Is Tipping Mandatory?

[Dug720]

First--I've prepaid tips for our cruise at the recommended amount....

Second--thank you all who weighed in. I think this was a valid question that I too wondered--if we decided to tip like we do at home, cash, and in a discretionary manner that hovers around a more generous point then standard (we tip 20 as a base, and 25 for excellent---15% would indicate we felt totally ill-treated) would that be weird--i.e. how would we even do it--at the end of the cruise, day by day, etc.... envelopes? large bills? etc....

And in some industries people prefer cash tips. But all that said, I think it was a legit question and many of you guys gave great answers, especially as to server/guest services contacts. I'm glad we prepaid the tips because I am hoping to NOT think about money too much for the week I'd really rather not be approached about tips! I always find that a bit of a turn off, but it does make sense that they would be concerned about the employees compensation and letting guests know gratuities are important, especially from different tipping cultures. I would just hate to have that talk and it's good to know it would be coming if you don't have something in there.

Follow up question--do they approach you if you reduce the recommended amount in the beginning?

Any kind of reduction is read by them as a problem with the service, so yes, I would expect contact to see what they can do better to improve their service. They will NEVER approach it as "You owe us tips." (Or they *should* NEVER approach it as such.) Though I would not be surprised for a supervisor to say that the removal or reduction is seen as something lacking in service. Especially if they were pre-paid and suddenly reduced. I cannot think of any other legitimate reason to reduce prepaid tips (and even then I would only do it after speaking with the person in question or their supervisor about it and giving them the opportunity to make a change in the service). Doing that to prepaid tips without cause, discussion and no improvement to me reeks of "We figured out we didn't budget enough for other things like drinks, excursions, and/or souvenirs so we're taking back some of that money."

And just as a note, even if you don't eat in the MDR one night, that does not mean that your servers did no work. They work in various food venues throughout the day and the gratuities cover all the times that the servers are serving. Even if you aren't served by your exact servers in Cabanas or whatever sit-down MDR is doing breakfast and/or lunch, you're being served by someone's - and someone is being served by yours.

 

[jrabbit]

EVERYTHING that DCL publishes where there might be a tipping situation has this type of wording ...

• You should never feel that gratuities are expected. However, it is customary to leave a tip in recognition of exceptional service at restaurants and in taxis, as well as for outstanding excursion guides and drivers. It is always up to you to determine the amount.

and ...

• Please note: a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your stateroom folio.

OP - Yes you can remove them from your stateroom account. Yes, Guest Services will most likely ask you why, but will proceed with your request. And, on a daily and/or meal basis NO one will be expecting a tip (except for maybe room service), so you won't be "confronted".

The cruise standard is to pay your serving team and stateroom host on the last full day of the cruise (not disembarkation day). You will notice your serving team working at various food locations during the day, and then in the evening they will be taking care of YOU in the dinning room. Again, with cruising the standard is giving one gratuity at the end of the cruise. IF Everyone gives their gratuity, then everyone gets paid for their services from early morning to late night.

Not Tipping is like the guy at my grocery store: the bakery keeps a platter of cookies out on the counter where they take bakery orders. This guy comes by and dumps the whole tray into his backpack. Then at check out he needed to get his payment out of the backpack and the clerk saw all of the cookies in his bag. When confronted he stated that these cookies were free (technically yes). and Gratuities are technically not mandatory. DON'T BE THAT GUY!!!!!

 

[Dug720]

EVERYTHING that DCL publishes where there might be a tipping situation has this type of wording ...

• You should never feel that gratuities are expected. However, it is customary to leave a tip in recognition of exceptional service at restaurants and in taxis, as well as for outstanding excursion guides and drivers. It is always up to you to determine the amount.

and ...

• Please note: a 15% gratuity is automatically added to bar, beverage, wine and deck service tabs. All gratuities can be charged to your stateroom folio.

OP - Yes you can remove them from your stateroom account. Yes, Guest Services will most likely ask you why, but will proceed with your request. And, on a daily and/or meal basis NO one will be expecting a tip (except for maybe room service), so you won't be "confronted".

The cruise standard is to pay your serving team and stateroom host on the last full day of the cruise (not disembarkation day). You will notice your serving team working at various food locations during the day, and then in the evening they will be taking care of YOU in the dinning room. Again, with cruising the standard is giving one gratuity at the end of the cruise. IF Everyone gives their gratuity, then everyone gets paid for their services from early morning to late night.

Not Tipping is like the guy at my grocery store: the bakery keeps a platter of cookies out on the counter where they take bakery orders. This guy comes by and dumps the whole tray into his backpack. Then at check out he needed to get his payment out of the backpack and the check saw all of the cookies in his bag. When confronted he stated that these cookies were free (technically yes). and Gratuities are technically not mandatory. DON'T BE THAT GUY!!!!!

