Do people not goto the dining room on the last night because they don't want tip?

[12vman]

Let me start by saying that I normally tip 15 – 20% on average for good service. I do have a history of not tipping at all for poor service; even going so far as to write an explanation on the tip line of the receipt.

 

Tips should never be expected or forced upon the patron of any business. I absolutely hate being forced to tip (ie, tip automatically added for parties of 8 or more type stuff)

 

In fact, I generally never tip more than the “required minimum” at places like that. Tipping is a bonus for a job well done. Not a bill for service that should be forcibly added to the check. I find that when a tip is automatically included as a service charge, the staff generally has no incentive to go above and beyond the norm to make my visit memorable.

 

I find it rather insulting to order a drink with a required 15% gratuity added in and then to see another line for “additional tips” on the receipt. What? The 15% on the already overpriced drink wasn’t enough? Here, take my first born!

 

That being said, I do tip well for good service, and more for excellent service. The caveat to that is, I want the amount to be my choice, not yours.

 

Some people may not agree with me, frankly I don’t care. I don’t tip for poor service. Ever. Tipping for poor service only leads to even worse service. Hit em where it hurts. In the wallet.

 

Don’t even get me started on places like star bucks, or mcdonalds, or even gas stations putting out tip jars.

 

 

i agree 100% with what you said.

[donaldsc]

These automatic tips kinda pee me off a little....i might just be old fashioned but if someone dose a good job for me i like to personally hand them the tip they deserve and shake their hand(i tried to give our table waitress a cash tip last year she said she could not accept i had to do it through the desk to increase)...and if the person dose a poor job i want them to know on the spot that they screwed up and were not getting a tip ( another example i ordered a drink in the theater last year took 20 min to bring it to me told him i wanted the tip to be remover again was told i had to dispute the charge at the desk)...i know why they do it because people do stiff these folks all the time but it just seem so impersonal plus what is the motivation for these workers to go above and beyond they all just figure they are going to get the tip anyways like one said even if it was justified you would feel like an @$$ going up to decrease any tip

 

You must have gotten a really good grade in English in school. You consistently use "i" instead of "I" and you must have missed the class where you were told that you end a sentence with a period. Your post is one long run on sentence.

 

DON

[momofmeg]

well guys, a certain person is missing my point-so I will not post to them anymore.

 

I just wanted to say I do not believe all crew members consider us arrogant amercians. Just like we need not fear the crew will dismember us because a few of their own arrogant/prejudiced countrymen hate all amercians. My guess is they only feel that a select few of us are arrogant. LOL! Otherwise they would not take a job on a cruiseship.

 

I also believe the crew greatly appreciate generousity shown to them by our rewarding them for a job well done.

[momofmeg]

Let me start by saying that I normally tip 15 – 20% on average for good service. I do have a history of not tipping at all for poor service; even going so far as to write an explanation on the tip line of the receipt.

 

Tips should never be expected or forced upon the patron of any business. I absolutely hate being forced to tip (ie, tip automatically added for parties of 8 or more type stuff)

 

In fact, I generally never tip more than the “required minimum” at places like that. Tipping is a bonus for a job well done. Not a bill for service that should be forcibly added to the check. I find that when a tip is automatically included as a service charge, the staff generally has no incentive to go above and beyond the norm to make my visit memorable.

 

I find it rather insulting to order a drink with a required 15% gratuity added in and then to see another line for “additional tips” on the receipt. What? The 15% on the already overpriced drink wasn’t enough? Here, take my first born!

 

That being said, I do tip well for good service, and more for excellent service. The caveat to that is, I want the amount to be my choice, not yours.

 

Some people may not agree with me, frankly I don’t care. I don’t tip for poor service. Ever. Tipping for poor service only leads to even worse service. Hit em where it hurts. In the wallet.

 

Don’t even get me started on places like star bucks, or mcdonalds, or even gas stations putting out tip jars.

 

I am the same way-when there is a 15% "service charge" added to my check because I am in a group I leave no extra tip. It irritates me also. although, I do understand this must be done because there are always those that won't tip.

