when you booked your hoilday with the agent they should have asked you did you want the price to include gratuities if you opted not to then don't worry on the last night of the cruise you will recieve envelopes under your door and you can put inside whatever value you feel was right for you and you can then pass them to the people you felt gave you the best service but remember by doing this you are not giving to the people who also work as hard but not seen.
If you opt to pay the recommended amounts this will be added to your onboard account and then you will then recieve vouchers to give to the relevent staff members to claim back from their employers
one tip before you leave is to go onto the royal carribean website and register your booking online as this saves you waiting in long queues when you get there

I'm really confused about tipping spent an indecent amount of time in the departure hall last hols muttering stuff about if each steward worked 10 cabins each had two occupants giving the recommended amount of money in tips .... then do the same again for waiters. I never managed to finish the sum, but didn't have much trouble sleeping on the plane zzzzzzzzzz. Whatever the answer is, it seems an awful lot, more than I could hope to earn. But still I keep filling those envelopes.

This year we're booked on the Navigator. The brochure states you should tip the room service waiters each time they come to your cabin, but no indication as to how much. I guess £1 or a couple of dollars, but is it reasonable to tip more for breakfast say, than a couple of coffees? Please, any ideas anyone.

If i pay recommended £6 per person per day , on 10 day QE2 cruise ,total for 2 £120.I will be paying more than the cost of my flights for 2 Glasgow -Southampton return.
I think visit to purser is required.

Hi tidewatching

When we were on the Sea Princess in 2005, we tipped $1 for breakfast which was just croissants and coffee as that's what I'd read somewhere that you should tip, possibly on a US site.

luci

I would say 50p for room service should be adequate, which equates to around $1

Many thanks Luci and Magsi, I'll make sure to stock up on 50p's before we go - we're planning to be v lazy!

Chrissie

Sorry, Magsy

I know there is a lot of discussion regarding how much waiters and cabin stewards earn from their tip.
These tips are their wages and if the Cruise Companies paid them a living wage instead of either building the cost into the overall cruise price or advising the passengers how much they should pay.

You may not we aware of how much the staff are paid. Those who are front line staff receive $50 per month YES $50.
Those who work in the cafe kitchen laundry etc receive a higher wage but I don't know how much they are paid.
Your cabin steward then pays his assistant from the tips he receives from you.
This assistant may clean the toilets etc and on some lines you may not even be aware that he exists.
Also remember how many hours in the day they work and also that they work 7 days a week for the duration of each contract. Normally around 8 months.
Would we do their job. When I go to a restaurant I would not dream of leaving without a tip if I were happy with the service. Most of you will agree that on board ship these staff do a remarkable job. Do you think that to pay $3.50 + $2 total $5,50 which with the exchange rate is about £2.89.
Normally there would be a 10% or 15% on a restaurant bill in the UK and also remember that the waiters are serving breakfast and lunch as well as working in the Casual dining at mealtimes.
I know that there are people who save up hard for a holiday and these tips really stretch their budgets. I appreciate this but I just want to make people aware of what the reality is. Yes these staff can make a good living but at a huge cost. They are away from their home and family for prolonged periods. They also have the situation should they violate any regulations or have a complaint made against them they are immediately put off the ship. So job security is not guaranteed.

Just my views but I hope some food for thought.

Sue

Hi Sue,

I am wondering where exactly you got the information that a cabin steward earns $50 per month? This bears no relation to an article I read in the Cruise Critic forum which stated stewards earn between $1,600 - $2,600 per month, waiters $2000 - $3200 per month! The article also says that salaries for cruise ship employees are regulated by the International Transport Federation, as are working hours, minimum relaxation time, number and length of breaks etc. Don't forget that cruise staff have 'live in' positions including meals which is a cost those of us who earn land based salaries have!

You can read this article at: http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=261

It is written by the wife of a cruise ship captain who has also worked aboard cruise ships and is an interesting article.

The whole point of gratuities is that they are meant to be at the discretion of the customer, to reward staff for good service. They should not be obligatory! Most of us do not have a choice in bars aboard ships since most add 15% to all bar bills, which includes wine served in dining rooms usually.

I too wouldn't dream of not rewarding staff for good service, but NOT I might add in a restaurant which adds a service charge to the bill!

I recently returned from a cruise where the recommended gratuities (as advised to the cruise line by the Berlitz guide)were £2 per passenger per day for cabin stewards and waiters, each.

I believe cabin staff usually have 20 cabins to look after and there are usually 2 people per cabin. If you do the calculation based on the £2 figure, each steward receives £560 in gratuities per week (£29,120pa) Add on their salaries and they are earning a decent crust!

Personally I wouldn't want to spend 8 months a year away from my family but that is their choice.

I agree Magsy and will definatly be going to the Pursers desk!!
I will tip for above average service, I expect good!

Hi Magsy,

Thank you for your post. I have just lost a fairly lengthy post I have written regarding the crew wages.
It is now 23.55hrs and so I will write again tomorrow. All I will say that despite what this Captain's wife has said what I have stated is absolutely true. She is obviously talking about what they earn from their tips + their
lowly wage. It would not be in her interest to write what the reality as the wife of a Ship Captain.
This information did not come from the crew in these positions but from people who are in the highest position on Cruise Ships.