Or Google the clip from Ellen's show where she'd put out a table of show souvenirs and every audience member was told they could take ONE thing. And there were hidden cameras set up - no worker monitoring the table in person. There was one pair of girls and one of them really wanted a shirt AND hat, but she said "I'll buy the hat after the show" and only took the shirt. There was another pair of girls who not only took more than one thing (one when her friend started to say something said "Be quiet!") but came back more than once. Yeah...they got shamed.

Be kind. And don't be those people!

 

[Disneytreasure]

As DCL states, tipping is always optional.

Thanks! Just making sure.

 

[Shanti]

Thanks! Just making sure.

Be sure and let your room steward and dinner servers know on the first day that you don't plan to tip them. They'll be working very hard to please you. It's only fair to let them know upfront that you don't plan on paying for their service.

 

[TestingH2O]

I have to admit I'm pleased with something NCL has done - they no longer call this gratuities - it is a serve charge which is a more correct description for this charge as it is not a true tipping situation.

I agree. It is much more accurate to call it a service charge and hopefully reduce some of this.

 

[bumbershoot]

The OP never said that they were going to not tip.

I disagree.

I know you can have it removed, but then are you expected to tip in cash? Will anyone confront me if I don't?

That combo cannot be read in any other way than "I'm going to remove autogratuities, and I'm not going to tip in cash."

If it's not what they meant, different wording would have expressed their plans.

 

[TestingH2O]

The OP never said that they were going to not tip.

Thanks! Just making sure.

Well, I think that clarifies the OP's intentions from the OP him/herself rather than just an interpretation.

 

[bbel]

Thanks! Just making sure.

Posts like this make me SO glad I don't work in the cruise industry anymore.
Then makes me feel so sad for all the friends I have still onboard, who are working so hard for you and your family, just to make their families lives a little better....
I'd love to see you try and last five minutes in their job.

 

[AustinMommyofThree]

I have to admit I'm pleased with something NCL has done - they no longer call this gratuities - it is a serve charge which is a more correct description for this charge as it is not a true tipping situation.

I like this approach, as well, as it removes the question that some people hide behind as an excuse to not tip. Then, if a person feels that the staff has gone above and beyond and warrants extra, they can add a true tip on to the service charge as they see fit.

OP, it may not technically be required, but it would be an absolute jerk move, in my opinion, to not tip your staff.

 

[Dug720]

Posts like this make me SO glad I don't work in the cruise industry anymore.
Then makes me feel so sad for all the friends I have still onboard, who are working so hard for you and your family, just to make their families lives a little better....
I'd love to see you try and last five minutes in their job.

Agree with this so hard! I actually walked out of the office once when our secretary at school was bragging about how she doesn't tip because she paid enough for the cruise as it was. (And no, she doesn't Cruise DCL. She lives for casinos.) I chose walking out over letting her have it.

 

[Aanna]

I like this approach, as well, as it removes the question that some people hide behind as an excuse to not tip. Then, if a person feels that the staff has gone above and beyond and warrants extra, they can add a true tip on to the service charge as they see fit.

This is an interesting thought to explore. My initial reaction is, "Why doesn't the cruiseline just pay their employees a proper wage and include that as part of the cruise?" It appeals to my sense of simplicity and equity: I don't have to be "surprised" or worried about a large chunk of change that is being expected of me above and beyond the cruise fare, and I can be confident that the employees are well compensated.

Upon reflection, however, I'm not sure that would work in a culture such as the US where tipping is the norm. Calling something a "service charge" and making it mandatory removes the feeling of a tip that rewards good service. After all, when most of us see "service charge" on a room service bill, we're tend to think of it as the cost of ordering room service rather than a tip, so we go ahead and tip anyway -- maybe even paying a tip on the amount of the service charge! I have a feeling that the real purpose of NCL's mandatory "service charge" will be quickly forgotten, and many cruisers on that line will feel that they are expected to pay a gratuity on top of that. This would be nice for the wait staff, but perhaps difficult or even nickel and diming to customers.

With Disney's method, the tips are still a free choice, and thus maintain the feeling that they are a variable reward for good service -- a requirement for the American traveler. But, by making those gratuities automatic, Disney ensures that their employees will receive a proper level of recompense. Cruisers aren't double-charged, and employees' compensation is protected.

Now if only I could be sure that Disney's compensation calculates in those cruiser's who, through ignorance, cultural misunderstanding, or malice remove the gratuities.

Considering all the different cultures that sail with Disney, I think we should be gentle with folks who see tipping in a different light. While, in the case of DCL, those tips are vital, that may not be universally understood. I'd hate to have people jump down my throat if I asked them questions about *their culture when I didn't understand!

