Tips

[Itchy&Scratchy]

10 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

I never prepay tips. 

I've been giving my cruise dollars to Virgin Voyages the last couple of years.  Everything is included, basic wi-fi, basic beverages (soda, too), all gratuities, free fitness classes, and free dining at all 20 eateries.  Virgin pays their staff a fair wage.

so,  you PREPAY the gratuities on Virgin.

And if Virgin pays their staff a fair wage, why the gratuities?

[PTC DAWG]

10 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

I never prepay tips.  Do you tip your server in a restaurant when you sit down or after the meal is complete?  Same theory for cruising.  However, if you don't prepay, you'll see a daily charge on your onboard account.  Go to guest services and ask them to be removed for the entire cruise.  They have to remove them by your request.  Then you can pay whomever you want when you want.

 

And if the cruise line doesn't pay their staff a living wage, that's not my problem.  I'll tip if I feel like it.  How do you really know if those prepaid tips are going to the staff that services your needs and not into Celebrity's profit margins?  You don't.

 

I've been giving my cruise dollars to Virgin Voyages the last couple of years.  Everything is included, basic wi-fi, basic beverages (soda, too), all gratuities, free fitness classes, and free dining at all 20 eateries.  Virgin pays their staff a fair wage.  Celebrity has taken a wrong turn with all their cutbacks and continuous high prices, so after my next cruise in April with Celebrity, they've lost all my future business.

You are the reason most cruise lines implemented the DSC…

[PTC DAWG]

5 hours ago, crazyank said:

you don't,  anymore than you tip the cook in a hotel.

Most restaurants etc pool tips in some way..they know their cut. 

[Pinboy]

11 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

I never prepay tips.

Go to guest services and remove the gratuities 

I'll tip if I feel like it. 
I've been giving my cruise dollars to Virgin Voyages the lastcouple of years.  

Did you read post #9 ? Ok, Good!!
So, You are the person that fits the description!!
Happy Now??
Good!!
So, stop reading/posting on Celebrity and enjoy Virgin where Gratuities are included for ALL passengers?

It saves you a trip to GR on the last night of the cruise and stand in line with others like you!!

 

 

[sofietucker]

Just a note re: tipping some folks extra at the end: we were told on HAL that they don't have to pool those tips only if their name is on the envelope. Since then, we always make sure, on any cruise line, to address the envelopes by name. We can also, on Celebrity, increase gratuities to the butler and other specific people on our credit card, through a form at guest services, thereby avoiding having to carry cash. (This is not a form that removes gratuities too.)

 

But I believe that cash tips at the bar do get pooled: I noticed that after the first day, when I tipped a bartender $5 so he'd remember I like clamato in my bloody marys, I got attentive service at all the bars. Guess word spreads.

[Dolebludger]

The tipping situation over the decades we’ve been cruising sure has changed. Back 30 sr so years ago we cruised Royal a bit. We were furnished tip envelopes for our fixed seating waiters and our room steward. We put money in the envelopes and gave them to those people on the last day. We never knew what happened to the tip money. Was it kept by the staff members tipped, or was it pooled and distributed among all the staff? In the old days, all cruise lines we knew of used the rip envelope system. In more recent times, we have cruised in an auto tipping or a tips included situation, and we just go with the program. We consider auto tip amounts to be part of the fare and pay them. And if we don’t like the fare with those auto tips added in, we don’t book. 

[crazyank]

6 hours ago, prmssk said:

To me the auto-gratuities are just a cost of cruising.  If that auto-gratuity system was abolished, they would raise cruise fares to make up the difference so you would still pay them, just in a different form.

 

And regardless of the compensation system they use for their employees, we, the consumers are paying employee wages.  Some CEO isn't out of the kindness of his own pocketbook paying the employees.  They are being paid out of our cruise fares and the gratuities we pay.

 

Do I wish tipping would go away?  Absolutely.  It puts consumers in a role of deciding compensation which I don't think is appropriate.

