tipping

i read once somewhere that you should tip the cabin steward $20-40 when you first get on as a little extra to their regular tip (since i like to ask for 2 extra blankets and pillows as soon as i get on) and you will get extra good service. i have done this 3 times so far and to tell you the truth i don't think the service was any better than when i didn't do this. in fact, on the norwegian majesty in september the service was the worst i've ever had. so what do you people do - tip extra in the beginning, just tip regularly at the end? any suggestions? Pat

Pat...I only do that if I have some special needs/services we are needing. If not...I won't pre-tip. I have...and had mixed results as well. Maybe they figured it was the only tip he'd get...and concentrated on his other staterooms...

that's what i thought that they thought $40 was their tip so they gave me the worst service. i said it was extra but didnt' do a thing for me.

Pat...
I truly believe it's happened to me. They thought they got paid, and maybe it wasn't what they wanted and cut service accordingly!

I had left the AUTO TIPS in place, and gave that upfront...as extra. At least...that was my intention!

From THEN ON...anytime I tipped extra....I made them know it was in ADDITION to my regular tip for them!

i think on my last cruise the guy didn't even understand me and i don't think he was our cabin steward. i think i just tipped some crew walking in the hallway that didn't understand me. LOL. i just said to my husband tonight i am not tipping anybody up front. if the guy brings me my extra blankets and pillows right away i will tip him something extra and make sure he/she understands it's 'extra'. but i'm not tipping until i get something not like i usually get on and tip the cabin steward then ask for blankets, etc.

I like when you talk to someone....and they are smiling...but you know they don't understand but they nod yes anyway....

That's going to be me in Germany, Slovokia, Netherlands, and Hungary this summer!

on our cruise to hawaii, i ask for a lawn chair for my balcony, he got me one, i loved to sleep out on the balcony and i tipped him a 20 for doing that, it was worth it to me to have one for 15 days to relax on, other than that i just don't tip,

darlene wrote:

on our cruise to hawaii, i ask for a lawn chair for my balcony, he got me one, i loved to sleep out on the balcony and i tipped him a 20 for doing that, it was worth it to me to have one for 15 days to relax on, other than that i just don't tip,

you tip...whaddya talkin' about! There are automatic tips on your shipboard account.

Well surely the tipping at the end of the cruise is only automatic if you agree to it ? I would never dream of not doing it anyway since I have never had anything but great service on all my three cruises.

I do tip additionally for each drink.
I assumed everyone did just like in a bar ?

NDJollyMon wrote:

I like when you talk to someone....and they are smiling...but you know they don't understand but they nod yes anyway....

That's going to be me in Germany, Slovokia, Netherlands, and Hungary this summer!

and thats like me with the people(they are Vietnamese) that do my nails..........the other day,she asked me if I wanted my nails square...I tried to explain how I wanted them and she gave me a blank stare(she did not understand one word)............I just say whatever..............hahaha


Back on topic..we gave extra tip once upfront(for extra ice that we wanted everyday).......didnt do any good.............never again..

Iv had two bad cabin stewards. The last one on Voyager was in her 3rd week of work I think and said because RCL put her cabin all the way forward, she was sea sick until Noon every day. Needless to say we didn't get very good service. I dont think I would tip when I first got on. This gal, probably a extra tip wouldnt have helped if she was feeling so sick she couldnt work until the afternoon, she wasn't getting her regular stuff done.

Maybe wait and see?

you tip additionally for each drink? that's something i don't do because they add a 15% gratuity to it. in a bar they don't add the gratuity. just never thought about it i guess.

I also tip extra on top of that 15%...........usually we tip 20% for most services...........waiters dont know we think their service was horrible if we give them only 15%!!

If I build a fun relationship...or get served by the same server/bartender...I tip extra.
On one cruise, a bar server came to the dining room each night and asked if we wanted a bar drink. The first 2 nights I ordered a Corona. He just brought one to the table each night without even asking the other nights. Needless to say...he earned a big tip on the last night.

