Stop removing tips

[ontheweb]

48 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

I'm willing to bet that a good amount of people on Cruise Critic who complain about the tip removers the most are in fact the ones secretly removing their tips on the last night of the cruise. They just need to protect their online imagine 🙂

And in the old days before automatic gratuities, you heard many stories of passengers who avoided the dining room on the final night. (NOT US)

[crewsweeper]

We call them "tips" and that has a slightly different connotation to most of us in common use than "gratuity" used by the cruise lines as a more "friendly" way of saying "service charge", or "wage enhancement" which is what it really is.

Ergo, by removing them you are impacting the wages of the crew for the services they rendered, directly or indirectly.

[CruiseRonJulie]

5 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

We call them "tips" and that has a slightly different connotation to most of us in common use than "gratuity" used by the cruise lines as a more "friendly" way of saying "service charge", or "wage enhancement" which is what it really is.

Ergo, by removing them you are impacting the wages of the crew for the services they rendered, directly or indirectly.

Well said.

 

[cruiserbrianj]

I look at it like this....on my last cruise the tips were $14/day/person and it came out to roughly 18.5%.  I'm typically a 20% tipper, start there and go up or down accordingly.  That said, I could never see removing the tips as a whole.  I can possibly get by with reducing the tips but even still, I personally, don't feel right about that.  There really are so many people behind the scenes that get these tips....the same people that serve in the MDR you'll often find on the Lido deck during the day.  The vast majority are busting their butts to make our trips enjoyable and I always see the employees working....doing something.  That's just been my experiences but I really do think if people do the math and see what percentage they're actually tipping it could give a little more perspective vs simply removing/reducing because of "bad service."

[nissach]

2 hours ago, jppmp said:

These posts always make me chuckle.  Why on earth do you think that what others do (or don't do) is any of your business or concern.  It also makes me chuckle when folks are bullied by some internet keyboard warriors.  If I wanted to be cheap, I certainly would not be afraid to say so on some internet forum.  It's my money, I worked for it and I under no circumstances would care what you thought about how I did (or did not) spend it.

 

Having said the above, I have never removed tips.  We've had bad service before, but never to the point that it made me so mad I would waste valuable vacation time standing in a line to remove or reduce the small tip amount.

 

For the life of me, I really just don't understand why people would think other's tipping practices are any of their concern.  Folks really should take a step back and think about how they would like to be "scolded" by some meatball internet forum member, for doing something that they didn't like (and that had no impact whatsoever on their enjoyment of a cruise).

Exactly!  How much I do or do not tip is no one else's business.  Tipping is most often a choice and seldom mandatory.

[TerReuv]

While I agree that the crew works hard and that some people don't appreciate it and will remove tips.  Tips is a very personal thing for each person and NO ONE should be telling others what to tip or not tip.  If the Cruise line itself doesn't have tips that cannot be removed, then that is on them.  I saw a post on a Carnival page on FB and the person was so obsessed with the amount of tips, that they were trying to figure out the percentage each person gets.  It was nuts.  We always prepay our tips and then we tip more for those who go over what is expected.  

 

Please don't tell others how they need to tip.

[sprint180]

I hope the OP is as concerned with tipping off ship as they are on the ship.  There are many service workers working in restaurants and hotels that would appreciate it.  As a former waitress I certainly appreciate tips but, who I tip and how much I tip is absolutely no ones business including yours.

[ober134]

3 hours ago, hotsauce126 said:

I always see people complaining about those that remove their tips but rarely see anyone actually say that they remove their tips 

Who would ever publicly admit to such a jerk move? We've cruised quite a bit, and have never considered removing grats. Service has not always been 5-star, but we've never been unsatisfied a enough to screw staff out of tips. And I response to "newbies" that didn't know they should tip? And didn't budget for it? Lame excuse. Anyone who does bare minimum of research should be able to know that. Unless they are illiterate.

[jbethel11]

Ah, yet another poster who cannot handle the truth.