 

I always tell my hubby we saved a couple of bucks because normally we tip at least 20%-we only tip less if the service is so-so-then the person gets 15% or less.

 

Now I always do leave some sort of tip, even for poor service, I do believe a 10% tip sends a message. Iwould never ever tip nothing.

 

Now I have went online and sent a complaint to the restuarant headquarters and named the person who waited on me,the address of the restuarant etc. giving them the particualrs of why.

[12vman]

You must have gotten a really good grade in English in school. You consistently use "i" instead of "I" and you must have missed the class where you were told that you end a sentence with a period. Your post is one long run on sentence.

 

DON

 

lighten up a bit Don huh?

some of us are working hard in our offices while we type to these boards and are trying to get both done. our work is more important and we are busy checking that, instead. and if they are like me (and i do the i thing as well) my work requires i type in caps all the time, and switching back and forth can be a pain. sometimes i just go cap or lower case the whole way to speed things along. i dont care for grammar police on line, its unbecoming.

[Wildcatter]

We usually pre pay our gratuities and still give them the envelope with the prepaid slips Royal Caribbean gives you along with some extra cash if they've done an exceptional job. On the last cruise, our waiters kept my daughter and the friends she met at the table Shirley Temples continuously. They were waiting for them every night. That kind of service deserves an extra $10 or $20 for the waiter and his assistant. It shows that they are willing to go above and beyond and take care of your family members. These folks work for tips and it they are going above and beyond, stiffing them on their tips is just cruel and beyond contempt to me. You wouldn't want this to happen to one of your family members working in a service industry. Why would you think it's ok to do it to someone else?

[Deeliteful]

I just have to put in my "two cents" worth here. I believe in tipping for a job well done. I do not believe in putting the tip on my bill i.e. "auto tipping" as I don't know where it goes or to whom it goes.

 

My frustration with tipping is that "we" the customers are making up the wages of the staff because they are not paid enough otherwise. I would cite myself as a capitalist - I have run my own businesses for the last 15 years - but I believe in paying a "fair" wage to my employees.

 

In the UK we do tip for good service but we also know that the individuals are earning at least minimum wage - having said that as a nation (yes I'm generalising!!) we are not great at service as an industry and I put that down to lack of training.

 

Whenever I visit the US I get great service more often than not but I know it is because the "servers" are working hard for a tip because they are not paid well and rely on tips to make up the difference.

 

With good training people should be able to earn a good living and enjoy their tips when they make that extra effort which is always appreciated.

 

I don't like having to pay a 15% service charge on every single drink I have on board a US ship, I would much rather tip the bartender or server at the day or evening as we would on a UK ship.

 

But all that said - I enjoy the US ships and my cruises with all nationalities - "Vive la difference".

 

Gets down from soapbox.....

[momofmeg]

hey, you know what, if us americans are so bad and arrogant then maybe they shouldn't accept our money at all.. sorry but your post just doesn't jive with me.

 

i think the automatic tipping is way easier and smarter, not only do the regular waiter and steward get tips, the behind the scenes personel do as well.

 

as for the OP, i have no doubt that certain folks will steer clear of the dining room in order to stiff the waiters. i'm sure this is common place and the staff is not so surprised when it happens. but just as they don't complain when they get an extra large tip, they just need to deal with the dead beats.

 

and THIS arrogant american will still slip a $20 or $50 to the steward on the first day, i doubt he or she will be mad at me for it.

 

 

I was only repeating what I have been told here at CC. Most crew consider it an insult to pretip because they feel you believe they will not do their job.

 

That hardly means NO TIPPING. Just tip for a job well done-not BEFORE the job is done.

 

When the search feature starts working again at CC, just do a search for "pre tipping". It is hard for me to word things correctly from a memory of posts over 4 years old, you will better understand when you find those posts about this.

 

Think about it-how do you feel about a person who goes around flashing money-do you find that admirable? and what if-if you were the one performing services for such a person. Would you feel they were belittling you a bit?

 

 

I am not going to post on this anymore.

[CowPrincess]

. you never tipped a head waiter before going to your table?.

 

No, actually.

