Do you double tip?

[HakunaMatada]

The cheers package, steak house and chefs table I just booked all included tips. In the past we tipped $2 for every drink, $10-15 for steak house and $20-$25 at the chefs table depending on service.

 

What's everyone's thoughts?

[Moparfiend]

Since carnival's cheap method of paying those that work hard on the ship for some reason is labeled as a Tip (or auto-gratuity) I consider those just cost of the item/cruise and not a tip.

Then tip as I would normally based on service.

So yes, technically

[Illbcruzn4life]

I don’t believe in tipping. I believe in overtipping.

[2Shoes2Go]

Yes

[beachbum53]

We're both retired and live on a fixed income. We have a vacation savings account at our bank that we're able to put money into twice a month. We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to afford a cruise once a year, plus have money for our air fare. We prepay the gratuities, but the only staff member we give extra cash to is our cabin steward at the end of our cruise. Neither one of us drink much alcohol, and since drink prices already include an 18% gratuity, we see no need to pay more. We rarely dine at one of the specialty restaurants, and have never had dinner at the Chef's table. So, to answer your question, (with the exception of the cabin steward), no, we do not double tip. 

[Theo1429]

We double top according to service given we also tip cabin steward $25 to $40 extra. 

[tallnthensome]

Yes

[ninjacat123]

I always tip on top of what is already included.  Plus I take care of my MDR waitstaff and my room staff on top of the auto gratuities.  Carnival's crew deserves it!

PS. Make sure you get their names so you can do a shout out on the survey.  That's just as important.

Edited April 7, 2022 by ninjacat123

[cruisinpips]

3 hours ago, Moparfiend said:

Since carnival's cheap method of paying those that work hard on the ship for some reason is labeled as a Tip (or auto-gratuity) I consider those just cost of the item/cruise and not a tip.

Then tip as I would normally based on service.

So yes, technically

Please expound on why Carnival has a “cheap method” of paying employees…. Never had one crew member complain of underpayment.. I have personally talked to several employees who have been with Carnival 20+ and 30+ years… must be a terrible job to stay that long….

We always tip above and beyond… I personally tipped a bartender $160 cash last week, and another bartender $40 cash and some items he requested prior to the cruise. In addition I added $2 for EVERY drink ordered with CHEERS…. If you cant afford to tip, you can’t afford to cruise, period!

Edited April 7, 2022 by cruisinpips

[cruisinpips]

3 hours ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I don’t believe in tipping. I believe in overtipping.

Amen!

[knagl]

Yes, we typically give a dollar or two in cash along with the auto-grat on drinks, and we typically give our cabin steward $20 cash up front with any requests (please refill the ice bucket, can we get an extra pillow, etc.), plus another $20 cash at the end of the cruise in addition to the daily gratuities on our bill.  When we find a MDR service team we like we'll request them for the rest of the trip, and generally hand them some cash on the last night, too.

I'm not rich, but I've worked in the service industry in the past and recognize how important tips are.  Additionally, I am fortunate enough to have enough income that an extra $100 or so over the course of a week isn't going to affect me, but it is likely to be greatly appreciated by the hard-working folks I encounter on the ship.

Edited April 7, 2022 by knagl

[HakunaMatada]

That's good to hear from everyone, I forgot to mention we usually tip our room steward $20 the first day and ask the ice bucket stay filled and we would tip more at the end, which we do. I've only had one steward not take care of our ice.

[ray98]

We absolutely tip extra when there is outstanding service.  However, I am not like the rest of the internet walking around throwing $5's at every person with a nametag on.

 

We may give our steward and extra $20 or so but that is about it.  We aren't needy cruisers, they pretty much make the bed and swap the towels and the rest of the cabin is already in order.  They spend less than 10 minutes a day in our cabin.

 

For servers if I am just being handed a beer at the bar I might not tip anything extra.  If you make me a great martini during the pre-dinner rush you might get $5.  If a server is bringing me drinks to the table saving me a trip to the bar they get tipped every time.  It all varies, I still believe tips are proportional to service provided and not some some charity program.

[Elaine5715]

48 minutes ago, cruisinpips said:

Please expound on why Carnival has a “cheap method” of paying employees…. Never had one crew member complain of underpayment.. I have personally talked to several employees who have been with Carnival 20+ and 30+ years… must be a terrible job to stay that long….

We always tip above and beyond… I personally tipped a bartender $160 cash last week, and another bartender $40 cash and some items he requested prior to the cruise. In addition I added $2 for EVERY drink ordered with CHEERS…. If you cant afford to tip, you can’t afford to cruise, period!

Crew that are overheard complaining about anything in front of guests are at risk of losing their job.  

[Ellaleah]

I have always tipped an extra $20 for a week to the cabin steward and given tips to wait staff on traditional dining cruises.  I cruised to Hawaii for 15 days on Princess in January.  The ship was about 45% full.  The food and service was above and beyond our expectations.  My sister requested a vegan diet.  We had a Restaurant Manager check with her daily to make special meals.  I think we tipped him about $140, the cabin steward $100 for our 2 cabins, and $20 to each of the wait staff.  They made the cruise great!

Edited April 8, 2022 by Ellaleah

[nlktx49]

A while back my sister went on a cruise with us, her first. As soon as we got on board we went to the Lido for lunch. She ordered a drink. When the waiter brought it to her she signed the ticket, handed it back to him along with $2. After he thanked her and walked off I said "You know there's already a tip included" and she said "I know, but giving him $2 isn't going to hurt me but I bet it helps him." I always think about that now when I go on a cruise.

[vicky3vicky]

We always double tip our room stewards. [$20 on first day, $20 mid cruise and at least $20 on the last day] We only have a few drinks the entire cruise and tip $5 cash with each order. We also carry $5 bills around to tip our omelot maker and random employees we notice working hard. My hope is that all Carnival employees could, if they chose, to be able to go on their own cruise.

[sparks1093]

We don't double tip, since I consider that to be an exact mathematical equation (i.e. to double tip on drinks we would leave an extra 18%, to double tip waitstaff/steward we would tip $14.50 extra per day under the new rate) and we don't do that. We do leave extra when the service warrants it, which is most of the time.

[Joebucks]

15 hours ago, Moparfiend said:

Since carnival's cheap method of paying those that work hard on the ship for some reason is labeled as a Tip (or auto-gratuity) I consider those just cost of the item/cruise and not a tip

 

The internet is full of people with the highest morals out there. Unfortunately, few have been able to use that morality to pay people of poorer countries like the Philippines, more than cruise ships do.

 

Some people over tip, some people pay no tips. I pay what is standard. If someone really goes above and beyond, we'll toss them some extra money. The people truly hurting the pockets of the workers are those who remove their tips.

 

[Moparfiend]

I had assumed everyone would understand what I mean when I said carnival is cheap. Seeing the quotes, that doesn't appear to be the case.

So in simpler terms
I leave whatever fee's and auto tip are on there. I don't look at those as a tip for the hard workers, they don't get removed.

I tip when on the ship, in cash. 

 

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, Moparfiend said:

I had assumed everyone would understand what I mean when I said carnival is cheap. Seeing the quotes, that doesn't appear to be the case.

So in simpler terms
I leave whatever fee's and auto tip are on there. I don't look at those as a tip for the hard workers, they don't get removed.

I tip when on the ship, in cash. 

 

Carnival is no cheaper than any other cruise line that uses tips as the model to pay certain workers. 

[Moparfiend]

1 minute ago, sparks1093 said:

Carnival is no cheaper than any other cruise line that uses tips as the model to pay certain workers. 

True, they all are terrible like that. In my personal opinion, they should rename it to service fees, make it where it can't be removed and is always paid by all guests.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, Moparfiend said:

True, they all are terrible like that. In my personal opinion, they should rename it to service fees, make it where it can't be removed and is always paid by all guests.

They will only change it if the employees directly affected band together and demand it. It won't change solely because of customer input. In any event we don't tip extra because we feel the staff is being shortchanged, we tip extra because they've earned it.

Edited April 8, 2022 by sparks1093

[katiel53]

We do tip extra for our drinks, usually a dollar or two per drink.  In the specialty restaurants we tip $10-$15 per person per meal.  

 

We do tip extra to our cabin steward, but at the end of the trip.  The one and only time we tipped extra in the beginning, we had the worst service ever, so decided then and there to not do that again.

Edited April 8, 2022 by katiel53

[RollingMeadows]

19 hours ago, HakunaMatada said:

The cheers package, steak house and chefs table I just booked all included tips. In the past we tipped $2 for every drink, $10-15 for steak house and $20-$25 at the chefs table depending on service.

 

What's everyone's thoughts?

This is us. We can afford to tip a little more these days so we do. In earlier years we had to be more cautious with our spending and just stuck with whatever gratuity was included, unapologetically I should add.