[vicky3vicky]

The majority of my life I was a tipped employee. 30 years ago, my wages were one dollar an hour, plus tips. If tips did not bring your wages up to minimum wage, legally, the employer had to make up the difference. This never happened with me or with anyone I personally know [they would have been out of a job] but my understanding, from only one Carnival service employee, so this is not a certainty, that this is similar to how t the lower level tipped employees are paid. 

My undersstanding is that the tipped employees are given a promised minimum salary [the example I was given was $800 a month, for their 400 hour a month work] If the employee, with their tips, makes less than $800 a month, that Carnival must make up the difference. 

What I do is leave on the tips [don't want the employees to lose their job because of too many people having their tips removed] plus tip generously on top of that. 

I know that sometimes "average income' is leaked out. but those figures are greatly skewed. For example, I do not know what the entertainers, chefs, officers and captain make, but I have heard it is high. Fom an inside source, I know that cruise directors start at $175,000, but it may be higher than that now, and they are so worth it. When the average numbers are leaked, it makes the employees doing the hardest work appear to make much more money than they do. 

I ussually tip extra as much as would be the ammount that if I were doing the job and was tipped, would put a big smile on my face.

[Stick93]

Thank you so much for starting yet another punchfest on tipping. It is a well-known truth then nobody on this form would ever  dare to remove their gratuities - And already we have some very emotional and contentious responses.

 

I do think that is much is we beat this topic over our heads again - it makes no difference to want the thousands of people who do not read this form will do. People who remove their tips for whatever reasons will continue to do it.

 

 I will say that as contentious as this issue is I’m always surprised at the people who defend the cruise lines with them continuing to cut service and raise their prices. I don’t know what anybody thinks they should expect when it comes to a fee that people can remove ?? If the cruise line are smart and they do read this just raise the gratuities more because everybody here continues to pay them.

[iltutcruiser]

4 hours ago, riffatsea said:

Perhaps it would work better if they just raised the cruise price to include the tips?

That's what they do on Carnival Australia.

I agree that the crew really depends on the money and there should be some way for them to be assured to get it.

I agree, just increase the price, tell the passenger, its already included but feel free to tip extra if you would like to.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by iltutcruiser

[Stick93]

22 minutes ago, iltutcruiser said:

I agree, just increase the price, tell the passenger, its already included but feel free to tip extra if you would like to.

 

Why not say it’s included and then don’t hand out a receipt each time you give a drink like the other cruise lines do. 

 

Why would you you have to keep asking or telling people to give more. If they get great service most people put their hand in their pockets to give. 

[Sean_B]

5 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

Okay, before I start an argument, what a newby cruiser didn't realize you had to tip and didn't set out the money to tip? Just a thought, as I am sure this came up once or twice. 

 

I'm not even sure how that could happen with all the documentation you agree too when you buy a cruise and web forums.

[Amadawn1]

1 hour ago, TerReuv said:

We always prepay our tips and then we tip more for those who go over what is expected.  

Ditto.  We pre-pay them and just count them in to the total cruise cost.  When my cruise is paid off, so are the gratuities.  Personally, I would be embarrassed to stand in a line at guest services with the intention of removing the gratuities from my bill.  We also tip additionally for those that go above and beyond, including our room steward and our dining room crew.

[deliver42]

To the OP. VERY WELL SAID. I COULD'T AGREE MORE.

[CruiseRonJulie]

22 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

To the OP. VERY WELL SAID. I COULD'T AGREE MORE.

Thank You.

[Haveuseen1]

One thing that Americans have a hard thing understanding is that Tipping is predominately an American thing.  I go to Italy a number of times a year and several other  European countries ( for work ) .  Tipping is NOT the custom there.  It is funny because I have seen it done several times where a waiter/waitress will prey on an American tourist for a tip because they know the American culture supports it.  All of that to say, I am guessing Carnival is a US owned company and therefore promotes tipping the workers.  I wonder if European Owned Cruise ship companies ( if there are any ? ) promote tipping?  I dont mind tipping, and I do the prepaid tip thing and just consider it as part of the overall cost.