 

here is why you may chose to do it. when you go out to dinner back home at a regular place, you dont do that. but when you go somewhere special, a rare event, and you want to try and make it go very well as it could be a one time thing, you may opt to do that.

 

No, we tend to rely on the professionalism of the dining establishment, along with our ability to be appropriate in a social setting. And "someplace special" isn't necessarily a "rare event" -- I honestly cannot think of any restaurant we've ever been in that was a "rare event". More expensive than others, perhaps. Better food or service, perhaps. But I honestly cannot think of any restaurant I'd consider a rare event.

 

its very common and no one i know would ever find that insulting.

 

It may be very common, I've seen it done, and it IS insulting. This is the 21st century. Conspicuous consumerism is done and over with. If the head waiter is not insulted (which I don't believe) your fellow patrons at whatever "rare event restaurant" you are patronizing are JUST as likely to be appalled as they are to be impressed.

 

 

it doesnt say you demand special attention,

 

Maybe not in your eyes, but in other people's eyes it may. It may also say "I've got the bucks, you better pay attention" or "I expect you to short other people so I get what I want" or "Money can buy me anything" or "Aren't I just TOOOOOOOOOOOO important?"

 

I think it is gauche to flaunt money. I think it is inexcusable to use money as a weapon.

[Spikesgirl]

Wow, I've been reading this thread and it's really been an eye opening. Let me open by saying that we auto-tip AND will also tip additionally to our steward, waiter, his assistant and other folks whom we feel looked after us. We also take along some indicative of the region in California where we hail and offer it as an additional thank you, such as flavored nuts or a locally produced jam (providing this is not in violation of where we are sailing).

 

Additionally, we try to treat our steward as we ourselves would like to be treated and greet him/her with a smile and a thank you. We have never pre-tipped (never even thought about it actually), although on the last cruise, we did have a plate of homemade cookies that we set on the table and told him to have them whenever he wanted. It was amazing how frequently we saw him during the course of the cruise, "Just wanted to make sure you're comfortable,..while I'm here, I'll jsut have a cookie then." It was great! Between him, my DH and GD, they went through four dozen cookies in ten days.

 

I don't think being generous is necessarily limited to one country or even one type of people. Remember, no matter what, we're all on the same planet...except for my fourth grade teacher...I don't know where she was from...

 

Charlie

[camNaud]

In these days of flexi-dining and auto-tips (service charges) on cruise ships, there tends to be less of the handing over of small envelopes to waiters etc on final night.

 

Tipping should be a private affair, and for anyone to make judgement on others on the basis of whether or not they attend a dining room on last night is wrong.

 

It is wholly up to individuals how, where, when and what they tip.

 

What we tip, how we tip, when we tip and how much we tip is really each individuals own business and should not concern anyone else.

 

Some of the posts I read on this board about this subject, seem to be wholly placed to brag about wealth and status.

 

Does it matter if the tradition in one state is to give 20%, or if another area the going rate is only 10%. Some of the retorts about these local differences also appear to come into the 'we are better than you because we donate more' category.

 

Yes, it's nice to get some advice if unsure or new to cruising, lets just keep it at that, without all the bigger, better, small, lesser, blah blah blah...

 

You know when you have had good service and you know when you have had poor service. Do what you think is best on that basis.

[jimpop]

I think that some miss the point about auto-tipping or pre-tipping...the person whom you are tipping does not know that you auto-tipped, at least on RCI, until you give them their tip envelope. When you pre-tip, you are just giving the tip to the company to hand out at the end of your cruise and you give the waiters, etc. a slip of paper indicating that they need to see the paymaster for their tip...you may also leave extra in the same tip envelope for exceptional service. Thus, they do not know how you are tipping or how much of a tip you are giving before hand, so logic says they will work just as hard for you as for those who choose to pay their tip at the end of your cruise...On our last cruise, we paid the tip in the middle of the week to the cruise ship and we noticed absolutely no difference in the service that we received...and even if they knew we were pre-tipping, they would not know whether or not we would tip extra for exceptional service and would therefore have an incentive to continue to go above and beyond for an extra tip....For what it is worth, I find that most people in the service business on the ship respond as much to kind treatment and genuine interest in their well being as an incentive to increase the quality of their service rather than in the amount of tip that you leave them...jimpop

[crusehappy]

We did the auto-tip thing on a Celebrity Cruise. We were provided with a card and envelope to give our waiter which read something to the effect of "Thank you for your wonderful service. We have left your tip with the concierge."

