Tipping the assistant steward.

[Name Of The Game]

On our last cruise we didn't know one from the other. No one introduced themself.

[keishashadow]

OP - Assistant Cabin Stewards are crew members who moonlight, hired directly by the Cabin Steward to help with his duties. As such, it's my understanding that extra' tipping is not expected; although im sure it'd be most appreciated.:)

[LambKnuckles]

I usually tip half to the Asst Room Steward... But on my last cruise I never met him or her... I tipped the Room Steward and noted the specifics she had done for us in a note.

 

I also mentioned this on my comments card at the end of the cruise!!!

[conchead]

I think auto tipping is the worst thing that happened to cruising. Not only has the service on cruises gone way down it is much less personal.I remember the days when every steward did the little extra things in your cabin, lining up your shoes, straightening the desk area, pulled out chair at dinner, napkin placed on your lap, remember they used to clean the crumbs off the table! ... those days are gone. Yes we generally over tip as well but you shouldn't "have to" over tip to have that personal experience.

 

Since when?

They were still doing that last month:)

[conchead]

OP - Assistant Cabin Stewards are crew members who moonlight, hired directly by the Cabin Steward to help with his duties. As such, it's my understanding that extra' tipping is not expected; although im sure it'd be most appreciated.:)

 

 

Really?? I never heard that before.

it just shows you learn something everyday

[dznymom]

I don't think auto-tipping has affected the quality of service nearly as much as the increased workload on the stewards. It's much more difficult to provide extra service when you are reponsible for so many more staterooms than past years.

 

Out of curiosity does anyone know the typical number of rooms they are responsible for now and how many they did a few years ago?

[keishashadow]

Really?? I never heard that before.

it just shows you learn something everyday

 

when we sailed on the legend there was a free talk/brief tour of galley. Somebody posed question, i thought it was very interesting.

 

cliff notes on the hiring process - CCL uses employment agencies to hire workers in these sorts of positions for 8 - 9 month stints. They then are expected to get themselves to Miami for training. They initially start out in non-passenger interaction capacity. If they do well, they can re-sign & apply for another higher-paying position. It was stated that the servers work for the crew & officers before they ever work in the MDR.

[cruisincory]

We never saw the asst, but our steward on our last cruise was horrible and got no tip from us. He cleaned the room and turned down the bed,(which is just enough to say he was doing his job) but everytime he would come by the room and check on us, he would make a horrible face or say some smart a$$ comment about us smoking in the room. He also refused to give us an ashtray for the room, which was handled @ the pursers desk. My opinion, if you want a good tip, treat your customer(especially the ones following the rules) with respect and dignity, and you will get a great tip.

[jenelizab]

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

One more permutation on the tipping question and I for one may never offer a tip to anyone again ever anyplace!

 

 

On our last cruise I gave my firstborn to our assistant steward. He was sooo appreciative and kept hugging and kissing me. I felt really good about myself and went home a little happier!

[lettienets]

On the Dream transatlantic we had a head steward who had morning and evening assistants. They worked as pairs pretty well. But the head one is in charge. I asked at the purser's desk how you tip them. He said give the tip to the head steward and he shares it with the assistants based on a formula of 60/40.

[toby #1]

If you don't want to tip, then don't! Don't worry about what the rest of us do.

 

You go Girl !!!!:):):)

[pnjkeith]

I normally tip the head steward 20 or so on arrival, and extra at the end of the cruise.

 

 

?

 

 

Thats not a TIP, its a BRIBE.

[golfadj]

Maybe we need a thread on tipping the captain and CD.

[CRUISERELAXER]

Up until this post I had not heard of an assistant steward. I've only been on 4 cruises, 2 Carnival, 1 HAL and 1 Princess and each time I have had a steward who introduced himself at the beginning of the cruise and that was the only person that I saw or spoke with in and about my cabin. The service has ranged from excellent to adequate and I have tipped additional to the auto tip according to the service. I will be on the Freedom at the end of May and will be interested to see if I have an assistant steward on that cruise. I would also be interested in knowing if the assistants are indeed contracted by the steward or if Carnival appoints them on an as needed basis. Very interesting thread here.

[pnjkeith]

Maybe we need a thread on tipping the captain and CD.

 

How much do we tip guest service people?

[lawyerrose]

I've been cruising since the 70's on many different cruise lines and I've never seen nor heard about an assistant room steward. Back when we all tipped in cash in separate envelopes, one would think that if there was such a thing as an assistant cabin steward, they would have made themselves known. If they now have such things, they sure have kept it a deep dark secret.

[TigerStar]

Do te stewards/assistants/waiters/etc know which cabins auto tip and which don't?

[highbridge5]

OP - Assistant Cabin Stewards are crew members who moonlight, hired directly by the Cabin Steward to help with his duties. As such, it's my understanding that extra' tipping is not expected; although im sure it'd be most appreciated.:)

 

Never mind. I mis-read the post. I just saw the "moonlighting" thing....

[redlef]

I normally tip the head steward 20 or so on arrival, and extra at the end of the cruise.

 

But what about the assistant steward? Do they only get the autotips? Does the head steward share those cash tips with them? . . . . . Do the assistant stewards need 'love' too?

 

If we see them both working to serve us, we tip them both equally. I've been on some cruises where only one of them services our cabin - so that's who we tip. By us, tipping is based on their service, not their title. Same in the dining room.

[keishashadow]

Never mind. I mis-read the post. I just saw the "moonlighting" thing....

 

no problem, if i didn't hear it stated during the presentation i'd have never thought that's the way it's set up either. Anytime somebody else is making up the beds i'm thrilled:D