Removing Gratuities Onboard at Guest Services

[Vibe]

8 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

All the more reason to just pay their staff more and include the gratuities to the price of the initial cruise fare, right?

Yes. That way the payment of the crew will be incorporated into the total cost of the cruise. 

[Charles4515]

4 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

As said my Waitresses made that in the 80's and many places they have to split the Tips with others. At time their Min Wage $2.35hr so Tips were their real wages

Here in Texas the tipped minimium wage it is $2.18 an hour.

[Curtzilla]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

At land restaurants the back room staff get a share of tips. It is called tipping out.

Tipout is usually for front personnel that normally don't receive tips such as busboys, host/hostess, bouncers, etc.  The waitstaff and sometimes bartenders pay a percentage of their sales to the tipout pool, which is then split amongst the tipout recipients.

[Charles4515]

13 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

Where, in Argentina?  A lot plain restaurants charge now more than that just for a burger (without any drinks, salads, whatever else).

Texas. 

[kirtihk]

7 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Texas. 

I know (I can see it).  It was a joke (my first sentence).

Edited August 15 by kirtihk

[ONECRUISER]

"Tip out is the term restaurant workers use to describe the act of distributing tips from one tipped employee to another. Tipping out is a necessary part of restaurant operations because only some tipped workers can process payments and, thereby, collect the physical tips. In a tip-out arrangement, servers and bartenders collect the tips and distribute them to other tipped workers like bussers, barbacks, and—depending on local labor laws—kitchen staff.

Managing tip outs is a regular part of restaurant management. By the letter of the law, tips belong to the employee they were given to. But employers can establish a tip-sharing policy as a condition of employment. Requiring tipped staff to share tips is not illegal, but there are tipping laws employers must follow"

[Badatz2]

2 hours ago, andrewwilliamnewman said:

I don't want to get dragged into this aspect of my thread...however i feel compelled to respond...

 

If you went to Dennys, ordered a appetiser, followed by burger and fries, then a desert, and a drink for $50 for lunch...

 

Then went to Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen for dinner and paid $600 for a 3 course meal...

 

You would still tip the Denny's waiter $100, like you would be expected to tip the Hells Kitchen waiter?

 

It makes no sense to me personally - price is always in correlation to the tip given...or am i wrong?

To summarize, the Denny waiter would get what I want to give him and the Ramsey waiter what I want to give him, based on my feeling and not by some ridiculous price based percentage.

 

And just to be very clear I never remove the tips on a ship and pay what the cruise line "suggests".  A ship is a very different operation.  And that's all I have to say on this subject.  Happy sailing to all

[ReneeFLL]

On 8/14/2024 at 5:21 PM, Charles4515 said:

They get the lists because they pool tips. Cash tips are pooled too. The cruise lines are not stupid. They have a system to ensure that cash tips are also included in the pool. They assume that a certain percentage of those who remove tips pay some gratuity and a certain percentage don't pay any. That is how they figure how much of the tip pool allocation to pay each crew member. 

Your comment makes no sense. Royal is the one that figures out how to distribute the tips, not the employees. Again, absolutely no reason why the general employees need to know.

 

I don't know how the cash tips are pooled amoung bartenders and others, but one time I specifically asked my cabin attendant (because this was a heated topic) and she said whatever is handed to her is hers to keep and she didn't have to report it.

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, kirtihk said:

It's a generic definition (meaning) of the word, not a detail description of how exactly it's implemented.

Though as I looked today Encyclopedia, Dictionary and Wiki was all first definition

[shandryl]

9 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Some restaurants where I live now auto populate 22% on the tip screen and it's up to you to notice and change it. 15% is now gone and the 3 options are now 18%, 20%, 22%, or custom $ or %. 

