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

[CDNPolar]

There seem to be a lot of opinions of how gratuities are distributed, and from an email inquiry that I just received a call back for this was Viking's response:

 

All monies received in the gratuity program are distributed directly to all onboard staff as a bonus.

 

No monies are put into enrichment programs or equipment for the staff - all is as a bonus.

 

I asked if this was per cruise, or per contract and the response was:  We don't have that information available to us.

 

Any additional question that I asked such as % to different departments, the response was:  We don't have that information available to us.

 

We will ask crew that we get friendly with directly in future cruises.

Edited January 23, 2023 by CDNPolar

[Haqdeluxe]

19 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

There seem to be a lot of opinions of how gratuities are distributed, and from an email inquiry that I just received a call back for this was Viking's response:

 

All monies received in the gratuity program are distributed directly to all onboard staff as a bonus.

 

No monies are put into enrichment programs or equipment for the staff - all is as a bonus.

 

I asked if this was per cruise, or per contract and the response was:  We don't have that information available to us.

 

Any additional question that I asked such as % to different departments, the response was:  We don't have that information available to us.

 

We will ask crew that we get friendly with directly in future cruises.

Certainly you are free to further pursue this... But myself would suspect that staff have been directed, if not contractually prohibited to discuss such things and by asking them about it your putting them in a rather tough position. As such the answer you might get might not be as full a disclosure as you might think it is or take it for. Ultimately simply adding to the hearsay we already are hearing. 

Cheers

[CDNPolar]

2 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Certainly you are free to further pursue this... But myself would suspect that staff have been directed, if not contractually prohibited to discuss such things and by asking them about it your putting them in a rather tough position. As such the answer you might get might not be as full a disclosure as you might think it is or take it for. Ultimately simply adding to the hearsay we already are hearing. 

Cheers

Very true, and I would never push this with crew... I would ask politely and offer them the option of not answering.

[milling73]

I agree that the crew are not free to openly discuss this.  Our recent cruises were not full, and we got to know a few of the staff rather well.  Both confirmed the tipping / bonus policy, and both said, "please don't give our names if you share this."  As our cruises were back to back, different ships / different crew, we felt their confirmation of the tipping policy to be pretty accurate.

 

I do agree with the one post who reminded that all crew work to make the cruise a success, and deserve the tip recognition.  That is also true to an extent.  Some of those will higher positions, no doubt get a larger bonus, than our cabin attendant.  That is what we tried to address.

[jonthomas]

So there is really no answer as to where or how much of our automatic gratuities go to these hard working people and at whose discretion. 

[uktog]

On 1/23/2023 at 5:37 PM, Haqdeluxe said:

Certainly you are free to further pursue this... But myself would suspect that staff have been directed, if not contractually prohibited to discuss such things and by asking them about it your putting them in a rather tough position. As such the answer you might get might not be as full a disclosure as you might think it is or take it for. Ultimately simply adding to the hearsay we already are hearing. 

Cheers

And bear in mind some crew will spin you a “hard done by” story to guilt trip you into an extra tip for them. 
We understood in part the methodology of another line but were disgusted to be approached by a fairly average waiter on the last but one night complete with photo of his child and a story on the tip distribution that was absolutely not true. We called him out and hope he learned not to do that again 

[CDNPolar]

13 hours ago, jonthomas said:

So there is really no answer as to where or how much of our automatic gratuities go to these hard working people and at whose discretion. 

 

No.  I am a fan of talking to the source, and in this case Viking directly.  They will not disclose how or even when tips are distributed.

 

I asked if an individual receives tips by cruise, or by contract, and they would not disclose that either.

 

It is a carefully guarded secret apparently.  The crew probably have a non-disclosure clause in their employment agreement.

 

My feeling on this is this:  

 

If Viking included this in the cost of a cruise, then fine.  It is part of what I have to pay to get on the ship and I would not question it, because gratuities would not even need to be mentioned.

 

BUT, because they are putting this on my invoice, and I physically have to go and ask for it to be amended or removed if I don't want to pay it, I think that I have a right to know where it is going if I do pay it.

 

We will continue to pay this as we feel an obligation to these hard working people, but as I have said in previous posts, we also tip ad hoc here and there to people that impress us with their service, and always the cabin stewards.

 

There is a quieter unspoken side of me that wants to NOT pay it unless there is more transparency, but not going to go there.