Thoughts on additional tips?

[DaveOKC]

On 1/2/2020 at 5:39 PM, kazu said:

I suspect there is a list of those who tip extra.  Crew talk.

Just a supposition on my part, of course based on a few little things I have heard 😉 

 

And irregardless, I think the crew do a fabulous job whether you tip extra or not. 

 

On my first real job (caddy at the local country club) I learned that news of who the good tippers were traveled VERY quickly and the caddies fought over getting assigned to the better tippers (those with the most senority got the pick of assignments.

[Petronillus]

I have just slogged my way this long (and sometimes startlingly acrimonious!) thread, in hopes of a clarification. Somewhere along the line I was told that when I give extra tips to our cabin steward(s) they were required to turn them over into a common pot that all the service people, including the folks behind the scenes, would share in according to some pre-set formula. 

I always take the opportunity to chat up the steward(s) at the start of the cruise, and invariably have found that they have children at home; I even learn the children's ages and sometimes their names. At the end of the cruise, I slip them a $50 or $100 bill, depending on the length of the cruise, with the caution that it was not for them but specifically for their children. Granted, it's a subterfuge but I figured it provided some cover to allow them to retain the extra and not turn it over to the common pot.

Now, if I understand correctly, my subterfuge is silly and the stewards get to keep the over-and-above gratuity. Duh!

[RocketMan275]

7 hours ago, Petronillus said:

I have just slogged my way this long (and sometimes startlingly acrimonious!) thread, in hopes of a clarification. Somewhere along the line I was told that when I give extra tips to our cabin steward(s) they were required to turn them over into a common pot that all the service people, including the folks behind the scenes, would share in according to some pre-set formula. 

I always take the opportunity to chat up the steward(s) at the start of the cruise, and invariably have found that they have children at home; I even learn the children's ages and sometimes their names. At the end of the cruise, I slip them a $50 or $100 bill, depending on the length of the cruise, with the caution that it was not for them but specifically for their children. Granted, it's a subterfuge but I figured it provided some cover to allow them to retain the extra and not turn it over to the common pot.

Now, if I understand correctly, my subterfuge is silly and the stewards get to keep the over-and-above gratuity. Duh!

Crew only has to turn in the 'over and above' gratuity if the giver has removed/decreased the HSC.  If the giver has removed/decreased the HSC, the recipient has to turn in the 'over and above'.

[SargassoPirate]

15 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Absolutely.  Take for example, a bartender.  If one tips extra with each drink, then the bartender will notice and will have an incentive to provide better service  to receive more tips.

 

I usually wrap a two dollar bill around my sea pass/cruise card when I order my first Scotch of the evening.  The two dollar bill is unusual and if the server has anything on the ball he/she will remember my face and my favorite drink.  I do this each evening and soon find that my drink and my butt get to the table at about the same time, with a better pour and a better quality of Scotch.

 

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

I usually wrap a two dollar bill around my sea pass/cruise card when I order my first Scotch of the evening.  The two dollar bill is unusual and if the server has anything on the ball he/she will remember my face and my favorite drink.  I do this each evening and soon find that my drink and my butt get to the table at about the same time, with a better pour and a better quality of Scotch.

 

Excellent suggestion.  Similar to my experience on RCI.  I always tipped the bartender in the suites lounge two dollars for our drinks.  By the second night, he would be pouring my drink before I got to the bar. 

I always say: "Tip early, tip often, tip generously."  

[SargassoPirate]

11 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Excellent suggestion.  Similar to my experience on RCI.  I always tipped the bartender in the suites lounge two dollars for our drinks.  By the second night, he would be pouring my drink before I got to the bar. 

I always say: "Tip early, tip often, tip generously."  

 

I order a wrapper of two dollar bills from my bank and take what I need for each cruise.  I don't bother with the two dollar bills when I tip a person I'll never see again, like the porter or taxi driver, but they work wonders with cruise ship bar staff.

[DaveOKC]

29 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

I order a wrapper of two dollar bills from my bank and take what I need for each cruise.  I don't bother with the two dollar bills when I tip a person I'll never see again, like the porter or taxi driver, but they work wonders with cruise ship bar staff.

Very interesting idea!  Sure makes you standout.

 

I have heard that two dollar bills can be difficult to cash as many people not familiar to them think they are fake.  Ever have this issue?

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by DaveOKC

[c-boy]

41 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Excellent suggestion.  Similar to my experience on RCI.  I always tipped the bartender in the suites lounge two dollars for our drinks.  By the second night, he would be pouring my drink before I got to the bar. 

I always say: "Tip early, tip often, tip generously."  

and don't forget to dress appropriately  😜

[SargassoPirate]

6 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Very interesting idea!  Sure makes you standout.

 

I have heard that two dollar bills can be difficult to cash as many people not familiar to them think they are fake.  Ever have this issue?

 

 

 

Never had an issue with them, but about the only place I use them is on cruise ships.  

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Never had an issue with them, but about the only place I use them is on cruise ships.  

 

I was thinking about the crew using them - might be tough at times/places.  I guess they can exchange at the front desk, but I know that when I was in the supermarket business we really did not like having to handle them (cash drawers not setup for them and extra time/effort to account for them).

 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by DaveOKC

[SargassoPirate]

19 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

 

I was thinking about the crew using them - might be tough at times/places.  I guess they can exchange at the front desk, but I know that when I was in the supermarket business we really did not like having to handle them (cash drawers not setup for them and extra time/effort to account for them).

 

 

 

My father and father-in-law both served in the Navy in WWII.  They were paid in two-dollar bills and told me that people and businesses in any port where the US Navy had a presence would recognize the two-dollar bill.  My father-in-law always carried two-dollar bills for tips when traveling and got me started on it.  

 

I'm guessing the crew know where to exchange them when they are in port.

[swscruiser]

We always tip extra in cash  to our bartenders.  To us it has made a difference. Especially to 1 bartender in Particular.  It was on Carnival.  Eduardo was on his last week of his contract.  4 months later we’re on a different carnival Ship. We were one of the first  people on board after the wedding parties etc.  We always go to the Red Frog rum bar for our first drink on board. We were about 30 feet from the bar and I Told my wife I think that’s Eduardo from our last cruise. He had seen us and by the time we got to the the bar he had our drinks siting on the bar and welcomed us back on board by our First Names. 
That is one heck of a bartender. 

[sail7seas]

On 1/4/2020 at 12:32 PM, DaveOKC said:

 

I was thinking about the crew using them - might be tough at times/places.  I guess they can exchange at the front desk, but I know that when I was in the supermarket business we really did not like having to handle them (cash drawers not setup for them and extra time/effort to account for them).

 

 

The crew do not  go  to front desk to do their 'business'..  They have their own purser in their crew area

 

 

 

 

 

On 1/4/2020 at 12:32 PM, DaveOKC said: