Auto Gratuities- Yes or No?

[ReneeFLL]

14 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

That’s the way it used to be, wonder why they changed it? Could it be that people are cheap? I’ve heard stories of empty MDR’s on the last night, I wonder why? My last cruise before DSC was in 2007, what a PITA. Now I leave the DSC in place, tip bartenders, my cabin steward, and anyone else who goes above and beyond (plus extras like room service or bringing an iron).

How did you get someone to bring you an iron or was this on another line?

[rudeney]

I still don't understand the idea that, "gratuities go to pay behind the scenes crew."  In the "good old days", the cash tips we paid were handed to four people - cabin steward, waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter.  When did the laundry, dishwashers and other crew become tipped positions?  I'm not asking this to be argumentative - I am truly just curious.  And I would never remove the added gratuities - I just consider it part of the cost of my cruise.

[ReneeFLL]

14 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I understand completely what you meant, and I stand by my statement.

The guaranteed minimum salary that the crew receives is roughly 3 times the annual average salary in their home countries, and that is earned in nine months. 
I don’t believe the passengers need to subsidize anything, I am a fan of rewarding excellence, but I do not do it before services are rendered, and I do not do it out of a feeling of guilt.

It shouldn’t matter what they make in their home country. I know what it’s like to have a spouse gone for 6 months at a time. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone if they didn’t want it. They are usually gone longer than that and working 6 - 7 days a week. Would you bust your butt like they do for what money they receive? I know I wouldn’t. They miss out on so many holidays, children growing up, etc.

[coordinator23]

I see no reason not to build the so called gratuities into the price of the cruise.  Since the gratuities are now used to pay the crew, they should just be part of the cruise fare.  Years ago they were more of a tip.  Now they are more of the salary.

[the penguins]

14 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

I am for ending tipping on cruise ships totally and increasing price. There shouldnt be a practice of "auto-gratuity" in the first place especially gratuity added to cruise planner food/beverage packages before service is even rendered. AND they need to remove the auto-gratuity at all the bars as well. A bartender handing me a beer should necessitate an 18% auto-gratuity. Shady practice

Be careful of what you wish for. On Celebrity (and I assume Royal) on cruises sold in Australia and New Zealand tipping is "not required". Result the basic prices are increased - I am happy with that. Drink prices are increased to include the tips and then rounded up to the nearest 💲- i.e. you pay more.

The practice of adding compolsary elements to a basic price is illegal in the UK and the EU. Hence port fees and taxes are included. By keeping tips "optional" cruise lines are able to avoid this requirement.

None of the ships are American and none abide by US, UK, or EU employment laws.

We always pre pay the tips and give extra to specific crew members.

[time4u2go]

9 hours ago, AlohaLivin said:

That is what I was told.  But it’s definitely shared with a lot  more people than one’s server and the cabin steward (and IMHO the purpose is to tip those people who deserve it rather than the cruiser getting the proud, tingly feeling one gets from handing someone money). Just my view. 

I never would have thought that musicians and lifeguards would share in the tip pool.  That seems...odd?

[time4u2go]

7 hours ago, rudeney said:

I still don't understand the idea that, "gratuities go to pay behind the scenes crew."  In the "good old days", the cash tips we paid were handed to four people - cabin steward, waiter, assistant waiter, and head waiter.  When did the laundry, dishwashers and other crew become tipped positions?  I'm not asking this to be argumentative - I am truly just curious.  And I would never remove the added gratuities - I just consider it part of the cost of my cruise.

...and musicians and lifeguards, apparently.  I'm wondering about that too.

[hotsauce126]

12 hours ago, babyblue78 said:

 

Tipping is still very much a thing at Sandals though, so what has happened is the prices were higher to supposedly include tips.  Then tipping continues so the culture is still there....

Sandas employees aren’t allowed to accept tips aside from butlers and spa staff.

[AlohaLivin]

48 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

I never would have thought that musicians and lifeguards would share in the tip pool.  That seems...odd?

I was told that there are so many people in the ship they give service and assist passengers but in the past only a very small number we’re getting tipped and this was a fair way to do things  (in the same way that sometime restaurants pool the tips for servers and share it with people that bus tables and cook in the kitchen). Seems fair to me. Lifeguards, for instance, work as hard for cruisers as anyone else as far as I can see. I clearly can’t give you a list of every single person on the ship with whom they share those tips, but mentioned a few as examples.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Another grats thread and another one that will go around in circles. Some people will tip and some wont. Its a fact of life generally driven by i believe:

 

Where you live/culture

 

At the end of the day tip if you want too, or not. 

