Gratuities on Australian itineraries

[Native Floridian 26]

Did a quick search and didn't find prior threads.  Does Carnival still not charge gratuities on Australian itineraries?  I did find this:

https://help.carnival.com.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/80/session/L3RpbWUvMTY3Nzk2MDUyNi9zaWQvZlVJcHlyUURTM0pmSG03UlVrVDVFSjNKSEN3UENTTjJ6SnRGelMzQ0hHUkszU09RNWRrdERLQzdwdzhPM3pQTjlUTlQ2UkJ0d0VmS1RoeWtVbXg4cDJNNSU3RUE1OWdjSlA3JTdFaWNFempaJTdFQWt5azd5enN6X2poQTZBJTIxJTIx

Edited March 4, 2023 by Native Floridian 26

[Mic101680]

It's not required or auto-added on Australian itineraries, but you can still give tips if you choose to.

[pellanor]

On 3/4/2023 at 12:13 PM, Mic101680 said:

It's not required or auto-added on Australian itineraries, but you can still give tips if you choose to.

I briefly looked into this as I'm looking to book an Australian cruise on Carnival. I think it depends on whether you book on Australian site v US site. No auto-added gratuities if you book on carnival AU site. Gratuities will be added if you book on US site.

[Elaine5715]

I believe they are part of the cruise fare in Australia 

[lasekeye]

We just got home from the Splendor…booked with our Carnival PVP, based in FL.

We were not charged tips…none at all.  If you want to tip over & above what’s included in the base fare, you certainly can!

[lasekeye]

Adding —

my PVP explained that in Australia, workers earn more than in North America, they don’t need to rely on tips…therefore tipping in Australia isn’t required or expected, but a small one is always appreciated.

 

Even on land…cabs, restaurants & such….you can round up a bill to be paid, then add a couple dollars if you had good service…but not expected.

[Tripmode33]

6 hours ago, lasekeye said:

Adding —

my PVP explained that in Australia, workers earn more than in North America, they don’t need to rely on tips…therefore tipping in Australia isn’t required or expected, but a small one is always appreciated.

 

Even on land…cabs, restaurants & such….you can round up a bill to be paid, then add a couple dollars if you had good service…but not expected.

...not expected and not encouraged.  I find most Australians, like myself, actively discourage tipping in Australia.  It is not part of our culture and we prefer it not to become part of our culture. We have a very regulated wage system here, and tips are not needed to make up a shortfall.  When we visit a country where tipping is part of the culture, we certainly tip.  Hopefully visitors to our country where tipping is not part of our culture, respect this and refrain from tipping.  That is my opinion and that of most Australians I know.  Many thanks for your consideration.

[Native Floridian 26]

9 hours ago, lasekeye said:

We just got home from the Splendor…booked with our Carnival PVP, based in FL.

We were not charged tips…none at all.  If you want to tip over & above what’s included in the base fare, you certainly can!

Thank you. Did you enjoy the cruise?

[Native Floridian 26]

10 hours ago, pellanor said:

I briefly looked into this as I'm looking to book an Australian cruise on Carnival. I think it depends on whether you book on Australian site v US site. No auto-added gratuities if you book on carnival AU site. Gratuities will be added if you book on US site.

This appears to be contrary to what the others have said here.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Tripmode33 said:

...not expected and not encouraged.  I find most Australians, like myself, actively discourage tipping in Australia.  It is not part of our culture and we prefer it not to become part of our culture. We have a very regulated wage system here, and tips are not needed to make up a shortfall.  When we visit a country where tipping is part of the culture, we certainly tip.  Hopefully visitors to our country where tipping is not part of our culture, respect this and refrain from tipping.  That is my opinion and that of most Australians I know.  Many thanks for your consideration.

Would love to cruise down under.  Tipping in Europe much the same, and I respect your view, that said my tipping or not is between me and the person I would give it to.  My either doing it or not will not change your world.   Probably not an issue, the wife is not keen on getting on a plane for 24 hours. If you travel up here, I could care less whether you tip or not as societal ways have influenced both of us, it is just the way it is.

