Tipping room stewards

[kathy32259]

I usually leave extra in the towel animal - every day. Roll it up and place it in the Elephant's trunk - the Monkey's hand, etc. I realize that they all share these tips, and that they don't make much money as it is - and they are away from their family and loved ones - waiting on me and cleaning up after me. So again, I treat it like a hotel and tip something every day AND leave what is on the S&S. If I get extra special service, I leave and extra special amount. Just IMO the right thing for me to do. Especially when I am cruising solo in the cabin :) !

 

At dinner I wait until the end of the week and get 2 envelopes - one for the head waiter and one for the assistant. (I usually struggle over what to give the Maitre 'd. I don't know what is usual and customary - so I just guess.) Hope I have been guessing correctly!:confused:

[Cotton]

quote=habby]If you ate anywhere on the ship, by removing the automatic tips, you also removed any tips that would be given to the staff who works during the breakfast buffets, lunch buffets, and dining room lunches and breakfasts.

 

glr068 - Habby is correct. I think some passengers don't realize that most of the evening dining room staff works in the Lido buffet area every day, then in the dining room at night.

 

If you notice, there are very few waiters in the dining room for b'fast and lunch - because most of them are working at the Lido buffet area.

 

So - by removing those tips, you're really cheating these folks out of their hard-earned tips.:(

[Kittybork]

Cotton, This is off topic, but I was wondering about your BIL. Is he doing better?

[Cotton]

Aww Kitty...thx for asking. He's much better. We brought him home from the hospital on Friday, and when I left to come back home yesterday, he was sitting on their dock fishing, happy to be back in his little niche. That was such a nice sight to see.:)

[martdm]

These people work for pennies on the dollar and I reward them if they exceed expectations and in most cases they do.....

 

So you only reward them if they "exceed" expectations but you deny them their earned tips if they do not? Your post is a great example of why I feel the need to tip extra.

[joepeka]

Aww Kitty...thx for asking. He's much better. We brought him home from the hospital on Friday, and when I left to come back home yesterday, he was sitting on their dock fishing, happy to be back in his little niche. That was such a nice sight to see.:)

Excellent..... it would be really cool to see a photo of that posted - a guy fishing off his private dock.

[southbayer]

I think the point Wennfred was trying to make was - Here's a $20 up front, I know your going to do a good job anyway - And if he needed anything extra, he know's that the steward will not get upset by having to bring anything else to his room.

 

And I think the what Gerry was trying to say is that he knows he will get his good service, but he prefers to tip "extra" if he wants, on his own timetable..

 

NOTHING WRONG WITH EITHER....

 

What I do is usually leave a small note saying "Thank you very much, this is extra for you". That way he/she knows that my prepaid tips are kept in place. And I leave about $4.00 first couple nights, then about $7.00, but I always make sure, the morning I debark, to leave something, becuase i'm sure this is the time some of them get stiffed unfortunately - I said SOME

[glr068]

So you only reward them if they "exceed" expectations but you deny them their earned tips if they do not? Your post is a great example of why I feel the need to tip extra.

 

Thanks, I appreciate you picking up the slack. ;) You obviously didn't comprehend my remarks. If I eat at a nice restaurant and things are so..so...then I leave the customary 15%....if they 'Exceed' then I tip as high as 20-25%. Same goes on the ship with the cabin steward. What's wrong with that?

[martdm]

From your first post here:

For the dining staff, I hate to say it but I usually remove those charges as I only use the dining room one night while on a 7 day cruise.

 

What's wrong with that?

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with providing a proper tip to cabin stewards. I was referring to the fact that you, by your own admission, fail to appropriately tip the dining staff in kind. There's lots wrong with that as has already been explained to you in prior posts here. If you need more information, do a search on tipping.

[MarkJeffery]

They earn 40.00 per month, the rest is tips which they have to share with others helping them clean the cabins. The majority of their income they send home to their families. That why Im generous when it comes to helping good people.

 

Hello. How do you know they only make $40 a month?

 

mk

[VentureMan_2000]

Just keep it simple... leave the $10 per person per day tip on the sail & sign card...

 

Don't worry about tipping a penny more...

 

And have a great cruise...:)

[Cotton]

Just keep it simple... leave the $10 per person per day tip on the sail & sign card...

 

I totally agree. To me, this is a very reasonable amount. Why folks want to complicate matters is beyond me.:rolleyes:

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I totally agree. To me, this is a very reasonable amount. Why folks want to complicate matters is beyond me.:rolleyes:

 

yes --- they do it in SPITE of all the good advice given here... SORRY - I had to SNEAK that one in... ALL IN GOOD FUN ;)

 

:)

 

Tom

[tjaker11]

DH & I always tip $20 upon meeting room steward. we feel that the service is definately better.

[jdcml]

In the past we have always tipped a little extra at the end. I may be more inclined to try the upfront method this time around. I found an interesting article on cnn: http://money.cnn.com/2001/10/07/pf/tipping/

 

I had heard long ago the acronym of To Insure Promptness. True or not I don't know, but it seems to work. The few times that its come up for me and I've had the opportunity I truly feel that its worked better. Think about your local restaurant, if you become a regular and tip well it usually comes with better service (or free apps or desert or drink etc). If you tip well you will likely be remembered next time.

