NEW TIP POLICY - Automatic Charge & "Alternate Service" tip

[Canadianhey!]

We used to always tip in cash at the end but now that you can't get "free cash" in the casino we might just do the auto tips, not sure.

 

This might be off topic but could you explain what you mean by no free cash at the casino. Does this mean that they will no longer cash travellers cheques.:eek:

[FinelyCruising]

OK...so it appears this is not going well. :cool: Celebrity is not an all inclusive line when it comes to staff gratuities. That is well known no matter where the ships are sailing.

[ECCruise]

Well I am terribly sorry for being so lame. I have cruised many, many times and this is the first time that I have heard that staff do not get paid enough and it is expected that passengers will make up their wages.

 

I am more than willing to be educated on why Celebrity is different to European cruise lines and RCI sailing fromm Southampton.

 

For now, I will continue to tip for good service, you can continue to tip for mediocre service should you so wish.

 

I guess if you are this rude to the staff then you need to tip them all.

 

I said your excuse was lame, not you. And yes, many of those sailing the Independence OTS ARE stiffing the crew and yes, as a result there is some morale problem there which we saw last month. And yes, sailing from Southampton or not you are expected to tip.

 

You may have cruised "many, many times" but not on X, or RCCL, or Princess or Oceania or Azamara, or HAL, or the list goes on, if you are surprised about the tipping situation.

[Gerrym]

OK...so it appears this is not going well. :cool: Celebrity is not an all inclusive line when it comes to staff gratuities. That is well known no matter where the ships are sailing.

 

 

I understand that Celebrity and other lines I have sailed with are not all inclusive when it comes to staff gratuities. All I am trying to say is that as the definition of a gratuity is a 'voluntary tip for service received based on your satisfaction'.

Why would I tip someone for delievering poor service?

 

I am sorry if this is not coming across correctly, I am not looking for a fight! Just a clear explanation rather than emotive opinions.

 

 

Thanks

[Gerrym]

I said your excuse was lame, not you. And yes, many of those sailing the Independence OTS ARE stiffing the crew and yes, as a result there is some morale problem there which we saw last month. And yes, sailing from Southampton or not you are expected to tip.

 

You may have cruised "many, many times" but not on X, or RCCL, or Princess or Oceania or Azamara, or HAL, or the list goes on, if you are surprised about the tipping situation.

 

 

Again my apologies, I obviously just dreamt that I sailed on the Summit. I bow to your superior knowledge of my cruise history and will not mention this subject again.

There is absolutely no point in you and I debating this subject.

[FinelyCruising]

I am sure you are not, but I am a bit put off even with the takling point of service being subjective. I have long held the belief that a cabin attendant is doing his job even if a candy is not on a pillow one night, that a waiter is still serving your meals every night even if he forgets to bring you a refill on water.

 

All the things they are supposed to accomplish are occurring 99 percent of the time. So at what percentage of the time should they be stiffed 100%?

 

And do they really fall that far below a range to deserve Z-E-R-O. Not usually.

[Gerrym]

I am sure you are not, but I am a bit put off even with the takling point of service being subjective. I have long held the belief that a cabin attendant is doing his job even if a candy is not on a pillow one night, that a waiter is still serving your meals every night even if he forgets to bring you a refill on water.

 

All the things they are supposed to accomplish are occurring 99 percent of the time. So at what percentage of the time should they be stiffed 100%?

 

And do they really fall that far below a range to deserve Z-E-R-O. Not usually.

 

 

Yes, I think we are agreed on that, I have never had the misfortune on a cruise ship to have such bad service that would warrant Z-E-R-O tip.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Gerry

[FinelyCruising]

Yes, I think we are agreed on that, I have never had the misfortune on a cruise ship to have such bad service that would warrant Z-E-R-O tip.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Gerry

 

Thank Heavens, right?:)

[ChevyCruiser]

To Insure Prompt Service

 

Automatically adding a service charge to my SeaPass account is not tipping or extending a gratuity.

 

However, it will probably save me money since I tend to overtip anyway.

[lysolqn]

The poster before me said the cruiseline was paying them to serve him and he thought he only needed to tip for exceptional service.