 

IMOP I think it should be included in the price and tip extra if you want too.

 

If you pay more wages then would they get more staff from the western world rather then asian countries? 

Would this cause issues by increase unemployment in countries that outsource their manpower for better paid jobs?

s

Also say each cabin steward has to look after 10 cabins per week, each cabin tip £50 a week thats £500 a week in tips.....soon mounts up.

 

Also finally, i know the work is hard i know being away from family is hard ive done it lots (military) but at the end of the day if you dont like it dont do it. 

 

But back to the OP i have been on cruises where there has been a huge queue at reception ( guest services) to cancel tips. The staff walk down the line with a clip board and ask. 

Finally someone  also mentioned that the crew knows who cancels tips. Now im no judge but i would imagine thats against a data protection act. ....

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Another grats thread and another one that will go around in circles. Some people will tip and some wont. Its a fact of life generally driven by i believe:

 

Where you live/culture

 

At the end of the day tip if you want too, or not. 

 

IMOP I think it should be included in the price and tip extra if you want too.

 

If you pay more wages then would they get more staff from the western world rather then asian countries? 

Would this cause issues by increase unemployment in countries that outsource their manpower for better paid jobs?

s

Also say each cabin steward has to look after 10 cabins per week, each cabin tip £50 a week thats £500 a week in tips.....soon mounts up.

 

Also finally, i know the work is hard i know being away from family is hard ive done it lots (military) but at the end of the day if you dont like it dont do it. 

 

But back to the OP i have been on cruises where there has been a huge queue at reception ( guest services) to cancel tips. The staff walk down the line with a clip board and ask. 

Finally someone  also mentioned that the crew knows who cancels tips. Now im no judge but i would imagine thats against a data protection act. ....

You’re on a foreign flagged ship, data protection acts don’t apply and crew do know who has removed tips/gratuities 

[A&L_Ont]

40 minutes ago, hotsauce126 said:

Sandas employees aren’t allowed to accept tips aside from butlers and spa staff.

 

Actually Sandals in Barbados, been there two times and as recent as this April, says you can tip if you wish. That being over and above the Butlers and Spa.  I also saw some people tipping cash at the bar and the restaurants. 

[not-enough-cruising]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

It shouldn’t matter what they make in their home country. I know what it’s like to have a spouse gone for 6 months at a time. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone if they didn’t want it. They are usually gone longer than that and working 6 - 7 days a week. Would you bust your butt like they do for what money they receive? I know I wouldn’t. They miss out on so many holidays, children growing up, etc.

Would I bust my butt and be gone for 9 months if I could make 3 times my potential  annual salary???

 

ABSOLUTELY 100%

[A&L_Ont]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

You’re on a foreign flagged ship, data protection acts don’t apply and crew do know who has removed tips/gratuities 

 

In the old days, prior to auto grats, our cabin stewards who we had sailed with multiple times shared with us that they knew who was using which method of tipping. It was on a print out in their hallway storage room at the start of each sailing.

 

Now that auto-grats happens, I don't know if they are notified if someone drops them or not. That seems like too much work to keep up on IMO. 

[rudeney]

43 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

I was told that there are so many people in the ship they give service and assist passengers but in the past only a very small number we’re getting tipped and this was a fair way to do things  (in the same way that sometime restaurants pool the tips for servers and share it with people that bus tables and cook in the kitchen). Seems fair to me. Lifeguards, for instance, work as hard for cruisers as anyone else as far as I can see. I clearly can’t give you a list of every single person on the ship with whom they share those tips, but mentioned a few as examples.

 

Given that the auto-gratuities have not increased much since the old days where we handed cash to those four people (steward, waiter, asst. waster and head water), it seems odd that the cruise line would make them now share tips with all these other crew members. That would be a pay cut for them.

 

On land, people who are not in customer-facing tipped positions (cooks, dishwashers, laundry, etc.) are paid a higher hourly wage.  Lifeguards are generally paid even better due their training and skill requirements.  BTW, on a cruise ship, the assistant waiter buses tables, and that is a tipped position (or was traditionally, back when we handed out cash tips). 

 

I am still very skeptical that these behind-the-scenes people are part of the tip pool, but that does not change my mind about accepting the fact that gratuities are part of my cruise expense.  

