Auto Tip

[sunhoney64]

I keep reading that people are turning their "Auto Tip" off or on. What are they talking about?

[friend of Eeyore]

The "autotip" is an automatic service charge (or tip) that is applied to your seapass account daily. Currently $10.50 per day, this tip is split between numerous crew members on the ship, including your steward, the wait staff, and some behind-the-scenes crew.

 

If you are satisfied with the service you receive, and don't believe you received any "extra" service, then just leave the tip alone - the crew needs this money.

 

If you feel someone went above and beyond normal service, or was particularly outstanding to you in some way, feel free to tip them above and beyond the autotip.

 

If you feel your steward or waitstaff was horrid, and want to send a message, you could remove this. However, you should put in some sort of explanation when you do this, because if you're trying to stiff the waitstaff, you'll also be stiffing your steward, and his boss should know that it wasn't his fault. (You might be able to remove just the part that goes to certain staff, and keep the other part, but I'm not sure at all.)

 

Some people remove the autotip because they like to tip in person. However, if you remove the autotip and give your steward money in person, he must pay into the autotip pool the amount you removed before he can keep any extra. In some cases, people don't tip the same amount in person, so he really isn't getting anything extra at all. Some people remove the autotip because tipping isn't part of their culture, and they feel they shouldn't pay for nice service. However, please remember that you are on a ship that is a tipping culture, and the crew member's salary depends on the tips (much like waiters/waitresses in the US, they don't get a minimum salary level without the tip).

 

So, to answer your basic question: the Autotip is a service charge that is applied to your account daily. This service charge is shared by many crew members of the ship. This tip can be removed at your discretion, if you feel necessary

[Pam in CA]

Good explanation. :) Instead of having to bring cash to tip for service, the auto-tip is an automatic charge to your onboard account every night. It's $10.50/pp/day for inside and outside cabins, $11/pp/day for mini-suites and suites. This service charge covers all tipping to your cabin steward and the cleaners, your waitstaff, and the buffet staff.

 

If you have Anytime dining, for instance, you do not have to catch your waiter and assistant waiter every night to tip. The auto-tip takes care of that. It saves carrying around money while onboard the ship.

 

As has been said, if you choose to remove the auto-tip (which you can do) and tip anyone onboard the ship, they MUST turn it into the tipping pool so you haven't accomplished what you intended. However, if you don't remove the auto-tip and want to tip extra for excellent service, they get to keep that extra.

[noblepa]

AFAIK, the cruise line does not keep any of the auto-tip. Every penny of it is distributed to the frontline staff that work hard to make your cruise enjoyable.

 

If the face-to-face service you receive is not up to par, then removing or reducing the auto-tip may be appropriate.

 

If, however, you are dissatisfied with something that is the fault of the cruiseline, or of staff that are not among those who receive part of the auto-tip, then, please don't try to "send a message to Princess" by removing the auto-tips. This doesn't send any message to anyone, except the poor overworked, underpaid cabin steward and dining room staff.

 

For example, some people have removed auto-tips because an anticipated port of call was cancelled. Others have recently been encouraging passengers to remove the autotip to "send a message to Princess" about the fuel surcharge. This last, is IMHO, despicable. The cabin stewards and dining room staff have nothing to do with these things.

 

We have never reduced or removed the autotips, on seven cruises. We usually "sweeten the pot" a little at the end of the cruise, for those staffers who have been especially good. When we have (rarely) received mediocre service, we have refrained from adding any extra.

[daveco58]

. Others have recently been encouraging passengers to remove the autotip to "send a message to Princess" about the fuel surcharge. This last, is IMHO, despicable. The cabin stewards and dining room staff have nothing to do with these things.

 

.

 

Wow, that really is a lousy idea...."let me make my Steward cover my fuel surcharge, after all I am so broke I can barely afford this balcony stateroom, PLUS fuel, and he surely took a job making my bed because he is rolling in dough."