 

 

[GUT2407]

6 hours ago, K&RCurt said:

They rarely admit to it.  But if you ever had to go to Guest Services on the last morning to resolve an issue on your folio, you can stand behind the LONG line and listen as they go up and pull their tips for lame reasons.  This, of course, after they left their cabin and the smiling steward wishing them a safe trip home, not knowing they are about to lose $.

And you are there to????

[GUT2407]

2 hours ago, iltutcruiser said:

I agree, just increase the price, tell the passenger, its already included but feel free to tip extra if you would like to.

 

And it would start all over again with name calling etc because I tip more than you do.

[Amadawn1]

SMH. I would never lower my gratuity because the room stewards have more rooms to clean. Increases in gratuity rates are a part of cost of living.  Do you think the gratuity rates should stay the same as they would have been in say, the year 2000?  There was a time way back when, that there were no automatic gratuities.  Only suggestions, with envelopes left in the staterooms for the guests to use at their discretion. Perhaps the guests who choose to remove gratuities might want to curb some of their other spending on the ship instead.  For example: Losing several hundred (or more) dollars in the casino is no reason to punish that hard working cruise ship employee who always greets you with a smile on his/her face.  Budget for your excesses before you cruise.

[Organized Chaos]

6 hours ago, riffatsea said:

I agree that the crew really depends on the money and there should be some way for them to be assured to get it.

 

A majority of cruise ship crew from places such as the Philippines make very good money, relatively speaking. More than they would ever make in their home countries. Yes, it's hard work and they're away from their families for several months at a time, but the pay is good for them. So most of them certainly deserve the tips, but to say they depend on them isn't necessarily true. 

 

5 hours ago, jppmp said:

These posts always make me chuckle.  Why on earth do you think that what others do (or don't do) is any of your business or concern.  It also makes me chuckle when folks are bullied by some internet keyboard warriors.  If I wanted to be cheap, I certainly would not be afraid to say so on some internet forum.  It's my money, I worked for it and I under no circumstances would care what you thought about how I did (or did not) spend it.

 

Having said the above, I have never removed tips.  We've had bad service before, but never to the point that it made me so mad I would waste valuable vacation time standing in a line to remove or reduce the small tip amount.

 

For the life of me, I really just don't understand why people would think other's tipping practices are any of their concern.  Folks really should take a step back and think about how they would like to be "scolded" by some meatball internet forum member, for doing something that they didn't like (and that had no impact whatsoever on their enjoyment of a cruise).

 

Well said. But such are the ways of CC. A lot of people regularly claim that their cruises were somehow negatively impacted by the indirect actions of others in some way. Whether it's the person who removed their tips or the MDR meal that someone claimed was ruined because they saw someone wearing a hat or flip flops. The list isn't short. Too many of them get bent out of shape when they learn that other people handle their own vacations differently than they do. We're too busy enjoying the  last night of our cruise to worry about the line of people at Guest Services or why they're there. I'm aware that people remove their tips. It's not something I would do, although I wouldn't be against lowering them if we had more than our fair share of bad service. And I don't approve of people removing them for BS reasons, but it's not something that affects our cruise.

[Cincy2]

I believe that with their massive profits, the companies should ethically pay the employees more. However,  I would never remove gratuities for those hard working people.  They shouldn't suffer for the cruise lines' greed. 

[tallnthensome]

Many Have zero intention of paying the tips from day one even with no valid excuse but they will think of something. Happens on a lot of lines. 

[Luckiestmanonearth]

This topic reminds me of the joke that at the beginning of a meal at a restaurant, you are hungry and things get ordered very easily.

 

But at the end of the meal, you’re full and so when the bill comes, you start to question the cost.

 

During a cruise , people appreciate the service but some people are very cheap and remove tips near the end of a cruise cause they’ve already experienced the cruise and don’t want to pay for what they received which is good service.

 

And I’m just not buying the excuse that “I’d rather pay in cash”.  You know full well people are lying