Tip Question

[deec]

I am wondering if the UK prices of cruises are more $$ than those booked in the USA ...and if the difference is the cost of gratuities.  AGAIN...Viking please start adding these into the cost to all our fares!

[Peregrina651]

Gratuties, yes. But please not anything else (like drinks package or all shorex); cruise fares on Viking are already working themselves out of our price range.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Cruisenewbie63 said:

Sorry to add to tip dilemma,   But for UK passengers., ( where gratuities included?).   Would you feel a tip for breakfast, lunch , and dinner would be  the norm ?  I have tipped individuals at restaurants i( not buffet). If I have been seen by them a few times ?
I would tip cabin steward additional too,  

also room service or late night hot chocolate/ milk?  Brandy ( normally covered under silver spirits package ).  Would normally tip additional too?
 

I would imagine that may be the norm ?
just more difficult sometimes at dinner?   Different servers etc?   

 

If the Discretionary Service Charge is not included in the fare, we will normally pre-pay that amount just prior to the cruise.

 

On board we do not tip anyone until the final evening. In the MDR, we endeavour to sit in the same section and even the same table for dinner, so we tip each of the waiters/waitresses on that team. We also tip our cabin stewards.

 

If we have received great service from any of the bar staff, we will also tip them.

 

We do not tip for room service, unless they really go above and beyond.

[LindaS272]

I don’t really care at this point one way or the other about gratuities being included or not. We don’t tip for general service throughout the ship. (Hubby was a waiter in a fancy restaurant in his youth, but I’m averse to tipping culture). However, we do tip our cabin stewards at the end because they are the staff we get to know the best and all have been stellar.

Edited October 11, 2022 by LindaS272

[longterm]

On 10/11/2022 at 11:34 AM, Peregrina651 said:

Gratuties, yes. But please not anything else (like drinks package or all shorex); cruise fares on Viking are already working themselves out of our price range.

We always tip excursion guides; they're almost always locally hired, and it's just something we do. It's not required, nor do we ever get the impression that it's expected, but it's something we choose to do. 

As my mom said often, "Chacun son gout" (to each his own taste).

[shadowlover]

I thought the whole purpose of auto gratuity is to not have to worry about all this tipping.  Personally I feel that having to work hard just to see if you get paid is demeaning.  Research the history of tipping- especially in the US.  Interesting read...

The two viking cruises we have been on have provided above and beyond service.  These are professionals and I hope they are compensated as such.

[duquephart]

51 minutes ago, longterm said:

We always tip excursion guides; they're almost always locally hired, and it's just something we do. It's not required, nor do we ever get the impression that it's expected, but it's something we choose to do. 

As my mom said often, "Chacun son gout" (to each his own taste).

 

My mom said something like that too ----- but it meant something different 😊.

 

[Peregrina651]

2 hours ago, longterm said:

We always tip excursion guides; they're almost always locally hired, and it's just something we do. It's not required, nor do we ever get the impression that it's expected, but it's something we choose to do. 

 

Longterm, you misunderstood my comment and that was my fault.

 

I should have quoted deec's comment at the start of my post, because that is what I was commenting on. She said, "AGAIN...Viking please start adding these into the cost to all our fares!" -- "these" being the gratuities.

 

I was not talking about when to tip but about adding on-board gratuities (yes, please) and other things  (no, thank you) to the list of items included in the cruise fare.  I'm sorry that I was not clear.

 

[mj_holiday]

For US travelers - what is the daily amount of gratuities added to your account?

 

As someone who worked for tips through high school and college, it is pitiful that someone will decide to judge you and base your pay on that judgement.  

 

With so many different tipping cultures, this does need to be discussed.

[longterm]

On 10/14/2022 at 10:41 AM, mj_holiday said:

For US travelers - what is the daily amount of gratuities added to your account?

 

As someone who worked for tips through high school and college, it is pitiful that someone will decide to judge you and base your pay on that judgement.  

 

With so many different tipping cultures, this does need to be discussed.

