Tipping and Automatic gratuity

[jtl513]

[quote name='thanks_for_the_info']On Princess and now on HAL, we were told that when you tip someone, they are required to turn that tip over to be put in the "pot" which is then divided for all the employees by a percentage.[/quote]On HAL this is only true when you have removed the auto service charge.

[knighthawke]

[quote name='djhsolara']
Like I said, I'm being totally honest and you can think whatever you want about me after reading this, but we lowered our daily hotel service charge on our last sailing in December and we tipped personally. I know it is a convenience thing, but I have decided that going forward I will have the hotel service charge totally removed from my account and I will go around and tip accordingly.
QUOTE]



I am in complete agreement with what you said and do that myself. Maybe it is just psychological, (in a selfish way) but I do get much more a good feeling when I am actually handing a tip over and saying thank you. I like the smiles back , etc etc.

[marle7]

[quote name='jtl513']On HAL this is only true when you have removed the auto service charge.[/QUOTE]

But how would they know who that employee got the tip from? Especially if the employee gets tips from several different passengers. Unless the employee is required to note who gave what. Then the cruise line would have to check to see if that passenger had removed the auto service charge. That seems like a lot of work to me.

I simply do not discuss my tipping when I write my reviews generally. I just think it's between me and whomever I time.

[RuthC]

[quote name='marle7']But how would they know who that employee got the tip from? Especially if the employee gets tips from several different passengers. Unless the employee is required to note who gave what. Then the cruise line would have to check to see if that passenger had removed the auto service charge. That seems like a lot of work to me. [/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=royalblue]Essentially that's how it's done. Except the order is reversed---HAL lets the stewards know who has removed/reduced the service charge. It's then incumbant on the steward to turn in cash received from those on the list. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1]If the steward were not to do so, over time it would be noticed that they weren't getting as much in tips as would be expected. One reason for that could be holding back; another reason could be they aren't doing their job well. Either reason could be cause for dismissal. Stewards aren't likely to risk that. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1][/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1]There's also the matter of peer pressure. Stewards live together in close quarters. They figure out very quickly who's working as part of the team, and who's out for themselves. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[marle7]

Ah. that makes sense!

[hammybee]

[quote=knighthawke;14842606

I am in complete agreement with what you said and do that myself. Maybe it is just psychological, (in a selfish way) but I do get much more a good feeling when I am actually handing a tip over and saying thank you. I like the smiles back , etc etc.[/quote]

Given most of us are now paid by direct deposit, instead of receiving a physical check from a designated clerical person on Pay Day as once was the norm, I wonder how most employers get that "good feeling"?

When passengers buck the system to play " lord of the manor" it creates exception processing and the need for incremental reconcilliation. One can certainly get the same feeling by tipping out cash above and beyond the Hotel Charge, if so inclined.

What I like best about Auto Tipping/ Hotel Service Charge, beyond the convenience, is that the onboard management knows better than I do, who pulls their weight, or not. The friendliest front line employees may not be the best team players in an organization dependent upon teamwork and of course, I have no idea who does what, behind the scenes.

Auto Tipping/Hotel Service charges protect the employees and is convenient for the passenger. That's a win-win, in my book.

[chaingang]

Im not sure if this is true or not but some cruises that I've taken I never ate in the dining room. My choice of not wanting the 2 hours of pampering. So I gave an extra tip in the Pizza Place and Buffet rooms and where ever I went and got a quick meal. I left the automatic tip still going to the dining room and all these people I never even seen. Would you agree or should I have taken that and gave it to the servers that I actually interacted with. I asked if it was fair for the servers doing the jobs that dont get the big tips and they explained on NCL they rotate the assignments so everyone gets an equal amount. Because I never understood where the gratuity came from for the people grabbing those countless plates from the buffet....

[sportsmum]

What about room service? If we tip the fellow who brings room service does he have to put it in the big pot or does he keep it?

[Thrifty]

The requirement that employees surrender any tips received from passengers who cancelled the auto-tipping charge seems hostile to the passengers. I like auto-tipping because I no longer need to agonize over how much to tip (I'm not very sophisticated) and I'm just slightly embarrassed when I deliver the tip and always feel I need to write a personal thank you on the envelope. Now I need agonize over and be slightly embarrassed only by the few extra tips for extraordinary service.
If I were to cancel the auto-tip, it would be because someone has extraordinarily offended me so much that I'm willing to go to the trouble to tip the others personally to exclude him or her. Then the superior employees are require to cough up what they've earned for the benefit of the offender? Why would a cruise line want to frustrate its passengers' desire to choose the beneficiaries of their voluntary donations? It certainly seems to me to free the employees from any need to please any passenger not mean enough to report them. (I don't ever report employees; I was one once.)

[jtl513]

[quote name='CPeters40']They say this helps the employees with promotions on the ship.[/quote]It also helps them get much-appreciated time off in ports.

[quote name='sportsmum']What about room service? If we tip the fellow who brings room service does he have to put it in the big pot or does he keep it?[/quote]He gets to keep it.