 

How dreadful that people would think this way. I havent yet seen such a post, and I truly hope I don't

[Pam in CA]

Wow, that really is a lousy idea...."let me make my Steward cover my fuel surcharge, after all I am so broke I can barely afford this balcony stateroom, PLUS fuel, and he surely took a job making my bed because he is rolling in dough."

I agree. What a terrible idea and if I saw a post like that, I'd jump all over them. Not only doesn't it send a message to Princess but it sends the wrong message about the steward and waitstaff. They are evaluated frequently and tip removal is a mark against them since it's assumed, unless otherwise noted, that the steward or waitstaff hadn't done their job. In order to be promoted, they need a good evaluation. Shame on anyone who removes the autotip to "send a message."

[Cruisin' Chick]

I agree. What a terrible idea and if I saw a post like that, I'd jump all over them. Not only doesn't it send a message to Princess but it sends the wrong message about the steward and waitstaff. They are evaluated frequently and tip removal is a mark against them since it's assumed, unless otherwise noted, that the steward or waitstaff hadn't done their job. In order to be promoted, they need a good evaluation. Shame on anyone who removes the autotip to "send a message."

 

I agree. The crew members have nothing to do with fuel charges or missed ports. Many of them send much of their tip money back home to their families.

 

I like the autotip idea as I don't have to futz with envelopes and bucks that last day. Only with any extra people we want to reward.

[paul929207]

It is wrong to punish the cabin steward and dining personnel for something they have no control over.

[CruisinMommas]

Are there envelopes handy if you want to give an extra tip or do you bring your own?

[cjpj]

Yes, there are envelops available at the pursers desk. They are usually sitting out just off to the side of the counter. There are also comment cards that you can include or place in the drop box. Our server on our last cruise asked us to drop the comment cards in the drop box rather than to give them to her. She said that way they didn't think she wrote them herself!

[CruisinMommas]

Thanks for the info.

[dot73]

Personally, I love the auto tip feature. When I make a budget to see what cruise I can afford, I add that amount and I know exactly what the cruise will cost me. I have cruised 7 times, mostly with HAL and Princess, and have never received sub-par service. I have been very lucky with my room stewards who have all gone above their duties to make my cruise great. No request was ever refused. As I travel solo, I have always give an extra $3.50 per day for my room steward to make up the fact that there is only one person in the room but he still has the same amount of work. I think that is fair. Also, I would suggest that if someone has been really helpful in making your cruise special, make sure you mention him/her by name on the comment card. Most of these people work really hard and I have found that if you treat them with respect and say please and thank you, they will do everything they can to make sure you have a great vacation. Just my opinion, of course.:D

[newmexicoNita]

Personally, I love the auto tip feature. When I make a budget to see what cruise I can afford, I add that amount and I know exactly what the cruise will cost me. I have cruised 7 times, mostly with HAL and Princess, and have never received sub-par service. I have been very lucky with my room stewards who have all gone above their duties to make my cruise great. No request was ever refused. As I travel solo, I have always give an extra $3.50 per day for my room steward to make up the fact that there is only one person in the room but he still has the same amount of work. I think that is fair. Also, I would suggest that if someone has been really helpful in making your cruise special, make sure you mention him/her by name on the comment card. Most of these people work really hard and I have found that if you treat them with respect and say please and thank you, they will do everything they can to make sure you have a great vacation. Just my opinion, of course.:D

We have never felt the need to even think about removing the auto tip and we love it as well. We have had a couple of cruises that I did think were offered a little less service than in years past and beleive it has to do with auto tipping. But even slightly less service is certainly satisfactory. Even though we were a little disappointed in our service on the Golden a few weeks ago, never did we think it was really bad. Our dining room service was similar to what we would get in a run of the mill restaurant, not one bit better. Still we wouldn't stiff a wait person in a run of the mill restaurant either. The same with some of the other service. We didn't find a reason except in a couple of situations to tip about the auto tipping.