[Native Floridian 26]

The question I posted was not meant to start a thread regarding the philosophy of tipping. It was a yes or no question as to whether tips are charged on the onboard account on cruises out of Australia. Maybe I wasn't specific enough  I'm merely pricing out options, and the service charges are a significant part of a cruise's cost.

[groundloop]

48 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

The question I posted was not meant to start a thread regarding the philosophy of tipping. It was a yes or no question.....

 

🤣   This is, after all, cruise critic.

 

4 hours ago, Tripmode33 said:

...not expected and not encouraged.  I find most Australians, like myself, actively discourage tipping in Australia.  It is not part of our culture and we prefer it not to become part of our culture. We have a very regulated wage system here, and tips are not needed to make up a shortfall.....

 

I appreciate that information.  We're doing a trip to Australia early next year with a back-to-back out of Sydney and I'll certainly keep this in mind.  Except for the long plane ride we can't wait.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by groundloop

[pellanor]

4 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

This appears to be contrary to what the others have said here.

That's what I came across when I researched this earlier, but I'm happy to be wrong.

[urbanhawk]

15 hours ago, lasekeye said:

We just got home from the Splendor…booked with our Carnival PVP, based in FL.

We were not charged tips…none at all.  If you want to tip over & above what’s included in the base fare, you certainly can!

Good day! Just out of curiosity-did your cruise on the Splendor start  and end in Australia? I ask this because the Luminosa will be sailing from Brisbane to Seattle next month-even tho  I booked this from the U.S. with a casino offer, I assume gratuities will be expected/ required? Thanks.

[lasekeye]

7 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Thank you. Did you enjoy the cruise?

The cruise was amazing…(2 actually - 1st was South Pacific Islands then after 4 more days in Sydney, we were aboard again for a cruise around New Zealand).

[lasekeye]

19 minutes ago, urbanhawk said:

Good day! Just out of curiosity-did your cruise on the Splendor start  and end in Australia? I ask this because the Luminosa will be sailing from Brisbane to Seattle next month-even tho  I booked this from the U.S. with a casino offer, I assume gratuities will be expected/ required? Thanks.

Yes, both of our sailings were out of Sydney on the Carnival Splendor.

We too were on a USA based Casino Offer.

Since we didn’t sail to any North American port, I’m not sure how the tipping / not tipping onboard will be handled.  I would think, if you don’t have an option to pre-pay the tips, then tipping isn’t expected.

[ldubs]

9 hours ago, Tripmode33 said:

...not expected and not encouraged.  I find most Australians, like myself, actively discourage tipping in Australia.  It is not part of our culture and we prefer it not to become part of our culture. We have a very regulated wage system here, and tips are not needed to make up a shortfall.  When we visit a country where tipping is part of the culture, we certainly tip.  Hopefully visitors to our country where tipping is not part of our culture, respect this and refrain from tipping.  That is my opinion and that of most Australians I know.  Many thanks for your consideration.

 

Good to hear and I'm happy to comply.  I think an American traveling in your country might feel it "encouraged" by some operators in touristy areas.  When that happened to us, knowing the custom, we opted out.  To be fair, my travels there are limited to one trip so far. The good news is I hear that we have another Australia/New Zealand cruise is in the works.  We have relatives in NZ and friends so close as to be considered relatives in Sydney.  So we get good local advice (which matches what you say).  

 

BTW, we did pay grats on the cruise ship portion of the trip.  

Edited March 11, 2023 by ldubs

[groundloop]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

 

BTW, we did pay grats on the cruise ship portion of the trip.  

 

 

I'm curious about that.  We have a back-to-back booked out of Sydney early next year and this discussion prompted me to take a look at our bookings.  For the Australia cruises "pre-pay gratuities" is nowhere to be found, but it's right there where it always is for all the US cruises.