[UK.Girl]

In the details for our cruise it states that all tips are included in the cost of the cruise.

[PeterPaul]

Read this thread from beginning to end and you'll see that the people who serve you aren't actually going to be receiving maybe .10 of your auto tip

 

In the details for our cruise it states that all tips are included in the cost of the cruise.

[quiltlady]

I hope that all you people tip the room service waiter when they bring youmyour order.

[sometimes sailor]

. . . the idea of tipping is to recognize the quality of service you received during the event (cruise). TIPS - is an acronym for To Insure Proper Service and as such I would never provide a predetermined one if the service was innadequate.

 

I would love to hear from folks who have just completed cruises to see how the 'modern cruise' tipping process has evolved.

 

I have always taken the cruise line numbers as guidelines and adjusted them accordingly - often not tipping individuals who provided poor - or no - service to us while doubling the recommended amounts for individuals who made our cruise memorable.

[Eagle04]

I know of some people that don't go to avoid having to tip their waiter.

[nychelle02]

I like to auto tip because I don't want to miss anyone in the tipping process.

 

I think the gift cards are a good idea :)

[VillaHappy]

After reading most of these posts, I've made up my mind that there will be no pre-tipping for us on our cruise in July. It will come at the end.

[ThePatientOne]

Good afternoon all..

As we all know, a "suggested" daily tip is added to your charge card that you use for sailing.. (Being these are called so many things I will leave it at that.) Remember this is just the suggested amount.. You can either up the amount for a particular person or area or you can decrease it accordingly.

I myself usually will leave something extra for those that have gone above and beyond.. I also give it to them personally..

As far as the servers go in the dining room.. Again, they get a "cut" out of the per guest suggested charges as tips, Should they have gone above and beyond, then on the last night, they get an envelope as well...

[TorOntCruiser]

I'm all for tipping and I certainly take care of the waiters and the housekeeping staff. I sailed on the Carnival Triumph in June/07 and I was appalled that the Maitre D' had at least 50 tip envelopes laid out on a table by the door as we came in for dinner on the last night. Tippping the wait staff is fine but he was only looking for tips for hmself! Shame on you Dmitri!

[Dorset Cruiser]

In the details for our cruise it states that all tips are included in the cost of the cruise.

 

 

If you are on a Princess ship then the tips are not included with the cost of your cruise. They are added to your shipboard account at the rate of $10.50 per person ($11 per person for suites) per day so you should factor that into your onboard spend. We also take dollar bills and tip for room service deliveries. If you have definitely prepaid your tips, you should check your onboard account carefully to ensure you are not paying twice:p

[Jagg]

As a first time cruiser, I read this thread with a great deal of interest. At first the tone of the thread was deterring me from reading on. I am glad that I did. As I now have a clearer, more informed viewpoint on tipping on the cruises.

 

I realize that the tips on cruises are a strong part of the staffs earnings. I also signed up to have the cruise "tips" added to my Sigh and Sail account. After reading this thread I believe this the right thing to do, firstly I have a piece of mind that the people that are providing a service to make my vacation more successful are compensated, and at a the very least, at a minimum. That is my base line. If I find that my vacation is a greater experience due to the staff then I have no qualms to put higher compensations into a envelope, and perhaps a card of thanks could surround the tip packet too. If for some reason ( and I don't foresee this) a staff member of the cruise creates an environment that lessens my cruise experience, then I have the right as a paying customer to complain.

 

Thanks to all posters in this thread, you have help a newbie with a difficult question.

 

 

Cheers

[GlendaleCruiser]

I like the auto-tip. I don't feel any pressure on the last night to tip more, but do sometimes. It's fun to go on the last night and say goodbye to the wait staff and tell them how much you appreciated their good service.