travel4425

My dad and i are going on a 11 day cruise in march. I guess i had not noticed, but my dad brought it to my attention that we were each charged and paid for gratuites for the cruise. $126 each! This is my first cruise so i dont know if this is the norm. Should I have had a choice in this matter or is this just a fee i have to pay for like taxes?

jacketwatch

Weird. Tips are usually added a the rate of ariund $10.00 per person per day per cabin so that figure is correct but I've never prepaid them. Its always added on to you ship board bill and thats done on a daily basis. How did you book this cruise?

qwovadis

Common policy to pay per diem tip not as common to have
to prepay it but pretty much the norm these days for most
ships before and after. Crystal Seabourn some other upscales
have no tipping policies but much higher entry prices.Consider
it a prepaid fee and pay it.I do not recall prepaying on any cruise I have been on. On one Princess cruise that had a problem was not charged at all so might check with your ship
line for specifics on policies.Odds are they will let you pay after if you squawk about it.

P_M

I would never pre-pay for tips. On every cruise I've taken I always received excellent service so I tipped accordingly, however if tips are pre-paid then you are tipping the same whether the service is good or bad. IMO it defeats the purpose, as a tip is a reward for good service.

travel4425

I booked through a travel agent that i use all the time. I just e-mailed her to ask why. I dont mind tipping, however i just dont want to tip twice by pre paying and then having the cruise line ding me again. I cant imagine any service being that great!!!

JP

From the Celebrity web site:

For your convenience, we will automatically add gratuities for your restaurant and stateroom services to your onboard SeaPass® account on a daily basis in the following amounts, which may be adjusted at your discretion: $11.50 per person per day for guests in staterooms ($12.00 per person per day for guests in Concierge Class and AquaClass® staterooms and $15.00 per person per day for guests in Suites).

Frank

All mass market cruise lines add automatic tips to your bill, generally on the first day of the cruise. Some add it on a daily basis as the cruise progresses. Prepaying tips isn't neccessary but some people like to pay as much in advance and this way you have a smaller bill at the end of the cruise. We've done both and they both work fine.

Keep in mind that you will be charged additional tips for bar tabs. Also many people tip a small additional amount to their cabin steward or waiter if the service warrants it.

KVR

It's amazing how the industry has gotten away from tipping for good service to be it being a customary upfront charge.

There is so much controversy on this issue, but I personally feel it's just another charge they add on like all their other fees.

If they would just make it a part of the overall cruise charge and not an extra, I think most people would deal with it better. I would.

Just another reason why I prefer AI land vacations over cruising.

Frank

KVR: Don't you have to tip the bus driver and tour guide on land tours?

The staff on cruises make so little money that tipping was always pretty much mandatory. The auto tipping eliminates the need to stuff envelopes with tips on the last night of the cruise. Auto tipping has been around for pretty much the past 10 years and we like the convenience. The tip amount is pretty modest usually $10-$12 per day, we always add an additional tip for the cabin steward. Since we always do anytime dining we don't tip additional to the waiter since we have a different waiter each evening.

jacketwatch

I read that part of the reason for auto tips besides convenience is that, sadly, many people would just not tip at all. They would skip the last night in the MDR just to avoid it.

P_M

Frank, if I'm reading this correctly KVR is talking about All Inclusive stays at a resort, not a tour.

jacketwatch, it is sad that some people don't tip at all. I usually go above the standard tip but that probably doesn't make a dent in all they lose for being stiffed.

jacketwatch

It is sad folks would do that. Then of course there's an entirely different POV which says wages should be increased so as to make tipping unnecessary. Just ask an Aussie about this. On our last cruise in Oct. we had dinner on the ship w/ Sassafrass and our very own the dogster who is from Down Under. Well its their belief that wages should be higher to afford folks decent money so they don't have to rely on tips. There have been several intense discussions on cruise critic about this and a few here as well.

KVR

Frank, yes, I'm talking about the resort, not land tours. Even on a cruise you have to tip land tour operators when off the ship and in port.


"The staff on cruises make so little money that tipping was always pretty much mandatory."

My point exactly, just add the extra to the overall cost of the cruise and provide the staff with better earnings. Tipping should be for excelled service and given to the staff member that it is deserving. Not gathered and pooled amoung staff I have never even meet much less dealt with.

Tipping should never be mandoratoy and making cruise passengers tip beforehand because they don't pay their employees enough of a wage is not a good, valid reason. People shouldn't have to depend on tips to make a decent wage, and the industry should not make their patrons shell out excess money to meet thier empolyees wage earnings. The whole point of tipping someone in the first place has far out reached it's original purpose.

I do pay the auto charged mandatory tips when we cruise. I'm just saying I don't like it and the whole process should be changed. It's purpose is not the correct intent.

travel4425

I called Celebrity cruise to ask why i was charged the $126 PP and they said they couldn’t say since i had booked through a travel agent and I would have to ask her. Ok folks, here is what my Travel agent said. Tell me if this makes sense.....

