I won't Auto-tip!! Some crew may or may not get screwed

[PDAZ]

BTW. I don't think the buffet is open on the last night of the cruise.

 

Yeah -- I think you're right. Well good -- at least the cheapskates were hungry :D

[steveaaaa]

I could agree with your assessment except for the comment about if the they start taking advantage of the crew....

 

To me, that means that indicates that the cruise line is taking a cut.

 

I understand that it's far-fetched and certainly not the case, but I can't help but think of the migrant workers from the depression days who worked so hard and ended up owing their employers money, so they could never quit their jobs.

 

I just don't see the cruiselines doing it for free.Most people are using a credit card, a credit card charges fee's so when CCL is putting all the autotips thru,it is incuring a fee for them.

Steve

[jessemon]

Here we go......

If a tip able employees tip per day is placed on a credit card it cost the cruiseline money. You as the cruiseline pay a fee (1.75% to 2.5%) to the bank/credit card company to process this transaction. Not oly that there is the time involved by employees to process these amounts to dispurse them to the crew members.

Here in the states....if you have a comissioned salesperson who takes a credit card you as the employer may deduct a fee % wise to compensate for this. Most retail and restaurants do this. If you did not you would be losing money on every transaction placed on a credit card.

Here in the states on top of this if you as an employer did not do this you would also be paying money to social security...workmans comp and the IRS on money you just paid to the credit card company.

I can understand the cruiseline doing this....Carnival for eample has 20 ships cruising every week. And lets say 2500 pax per ship. At $10.00 per person a day.That's 50,000people a day. Times $10.00. That's $500,000 a day or $3,500,000 a week in tips. If you look just a the credit card processing fee that is $75,250.00 a week. Times 52 weeks a year....$3,913,000 a year.

I think most of the crew is OK with the fee charge to them. It is difficult to stand in front of someone to ask them to remove the tipping from the card...

It was much easier for the stiffers and dead beats to just avoid the diningroom and cabin steward on the last night. Now you have to go to someone and tell them to remove it.......:p

[MrPete]

BTW, you never told us if you got back the 75¢ that showed up on your final S&S account that you said should have been $0.00. :rolleyes:

[Luv2cruise14]

BTW, you never told us if you got back the 75¢ that showed up on your final S&S account that you said should have been $0.00. :rolleyes:

 

 

OMG...you're kidding, right? I can't imagine someone wasting their time over .75

[Dani-d]

Some of the responses to this post tend to be very assuming, and it makes me feel like I have to speak up for my beliefs. As much as I agree that we should all give the expected percentage of tipping, I really hate having someone control what I want to give each and every person who has done a service for me! It is MY money, MY decision and MY control, not the cruise lines...period! I take offense at those who assume that because I want to give money personally to those who have done a good job, that I would shortchange them. I also admit that for the most part I am not one that keeps boasting that I give well over and above what is expected. I don't give tips to eight other workers, who have not even seen me, or vise versa. If I do not use the wine steward, I will not tip the wine steward, even though the last day his face is in mine and his hand is held out. This happens almost every cruise I have been on. This is aggravating to me. I have had bus boys work so hard , while the waiter is gabbing and goofing off. We then take out some of the waiter's tip and hand it right over to the bus boy! This is what I have always been use to and I am very happy with my system. This is my right and I am also quite happy to walk right up to the front desk and ask immediately to have them take off the tipping from my bill. I am glad that the cruise lines give this option and if it works well for you to have the cruise lines handle your tips, that's well and fine. I don't critize you for this, please understand that I feel you all should respect everyone's decision and not assume we are cheap or skipping from tipping. Those that do skip are absolutely wrong and they are the very ones that have caused the changes in tipping!

