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Carnival Cruise Lines Tells Passengers to Tip More

Written by T.I. Cruiser on November 2, 2011 · 2 Comments

Those of you planning to sail on Carnival Cruise Lines in the future may be in for a little surprise. An announcement has been made that Carnival Cruise Lines has increased the suggested amount they would like passengers to tip by about 15 percent. Starting with passengers departing on or after December 1 Carnival will be asking passengers to pay $11.50 per person, per day; a raise of $1.50 per person per day.

While its not much an increase, no one likes a surprise that results in having to spend more money (even a paltry $10.50 per seven day cruise). At least this increase won’t affect those passengers who have prepaid their gratuities for sailings occurring beyond the December 1^st start date. Of course Carnival didn’t notify those passengers already booked on this cruises who hadn’t already pre-paid their gratuities, meaning they will need to pay the new amount. Great job Carnival, even though most people don’t need one you just gave people a reason to complain.

While no one likes to pay more for anything, personally I’m not ready to lambast Carnival for this move since they haven’t raised the auto-tip amount since 2001. It also seems that we have been getting a bargain for years since Carnival had been suggesting $10 per person per day compared to the $11.50+ that was being done on competing cruise lines.

Where does the new money go?

This increase should mean a raise for the cruise ship staff, but will it? I am skeptical of the extent to which these new monies will make it into the hands of the staff that I am used to tipping. With the old policy I knew exactly where my money was going; $5.50 for the headwaiter/waiter, $3.50 to the cabin steward and $1 for the assistant waiter/cooks. The new breakdown of how tips are split up and handed out isn’t quite as good. The new guidelines are as follows; $5.80 for dining room services, $3.70 to cabin services and $2 for alternative services. What the hell does, “alternative services” mean? When I desire for the Maitre D to receive a tip, I hand him one. I don’t need the cruise line slipping him any of my money if I don’t deem it necessary. The Maitre D may be a jerk and jerks don’t deserve tips (we all have rules we live by).

According to Carnival, alternative services can include unspecified members of kitchen, entertainment, guest services and members of hotel staff. Now, although it seems as if we are being kept in the dark on who is getting the extra it seems that “alternative services” is an umbrella large enough to fit anything from the guy who fixes the ice-maker to standoffish Romanian dancer who scowls as she sells bingo tickets. For all I know I could be pitching in for a private jet for John Heald. I’m not saying these people don’t deserve a raise or that John Heald shouldn’t have a private jet, My skepticism stems from not necessarily agreeing on where that money should come.

In the past I usually tipped a bit extra to those who I felt went above and beyond. Now, even with the increase if I want to make sure those people actually get taken care of I will still need to give them an additional tip. Although I am sure nothing is amiss, it just seems like communication could have been handled much better than the effort Carnival has put in. If I am being asked to tip I should be permitted to know exactly who the party is on the receiving end of that tip.

What can I do if I am against Carnival’s new suggested tipping guidelines?

If for some reason you are a member of that group of passengers so vehemently against this increase, you do have an option. Remember any passenger who wants to adjust the auto-tipping amount can have this done at the purser’s desk. So if it really bothers you, you could just turn the auto-tip off and cash tip any amount you see fit. It’s not an avenue I would personally recommend since there have been reports on some cruise lines of workers seeing the list of people who removed tipping and one should never risk upsetting the person that handles their food. Besides, the potential for abuse with people removing the auto-tip and not tipping at all is too great. That would be an even bigger crime than Carnival slipping in the increase under the cover of darkness.

Royal Caribbean Doesn’t Think Passengers Tip Enough

Written by T.I. Cruiser on December 10, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Okay Royal Caribbean didn’t necessarily say it like that, but what they meant was somewhere along those lines. What they actually are going to do is raise the recommended tipping guidelines, which are also the rates used for prepaid gratuities.

While I am sure that even though these are guidelines the mere suggestion of passengers needing to come out of pocket any more than we do will lead to much wailing and gnashing of the teeth; it’s really not as bad as my purposely sensationalistic headline makes it out to be. You have to remember that since these are merely recommendations neither Royal Caribbean, nor your head waiter is going to hold a gun to your head to force you to leave a big tip. I would also be remiss if I didn’t punctuate the fact that Royal Caribbean has some of the lowest tipping recommendations at sea and hasn’t raised them in over 13 years (where coincidentally they were amongst the highest).