[ldubs]

18 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

 

I'm curious about that.  We have a back-to-back booked out of Sydney early next year and this discussion prompted me to take a look at our bookings.  For the Australia cruises "pre-pay gratuities" is nowhere to be found, but it's right there where it always is for all the US cruises.

 

I thought Australians were paying higher fares, at least that is what we were told by a couple we met on board, but that was several years ago.  

[pellanor]

2 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I thought Australians were paying higher fares, at least that is what we were told by a couple we met on board, but that was several years ago.  

 

If you compare identical sailings on carnival.com and carnival.com.au, you can see that fares on Australian site is higher but port taxes and fees are included in the fare. The taxes and fees explain the entire difference in cost, not gratuities

 

For example, Nov. 2-5 sailing on Luminosa in an inside cabin is $230 USD on US site and $445 AUD (or $294 USD)  on AU site. The difference of $64 USD covers exactly the port and taxes.

 

The Nov. 21-30 sailing on Splendor in an inside is $401 USD on US site and $773 AUD (or $510 USD) on AU site. The difference is $109, which is pretty much the port and taxes charge on the US site ($108).  

[maluhia87]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:13 PM, pellanor said:

I briefly looked into this as I'm looking to book an Australian cruise on Carnival. I think it depends on whether you book on Australian site v US site. No auto-added gratuities if you book on carnival AU site. Gratuities will be added if you book on US site.

Nope.  I have an Australian cruise booked through the US site, and gratuities are not an option to add/remove from my booking, they do not show up.  

[ldubs]

11 minutes ago, pellanor said:

 

If you compare identical sailings on carnival.com and carnival.com.au, you can see that fares on Australian site is higher but port taxes and fees are included in the fare. The taxes and fees explain the entire difference in cost, not gratuities

 

For example, Nov. 2-5 sailing on Luminosa in an inside cabin is $230 USD on US site and $445 AUD (or $294 USD)  on AU site. The difference of $64 USD covers exactly the port and taxes.

 

The Nov. 21-30 sailing on Splendor in an inside is $401 USD on US site and $773 AUD (or $510 USD) on AU site. The difference is $109, which is pretty much the port and taxes charge on the US site ($108).  

 

Interesting and informative.  Thanks.  Assuming no gratuities are paid onboard, the fares must include  them  in order to keep the crew whole.  

[LPGA Golfer Gal]

On 3/10/2023 at 10:57 PM, lasekeye said:

Adding —

my PVP explained that in Australia, workers earn more than in North America, they don’t need to rely on tips…therefore tipping in Australia isn’t required or expected, but a small one is always appreciated.

 

Even on land…cabs, restaurants & such….you can round up a bill to be paid, then add a couple dollars if you had good service…but not expected.

Any chance you could answer any questions on excursions on your cruise?

Did you book any? Were there any available before or when you boarded? Booked in June on GBR and cannot see any excursions to Reef at all, hoping something will still show up or on board.

Thanks in advance.

 

[lasekeye]

2 hours ago, LPGA Golfer Gal said:

Any chance you could answer any questions on excursions on your cruise?

Did you book any? Were there any available before or when you boarded? Booked in June on GBR and cannot see any excursions to Reef at all, hoping something will still show up or on board.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sure, would love to help…pay it forward 😉

what are your ports?

Carnival excursions were slow to populate on their site, due to so many of the suppliers not surviving the COVID break, or weren’t quite ready to start.

[Native Floridian 26]

On 3/11/2023 at 10:15 AM, groundloop said:

 

🤣   This is, after all, cruise critic.

This!  I seem to forget this when mostly what I find is very good information about what's going on on various cruise lines.  We haven't been extremely loyal to any one cruise line, so I continue to peruse many boards.   Lately I'm spending more time on the HAL boards due to our TA coming up, and they take that name to heart and it's very negative.  I've learned how to "Ignore" certain posters.