Have you ever NOT tipped your staff and why?

[rae519]

Although I have only been on the Wonder twice, the four nighter we had was the one where we did not see our Head Server util the last night. DH and I watched him as he went to other tables and just sailed past ours with no interest or even a side glance. Yes, we had outstanding servers and never had any problems with anything - BUT it is his job to at least introduce himself and ask how we are, etc.

I will admit that I did tip him but half of the amount due and put a little note in to his tip envelope with my reason. I felt that he needed to know why I wasn't giving him the full amount.

I have been told by some DISboard cruisers that they never tip because they feel they have paid enough or are close to maxing out their credit cards. I don't find that a good excuse for being cheap - but bad or inattentive service requires action.

If we would have realized his inattentiveness sooner, we would have mentioned it to him directly - but it was only when we were doing the tip form that we realized it.

Rae

 

[dianthus]

We usually tip the suggested amounts + extra for great service. We've only been on the 7 day cruise & our Head Servers were great on both cruises to us, so we them tipped well. We did see them ignoring some people in our area on both cruises, so I would agree with adjusting the tip relative to the service received. It's strange that they do that. It seems to be either feast or famine with the Head Servers...

The servers on our last cruise were telling us that getting stiffed for tips was happening more & more in the dining rooms. They said they could tell if a table was going to go "bad" if the party didn't show on Friday night without telling them they were going to Palo's, etc.. They wouldn't show for breakfast the next morning... Sure enough, Friday night came & there were quite a few empty tables in the dining room & those same tables were empty on Sat. morning... That's so sad, tips are a big part of their income. The servers work really hard to make the cruise enjoyable!

 

[rae519]

Yes, it is sad to see the empty tables at both meals and know what that means. Tom noticed that two of the most demanding tables were the ones who had people absent those times.

Rae

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

It really is a shame (and very unfair) when DCL passengers don't tip their server, assistant server, head server, or stateroom steward -- unless one of those people seriously failed to provide good service.

But DCL shares some of the blame. DCL really should clearly state, "Your cruise cost does not include the services of your server, assistant server, head server, or stateroom steward. They rely almost entirely on your tips for their income."

DCL should also make it clear that the tips to your server, assistant server, and head server aren't just for dinner. It's how they're paid for the work they do at breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the entire cruise, whether serving you or other passengers. And that's why there's no need to tip at breakfast or lunch, whether sit-down or buffet. But you should keep this in mind when tipping your dinner service team.

Unfortunately, DCL (and other cruise lines) hide the recommended tipping guidelines in small print somewhare in the back of the brochure.

I imagine that for some passengers, the tip envelopes come as a rude surprise. Yes, the passengers should do a better job reading the brochure, but DCL should also do a better job explaining the system.

Actually, the system is good in that it provides an incentive for the servers and stewards to provide outstanding service. But passengers need to understand the system, which means that DCL needs to do a better job of explaining it to folks who don't read this board. The alternative would be to bake tip costs into the cruise price, but that would mean that the cruise price would go up and that servers would lose the incentive to go "above and beyond."

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
But passengers need to understand the system, which means that DCL needs to do a better job of explaining it to folks who don't read this board.

Ahh, Horace - you have hit the nail on the head!!

Thanks!
Rae

 

[jgalecpa]

Of course, the other alternative (and one I would rather see) is to INCLUDE the amount of tip in your fare, as some lines now do.

If anyone wanted to go above and beyond, then that is up to them.

This way:

1. The servers would not get stiffed. Can anyone of us imagine what our lives would be like if on payday your just didn't show up and you didn't get paid?

2. The amount would already be built into your budget, and

3. You could still add anything you want for extraordinary service


What do others feel about this?

Jim

 

[gonna go cruising]

I am just kinda shocked that people dont realize they will need to tip too. I knew it well ahead of my first cruise and we budgeted that in. I agree, the main guy who just flitted around the room like a bee pollinating the flowers and trying to be everyone's best buddy at the last minute didn't do much at all to deserve a tip, but he does depend on it. Therefore, yes we did tip him, even more than they suggest, but not near as much more than the suggested amount for the others on our list. My advice is to set aside the tips before you sail and add to it for exemplary service.

I was extremely impressed with our service last time and hopefully this time we will be just as happy.

 

[lsmac]

I agree with Jim. NCl, Princess, and even RCL are now incorporating tips into your shipboard account and you are able to go to guest services and have them adjusted up or down, but the amount is right there for you to see at the beginning and they make a note about it on all your paperwork. DCL should also institute this as it is a shame that any of the wonderful servers and hosts on DCL should go without payment! Of course, Rae is right..that tips should reflect service provided and if they were lack, then tell them and reflect that in the amount given.