 

But would eliminating tipping systems change how much I ultimately pay?  No.  So to me, I don't understand the rationale behind trying to go around the system in place by removing auto gratuities and only tipping who you want to tip.  It just hurts the workers you miss and I'm not sure what it actually accomplishes.  

typical American attitude about tipping

[prmssk]

55 minutes ago, crazyank said:

typical American attitude about tipping

And?

 

The compensation model with gratuities established by the cruise line fairly closely matches tipping expectations in the United States.  When I travel, I try to learn the tipping culture of where I visit (in this case the cruise ship) to match expectations in that place. 
 

If cruise lines ever change their compensation structure to more closely match different tipping standards such as those of parts of Europe where there isn’t much of a tipping culture, I will adjust what I do when I cruise. 

[Travel-and-See]

7 hours ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

so,  you PREPAY the gratuities on Virgin.

And if Virgin pays their staff a fair wage, why the gratuities?

No, you aren’t pre-paying anything. No gratuities are added on to your bills.  Virgin pays their staff more than other cruise lines.  They also let staff have visible tattoos, fun hair, and they provide them with free wi-fi. They take better care of their staff.  

Edited March 1 by Travel-and-See

[Liao]

5 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

No, you aren’t pre-paying anything. No gratuities are added on to your bills.  Virgin pays their staff more than other cruise lines.  They also let staff have visible tattoos, fun hair, and they provide them with free wi-fi. They take better care of their staff.  

I've no interest in sailing Virgin, but I have to say, the fact that all of the other lines charge their employees for WiFi, is IMO egregious.  They certainly know how to take advantage of some vulnerable people.  Just one more reason to tip the hard working folks who make our vacations first world.  Until the lines start paying a better, more fair wage, I just accept that it is what it is.

[Travel-and-See]

2 minutes ago, Liao said:

I've no interest in sailing Virgin,

Can I ask why? Since this is in the Celebrity section my cruise lines of choice are Celebrity and Virgin and I find them very comparable.

 

definitely some things that both lines get right and wrong but no tips, no charge for Wi-Fi, no drink packages, etc. are huge wins for me. 

[Dolebludger]

I must confess that I prefer cruise lines wherein tips (WiFi, drinks, etc.) are included in the fare. It saves me from needing to “do the math”. But I’m capable of doing that, so no problem.

[Liao]

22 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Can I ask why? Since this is in the Celebrity section my cruise lines of choice are Celebrity and Virgin and I find them very comparable.

 

definitely some things that both lines get right and wrong but no tips, no charge for Wi-Fi, no drink packages, etc. are huge wins for me. 

Well being honest. I've never been on a Virgin ship.  I have though watched quite a few videos and from what I have seen, their shows don't really interest me, don't seem to be my thing.  The decor/design of the ship and the staterooms have not wowed me.  I know they do a lot of things right, at least from reviews I've read.  I have one friend who has sailed them really raved about it, but then again they thought Celebrity was way to stuffy, so I can see why Virgin would appeal to them.

[mahasamatman]

8 hours ago, D C said:

If the cruise fare was increased by the exact amount of the gratuities, and daily gratuities were no longer a thing, would that resolve your concerns?

 

That's the way cruises are priced in Australia.

[mahasamatman]

31 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

Can I ask why?

 

I wasn't the OP, but I find Virgin to be too "cutesy". Names like "Sailor Loot" instead of straightforward names like OBC really turn me off. And how is anyone supposed to know if Sea Rover is higher or lower than Sea Blazer?

[Travel-and-See]

24 minutes ago, Liao said:

Well being honest. I've never been on a Virgin ship.  I have though watched quite a few videos and from what I have seen, their shows don't really interest me, don't seem to be my thing.  The decor/design of the ship and the staterooms have not wowed me.  I know they do a lot of things right, at least from reviews I've read.  I have one friend who has sailed them really raved about it, but then again they thought Celebrity was way to stuffy, so I can see why Virgin would appeal to them.