[CruisingHogFan]

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Another grats thread and another one that will go around in circles. Some people will tip and some wont. Its a fact of life generally driven by i believe:

 

Where you live/culture

 

At the end of the day tip if you want too, or not. 

 

IMOP I think it should be included in the price and tip extra if you want too.

 

I think it does come down a lot on culture/where you are from. 

 

BUT you should follow the customs of the country you are visiting and not where you are from. 

[Tree_skier]

I'd be fine with cruise lines increasing the price to include it in the overall cost of the cruise.  Since they do not, I'm not concerned about $100 a week that currently gets added to the bill. If service was so horrendous that I could not justify the $100 I guess I could have them removed but I can't imagine a degree of service so poor that went unresolved that would justify that action.  

[DirtyDawg]

5 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I'd be fine with cruise lines increasing the price to include it in the overall cost of the cruise.  Since they do not, I'm not concerned about $100 a week that currently gets added to the bill. If service was so horrendous that I could not justify the $100 I guess I could have them removed but I can't imagine a degree of service so poor that went unresolved that would justify that action.  

Yep, in an ideal world all of this tipping would be included in the price. But, of course, in an ideal world I'd look like Brad Pitt, and have the bankroll of Elon Musk and not have to worry about sailing on a plebeian cruise line. So this Elmer Fudd doesn't worry about a little extra add on.

[Tree_skier]

Just now, DirtyDawg said:

But, of course, in an ideal world I'd look like Brad Pitt, 

In my ideal world I look like Chris Hemsworth

[DirtyDawg]

1 minute ago, Tree_skier said:

In my ideal world I look like Chris Hemsworth

In Mrs. Dawg's perfect world too. 😉

[Seville2Cabo]

Be careful what you wish for on the  "tips included".  We belonged to a club that said tips were included and not to tip (wallet, bag boys).  The sent a reminder each month with your bill and it was said that employees accepting tips would be fired.  Then the reminders stopped and soon people were giving tips, (and they were being accepted) even though they were included in our monthly dues.  

 

About a year later and everyone was tipping and it was the norm.  So my "tips included" dues just went up by about $60 per month ($5 per round for bag boys, 3 times a week).

 

Same think can happen with cruises.  Tips included, some people start tipping and now you have tips included and paying cash tips too.  

[babyblue78]

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

Actually Sandals in Barbados, been there two times and as recent as this April, says you can tip if you wish. That being over and above the Butlers and Spa.  I also saw some people tipping cash at the bar and the restaurants. 

Yep… this is not new either, tipping at Sandals has been going on a long time.  I have been going there for over 20 years (I was even married at Sandals Negril), and tipping was happening even then.

 

Cash tipping happens at the bar, entertainment staff, housekeeping, etc… trust me, they WILL take your tip.  

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Another grats thread and another one that will go around in circles. Some people will tip and some wont. Its a fact of life generally driven by i believe:

 

Where you live/culture

 

At the end of the day tip if you want too, or not. 

 

IMOP I think it should be included in the price and tip extra if you want too.

 

If you pay more wages then would they get more staff from the western world rather then asian countries? 

Would this cause issues by increase unemployment in countries that outsource their manpower for better paid jobs?

s

Also say each cabin steward has to look after 10 cabins per week, each cabin tip £50 a week thats £500 a week in tips.....soon mounts up.

 

Also finally, i know the work is hard i know being away from family is hard ive done it lots (military) but at the end of the day if you dont like it dont do it. 

 

But back to the OP i have been on cruises where there has been a huge queue at reception ( guest services) to cancel tips. The staff walk down the line with a clip board and ask. 

Finally someone  also mentioned that the crew knows who cancels tips. Now im no judge but i would imagine thats against a data protection act. ....

Your maths are way out. Cabin Steward gets a share of the daily grats (you can get the exact split from Guest Relations) of around 💲2.50 X 7 x 2 gives 💲35 a week a long way short of your £50.

No cruise line can afford to pay EU wage rates and EU benefits.

[cruisegirl1]

Royal can't add the tips to the cruise fare, unless EVERY cruise line  did the same. People price ship. 

 

In my opinion, guests should NOT be allowed to remove auto gratuities.   It is the cost of cruising, like port fees. 

M

[snaefell]

4 hours ago, CruisingHogFan said:

I think it does come down a lot on culture/where you are from. 

 

BUT you should follow the customs of the country you are visiting and not where you are from. 

That doesn't really make sense given that you will possibly be visiting multiple countries.