

Oh and because someone posts something on the interwebs it MUST be true.

 

Also CCL DOES have prepaid gratuities, NCL does not. You are comparing two different fees.

 

Not a valid assumption.

 

What makes you think that NCL does not have prepaid gratuities? UBP and SDP gratuities are prepaid with the package purchase. And DSC can be prepaid if one chooses to do so. They are then billed with final invoice. We prepaid DSC on both NCL cruises last year. Our DSC is currently included on our invoice for our April cruise and December cruise this year.

[NCLfamily]

Some folk are tip crazy. Tipping each day to get towel animals [emoji23]

 

 

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[swimmingotter]

Interesting responses. Seems we all want the same result, make someone’s day on our cruise vacations.