Still Confused About Tipping

[Pooch]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

Only if you are corrupt! 

If someone handles my bags for me, they get a tip.  This includes shuttle drivers and porters.

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 minutes ago, Blulady said:

We have discussed the tipping issue so much in our family and this is the plan we have put in place.  Please note - I am an extreme budgeter (by that, I don't mean cheap, I just like to make sure all my ducks are in a row).

1. We always prepay the gratuities - we have our TA add them on to our invoice and we have them paid off w/ final payment.  By doing this, I can cross them off my budget sheet and they are done and dusted - then, I forget about them and pretend they never happened.  The reason I treat them as if they never happened:  The amount is so small when you divide it up among all the people who make me feel like a princess for the week.

2.  I decide what I feel each service I receive is worth to me from a tipping standpoint.  Here's our values based on 2 people with the UDP & DBP:  Lunch - $10, Dinner - $20-25, Bartenders - usually around $1/ drink, Cabin Steward - $100-150, Porter at the pier - $10, Cabana Attendant on Coco Cay - $100.

My tip budget for a 7 day cruise is around $500 to make sure I have enough cash on hand.

 

 

We must be sisters.  Same exact scheme.

[Ray]

10 minutes ago, Pooch said:

If someone handles my bags for me, they get a tip.  This includes shuttle drivers and porters.

point i was making was that it was mentioned that money had to be given to stop your luggage ending up in the water, thats then not a tip but a bribe and is corrupt even by African standards. 

And yes i agree if i use a service i tip but i wont be blackmailed into giving cash 

[Pooch]

10 minutes ago, Ray said:

point i was making was that it was mentioned that money had to be given to stop your luggage ending up in the water, thats then not a tip but a bribe and is corrupt even by African standards. 

And yes i agree if i use a service i tip but i wont be blackmailed into giving cash 

I think you are taking the reference to saving your luggage from the briny sea too literally.

[Riley]

Couple of points as this is always a robust topic:

- The casino or guest services can usually break down $20s into smaller bills. I usually carry about $20 in singles and the rest in $10s and $20s to break down as needed. 

- You can also ask guest services to add an explicit tip: I ran out of cash so visited the desk and asked them to charge me an additional amount to be paid directly to my cabin steward. They had no problem with that. 

- Totally agree with the comment to note folks who have provided great service and be sure to call them out on the survey. The staff have meetings where good comments are read out and they are recognized, just like any other service group. This is also helpful in staff getting raises and promotions.

- I don't prepay gratuities as if something ever really blew up I'd have flexibility on the ship to rectify it or remove that portion, but I usually leave the daily amount alone and tip on top of it. On a 7-day cruise for the two of us I usually tip $20 to $30 for the waiter, $10 to $20 for the assistant, $1 per set of drinks to the bar staff ( we are a high enough level we don't pay for most drinks so there's no 18% added) and $30 to $40 for the cabin steward. On occasion I have tipped more, or (for someone like a head waiter or concierge who went above and beyond and who don't ordinarily get tipped out) offered a $20 handshake at the end of the cruise.  

[Ray]

4 hours ago, Pooch said:

I think you are taking the reference to saving your luggage from the briny sea too literally.

What so its not true? They dont throw your baggae in the water if they dont get $$$$ 

So why say it happens? Or was it just a case of being billy big balls bragging about how much wonga gets splashed ? 

[Pooch]

Well I’m not sure I understand your post but I think the comment about bags in the drink was hyperbole.  I don’t think anyone actually believes porters throw bags overboard.  It’s called using exaggeration to make a point, the point being TIP THE PORTERS.  It’s a position that relies on tips.

[burbuja0512]

3 hours ago, Riley said:

Couple of points as this is always a robust topic:

- The casino or guest services can usually break down $20s into smaller bills. I usually carry about $20 in singles and the rest in $10s and $20s to break down as needed. 

- You can also ask guest services to add an explicit tip: I ran out of cash so visited the desk and asked them to charge me an additional amount to be paid directly to my cabin steward. They had no problem with that. 

