Will expected tip amounts ever get this high?

[MKMomma]

Cruise line workers do not fall under the same rules as US workers. Their income is based solely on tips. No tip means no pay. If you don't want to tip then stay home and make your own food and scoop your own ice cream. It disgusts me when I see cruisers like you stand in line and remove their gratuities. You think they enjoy serving you and cleaning up your messes.

Read her post again. She never said she removed her gratuities, she said she adjusted them. Huge difference.

 

[ronandannette]

Cruise line workers do not fall under the same rules as US workers. Their income is based solely on tips. No tip means no pay. If you don't want to tip then stay home and make your own food and scoop your own ice cream. It disgusts me when I see cruisers like you stand in line and remove their gratuities. You think they enjoy serving you and cleaning up your messes.

Like you, I happen to know that yes, some categories of cruiseline staff make the large majority of their earnings from tips rather than salary, as per their contract with their employer. But why do you expect that everyone knows that? It certainly isn't printed in any of the glossy brochures or stated in any of the 1,000 or so loudspeaker announcements you hear on board. Maybe it should be, if it is so vital to the business model. Or maybe, in the interest of honesty, they should simply start referring to it as a "mandatory service charge" rather than "auto-gratuity". You needn't be so disgusted with customers who, given the propaganda the cruiselines promote so as not to tarnish their own images, have a mistaken idea of what the service charges are all about. God knows it's about time the cruiselines simply raised the prices to include the daily service charge, gave it to the staff, declared themselves to be "no tipping required" and abolished this entire farce.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Good to know you make "quite a bit of money". All the more reason I'm fine with tipping based on service and not a percentage.

Which is exactly why I never said how much. I personally, because of where I work and how much I work, make a lot. But I do well compared to a lot of others in the industry and there are a lot of people in the low end of income. But let me tell you I work very hard for my money. I've worked other jobs and know this is hard work.

Furthermore, people always say what they do is hard work so why don't they get tips… become a server if you're really butthurt about it. My guess is most people wouldn't be able to handle it.

There was no bar at this restaurant, and the waitress cleaned our table, not a bussboy. Our server kept her entire tip. Most restaurants do not do tip share in the area where I am because it results in a high turnover rate in servers.

Food runners? Host? Kitchen tip out? You have no idea what your server has to tip out.

Wrong. I got paid every 2 weeks and received a paycheck of around $80 (was paid $2.13/hr plus tips). While thats not a lot of money in itself, it was never $0. Saying things like that, in an effort to guilt trip others, doesn't work.

Wrong. A lot of my coworkers get $0 paychecks. The taxes they have make this so. And it's only $0 because our employer can't give us a negative paycheck. You should see tax time, it's bad for some servers, some owe A LOT. And where I work, minimum wage is $9.25. The only reason why I don't have $0 paychecks is because I work as an expeditor at least once a week (non-tipped, more than minimum wage).

I haven't seen a single person in this thread talk about it being ok to stiff a server as long as service was decent or better. Service, to many, is the complete experience and atmosphere. Either way, I bet there isn't a server breathing who would tell you to stay home rather than take your $5-$8 tip. So to all of you with the "you need to just stay home until you can tip more" attitudes.....WHO are you really hurting by suggesting that?

I would tell you that. Hands down. Given that a $5-8 tip is bad tip, like on a $100 bill for example. Because a $100 bill is something that took time, I had to serve you $100 worth of food and drink thus taking away time serving other tables in my section. You're also taking a table who would have tipped $20 on $100. Since you've occupied the table, someone else got that tip. So yeah, do not come into my restaurant. Stay home. My restaurant does enough business that we don't need someone who doesn't tip well. It hurts the morale of the server and may alter his/her service for the subsequent tables.

Lets also remember that for the servers who arent at the top of the food chain, and average minimum wage.....many of them (out of necessity) receive state medical coverage for themselves and their kids AND get a $3000-$7500 Earned Income Tax refund at tax time (if they have kids). Many wait staff are single parents and fall into this bracket. Im not saying anything is wrong with this. The system is there if they need it, and some do, but lets not forget their "total income". And a 20-25% tip versus a 10% tip isn't going to change their income enough to get them out of that bracket.

Don't assumer we're all the same. I pay for my insurance which is $200 a month and isn't subsided. I do no get an Earned Income Tax refund, and many servers owe a lot at tax time.

