How much of the included tips does the stateroom attendant get?

[duquephart]

8 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Can you provide the source of this information?

 

Post #29 under "Gratuities".

[FlyerTalker]

11 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

From this article (although who knows which cruise lines it applies to?)

 

There are a lot of supposedly authoritative articles out there....but note that they are VERY lacking when it comes to specifics on individual cruiselines.

 

So I would be taking this all with more than a grain of salt.

[duquephart]

7 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

Post #29 under "Gratuities".

 

 

[janetcbl]

12 hours ago, les37b said:

I daren’t ask what they did to make your trip extra special! 🤣

He did his job and more….provided a bottles of wine BEFORE we needed them,  altered his schedule to fit our early start in the morning, gave us extra hangers even without asking, provided different snacks at off times without requesting, always recognized us by name wherever he met us on the ship, and gave me the biggest hug the morning we left. For starters. Okay?

[duquephart]

13 minutes ago, janetcbl said:

He did his job and more….provided a bottles of wine BEFORE we needed them,  altered his schedule to fit our early start in the morning, gave us extra hangers even without asking, provided different snacks at off times without requesting, always recognized us by name wherever he met us on the ship, and gave me the biggest hug the morning we left. For starters. Okay?

 

Gotta wonder if Viking has a policy in regard to hugging guests.

[CDNPolar]

We pay our expected daily gratuity amount on our invoice with the hope and trust that they are going to be distributed fairly to all crew that deserve a piece of that pie.

 

We also do the following in Viking:

 

When we arrive in our Cabin and the attendant(s) come to welcome us we generally have a couple of needs that we outline at that point and we also give each of the two cabin attendants $10-$15 USD.  We will match this again half way through the cruise or a few days before the end of the cruise.  So, the cabin attendants will get from us between $20 and $30 USD each.

 

We enjoy having the same servers in The Restaurant nightly, so if we like the team we have the first night we ask for them again and again.  We generally tip the host at The Restaurant on this request - $10 USD.  We will then tip each of our dining team $20 USD half way through or towards the end of the cruise.

 

We decide who else on the ship that we may tip as the cruise goes on.  Last year I tipped a lobby housekeeping person who struck up a conversation with me near the Living Room Bar on day 2 or 3 and from that point forward greeted me by name when she saw me.  

 

We ENJOY this additional tipping and do it because we WANT to on top of the standard billed gratuity.  We would not replace the billed gratuity with this because there are many people behind the scenes that will benefit that we never see, but are as responsible for our great experience as those we do see.

 

I work with the Philippines and other countries in my daily work life.  I know that these people are working these jobs away from their family and homelands because it is a better life financially than if they worked at home.  We are privileged to be able to travel the way that we do, and this is my way of thanking these people who are only trying to create a better life for themselves and their families.

 

I would love to know where the tips go, but I have faith that they are going where Viking say they are going.  Perhaps I am stupid and naive but this is what I think. 

[longterm]

18 hours ago, springtravel said:

How bad would it appear, if we choose not to do the recommended gratuity and the end of the cruise, and just gave gratuities to those that have actually provided service to us directly?  I don't want to short anyone, but if they probably don't get it anyway, wouldn't the staff be happier?

 

Appear to whom, I'm wondering... no one would know, but you'd know. 
 

Personally, your idea sounds good, but what we usually do is to pay the prepaid gratuity, then we always tip our room steward directly on each trip.

 

The same could be applied when you have particularly good service in one of the restaurants; I would discreetly hand money to the server.

[CurlerRob]

10 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

We ENJOY this additional tipping and do it because we WANT to on top of the standard billed gratuity. 

 

And this is the only justification you should ever need. Your money, your choice. Thanks for posting your view. 🍺🥌

[longterm]

I don't know what ship employees make, but I would guess that other than the engineering personnel, I'm guessing it's not great money. Compared to what they might make in their home countries, I'm sure it's considered by them to be wonderful pay, but by our standards, it's probably pretty skimpy. This, combined with the fact that they do 6-month stints and live in tiny cabins (4 to a cabin I'm guessing), prompts me to be generous with them.

 

My wife and I have a maxim that we live by; we both worked hard for everything we have, both from families whose parents had no money to leave their kids. We have a great life, are able to take these wonderful cruises, and like to pay it foward.

