Tipping

[BennyandBo]

3 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Except that when you pull autogratuities and tip only in cash, the people you tipped still have to turn in that cash to be pooled.

I've talked to crew and they say they are Not requiredto turn over cash tips given to them personally. And others here have posted the same. That's just talk to try and stop people from tipping the servers they come in direct contact with.

[BennyandBo]

3 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

And by the way Royal's stance is:

In the unlikely event that a guest onboard being charged the daily automatic gratuity does not receive satisfactory service, the guest may request to modify the daily amount at their discretion by visiting Guest Services onboard and will be able to do so until the morning of their departure. 

Yeah, so????

If you go and say you want to remove automatic gratuities to tip in person cash, they let you do it. Bottom line with Royal is you can remove for any reason. That's just a fact.

[BennyandBo]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes, it is extremely poor form. The daily gratuities go to other customer-facing and back-of-the-house crew members who work just as hard to ensure that you have a wonderful cruise. Don't short change them with a narrow view of what the purpose of the daily service charge is for. 

It should not be the customers responsibility to make up in tips what Royal lacks in salary. Any can remove automatic gratuities. I've seen lines of people waiting to do it. Happens by the hundreds each cruise. It's just a fact of life.

[BennyandBo]

Here is one that gets me.

Those people who say if you tip in cash to just the servers that wait on you, then they have to turn it in to pool anyway. 😄

 

These are the same people who say they tip $50 to $100 extra to room attendant who did so much for them. Why bother?

 

If they have to turn it over (😄😄😄) to pool, they won't see more then twenty five cents.

 

If crew is 2500 and 500 are officers (non tip positions etc) then your $50 tip is pooled with 2000 others. Your guy who did so much especially for you will see less then a buck. But you give it to him because "he" was so special. If you really believed he wouldn't keep it, you wouldn't give it to him.

 

And yes I have asked when giving cash if that person was keeping it just for them, as I wished for them. And they always say yes. To be safe I don't waive cash around when tipping anyway. Nobody else's business what I put in someone else's hand. And nobody's business what's in their pockets. Tipping is and should be a private transaction between you and staff. Especially in cash. 

[tunafish]

6 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, on so many facets that it's not worth the time to correct all your inaccuracies. 

That's why you took the time to write an empty post here. Ultimately it doesn't matter, for each its own. you can put your waiters in your will for all I care

[Longford]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes, it is extremely poor form. The daily gratuities go to other customer-facing and back-of-the-house crew members who work just as hard to ensure that you have a wonderful cruise. Don't short change them with a narrow view of what the purpose of the daily service charge is for. 

 

The daily service charge - described by the cruise lines as "gratuities" - is, IMO, meant to shift the burden of paying a decent wage to employees from the employer onto the passengers.  I subscribe to the belief that gratuities are appropriate when someone providing the service to you directly goes above and beyond what the job descriptions call for. It's not a charity payment,  it's for services rendered.  Go ahead and raise the price of a cruise by xxx Dollars to fairly compensate back of the house staff or other staff we don't often come into contact with.

[Longford]

2 hours ago, BennyandBo said:

Tipping is and should be a private transaction between you and staff. Especially in cash. 

 

Amen! to that.

[Longford]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Did you ever get a full cabin service in the evening? Evening service for most cabins was < 5 min. 

 

I'm single and when I'm away from home, I'm a neat and clean person.  At home it's something different!  😬  After the morning cleaning by the Steward I rarely need additional service throughout the remainder of the day.  I don't have cruise experience to compare, beyond my one and only, my first solo cruise of November 2022.  That said, for the 7 nights I cruised to the Western Caribbean - I told the Steward I didn't need anything.  He turned-down the bed and gave the cabin a quick glance seeing that it was tidy and moved to the next rooms nearby ... which were horribly trashed (as I saw when walking down the aisles).  So, for me ... this one and only cruise ... 5 minutes was probably sufficient.  But mine is certainly the exception to what the Steward encounters.

[Scotico]

16 hours ago, karena1 said:

I don't care where I eat or anything, I would never take off the auto pay.. Everyone works so hard to make our cruise great.  And even though we buy the beverage package and tips are included, we still tip per drink because they deserve it.

 

I was in the service industry for years, so I know how hard they all work.  For us, it is just part of the cruise cost.

Does everyone tip the dishwasher/line chef/cleaning crew when they go out to eat.  Do you all tip the people who clean the sheets of set up the continental buffet when you stay at a hotel.  Why should these auto grats go to people in the back of the house on a cruise ship.  I think these tips should only be for those with a customer facing position.  Those in the back of the house should be receiving a reasonable wage from the cruise line.  Some of those receiving the tips already make a great wage (ie. assistant Maitre d on Royal Caribbean has a salary range between 3200 to 5100 per month) where a front of house staff worker has an average salary of 21,884.   

