Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[Mapleleafforever]

15 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

For those who remove auto tips. do you generally  have the same money allocated for tips? 

 

So, for a family of 4, who removes $18/pp/day ($504) are you actually tipping those who serve you for dining and cabin service  directly  at $72 each day.  This doesn't include  tips for bar dinks,  specialty dining, spa, etc  which are not included in the $18/pp/day  auto tips

 

Or, do you find you save money by removing auto tips and generally don't tip direct  staff who serve you  a total of $72/day. 

 

What do you do about the server who gives you ice cream at the pool, pizza at Sorento's, brings you an iced tea in the buffet.   Do you provide tips for those individuals as well?   

 

 

Thanks M

Our total tips were much more than what is in the auto gratuities when we did it.

 

I am all for increasing the price of the cruise fare up front and not having to worry about gratuities at all other than someone going above and beyond. 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

10 hours ago, Ergates The Ant said:

The autogratuities are not tips, in the UK sense. It’s part of the cruise fare, which mainly US businesses separate out, I think for tax purposes, so the customer pays part of the service cost directly as a ‘tip’. 

Unbelievable to most Brits, it would be like staying in a hotel and being asked to pay seperately for an employee to make your bed, or paying the usual high price for a glass of wine in a restaurant and being told that the markup doesn’t include the cost of a waiter pouring out the wine and bringing it to you! 
in the UK, it would actually be against some consumer and employment laws. 

However, cruise lines seem to be able to get round this, even sailing out of the UK, although I understand Australia and New Zealand have the ‘gratuities’ included in the fare, as they should be, in my opinion. I don’t understand the supposed argument that the cruise fare will go up if they include the gratuity, of course it will, but you’ll be paying both anyway. Maybe the only people who are taken in by the ‘cheaper’ fare are numerically challenged? Or easily taken in by a click bait low cost headline?

 

We just pay the autogratuities and treat it as part of the fare, and usually in advance, so we don’t have to think about it. I’ve never asked for service above and beyond what I think should be included, or asked for additional requests, so haven’t felt a need to tip extra. We prefer to eat in the buffet rather than the MDR.

Fyi MSC and P&O include Graturites in the fare price for UK passengers no matter where the cruise sails from . The price you see is the price you pay and no need to worry about anything else and these threads and opinions.... 👍

[TravelGirlinDallas]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I am never going to go back to direct individual tipping. We did that for years. Having the gratuity auto pay relieves all the tipping stress and I definitely don’t want carry around cash to dispense. The gratuities all go on my card.

Yes, 100%. I miss some things about the "good old days" of cruising, but having to carry along an extra wad of cash to distribute on the last day is one thing I don't miss at all. Auto-grats forever.

[TheMichael]

On 8/13/2024 at 4:02 AM, andrewwilliamnewman said:

Hello all.

I know this is a touchy topic, so I thought I would ask to gauge opinions, and find information from those that have done this...

If you go to guest services onboard and remove gratuities (I know its frowned upon but hear me out...), do your dining staff/stateroom attendant get informed of this?

I like to tip in cash, so I know the money goes directly to the people that go out of their way to help me out, so this ambiguous daily charge, is thought provoking as you don't know who gets it, and exactly at what percentage.

$18pd/pp for a 1 week is $252 (2 person).

Surely tipping for example $100 to stateroom, $50 each to dining server/attendant, $50 split to people who help you throughout the week is a better way of making sure the staff that support you are paid what they deserve?

I just worry that by remove onboard gratuities at guest services on day 1/2, and these staff you see daily being informed about it in advance (or having a black mark on your account or something) before the usual last day tipping frenzy of the above, could lead to lacklustre service/attentiveness throughout the cruise.

Let me know your thoughts, better ideas, and experiences.

 

 

This again. 

 

Why does everyone think they know better how to do gratuities? IMO every time their plan is to tip the handful of people they physically interact with, which is basically ego on the part of the guest - THEY want to be the "hero" to the people who "liked" them. 

