This is interesting

[Cruising89143]

Interesting thread from the Carnival board on the removal of pre-paid gratuities. I think that the list was found on the galley tour.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=979991

[xpcdoojk]

Wonder if all the lines have a printed list?:D

 

jc

[snausman]

Wonder if all the lines have a printed list?:D

 

jc

 

After reading that I was wondering the same thing. Anybody know??

 

Laura

[I'm on holiday]

Very interesting! Those who remove the auto-tips and have no intention of tipping in cash, probably think they are sligh. I say they are CHEAP, and on Carnival (as the list showed) the staff is well aware!

 

I'm with the rest of you that are wondering if it's the same way on other/all lines.

[ByeBye1]

Memo to self, Remove tips the last day of cruise NOT before :D

This is somebody's joke, notice no names were on that phony list?

[BroncosFan2010]

I have a hard time believing that they actually do this. I never pre-pay gratuities and always tip with cash at the end. This has never affected my service, and how are the staff to know that they are not going to tip at all? My guess is that they will try to serve you even better to get those cash tips.

[Cruising89143]

Memo to self, Remove tips the last day of cruise NOT before :D

This is somebody's joke, notice no names were on that phony list?

 

If you read the entire thread you will see that they cut the list off of the passengers names.

[wrp96]

On a line where the tips are automatically added to your cruise account, then I could see such a list.

 

On RCCL where the tips are NOT automatically added to your account, such a list would definitely not work.

[fleeflicker]

People may call me cheap, but I pay cash, I don't use credit cards. I only own one and bring it for an emergency only. I always tip over the recommended amount because I have been fortunate enough to have excellent service.

[critterchick]

People may call me cheap, but I pay cash, I don't use credit cards. I only own one and bring it for an emergency only. I always tip over the recommended amount because I have been fortunate enough to have excellent service.

 

That's hardly cheap, and you've been fortunate, indeed.:)

[Moondawgie]

cg, that is interesting ... however, I just want to say that I love your photos. I viewed the Liberty of the Seas yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the pics of the ship.

 

Sorry to hijack the thread ... I didn't know how else to tell you this.

 

I am also with the people who think it's awful to remove or completely ignore tips. The staff deserves to know this!

 

I also don't want to be seated with them!

[Cruising89143]

cg, that is interesting ... however, I just want to say that I love your photos. I viewed the Liberty of the Seas yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the pics of the ship.

 

 

Thanks and glad that you enjoyed them.:)

[PhoenixCruiser]

Too funny!

 

You non-tippers better have a strong stomach!! And, you just might want to keep your toothbrush with you at all times... :eek:

 

###

[steveru621]

If I'm on a trip with a non-US currency I usually have a lot of Euros left for tips. If I use them up for tips, I don't pay a second fee to turn them back into dollars.

[rubrrick]

WOW!! Very interesting. With MTD we have to prepay our gratuities, and maybe that's why we get great service.

 

I have never complained about either our stateroom steward, or dining room waiters. They are always excellent!!

 

Then again, I have heard of stories where the service has been quite poor at other tables.

 

I wonder????:rolleyes:

 

Rick

[shaggyofwv]

Very interesting! Those who remove the auto-tips and have no intention of tipping in cash' date=' probably think they are sligh. I say they are CHEAP, and on Carnival (as the list showed) the staff is well aware!

 

I'm with the rest of you that are wondering if it's the same way on other/all lines.[/quote']

 

 

Mandatory tipping is, in itself, ridiculous. A tip is a gratuity that is paid to someone who performed excellent service. To me, just doing your job doesn't mean you deserve a tip. Just because someone doesn't leave a tip certainly does NOT make them cheap.

 

Obviously this is a matter that is up to each individual, but I only tip if the service warrants a tip (on cruises and on land). So I never use pre-paid gratuities as I want to actually receive the service before I decide what tip the person deserves.

 

This is perfectly logical behavior to me, but I know that there are a lot of tipping snobs on here who will vociferously disagree. ;)

[ShipsInBergen]

double post

[ShipsInBergen]

Surely there is another side to this- If the waiter/waitress knows the tips have not been pre-paid, they may work extra hard to ensure a large cash tip at the end.

 

I tip in cash, not with credit card. Like one of the posters above I do not have a credit card, nor do I wish to have one. I use the recommended amounts for tips as a base guide, and tip extra if the service is particularly good.

