Gratuities Increase!!!!

[njrover0216]

7 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

Your children are probably still sleeping in beds, walking on the cabin floor (possibly with sand from excursions), and using the rest room and shower/towels.  At the buffet someone is still clearing the tables and some stations have someone serving the food even if it isn't table service.  In your situation I would not reduce tips due to the children, but I might not tip extra to the MDR servers if you are only there once or twice or tip extra to the wait staff (a gratuity is listed on all beverage purchases).  I didn't think tips were expected at the camp, but I'm sure the counselors gladly accept them when given.

 

Costs are rising in many areas: groceries, gas, clothing, etc.  I am like a previous poster that a moderate increase in service charges doesn't bother me as much as some other charges.

Yes my children sleep in the beds and walk on the cabin floor...hence why I said I tip my room stewart directly extra money...usually $20-$40 more depending on service. I also stated we leave tip money at the buffet at the end of the week too. Camp counselors do the most work when it comes to my children in the past. This year probably not as much as they are getting older. I leave a nice tip for them directly too. 

 

I would love to see them charge gratuities based on the percentage of your room fare...

[PhillyFan33579]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:29 PM, njrover0216 said:

For our family with 2 children the auto grats have now brought us up to $392 for our total trip, which is a rate of 18% of my room cost,  that is a hefty tip tray versus a couple who pay below $200, approximately 10% of their room cost. If it were just my spouse and I, auto grats seem reasonable, and a side tip to those that we encountered more face to face. However, an auto grat of $392 for my family is a bit high. My children eat on the go, either buffet, the grill or the pizza parlor. No one is serving them at any of these establishments. My husband and I usually use the MDR 1-2 times, as we prefer a more casual dining atmosphere at the buffet. My kids spend maybe a few hours a day at camp, until they make friends and go to the water park or do other activities on the boat for them. Is it wrong for a family of 4 who do not use many of the services to reduce their gratuities to that of a couple? $180-$200. I then give an extra $10-$30 to those at the camp, our waiter, buffet staff we see often and our room steward depending on how much we used their services. This usually adds up close to $300 in tips total by the time we are done. We also tip room service, bar tenders and others above the auto grat on our checks as well. We are far from cheap, but we are reasonable. Each person has their own situation, we should not be quick to judge them and call them cheap because they reduce their auto grats. I would rather pay higher in cruise fees, and leave my own tips as I see fit, then have to cover lower wages. 

 

My personal opinion is if you can’t afford the gratuities, you can’t afford the cruise. I realize not everyone feels this way. I always know when gratuities are added to passenger’s account based on seeing a ridiculously long line at guest services with people wanting to remove gratuities. 

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

My personal opinion is if you can’t afford the gratuities, you can’t afford the cruise. I realize not everyone feels this way. I always know when gratuities are added to passenger’s account based on seeing a ridiculously long line at guest services with people wanting to remove gratuities. 

Well said, I love how people can rationalize being cheap.  If you cant afford the tip, then dont go.  More people means more tip period.

[Drazil65]

"No one is serving them at any of these establishments."

 

The food still has to made (especially since the pizza is ongoing 24/7 and made according to the demand or what is requested by people in line), the tables are cleared and cleaned where kids sit for 2 minutes and leave crumbs or food spilled and run off to the next thing (no offense just a fact), half melted ice cream dishes are picked up off the stairways where children tend to leave them (a fact period!!!), the ice cream machines are continually cleaned up (more so due to children spillage than adults) lemonade is wiped up where children tend to spill it at the dispenser continually, extra towels are taken care of in a cabin with 4 people vs. 2 people who obviously would probably use less each day, food eaten in the cabin will have crumbs that need to be vacuumed up (guarantee 2 kids will leave behind twice as much of something (not a offense just a fact) vs. 2 adults in a cabin), making up beds for 4 takes more time than making up a bed for 2, on a cruise,  your family is being serviced all day, every day whether you see it or not.  It is not logical to think that your family of 4 (especially with younger children) are not using more resources or being serviced at a lesser rate than 2 adults.    