[Scotico]

12 minutes ago, Longford said:

 

The daily service charge - described by the cruise lines as "gratuities" - is, IMO, meant to shift the burden of paying a decent wage to employees from the employer onto the passengers.  I subscribe to the belief that gratuities are appropriate when someone providing the service to you directly goes above and beyond what the job descriptions call for. It's not a charity payment,  it's for services rendered.  Go ahead and raise the price of a cruise by xxx Dollars to fairly compensate back of the house staff or other staff we don't often come into contact with.

Exactly!!

[BennyandBo]

18 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

So you were at Guest Services so many times and for so long that you heard this conversation hundreds of times. 

 

I didn't realize one could dispute gratuities so many times for service so bad that Royal owed them money back.  But some cheapskates will do anything to save or make a buck.  But that also makes one wonder why someone so miserable to spend all that time at Guest Services continues cruising.

So desperately twisting my words. Lol.

I've been at Guest Services many times sadly. Nothing is perfect, not even cruise ships.

 

As for hundreds. I've seen the line at the end designated for this 40 people deep on multiple occasions. I can do math. That's hundreds of times. 

 

[DallasGuy75219]

50 minutes ago, Scotico said:

Does everyone tip the dishwasher/line chef/cleaning crew when they go out to eat.  

Yes, at least some of those positions, whether they know it or not.  In many/most American restaurants waitstaff are required to "tip out" (give a percentage of their tips to be pooled among bussers and other back-of-house employees, as well as a percentage of alcohol sales to the bartenders) to other employees who aren't tipped directly by diners at tables.

 

In most cases servers don't keep 100% of the tips they receive, just like MDR waiters don't get 100% of the foodservice tips in cruise autogratuities. 

[BennyandBo]

5 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Yes, at least some of those positions, whether they know it or not.  In many/most American restaurants waitstaff are required to "tip out" (give a percentage of their tips to be pooled among bussers and other back-of-house employees, as well as a percentage of alcohol sales to the bartenders) to other employees who aren't tipped directly by diners at tables.

 

In most cases servers don't keep 100% of the tips they receive, just like MDR waiters don't get 100% of the foodservice tips in cruise autogratuities. 

No dishwasher was ever included in tips during my 15 yrs working in restaurants. No wait staff ever tipped a bartender for making them drinks either. "Back of house" either. Whatever the hell that means. Bus persons only and at the discretion of the server they worked with that shift. 

[billylen]

So, I woke up this morning and I see this thread has invented a life of it's own! 🤣

First, thanks to all who replied to my original post (question.) Just a little context...I have cruised since the 80s. Always sat at a table, large or small, always tipped (cash in envelopes) the usual suspects. And that was that. I'd say I usually tip above the minimum, the men and women work hard. The point of my original question is this...I now tend to cruise solo. I love it and over the years sometimes I do not care to sit in the dining room. Nothing personal, I'm just choosing to be in my head. So, if I used the old model I would tip those I came in contact with. I'm not saying that is right or wrong, that's just the way it was. Now with automated or prepaid, yes it is taken care of, but I wondered if I am paying for services that I am receiving elsewhere (UDP). The responses and exchanges have been in some instances lively. I was not trying to start WW3 🤣

 

I really do appreciate what another poster offered...the money is not going to kill me and regardless of who gets what, it will potentially serve them in greater ways...and I'm all for that. I'll keep the tipping on (or prepay)

Edited February 23, 2023 by billylen
misspelled word

[Scotico]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Yes, at least some of those positions, whether they know it or not.  In many/most American restaurants waitstaff are required to "tip out" (give a percentage of their tips to be pooled among bussers and other back-of-house employees, as well as a percentage of alcohol sales to the bartenders) to other employees who aren't tipped directly by diners at tables.

 

In most cases servers don't keep 100% of the tips they receive, just like MDR waiters don't get 100% of the foodservice tips in cruise autogratuities. 

I have also worked all areas in a Restaurant Kitchen, everything from Dishwasher to Cook.  I never received any tips.  We were given a decent hourly wage.  Wait staff only shared a % of their tips with bus boys.