- Totally agree with the comment to note folks who have provided great service and be sure to call them out on the survey. The staff have meetings where good comments are read out and they are recognized, just like any other service group. This is also helpful in staff getting raises and promotions.

- I don't prepay gratuities as if something ever really blew up I'd have flexibility on the ship to rectify it or remove that portion, but I usually leave the daily amount alone and tip on top of it. On a 7-day cruise for the two of us I usually tip $20 to $30 for the waiter, $10 to $20 for the assistant, $1 per set of drinks to the bar staff ( we are a high enough level we don't pay for most drinks so there's no 18% added) and $30 to $40 for the cabin steward. On occasion I have tipped more, or (for someone like a head waiter or concierge who went above and beyond and who don't ordinarily get tipped out) offered a $20 handshake at the end of the cruise.  

Will I always have the same waiter at the MDR?  That would make it a lot easier to just tip them in the same way I would tip the room steward.

[tonyfsu21]

5 hours ago, Ray said:

point i was making was that it was mentioned that money had to be given to stop your luggage ending up in the water, thats then not a tip but a bribe and is corrupt even by African standards. 

And yes i agree if i use a service i tip but i wont be blackmailed into giving cash 

Yes, I was very obviously joking. 

[tonyfsu21]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

What so its not true? They dont throw your baggae in the water if they dont get $$$$ 

So why say it happens? Or was it just a case of being billy big balls bragging about how much wonga gets splashed ? 

No, they don’t toss your bags and no I am not “billy big balls” whatever that means. 

[Pooch]

And what is wonga and how does it get splashed??

[tonyfsu21]

7 minutes ago, Pooch said:

And what is wonga and how does it get splashed??

Haha! That’s a great question! I thought maybe I was just not keyed into something that everyone else knew. That’s officially a word I’ve never heard. Maybe Willie Wonka? 

[ScottishRobbie]

Considering the topic of the original post, I guess this is probably the best place for me to ask this as, living in Australia, I am entirely confused about and don't understand about the entire tipping culture. I'm beginning to plan for a trip to the US in a few years that will be centred around cruising. Here in Australia, tipping is something that never happens. To be totally honest, morally I feel that tipping should not be mandatory and is something that should be entirely at the passengers discretion, however I appreciate that it is so ingrained in the culture in the USA that, whether I agree with it or not, it's something that I would have to do.

My questions would mainly be - Who should we give tips to? I understand porters, room attendants, bartenders, waiters etc. all rely on/require tips. How much/how big of a tip should we give them? How much should we budget for per night of a cruise? Regarding which staff get tips, who de we not tip? Room attendants get tipped for servicing your room, waiters and bartenders for serving your food/drinks, however presumably, we don't tip the Cruise Director because we enjoyed the entertainment or the captain because the ship didn't crash, so at which level/seniority of the crew do we stop tipping?

[tonyfsu21]

9 minutes ago, ScottishRobbie said:

Considering the topic of the original post, I guess this is probably the best place for me to ask this as, living in Australia, I am entirely confused about and don't understand about the entire tipping culture. I'm beginning to plan for a trip to the US in a few years that will be centred around cruising. Here in Australia, tipping is something that never happens. To be totally honest, morally I feel that tipping should not be mandatory and is something that should be entirely at the passengers discretion, however I appreciate that it is so ingrained in the culture in the USA that, whether I agree with it or not, it's something that I would have to do.

My questions would mainly be - Who should we give tips to? I understand porters, room attendants, bartenders, waiters etc. all rely on/require tips. How much/how big of a tip should we give them? How much should we budget for per night of a cruise? Regarding which staff get tips, who de we not tip? Room attendants get tipped for servicing your room, waiters and bartenders for serving your food/drinks, however presumably, we don't tip the Cruise Director because we enjoyed the entertainment or the captain because the ship didn't crash, so at which level/seniority of the crew do we stop tipping?