 

[Dug720]

This is an interesting thought to explore. My initial reaction is, "Why doesn't the cruiseline just pay their employees a proper wage and include that as part of the cruise?" It appeals to my sense of simplicity and equity: I don't have to be "surprised" or worried about a large chunk of change that is being expected of me above and beyond the cruise fare, and I can be confident that the employees are well compensated.

Upon reflection, however, I'm not sure that would work in a culture such as the US where tipping is the norm. Calling something a "service charge" and making it mandatory removes the feeling of a tip that rewards good service. After all, when most of us see "service charge" on a room service bill, we're tend to think of it as the cost of ordering room service rather than a tip, so we go ahead and tip anyway -- maybe even paying a tip on the amount of the service charge! I have a feeling that the real purpose of NCL's mandatory "service charge" will be quickly forgotten, and many cruisers on that line will feel that they are expected to pay a gratuity on top of that. This would be nice for the wait staff, but perhaps difficult or even nickel and diming to customers.

With Disney's method, the tips are still a free choice, and thus maintain the feeling that they are a variable reward for good service -- a requirement for the American traveler. But, by making those gratuities automatic, Disney ensures that their employees will receive a proper level of recompense. Cruisers aren't double-charged, and employees' compensation is protected.

Now if only I could be sure that Disney's compensation calculates in those cruiser's who, through ignorance, cultural misunderstanding, or malice remove the gratuities.

Considering all the different cultures that sail with Disney, I think we should be gentle with folks who see tipping in a different light. While, in the case of DCL, those tips are vital, that may not be universally understood. I'd hate to have people jump down my throat if I asked them questions about *their culture when I didn't understand!

But that "large chunk of change" amount IS there for easy finding. There is no reason to be surprised and ample notice to budget for it. If including it in your budget for the cruise is causing "worry" then perhaps a less expensive vacation while money is saved so that the cruise can be comfortably financed would be a better plan of action.

 

[MUN]

I think DCL automatically included the tips a few years ago after they started sailing the Med and a number of European cruisers (where tipping isn't necessarily the norm) were not tipping.

 

[wilkeliza]

But that "large chunk of change" amount IS there for easy finding. There is no reason to be surprised and ample notice to budget for it. If including it in your budget for the cruise is causing "worry" then perhaps a less expensive vacation while money is saved so that the cruise can be comfortably financed would be a better plan of action.

I can't remember when booking does Disney inform people of the tips added to the account? Sure we can all act like coming here is super easy but a lot of people are going to go off of what is written when they book and could be surprised when they get on board. We actually met a couple on our second Disney cruise who assumed that "paid in full" meant just that and that shore excursions and such were counted in that number. They didn't budget for anything extra on board and quickly realized they only had enough to cover the tips and not souvenirs or excursions they had planned. They were thankfully Disney let them cancel everything with no penalty and when they told their story at dinner I was initially perplexed but then I realized if they read paid in full after someone else booked their excursions (so say husband does it and wife who is the budget keeper reads paid in full so assumes they are all paid up) there could easily be some confusion.

 

[DCSWO]

My humble opinion: The OP's first post on the board is to validate their decision to save a few bucks and stiff a top-rated staff. That's pretty sad.

 

[Aanna]

But that "large chunk of change" amount IS there for easy finding. There is no reason to be surprised and ample notice to budget for it. If including it in your budget for the cruise is causing "worry" then perhaps a less expensive vacation while money is saved so that the cruise can be comfortably financed would be a better plan of action.

On my WBTA, for 6 people the auto-gratuities come out to 10% extra on top of the cruise price. I did not realize that there were auto-gratuities added until several weeks after I booked the cruise -- and I am a research-intensive person. For someone who is *not* a researcher, who does not happen to read the fine print, and for whom a cruise is an aspirational vacation, yes, 10% DOES make a difference.

If you're rolling in enough dough that nearly $1,000 dollars disappearing from your vacation budget is no big deal, great. Not all of us are that lucky, and I refuse to look down on people who count their pennies twice but still want to see the world.

I will repeat, lest I be misinterpreted: tipping on DCL is vital. I will also say that people who ask questions on this board should not automatically be vilified. I'd encourage us to give folks the benefit of the doubt when it comes to ignorance vs. malice.

 

[undertheradar]

All I can add is that this is a sad thread. Tipping is part of cruise culture and if the OP does not want to tip, don't cruise!

 

[Msmit002]

OP = 2 total posts.

Troll?

 

[Aanna]

OP = 2 total posts.

Troll?

<sigh> If we wouldn't get all worked-up and angry over simple questions, we couldn't be trolled by things like this.

I feel like I'm in the minority with that opinion, though, so I'll just admit defeat.