Are cash tips "pooled" and divided?

[CroozFanatic]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

[smithop]

Who cares? If I’m paying 20% auto grats up front im not tipping any extra, and I dont expect extraordinary service, then im not disappointed either.

 

 

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[softl]

IMO, no! I cash tip for all bar service as well as wait servers at meals. The attention I get is awesome, that's why I do it. Easy to give a buck for every transaction. They go out of their way to serve me. Why would they do this if they have to split?

[pieshops]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

not to sound rude but who cares if they are pooled or they get them themselves, is this going to determine how much you tip? would it be 1 dollar if the keep it and 5 if they split? Tip extra what you want and to whom you want and dont worry about it.

[Cruiser_1977]

I was told by someone who worked for NCL as recently as December 2017...

 

The staff must turnover the cash tip including guest information. Once the auto-gratuities have been paid, they get the cash back. If the auto-gratuity isn't paid by that guest. It goes into a pool.

[mdsgu]

I was told by someone who worked for NCL as recently as December 2017...

 

The staff must turnover the cash tip including guest information. Once the auto-gratuities have been paid, they get the cash back. If the auto-gratuity isn't paid by that guest. It goes into a pool.

 

Doesn't make sense. Every time I've cash-tipped a waiter, they say "thank you" and with barely a glance stuff it in a pocket. How could they possibly remember who tipped and how much to report it?

[Cruiser_1977]

Doesn't make sense. Every time I've cash-tipped a waiter, they say "thank you" and with barely a glance stuff it in a pocket. How could they possibly remember who tipped and how much to report it?

 

I was told this is the policy. I suppose it is up to the staff member to adhere, or not.

[$hip$hape]

Not to sound rude but who cares if they are pooled or they get them themselves,

is this going to determine how much you tip?

Would it be 1 dollar if the keep it and 5 if they split?

Tip extra what you want and to whom you want

and don't worry about it.

Nice post.

[pieshops]

Nice post.

thank you

[cmh]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

These people work so hard. I tip bartenders and our room steward. If we sit at the same table every night for dinner dinne, i give them a tip also at the end of the cruise.

[kskelley40]

I always tip my servers in the casino. I also have the beverage package which I paid the gratuities on, but I just treat the casino on a ship like a land casino where I drink for free. I too have found that I receive better beverage service while sitting at a card table when the server knows that I will tip them. I don't believe that all of them pool their tips or report them....would you?

[josephmz]

It wasn't a cash tip, but something added to signed tab in La Cucina.

 

I asked our excellent waiter just to confirm he would receive it. He said he receives them every week.

[PATRLR]

I was told by someone who worked for NCL as recently as December 2017...

 

The staff must turnover the cash tip including guest information. Once the auto-gratuities have been paid, they get the cash back. If the auto-gratuity isn't paid by that guest. It goes into a pool.

That sure sounds like something NCL (or possibly the "Don't remove the DSC" zealots) would say and spread around to discourage people from removing the DSC and paying tips direct.

[A1SusieQ]

I was told by someone who worked for NCL as recently as December 2017...

 

The staff must turnover the cash tip including guest information. Once the auto-gratuities have been paid, they get the cash back. If the auto-gratuity isn't paid by that guest. It goes into a pool.

 

 

No way. I have been handed sodas without my card being looked at. I handed back a dollar as a tip. That dollar went into their pocket, not a tip jar. They have no idea if I fill out a form after sailing to see if i got a refund of service charge.

 

Think about it logically and you will understand that the person who reported that information was not telling the real story.

[chefchick]

That sure sounds like something NCL (or possibly the "Don't remove the DSC" zealots) would say and spread around to discourage people from removing the DSC and paying tips direct.

 

“Zealots”? Really? Let’s be real here for a minute people. We would all like the hardworking crew to get paid a fair wage by the cruise lines, but that would mean a higher fare upfront paid by us vacationers. The DSC is a fact of cruising and if you prefer to pay them in cash, or pay them extra on top of it, then do so...but don’t cheap out or make excuses that you shouldn’t have to pay for behind the scenes crew just because you tip extra to your favorite bartender or waiter. The DSC and pooling is there to spread the wealth as fairly as possible to folks who work a lot harder and put up with a lot more crap than most of us on this forum ever would.

[fstuff1]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

On gem 2017:

at the casino bar, tips are pooled with only the bartenders that work at that bar for that shift according to bartender i talked to.