This is a question that will generate a whole range of answers. To put it as easy as possible I would say:

Auto gratuity per day covers room attendant and main dining room wait staff. If you find a waiter goes above & beyond then on the last day add (enter discretionary amount here) into envelope and hand it to them as an extra thank you. Same goes for room attendant. Personally we add between $100-$200 for room attendant and usually $100 if we end up using the main dining room in place of speciality dining. If you choose not to add any extra then the bare minimum daily gratuity will at least cover you.

Bar drinks, speciality dining exc: 18% automatically added to drinks and speciality dining. You don’t have to add anything if you don’t want to. Normally when I find a bartender I like I will tip extra (like maybe $1-$2 per drink) and if a speciality dining server is able to make it through a meal with my kids and their food preferences exc I will normally add $50+ to the 18% which is excessive. 
 

Porters at the terminal: $2 per bag is average, $5 per bag great, $10 per bag probably excessive. My wife and kids pack the house so $10 per bag is the least I can do to take care of the porter who has to handle those bags.

 

shore excursions: normally in the islands we tip $10 per person after an excursion. That’s totally optional but appreciated. I would say this would be the only time you will feel kind of pressured to tip. 
 

Note: everything mentioned above is discretionary and it’s the straightest answer I can give from our experiences. Hope this helps. 

[Matt]

 

[Bill S]

For those not familiar with tipping:

First:  Americans are NOT "used to" the automatic gratuity added. This is a BS resort area thing.  I remember the first time I ran into it, in the Bahamas, in the 70s. I thought it was a crock then, and still do. Automatic gratuities are not "tipping", they are just a separate, hidden, line item to ping tourists with. It does nothing to reward good performance, as those who perform above and beyond get the same "tip" as those that do nothing.   Now I'll step down off of my soapbox.

Second: TIPPING some believe the origin is "To Insure Promptness", is rewarding someone for good service.  As such, it's an incentive. And I am wholly and completely in on that. During the pandemic, our tip rate in restaurants has been in the 40-60% range, with good service.  Typical is 15-20%. Here in the US, so many service people were paid to stay home, we rewarded those who actually worked.  So, in the US, if you just assume that service workers (other than retail and fast food) have no income other than tips, you will be just fine.  Tip them based on an hourly rate (it took them 5 minutes, at $30 an hour, that's $3).   Anyway, I generally spread a lot of 5s and 10s around on the ship.

[Mike.s]

On 2/14/2022 at 10:00 PM, Pooch said:

And what is wonga and how does it get splashed??

Wonga is a UK slang term for cash, another UK term is splashing the cash, meaning spending a lot of it.

[Riley]

On 2/14/2022 at 3:25 PM, burbuja0512 said:

Will I always have the same waiter at the MDR?  That would make it a lot easier to just tip them in the same way I would tip the room steward.

Yes, if you have a regular dining session (the 5 pm seating, for example, rather than whenever - even if you're "My Time" you can set the same time and table, just request it from the host your first day). You will have a regular table and the wait staff has set sections.

[burbuja0512]

3 hours ago, Riley said:

Yes, if you have a regular dining session (the 5 pm seating, for example, rather than whenever - even if you're "My Time" you can set the same time and table, just request it from the host your first day). You will have a regular table and the wait staff has set sections.

This is really helpful and a great idea.  Thank you!!

[LCinPDX]

Our first cruise was last August when the ship was full of staff, but not cruisers.  We did the pre-paid gratuity and tried to be very generous to staff at bars and tipped our room steward and MDR staff a chunk at the end.  The service was incredible and we wanted them to know it!

[Censored]

I tip for drinks all day. I give cash$$$ to my room steward. I tip cash to my server at dinner.

I do not pre pay anything and not ashamed to say so.

[ChrisK2793]

7 hours ago, Eddy said:

I tip for drinks all day. I give cash$$$ to my room steward. I tip cash to my server at dinner.

I do not pre pay anything and not ashamed to say so.

