Tipping cabin steward upfront?

[Nic6318]

32 minutes ago, BigguyNC said:

Sorry to have offended you Bostwick girl.  I didn’t see that this was solely a forum for your beloved Carnival cruise line.  I don’t think it’s a “North - South issue either.  It’s just that some folks prefer to shop at K-Mart and others prefer something a litttle better.

 

 

Hi

 

I didn't see this post when I made my other comments. Ha, Ha. Since you are new, I guess you wouldn't understand, over the years the typical comparison would be "Walmart". Good luck cruising on your "upscale" cruise lines. Royal, Celebrity...really?

[CA_Cruzing]

7 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

Where I live, we have Denny's and Mexican food diners.  I can see the look on the Denny's hostess if I slid her $20 and asked for a table by a window.

Qualifier was “nice” restaurant. 

 

Your geo location says SoCal. I’m pretty sure there’s more upscale dining in SoCal than just Lenny’s and taco shacks. 

 

I can can suggest some places for you if you’d like to explore some new venues. 

[tom3562]

LOL...........you guys are funny! 

I guess I'll sit back and enjoy the ride.......

 

I'll be sailing tomorrow anyways  

[mrpayroll]

Never have. Don't ever plan on it. 

[patrickiii]

22 hours ago, tom3562 said:

Has anyone had luck tipping your cabin stewards up front? 

Even thou we always pre-pay our gratuities, I got into a habit of giving our steward a $20 bill up front when they introduce themselves. This has seamed to always make a great cabin steward / customer relationship for the week. with thee exception one time. I believe it was a 4 day voyage, I tipped up front, and never seen him again till the last day leaving my room. Curious if anyone else does the same?

Happy Sailing!

we also do the same

[Relaxedfun]

First - Love the "Steal Your Cruise" logo.

 

I often give the cabin steward $20 first day, more at the end.  Why?  The majority of gratuities on your bill go to other staff, and the steward works harder than the others.  They NEED the money.  This person NEVER has a day off.  Why not give them a $20, it means little to anyone who cruises.

 

...get shown the light!  and relax.

[tom3562]

2 hours ago, Relaxedfun said:

First - Love the "Steal Your Cruise" logo.

 

I often give the cabin steward $20 first day, more at the end.  Why?  The majority of gratuities on your bill go to other staff, and the steward works harder than the others.  They NEED the money.  This person NEVER has a day off.  Why not give them a $20, it means little to anyone who cruises.

 

...get shown the light!  and relax.

You said it perfectly!

 

sometimes we all sail on a "Ship of Fools"  🙂

[BigBuoys]

Just curious - does anyone tip room service in advance?

[sharonna3]

I alway include pre-paid gratuities AND I have always tipped $20 at intro since I always needed something changed or added to the cabin. My recent cruise, I didn't need anything at arrival but still, out of habit tipped $20 at the beginning. Had a great steward.

[JazzyInRI]

 It seems like everyone has said you can ask for robes and extra hangers. Going to try tipping up front and then asking for a service to see if things move faster. Not that the room stewarts don’t always go above and beyond, they’re amazing. 

[firefly5555]

15 Cruise and I have never ever tipped up front. I get the same wonderful service every time.

[firefly5555]

16 hours ago, BigBuoys said:

Just curious - does anyone tip room service in advance?

Not sure how you tip room service in advance.

 

[BigBuoys]

3 minutes ago, firefly5555 said:

Not sure how you tip room service in advance.

 

 

I don’t either but we should find out. I mean, if we are tipping stewards before completion of requests, I should be tipping room service in advance so I get placed to the front of the orders, get priority delivery, and a guarantee no one spits in my BLT.

Edited March 3, 2019 by BigBuoys

[firefly5555]

2 minutes ago, BigBuoys said:

 

I don’t either but we should find out. I mean, if we are tipping stewards before completion of requests, I should be tipping room service in advance so I get placed to the front of the orders, get priority delivery, and a guarantee no one spits in my BLT.

you can not tip room service before they bring your food.. I am not sure why people would even think that.. I have cruised 15 times. I order room service every time.. They are great.. It just like tipping the room Stewart before hand to make service better is crazy.. They will give you the same service no matter what.. They are hard working people. They want you to tip but tipping is for good service.. If you give them money at the beginning it is called a bribe not a tip. 

[mcd2745]

You want to "pre-tip" to try to ensure an elevated level of service? That's fine. I have no issue with that. What concerns me is if that generally becomes "required" in order to receive the basic, standard level of service one should reasonably be able to expect without doing it.

Edited March 3, 2019 by mcd2745

[firefly5555]

John Heald created a poll.

4 hrs ·

Name: Petra----------
Message: John I will not talk about where I read this in fear if I do you will ignore it. There is a valuable thread on another site John talking about tipping the cabin stewards on embarkation day to insure you get good service. Some members are saying this is a bribe not a tip. Some say that are for good services rendered. And some are saying it is a must to get decent service. I have 7 cruises with Carnival. I have never done this. Do I have to start now ? That is why I am writing to you.