 

Anyone who has cruised would have a hard time convincing me that he/she was clueless re cruising's long time practice of pax tipping waitstaff and cabin staff. That's particularly so on X where info re tipping appears in travel brochures and is included along with tickets/boarding documents. Additionally, info re adding tips to the Seapass account is posted in almost every daily following embarkation day, suggested tip amounts are posted in the daily toward the end of the cruise, the cruise director addresses tipping in the disembarkation talk, envelopes for waiters, asst. waiter, cabin steward, etc. are "wrapped" in a ribbon of paper showing suggested tip amounts and are delivered to cabins, and on the last night of the cruise, fellow tablemates can be seen handing envelopes to the staff.

 

Cruise once and perhaps I can forgive the ignorance (not meant in a perjorative way); cruise twice and folks who say they didn't know they were expected to tip are either living under a rock or closing their eyes to the obvious.

[barante]

I pay the requested daily tip gladly and tip the cabin attendant, waiter and the assistant on top of it.

I don't know how the tip sharing pool operates, but it takes care of lots of essential personnel whom you never see. The engine room comes to mind. Although those individuals are invisible to me, they are critical to my enjoyment. And should be to yours.

Everyone is squeezed in these tough times. I, for one, admire crew members who manage put on a smiley face every day, regardless of what is going on in their lives. Yes, their jobs are coveted in places like the Philippines, where there are no jobs. But in the end those are miserable jobs. With fewer cruisers and lots of empty cabins, their economic situation has deteriorated considerably. You should not contribute to that deterioration by depriving them from tips if they have earned them.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I used to bristle at that "head housekeeper" tip until one cruise we actually sat with the head housekeeper (on HAL) at a formal night, and found out exactly what he does.

 

We too have questioned the tip for the ''head housekeeper" but on two cruises, especially our last "X" cruise, she provided several services that we felt merited a tip.

Mary Lou

[elena7seas]

To Insure Prompt Service

 

Automatically adding a service charge to my SeaPass account is not tipping or extending a gratuity.

 

However, it will probably save me money since I tend to overtip anyway.

 

Just as a side note, the words "TIP" and "TIPS" are not acronyms for "to insure promptness" or "to insure prompt service" or any of the similar phrases that are often used as "backronyms" (i.e. where words are chosen to fit the letters of an existing word).

 

I once wrote an extensive Sociology paper on the practice of tipping or providing gratuities, and if you look at the brief description at:

 

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

 

it will give you a very quick synopsis of the history of the use of the word TIP in the English language.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

This is just another example of the "nickel and diming" that business, all sorts of business, has been doing to the consumer lately. I for one am very sick of it all and I do agree with another poster who said it is a bad business decision and might be indicative of a company in trouble trying to conjur up revenues any way it can.

 

Such short term thinking will quickly erode Celebritiy's brand equity and relegate it to the heap of the crass and tacky along with NCL, Carnival, et al. What is next? "Inch of gold" specials announcements broadcast in the cabin? OK, I am being a little overly dramatic here, but the point is if Celebrity wants to maintain its image as a premium line, they can only get away with so much of this sort of crap-people notice, and people remember. This is exactly the sort of issue that recently made me drop my airline of preference after many years.

 

As someone else said, increase the price of the cruise $20 and call it a day.

[Shep_Proudfoot]

It is good to have a choice in cruiselines. I for one hope that the new policy does not allow people to remove the auto tips ( service charge). I hope that it only allows one to adjust the amount when given a specific reason and not so that one can give the money directly to the staff. I am not saying that the many people that make this statement are not being honest, but I am sure that at least some people do stiff the staff because of their value/culture system. Although it is becoming the correct "political correct" think to subsidize things, I do not wish to subsidize those customers. A policy that makes it very difficult to remove the charges would be must better for the hard working staff that always works hard to make us all feel special when cruising. It is the responsibility of management to manage performance with the assistance of the comments cards. Keeping the service of the Celebrity staff at it's high level. Given the various dining options on most cruiselines, I think that the new policy is required. Why should the wait staff have to risk their compensation based on passengers eating elsewhere? Do you think that at least a few customers do not eat in the main dining room on the last night just to avoid tipping? IMHO it is important to try to even out the negative impact of the changing cruise experience on various dining room staff. For instances a really good waiter would want to have customers who dine in the MDR each night and how can the cruise line insure that the customers are distributed equally? What a mess for the staff. I can only imagine the additional stress and pressure this causes. They are working for the money and they need it more than any of the passengers. I think that is why cruise lines that have open seating always have auto tips. Different staff each day. I want the best staff possible on the ships that I cruise and I would hate to see the hard working staff suffer. Call it redistribution of wealth is you wish, but they have earned it.