Have I ever stiffed them? Not on DCL. Now, I did halve the amount to our Head Server, because like Rae said, he totally ignored us the whole week, except to phone our room on a night we got back late from an excursion to check on us (think Norwalk alert), so I felt that he only deserved half. Now when we sailed on Carnival (ions ago) I did stiff the waiter because he was absolutely HORRIBLE. I won't go into it here, but he really did NOT deserve payment and most definately should be working in another business altogether!

Lisa

 

[Tesabat]

I'm curious - my brother mentioned that on their cruise (not DCL) they were seated with several other people - who they had a feeling were either going to tip poorly or not at all. Just the vibes they were getting - they were difficult. On the last night, it was kind of a formal process where the servers lined up and you formally handed them their envelopes and thanked them for the service, etc. But, because it was so formal - the servers simply stuffed the envelopes in their pockets and you move on. They know what table number the envelope was from, because it's marked on there...but not what person. The next morning at breakfast - most of the other people never showed, just my brother, SIL, and another couple. He said the server was very cold to them and treated them quite poorly (which was wrong on the servers part - obviously), and he actually told him that "this table" pretty much stiffed him. Well, My DB and SIL tipped MORE than the suggested amount, and were disturbed that he was treating them like they didn't tip him....but they claim he would have NO way of knowing which of the couples seated at that table all week were the bad guys.

Is that true on DCL? They have no way of knowing who tipped them what...only that this amount (or not) came from a particular table? Obviously the server should have connected the dots and realized it wasn't them...but that aside - I'm just surprised that they really have no idea who's giving them what. Don't mind taking the heat for MY decisions....but not crazy about taking the heat for people sitting across from that I don't even know....

 

[lsmac]

Is that true on DCL? They have no way of knowing who tipped them what...only that this amount (or not) came from a particular table? Obviously the server should have connected the dots and realized it wasn't them...but that aside - I'm just surprised that they really have no idea who's giving them what. Don't mind taking the heat for MY decisions....but not crazy about taking the heat for people sitting across from that I don't even know....

That is not true on DCL! We handed our tip envelope directly to our servers and we had made such a connection with them during the week, that they knew who gave them what.

Lisa

 

[Werner Weiss]

Originally posted by Tesabat
Is that true on DCL? They have no way of knowing who tipped them what...only that this amount (or not) came from a particular table?

On DCL, the best way to tip — for the traveling party and the service staff — is to charge your tips to your shipboard account at Guest Services. Instead of putting cash into the tip envelopes, you put receipts from Guest Services into the tip envelopes. It will be clear to the recipients of the tips who tipped them (and who didn't). And nobody has to worry about bundles of cash.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Tesabat
Is that true on DCL? They have no way of knowing who tipped them what

Not true on DCL. I believe it has a spot on the outside of the envelope for the passenger's names. Also, if you go through guest services and have the tips charged to your account, they will print you up tickets to put in the envelopes that have your name on them.

My only complaint with that, is that when we went to Guest Services, I am the one who turned in the paperwork and asked for the tip receipts. My dh was standing near me talking to him mother. The tip receipts had MY name on them only..... Guess I'm a 1950's kinda girl and I thought that was weird for the woman to have her name on them and no mention of the man. Next time I'll let dh go to guest services.

 

[strasfamily]

I'm not sure if this is new or not as I have never cruised DCL before, but the tip guidelines have their own page in the cruise docs booklet. It is about the 5th page and not in small print. So maybe they are changing to help out their servers?

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by lsmac
I agree with Jim. NCl, Princess, and even RCL are now incorporating tips into your shipboard account and you are able to go to guest services and have them adjusted up or down, but the amount is right there for you to see at the beginning and they make a note about it on all your paperwork.

I don't know of RCCL going non tipping, they weren't in the Spring. They do also own Celebrity which I think is non tipping.

Rae, many cruise lines consider the assistant Matre' D as a tip only if they do something special situation. So even if DVC lists a recommended tip for them and they did absolutely nothing, I would not tip them at all. Actually I'd likely tell the Maitre' D about it but that's another discussion. Just keeping things running smoothly would not be enough to qualify IMO. As for the true tipped positions, it would take something pretty horendous for me not to give them a tip but I can see reducing their tip. Actually it's more like increaseing their tip, which is usually what I find myself doing.

Tesabat, you can bet I'd have been speaking to someone if this happened to me. You'd think the server could figure out if he got some good tips and some bad ones that the ones that showed up for the next meal were the good guys and treated them accordingly rather than punishing them for their tablemates behavior.