[quote name='chaingang']Im not sure if this is true or not but some cruises that I've taken I never ate in the dining room. ... Because I never understood where the gratuity came from for the people grabbing those countless plates from the buffet....[/quote]Your evening dining room steward does not just work there. On our last cruise we saw ours nearly every day in the Lido at breakfast or lunch. I've seen others delivering room service, and some work in the dining room at lunch.

[world~citizen]

Someone asked if anyone knows what the serving staff really earns. That is a good question.

When we were sailing X, that question went around, and it seemed that the bar waiters for example got free room and board and tips, that was it. Now I don't know if that's true. I would be surprised though if they had a salary approaching 100 dollars a day as was suggested.

Anyway, as to the generosity of the 10 dollar tip pp/day... Well, when you go out to dinner and drinks, what will you pay in tips on that one occasion? If you go out for breakfast or lunch what would you pay in gratuities? What do you tip when a porter brings your bags to the room in a hotel?. At a single dinner, if you follow the 15% rule, or even 10%, what would the tip be?

In all candour, I think 10 dollars pp/day is certainly not inflated. If you were sailing on a two day cruise probably there would be few among us who wouldn't tip a bit extra, but after a 21 day cruise after we have bought all of our baubles and enjoyed much to drink, all of a sudden we say: "hey, what is this business of a 10 dollar tip anyway".

We who have so much, and call ourselves the most generous people in the world, and trumpet that around the world - balk at the thought of a 10 dollar/day tip for those who have greeted us with warmth, served our dinners, cleaned our cabins, washed our laundry and gave us a wonderful, holiday.

We will pay that gratuity.

Smooth sailing to you.

[RuthC]

[quote name='Thrifty'] Why would a cruise line want to frustrate its passengers' desire to choose the beneficiaries of their voluntary donations? [/quote]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=royalblue]I'm certain that wasn't the goal when the policy was implemented. It was either a choice made, or an unintended consequence. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=#4169e1]The goal was to strike an agreement with the union representing the stewards. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[hammybee]

[quote name='Neil in Vancouver']In the business I run ($20 million per year, 200 employees) I pay the salaries, and I pay 100% of the salaries. I pay very competetive salaries to keep the people around, and on top of that I pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in profit sharing and performance bonuses. (Some people might call these tips if I were in another business.)

The client pays a negotiated fee based on the value of the service they receive, which has absolutely no connection to what I pay the employees. Many of our clients have expressed appreciation and thanks for the level of service they receive, but in 30 years in the business, no client has EVER offered a tip nor has one been expected.[/quote]


Imagine running your business if it were the custom for your clients to pay your employees in tips. How would your clients know everyone involved in their transaction? How would your clients know the difference between a slacker with good social skills and someone who really delivered and lacked social skills? How would your employees react if the client stiffed them on principle or did not perceive value?

[hammybee]

[quote name='noblepa']Its been a long time since I worked in a restaurant. When I was in high school, I worked as a busboy and dishwasher in several rather nice restaurants, not McD's. In every case, the waiters/waitresses were REQUIRED to split their tips with the kitchen staff. I think it was usually 50 percent of what they picked up off the tables went to the "behind the scenes" staff, like me. Even as a dishwasher, I got a small cut, perhaps 5 percent. At the time, I received minimum wage PLUS tips. Now, the minimum wage laws provide for a lower wage for tipped workers. I believe that the federal law allows tipped workers, such as waiters to be paid as little as $2.00 per hour, compared to about $6.00 for non-tipped workers.

Sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? This is exactly what the cruise lines are doing.

I'm pretty sure that this is still done by most restaurants. But, like I said, its been a long time since I worked in one.[/quote]

It works the same way, today. In most restaurants, either tips are pooled or the servers are required to tip out a predetermined percentage of all checks. In the case of tipping out, almost every front line server has a story about the day they had to tip out more than they actually received.

And you are also right, that minimum wage does not apply to employees who routinely get tips. Most servers make less than half of minimum wage and of course it's taxed.

[richwmn]

One thing ya'll may not know. The restaurant owner is required to report enough tips to insure that the server "make" minimum wage, even if they haven't. I have helped with a restaurant doing payroll, and due to tips that the servers kept, their check was less than $1.00 (the other money was kept daily as cash tips). So if a server has a really bad week, his with held taxes are the same as making minimum wage for the week, even if less was taken in.

Rich

[Thrifty]

I wonder how many of the cruise staff do or do not actually turn in cash tips no one has seen delivered. Of course, it's impossible to know, just as it's impossible to know how many handymen at home report cash payments on their income tax returns. It's not a temptation I would want to put on young people with modest incomes.
Of course, that problem could be largely solved by removing the "nuclear option" passengers now have to remove the auto-tips and tip in cash if they feel strongly enough to go to all that trouble, but that would create a worse problem for both the staff and the cruise line by alienating some prospective customers. That may not have been a great concern last year, but it may be much more of one this year and it may affect the "value" cruise lines more than those who compete on price alone.
Ah, for the days when tips were all about gracious service and generosity, but I suppose that's part of the price that must be paid for relatively less expensive cruising than in the past. The cruise lines seem to think that those of us who would pay a fraction more (not a multiple, which is available, but just a fraction more) for some things that have been lost are very much in the minority. Maybe they're right; they have far more resources to find out than we do and their incomes are at stake, so we'll just have to assume they are.