 

It's totally ignorant of the many people who make your trip happen. Those people you don't "know" made your food, cleaned the floors you walk and the dining tables you sat down on, ensured everything was ready at the piers...

 

I've found it to really be true that a person's character is defined by their treatment of the people who play the smallest roles in their lives. 

[kirtihk]

On 8/13/2024 at 11:25 AM, Tatka said:

 

I explained above why gratuities are not included in the cruisefare.

It will be more expensive as full amount will count toward profits.

Some cruise lines do include gratuities  into the cruise fare, and it does not (or at least is not supposed to) go toward profit; otherwise, it would not be called gratuities.  When you go to their web sites (Regent, Seabourn, Ponant, and others), you may read it in “What’s included” section.

[kirtihk]

7 hours ago, bjlaacjlc said:

Cruised for over 40 years and for most of that time paid the gratuities recommended or withheld as the whole process evolved into what its become today.  Then when the increases started to be frequent and not just the $0.25 change but several dollars (i.e. NCL jump to $20) it reached a boiling point.  One day room service, reduction in food quality and choice, etc.etc. etc. we said no more.

 

We don't buy into tipping behind the scenes workers and people we wouldn't tip on a land vacation so we now remove the prepaid and tip the waiters, bus boys, cabin stewards and bar tenders directly and never received negative service.

 

The other thing that irks me is the blanketed amounts that every cabin pays either $18 for balconies and below and $20.50 for suites and above as if its logical amounts.  Seems to me the gratuity should be based on what you are getting such as better food (coastal kitchen) and larger staterooms and should be based on your cruise price.  I just looked up a random 7 day cruise out of NJ and the cost of the cheapest room is just under $1,700 (for two) compared to a suite at over $4,000 for a couple.

 

If I went into any restaurant and ordered hamburgers that cost $25 and the table next to me ordered steak at $100 our tips would be very different, why are the cruise lines different?  Well, because they made it up and and play on our emotions.

 

There's no right or wrong answer here, do what you feel is best and it will be fine.

 

 

Funny, but actually, it should be opposite: why does a higher meal item from a menu require a hugger tip?  In most cases, a serving person makes the same effort.  Also, for the reason, why does a $300 wine bottle require a bigger tip vs $40 bottle?  The effort of pouring from ether bottle is the same.

[kirtihk]

4 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Ha, yeah! Now did have a couple Cabin Attendants not clean my Cabin well. I'm SOLO always, Cabin is always PU everything put away but one time saw little piece Cookie on floor, 12 days later was still there. He'd never Vacuumed once. Also doing longer and B2B's and longer realized bedding wasnt getting changed all the time. Suspected it once, year later it happened for sure. Always put tiny mark in corner my sheet so if does happen again I'll know. Funny thing in 4 Decades I never had bad Waiters. Worse could say is I'm one First in MD and couple times they'd hold off serving each course and bring all tables out same time. This when others showed up 15min late. Post CV hasnt been issue though. Best,10+ yrs ago the Head Waiter had them bring me Chops Steaks down instead of what get from MD Kitchen. He did this on 3 different Fall Repo Cruises. Few Decades ago when most ate all meals in Main Dining if the Waiter or Asst received poor ratings they'd have to work WJ following Cruises and no Tips. Back then WJ was more a Semi-Formal for Dinner, table clothes, candles and could eat off MD Menu. Was kind of a Training and Retraining for Wait Staff. When a new Ship came out they'd take about 10% top performing Staff from older Ships to go on the New one

They do not do it well, because, as you wrote it, they are just attend the cabin (the same as lately on planes: once they became attendants, they changed how they work).

[Tatka]

21 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

Some cruise lines do include gratuities  into the cruise fare, and it does not (or at least is not supposed to) go toward profit; otherwise, it would not be called gratuities.  When you go to their web sites (Regent, Seabourn, Ponant, and others), you may read it in “What’s included” section.

 

They are all inclusive I know and much higher priced.

Massmarket cruises are not.

If more people will start removing auto-gratuities cruise lines won't have much choice as to include, and included amount most likely will be higher than collected now. 

[Mapleleafforever]

36 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

 

This again. 