 

The bottom line is the cruiser that do not appreciate the auto tips can seek out the cruise lines that do not have auto tips. Cruise lines must adjust as required. Supply and demand will drive the changes.

 

Thank you for letting me vent. I feel better. I apoligize if I offended anyone that was not my objective.

 

Tips are earned. Anything that is not EARNED is not a tip. Any policy that does not allow a person to reduce the tip amount for poor services encourages laziness and poor service. Workers who come to expect their tips as a given have no incentive to provide good service. It is every bit as much of an insult to essentially force someone who has had had shoddy service to be forced to tip the person(s) who provided the shoddy ervice as it is for a hard working, tip-eligible employee to get stiffed having provided decent service.

 

If I never hear the argument that people should go to other cruise lines if they don't agree with this or that or the other thing (tipping, dress code, dining practices, etc) it will not be too soon.

[Gerrym]

Anyone who has cruised would have a hard time convincing me that he/she was clueless re cruising's long time practice of pax tipping waitstaff and cabin staff. That's particularly so on X where info re tipping appears in travel brochures and is included along with tickets/boarding documents. Additionally, info re adding tips to the Seapass account is posted in almost every daily following embarkation day, suggested tip amounts are posted in the daily toward the end of the cruise, the cruise director addresses tipping in the disembarkation talk, envelopes for waiters, asst. waiter, cabin steward, etc. are "wrapped" in a ribbon of paper showing suggested tip amounts and are delivered to cabins, and on the last night of the cruise, fellow tablemates can be seen handing envelopes to the staff.

 

Cruise once and perhaps I can forgive the ignorance (not meant in a perjorative way); cruise twice and folks who say they didn't know they were expected to tip are either living under a rock or closing their eyes to the obvious.

 

 

I cannot find anyones reference to the fact that that he/she are clueless re cruising's long time practice of pax tipping waitstaff and cabin staff.

 

It has always been standard on any cruise I have been on.

[lysolqn]

I cannot find anyones reference to the fact that that he/she are clueless re cruising's long time practice of pax tipping waitstaff and cabin staff.

 

It has always been standard on any cruise I have been on.

 

Post #119, 139, 150

[Gerrym]

I see, apart from post 150, I agree, thanks.

[BrendaJ]

I think the main problem with the perception of cruise line "tipping" policies is calling it a tip or a gratuity in the first place, which implies that it is optional, or only for exemplary service. It really is a service charge, similar to the automatic service charge that is charged on meals in some European countries. I don’t think the charge is optional there either; the diner can add to the amount for superlative service, but it is not necessary.

Those of us who read the boards are aware that crew only make $50 a month, and I’m sure that crew are told on hiring that they will make a certain amount per day from “tips”, based on the number of people they are serving. I doubt the employer ever mentions that there is a good chance that excellent service might go unrewarded by ignorant or cheap passengers.

If the gratuity is automatically going to be added, I think the cruise line should call it a service charge and state in all brochures, documents and passenger contracts that a service charge will be added the passenger’s account daily. Perhaps they should not even break down the amount per crew member – just make it a flat $12 or whatever per person fee per day. They can then mention that it is optional to provide a gratuity on an individual basis for staff you feel have gone above and beyond in serving you (not suggesting any amounts). That way, the cruise line can still advertise low fares, the crew are fairly compensated, and those who do want to tip extra can, but no crew members will be stiffed. Crew performance can still be ensured with comment cards and the hope of possible additional gratuities.

[spearmint]

Just as a side note, the words "TIP" and "TIPS" are not acronyms for "to insure promptness" or "to insure prompt service" or any of the similar phrases that are often used as "backronyms" (i.e. where words are chosen to fit the letters of an existing word).

 

I once wrote an extensive Sociology paper on the practice of tipping or providing gratuities, and if you look at the brief description at:

 

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp

 

it will give you a very quick synopsis of the history of the use of the word TIP in the English language.

