Free At Sea Gratuities

[seemoreroyals]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

I always say that. At home in our town in the good 'ole USA, minimum wage is $15/hour. If you are a restaurant worker who get tips, your employer can pay as little as $5/hour. The expectation is that the first $10 per hour of gratuities goes to getting you up to minimum wage. Which is hard at a local diner where people leave nothing or lose change on the table after nursing a cup of coffee for hours. 

 

Similar to crew who make gratuities, they have a contract value, but are paid by the cruise line less than the contract value... and the first $x of the "gratuity" gets them to their minimum contract value. 

 

Most crew work 7-days a week for about 70 hours total, mostly on split shifts. Long days, every day, hard work. 

 

The DSC also go to crew enrichment and rewards. Free beer at the crew parties, a few new bicycles to ride around ports, etc

I am not sure how it is nowadays but many moons ago I paid my way through college waiting tables.  I got a whopping $2 an hour plus tips.  Almost all of my earnings came from tips.

 

I had to pay if I recall correctly 3-4 % of my shift total purchases  into a tip pool which went to the busboys and dishwashers etc.  

 

I still cleared about $50 a 3 hour lunch shift or around $100 for a 5 hour dinner shift.  I had to take  a pay cut for a while when I graduated from college.  Back then minimum wage was $3.35 per hour.  I easily averaged over $2000 per month back in the late 70's waiting tables.  

 

On a 7 day cruise between my wife and I we pay about $700 in gratuities when you add up what we pay for DSC tips, drink package 20% tips,  and specialty diner 20% tips.  I think the bartenders and waiters, and room steward do pretty good for themselves.  Perhaps a little better than you might think.  

 

I was surprised when you acknowledged the DSC as gratuities aka tips.  In the past you seemed to see them as something entirely different and felt the need to pay addition tips to your bartenders, waiters, and room stewards.

 

As you know DSC, tips, gratuities, whatever you want to call them used to be handled differently.  At the end of your cruise you would meet up with your cabin steward, waiter, head waiter, and sometimes the maitre d and present them with an envelope with tip money in it.  Back in the day there were no drink packages so you would tip the bartenders as you go.

 

Due to the complexity of freestyle dining and drink packages I cannot recall what year it was but NCL and other cruise lines replaced leaving envelopes with predetermined DSC or whatever the particular cruise line wants to call it.  It was designed to simplify things.  In some ways it has turned into a money grab for the cruise lines as they continue to raise the DSC.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by seemoreroyals

[cruiser2015]

19 minutes ago, seemoreroyals said:

I am not sure how it is nowadays but many moons ago I paid my way through college waiting tables.  I got a whopping $2 an hour plus tips.  Almost all of my earnings came from tips.

 

I had to pay if I recall correctly 3-4 % of my shift total purchases  into a tip pool which went to the busboys and dishwashers etc.  

 

I still cleared about $50 a 3 hour lunch shift or around $100 for a 5 hour dinner shift.  I had to take  a pay cut for a while when I graduated from college.  Back then minimum wage was $3.35 per hour.  I easily averaged over $2000 per month back in the late 70's waiting tables.  

 

On a 7 day cruise between my wife and I we pay about $700 in gratuities when you add up what we pay for DSC tips, drink package 20% tips,  and specialty diner 20% tips.  I think the bartenders and waiters, and room steward do pretty good for themselves.  Perhaps a little better than you might think.  

 

I was surprised when you acknowledged the DSC as gratuities aka tips.  In the past you seemed to see them as something entirely different and felt the need to pay addition tips to your bartenders, waiters, and room stewards.

 

As you know DSC, tips, gratuities, whatever you want to call them used to be handled differently.  At the end of your cruise you would meet up with your cabin steward, waiter, head waiter, and sometimes the maitre d and present them with an envelope with tip money in it.  Back in the day there were no drink packages so you would tip the bartenders as you go.