 

Why does everyone think they know better how to do gratuities? IMO every time their plan is to tip the handful of people they physically interact with, which is basically ego on the part of the guest - THEY want to be the "hero" to the people who "liked" them. 

 

It's totally ignorant of the many people who make your trip happen. Those people you don't "know" made your food, cleaned the floors you walk and the dining tables you sat down on, ensured everything was ready at the piers...

 

I've found it to really be true that a person's character is defined by their treatment of the people who play the smallest roles in their lives. 

And then there's the people who don't want gratuities to be included in the up front cruise fair because they're afraid they'll get subpar service and want something to hold over the crew's head. 

 

 

[Mapleleafforever]

7 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

They are all inclusive I know and much higher priced.

Massmarket cruises are not.

If more people will start removing auto-gratuities cruise lines won't have much choice as to include, and included amount most likely will be higher than collected now. 

I say do it. For those who are so concerned about people "stiffing" the staff this is the only way to ensure it doesn't happen. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, cruisegirl1 said:

For those who remove auto tips. do you generally  have the same money allocated for tips? 

 

So, for a family of 4, who removes $18/pp/day ($504) are you actually tipping those who serve you for dining and cabin service  directly  at $72 each day.  This doesn't include  tips for bar dinks,  specialty dining, spa, etc  which are not included in the $18/pp/day  auto tips

 

Or, do you find you save money by removing auto tips and generally don't tip direct  staff who serve you  a total of $72/day. 

 

What do you do about the server who gives you ice cream at the pool, pizza at Sorento's, brings you an iced tea in the buffet.   Do you provide tips for those individuals as well?   

 

 

Thanks M

 

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

An excellent question!

 

I note that those who are touting the removal of tips always respond with a generalization such as "I tip my room attendant and waiter."

 

They never indicate how much they tip.  My guess is that most (not all) tip well below the recommended amount.

Our last cruise; 2 people in the cabin. 
 

We tipped the steward $100. Dinners in specialty dining; we tipped the waiter $20-$30 each night. 
 

 

[Tatka]

18 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

I say do it. For those who are so concerned about people "stiffing" the staff this is the only way to ensure it doesn't happen. 

 

I agree... When I read about smarty pants (mostly freeloaders really)  I start wishing auto-gratuities were included.

Edited August 14 by Tatka

[marci22]

6 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

I agree... When I read about smarty pants (mostly freeloaders really)  I start wishing auto-gratuities were included.

The autograt posters are always the name callers. Why can't you just discuss your view and allow others to discuss their view? 

Edited August 14 by marci22

[Tatka]

7 minutes ago, marci22 said:

The autograt posters are always the name callers. Why can't you just discuss your view and allow others to discuss their view? 

 

Why? Because in most cases autogratuities are remove to pay less or not pay at all.

 

So it is not name calling, but rather describing. 🙂

 

Do you want to discuss other views like ...sharing drink packages and such? Because people who do this also have own opinions. 🙂

[bjlaacjlc]

1 hour ago, kirtihk said:

Funny, but actually, it should be opposite: why does a higher meal item from a menu require a hugger tip?  In most cases, a serving person makes the same effort.  Also, for the reason, why does a $300 wine bottle require a bigger tip vs $40 bottle?  The effort of pouring from ether bottle is the same.

That's not the way tips work and you know it, I suspect you are just joking around intentionally trying to be a wise guy.  Either way, I really don't care.  We're all grown ups and can make our own choices.

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

For those who remove auto tips. do you generally  have the same money allocated for tips? 

 

So, for a family of 4, who removes $18/pp/day ($504) are you actually tipping those who serve you for dining and cabin service  directly  at $72 each day.  This doesn't include  tips for bar dinks,  specialty dining, spa, etc  which are not included in the $18/pp/day  auto tips

 

Or, do you find you save money by removing auto tips and generally don't tip direct  staff who serve you  a total of $72/day. 

 

What do you do about the server who gives you ice cream at the pool, pizza at Sorento's, brings you an iced tea in the buffet.   Do you provide tips for those individuals as well?   