 

I can't believe all of these rude comments about people who tip in cash. Deal with it, it's a personal preference.

 

OK so I've only done 3 cruises, but have tipped in cash all 3 times and always received great service (but then I am genuinely polite/pleasant to the waitstaff. I have seen many who are truly horrible to them, maybe it's those people who get the bad service.

[Patty00]

I also agree that tips should reflect the quality of service....however, that said on our last cruise on RC we pre-paid tips and I asked our cabin attendent when he found out....on a 7 night cruise (Sat.-Sat.) he found out on Wednesday. I don't think it would have made a difference in service....he was excellent.

[denamo]

Interesting. We too typically tip with cash. We appreciated the service we receive while on board. We do know that the crew depends on our tips to bolster their wages. It's a hard job to do day in and day out and showing our appreciation for their service is part of the cruising package. I find it shameful that people would try to get out of tipping in this fashion. :mad:

[SamFritz]

I usually charge the tips to my seapass at some point during the cruise. Unfortunately they will only allow you to charge the recommended amount. On our last cruise our Head Waiter was so invisible that we decided to only charge one set of gratuities, (he probably didn't even deserve that) we then supplemented our other servers and stewards with cash equal to or above the recommended amount. Does anyone know if there is a tip pool, or some minimum guaratnteed income for the waitstaff? On shore, waiters can be paid well under minimum wage, but if their reported tips don't bring them up to minimum the employer is required to make up the difference. As a part-time tour guide I know that three quarters of my income comes from tips and only one quarter from my hourly wage. If they're working hard to make you happy, be sure to tip them well.

[Tucker in Texas]

I usually charge the tips to my seapass at some point during the cruise. Unfortunately they will only allow you to charge the recommended amount. On our last cruise our Head Waiter was so invisible that we decided to only charge one set of gratuities, (he probably didn't even deserve that) we then supplemented our other servers and stewards with cash equal to or above the recommended amount. Does anyone know if there is a tip pool, or some minimum guaratnteed income for the waitstaff? On shore, waiters can be paid well under minimum wage, but if their reported tips don't bring them up to minimum the employer is required to make up the difference. As a part-time tour guide I know that three quarters of my income comes from tips and only one quarter from my hourly wage. If they're working hard to make you happy, be sure to tip them well.

 

It is my understanding that the recommended tips are pooled. Anything above that is theirs to keep. If a person prefers to tip in cash, then the "front desk" is looking for the recommended amount to be turned in. I am sure that there is stiffing going on and the "powers that be" know what percentage that would be so if a crew member habitually turns in a lower percentage than that, he might get a "talking to."

 

We always put the tips on our sign 'n sail card. In addition, I leave $2 a day for the room steward along with a piece of candy and a note thanking him/her for something they have done like a towel animal, keeping my thermo cooler full of ice, whatever I can think of. On the morning of departure, we leave an additional amount depending on our service again with a note. On our last cruise, we turned in our sheet to put the tips on our card but did not get envelopes and vouchers when we usually get them. We checked our account on the TV and we had not been charged for them. Husband went down to the desk to ask why and they said we hadn't turned in the sheet. He told them we had. Then they said they found the sheet but it was for only one person. Anyway, we got it straightened out and got the vouchers the last full day of the cruise to pass on that evening. We are wondering if our poor room steward thought the $2 a day was his tip if they had our name on "the list." One thing they appreciate just about as much as money almost is being singled out on the exit survey for good service. This gets them promotions and extra time off.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Alexis]

My next two B2B cruises will be the first time I am pre paying my tips. We have to do that to get MTD.

How can a passenger know what their service will be for the whole week in advance that they go and ask for it back? :confused:

I would never go and try to remove any of it. They will get the pre paid amount, and always get more from us.

I have never had a staff member who did not do their best for us.

But, we do not ask for anything special either. Not in our cabin and not in the dining room.

[cruisnfool]

When I was on the Golden in 2002 I paid with auto tipping. I think it was fairly new to Princess because we did not get vouchers. I told my room steward I had paid the auto way and he thanked me for telling him because he said they don't get a list of who pays and who doesn't.

[OKH]

Another side of not paying with your card and paying cash is that the cash isn't reported and the tippee ends up with a better deal.