Auto Tipping + More?

[stlrboo]

I also needed another choice. We leave the auto-tips, but tip more when we feel the service justified more.

 

Only a couple of times in the last 25 or so cruises did we not tip more. Even though we cruise other lines, we add the tips to our Sea Pass cards and then tip additionally in cash.

 

We feel most cabin stewards and wait people make our cruise special, so we tip accordingly.

We agree!!!:)

 

I've only been on one cruise that I tho't the service did not warrant an extra gratuity...:( And it wasn't on Carnival.. ;)

 

And, yes, we WILL tip the Maitre D if he actually makes an attempt to 'make my cruise better'.... If not, a 5 spot is in the envelope, maybe! :p

[astropilot]

I think auto tipping should be done away with period!!! IMO it totaly removes the incentive for providing good service.

[mjmiller]

I think auto tipping should be done away with period!!!

 

And it never will be because of cheapskates and because of folks who think that since they didn't eat in the main dining room every night that they don't have to tip. Not saying that would be anyone on the cc board, since they should all know better... :rolleyes:

[astropilot]

For me, basic service for the cabin steward is cleaning the cabin (and for Carnival leaving the cute towel animals), and for our wait staff it is serving our food. Little things beyond the basics add up and go into how I determine an extra tip.

 

For a cabin steward, some of those little things include:

saying hello to us by name

bringing wine glasses and/or bottle opener

keeping our beverages iced

clearing out our refrig without grumbling

being visible and making us feel like welcome guests

leaving beach towels without us requesting them

 

For dinner staff, little things would include:

keeping water/wine/coffee filled without prompting

bringing our skim milk every night without us asking for it

being sociable (to a point)

not letting us sit too long between courses

putting our napkins on our laps (love it!)

 

Some people may think those are standard basic service, but when I goto a normal hotel or a restaurant (not top end!), I don't expect those things. And for the price I pay to cruise Carnival, I compare it to "normal" hotels/restaurants. So to me, the services I listed are not standard, they are extra. jmho

 

You nailed it!!! It is the little things that go above and beyond the basic service that is expected, that makes a cruise special, and if that extended to my family and I, then I have no problem with tipping a bit extra. But for just basic service, I think the recommened amount is more than fair. In fact I beleive that the staff would providebetter service, and make more in tips if Carnival just did away with auto tipping.

[sappygirl]

We always tip more because we feel that they are not getting enough to begin with. They do a great job of taking care our every need. If we should run across any that we see are not doing their job properly then that is another story. We have not come across that situation yet and we would not feel guilty about not giving extra.

[astropilot]

And it never will be because of cheapskates and because of folks who think that since they didn't eat in the main dining room every night that they don't have to tip. Not saying that would be anyone on the cc board, since they should all know better... :rolleyes:

 

You are right. It will never go away, but the fact remains that if you prepay (autotip) the incentive for good service is gone.

 

Now don't get me wrong. The service staff works their butts off and for the most part they deserve the tips and perhaps more. But some, I believe, have the mindset that they are going to be paid anyway, so why should they go out of their way to provide the little extras. Just my $0.02 worth.

[NevadaHiRoller]

You are right. It will never go away, but the fact remains that if you prepay (autotip) the incentive for good service is gone.

 

Now don't get me wrong. The service staff works their butts off and for the most part they deserve the tips and perhaps more. But some, I believe, have the mindset that they are going to be paid anyway, so why should they go out of their way to provide the little extras. Just my $0.02 worth.

 

I think some of them DO have the mindset to provide more, as evidenced here, that many people DO tip above and beyond. I think since there are the auto tips that they know they are getting, that they consider that more of their "salary" and I think they consider the going above and beyond still a challenge to get the extra tips.

[Havinsnest]

you can always tell who took the auto tipping off by how many tables are empty on the last night

Generalities are so often tacky and wrong.

 

Our table on the last night was without us as we were first time cruisers who went to the supper club our last night in celebration of our anniversary which had been the first night. It had nothing to do with tipping and everything to do with not knowing how much we would want to say good-bye to our wait staff on that last night but realizing we didn't want to miss meeting our dinner partners on the first night.

 

Our reservations for the supper club are not on the last night for the next two cruises now that we know we'll want to say good-bye.

 

And, yes, we auto-tip and we extra tip if the service warrants.

[NevadaHiRoller]

Exactly and sometimes we don't eat the last night because we always have late dining and sometimes it's the only night we don't feel liking sitting there till late because we have to pack and do other things, so many times we eat at the buffet (yuk) the last night.

[63Corvette]

We were so happy with the great service we received from our room steward, waiter, asst. waiter, and drink service waitress (dining room), that we wanted to give them a recognition for the wonderful service. I did not give the Matre'd a tip, but did think it was kind of funny how he made sure to visit every table on the last night of the cruise (I had read on this forum that this would be the case, and it was - had he made any special arrangements for us such as table assignment, we would have shown our gratitude via a tip).

[calicruise74]

We were so happy with the great service we received from our room steward, waiter, asst. waiter, and drink service waitress (dining room), that we wanted to give them a recognition for the wonderful service. I did not give the Matre'd a tip, but did think it was kind of funny how he made sure to visit every table on the last night of the cruise (I had read on this forum that this would be the case, and it was - had he made any special arrangements for us such as table assignment, we would have shown our gratitude via a tip).

 

Our Matre'd never visited out table on our last cruise...but you bet on the last night he was at the door as people came in like a ticket taker collecting envelopes. I share your comment on tipping the Matre'd for special arrangements and such.

[NevadaHiRoller]

Only on 1 cruise did we have a MD that was so hilarious and at our table every single night just cracking us up continually. It was on a Princess ship. We gave him a huge tip.

[MrPete]

You should have added another choice to your poll.

 

We keep the auto-tipping in place and tip more as warranted.

 

:)

 

Agreed. That would have been my choice as well, but would have used the word, IF.

[Bunkie103]

We have always had excelent service and always tipped extra. Even on our recent NCL cruise which was a disaster we tipped the room steward and his assistant extra because the problems weren't their fault and thru it all they continued with wonderful service. I think your question needs another category because I would never tip extra solely on the basis of "not wanting to seem cheap".