 

Due to the complexity of freestyle dining and drink packages I cannot recall what year it was but NCL and other cruise lines replaced leaving envelopes with predetermined DSC or whatever the particular cruise line wants to call it.  It was designed to simplify things.  In some ways it has turned into a money grab for the cruise lines as they continue to raise the DSC.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's another bit of nostalgia:

Way back when, tipping in the specialty restaurants was optional.

Since you paid your DSC, whether you were served in the MDR or elsewhere, you would have paid a gratuity for that meal. Apparently, the specialty servers were part of the DSC pool; perhaps not any longer.

The option to give could apply if you were very pleased with the service. Personally, I did tip extra - but not 20%, as it was just a bump.

[cruiseny4life]

Personally, for us, we just prepay the daily service charge when we book the trip. Since we typically pay after final payment, it's just mentally easier for us to do this. I know NCL gets to make interest off our money, rather than us, but it's pennies on the $200. Not enough to really worry about it. We also book our thermal suite passes at the same time. After a week or two we do the same with shore excursions (though these oftentimes change several times before the cruise). 

 

I would forget about the daily service charge if we didn't prepay then wonder why NCL is charging us $25/per person, per day. I'd remember, but would rather not deal with that onboard. Plus, by prepaying everything we possibly can, we can start planning our next vacation knowing what our budget will be! 

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/23/2023 at 3:45 PM, RocketMan275 said:

A distinction without a difference.

Huge difference you just choose to fail to see it.

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/23/2023 at 11:05 PM, BirdTravels said:

The DSC is a gratuity. Similar to a gratuity at a restaurant in the States. 

 

You can shoose to believe that if you wish but it is false.

[RocketMan275]

Just now, MoCruiseFan said:

Huge difference you just choose to fail to see it.

No, I choose not to make linquistic mountains out of semantic molehills.

[dbrown84]

39 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

You can shoose to believe that if you wish but it is false.

give up.  I gave up long ago on this subject.  people want to think it's the same and no matter what evidence you produce, they will still feel like they are both the same.  It doesn't even matter that NCL's own website distinguishes between the two

[Smitheroo]

I would like to piggy back my tipping question onto this thread. The topic came up in a unrelated thread and I was sure a couple of people were going to lose it. Volatile subject.

 

For those people who like to tip *extra*, in addition to the service charge they have paid NCL, what are some guidelines. Please dont say it is an individual decision based on how you perceive the service to be. Tell me what you decide and why.

 

If you were 1 person (not a family or group which generates a lot more mess)  in an inside cabin or perhaps oceanview/balcony (not spa or haven categories) what would you tip xtra if you chose to do so.?  I see some really high xtra tipping  going on and not just in the Haven. In the past $3-4/ person/per day seemed to have been the amount for people traveling in modest accommodations.  

 

This is what I did on my first cruise in 2013. I told the room steward not to make my bed (just me in the inside guaranteed cabin which was more than adequate) , I could pull a comforter up.I  Just please make sure I have clean/dry towels and trash emptied. I didnt do this for any reason other than I know he had enough to do. I dont ask for any extra services.  I gave him $25 at the end of the voyage (I also paid the service charge which on Cunard was not a hassle to remove which I would never do anyway)The participants of this Cruise Critic forum then advised $3-4 /day for an "extra" tip if extra requests and services werent made.

 

It is now 13 years later. I want to show my appreciation mainly for the fact that people are willing to do these jobs like room steward (which is not glamourous at all). I'm also budget concscious as i dont have a lot of disposable cash to disperse without consideration.  Its just the room staff I am concerned about. Too many wait staff in the dining rooms and I never expect anything more from them than to take my order and bring me my food. No substitutions, that sort of thing.

 

Any guidelines?    Not to bribe for better service, just a simple thank you for doing what they do with a smile. I'm not sure of what they really get from the service charge pool.  If you feel the same way and tip with the idea they get very little out of the service charge pool, that would be helpful information. 

