Curious About Tips

[icft]

27 minutes ago, Butterbean1000 said:

Just thinking out loud.  If you add an additional tip, does that go to the server who gave excellent service or is that pooled?

Things are always changing, but in the past the waiters, bartenders, stewards etc. we asked always said they go directly to that person.

[Butterbean1000]

11 minutes ago, icft said:

Things are always changing, but in the past the waiters, bartenders, stewards etc. we asked always said they go directly to that person.

Good to know.  Thanks.  We like to tip with cash, but leaving a $1 or $2 cash tip just looks chinzy even tho they are getting an 18% on the bill.

[Haljo1935]

34 minutes ago, icft said:

Things are always changing, but in the past the waiters, bartenders, stewards etc. we asked always said they go directly to that person.

There are numerous threads on that very topic - with varying responses.

[Elaine5715]

47 minutes ago, icft said:

Things are always changing, but in the past the waiters, bartenders, stewards etc. we asked always said they go directly to that person.

Believe them

[sparks1093]

On 5/28/2023 at 2:42 PM, Elaine5715 said:

Believe them

Absolutely! There is no reason not to.

 

In thinking over this thread I don't believe that it's been mentioned why auto-gratuities are a thing to begin with. In the "olden" days passengers were given envelopes that they could use to leave tips for the staff on the last night of the cruise, along with the suggested amount. I've read on these boards that the MDR would be half empty on the last night because folks would skip out on dinner so they wouldn't have to leave a tip (and this was a similar thing on all cruise lines). When it got to a certain point the cruise lines started adding the tips to the invoice. When it gets to the point that too many people remove the gratuities they will come up with a method to fight that, as well. AFAIK NCL was the first to give that a try and the first thing they tried was making the passenger submit a form after the cruise to apply for a refund (went over like a lead balloon). I left the NCL board shortly after that but do pop in from time to time and I believe that has been changed but I'm not sure. 

 

My take away from this is that this form of compensating some of the crew is so ingrained that the cruise lines will go to great lengths to keep it and protect it, so I wouldn't expect it to change anytime soon.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

 

My take away from this is that this form of compensating some of the crew is so ingrained that the cruise lines will go to great lengths to keep it and protect it, so I wouldn't expect it to change anytime soon.

As ingrained as death and taxes.