 

We live by this, which I read somewhere many years ago: "Never pass up the impulse to be generous."

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

46 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Gotta wonder if Viking has a policy in regard to hugging guests.

No, you don’t really have to, unless you want to send this thread spinning off into never-never land.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, janetcbl said:

He did his job and more….provided a bottles of wine BEFORE we needed them,  altered his schedule to fit our early start in the morning, gave us extra hangers even without asking, provided different snacks at off times without requesting, always recognized us by name wherever he met us on the ship, and gave me the biggest hug the morning we left. For starters. Okay?

As long as there was a happy ending is all that matters. 😄

[KBs mum]

This is one of the times I'm pleased to live in the part of the world where all expected renumeration is included in the stated price, and it is unusual to add anything extra.

We are happy with the auto gratuity amount and rarely tip extra. We do tip, but not often. We certainly don't have a plan in place in advance 

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

No, you don’t really have to, unless you want to send this thread spinning off into never-never land.

 

Why should this thread be any different?

[SailorPaulH]

2 hours ago, longterm said:

My wife and I have a maxim that we live by; we both worked hard for everything we have, both from families whose parents had no money to leave their kids. We have a great life, are able to take these wonderful cruises, and like to pay it foward.

 

We live by this, which I read somewhere many years ago: "Never pass up the impulse to be generous."

 

Exactly this.

 

We had two great cabin stewards on our recent 2-week cruise, and we were happy to do what we thought was right by them. 

[Twitchly]

I guess I don’t really understand why Viking doesn’t just bake this gratuity charge into the cost of the cruise (as they apparently do in other countries outside the US). They could make it a marketing point to say that gratuities are included, “which go directly to the welfare of staff, above and beyond payroll,” or something like that. I don’t get the lack of transparency around where the money goes, either.  

[Jim Avery]

41 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Why should this thread be any different?

Right.  Robes in the dining room at any moment......😱

[pdsgt]

I have been cruising for over 50 years (my parents got me hooked on cruising when I was a kid)! In the "early" days of cruising, you tipped the room steward, his assistant, your waiter and his assistant. Many of the others who they say that you are tipping now, are paid more and don't need to receive tips. In the past, the norm was $5/day/person for the room steward and waiter and $2/day/person for the assistants. Service Staff that I have talked to recently say that they made more money this way then they receive now. In addition, I've been told that the Service Employees used to tip others, behind the scenes, that assisted them in completing their jobs. Kind of sad to see the amounts for gratuities that the cruise lines charge keep going up, but several of the cruise lines clean your room only once a day, instead of twice! Anybody experience going to dinner using "Anytime Dinning" (or an equivelent) and receiving poor service, as if the waiter knows that you've already paid your gratuities and that they'll never see you again? I have no problem at all going to the Purser's Desk, or Customer Service Desk, after boarding and cancelling my "auto gratuities" and tipping the people that provide me with excellent service! And remember, there is nothing stopping you from providing an additional tip for someone who goes above and beyond!  Good Luck!!

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

34 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Right.  Robes in the dining room at any moment......😱

Only if they are cashmere or merino wool, and then only in subtle colors…😎

[KBs mum]

1 hour ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Only if they are cashmere or merino wool, and then only in subtle colors…😎

Wool? How common! 😉

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, longterm said:

I don't know what ship employees make, but I would guess that other than the engineering personnel, I'm guessing it's not great money. Compared to what they might make in their home countries, I'm sure it's considered by them to be wonderful pay, but by our standards, it's probably pretty skimpy. This, combined with the fact that they do 6-month stints and live in tiny cabins (4 to a cabin I'm guessing), prompts me to be generous with them.

 

My wife and I have a maxim that we live by; we both worked hard for everything we have, both from families whose parents had no money to leave their kids. We have a great life, are able to take these wonderful cruises, and like to pay it foward.

 

We live by this, which I read somewhere many years ago: "Never pass up the impulse to be generous."

 

 

I'm not privy to the Viking salaries, but was well versed in P&O/Princess rates until about 10 yrs ago.

