Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[voyager70]

58 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

This comment is just stupid. The steward does not know if he gets something or maybe more in cash until the cruise is over. And even if not he still has to do his job. 

It was a joke

[Billy Baltic]

4 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You will get opinions that run the gamut on whether or not staff knows you removed the gratuities.  I don't know if they are aware or not (I tend to think not) nor do I care.

I have removed the daily gratuity every cruise for years, and have never seen any degradation in service, just like always there are some that excel at their job, and others that are just getting by.

On our recent Odyssey sailing the dining room staff allocated to us, performed like we had removed the gratuities. Maybe they mixed us up with someone else 🙂. 

[alfaeric]

I don’t normally post in top threads. But while I totally understand the concern if they actually get the money, since we see so very many crew staying on for many years, it sure seems that they are getting paid. If we constantly had high turnover, I would be more concerned that they weren’t getting the money. Let alone, they would be super cranky near the ends of the contracts. 
 

Just my thinking. 

[neverbeenhere]

All I've got on this subject is... We keep our stateroom so clean and tidy, our room steward hands me $ 200 at the end of the cruise.

 

Leave the auto gratuity on or don't, It's your choice. BTW: It's reported here that you can call passenger services to remove auto gratuities. I've decided I can't control other's behavior, no matter how hard I try.

[yogimax]

58 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

Paying crew to do the job they’re contracted to do is what my cruise fare is for. 

What's your guess?

 

What percentage of folks who remove tips never tip anyone?

 

[andrewwilliamnewman]

4 minutes ago, yogimax said:

What's your guess?

 

What percentage of folks who remove tips never tip anyone?

 

 

I have removed before, felt uneasy about requesting at guest services, was worried the attendant/dining staff would find out...

Reason being, I got told by a friend that's how he'd always done it, so i gave it a go...

Tipped large on first day the stateroom attendant as a thank you in advance, along with the dining staff every day in cash, $10-20 (coastal kitchen due to junior suite - not the mdr staff as we did not go in there). They were grateful continuously, didn't receive what I would perceive the be any difference in service, but cautious about doing it again due to the unknown factor of doing so...hence this post.

[MeHeartCruising]

1 hour ago, gumshoe958 said:

Paying crew to do the job they’re contracted to do is what my cruise fare is for. 

 

And their contracts are written so that a portion of their compensation comes from the daily service charge that is paid by passengers.  So all you are doing is screwing the crew.  Way to go!

[d9704011]

8 minutes ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

but cautious about doing it again due to the unknown factor of doing so

Like what?  What do you think will happen to you if you cancel your gratuities and cheerfully go about your business without dropping any cash, anywhere?

[poocher]

20 minutes ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

 

I have removed before, felt uneasy about requesting at guest services, was worried the attendant/dining staff would find out...

Reason being, I got told by a friend that's how he'd always done it, so i gave it a go...

Tipped large on first day the stateroom attendant as a thank you in advance, along with the dining staff every day in cash, $10-20 (coastal kitchen due to junior suite - not the mdr staff as we did not go in there). They were grateful continuously, didn't receive what I would perceive the be any difference in service, but cautious about doing it again due to the unknown factor of doing so...hence this post.

So as long as the crew doesn’t find out?

[andrewwilliamnewman]

19 minutes ago, poocher said:

So as long as the crew doesn’t find out?

I think from the back and forth, tipping well upfront, so they know they’re taken care of by you from the start is the best way to go about things IF indeed it is done…

Not saying I’m going to do it, just curious of other thoughts/experiences. 

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

Paying crew to do the job they’re contracted to do is what my cruise fare is for. 

And if folks remove the gratuities the cruise lines just have to increase fares, so we all pay in the end.

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, SilkySal said:

FWIW, we spoke to this room steward (not ours), who was in the hallway, getting ready for the next group of cruisers. The people in his rooms were already gone and we were on our way out as well. He knew they had removed the auto grats and left no extra tip anywhere, so he was not puling at our heart strings. He was noticeably very upset. I agree that some are good at pulling heart strings but definitely not this time. Satisfied? Need more info?

Same I do B4B and longer, spending 30-40+ days onboard stay onboard most of Port Days so I get to know lot the Staff. Yes they are Stiffed more then they should be and Yes I've seen the Cabin list showing removed Tips. Not say new though, I remember 35+ yrs ago Passengers wouldnt show last nite in Main Dining, Tip Nite. This back when ate all 3 meals there and Asst Waiter received 50 cents pppd and he worked twice the tables as Waiter. The Waiter and Cabin Attendant each received $1.25 pppd. 

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

What's your guess?

 

What percentage of folks who remove tips never tip anyone?

 

Flip side, what percentage of folks remove tips, regardless of their cash tipping?