[JeffT237]

20 minutes ago, billylen said:

The responses and exchanges have been in some instances lively. I was not trying to start WW3 🤣

 

Tipping posts and questions are always lively and passionate. I read them and just don't understand why so many passengers care what others do.  Royal is clear with their own policy what is recommended and give passengers the option to pre-pay, as well as remove them if they feel they don't receive good service. Both of those things can be true at the same time.  That's really the end of it.  Worst case some passengers don't tip, I think that number is really small, but it doesn't impact my cruise at all.  As far as who and where the tip goes, how much someone else tips "above and beyond" or whatever else other passengers do again has zero impact on me.  We cruise for the enjoyment of the experience, we like the ease pf pre-paying everything we can pre-cruise and simply having a good time and not let what others are doing negatively impact our experience. 

32 minutes ago, billylen said:

the money is not going to kill me

 

I agree, in the grand scheme of what we spend for our cruises it is such a small amount of the vacation budget.

[vjmatty]

23 hours ago, gerif said:

The head waiter is not there to amuse you or be your new bff. S/he is there to assure that service runs smoothly and that there are no problems. Occasionally, they need to change waitstaff if there is a problem (had that happen once). If everything is running smoothly they are doing their job. 

Which is why they would get the standard tip. The poster you quoted was talking about extra tips, for above and beyond type service.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Longford said:

 

The daily service charge - described by the cruise lines as "gratuities" - is, IMO, meant to shift the burden of paying a decent wage to employees from the employer onto the passengers.  I subscribe to the belief that gratuities are appropriate when someone providing the service to you directly goes above and beyond what the job descriptions call for. It's not a charity payment,  it's for services rendered.  Go ahead and raise the price of a cruise by xxx Dollars to fairly compensate back of the house staff or other staff we don't often come into contact with.

So,,, you do understand that for those crew who get service charge, a large part of their contract wages come from tips.

 

For example: Florida has a minimum wage is $11/hour. BUT,,, if you are a tipped employee in Florida like the waiter in your local diner, an employer can pay you as little as $3.02/hour and the expectation is that the first $8 per hour of your tips goes to getting you to minimum wage before you start earning more. And your local diner waiter struggles to get to minimum wage based on the lose change people leave as tips.  Your stateroom steward is the same. They get a minimum salary from the cruise line, the first $xx of the gratuities goes to getting them up to their minimum contract salary. Then it become real gratuity after that, if any. And you know that cruise lines do not get a compensated like US employees based on working the hours they do, 7 days a week. 

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, fredmdcruisers said:

I'd like to see you make the beds, refill the ice bucket, clean the bathroom, replace tiles on the floor and make an elephant towel animal in less than 5 minutes. 

Gosh,,, I guess that we have never, ever trashed our stateroom between the 11:00 am morning service and 6:00 pm evening service. At most, we'll have some towels to replace if we shower after coming back from the beach. We save the use of the bed for the night. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Longford]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

So,,, you do understand that for those crew who get service charge, a large part of their contract wages come from tips.

 

For example: Florida has a minimum wage is $11/hour. BUT,,, if you are a tipped employee in Florida like the waiter in your local diner, an employer can pay you as little as $3.02/hour and the expectation is that the first $8 per hour of your tips goes to getting you to minimum wage before you start earning more. And your local diner waiter struggles to get to minimum wage based on the lose change people leave as tips.  Your stateroom steward is the same. They get a minimum salary from the cruise line, the first $xx of the gratuities goes to getting them up to their minimum contract salary. Then it become real gratuity after that, if any. And you know that cruise lines do not get a compensated like US employees based on working the hours they do, 7 days a week. 

 

"So … you do understand that for those crew who get service charge, a large part of their contract wages come from tips."

 

Yes, I understand.  If the contract entered into by crew says, in so many words, that a large part of their wages come from gratuities not guaranteed to be received nor paid by the employer … that reinforces my earlier statement that cruise lines are not paying a fair or decent wage in the eyes of many people but are, in fact, expecting passengers to make up the difference between a low wage and something greater … because the cruise lines will not do that themselves.

 

"Florida has a minimum wage is $11/hour.  BUT … if you are a tipped employee in Florida like a waiter in your local diner, an employer can pay you as little as $3.03/hour and the expectation is that the first $8 per hour of your tips goes to getting you to minimum wage before you start earning more."

 

I am not an accountant nor an attorney, however, as I understand Florida's minimum wage regulations: it's $11 per hour for workers that do not earn tips.  For tipped workers such as waiters / waitresses the minimum tipped wage is reported to be $8.46 - of which $5.44 is in the form of direct payment from the employer, and $3.02 is in the form of a tip credit. 

 

Source:  https://www.minimum-wage.org/florida/tipped-employee-minimum-wage

 

"… your local diner waiter struggles to get to minimum wage based on the lose change people leave as tips."