 

Generally, the Master, Deck Officers and Engineering Officers make reasonably money, based on their country of residence. However, cruise ships do tend to pay the lowest salary in the industry, for any given position. Our son makes double on private mega yachts compared to what he would make if he stayed with cruise ships. Since they had multiple contacts, 3 officers in the same position could be making a different salary. 

 

The Hotel Officers are probably making a living wage, but less than the Deck & Engineering Officers. Again with Princess, when our son was 3rd Officer, on his initial US contract (lowest paid Princess contract) he made almost double the salary of a 2.5 stripe Shore-ex Manager.

 

Petty Officers and ratings are generally paid according to the contract from their country of residence. Based on average earnings in their country of residence, they are normally well above the minimum, probably about the equivalent of middle class.

 

Back in my days as a Deck Officer, while my salary was considerably higher than the ratings, most of them were considerably more affluent than me. 

[longterm]

4 hours ago, SailorPaulH said:

Exactly this.

 

We had two great cabin stewards on our recent 2-week cruise, and we were happy to do what we thought was right by them. 

We were in Cancun recently, and I wanted to tip our housekeeper, who had been doing our room all week; we'd been giving her small tips almost every day. It was 5:30pm on the last day, she was in the hallway, and all I had was a US $20. My wife and I looked at each other, and I went down the hall to the housekeeper and handed her the $20. Her face lit up like it was Christmas, and I realized that I'd probably just given her more than she made that day in hourly wages. 

 

Honestly, it made my week; such a little thing in our world and such a huge thing in hers. If I can find happiness that easily, I'm going to keep it up.

[Redtravel]

Tipping is always a topic discussed.  On some lines, all tips are pooled. We were told by a Celebrity waiter that they are required to turn in all tips. If anyone keeps a cash tip they could lose their jobs.  If I want to give an extra tip to a specific person, I do it privately.  

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Tipping is always a topic discussed.  On some lines, all tips are pooled. We were told by a Celebrity waiter that they are required to turn in all tips. If anyone keeps a cash tip they could lose their jobs.  If I want to give an extra tip to a specific person, I do it privately.  

We have both a Uniworld and a Viking River cruise in the coming months.  I have never asked the Stateroom Attendant what happens and if they have to turn in their cash tips.  I will ask on both lines.

 

I have also emailed Viking to directly ask what the tipping policies are.  Let's see if and how they respond.

 

Like one poster above, I have also seen the faces light up with a $20 USD bill.  This is huge for them.  When you look at the value of the currency of a country like the Philippines, and then take $20 USD and convert it, this is big for them.

Edited January 22, 2023 by CDNPolar

[milling73]

That is correct with Viking.  We have talked to workers on Viking cruises..river and ocean.  The tip you leave on the auto tip, goes to a general fund.  It is NOT distributed among employees at end of each cruise. The workers sign on for a term contract.  At the end of the term they get a "bonus".  Have no idea of amount.  But they only way the workers get a personal tip or thanks or recognition from you for the cruise you have taken, is if you hand to them personally.  We have stopped our Viking auto tip, by going to the front desk once on board to stop it.  You are not required to pay it.  You can also adjust it to any amount you wish.  We stop it completely.  We then give a tip to our cabin attendant, bartender, waiter, etc...ourself.

[KBs mum]

45 minutes ago, milling73 said:

That is correct with Viking.  We have talked to workers on Viking cruises..river and ocean.  The tip you leave on the auto tip, goes to a general fund.  It is NOT distributed among employees at end of each cruise. The workers sign on for a term contract.  At the end of the term they get a "bonus".  Have no idea of amount.  But they only way the workers get a personal tip or thanks or recognition from you for the cruise you have taken, is if you hand to them personally.  We have stopped our Viking auto tip, by going to the front desk once on board to stop it.  You are not required to pay it.  You can also adjust it to any amount you wish.  We stop it completely.  We then give a tip to our cabin attendant, bartender, waiter, etc...ourself.

The bonus amounts depend on feedback in the survey form, by mention of an individual or department. Promotion and rehire are also based on this, so is potentially worth far more than a few dollars in tips per cruise. 

We think the auto gratuity is the fairest, as employee income should not rely on eg how many passengers order room service or drink in the bars. 

There are many people who do a lot to support customer service behind the scenes, or who may be only infrequently seen