Tipping While Unemployed

[chemist661]

I would find ways to budget the tips. Use coupons to save on groceries, etc. Find ways to further cut expenses. Do odd jobs, etc.

 

I was unemployed in the mid 80's & I cut expenses to the bone. I moved to a location where employment was plentiful. I got the job offer just as the unemployment benefits ran out. (I was only eligible for 13 weeks due to short work history due to school, etc).

 

On a recent meal out, there was a coupon for $9.99 off plus a free 1lb bag of pasta at a semi upscale restaurant. A friend & I had a pizza for $10.99 so my net tab was $1.08. :) I left a $5 bill & called it a day.

It did not break the bank ;) & the server got a decent tip.

 

Bottom line: Budget for the tips. (>$10/day).

[hal lover]

i cannot believe you would even consider reducing the gratuity provided to staff due to your personal financial issues.... Good grief ! :eek:

 

ditto!

[Eqty]

A hypothetical situation:

You are a waiter. You provide outstanding service and you are very good at what you do. A customer comes into your restaurant, orders a meal and you do your best to to provide outstanding service.

When your customer is finished with his meal he pays his bill and says to you, "I'm sorry. I lost my job and money is a little tight right now. I won't be giving you a tip."

How do you feel?

[honeywell]

 

Should my lack of employment and financial certainty affect my tipping of the people employed by the cruise line, the tour operators, etc.? If yes, to what extent?

 

 

They do not set the gratuity scale according to each passengers financial status, but to the overall service provided. Many, MANY passengers are financial uncertainty and those cruise employees are, too.

 

Yes, you should tip because it is the right thing to do. Consider it good karma if nothing else.

[cage keeper]

I'm probably going to get flogged for this very opposite opinion, but here goes anyway. I too, have worked as bar staff, wait staff, retail, etc. where my wages depended on tips. BUT, that was always in a place where the job encountered few people a night or shift. I have been given NO tip for giving great service, and I've been tipped well, when I gave crappy service...

 

If this person (because of circumstance) cannot tip, but practically everyone else does on the ship, then the wait-staff will still be getting a decent wage for the cruise, just minus a little.

 

I have been on five cruises with Cunard, Azamara, Princess, RCCL, and Carnival. I travel solo and have overpaid for many services. There were a few times I "should" have demanded my "automatically charged" gratuity be removed, but did not. So the staff was paid, but probably should have been punished instead.

 

Therefore, if this cruiser has still decided to cruise, despite being unemplyed, to lift his spirits, by all means GO! Tip if you can. If you cannot, so what! Don't let all the above posts shame you.

 

Life is unfair for ALL of us at some point....

 

Good luck and have fun!

 

The problem is WAY too many people don't tip on cruises.

[ovccruiser]

A hypothetical situation:

 

You are a waiter. You provide outstanding service and you are very good at what you do. A customer comes into your restaurant, orders a meal and you do your best to to provide outstanding service.

 

When your customer is finished with his meal he pays his bill and says to you, "I'm sorry. I lost my job and money is a little tight right now. I won't be giving you a tip."

 

How do you feel?

 

I will say this from a very British point of view, who does tip on cruises etc, Why should you have to pay extra to someone who is only doing thier job. If he is being underpaid and relying on tips, surely you have to look at his employer who is probably making big profits from his employees, knowing you will subsidise his employees income.

 

I await to be flamed:D

[rubytue]

I will say this from a very British point of view, who does tip on cruises etc, Why should you have to pay extra to someone who is only doing thier job. If he is being underpaid and relying on tips, surely you have to look at his employer who is probably making big profits from his employees, knowing you will subsidise his employees income.

 

I await to be flamed:D

Totally agree with your theory, but, from an America perspective, its just not how our world works. Some might say the concept is that the server must own up to his/her "personal responsibility" to do a good job. That the tipping systems puts the employee in control of his/her wages. Others might say its just a way for buisness to make more profit in a captitalist society. Whatever the rationale, the end result is that we, the customers, have to account for the fact that the cost of the meal is only the food, and if you want someone to bring it to you and wash your dishes, then you must pay extra for that service. Is it right? Depends on who is pontificating at the time.

 

FWIW, I tip, and generally tip well. My only tip-based job was delivering pizza and the cheapest delivery place in town. When you sell a pizza for $4.33/each, you get a lot of $0.67 tips :p Luckily, that was back when gas was under $1/gallon and smokes were about $1.50/pack. Two things you need a lot of on a pizza delievery shift.

[honeywell]

I will say this from a very British point of view, who does tip on cruises etc, Why should you have to pay extra to someone who is only doing thier job.

 

I can understand the view point of visitors who don't customarily pay tips or gratuity in their own countries. Adapting to other customs can be challenging when it isn't like it is back home.