 

Nita

[newmexicoNita]

Personally, I love the auto tip feature. When I make a budget to see what cruise I can afford, I add that amount and I know exactly what the cruise will cost me. I have cruised 7 times, mostly with HAL and Princess, and have never received sub-par service. I have been very lucky with my room stewards who have all gone above their duties to make my cruise great. No request was ever refused. As I travel solo, I have always give an extra $3.50 per day for my room steward to make up the fact that there is only one person in the room but he still has the same amount of work. I think that is fair. Also, I would suggest that if someone has been really helpful in making your cruise special, make sure you mention him/her by name on the comment card. Most of these people work really hard and I have found that if you treat them with respect and say please and thank you, they will do everything they can to make sure you have a great vacation. Just my opinion, of course.:D

We have never felt the need to even think about removing the auto tip and we love it as well. We have had a couple of cruises that I did think were offered a little less service than in years past and beleive it has to do with auto tipping. But even slightly less service is certainly satisfactory. Even though we were a little disappointed in our service on the Golden a few weeks ago, never did we think it was really bad. Our dining room service was similar to what we would get in a run of the mill restaurant, not one bit better. Still we wouldn't stiff a wait person in a run of the mill restaurant either. The same with some of the other service. We didn't find a reason except in a couple of situations to tip about the auto tipping.

 

Nita

[sunhoney64]

So if I have this right, I dont need to do anything and it will be automatically added, right? This applies to dining room and room steward only? Do I still tip bartenders extra? I have never been on a Princess before and want to make sure I dont leave anyone out. Thanks for all of your help.

[Pam in CA]

You don't have to do anything; the auto-tip is automatically added to your onboard account. This auto-tip is distributed to your cabin steward, your waitstaff in the dining room (no matter which dining room you go to), the buffet waitstaff (many of whom work very hard and dont' work in the dining rooms so they're often forgotten), the dining room captains, etc.

 

If you buy a drink or a soda, a 15% tip will be automatically added to your drink bill. Only extra tipping is if you do room service and if you do tours.

[daveco58]

There will also be a 15% gratuity added to all your drinks, so, that's all that is really necessary, unless of course you want to add something, or flip a few bucks at the end of the cruise for your favorite bartender or something. And I assume you could remove that 15%, if someone spilled your drink on you or something, but I have never felt the need.

 

About the only people that aren't covered, as far as tips go, is the room service waiter, I am not sure if they are in the pool or not, but I usually drop them a buck or two.

 

For the rest I just leave the various tips in place, and sometimes add something for an especially good steward.

[Cruisin' Chick]

The kids' counselors aren't included in the tip pool as I far as I know, so we hand over an envelope to them on the last day of the program.

[daveco58]

The kids' counselors aren't included in the tip pool as I far as I know' date=' so we hand over an envelope to them on the last day of the program.[/quote']

 

Thanks. Didn't know that. I don't have kids, and here is another good reason why. :D

[NSWP]

Crikey..not ANOTHER Auto tip thread, OK here is my two bobs worth for what it is worth...;)

 

A lot of Aussies on P&O Australia CC..call the Auto Tip..the Automatic Wage Subsidy (AWS) because lets face it that is what it is, making up the very poor wages earned by ship's service staff.:mad:

 

Some leave the AWS on others turn it off, up to you, but paying for good service before you get it? Personally I would rather wait towards the end of the cruise before I make a decision re the AWS. If the service is good they get the AWS and if not???? I will leave it to your imagination, but I am reluctant to to leave a tip for bad service. If most of you are honest, you will probably feel the same.

 

Tipping is not bigtime in our culture, so god only knows what is happening tipping wise on the Sun Princess now it is operating from Australia for a couple of years. One would think Carnival is paying the ship's service staff a bit more to make up for the AWS shortfall, same on Pacific Dawn (ex Regal Princess.)

 

:confused: Cheers..Les:cool:

[noblepa]

How dreadful that people would think this way. I havent yet seen such a post, and I truly hope I don't

 

Now that I think about it, I think it was on the Carnival board, not the Princess. The idea is still the same: don't punish the staff for things that they have no control over.