Starting on sailings that begin on or after July 1, 2011 Royal Caribbean International will be raising its tipping recommendations by approximately 20 percent. Currently the cruise line offers a recommendation of 9.75 (per person per day) to those staying in standard cabins and 12 dollars for those staying in suites. The new recommendation will be 11.65 per passenger (per person per day) to those staying in standard cabins and 13.90 to those staying in suites.

I tend to cruise with one other person and we usually book an inside cabin in order to keep costs down. In the past (going by the guidelines) we would have had to tip 136.50 the new rates would come to 163.10 a difference of 26.50; a small price to pay for the usual great service.

When is a recommendation not a recommendation?

While some cruisers will spend a portion of their last day deliberating on how much they should tip, there will be a large percentage of those on board who will be unable to adjust their tips on the fly. Those guests who choose “My Time” dining are required to prepay their gratuities at the time of booking; these guests will be locked into the new rates. Additionally any passengers who are not “My Time” diners but chose to prepay gratuities will also have to pay the new suggested rate.

Now, before you go flooding Royal Caribbean’s in-box with angry emails there is one thing you have to remember. Even though for a large portion of Royal Caribbean passengers the auto-tipping rules will apply, a trip to the purser’s desk will allow you to adjust this amount either up or down. Just like in any other situation there will be times when you experience exemplary service and times where it will be below the line. Tipping is an incentive for those providing a service to go above and beyond you are not bound by these amounts, it is expected that your gratuity level will be in line with the service you receive.

Think Practical When Giving a Waiter or Steward a Gift?

Written by T.I. Cruiser on September 30, 2010 · Leave a Comment

When on a cruise there are typically two members of the crew that will forever occupy a place in your memory; your dining room waiter and your cabin steward. These are the guys who will address you by name (usually preceded by a Mr. or Miss), you will interact with them more than any other member and usually you will either thank or blame them for your onboard experience. While all of them receive extensive training, their abilities will usually range from average to spectacular. If you cruise enough I guarantee there will even be some that you talk about years after you have left them. A great cabin steward or waiter can indeed leave a lasting memory. This leads me to the question what is the best way to thank them?

Cabin stewards and waiters both get tips and while I will always encourage you tip add a little something extra when it is warranted, some cruisers go a bit further by giving a special gift to these crew members. These gifts very in size, shape and utility but are they even appropriate? My belief is that they really are neither useful nor practical.

While I usually do leave a bottle in the room for my cabin steward this is usually done for my own reasons rather than for their benefit; sometimes you just don’t feel like lugging that fourth bottle of rum back home with you. While this goes against what I am about to say, I do know that deep down in the bowels of the ship there are usually raging parties going on so I know those bottles will get used. Even if the crew member doesn’t drink they can give it away or trade it to someone who does drink. However, most non-consumable gifts really are more of a burden than a gift.

Crew members stay in small cabins with up to three other roomates making space a limiting factor. Due to this space issue giving away knick-knacks isn’t the best course of action. You all know how small cabins are on a cruise ship. Now imagine having to live in that cabin with 3 other people for a period of 9 months. While it doesn’t seem like a souvenir t-shirt would be that big of a deal imagine if a couple of passengers gave them away on each sailing. You could easily be looking at over 50 t-shirts added to the already scarce closet space; not a good scenario. The same could be said about knick-knacks such as magnets, snow globes, scale models of the Sears tower or just about anything else you can think of; the gesture will be appreciated but in the end its really just more clutter.

What gifts are okay to give a crew member?

There are some things that crew members will find useful that do not occupy much space. Things like pre-paid phone cards, personalized notes and of course cash will always be useful and appreciated. Best of all they take up hardly any space and will be used. My personal preference is cash wrapped in a personalized note. While anyone can open up a wallet and hand someone a wad of dough, taking the time out of your vacation to write a personalized note really goes a long way to showing just how much you valued the memories they helped to create.

Remember the bulk of the crew members signed on to make enough money to support a family back home or at the very least earn enough money to provide a better life for themselves. The thought behind giving someone a “gift” is great but in the end unless its something they can sell on eBay it really doesn’t help them accomplish their end goal.