I pay cash. It works really well. Servers almost always now days will automatically come by with a ipad-ish or handheld device of some kind for debit/credit. I like having choice/control over my money and/or how much of tip "If at all" That's decided at the end of a meal/drinks "service over all"

Edited August 16 by shandryl

[Charles4515]

30 minutes ago, shandryl said:

I pay cash. It works really well. Servers almost always now days will automatically come by with a ipad-ish or handheld device of some kind for debit/credit. I like having choice/control over my money and/or how much of tip "If at all" That's decided at the end of a meal/drinks "service over all"

I never pay cash but servers here hardly ever come by with any device at table service. I wish they would. Instead they take my card and come back with the receipt with a space to add a tip. I am in complete control.  Some receipts have suggested amounts. I would prefer they came with a device. We are really behind in the US. I would still control the tip as when there is a device, mainly casual places with takeaway or you pick up your own order and take to a table all have a custom or no tip option. 

 

 

[TeeRick]

21 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

Seeing as it's the price of cruising it should just be added to the initial cruise fare, no?

It really is - it is called auto gratuities.

[springfire]

Some cruisers love to prepay their gratuities, some prefer the daily auto gratuities charge and others prefer to remove gratuities and pay in cash.  They are all acceptable options provided to you by Royal Caribbean.  Choose the best option for you.  

[bigque]

I have been cruising since 2008 and have prepaid gratuities when booking the cruise for every cruise I have been on. I feel that is the least amount I can do. Now I do still give tips in cash at the end of the cruise to my dining staff and my stateroom attendant. I have no set amount for that cash amount I give but I base it on the how well or how bad the service provided was during the course of the cruise. I do prepay cause I don’t want to worry about it daily or at the end. Even if I didn’t prepay I would never go to customer service and have them remove the automatic gratuities. But hey that’s just me! 

[Mapleleafforever]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

It really is - it is called auto gratuities.

It really isn't. Auto gratuities can easily be removed by the guest. Port fees, taxes, and cruise fares can not. 

[footzz]

35 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

It really isn't. Auto gratuities can easily be removed by the guest. Port fees, taxes, and cruise fares can not. 

Speaking of port fees, if you stay on the ship instead of going ashore at any given port, the cruise lines don't refund the port fees. They just keep the money. 

[Charles4515]

56 minutes ago, springfire said:

Some cruisers love to prepay their gratuities, some prefer the daily auto gratuities charge and others prefer to remove gratuities and pay in cash.  They are all acceptable options provided to you by Royal Caribbean.  Choose the best option for you.  

You left out that some choose to remove gratuities and pay nothing. If you believe that most who remove gratuities pay anything in cash there is a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. 
 

Also why would someone care if the crew knows they removed gratuities if they are going to pay in cash? Think about it…..

[springfire]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

You left out that some choose to remove gratuities and pay nothing. If you believe that most who remove gratuities pay anything in cash there is a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. 
 

Also why would someone care if the crew knows they removed gratuities if they are going to pay in cash? Think about it…..

You have to believe what you want to believe. Have yet to read anyone on here advocating to not leave gratuities for the crew.  Cruisers have options on how to pay them, that is their choice.  You do if your way and let others do it the way they like, after all,  we are talking about gratuities. 

[The Sunset Glow]

12 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

I never pay cash but servers here hardly ever come by with any device at table service. I wish they would. Instead they take my card and come back with the receipt with a space to add a tip. I am in complete control.  Some receipts have suggested amounts. I would prefer they came with a device. We are really behind in the US. I would still control the tip as when there is a device, mainly casual places with takeaway or you pick up your own order and take to a table all have a custom or no tip option. 

 

 

 

In Canada your credit and debit cards never leave your sight - the machine comes to you. I can't remember the last time someone took my card and walked away to a machine to run the payment through - at least 10-15 years. We've had chips in our cards for about 15 years too, where we just tap or put a PIN in the machine. I think the chip & PIN is just becoming popular there over the last few years.

 

We also very rarely use personal checks in Canada (they are never used in a store and mostly used as a void check to get banking info to a company) but they are still popular in the US for everyday purchases. And we us e-transfers through our banks to send people money - I don't think you have that there either and have to use a third party like Venmo to send money?