We usually tip extra for bar service, it does help them keeping them coming around more often. On our Polar Bear cruise we were having friends/relatives in to view the glacier. Asked our steward "Dui" to make sure we had plenty of ice that day. He did a great job, but every day thereafter brought us 2 additional VERY LARGE buckets of ice. After the third day, we asked him to just bring the usual. He was great and was duly rewarded.

We would tip extra for meals served in the room.

Never tipped in advance though and from has been said here we never will.

lordoftime wrote:

Well surely the tipping at the end of the cruise is only automatic if you agree to it ? I would never dream of not doing it anyway since I have never had anything but great service on all my three cruises.

I do tip additionally for each drink.
I assumed everyone did just like in a bar ?

On most cruise lines the tips are automatic unless you specifically remove them. Gratuity is also added to the price of drinks automatically, so if you add a tip, you are double tipping.

While on this subject, I have to share a story.
My wife and I were on one of our annual Fall cruises (I forget which one, but it was on Carnival). I was in the gift shop and overheard some "lady" (I use that term loosely) ask the clerk where she had to go to remove the tips for the waiters, as she had not eaten in the dining room the entire cruise, but only ate at the buffets on the Lido deck.

Well, being the butt-in-ski that I can be sometimes, I layed into her. I said, just because you didn't go to the main dining room is no reason to remove those tips. That spot was ready and waiting for you each and every night of the cruise. Those waiters were prepared to serve you, even if you only went one night. Further, I'll bet you didn't leave any tips for the people getting you drinks at the Lido deck or cleaning your tables for you either. You're just cheap and want to deprive these low-paid workers what is really coming to them.

When I quit, the crowd that had gathered started applauding. She didn't say anything and just slipped away with a red face. I'll bet she removed the tips anyway, to cover her bar bill or gambling losses.

That's really how some people act when it comes to tipping for service.
Those tips go to a lot more people than waiters/waitresses besides.
Sad.

on my first cruise they didn't add them on to your bill. you had to bring them in envelopes. one lady at our table on the last night didn't bring hers and she said oh i'll get it later and find the waiters. i embarrassed her in front of everyone into going back to her cabin and getting it. those people work so hard and they count on that money for their families that they left behind for months.

On RCL it was paid from our onboard account, but they gave certificates in envelopes representing the amounts so that you could give them directly to the members of crew and say thanks at the same tame , and you could add some extra cash for exceptional service which we did for the cabin attendant.

On Royal Caribbean you have to ask to have the tips added to your onboard account, then they will give you vouchers to hand out. You usually have until about 48 hours before the last day, to have them added to your account. We normally do that, so I don't have to save to much cash. If we've had really good service, I will add some cash to the envelope with the voucher.

I've never tipped with cash in advance ... but when we did our first 14 night cruise (Panama Canal transit) we knew we'd be "taxing" our on poor room steward. We had a group of 21 people in 8 rooms, and our room steward had 4 of those rooms (and 10 of the people).

So we planned in advance and brought her some gifts and gave them to her at the beginning of the trip ... each room gave her something ... be it a 2lb box of chocolate (that she was thrilled about sharing with her fellow crew members), a bag full of goodies, a Target gift card, etc.

She almost started to cry. And we had some of the BEST service ever.

And yes we tipped her at the end of the cruise (more than the standard suggested amount). We never factored in the gifts as part of the tips. And by not giving her cash upfront, we didn't risk the chance that she thought that was all she was going to get.

I think allowing you to add them onto your account will someday be a way for them to tax those people. In one way it's good that they probably get a tip from everyone but in another way they somehow then have a record of what they got. How come in the casino if you hit a jackpot over $1200 and you're American you get a 1099 but if you're not American you don't?

Susan, I like the idea of little gifts, especially if you are part of a large group. It doesn't cost that much and it makes the recipient feel very special.

I too have never tipped in advance.

thanks susan, i think i will do that for my trip next month.