[happy cruzin]

Some of the responses to this post tend to be very assuming, and it makes me feel like I have to speak up for my beliefs. As much as I agree that we should all give the expected percentage of tipping, I really hate having someone control what I want to give each and every person who has done a service for me! It is MY money, MY decision and MY control, not the cruise lines...period! I take offense at those who assume that because I want to give money personally to those who have done a good job, that I would shortchange them. I also admit that for the most part I am not one that keeps boasting that I give well over and above what is expected. I don't give tips to eight other workers, who have not even seen me, or vise versa. If I do not use the wine steward, I will not tip the wine steward, even though the last day his face is in mine and his hand is held out. This happens almost every cruise I have been on. This is aggravating to me. I have had bus boys work so hard , while the waiter is gabbing and goofing off. We then take out some of the waiter's tip and hand it right over to the bus boy! This is what I have always been use to and I am very happy with my system. This is my right and I am also quite happy to walk right up to the front desk and ask immediately to have them take off the tipping from my bill. I am glad that the cruise lines give this option and if it works well for you to have the cruise lines handle your tips, that's well and fine. I don't critize you for this, please understand that I feel you all should respect everyone's decision and not assume we are cheap or skipping from tipping. Those that do skip are absolutely wrong and they are the very ones that have caused the changes in tipping!

 

Yes...absolutely it is your choice and you should contiune to do what you are comfortable with as far as tipping.

 

But, unfortuantely there are still those who choose not to tip at all :o regardless of services performed. That is the real problem ....

[pholter]

I know someone posted that his company keeps a portion to cover "standard wage deduction" (doesn't that sound like income tax?), but it is not the case in Louisiana. Waitresses keep the tips that they earn, though some establishments do pool, I don't think that is the majority.

 

I stated:

"Any hotel, restaurant, club, etc. that collects and distributes tips/gratuities equitably can take 10% off the top to cover service salaries. It's called the standard wage deduction. We do it where I work, too."

 

This does not mean that every restaurant, hotel, and club decide to do wages this way. In fact, alot do the cash tips system. This is a US Labor law which includes all of the US. It sounds as though they are probably using a similar system on the ships which is very fair. It encourages teamwork.

[Kittybork]

Here we go......

If a tip able employees tip per day is placed on a credit card it cost the cruiseline money. You as the cruiseline pay a fee (1.75% to 2.5%) to the bank/credit card company to process this transaction.

 

So, I wonder if the cut is still taken if the passenger puts cash on the account?

[jessemon]

So, I wonder if the cut is still taken if the passenger puts cash on the account?

;) ;) ;)

[ParrotRob]

OMG...you're kidding, right? I can't imagine someone wasting their time over .75

 

Um, you're kidding, right?

[Luv2cruise14]

Um, you're kidding, right?

 

?????

[CruznTom]

Jack Jacques

 

 

catalog:

071

Auld Lang Syne

 

location:

Nantes, France

Alter ego: Jack Jacques

Favourite drink: coffee

Real Name: Guillaume Bariou

Personal motto: Just like rock'n'roll

Musical background: piano lessons. Noisy-pop and reggae bands. DJing, working on soundtracks for dance and theatre shows. Electrock sound system. Computer music since 2002.

Other projects: Lomic – electro pop. Jukebox – French songs covers in a retro-electro style. Flupke – electro.

Influences: the Manchester pop scene, the NY no-wave from the 80's, the Jamaican dub, deviant disco, funk and all kind of electronic music.

Style: retro, rocky & cheap electro synth pop.

*

Sorry, I've got too much time on my hands.

[jessemon]

BTW, you never told us if you got back the 75¢ that showed up on your final S&S account that you said should have been $0.00. :rolleyes:

Just a question MrPete....Who got that extra 75 cents added to their bill ?:eek:

I'll send it to them myself.........:D

[ParrotRob]

?????

 

75 cents is a lot of money, of course it's worth arguing over! :rolleyes:

[Luv2cruise14]

75 cents is a lot of money, of course it's worth arguing over! :rolleyes:

 

 

LOL....well, that's true 75 cents would buy 1 can of dog food for my dogs :D

[hollaatya35]

We did the auto $10 per day per person and tipped extra. I think cheap people worry about where the money is going. If carnival states they are distributing them out lets trust them. These people to wait on us and clean up our crap I think goes above and beyond there calls of duty. Some of you people act like church people worrying about where the tithes of the church go.

[ParrotRob]

LOL....well, that's true 75 cents would buy 1 can of dog food for my dogs :D

 

Did you know that if you're on a 5 day cruise and you wait until the ship leaves port, you'll save $1.35 on your soda card?