What I said is bolded. It just seems like you're looking for an excuse to be cheap. It's fine. Karma works wonders.

 

[mondragon]

Read her post again. She never said she removed her gratuities, she said she adjusted them. Huge difference.

Any food service (ie. someone serving her kid an ice cream cone) has a tip added. She stated that she removed it. Now that kid probably has to explain why it was removed to their supervisor. Who knows what else she had removed. Many of these workers are kids who use the money to support family back at home. I know NCL implemented a mandatory service fee per day. The problem is that cruisers like Eliza still go and fight to reduce/remove it.

 

[tvguy]

Cruise line workers do not fall under the same rules as US workers. Their income is based solely on tips. No tip means no pay. If you don't want to tip then stay home and make your own food and scoop your own ice cream. It disgusts me when I see cruisers like you stand in line and remove their gratuities. You think they enjoy serving you and cleaning up your messes.

Their income is not solely on tips. They get a salary, room and board, and round trip air fare from their home lands. Granted, by our standards, that salary is tiny, but often that salary is more than they would make in their home countries, and the tips give them a large income by their home nation standards.

 

[MKMomma]

So at the end of the cruise I had to go stand in line and make sure that the large % of my gratuity went to the cabin steward who actually took care of me and my family and not the kid behind the ice cream counter who simply made one lousy ice cream cone.

I don't see where she removed anything. She adjusted the tips so her room steward got more than the kid that made a ice cream cone.

 

[Dizlvr]

I just read how you should base your tip solely on the service you get, not on the actual food. Then why do are we using the food cost to determine the tip amount?
I just tip a standard 20% but I can see why someone would tip a set amount no matter what. For me to say they are undertipping is not right, I don't get to decide for them how much they have to tip.
There may be guidelines, but that is all they are guidelines, you are free to follow them and others are free not too. Shame on all you insulting those people, doing that kind of makes you no better of a person than how you think low tippers are.

 

[mondragon]

I don't see where she removed anything. She adjusted the tips so her room steward got more than the kid that made a ice cream cone.

How do you adjust tips on a room steward. They get a flat fee a day (about $3 per person per day) along with the busboy, waiter and maitre d. Bar services, I think specialty restaurants, ice cream shops, coffee shops and a few other places get the gratuity added. Not at the gift shops.

 

[okeydokey]

How do you adjust tips on a room steward. They get a flat fee a day (about $3 per person per day) along with the busboy, waiter and maitre d. Bar services, I think specialty restaurants, ice cream shops, coffee shops and a few other places get the gratuity added. Not at the gift shops.

You can go to guest services and have them remove or readjust tips. Notice the large line of cheap people the last day of a cruise removing their tips after enjoying the services all week. It's pathetic.

 

[mondragon]

You can go to guest services and have them remove or readjust tips. Notice the large line of cheap people the last day of a cruise removing their tips after enjoying the services all week. It's pathetic.

Yea lets spend thousands on a cruise and remove the tips. So cheap. These are the same people who probably steal the old used beach towels.

 

[gopher101]

You can go to guest services and have them remove or readjust tips. Notice the large line of cheap people the last day of a cruise removing their tips after enjoying the services all week. It's pathetic.

How do you know what they are doing? Maybe they paid for the trip with cash and need to pay it off. Or they might even want to increase their tips. Now, I am not saying that no one will do that, because some will, but you never know why they might be in that line. That is only one reason.

 

[gljvd]

What I said is bolded. It just seems like you're looking for an excuse to be cheap. It's fine. Karma works wonders.

Why is a $100 hard ?

If I go to a restaurant and I order 5 apps for $50 bucks or go out and get 5 entrees for $100. What is the difference to the server ?

Your bringing 5 plates of hot food out. Your going to have to come to my table the same amount either way.

The only place I tip a lot is at the all your can eat sushi place we go to , cause my friend and I are huge guys and can eat a lot of sushi. So we sometimes tip 40% and we are on the table for 2 horus or so.

But at a fast food restaurant ? there is no service difference between $50 and $100 if its an equal amount of food but at higher prices.