[tinker 4]

We have never felt the need to even think about removing the auto tip and we love it as well. We have had a couple of cruises that I did think were offered a little less service than in years past and beleive it has to do with auto tipping. But even slightly less service is certainly satisfactory. Even though we were a little disappointed in our service on the Golden a few weeks ago, never did we think it was really bad. Our dining room service was similar to what we would get in a run of the mill restaurant, not one bit better. Still we wouldn't stiff a wait person in a run of the mill restaurant either. The same with some of the other service. We didn't find a reason except in a couple of situations to tip about the auto tipping.

 

Nita

And this is the reason why people still tip for service that is not up to par. Tipping is done to show the person that you vauled his/her effort. It is not done to reward a half ass service.

[Pam in CA]

Some leave the AWS on others turn it off, up to you, but paying for good service before you get it? Personally I would rather wait towards the end of the cruise before I make a decision re the AWS. If the service is good they get the AWS and if not???? I will leave it to your imagination, but I am reluctant to to leave a tip for bad service. If most of you are honest, you will probably feel the same.

I understand what you're saying but there are so many people who do a good job and might just help you once or twice that I would feel obligated to carry around money all the time to tip them for their good service. I often go to breakfast and/or lunch in the dining room and if I were at home, yes, I'd leave a tip. I have also seen many very hard workers in the buffet who keep the tables clean, come around with coffee or juice, will find you a table, carry your tray, will go to get you a soda, etc. I feel they deserve something as well. All of these people participate in the auto-tip and there are many others who aren't even as visible as these. That's why I leave the auto-tip in place rather than thinking, "Oh, I'll tip at the end and hope I find the people; and, if I don't, well, that's money saved."

[karatemom2]

I understand what you're saying but there are so many people who do a good job and might just help you once or twice that I would feel obligated to carry around money all the time to tip them for their good service. I often go to breakfast and/or lunch in the dining room and if I were at home, yes, I'd leave a tip. I have also seen many very hard workers in the buffet who keep the tables clean, come around with coffee or juice, will find you a table, carry your tray, will go to get you a soda, etc. I feel they deserve something as well. All of these people participate in the auto-tip and there are many others who aren't even as visible as these. That's why I leave the auto-tip in place rather than thinking, "Oh, I'll tip at the end and hope I find the people; and, if I don't, well, that's money saved."

 

Pam I completely agree which is why I really appreciate the auto tip. There are so many great crew members besides just our room steward and wait staff that help make our cruise wonderful that it would be really difficult to try to tip them all along the way. We always keep dollars handy in our room to tip room service, but I can't imagine running all over the ship with pockets full of dollars to tip each deserving crew member. At least with auto tip I feel comfortable that I am compensating those that help me along the way, and those in the background who I may never see. I am then free to tip extra at the end of the cruise to those special people who we have gotten to know and have gone above and beyond like certain bar staff, room steward, wait staff and children's club staff.

[BJS]

Crikey..not ANOTHER Auto tip thread, OK here is my two bobs worth for what it is worth...;)

 

Tipping is not bigtime in our culture, so god only knows what is happening tipping wise on the Sun Princess now it is operating from Australia for a couple of years. One would think Carnival is paying the ship's service staff a bit more to make up for the AWS shortfall, same on Pacific Dawn (ex Regal Princess.)

 

:confused: Cheers..Les:cool:

 

It would be interesting to know if they are being paid more. More than one crew person has told us they do not like to get on ships going to Australia just because of the tipping.

 

On our first TA this past December we were told by several of the wait staff in the dining room that they don't like the long TAs because they do not make much on those cruises. They prefer the 7 day Caribbean cruises where the tips are the best.

 

We found these comments interesting and figured it must be that the older more "seasoned" cruisers don't tip as well as the younger ones or that more days of tipping results in more "auto" tips being removed. I guess it could also be that if one is inclined to leave an "extra" tip at the end of a cruise and the amount left frequently is not determined by the number of days for the cruise that would result in less "extra" tips for a 3 -4 week cruise. :confused:

 

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