I’m starting to rethink doing the pre-paids myself.  We’ve been on Symphony since Saturday and thanks to this thread ….. this is the first cruise where  I’ve kept track of what we’ve been giving out on our own in cash tips …….. between room stewards, suite concierge, bartenders, specialty dining servers, and a few others we’re at over $900 in cash tips above the pre-paids….. and at least I know the people actually got the tips, I handed out because really I have no idea what they end up getting from Royal out of the pre-paids, ….. maybe it’s only pennies on the dollar, especially after taxes are taken out as well as what Royal may or may not keep out of the pre-paids.

 

[smokeybandit]

8 minutes ago, ChrisK2793 said:

we’re at over $900 in cash tips above the pre-paids

[Censored]

7 hours ago, ChrisK2793 said:

I’m starting to rethink doing the pre-paids myself.  We’ve been on Symphony since Saturday and thanks to this thread ….. this is the first cruise where  I’ve kept track of what we’ve been giving out on our own in cash tips …….. between room stewards, suite concierge, bartenders, specialty dining servers, and a few others we’re at over $900 in cash tips above the pre-paids….. and at least I know the people actually got the tips, I handed out because really I have no idea what they end up getting from Royal out of the pre-paids, ….. maybe it’s only pennies on the dollar, especially after taxes are taken out as well as what Royal may or may not keep out of the pre-paids.

 

I dont know what kind of service you are getting , but that sounds very very high.  If you are getting your hair done, or spa services , then perhaps, but for simple dining and cleaning your room and drinks?   You are high. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If you have money to burn and appreciate the staff and have a philanthropist  spirit in you then knock yourself out.  Note that some luxury cruise lines include tips , so if your tip level is up near $2,000 then perhaps that money should go toward that kind of cruise? just sayin    

[tonyfsu21]

Can we differentiate “pre-paid” gratuities vs Auto Gratuities? Both are the same. I believe what most are referring to are the auto deducted daily gratuities per person which can either be pre paid before the cruise departs or added daily to the sea pass account. Personally I think gratuities should added and anything above in beyond should be paid on cash. RC should be more clear on where that tip money gets dispersed though. 

[ChrisK2793]

7 hours ago, Eddy said:

I dont know what kind of service you are getting , but that sounds very very high.  If you are getting your hair done, or spa services , then perhaps, but for simple dining and cleaning your room and drinks?   You are high. Not that there is anything wrong with that. If you have money to burn and appreciate the staff and have a philanthropist  spirit in you then knock yourself out.  Note that some luxury cruise lines include tips , so if your tip level is up near $2,000 then perhaps that money should go toward that kind of cruise? just sayin    

We were just in a Crown Loft suite and in those you have 2 stateroom attendants who we always give between 200 and 250 each for the week ….. so that was a big chunk of it.

We have a 10 year old son and all our friends who travel with us also have kids in the same age range …… so I don’t think any of the luxury lines would be fun for the kids and probably not for us either.

We would like to try Celebrity Beyond though!

[tonyfsu21]

2 hours ago, ChrisK2793 said:

We were just in a Crown Loft suite and in those you have 2 stateroom attendants who we always give between 200 and 250 each for the week ….. so that was a big chunk of it.

We have a 10 year old son and all our friends who travel with us also have kids in the same age range …… so I don’t think any of the luxury lines would be fun for the kids and probably not for us either.

We would like to try Celebrity Beyond though!

You tip both the main attendant & the assistant? We have stayed in CLS a number of times and I guess I never really thought much of this since the main attendant was always the one who was the face of the operation and greeted my family. 

[ChrisK2793]

32 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

You tip both the main attendant & the assistant? We have stayed in CLS a number of times and I guess I never really thought much of this since the main attendant was always the one who was the face of the operation and greeted my family. 

Yes, we usually end up talking to both of them a lot in the hallway throughout the cruise and getting to know them ….. they both also seem to share the work equally when we’ve come back while they were in the room.