 

Customers don't "have to pay extra". A gratuity is optional, but the American wage system for the service industry is structured that way to assure you, the paying client, the highest possible level of service. You pay for the meal/product and your gratuity is for the level of service provided.

 

And again to address the OP's question - In this economy people are generally putting some distance between themselves and unnecessary services: scheduling hair appointments further apart, eating and drinking at home, and opting for public transportation over cabs are some ways they're doing this. This is completely understandable, but when we do use those services we should be prepared to tip accordingly.

 

It doesn't make sense to me that tipping would waiver if there hasn't been a change in the quality of service. Considering that many service workers rely on tips for the majority of their income, we should be mindful when paying and remember that everyone has bills to pay!

[lovevacadays]

just to add to the general consensus - please try not to skip tipping. There are probably other areas you can cut costs. These people provide a service to passengers and a major part of their income is tips. I was raised by a waitress so know the value of tips. Also, I am of the theory that what we give in difficult times comes back to us in ways we may not know.

[MarleneAm]

I think it depends on how many people are going on this cruise. If there are 4 of you @ 10/day automatic gratuity and the trip is 10 days, the automatic tip is $400.00, which is a lot of money for an unemployed person to come up with or charge to your credit card. Can any of the other cruisers with you help with the tip? if so, tell them to chip in before leaving, including your children, have them take the money out of their savings accounts or have them get a part time job, or tell them no holiday presents because cruise is holiday present. If it's just 2 adults, with you paying, suck it up and pay the automatic gratuity, since its the only decent thing to do. Also, if you are not going to tip them, the people serving you will be able to tell from your body language and you will get bad service and literally have a bad trip. But you don't have to tip regular NYC style extra on top of automatic gratutity if you are unemployed and you don't have to feel guilty as long as you pay the automatic daily gratutity. Re British tipping habits: cheap and no tipping makes the servers very unhappy-I was on a 14 day cruise with mainly British passengers and when I gave the girl who handed out the breakfast plates $5 on the next to last day, the dining room manager demanded to know my cabin number! He explained that so many British passengers were not paying the suggested automatic tip that they kept count of the EXTRA tips to put into a pool for the untipped servers. Since my extra tips are really for personal service, I made sure to hide all my other extra tips. My cabin steward,to whom I gave a great tip, told me that due to this general bad tipping, all the servers were very unhappy and he was glad he was at the end of his contract.

So you hope to be employed again and cruise again, don't contribute to bad morale now, since it will affect you and all the rest of us cruisers in the future.

[rednancy1]

I am not believing the OP's question. Who would stiff the staff? :confused: This is awful. :mad:

[bplazo]

You can skip the excursions!

 

I work in a restraunt and today five women came in and left their server $.28. It was not because of "bad" service because they were in the week before and stiffed a different server. I doubt that I would return to a restraunt where I didnt tip.

[JanineM]

You can skip the excursions!

 

I work in a restraunt and today five women came in and left their server $.28. It was not because of "bad" service because they were in the week before and stiffed a different server. I doubt that I would return to a restraunt where I didnt tip.

 

Wonder who will beat down the door to serve them next time they dare come in to your restaurant. Seat em next to the bathroom or kitchen where they'll be tripped over every 15 seconds. argghhhhhh (former waitress & bartender here)

[bplazo]

You are right. Everyone today said that they will not wait on them again. I guess it will be the manager!

[firefly333]

We will not attend the formal nights, therefore will not be tipping the 3 levels of attendants for those nights we miss. You could utilitze the buffet all evenings to eliviate those tips entirely. The tips for the housekeeping staff though I don't think are something that can be skimped on - they do work hard to keep the cabins fresh and made up.Sue

 

I agree, you will be eating somewhere??? so you think skipping formal nights means you can skimp on tips?? Your waiter also works the buffet, they work in several different areas.

 

As you for sure will be eating somewhere, not tipping because of skipping a couple of formal nights makes no sense.

 

I would be embarrased to eat out with someone who tips like this, says well I ate at a buffet so I dont need to tip.

 

Boy, each to his own, there are some who shouldnt be cruising, if they cant afford to tip for their meals. .... Im sure the waiters know there are always some like this though. I sat for longer at a meal the other night and tipped over 30% because I know I had taken up seating and the people depend on tips. Even if you dont eat at your table, no one else will be sat here unless you also go to the maitre de and tell them you are giving up your seats in the dining room so they seat someone else there and your waiter isnt left holding the bag because you couldnt go tell someone you didnt plan on eating in the dining room at all.

[firefly333]

I agree, and I will tip for the nights I utilize the service - I do not feel I should have to pay for a service I do not use. I will tip at the bar, I will tip for someone to carry my tray at the buffet - they have provided a service.

 

Even in the buffet folks are wiping down the table after you eat, and cleaning up the dishes and serving you drinks from the carts they push around.