 

Very interesting. So "tip", not "TIP" is simply a real word, not an acronym, first used in the context of a "monetary reward for a servant" around 1750. Today, I suppose it would read "monetary reward for service". In either case, I would say that it is implied that if service is provided, then reward is received, and that if no service is provided than no reward is received (with a range of provsions in between). Seems logical and very straightforward to me, but then that is what I always thought a tip was!

 

It is obvious, too, that some enterprising fellows figured out that it would be a good idea to "nationalize" tips by instituting the percentage gambit. Why let people just tip what they want? Why not grab as much as possible? I first heard of 10% in an Ann Landers column many years ago, and was surprised that there was actually a percentage involved; then a few years late it was up to 15%; now,you see 18% with 20%-plus if you feel like you got good service! Just who decides these numbers?

 

And then some savvy(?) businessman makes tips an integral part of a worker's wage so he can lower what he pays out in salaries, and kindhearted people would feel guilty knowing their server's income was so low and fork over the cash to make up the shortfall.

And, if you read the posts here, it has worked wonderfully. It has been made such a life-style inclusion that people (myself included) are not only shamed into tipping regardless of the level of service, but shamed into tipping excessively...this last, a practice that should only apply to the rich and well-off amongst us, surely.

[Gerrym]

I think the main problem with the perception of cruise line "tipping" policies is calling it a tip or a gratuity in the first place, which implies that it is optional, or only for exemplary service. It really is a service charge, similar to the automatic service charge that is charged on meals in some European countries. I don’t think the charge is optional there either; the diner can add to the amount for superlative service, but it is not necessary.

 

 

Brenda, thank you for that. I agree, it is more like the automatic service charge in Europe. This charge is optional in that you can ask for it to be taken off the bill if you wish. I have done this twice in my life. Once for terrible food and once for very poor service. If I receive good service I leave it 'as is' (normally 12.5%). If the food and service is more than I would expect in that establishment then I will tip up to 20%.

 

 

Regards

 

 

Gerry

[ChevyCruiser]

If the gratuity is automatically going to be added, I think the cruise line should call it a service charge and state in all brochures, documents and passenger contracts that a service charge will be added the passenger’s account daily. Perhaps they should not even break down the amount per crew member – just make it a flat $12 or whatever per person fee per day. They can then mention that it is optional to provide a gratuity on an individual basis for staff you feel have gone above and beyond in serving you (not suggesting any amounts). That way, the cruise line can still advertise low fares, the crew are fairly compensated, and those who do want to tip extra can, but no crew members will be stiffed. Crew performance can still be ensured with comment cards and the hope of possible additional gratuities.

 

After a lot of thought on the subject in light of some upcoming cruises, I've decided I'm fine with the cruise line automatically adding a service charge to my account. I tend to overtip service people, so I'll save money in the end.

 

Since the service charge will be automatically added to my account, I hope they will dispense with the practice handing out vouchers in envelopes at the end of the cruise since it would only be a charade at that point.

[Lsimon]

...We too have questioned the tip for the ''head housekeeper" but on two cruises, especially our last "X" cruise, she provided several services that we felt merited a tip.

Mary Lou

 

Could you tell us what services the head housekeeper provided? I'm just curious since I've never had contact with this person and have presumed they are basic supervisory personnel.

[Mikki]

The people who load and off load the luggage are not employed by Celebrity, but are unionized dock workers. They don't get to share in ship crew tips.

 

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we are talking about the unonized dock workers. Rather the people who, after the luggage is on the ship, deliver it to your cabin and pick it up the last night. I was told quite a few years ago that the cabin Stewart had to pay these people a portion of the tips he received. This was on Carnival and also on Royal Caribbean.

 

Just what I was told.

 

Kate

[mustcruisemore]

I would strongly encourage you not to prepay. We use to do that, but quit when we got the worst dining table (guests) and staff. We asked to be moved, but they said they couldn't. We ended up not going to dinner in the dining room the whole cruise and had already prepaid servers that we never utilized AND they would not refund the fee so we could use it toward the places we actually went (speciality dining).

 

We will be telling them to take the automatic tips OFF our bill and use our tip money as we see fit.