You’re definitely right about the staterooms - Celebrity is way nicer and more luxurious feeling.  Also just better designed to be useful.  I also really like all the unique art on Celebrity ships - virgin has some pretty generic looking spaced in comparison.  
 

entertainment, for me, is way better on Virgin.  The Duel Reality Circus show is the best thing I’ve ever seen on a cruise ship and even the musicians in the bars are way better than a typical cruise.  
 

celebrity, to me, has theme park level production shows and a total gamble on guest entertainers.  

[Travel-and-See]

21 minutes ago, mahasamatman said:

 

I wasn't the OP, but I find Virgin to be too "cutesy". Names like "Sailor Loot" instead of straightforward names like OBC really turn me off. And how is anyone supposed to know if Sea Rover is higher or lower than Sea Blazer?

I mean… the silent disco is one of the cheesiest things I’ve seen on a ship haha.  

[Liao]

5 minutes ago, Travel-and-See said:

I mean… the silent disco is one of the cheesiest things I’ve seen on a ship haha.  

Could not agree more.  I was on the Summit in Dec. and they don't even have a club venue to do this in.  Rather they do it in  a central walk through area right outside both entrances to the casino and direct access to the main grand staircase, HUH?!?  I di love the Summit and had a great cruise but entertainment was not the strong point.

[Dolebludger]

Actually, I think Virgin’s target market is about 1/4 my age! But I can’t find where Virgin has free drinks or much of anything else “free”. I’m probably missing something. But I would feel like I was on a cruise with my grand kids! 

[jwlane]

YAY!  Another tipping thread!

[Travel-and-See]

13 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Actually, I think Virgin’s target market is about 1/4 my age! But I can’t find where Virgin has free drinks or much of anything else “free”. I’m probably missing something. But I would feel like I was on a cruise with my grand kids! 

Oh not at all! Virgin is very comparable to Celebrity.  
 

The drinks aren’t free, but you usually will end up with a “bar tab” included.  And additional drinks are reasonably priced.  I’m more of a coffee drinker than anything else and I can tell you that an iced latte on virgin is about half the price compared to celebrity. 

[hamrag]

22 hours ago, Pinboy said:

From reliable sources:

Staff are notified of who/ staterooms that remove the gratuities on Day 1 “claiming “ to tip on their own—Fact is , most Don’t tip anyone !
GR will show/ give anyone a list of the distribution of gratuities.

When a Staff member receives a cash tip for their service, they keep it— doesn’t have to be pooled.

 

From reliable sources:

Your post is dubious! 😉

 

[Pinboy]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

 

From reliable sources:

Your post is dubious! 😉

 

LOL—You just insulted 9 Cabin Stewards, 4 GR Staff, 6 MDR Servers and a few Maître’ds.

The 14 guys at the golf putting tournament and 9 women waiting for Spa treatments agreed!!! 
Who knows better than them?

 

[Banjo]

9 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

The tipping situation over the decades we’ve been cruising sure has changed. Back 30 sr so years ago we cruised Royal a bit. We were furnished tip envelopes for our fixed seating waiters and our room steward. We put money in the envelopes and gave them to those people on the last day. We never knew what happened to the tip money. Was it kept by the staff members tipped, or was it pooled and distributed among all the staff? In the old days, all cruise lines we knew of used the rip envelope system. In more recent times, we have cruised in an auto tipping or a tips included situation, and we just go with the program. We consider auto tip amounts to be part of the fare and pay them. And if we don’t like the fare with those auto tips added in, we don’t book. 

Recall those days. Also remember the last day of the cruise in the MDR the place would be empty. 

[Dolebludger]

I know some did that. We didn’t. We tipped the “recommended amount” or a little more. No fan of the “American tipping culture” here, but I can’t change it by stiffing those who give me real service. But recent attempts to spread it into basically self service transactions with a tip prompt at checkout are met with “0”.