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Extra tips

gigi65

By gigi65,
in Royal Caribbean International

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shellunderwater

shellunderwater

Posted
Posted

Here's my take on tipping.... not just on the ship, but overall.

 

Minimum tipping is for good service. Less than minimum for bad service, possibly accompanied by a comment to the management. Excellent tipping for excellent service. This too can be accompanied by a comment or two to management.

 

Previously in life, I really couldn't afford to tip much above minimum. But that was due to my own money situation. Now, if I can afford it, I will go the extra mile to reward a great experience.

 

Now, on vacation, I don't like to tip ahead to buy them off. But, I will tip early (above and beyond the basic already baked in) for good service, even if it is just good service, not great. I am on vacation. On vacation I do appreciate the little extras from the staff, and frankly, I can afford to drop a few extra dollars early in the game to maybe get a bit of a step up. This isn't just on a cruise, but also at resorts, hotels, etc.

 

I for one can't imagine working the way the folks do at our vacation spots. The good staff/locations work extremely hard, and their hard work makes my precious time away that much more enjoyable.

 

The truly great staff; Mac was our waiter on our first cruise, Wilson our assistant waiter on the cruise with DD and DS, Julio our server at the hotel in Playa were all great and we still remember their names years later. Outstanding staff that got significant extra tips from us. Many other staff that got extra, and some who got nothing.

 

At our local brewpub, I bought a wood-fired pizza for the staff, brought it in, dropped it off, and left. No time to hang around, but just gave them something extra. They go the extra mile, are nice, work hard and its a great place. The $8 didn't break me, and I know they appreciated it because the look on their face and the thanks on my next visit. Yep, $8. That was all it took.

 

All of this is my take, all of this is my choice. I don't ask for, or expect, your agreement. And I don't care what you do. I just know that its only money, you can't take it with you, and I know that for us, its more fun to be known and appreciated by the folks who wait on us, than it is to just be an average customer. Our choice, our way.

 

We just hope everyone enjoys their cruises. If you can't enjoy or are difficult, we hope your issues are on a ship different than ours. :)

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Redrobo

Redrobo

Posted
Posted
I found two, but had to use this search "list of cruise ship passengers who remove tips from crew".

 

One was from a British tabloid "The Daily Mail", the other was from one of the Cruise Specialty Law Firms. Both looked like they were probably legit, and are not really a List of Passengers that drop gratuities. They are some kind of manifest that does include the charged gratuity amount. One includes a memo updating people who removed their gratuities. It is entirely possible that some of people preferred to tip in cash.

 

You were asking earlier about why would the list exist. The gratuities are part of the staff's payroll, when collected by he cruise line on behalf of the employee. I know they do not follow US labor law, but I am pretty sure the cruise line would wither be required, or at least want, to share with the employees a record of those transactions. This would avoid a lot of questions on payday. Even in US hotels, the housekeepers will keep track of their hours worked and question if they feel their paycheck is short. If the cruise line did not include this information, they would likely face constant questions from cabin stewards, who kept count of how many cabins they serviced. The report I saw does not seem intended to say "These people stiffed you", but is simply a record of what they will see in their checks.

 

At last that is how it appears to me.

 

The photo on the mail link shows 2009, were prepaid tips active then or was it tip in the envelopes?

 

One cut and paste quote

A spokeswoman for the cruise company said: 'I've confirmed that this is absolutely not standard protocol and should not have happened. Crew members are not informed of which guests removed their gratuities until after the voyage is completed and guests have disembarked.

I would expect that is still valid now.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

Posted
Posted

When we did a behind the scenes tour on Oasis there was a list of cabins numbers of those that had removed the gratuities. There were not any names. As soon as the guide saw the list on the cart he turned it over. I am sure we weren't supposed to see this.

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Thorben-Hendrik

Thorben-Hendrik

Posted
Posted
When we did a behind the scenes tour on Oasis there was a list of cabins numbers of those that had removed the gratuities. There were not any names. As soon as the guide saw the list on the cart he turned it over. I am sure we weren't supposed to see this.

You keep repeating this.... I still do not buy it! (n)

 

There is ZERO efidence for this but the contrary statements from the cruise lines! :rolleyes:

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Domino D

Domino D

Posted
Posted
You're assuming that the Cruise Line passes on the gratuities one-on-one which is not true!