[cruiseny4life]

17 minutes ago, Smitheroo said:

I would like to piggy back my tipping question onto this thread. The topic came up in a unrelated thread and I was sure a couple of people were going to lose it. Volatile subject.

 

For those people who like to tip *extra*, in addition to the service charge they have paid NCL, what are some guidelines. Please dont say it is an individual decision based on how you perceive the service to be. Tell me what you decide and why.

 

If you were 1 person (not a family or group which generates a lot more mess)  in an inside cabin or perhaps oceanview/balcony (not spa or haven categories) what would you tip xtra if you chose to do so.?  I see some really high xtra tipping  going on and not just in the Haven. In the past $3-4/ person/per day seemed to have been the amount for people traveling in modest accommodations.  

 

This is what I did on my first cruise in 2013. I told the room steward not to make my bed (just me in the inside guaranteed cabin which was more than adequate) , I could pull a comforter up.I  Just please make sure I have clean/dry towels and trash emptied. I didnt do this for any reason other than I know he had enough to do. I dont ask for any extra services.  I gave him $25 at the end of the voyage (I also paid the service charge which on Cunard was not a hassle to remove which I would never do anyway)The participants of this Cruise Critic forum then advised $3-4 /day for an "extra" tip if extra requests and services werent made.

 

It is now 13 years later. I want to show my appreciation mainly for the fact that people are willing to do these jobs like room steward (which is not glamourous at all). I'm also budget concscious as i dont have a lot of disposable cash to disperse without consideration.  Its just the room staff I am concerned about. Too many wait staff in the dining rooms and I never expect anything more from them than to take my order and bring me my food. No substitutions, that sort of thing.

 

Any guidelines?    Not to bribe for better service, just a simple thank you for doing what they do with a smile. I'm not sure of what they really get from the service charge pool.  If you feel the same way and tip with the idea they get very little out of the service charge pool, that would be helpful information. 

I always provide the amounts we tip as I personally believe the more data the better. Some will likely disagree, but I am ok with that. 

 

For the steward, remember the daily service charge supposedly goes to them. On three of four cruises, we have tipped the steward extra. We are not particularly slobbish, so they don't have a ton to do. We really base the extra tip off of how if our room is cleaned on a timely basis. The one time we did not tip was when the room was still dirty after the daily cleaning.

 

For the steward, we have tipped $25 to $50 extra for the trip (7 to 9 day cruises). My husband and I feel that is fair given they are in the daily service charge pool. Others will tip more or less, and that is totally ok, but this works for us.

[Smitheroo]

6 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

I always provide the amounts we tip as I personally believe the more data the better. Some will likely disagree, but I am ok with that. 

 

For the steward, remember the daily service charge supposedly goes to them. On three of four cruises, we have tipped the steward extra. We are not particularly slobbish, so they don't have a ton to do. We really base the extra tip off of how if our room is cleaned on a timely basis. The one time we did not tip was when the room was still dirty after the daily cleaning.

 

For the steward, we have tipped $25 to $50 extra for the trip (7 to 9 day cruises). My husband and I feel that is fair given they are in the daily service charge pool. Others will tip more or less, and that is totally ok, but this works for us.

Thank you. Your example is along the lines of my thinking.  The only thing I dont agree with is that the room steward gets most of the service charge. I understood it to be divided up between the regular wait staff (not specialty dining) as well as people "behind the scenes" and the cabin staff. That's a lot of dividing.   I really dont want to be worrying about whether someone is going to come into my cabin to clean while I am there. I put out the do not disturb sign but also tell them either in a note or verbally what kind of service I prefer (which is dont worry about the bed just the towels and trash) 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Smitheroo said:

Thank you. Your example is along the lines of my thinking.  The only thing I dont agree with is that the room steward gets most of the service charge. I understood it to be divided up between the regular wait staff (not specialty dining) as well as people "behind the scenes" and the cabin staff. That's a lot of dividing.   I really dont want to be worrying about whether someone is going to come into my cabin to clean while I am there. I put out the do not disturb sign but also tell them either in a note or verbally what kind of service I prefer (which is dont worry about the bed just the towels and trash) 

The thing you're overlooking is that while there is a lot of 'dividing', they are 'dividing' all the DSC from all the passengers.  Lots of slice in that pie but it's a big, really big pie.