-------------------

The simple answer Petra is no, you absolutely do not have to and you will get service that I am sure will exceed your expectations regardless. If people wish to tip upfront then that as with all forms of giving a gratuity is their right of course. The most important thing is that if you do receive great service that you do reward the crew and for most part that is exactly what happens and my thanks to everyone for doing so.

Have you ever tipped the cabin steward on embarkation day?

[hotsauce126]

Maybe I'm low maintenance, but I've never had service that I felt would be improved upon by tipping upfront.

[summersigh]

quoted from Carnival FAQs

Our recommended guideline to what is appropriate is $12.95 USD per person, per day for guests in standard stateroom accommodations and $13.95 USD per person, per day for guests booked in suites. The majority of the tipping amount goes to employees such as stateroom stewards, assistant stewards, dining room waiters and assistant waiters. A small portion goes to a mix of other personnel who are in guest-facing customer service positions within areas such as culinary and hotel services, along with certain key positions in entertainment and guest services.

  100% of your gratuities are distributed to the crew who you interact with, such as your stateroom attendants, dining, bar and culinary services staff, as well as others who work behind the scenes to enhance your overall cruise experience.

Here is the breakdown, per day:

Housekeeping Team: $4.05 ($5.05 for suites)

Dining Team: $6.40

Alternative Services: $2.50

 

[mpdog42]

3 hours ago, summersigh said:

quoted from Carnival FAQs

Our recommended guideline to what is appropriate is $12.95 USD per person, per day for guests in standard stateroom accommodations and $13.95 USD per person, per day for guests booked in suites. The majority of the tipping amount goes to employees such as stateroom stewards, assistant stewards, dining room waiters and assistant waiters. A small portion goes to a mix of other personnel who are in guest-facing customer service positions within areas such as culinary and hotel services, along with certain key positions in entertainment and guest services.

  100% of your gratuities are distributed to the crew who you interact with, such as your stateroom attendants, dining, bar and culinary services staff, as well as others who work behind the scenes to enhance your overall cruise experience.

Here is the breakdown, per day:

Housekeeping Team: $4.05 ($5.05 for suites)

Dining Team: $6.40

Alternative Services: $2.50

 

and you actually believe that? The 100% I mean?

Mike

Edited March 3, 2019 by mpdog42
add

[coevan]

absolutely, do you think Carnival needs to steal from it's employees. Why is everything so nefarious?  

[Doggielover68]

On 3/2/2019 at 10:50 AM, CA_Cruzing said:

It’s a realistic approach. 

 

I can’t fathom how people will drop a few grand on a vacation and can not afford a few extra bucks to have their vacation their way. What’s $20 or $40 extra to someone else to have that extra level of service?

 

To each their own. The bribe comments make me laugh the most.  Life is too short to be too cheap. 

I never tip upfront and I always receive excellent service on a cruise by being polite. 

[summersigh]

3 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

and you actually believe that? The 100% I mean?

Mike

I do.  I wouldn't cruise with a line that I believed lied about where the auto-grats go.

[susan1957]

On 3/1/2019 at 5:00 PM, asalligo said:

I leave auto gratuity on and usually tip up front when I make custom requests like an extra chair or robes and I let them know what I like in terms of service like I do not need ice, but the kids really love towel animals and I want twice a day service. When they perform my immediate request, I tip a $20 on the first day and then if they are doing a really good job and actually performing full service twice daily and doing the things I mentioned I liked, then I leave a five each day. I feel this increases the service, my mother was with us on a recent cruise and the same steward skipped her a couple days and no towel animals when I got them.  I am sure though that you would get acceptable service with no extra tip. 

That's an awfully expensive towel animal....you can buy the book for less....😂😂just having fun

Edited March 4, 2019 by susan1957

[BrezQ]

we always tip the steward , waiters in the MDR,  and our bartenders with extra cash, if we feel we received extra service, we'll compensate! I'm a bartender, and appreciate the tips! I do not prepay the gratuities and would cancel them if we felt we had a bad experience. (we haven't had to do that yet)  Maybe we do it because it makes US feel better? Who knows? It's just what we do!  just our choice!

[Bookbug53]

On 3/1/2019 at 3:26 PM, fuzzychop1 said:

FYI... the word TIPS actually means To Insure Prompt Service. We always tip cash to our cabin steward, bar tenders and servers in the casino first and people have actually asked us why we get such good service and never have to wait for a drink and/or ice or anything else we need in our cabin. Take care of the people that take care of you. 

Since “tip” in the “gratuity” sense dates back to the early 18th century, it is extremely unlikely to have begun life as an acronym and it would need to be Teps. To ensure prompt service.