"The tips are charged upfront so they reflect on your account right away. I didn’t know they would show up until you go to the ship though. They don’t put them each day they put the total for the entire cruise. You can leave them as is and it will be charged to your card(s) or you can decline to pay that way and pay cash at the end to those you want to tip. I think you have to wait until the day or 2 before the end of the cruise to do it that way though"

jacketwatch

Baloney. My tips always have shown up on the ship board acct. or in other words NOT on the bill before embarkation and they show up daily as a per diem charge. Tell that TA to get them taken off. They automatically go on your ship board acct. once you embark. BTW did the TA give you any gratuity such as an on board credit or free trip insurance?

thursdaysd

I'm not a cruiser, but I've been hanging out on cruisecritic a bit recently reading the Costa threads, and saw some posts that said Australians were charged tips as part of their initial bill, not on board. Something to do with Oz law?

jacketwatch

Aussies have to book thru agencies over there and they are charge more, a lot morethan us in the USA. Its not Oz law, its the cruise line policy.

dogster

thursday; that's with cruises from out of Oz. It takes into account the delicate sensitivities of Australians on this tipping matter. We think this obsession with giving your money away completely bizarre.

To state the obvious - when on a cruise or land excusion - you dont HAVE to tip at all. It's a <i>choice</i>, not an obligation.

If you look at the fine print, you can have a prepaid tip removed from your bill any time. I've met a number of people so incensed with shoddy service they did just that.

On a shore excursion, I'm amazed at people tipping the bus driver, for example. He gets paid to drive a bus. Quite how his service can be 'over and above' is beyond me. By not crashing, I suppose.

I've yet to meet a shore-excursion tour guide that I wasn't pleased to see the back of by the end of the day. Most of them I'd gladly pay money to be rid of, that's about it. It's for passengers like me that tour buses have a back door.

On board, we Aussies struggle with a system that underpays staff. I rather like the Azamara 'no-tipping' policy - and I don't. That's the deal the cruise line and I agreed on, I'm simply honoring my part of it.

Sorry guys, but I don't give a rat's doodle whether the staff is underpaid or overpaid - that's their business, not mine. I don't care whether they have a family of fourteen waiting children, a cowq and three dogs -thats their choice, not mine. I don't care whether they think I'm a mean-spirited curmudgeon - 'cos I'll never see them again. All I care about is whether the food, the surroundings and service are good. If all three pass the test, it's just possible that dogster will open his cobwebbed wallet and issue magnificence to the sobbing waiters.

On a cruise Mr. Dogster will tip when he damn well feels like it. Not because he's expected to. Not because he's asked to. Not because in America they tip everything that moves. Not because everyone else does - but because I <i>choose</i> to.

It seems that peer-group pressure drives this exchange - that and the particular employment conditions in the hospitality industry in the States. Well Dorothy, we ain't in Kansas anymore. This little Aussie blowfly never was, so please don't judge us based on some distant tribal custom you've allowed to prevail in your tiny neck of the woods. Actually, there are many more people in the world who think that tipping is about as dumb as you can get.

'Why give your money away?' they laugh, rolling their eyes, searching the horizon for another touring Yank... 'cos without Americans, this whole issue just wouldn't have infected tourist zones around the world.

Ahh, I feel much better now. I'll just pop out to dinner [I'm in Siem Reap]. I might even tip the waiter; maybe round out the bill to make me feel good...

Or I might not.

Frank

"I rather like the Azamara 'no-tipping' policy - and I don't. That's the deal the cruise line and I agreed on, I'm simply honoring my part of it."

Azamara also costs alot more upfront than the mass market lines.

You are going to pay one way or the other and Americans like a bargain, so the cruise lines offer an initial low price and than count on all the extras including tips. Just like the airlines now charge for luggage, food, better seats, headphones, etc.

As the ad says; "Pay me now or Pay me later!"

KVR: I don't consider a cruise and an all inclusive resort as comparable. With a cruise you can see the world, Europe, Asia, Panama Canal, Alaska, Hawaii, South America, etc. With an all inclusive resort you only see the swimming pool.

KVR

Dogster, I agree with a lot of what you have said. Tipping has become a staple instead of it's intended purpose to reward exceptional service. If it was ever not considered customary it would not hurt my feelings one bit.

Frank, I couldn't disagree with you more. I see so much more than a swimming pool on AI land vacations. You are more than welcome to view my travel site as proof. Another yet inaccurate preconcieved comment about AI vacations with no valid basis.

I do agree though that cruising and AI land vacation are not comparable. I'm not intersted in turning this thread in to AI haters vs. cruise lovers. They both have their good points and bad points, and I do both types of vacations.