 

They have a formula to distribute the bonus - pot the way they see it fit - there is no backwards calculation for the staff possible! :rolleyes:

The list you that you Googled is decades old!:eek:

 

I was only letting you know how to find the pictures, and saying that I'm not surprised if they have a report that show the gratuities, or that they would share that information with the staff.

 

I don't care how they distribute the tips.

I don't care if you tip.

 

Not my monkey not my circus.

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Domino D

Domino D

Posted
Posted
The photo on the mail link shows 2009, were prepaid tips active then or was it tip in the envelopes?

 

One cut and paste quote

A spokeswoman for the cruise company said: 'I've confirmed that this is absolutely not standard protocol and should not have happened. Crew members are not informed of which guests removed their gratuities until after the voyage is completed and guests have disembarked.

I would expect that is still valid now.

 

I was only trying to clarify how to find the pictures, and saying that I'm not surprised if they have a report that shows the gratuities, or that they would share that information with the staff.

 

I don't if the report is real.

I don't know if management shares the report or not.

I don't know if management is prohibited from sharing the report.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted
The photo on the mail link shows 2009, were prepaid tips active then or was it tip in the envelopes?

 

One cut and paste quote

A spokeswoman for the cruise company said: 'I've confirmed that this is absolutely not standard protocol and should not have happened. Crew members are not informed of which guests removed their gratuities until after the voyage is completed and guests have disembarked.

I would expect that is still valid now.

 

Of course that’s the official company line. What happens on board the ship is something entirely different.

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted
As American companies are so afraid of being sued Royal would not take the risk to breach data protection law. Just one former or unhappy crew member would have to leak such a list to the public and they are done...

 

Royal is not an American company. I’m not sure what privacy laws have been breached. The lists, that many have reported to see contain no names, only cabin numbers.

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
Royal is not an American company. I’m not sure what privacy laws have been breached. The lists, that many have reported to see contain no names, only cabin numbers.

 

 

 

Are you familiar with data privacy law and especially the latest updates that have been applied this year? I have to deal with it on a daily basis for Europe and the US.

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maryjaden

maryjaden

Posted
Posted
As American companies are so afraid of being sued Royal would not take the risk to breach data protection law. Just one former or unhappy crew member would have to leak such a list to the public and they are done...

Not sure if they have to follow our privacy laws as they are flagged in a foreign country. They don't have to follow our labor laws....

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
Not sure if they have to follow our privacy laws as they are flagged in a foreign country. They don't have to follow our labor laws....

 

 

 

The answer to this is a simple yes because guest contracts are based on a specific countries law (where the guest has booked the cruise). This is why e.g. they are able to apply all the different cancelation rules. Employment contracts with crew are done under different laws ( and sometimes via third party agencies).

 

And it would be rediculous to hire crew from e.g. the Philipines who live in the Philipines under US or even European labor law. They would be unbelievable rich in their countries, and companies would pay millions for income taxes and socials securities. This would double or triple the cruise fare and is also not done by cruise lines who have a no tipping policy.

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Toofarfromthesea

Toofarfromthesea

Posted
Posted
Why?

 

Oh because that’s how YOU think t should be done.

 

No, because everyone understands going in that these employees accept a substandard wage in the expectation that tips will make up the difference. Do you have a legal right to stiff them? Sure. But it still morally and ethically makes you a cheapskate if you do.

 

It is bad to screw other people. It is morally repugnant to do it to people far below you on the global totem pole.

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Glide_Path

Glide_Path

Posted
Posted
No, because everyone understands going in that these employees accept a substandard wage in the expectation that tips will make up the difference. Do you have a legal right to stiff them? Sure. But it still morally and ethically makes you a cheapskate if you do.

 

It is bad to screw other people. It is morally repugnant to do it to people far below you on the global totem pole.

 

I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. You cannot use US based cultural and societal norm as the only universally accepted norm. While the North America may hold a vast majority share of the cruise market, there are many countries and other parts of the world where tipping, or extra tip is not expected. If a service charge is already added, if a mandatory gratuity is already added, there are many countries and parts of the world where no addition tip are expected. I would agree most travelers from north america understand the tipping culture, it's just not fair to say EVERYONE in the world accepts that to the norm.

I buy a drink or order room service on Royal, 18% auto gratuity is added. I tip extra is service is above and beyond. Please explain how the passenger is morally screwing with anyone when they are already paying 18% gratuity. If the crew doesn't get the 18%, it is Royal that's messing with the workers, not the paying passenger. Not everyone in the world is from a country where tip or additional tip is expected.

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