New houskeeping and tipping

[Denversail]

On 3/4/2023 at 2:16 AM, BoozinCroozin said:

I loved our room steward on Carnival, not NCL so much. My question on tipping is whether it is the same now that they only do half the work? Our first cruise they were there 2x a day. Now it is 1. We are not messy or make a dirty room. Maybe some chaotic counter space with everything that needs charging, but the room is usually well kept. 

 

I know tipping is always a touchy subject and I wish Carnival would let me choose who my daily service fee tips go to. I tip my bartenders directly. We do not do the MDR. I should be able to choose that a much larger portion of the ~$100pp goes to the room stewards. 

I don’t understand why so much energy is invested in this topic. You are on vacation. Tip the suggested amount and enjoy yourself. Seems silly to worry about how it is distributed. 

[cacruisin]

I have never in my life considered removing the auto-tips or thought of the breakdown that much....on vacation I am in "happy chill" mode....I do everything possible to avoid that guest services line so to me I'd rather pay the tips then take away that time from my vacation to stand in a long line regardless of specific service....my time is too valuable.

[Elaine5715]

On 3/2/2023 at 4:59 AM, Carnival Cheerleader said:

You can claim whatever you wish (with no actual knowledge of the events I might add). It has nothing to do with pocketing money as I do not modify gratuities on my Royal and MSC cruises (because I still get twice a day service on those lines). And when I modify my gratuities, I specifically verify what the cabin stewards portion is with Guests Services and then remove half of that specific portion and provide the reason why. I have also told every them every single time that if I receive two services a day I will leave the gratuities as is but they now refuse to do that. They are given the option to do the right thing and won't so it is what it is.

I don't really care if you make snarky comments to me but at least be accurate when you do so.

What you specify does not change the cabin attendant contract.  They are guaranteed a salary and gratuities.   The cabin attendants also cannot provide you two services a day.  You also do not outrank their supervisors.  All grats go into the pot and are distributed via contracted amounts.  Your complaints you reduce your grats due to a lack of service is seen as it is.  Your assigned cabin attendants are not punished on your behalf for a service decision made far above their pay grade nor should they be.

[Elaine5715]

On 3/2/2023 at 5:12 PM, britbritrawr09 said:

If I’m reading this all correctly.. if I give my room attendant extra, because I asked for a blanket or something extra,they don’t get to keep it? 

 

On 3/2/2023 at 7:45 PM, Incognito1 said:

Correct.  They are supposed to turn it in.  They definitely will if you hand it to them in the hallway.  We tip minor stuff in the room, in cash.  What they do with it is on them.  Same as with dining not having the same waiter every time, we discreetly give cash at each meal.  At the end of the cruise, we tip in Visa gift cards.  A previous room steward thanked us and said they don't have to turn in "gifts" which included the Visa cards.

 

 

Incorrect.  They only turn in cash or equivalent tips if and when the auto grats are removed.  When the auto grats are in place, the room attendants and assigned wait teams keep the extra.  When the auto grats are removed, they still receive their allotted shares so the cash tips are turned in to replace those auto tips removed.  

[Elaine5715]

On 3/3/2023 at 7:14 PM, mz-s said:

grats are are not posted or able to be removed until the last night. What if I tip extra on day 2? They hang on to it just in case I remove my auto grats on the last night? Don’t make sense blerk. 

Yes, that is what honest folks do but after your first cruise, they know

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

Incorrect.  They only turn in cash or equivalent tips if and when the auto grats are removed.  When the auto grats are in place, the room attendants and assigned wait teams keep the extra.  When the auto grats are removed, they still receive their allotted shares so the cash tips are turned in to replace those auto tips removed.  

 

It sounds good until you think about it and realize it makes no sense at all.

 

I can give a cash tip to my steward on the first day, but not remove the gratuities until the last evening. So my steward holds on to that cash tip throughout the cruise to see if I've removed my gratuities or not? And I assume he keeps a Rolodex for each cruise where he tabulates which guests gave him which cash tips, so he can correlate who removed autograts and who didn't once the list is published.

[Incognito1]

14 hours ago, Denversail said:

I don’t understand why so much energy is invested in this topic. You are on vacation. Tip the suggested amount and enjoy yourself. Seems silly to worry about how it is distributed. 

I don’t understand why so much energy is invested in this topic. You are on vacation. Tip however you decide, don't worry about other people's choices and concerns, and enjoy yourself. 