Gotta think it isn't that many since most just chalk it up to a service fee and it being "it is what it is"

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

On our recent Odyssey sailing the dining room staff allocated to us, performed like we had removed the gratuities. Maybe they mixed us up with someone else 🙂. 

An excellent example for not pre paying gratuities 

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

 

I have removed before, felt uneasy about requesting at guest services, was worried the attendant/dining staff would find out...

 

but cautious about doing it again due to the unknown factor of doing so...hence this post.

This post makes no sense and is contradictory!  If you did it before there shouldn't be an "unknown factor of doing so"

[Tree_skier]

59 minutes ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

Not saying I’m going to do it,

You said you already did it!!

 

I think you should pick a lane and stick to it.

[gavvy]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

 

And their contracts are written so that a portion of their compensation comes from the daily service charge that is paid by passengers.  So all you are doing is screwing the crew.  Way to go!

 

Not really as rcl guarantee a minimum. So removing them screws rcl more than the crew.

[Baron Barracuda]

We started sailing with Royal 30+ years ago.  Toward the end of each cruise we were left four envelopes for w, aw, hw & cs along with suggested tip amounts.  Presumably the laundry staff, deckhands, kitchen staff, etc were all adequately compensated by Royal out of our cruise fare (if they weren't they'd soon leave).  Later auto grats emerged as a "convenience" for us and at some point these other staff were added to the pool.  I have no problem leaving a thank you to customer facing crew members who I personally interacted with and enhanced my cruise experience like the bar staff whose hustle and enthusiasm keeps their tip jar full but to me the laundry, engine room, etc. staff who work in the background should be pure salaried employees.  Why should they be rewarded if great mdr service causes you to tip more or penalized if once a day housekeeping causes you to tip less.  

[3yorkies]

I only do UDP, so I never eat in Windjammer or the MDR.   I remove the tips and then tip my cabin steward at beginning and end of the cruise and add to the auto-tip on the unlimited dining because it really is not enough.   But why would I tip the people who are in restaurants I don't go to?    I eat twice a day, lunch and dinner.   All are at the specialty restaurants anymore or on shore on port days.   Each person should do what they feel is right.   As for behind the scenes people, I don't tip them anywhere.   They are salaried employees.   A tip is for personal service.   Companies trying to get customers to supplement the income of regular employees is not something I am going to encourage by participating in the charade.   I tip a lot on cruises and I get great service.   Quite frankly, I think I would get the good service anyway, but I CHOOSE to tip well for the great service.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

1 hour ago, mjkacmom said:

And if folks remove the gratuities the cruise lines just have to increase fares, so we all pay in the end.

But.....wouldnt that be better as all crew members would get a known guaranteed wage each month higher then what they are guaranteed now?

 

Also i dont get the arguments ( not from your post, just in general) about the level of service you receive if you remove Graturites, or pay daily, or pay on last day. The crew wouldnt know  which way your going till you get off the ship, so how can they " give" different levels of service.....

 

Again why would the staff have a list of people who have removed Graturites, these people could pay a large tip at the end of thie cruise. So i dont see the purpose of the list.......

 

Finally its non of the staffs business if you have paid Graturites or not, certainly agaisnt UK data protection policy, but not sure how that works on cruise ships with their data protection policies....anyone know?

[MommaBear55]

The wait staff absolutely do know who has removed the auto gratuity. I saw the actual list in the galley area. I have no idea about the cabin attendants

[yogimax]

43 minutes ago, gavvy said:

 

Not really as rcl guarantee a minimum. So removing them screws rcl more than the crew.

How do you think RCCL makes up a loss in income?  They are not a charity.

 

How do they make it up?  They raise the prices of their cruises.  

 

We all are charged more to subsidize those who don't tip.

[bucfan2]

3 hours ago, voyager70 said:

It was a joke

I took it as that.  I think he/she got to thinking about where to store their toothbrush on future cruises tho lol.

[ngrund]

28 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

 

Finally its non of the staffs business if you have paid Graturites or not, certainly agaisnt UK data protection policy, but not sure how that works on cruise ships with their data protection policies....anyone know?

I believe that if auto grats are removed, and the employee then gets cash from those cabins/passengers  they are supposed to turn it in so it is added to the pool-

 

If auto grats are not removed, the employee can keep the cash.

 

[gavvy]

41 minutes ago, yogimax said:

How do you think RCCL makes up a loss in income?  They are not a charity.

 

How do they make it up?  They raise the prices of their cruises.  

 

We all are charged more to subsidize those who don't tip.

Tip / don't tip it's nobody's business but yours.

Slamming others though for not giving money into a random pool with no way of knowing how it's allocated is a triffle wrong though.

 

I tip directly for service received the way I feel a tip should be.