As a Dad to a son who delivered for Dominos for many years, I try to remember that the server may be having a tough day, and that they rely on tips to survive. Having servers rely on tips, and paying them far less than minimum wage, is a lousy system, in my opinion; I'd rather restaurants pay their servers properly and fold that cost into the meals, like European restaurants do, but it's a culture that's not going to go away anytime soon in this country.

 

[NavyCruiser]

On embarkation day, I always seek out the Captain & slip him a $2 bill tip, so to make sure he doesn't hit an iceberg...

[duquephart]

11 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

On embarkation day, I always seek out the Captain & slip him a $2 bill tip, so to make sure he doesn't hit an iceberg...

 

Seems to have worked so far -----------------

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

On embarkation day, I always seek out the Captain & slip him a $2 bill tip, so to make sure he doesn't hit an iceberg...

 

Haha - if you were on Titanic or Norwegian Sun, the Captain clearly expected more than $2 to avoid bergs😁

[NavyCruiser]

16 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Seems to have worked so far -----------------

You're welcome...

[IkonIke]

If this has been addressed previously, I apologize in advance...should we anticipate a tip for the Viking staff that greets us at the airport since they transfer our luggage?

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, IkonIke said:

If this has been addressed previously, I apologize in advance...should we anticipate a tip for the Viking staff that greets us at the airport since they transfer our luggage?

No, because transfers are included in your fare. There may be some people who tip everyone everywhere, but not us.

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, IkonIke said:

If this has been addressed previously, I apologize in advance...should we anticipate a tip for the Viking staff that greets us at the airport since they transfer our luggage?

 

Some people might tip the baggage handlers in the same way that they would tip a SkyCap/porter. Others will not.  It is a personal decision.

[KBs mum]

On 10/18/2022 at 10:20 PM, NavyCruiser said:

On embarkation day, I always seek out the Captain & slip him a $2 bill tip, so to make sure he doesn't hit an iceberg...

Would subsequent tipping of bar staff and room steward to provide ice in cabin not counteract this? 

Edited October 22, 2022 by KBs mum

[Peregrina651]

3 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Would subsequent tipping of bar staff and room steward to provide ice in cabin not counteract this? 

 

Hmm, a titanic-ly interesting question.

[dcl999]

For those that give extra to the staff they have face time with, what about all the behind the scene people? It’s our understanding that the automatic tips are distributed to or for the benefit of the crew. Unless someone has gone over and above we’d prefer to add to the general tip. That said, occasionally we’ll talk with one of the crew that has a specific goal and might help out. 

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, dcl999 said:

For those that give extra to the staff they have face time with, what about all the behind the scene people? It’s our understanding that the automatic tips are distributed to or for the benefit of the crew. Unless someone has gone over and above we’d prefer to add to the general tip. That said, occasionally we’ll talk with one of the crew that has a specific goal and might help out. 

Very interesting question....  I studied in a 4 year hospitality degree program back in the 80's.  There was a movement that happened when I was studying that was known as "Tip the Dishwasher" and at the time we had no social media, so these were major newspaper stories that ran in the national papers.

 

The theme was that the most important person in that restaurant was the dishwasher because without that person tirelessly working during the day/evening, you would not have clean pots/pans for the cooks, nor clean dishes/utensils to eat from/with.

 

For a period of time, people were asking to meet the dishwasher in person and would give them a tip.

 

This members comment is valid.  We are tipping the people we have face time with, but what about those that are behind the scenes?  The auto gratuity is supposed to take care of that person, but when we tip that face time person, there is still an army of people behind the scenes that produces that meal or drink down to the person washing dishes or in the stores department that is lumping the heavy supplies around.

 

I am not suggesting that tipping the face time person is right or wrong because the truth is we do tip specific people for above expected service.  I am just provoking thought about the practice.

 

If you go back in time T.I.P. stood for "To Insure Promptitude" (17th Century) and was a practice that was done in advance of the meal or drink to ensure better or more prompt service.  Kind of like the practice of tipping the Maitre d when you walk into the restaurant to get a better table.

 

Many tipping cultures have grown out of this 17th century practice and for me the fact that it is just expected now in a restaurant (not talking Viking now...) and the % expectation keeps going up regardless of the quality of the service or food baffles me.