BTW, I believe specialty dining is also included in the DSC pool.  They perform a variety of duties beyond the specialty dining rooms.  They might be encountered working in the complimentary dining areas, etc,. was well.  They certainly don't sit around all day until the specialty dining opens at five.

[Smitheroo]

19 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

The thing you're overlooking is that while there is a lot of 'dividing', they are 'dividing' all the DSC from all the passengers.  Lots of slice in that pie but it's a big, really big pie.

BTW, I believe specialty dining is also included in the DSC pool.  They perform a variety of duties beyond the specialty dining rooms.  They might be encountered working in the complimentary dining areas, etc,. was well.  They certainly don't sit around all day until the specialty dining opens at five.

thank you, didnt think of how big the pie is

[cruiser2015]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

The thing you're overlooking is that while there is a lot of 'dividing', they are 'dividing' all the DSC from all the passengers.  Lots of slice in that pie but it's a big, really big pie.

BTW, I believe specialty dining is also included in the DSC pool.  They perform a variety of duties beyond the specialty dining rooms.  They might be encountered working in the complimentary dining areas, etc,. was well.  They certainly don't sit around all day until the specialty dining opens at five.

Well, they certainly used to be in that pool.

If they are now, I wonder if they only get a smaller piece compared to, say, the MDR staff.

Also, is it likely that the specialty dining 20% gets added to the main tip pool?

[MoCruiseFan]

On 9/26/2023 at 7:15 PM, RocketMan275 said:

No, I choose not to make linquistic mountains out of semantic molehills.

 

Wiw you have a nice dictionary.  Ashame you do not know the differebnce between a service fee and a tip.

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

Wiw you have a nice dictionary.  Ashame you do not know the differebnce between a service fee and a tip.

In this case, it is a distinction without a difference and only important to the overly pedantic.

[vinniega64]

first thing I do is go to the desk and cancel gratuities, I will tip who I want

[RocketMan275]

Just now, vinniega64 said:

first thing I do is go to the desk and cancel gratuities, I will tip who I want

So, you don't think those working in the laundry or in the galley deserve their share of the DSC?

Do  you tip those working the serving lines or those who fetch your drinks in the buffet?

[IAcruising]

43 minutes ago, vinniega64 said:

first thing I do is go to the desk and cancel gratuities, I will tip who I want

 

So, you stiff everyone you don't see. The ones who do all the real work. Nice.

 

[IAcruising]

1 hour ago, MoCruiseFan said:

 

Wiw you have a nice dictionary.  Ashame you do not know the differebnce between a service fee and a tip.

 

A shame you don't know what that squiggly red line means. It has a purpose.

 

[G-DawgMN]

19 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

So, you stiff everyone you don't see. The ones who do all the real work. Nice.

 

 

 In their defense, they are from Scotland. Tipping is a lot different over there. 

 

 But with that being said, if you're on a US Based cruise line you should follow their tipping protocols.

 

 

[Smitheroo]

4 hours ago, vinniega64 said:

first thing I do is go to the desk and cancel gratuities, I will tip who I want

I hope you wont complain when all those working behind the scenes quit when they realize its not worth it.  I suspect people who think this way get a thrill out of giving out money  When its a pool you dont see who gets it so there is no feedback. 

[IAcruising]

5 hours ago, KSSS2013 said:

 In their defense, they are from Scotland. Tipping is a lot different over there. 

 

My bad. I should have noticed that.