 

[kamik86]

My only issue with cruise tipping is that you can't adjust it for individual people. Most of the staff at my last cruise were amazing. If I was tipping them directly they would have been getting 20-25%. A few servers possibly even higher (like the amazing server we had in the specialty restaurant)

There was one host when you went in the dining rooms that gave us attitude because we were apparently in the wrong place. He was pretty rude. It was the first night and I hadn't realized yet that this dining room didn't become an "anytime" dining room until after a certain time, that we were supposed to use the one downstairs if we were eating earlier. Now there was another host behind him that said it was fine and we could just eat there (the place was pretty empty) however we would have had no problem going to the dining room if he just explained why we were in the wrong place (he didn't I figured it out from the planner I got later that night). The waitstaff this night weren't nearly as pleasant as all the other times either. We ate in the other dining room the rest of the trip and it was MUCH better. That place would have only gotten 10-15%.

The only other complaint was the ice cream bar. They had soft serve and milkshakes that were included in our drink package. They had stuff for caramel and strawberry milkshakes (you can see it through the glass with the other milkshake supplies and nothing else they serve would use it as its only soft serve and milkshakes). We saw two different servers there during our trip one male, one female. If you went when the male was serving you could get caramel and strawberry milkshakes no problem and he made each one to order for your group. If she was working she would make a big blender of vanilla a big blender of chocolate and would tell you they couldn't make caramel or strawberry... every single time. Oh except one where both were working and the guy said we could get a caramel and she had to make it. She would have not gotten a tip at all.

However due to the way cruise lines do tips with it being a daily charge my tips were spread out among everyone like they all gave the same level of service.

 

[ronandannette]

My only issue with cruise tipping is that you can't adjust it for individual people. Most of the staff at my last cruise were amazing. If I was tipping them directly they would have been getting 20-25%. A few servers possibly even higher (like the amazing server we had in the specialty restaurant)...

You are certainly "allowed" to tip extra, in cash, to anyone at any time. The problem is with the absurd concept of spinning the "daily service charges", (which apparently are the bulk of the income in some of the jobs) as a "gratuity". Although obviously some on this thread do not believe receiving tips or gratuities should be tied to actually providing some exemplary level of service, some (like me and maybe you) do. If the service charge was rolled into the fare and every staff member got their cut just for showing up, then tips could actually become tips again and if anybody bothered to ever go out of their way for you, you would naturally be more inclined to give them a reward.

See, what has been missing from this whole discussion is that most people, me included, are not disinclined to leave a nice tip as a thank-you for any service person who we feel has gone out of their way to earn it. The argument is that simply showing up shouldn't automatically entitle you to a 20% tip, regardless of how "standard" that expectation has become.

 

[kamik86]

You are certainly "allowed" to tip extra, in cash, to anyone at any time. The problem is with the absurd concept of spinning the "daily service charges", (which apparently are the bulk of the income in some of the jobs) as a "gratuity". Although obviously some on this thread do not believe receiving tips or gratuities should be tied to actually providing some exemplary level of service, some (like me and maybe you) do. If the service charge was rolled into the fare and every staff member got their cut just for showing up, then tips could actually become tips again and if anybody bothered to ever go out of their way for you, you would naturally be more inclined to give them a reward.

See, what has been missing from this whole discussion is that most people, me included, are not disinclined to leave a nice tip as a thank-you for any service person who we feel has gone out of their way to earn it. The argument is that simply showing up shouldn't automatically entitle you to a 20% tip, regardless of how "standard" that expectation has become.

Hmm that is a good point... honestly it was my first cruise so I didn't bring much cash and given that we never actually received a "bill" for anything on the ship besides drinks (the specialty dining was covered by a voucher we received as part of our booking promotion) it never occurred to me that I could do this and just leave some cash on the table for the server. Next time I'll make sure to bring some cash for this purpose. That at least will give me the ability to give a bit more for great service.

 

[undertheradar]

There is a simple solution for this cruise twist. Either cruise on the more expensive "all inclusive" cruise lines or don't cruise at all. The same goes for tipping in restaurants. If you don't like to tip, get take-out or cook at home. Attempting to justify not tipping or low tips by suggesting that the restaurants raise wages, thus the added cost would be passed along to customers via increased prices, is just another "Robin Hood" way of having others supplement what is a very inexpensive practice. If tipping is so disturbing to you, stay home, there are plenty of others who will eagerly fill that table and tip the staff.