 

I think they all do a great job, we have never had an issue with any staff. One thing that this article brings up I hadn't thought about was the approach that we tip waiters and not bankers since its built in to the bankers pay. Does it seem reasonable that the attendants feel the $10 is a standard wage and would provide standard (but still very good) service... and anything above that would be appreciated and recriprocated?

 

Maybe its different that this time since we are traveling with kids and I know that it will be extra work for them above and beyond the normal. They always do a great job, and we always give more, I'm just not sure when we will do it this time around:confused:

[RyanMFitz1]

Okay..

 

I have seen the different "views" people have on here in regards to tipping early & extra or just the regular amount.

 

Me personally feel that if you know in advance that you are wanting "extra" things, then throw the steward some extra cash. 10 or 20 bucks wont kill someone and i bet you will see just how attentive they are. Which is a way of them showing appreaciation. IF you're not going to be busting their backs with little things, then don't worry about it. Simply put. I plan on tipping GENEROUSLY because to be honest im spoiled. LOL

 

But again thats just me..

Happy Cruising.

 

Ryan

[gr81]

We leave the S&S tipping alone on all cruises, even if we feel the service wasnt great but thats just me. I read somewhere the tip was the minimum amount per some AMEX calculation and figure we'd probably tip above that on land.

 

For the room steward we have tipped up front if asking him/her for extra things out of the normal daily duties (Ice for our personal cooler etc...) and at the end of the cruise gave an extra personal tip for just going way beyond what what we expected as an added thank you.

 

Dining room waiters/waitresses. Never tipped up front, but have given extra at the end of the cruise when they go above what we expected as a thank you.

 

I will try to find the webpage, but a Purser on one of the Princess ships has his own blog. He noted about a month ago about tipping on board. He said that the "Tiping pool" of employees goes beyond the ones you see. Laundry staff and other kitchen staff do get a cut of the S&S tips according to him. What he said made sense.

[gr81]

Link

 

The link is a blog by a Purser on Princess.

 

Read:

"Type "Oh!" negative."

 

Then scroll down and read:

"Employee treatment, stiffing on tipping and getting a little special something."

[mrdood]

I will try to find the webpage, but a Purser on one of the Princess ships has his own blog. He noted about a month ago about tipping on board. He said that the "Tiping pool" of employees goes beyond the ones you see. Laundry staff and other kitchen staff do get a cut of the S&S tips according to him. What he said made sense.

 

That is what I had heard also... if you remove your S&S tips, there are many people that get jipped, you overtip some, and don't tip others. Unless they re-pool the cash you give them - what would be their motivation unless there is a penalty system for having S&S tips removed and not replaced by cash?

 

I am sure the cruiselines are very good at what they do, who am I to question it.

 

...and I am in full agreement, if you get service above and beyond, feel free to tip extra, I never tip in advance, always when service is delivered, or at the end. Just one psychotic opinion:)

[gr81]

Just one psychotic opinion:)

 

dood, there is always a madness to my method as well:D

[Lurkyloo]

I don't tip up front - I tip (above the S & S) if they have given good service. This time around I brought 4 small boxes of See's Candy and 4 Thank you cards. I wrote a little note of thanks to our Waiter, Asst. Waiter, Steward, and Asst. Steward who worked their butts off taking care of us all week. I told them how much I appreciated their hard work and how they helped make our cruise special. I gave them $35 or $25 each. I wish I could have given more! ;)

[Stew Pickles]

I don't understand all of this nonsense about pooled tips or the idea that the S&S tips go to different people. The S&S tip information straight from Carnival explicitly tells were every cent of your tip is going - YOUR cabin steward, YOUR dining room waiter, and YOUR assistant waiter. No one else! Not busboys, or bartenders, or the guy sweeping the deck. The staff is just as happy if you remove the tips from your S&S card and give it to them in person. It is EXACTLY the same thing to them.

 

Stewie

[mrdood]

It is EXACTLY the same thing to them.

 

Stewie

 

I think they simplify it for the simple people, but each Cabin Steward has at least one assistant, sometimes two - he shares with them...

 

...and even if he does not, just how do you share with the Bistro staff below??? I have not seen any waiters int he Bistros, but lots of staff busing tables, I am sure you can figure out that they are being simple, and it really is more complicated.

 

Here it is from the Carnival site:

 

The total amount will be $10 per guest, per day, which breaks down as follows:

 

• $5.50 pp/pd for Dining Team Service (Headwaiter and Waiter)
  
• $1 pp/pd for Bistro Service (Waiter/Cooks)
  
• $3.50 pp/pd for Cabin Services (Cabin Steward)

[gr81]

I don't understand all of this nonsense about pooled tips or the idea that the S&S tips go to different people. The S&S tip information straight from Carnival explicitly tells were every cent of your tip is going - YOUR cabin steward, YOUR dining room waiter, and YOUR assistant waiter. No one else! Not busboys, or bartenders, or the guy sweeping the deck. The staff is just as happy if you remove the tips from your S&S card and give it to them in person. It is EXACTLY the same thing to them.

 

Stewie

 

If it was nonsense no one would have to ask. Just like when people ask if they should remove the tips when taking lil Tommy and Dill along. They dont eat as much or mess up the room. But the tips is a large part of the salary, and lil Tommy and Dill Pickles are bodies that could have been adults. Not the room steward or waiters fault, but they lose out in the end. Were all entitled to our opinions. Happy cruising to all, no matter how you tip, or not.:)