 

on breakaway 2015:

at casino bar, tips are pooled with bartenders and waitresses for that shift, according to bartender i talked to.

[PTC DAWG]

I take at least a hundred ones on a cruise...they help...would never dream of not paying the DSC...

[adjensen]

In every bar that I've paid attention to, when I hand them a couple of bucks, they get put in a common jar. Have never seen anyone pocket it.

[RD29P5]

I actually asked a waiter in one of the MDR's if he had to split his tip. He told me that he does, but only with the assistant waiter if he has one working with him.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

We tip in cash when we get drinks. We have asked bartenders on the Escape at different bars on different sailings and got the same answer: it depends. The head bartender for each bar may have a rule: or they may not. Rule may be followed or may not. Some bars, you will see them put your dollars in a jar, some bars you will see them put your dollars in their pocket. Papi at Spice H2O had his bartenders pooling tips. At O'Sheehans, they did not. It depends.

[PTC DAWG]

We tip in cash when we get drinks. We have asked bartenders on the Escape at different bars on different sailings and got the same answer: it depends. The head bartender for each bar may have a rule: or they may not. Rule may be followed or may not. Some bars, you will see them put your dollars in a jar, some bars you will see them put your dollars in their pocket. Papi at Spice H2O had his bartenders pooling tips. At O'Sheehans, they did not. It depends.

 

The guys at the 5 O’clock bar told me they pooled amongst the bar guys....Jay and Johnny be Good and crew...

[Love my butler]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

 

Nobody can say with certainty but it appears room steward tips are NOT pooled while bartender tip ARE pooled. I would assume waiter/waitress tips are NOT pooled.

[graphicguy]

Never quite understood someone quizzing any crew employee about how tips and/or DSC are paid out. That’s like someone asking me how much I make or what my salary is. Answer? Nunyas!!!!!!!

 

Anyone who tries to mess with my pay (like a person deleting the DSC), would not be my friend and would be undeserving of my best.

[fshagan]

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

You'll get a ton of different opinions, things servers and bar tenders have said, etc. But no one really knows except the employees themselves.

 

I did read on another cruise line's web site that cash tips are pooled and divided up by department. NCL is silent on it except for this in their FAQ at https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-faq/tipping

 

Unlike most other ships in the cruise industry, there is no required or recommended tipping on our ships for service that is generally rendered to all Guests. While you should not feel obligated to offer a gratuity, all of our staff are encouraged to "go the extra mile," so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities for exceptional or outstanding service if you care to offer them.

 

People interpret that differently. To me, the phrase "so they are permitted to accept cash gratuities for exceptional or outstanding service if you care to offer them" means the employees get to keep or share their tips as they see fit. I think this explains the different opinions you will get from people who have asked the employees.

 

A bartender might share with his bar back or waitress, a server might share with the busser, hostess, etc. just like on land, if they want to. Tipped positions do this all the time. When I did bookkeeping for restaurants the "tip out" amount from servers was half or more of their collected tips, going to the hostess, bartender, busser and sometimes another server who helped them.

 

So that's my best guess on extra cash tips people give out. I don't really care; once a dollar leaves my hand it is free to go anywhere in the free market it decides to go, and I don't keep a list of serial numbers to try and track them down later. :)

[Toofarfromthesea]

New poster. Frequent cruiser. Try to search the forums before posting.

 

Can anyone say authoritatively if cash tips given to stewards/servers/bartenders are pooled and divided like the auto-gratuity?

 

There is a post from zqvol on these NCL boards where he/she says the tips are pooled. He/she has 10,000 posts, but I would like a second opinion if there is one out there.

 

Just leave the auto-grats on and then do or don't do any additional tipping at your complete discretion. It is when people take off the auto-grats that their cash tips end up in the gratuity pool rather than the pocket of the crew member they were given to.

 

Crew members are paid substandard wages in the expectation that the grats will bring up their total pay to standard levels. And everyone knows this, and knows and should know about auto-grats. But some people are cheap and take this back, stiffing the crew. To justify themselves they come up with all kinds of crazy theories - frequently based on what some mythical crew member told them.

 

But right here on this board are a couple of folks who have worked on ships forever who have built up enormous credibility with their obvious knowledge of the inner workings of cruise ships in a lot of areas. They have debunked all of the conspiracy nonsense.

 

Do the right thing, don't be That Guy and you will be fine.