 

 

Thanks M

Funny thing about tipping. Your $18 pp pd is put into the tip pool which is shared by 1500 crew. Your daily part is about 0.01 cents per crew member. That is part of the reason why crew members who receive tips from those who have removed their daily tips are expected/required to turn those tips over to the managers who put them into the overall pool. One person removing auto tips from crew amounts to almost nothing. 

 

l  is as close to nothing as you can get 

[bjlaacjlc]

1 hour ago, TheMichael said:

 

This again. 

 

Why does everyone think they know better how to do gratuities? IMO every time their plan is to tip the handful of people they physically interact with, which is basically ego on the part of the guest - THEY want to be the "hero" to the people who "liked" them. 

 

It's totally ignorant of the many people who make your trip happen. Those people you don't "know" made your food, cleaned the floors you walk and the dining tables you sat down on, ensured everything was ready at the piers...

 

I've found it to really be true that a person's character is defined by their treatment of the people who play the smallest roles in their lives. 

Just listen to your self righteous dribble.....  Do you really believe you need to tip every single worker on the ship because the cruise line told you too?  I'd really like to know if everyone proclaiming we must tip every one of the non commissioned offers do the same thing on land, if not you are just playing into the cruise lines brain washing.

[kirtihk]

1 hour ago, Tatka said:

 

They are all inclusive I know and much higher priced.

Massmarket cruises are not.

If more people will start removing auto-gratuities cruise lines won't have much choice as to include, and included amount most likely will be higher than collected now. 

And we will never know how much it is.

[Billy Baltic]

2 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

And then there's the people who don't want gratuities to be included in the up front cruise fair because they're afraid they'll get subpar service and want something to hold over the crew's head. 

 

 

Isn’t that the whole idea of a gratuity? I think this keeps getting lost. It’s a reward for above and beyond … or at least that’s what it’s meant to be. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, bjlaacjlc said:

That's not the way tips work and you know it, I suspect you are just joking around intentionally trying to be a wise guy.  Either way, I really don't care.  We're all grown ups and can make our own choices.

That is EXACTLY how tips work, it makes zero sense that the expected tip from a $400 bottle of wine is incrementally greater than the tip on a $40 bottle of wine.

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

Funny thing about tipping. Your $18 pp pd is put into the tip pool which is shared by 1500 crew. Your daily part is about 0.01 cents per crew member. That is part of the reason why crew members who receive tips from those who have removed their daily tips are expected/required to turn those tips over to the managers who put them into the overall pool. One person removing auto tips from crew amounts to almost nothing. 

 

l  is as close to nothing as you can get 

It has been proven over and over again, the staff does not turn in cash tips

[Mapleleafforever]

4 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Isn’t that the whole idea of a gratuity? I think this keeps getting lost. It’s a reward for above and beyond … or at least that’s what it’s meant to be. 

Very true. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, bjlaacjlc said:

Just listen to your self righteous dribble.....  Do you really believe you need to tip every single worker on the ship because the cruise line told you too?  I'd really like to know if everyone proclaiming we must tip every one of the non commissioned offers do the same thing on land, if not you are just playing into the cruise lines brain washing.

Brain washing is a pretty apt description.

 

What next?  Perhaps they should "pass the hat" upon boarding to cover the cost of diesel fuel for the week.  "Come on folks, the more that people donate to the fuel fund, the further we can travel this week!!" I swear, some arguing the validity of the pre paid gratuity would line up, cash in hand.

[kirtihk]

1 hour ago, not-enough-cruising said:

That is EXACTLY how tips work, it makes zero sense that the expected tip from a $400 bottle of wine is incrementally greater than the tip on a $40 bottle of wine.

Thank you!!!  Confirmed.

[notscb]

8 hours ago, kirtihk said:

once they became attendants, they changed how they work

What do you mean by this? They are still the housekeeping department and there aren't separate housekeepers (on Royal, at least). "Attendant" is just a more friendly word, their job duties didn't change. Sometimes, there's a "lead" and someone in training or helping them, but again, their jobs didn't change when the word changed.