 

[alexandrew]

I am very much against the policy of NCL including tips in the fare- I believe you get better service from tipped staff when they have a $ incentive ....As for the losers who don't show up on last night of cruise to stiff the wait staff, their bad kharma will come back to them tenfold - I truly believe that!!!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Dean
I don't know of RCCL going non tipping, they weren't in the Spring. They do also own Celebrity which I think is non tipping.

Dean,

Ismac isn't saying that the other mid-market cruise lines are non-tipping -- just that tips are sometimes automatic.

For example, NCL automatically charges the recommended tip amounts to your shipboard account. This is still in addition to the cost of the cruise. The passenger can go to the Front Desk to make adjustments upward or downward. For details, see http://www.ncl.com/freestyle/fs_p_gratuities.htm

Celebrity Cruise Line is not non-tipping. You can see Celebrity's guidleines for gratuities at http://www.celebrity.com/prepare/during/gratuities.asp?s=6C563E4EB0 -- note that Celebrity expects you to tip the Chief Housekeeper in addition to the person who takes care of your stateroom.

The current system allows the mid-market cruise lines to quote low cruise prices in their advertising, while conveniently hiding that each passenger is expected to pay another $70-100 for tips on a one-week cruise.

Right or wrong, the dining room head server is paid through tips, even though you may have little direct interaction with that person. The dining room head server makes sure that all servers are doing their job well, and that the dining room is functioning smoothly. Yet, in some ways, the head server is penalized if problems are prevented instead of dealt with, because the passengers don't have to call upon head server to intervene with problems -- and thus he or she didn't "earn" a tip. The head server has been promoted to that position because of his or her skill and experience.

Tip the head server. The recommended amount is quite modest.

 

[DVC4US]

Is that true on DCL? They have no way of knowing who tipped them what...only that this amount (or not) came from a particular table?

I did something a little differently on our last cruise and I will continue to do it on future cruises. I made postcards on the computer with a picture of our DDs and a personal thank you from our family. When we got the tip envelopes all done, I put them into the envelopes with the postcards and gave them out that way. This is one way to make sure that the wait staff and counselors know who gave them what tips. I also thought it was a nice touch.
LeiLani

 

[KYCruiseCrazy]

i dont remember but i think we put our room # on the tip envelopes so everyone knew who tipped them. we also handed the envelopes right to the people who they where going to. that way they get the tip from you and you can let them know what you think of them. i cant believe that there are people out there that would stiff the SCL staff on tips. if they help you at all its worth a small tip. and you figure if they go out of there way to help you should tip them. i tip them acorrding to there service.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
Dean,

Ismac isn't saying that the other mid-market cruise lines are non-tipping -- just that tips are sometimes automatic.

For example, NCL automatically charges the recommended tip amounts to your shipboard account. This is still in addition to the cost of the cruise. The passenger can go to the Front Desk to make adjustments upward or downward. For details, see http://www.ncl.com/freestyle/fs_p_gratuities.htm

Celebrity Cruise Line is not non-tipping. You can see Celebrity's guidleines for gratuities at http://www.celebrity.com/prepare/during/gratuities.asp?s=6C563E4EB0 -- note that Celebrity expects you to tip the Chief Housekeeper in addition to the person who takes care of your stateroom.

The current system allows the mid-market cruise lines to quote low cruise prices in their advertising, while conveniently hiding that each passenger is expected to pay another $70-100 for tips on a one-week cruise.

Right or wrong, the dining room head server is paid through tips, even though you may have little direct interaction with that person. The dining room head server makes sure that all servers are doing their job well, and that the dining room is functioning smoothly. Yet, in some ways, the head server is penalized if problems are prevented instead of dealt with, because the passengers don't have to call upon head server to intervene with problems -- and thus he or she didn't "earn" a tip. The head server has been promoted to that position because of his or her skill and experience.

Tip the head server. The recommended amount is quite modest.

OK, thanks. I guess I equate Celberity with HAL.

 

[ohiominnie]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
Right or wrong, the dining room head server is paid through tips, even though you may have little direct interaction with that person. The dining room head server makes sure that all servers are doing their job well, and that the dining room is functioning smoothly.

In a previous post I said it, and I'll say it again. All he has to do is get down to my kids level, talk to them briefly, and move on. A simple "can I get you more berries?" or "how are you liking the cruise so far?" would show me that he was more interested in my family that just on that last night when he comes over and smiles and asks how everything is.

Like the waitress once at Longhorn.....average server, but she saw the dissapointment in my dd's eyes when she told us "we're out of peanuts." She took it upon herself to go out to the semi that was in the lot unloading supplies. When she found out that THIS Longhorn had forgotten to order peanuts she called the manager at another Longhorn and asked if it was OK if she took just one bowlful of peanuts from THEIR shipment for my dd. We ended up getting peanuts and my dd was very happy. She server ended up earning about a 40% tip!