Edited January 12, 2019 by Drazil65

[bigcraig]

Just off the Liberty 4 nighter, passing guest services to find an available PC to gate list our flight were over 200 newbies(95% red and blue id's on this cruise) all were laughing and joking and heard them all removing the gratuities and laughing all the way.

 

Really burns my A**, it's time to make it a mandatory service charge not adjustable or removable for any reason.

We felt so bad we gave our room steward and each of 3 servers $20 each, not much but they darn near kissed our feet, I wonder if they knew what was happening at G/S???

[grandmarnnurse]

16 minutes ago, bigcraig said:

Just off the Liberty 4 nighter, passing guest services to find an available PC to gate list our flight were over 200 newbies(95% red and blue id's on this cruise) all were laughing and joking and heard them all removing the gratuities and laughing all the way.

 

Really burns my A**, it's time to make it a mandatory service charge not adjustable or removable for any reason.

We felt so bad we gave our room steward and each of 3 servers $20 each, not much but they darn near kissed our feet, I wonder if they knew what was happening at G/S???

That is just awful! They should make it mandatory and non removable.

[summersigh]

I understand that there is at least one other cruise line that in order to remove or reduce your auto-grats you have to fill out and sign a form explaining why you felt this was necessary.  The reason given for the form is so that the line can improve the service in the future.  I hear that after the form was instituted the lines at GS to remove tips went wayyyyy down 

[bury me at sea]

I hope I am not painting with a brush too wide, but I cannot help but wonder if the cruisers who don't want to pay gratuities for toddlers, children, or teenagers, also stiff the wait staff in restaurants at home.

 

Cruising with four people, regardless of age, causes staff time at least twice that of cruising with two people.

 

You can try to justify reducing tips in any way that makes you feel better.

 

[Joebucks]

I would never dream of removing my tips. Out of all of the ways Carnival increases costs, I wish mandating tips them was one of them.

 

With that said, I can't think of many family establishments that charge (young) children the same as adults. They generally consume less, and business don't want the adults to skip out on a product because of higher costs. Cabins with 4 people don't take twice as long to clean. Sure you would tip for kids meals a restaurant, but your kids meals are what, half the price? At a 20% tip rate, that is still half the tips as adults get. The waiter still comes out ahead as many of the tasks are done at the same time. 

 

It would bug me too to pay $400 in tips while some people skip out on them all together. I say put children at $7.99 a day, and mandate that too.

[bury me at sea]

Joebucks, while you make some good points I can't agree with you 100%.

 

If service is sub-standard (once a day cabin service for instance) I see a reason, not a rationalization, for adjusting tips.

 

Other than sub-standard service, it's difficult for me to see that staff time required for children is less than staff time required for adults.

[ray98]

Funny thing is most seem unaware you are going to pay it either way.  If the financial baseline for a job is $2k then it is $2k no matter if it comes from tips or salary.  Nothing is free or comes out of thin air, the consumer pays it all.  If you do away with the tipping process then the cost of the product or service just rises to gain the needed revenue.  At least if you have the ability to tip directly you control the compensation based on the interaction instead of the employee knowing they are going to get check for the same amount either way.

[Shaded Lady]

Joebucks I thought the same thing for a minute... but looked at it this way- at a land restaurant you pay a lower amount for the food a child consumes (typically) but the percentage of tip is the same (15-20%). On a cruise, the cost of the 3rd or 4th person in a cabin is reduced as well, so I think the gratuity is appropriate for kidlets in your room.

 

I gotta say, on our upcoming family cruise, I feel badly for the cabin steward who's going to have to clean up after my grandson in the next cabin! That boy can make a mess! I can see me feeling like I've got to slip him/her a bit extra just to cover my guilt at the extra workload!