[Incognito1]

On 3/3/2023 at 4:14 PM, mz-s said:

grats are are not posted or able to be removed until the last night. 

"If guests have not pre-paid their gratuities, the recommended, per person, amount will be posted to their Sail & Sign account on the second to last day of the cruise."  I'm betting there's quite a line on THAT night.

 

On other lines (including CCL's Princess), you can remove them at any time.

[BlerkOne]

54 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yes, that is what honest folks do but after your first cruise, they know

The crew remembers you name even after the cruise. Even table or cabin numbers. They don't need a rolodex. Some remember me long after I've forgotten them (sad but true).

[Incognito1]

I think crew members likely remember those very good and very bad cruisers. Other than that, we're our room numbers.

[BoozinCroozin]

20 hours ago, Denversail said:

I don’t understand why so much energy is invested in this topic. You are on vacation. Tip the suggested amount and enjoy yourself. Seems silly to worry about how it is distributed. 

It is extremely important that I am being billed a required amount and it doesn't get distributed to the people that actually served me. On a 7-day cruise it is ~$100pp. Of that, about $12-$15 goes to the room stewards. About $60 goes to the MDR staff. We don't eat in the MDR and feel that $60 should go to the room stewards and bartenders. Why should someone else benefit from a mandatory tip?

[mz-s]

4 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

It is extremely important that I am being billed a required amount and it doesn't get distributed to the people that actually served me. On a 7-day cruise it is ~$100pp. Of that, about $12-$15 goes to the room stewards. About $60 goes to the MDR staff. We don't eat in the MDR and feel that $60 should go to the room stewards and bartenders. Why should someone else benefit from a mandatory tip?

 

You can visit guest services and adjust the percentages of your gratuities goes to each area.

 

It is worth mentioning that many of the same workers who serve in the MDR also serve sea day brunch, lunch on Lido, etc. So while you may not eat in the MDR for supper - you're still being served by many of the same workers when you eat at Guy's, Lido buffet, etc.

 

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

The crew remembers you name even after the cruise. Even table or cabin numbers. They don't need a rolodex. Some remember me long after I've forgotten them (sad but true).

 

It's rare that I meet repeat crew these days, mostly only when I sail on the same ship within months (they'd still be on the same contract). Regardless, just because I may or may not have removed grats on my last cruise doesn't mean they can immediately pocket or distribute the tip I hand them this cruise. They would still need to hold on to it to see what happens this cruise.

[sunonfire]

Our head waiter on the Pride was also taking orders and delivering drinks at the Serenity Bar during the day.

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

It's rare that I meet repeat crew these days, mostly only when I sail on the same ship within months (they'd still be on the same contract).

At least that you can recall...

 

Maybe ask them what other ships they have been on. Many these days might be relatively new hires, but they will learn.

[Denversail]

8 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

It is extremely important that I am being billed a required amount and it doesn't get distributed to the people that actually served me. On a 7-day cruise it is ~$100pp. Of that, about $12-$15 goes to the room stewards. About $60 goes to the MDR staff. We don't eat in the MDR and feel that $60 should go to the room stewards and bartenders. Why should someone else benefit from a mandatory tip?

Do you question these things when you go out to eat? Do you ask the kitchen staff if they are getting some of the tip? Do you then try to exclude the kitchen staff cause you don’t like the food? See how ridiculous it all sounds? Tip when you are happy and leave the rest for them to worry about. 

[BlerkOne]

8 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

It is extremely important that I am being billed a required amount and it doesn't get distributed to the people that actually served me. On a 7-day cruise it is ~$100pp. Of that, about $12-$15 goes to the room stewards. About $60 goes to the MDR staff. We don't eat in the MDR and feel that $60 should go to the room stewards and bartenders. Why should someone else benefit from a mandatory tip?

The ship is staffed to serve you. If you choose not to use their services, they are still there to serve you.

 

Somebody else might hook up immediately and not stay in their cabin the whole cruise. The cabin steward is still there for them.

 

Regardless, it is always a team effort. There are a lot of people serving you that you don't come in direct contact with.

[mz-s]

18 minutes ago, Denversail said:

Do you question these things when you go out to eat? Do you ask the kitchen staff if they are getting some of the tip? Do you then try to exclude the kitchen staff cause you don’t like the food? See how ridiculous it all sounds? Tip when you are happy and leave the rest for them to worry about. 

 

Absolutely not the same thing at all. When a restaurant charges you $16pppd ever increasing while service is ever decreasing, and doesn't specify the formula of how they got to that figure then you might have an argument.