 

[Disneyliscious]

You are certainly "allowed" to tip extra, in cash, to anyone at any time. The problem is with the absurd concept of spinning the "daily service charges", (which apparently are the bulk of the income in some of the jobs) as a "gratuity". Although obviously some on this thread do not believe receiving tips or gratuities should be tied to actually providing some exemplary level of service, some (like me and maybe you) do. If the service charge was rolled into the fare and every staff member got their cut just for showing up, then tips could actually become tips again and if anybody bothered to ever go out of their way for you, you would naturally be more inclined to give them a reward.

See, what has been missing from this whole discussion is that most people, me included, are not disinclined to leave a nice tip as a thank-you for any service person who we feel has gone out of their way to earn it. The argument is that simply showing up shouldn't automatically entitle you to a 20% tip, regardless of how "standard" that expectation has become.

Excellent way of putting it.

A tip should be considered a gesture from a patron that a nice job was done. It should not, under any circumstances, be expected. And again, for the server I gave a $100 bill to for a $91 meal....I'm sure she'd much rather have my $8 and change tip than for my party of 3 to not have ate at all. We had one app, 3 entrees, 3 drinks. No desserts. She walked to our table a total of 5 times (once to take drink/app order, once to deliver app, once to deliver drinks, once to deliver entrees, once to refill drinks and give the check). As she was walking by from another table I gave her the $100 and a check so no special trip was made. She earned about $1.70 per trip for walking to our table and setting our food down. Not too shabby. I deal in cash and never use my debit card at a restaurant. Dont have a credit card. My tips are always cash and its up to the server if they report it as income or not. If she reported it and was taxed 15% thats roughly $1.27 of her $8.50 tip which makes it a $7.23 tip for an hours "work" of bring food to my table. Thats now $1.45 per trip to my table. This restaurant was not a tip share restaurant. So even if she reported the income, she still made between $9.50 and $10 an hour for the hour I was there. I'm not concerned with paying for the hours other people are there.

 

[jrmasm]

Excellent way of putting it.

A tip should be considered a gesture from a patron that a nice job was done. It should not, under any circumstances, be expected. And again, for the server I gave a $100 bill to for a $91 meal....I'm sure she'd much rather have my $8 and change tip than for my party of 3 to not have ate at all. We had one app, 3 entrees, 3 drinks. No desserts. She walked to our table a total of 5 times (once to take drink/app order, once to deliver app, once to deliver drinks, once to deliver entrees, once to refill drinks and give the check). As she was walking by from another table I gave her the $100 and a check so no special trip was made. She earned about $1.70 per trip for walking to our table and setting our food down. Not too shabby. I deal in cash and never use my debit card at a restaurant. Dont have a credit card. My tips are always cash and its up to the server if they report it as income or not. If she reported it and was taxed 15% thats roughly $1.27 of her $8.50 tip which makes it a $7.23 tip for an hours "work" of bring food to my table. Thats now $1.45 per trip to my table. This restaurant was not a tip share restaurant. So even if she reported the income, she still made between $9.50 and $10 an hour for the hour I was there. I'm not concerned with paying for the hours other people are there.

I'm sure she would have rather had a different group of customers seated at that table.

 

[Disneyliscious]

I'm sure she would have rather had a different group of customers seated at that table.

Given the choice of an empty table or our party, I've no doubt she would prefer the tip she got over nothing at all. You can throw crass comments all you like but its not going to change my mind on tipping. I don't feel bad because -you- want me to. I earn my money like anyone else and am not going to throw it freely at a server just because people like you think I should. When a restaurant makes a percentage tip (or any tip) mandatory then I will choose to eat elsewhere. Until then, tipping is subjective and you'll just have to accept that

 

[jrmasm]

Given the choice of an empty table or our party, I've no doubt she would prefer the tip she got over nothing at all. You can throw crass comments all you like but its not going to change my mind on tipping. I don't feel bad because -you- want me to. I earn my money like anyone else and am not going to throw it freely at a server just because people like you think I should. When a restaurant makes a percentage tip (or any tip) mandatory then I will choose to eat elsewhere. Until then, tipping is subjective and you'll just have to accept that

Crass? Lol!! Um, no.

Do what you want but don't be shocked when people think you're cheap.