[jetskier]

Actually the credit card fees are more than that for the cruiselines.

Because of their volume, I am sure that they have negotiated their rates lower than what I get. But for kicks, lets use my fees at my business.

 

1.79% of the amount for a swiped card

2.39% of the amount for a card not present

Plus .25 cents for each transaction.

 

So if you use your credit card for the initial deposit, it is a percentage (non-swiped) plus transaction fee. $9.56 plus .25 cents. (5-day cruise $200pp deposit)

 

Next you make final payment, it is a percentage plus transaction fee. $9.56 plus .25 cents. (Say your cruise cost $800 total, this is on the $400 balance).

 

Next you place your S&S account on your CC, it is a percentage (swiped) plus transaction fee. (Of course this varies depending on your spending habits.)

 

Dave

[jetskier]

Did you know that if you're on a 5 day cruise and you wait until the ship leaves port, you'll save $1.35 on your soda card?

 

Yes because the State's sales tax is not charged. Or is it a sail tax? The same is true for drink purchases.

 

Dave

[DGP1111]

I walk onto the ship happy.:D

I walk off the ship happy.:)

Somewhere in between those two event, the gratuities are automatically arranged from me to those wonderful crew members who always (without exception) provide me stellar service. That process is designed, and approved, by the cruise line, and is probably fully understood by the vast majority of the crew members. There could possibly be a chance that the process isn't totally handled the way I'd hope it would be, but I can leave my vacation with a clear conscience that I've done my best to reward their excellence, in the suggested manner.

If I allow myelf to fret over this issue (as well as a few other issues that continue to be raised here on the discussion boards), I take a chance of screwing up one or, perhaps, both of those events mentioned above. I'll just continue to "stay the course."

 

OK, I lied. . . . sometimes I dance onto the ship.

Luckily for me, that stellar service will begin being rewarded again in just one week. ~Bon Voyage to you all for a great next cruise!!~

[Kittybork]

We did the auto $10 per day per person and tipped extra. I think cheap people worry about where the money is going. If carnival states they are distributing them out lets trust them. These people to wait on us and clean up our crap I think goes above and beyond there calls of duty. Some of you people act like church people worrying about where the tithes of the church go.

 

Actually, that's not true in my case. We left the tips and tipped extra. My point is that if I pay 10.00 a day for tips, I want it to be for tips, not administrative fees for Carnival.

 

My daughter is a waitress, but her company never takes a portion of her tip when it's paid for with a credit card. If that were the case, I think we would have heard about it because waiters/waitresses would want to be tipped in cash.

[Luv2cruise14]

Yes because the State's sales tax is not charged. Or is it a sail tax? The same is true for drink purchases.

 

Dave

 

hmmm...no, I didn't know that. Learned something new today!

[silverfoxcruiser]

You seem to be looking for permission or something?? Do what you want, but the obsession tells us in the know more than you think.

 

 

Funny, I've been thinking the same thing for MONTHS now!! Silver:cool:

[Caribbreeze]

I walk onto the ship happy.:D

 

I walk off the ship happy.:)

Somewhere in between those two event, the gratuities are automatically arranged from me to those wonderful crew members who always (without exception) provide me stellar service. That process is designed, and approved, by the cruise line, and is probably fully understood by the vast majority of the crew members. There could possibly be a chance that the process isn't totally handled the way I'd hope it would be, but I can leave my vacation with a clear conscience that I've done my best to reward their excellence, in the suggested manner.

If I allow myelf to fret over this issue (as well as a few other issues that continue to be raised here on the discussion boards), I take a chance of screwing up one or, perhaps, both of those events mentioned above. I'll just continue to "stay the course."

OK, I lied. . . . sometimes I dance onto the ship.

Luckily for me, that stellar service will begin being rewarded again in just one week. ~Bon Voyage to you all for a great next cruise!!~

I don't think I could have said it better if I tried.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me not engage in another heated and pointless debate, spurred on by someone who appears to need the controversy. Now I can return to the sheer joy of planning my next cruise --- I dance onto the ship, too --- pirouette sometimes :D Enjoy.