[Donray]

I agree, and I will tip for the nights I utilize the service - I do not feel I should have to pay for a service I do not use. I will tip at the bar, I will tip for someone to carry my tray at the buffet - they have provided a service.

 

 

This is just a cheap skate type response that wants service on a cruise and not pay for it.

How will you be tipping? Will you walk around with a bunch of bills and tip every person behind line at the buffet every time? Will be tipping the person that washes the sheets and towels in the laundry? How will you get them a tip?

What about all the people that wash your dirty dishes? You going to attach money to your dirty dishes?

Don't cruise if you can't afford to pay gratuity for all throes that make a cruise enjoyable.

My cut on all the cheap skates. And on top of it, they are the most likly to complain about everything.

[bplazo]

The daily suggested amount is always the minimum that I would tip.

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

I'm just wondering - those that eat exclusively in the WindJammer, do you leave something on the table when you're done eating? I generally leave a couple bucks on the table after eating breakfast and lunch, and then eat dinner in the DR. I've heard that the staff in the WJ is also the staff from the DR (I've seen it with my own eyes), yet I don't normally see people leaving anything in the WJ. Am I the only one doing this?

[Mary1951]

I pre paid my tips , and intent to tip room serve and Chops if service is good . I don't however belief others should be telling me what I should tip. Tips are for service if I don't get it I will not tip extra. I'm not difficult so , the only way I won't tip is if the service sucks .

[gerif]

I'm just wondering - those that eat exclusively in the WindJammer, do you leave something on the table when you're done eating? I generally leave a couple bucks on the table after eating breakfast and lunch, and then eat dinner in the DR. I've heard that the staff in the WJ is also the staff from the DR (I've seen it with my own eyes), yet I don't normally see people leaving anything in the WJ. Am I the only one doing this?

 

We don't tip in the Windjammer because I know these servers rotate turns in the dining room. However, even if we happen to eat dinner there or in one of the specialty restaurants, we still tip the dining room staff on those nights - it's not their fault if we don't show up. Truthfully, we've only had dinner in the Windjammer once - it was a busy evening and, other than clearing tables, we got no additional service (got our own drinks, etc.), so didn't feel an additional tip was warranted.

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

We don't tip in the Windjammer because I know these servers rotate turns in the dining room. However, even if we happen to eat dinner there or in one of the specialty restaurants, we still tip the dining room staff on those nights - it's not their fault if we don't show up. Truthfully, we've only had dinner in the Windjammer once - it was a busy evening and, other than clearing tables, we got no additional service (got our own drinks, etc.), so didn't feel an additional tip was warranted.

 

Thank you; I'll keep that in mind. I'm not sure if I'll ever eat dinner in the WJ, but if I do, I'll certainly still tip my DR waiters as if I ate there every evening. The same goes if I ever decide to eat at one of the specialty restaurants. So far, I've just been happy with the DR that I haven't bothered to venture anywhere else. The siren call of the filet at Ports will become too hard to resist at some point.

[redrob1234]

The problem is WAY too many people don't tip on cruises.

 

So will anyone own up to not tipping? Most people on these boards say they tip at least the minimum but usually more.

 

I'm an Aussie so I find all this stuff really interesting to read. We don't tip in our country but of course we follow customs when travelling to other countries whether we agree or not. I have probably not tipped enough on a few occasions but now I know the "rules" I do the right thing.

 

We probably have a similar reputation to Brits when in comes to tipping but it can be a strange thing to get your head around for the first time.:eek:

 

Apologies to any service industries people that I may have duped on my first visit to the US in 1999.

[MarleneAm]

I'm an Aussie so I find all this stuff really interesting to read. We don't tip in our country but of course we follow customs when travelling to other countries whether we agree or not. I have probably not tipped enough on a few occasions but now I know the "rules" I do the right thing.

We probably have a similar reputation to Brits when in comes to tipping but it can be a strange thing to get your head around for the first time.

____________________________________________________________

Please tell us Aussie customs, cultural information very helpful in travel.

 

So what do Aussies do after meals in restaurants?

Or is service charge included in the bill, as in France?

Do you leave tip for housekeeper after night in hotel?

Do you give a tip after having hair cut?

tip after manicure? after massage? After drink in bar? Taxis?Ever?

Do you know if same customs apply in England?

[WeBeGone]

I'm an Aussie so I find all this stuff really interesting to read. We don't tip in our country but of course we follow customs when travelling to other countries whether we agree or not. I have probably not tipped enough on a few occasions but now I know the "rules" I do the right thing.

We probably have a similar reputation to Brits when in comes to tipping but it can be a strange thing to get your head around for the first time.

quote]

 

It shouldn't be a strange thing "to get your head around". Auto tipping is part of cruising. Just leave it alone.