 

I honestly can't believe how far behind the US is on this banking stuff. I mean it's such a large country with the biggest economy in the world - how are they not keeping up with the rest of the developed world on banking technology?

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

In Canada your credit and debit cards never leave your sight - the machine comes to you. I can't remember the last time someone took my card and walked away to a machine to run the payment through - at least 10-15 years. We've had chips in our cards for about 15 years too, where we just tap or put a PIN in the machine. I think the chip & PIN is just becoming popular there over the last few years.

 

We also very rarely use personal checks in Canada (they are never used in a store and mostly used as a void check to get banking info to a company) but they are still popular in the US for everyday purchases. And we us e-transfers through our banks to send people money - I don't think you have that there either and have to use a third party like Venmo to send money?

 

I honestly can't believe how far behind the US is on this banking stuff. I mean it's such a large country with the biggest economy in the world - how are they not keeping up with the rest of the developed world on banking technology?

I don't use personal checks either except for the HOA holiday fund that only takes a check. (the holiday fund is a gratuity pool  LOL) I use tap to pay at all stores, I tap from my Apple Watch but all cards now have tap but some merchants like Walmart and HEB don't take tap. Pin is not nessecary in the US for credit card purchases as consumers have zero liability in the US for fraudulent charges. The restaurant situation is where we are really behind where the card leaves our sight. As for why the US has lagged behind it is because it has the biggest economy and is a large country. A small economy like Canada can do it fast. It costs billions in a large economy to replace all terminals and back end systems. And there is really no incentive for busnesses to replace old equipment until it has to be replaced. It costs money to buy new terminals. So it is happening. 

[ReRe71]

31 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

I don't use personal checks either except for the HOA holiday fund that only takes a check. (the holiday fund is a gratuity pool  LOL) I use tap to pay at all stores, I tap from my Apple Watch but all cards now have tap but some merchants like Walmart and HEB don't take tap. Pin is not nessecary in the US for credit card purchases as consumers have zero liability in the US for fraudulent charges. The restaurant situation is where we are really behind where the card leaves our sight. As for why the US has lagged behind it is because it has the biggest economy and is a large country. A small economy like Canada can do it fast. It costs billions in a large economy to replace all terminals and back end systems. And there is really no incentive for busnesses to replace old equipment until it has to be replaced. It costs money to buy new terminals. So it is happening. 

Pretty much every restaurant I go to has the terminal that the server brings to you for payment (I'm in the DC/MD/VA area). So I really think it depends on the area.

Edited August 16 by ReRe71

[Charles4515]

9 minutes ago, ReRe71 said:

Pretty much every restaurant I go to has the terminal that the server brings to you for payment (I'm in the DC/MD/VA area). 

Interesting. I moved from Maryland to Texas three years ago and no restaurants in the DMV then brought a terminal to my table. I lived in Maryland about two blocks from DC in an area with a lot of restaurants. Here in north Texas two restaurants have brought a terminal to my table but the second one, a new restaurant one took my card and came back with a tablet for me to tap the already charged amount but to add a tip. The tip selections were 15%, 20%, 25% or custom. 

Edited August 16 by Charles4515

[ngrund]

2 hours ago, The Sunset Glow said:

 

I honestly can't believe how far behind the US is on this banking stuff. I mean it's such a large country with the biggest economy in the world - how are they not keeping up with the rest of the developed world on banking technology?

Its no so much that the US is behind, it is that we have so many types of financial institutions (banks, credit unions, brokers) and regulators (national and for each of the 50 states) until they all get together to eliminate the old ways, the old ways have to exist (checks, etc).

 

 

[neverbeenhere]

Hey, we've still got the One Cent Coin. We'll catch up someday...

[lovesthebeach2]

I haven’t read posts since page 1, but I wanted to add that one time we gave our room steward a nice tip ON DAY 1 of the cruise and added that there would be more at the end, and she never came back after that day. We had someone else for the balance of the cruise.
We never have removed gratuities and don’t ever plan to, but we only give extra tips on the last day now.