 

Again, you further reinforce my assertion(s) that restaurant owners, like cruise ship companies, unfairly pay their employees and seek and do push that burden of fair and just compensation onto the backs, the pockets of customers.  Describing tips waiters / waiters receive in restaurants as "lose change" is a bit disingenuous, is it not?

 

"Your stateroom steward is the same.  They get a minimum salary from the cruise line, the first $xx of the gratuities goes to getting them up to their minimum contract salary.  Then it become real gratuity after that, if any.  And you k now that cruise lines do not get a compensated like US employees based on working the hours they do, 7 days a week."

 

Ahhh … yet another reinforcement for my assertions regarding those who are the lowest paid on the foreign flagged vessels which afford cruise lines to pay lower wages and avoid stricter employment regulations than they would otherwise adhere to if flagged in the United States; it allows the lines to offer wages differently depending upon the country of origin of many of the crew members and to ask passengers to in effect pay the wages the employers will not.

[HBE4]

31 minutes ago, Longford said:

I am not an accountant nor an attorney, however, as I understand Florida's minimum wage regulations: it's $11 per hour for workers that do not earn tips.  For tipped workers such as waiters / waitresses the minimum tipped wage is reported to be $8.46 - of which $5.44 is in the form of direct payment from the employer, and $3.02 is in the form of a tip credit. 

 

Source:  https://www.minimum-wage.org/florida/tipped-employee-minimum-wage

 

There is a lot of fuzzy math going on in the example of Jessica the bartender. Reminds me of the fuzzy math Royal employs during the "sales" events.

 

From the website:

"Let's say Jessica is a bartender in Florida who receives an hourly wage of $11.00, the Florida minimum wage. During an hour long scheduled shift, Jessica receives $4.00 in tips.

For that hour, Jessica's employer can credit $3.02 of the received tips against Jessica's hourly wage of $11.00, so they will only pay $5.44 in cash wages for that hour. However, including both the cash wage and the $4.00 in tips received, Jessica's total earnings are $9.00.

In the next hour of their shift, Jessica receives no tips. Because no tips were received to be credited against the minimum wage, the employer must pay Jessica $11.00 in cash wages for this hour."

 

So is Jessica paid the minimum wage of $11 per hour or the other minimum wage of $8.46 per hour?  The example specifically says $11 twice yet in their calculations, they use $8.46.

 

Then again, they say $5.44 + $4.00 = $9.00.  Now, I'm no mathematician but I keep coming up with $9.44.

 

Heck, even Royals "sales" events math makes more sense.😄

Edited February 23, 2023 by HBE4

[Joseph2017China]

18 hours ago, DZ77 said:

For the unlimited beverage package, with the gratuities pre-paid, when ordering beverages on the cruise, do you still receive a receipt- with a line item for another tip?  Do people then tip again? 

I never tip extra, since I feel 18% was too much to hand me a beer

[pcur]

MPP (my personal practice):

 

• Auto tips left on my account
• Always give a small cash tip for every C&A drink coupon I use
• Extra cash tips for unusual/extra service: concierge, exceptional service in specialty restaurant or Windjammer, head waiter in the MDR who helps get my solo table settled for me
• Extra cash tip for my cabin steward who remembers my extra requests: ice bucket and more facecloths every day
• $20 for the casino cashier to get coffee when she was flying home to South Africa the next day : a 30 hour flight
• Half my (small) casino winnings to the Ukrainian bar staff in the DL to send home to her mother.

 

It's not always the routine stuff, but the unusual stuff that a helpful cash tip is called for.

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by pcur

[Morecruisesplz]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Gosh,,, I guess that we have never, ever trashed our stateroom between the 11:00 am morning service and 6:00 pm evening service. At most, we'll have some towels to replace if we shower after coming back from the beach. We save the use of the bed for the night. 

No one mentioned trashing a cabin... just a list of what an attendant does. Impossible to complete in 5 minutes.

[Mapleleafforever]

There's been quite a few tipping threads of late, this leads me to believe that the recession (and inflation) is starting to affect more and more people. 

 

We have removed auto grats on one cruise as we didn't use the MDR and ate only in the WJ and Jamie's. On that cruise we tipped WJ staff after every meal, Jamie's staff was tipped well, and our stateroom attendant was very happy with what we gave him at the start, during, and at the last day. That was the most we have ever spent on tips of all our cruises. 

 

Having said that going forward we'll just be keeping the auto grats and not tipping much above and beyond. Wouldn't be against just building the gratuities into the cruise fare and not having to worry about bringing extra cash onboard at all. 

 

I am not much of a gambler but I would bet that the number of people removing auto grats is increasing with each cruise.