[mz-s]

24 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

At least that you can recall...

 

Maybe ask them what other ships they have been on. Many these days might be relatively new hires, but they will learn.

 

Most of the crew I've talked to since COVID are relatively new hires like you said, and said they expect to be working for Carnival for a few contracts then move on either to better cruise lines or to go back home.

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Absolutely not the same thing at all. When a restaurant charges you $16pppd ever increasing while service is ever decreasing, and doesn't specify the formula of how they got to that figure then you might have an argument.

You know in advance the charge. There is no argument. You have a choice to go to the restaurant or not.

[Elaine5715]

13 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

It sounds good until you think about it and realize it makes no sense at all.

 

I can give a cash tip to my steward on the first day, but not remove the gratuities until the last evening. So my steward holds on to that cash tip throughout the cruise to see if I've removed my gratuities or not? And I assume he keeps a Rolodex for each cruise where he tabulates which guests gave him which cash tips, so he can correlate who removed autograts and who didn't once the list is published.

Yes, that is what honest people do.  Crew are team members.  Their loyalty is to each other.  Your $20 isn't creating a secret pact and isn't worth it to hold out.  Holdouts at land restaurants get run out.  Like all teams, one mentions "Missy Laine gave me $10 at greeting" to their partner.  Both are now aware that they are getting extra and might be getting more with additional requests.  Should they then be notified I have removed my auto grats, they both know to turn in that $10 and any more I gave them.  I have a distinctive Eastern European last name.  I get remembered across sailings.  I also worked in the service industry for years, yeah, we remember the poor tippers and the great tippers.    

[mz-s]

11 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

You know in advance the charge. There is no argument. You have a choice to go to the restaurant or not.

 

Do I get to change my mind when Carnival hikes the rate and cuts the service?

[BoozinCroozin]

32 minutes ago, Denversail said:

Do you question these things when you go out to eat? Do you ask the kitchen staff if they are getting some of the tip? Do you then try to exclude the kitchen staff cause you don’t like the food? See how ridiculous it all sounds? Tip when you are happy and leave the rest for them to worry about. 

This is not the same thing in the remotest level. When I walk in the door of a restaurant, I am not greeted with a bill for $45 when my family shows up. On top of that, when given a receipt for the meal, there is still a TIP line on it. 

 

Carnival and the cruise industry have this so FUBAR'd it is unbelievable. Either charge the daily tip rate in the service fees and 18% on Cheers  with no tip line on any receipt ****OR**** Do not charge any daily fees and let me pay the tips as I please. The tipping jar needs to end. If you don't want to hear about it, end it. It is as simple as that. Add it to the cruise fare and be done with it. Tell the customers that there is no tipping permitted at all onboard. Crew members are to refuse all tips.

[BoozinCroozin]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

Do I get to change my mind when Carnival hikes the rate and cuts the service?

Not really. Your ONLY option to do so on Carnival is to go the Guest Services. I should not have to do that to adjust tips that I am paying. I should be able to do that on the Hub App. No reason to have to go to Guest Services for it.

[mz-s]

33 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Not really. Your ONLY option to do so on Carnival is to go the Guest Services. I should not have to do that to adjust tips that I am paying. I should be able to do that on the Hub App. No reason to have to go to Guest Services for it.

 

The obvious reason is they want to make the process painful.

 

35 minutes ago, BoozinCroozin said:

This is not the same thing in the remotest level. When I walk in the door of a restaurant, I am not greeted with a bill for $45 when my family shows up. On top of that, when given a receipt for the meal, there is still a TIP line on it. 

 

Carnival and the cruise industry have this so FUBAR'd it is unbelievable. Either charge the daily tip rate in the service fees and 18% on Cheers  with no tip line on any receipt ****OR**** Do not charge any daily fees and let me pay the tips as I please. The tipping jar needs to end. If you don't want to hear about it, end it. It is as simple as that. Add it to the cruise fare and be done with it. Tell the customers that there is no tipping permitted at all onboard. Crew members are to refuse all tips.

 

You are describing Virgin Voyages. I have not sailed yet but plan to soon.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

Not really. Your ONLY option to do so on Carnival is to go the Guest Services. I should not have to do that to adjust tips that I am paying. I should be able to do that on the Hub App. No reason to have to go to Guest Services for it.

I should not have to subsidize Carnival to make changes to accommodate outliers.