There are numerous articles on the web regarding from this from Legal and Social/Economical sources I have read to night that as these ships are registered abroad they avoid the US Law restrictions. What really shocked me more tonight is that Cruise Companies are making hundreds of thousands donations to the US congress in Washington just so the law won't be changed and go against them. Totally immoral.

All these articles quote the $50-$80 per month for people such as waiters and cabin stewards. I read something new in that Celebrity charge $7 a week for breakages even if the have broken nothing. I could go on and on. The people who at fault here are the Shipping companies and the crew are just trying to hold down a job to support not just their own family but also their extended family.

I am not very computer literate and so am not sure how to cut and paste the web sites for you. This is how I lost the first post! However I just typed in Cruise ship wages. Also looked at job adverts and the wages quoted all said depends on the tips received for passengers.

Global Policy social economic forum
High Seas low wages working on cruise ships
Cruise ships run on desperation
For cruise ship jobs much toil little protection.

You will read a lot about how even before these crew either get a job or start a job the debt they have to go into to get a job in the first place. A story about a woman who jumped overboard in Vancouver as she was having to leave the company and she was still paying this loan back.

I just didn't know how bad things were until I read some of these articles and now I feel very guilty about aiding and abeting these companies to exploit their workers.

Better get to bed. Hope this is taken in the spirit it is meant just to draw people's attention to the facts.

Sue

Hi Sue,
I will type in the same search criteria and have a look!
I did know about the premium some ships crew pay to get jobs in the first place, which is a disgrace.

Thanks Magsy for your advice on how to paste an email address to an article. Will try it later. About to do the ironing.

I was very shocked to read about the Mafia type culture in one of these articles.
The waiter pays the Restaurant manager for the best tables. The waiters pay the kitchen staff for quicker service with their orders.
The Cabin Stewards and Restaurant staff pay the Laundry staff for getting their laundry faster. and this includes their uniforms.
Then staff pay others to help them with their task because the workload is so heavy
and so on and on. Terrible!
Also the money paid for an interview loans from the Cruise Company which then ties them to the Company. Loan them money for their fares etc.
Numerous cases of Lawyers have gone to court on Crew behalf and also the IT? organisation who are trying to get better deals for their members but difficult.
Shocking and I have really shocked myself by what I have read. I agree totally that staff should be paid a decent wage and that crew should not be so fearful about losing their means of living. If they did this there would be no need for all this pressure to pay tips. The crew member would then have whatever you gave them as extra and they would appreciate that you thought them worthy of tipping.

Depressing me and I go off on the 17th March for 16 night cruise Fort Lauderdale back to Southampton on Millennium. Made some friends on Cruise critic roll call. I think that we now have 74 signed up for the CC connections party.

Speak to you later.

Sue

Tidewatch---

See you are on Navigator, which sailing are you on. We have booked the 19th May Italian delights cruise. Don't seem to be much interest on this from anyone though it is pretty well fully booked.

Regarding our tips we prepaid on booking which saved a fair bit on paying at the end of the cruise. £70 a week for the two of us instead of around £98 pw.

I have heard that the staff can and do check up on any cabins that have cancelled their gratuities, so might not get that fluffy towel animal at night or the loo roll changed!

As far as car parking we got the free parking offer so are travelling down the day before and have booked overnight in a lodge near the docks.

Apologies in advance if this is a silly question and I know there are a lot of threads regarding the topic of onboard tipping, (who, when, how much etc.) but as there does seem to be varying policies am I correct in thinking that as a general rule:-

1/ If you have prepaid your tips you are under no obligation to tip anyone extra but if you feel you have received good service from individuals you can drop them a dollar, (pound,euro, zlote or whatever) or two as you go along?

2/ You will have 15% service charge added to your bar bill everytime you fancy a Harvey Wallbanger or a Pink Lady?

3/ If you have 'pre-paid' , the intended recipents will receive their gratuities and will know that you have 'pre-paid' and will not just think you are a tight wad and accidentally drop your breakfast croissant on the floor or leave your chocolate inside the bed instead of on the pilllow?

Alan, 1 is true (but don't forget that tipping is never an obligation in my opinion) 2 is also correct. I do not know the answer to 3.

What we tend to do is opt out of pre-paid and tip those that deserve it rather than tipping those who deserve it as well as those who don't (which I believe is what pre-paid is).

Gerry

Thanks Gerry,

Must admit although I have nothing against tipping and I'm sure the service on the particular cruiseline you know myself and Mrs SC are looking at will be very good I would prefer to tip a bit more to those I know have continually provided a good service.

Guess the flip side to that is there may be people 'behind the scenes' who also do a good job but you don't see them so often and so they might miss out if they normally get their tips from 'prepaids'-I don't really understand how it works in practice which is partly the reason for my questions.

(PS- have sent you a PM re the Soltice price)

I think part of the problem here is that there's a difference in how the concept of tipping is understood in the US and UK/Ireland. My take is that there is a belief here that tipping is a reward for exceptional service that goes over and above what's expected, whereas in the US, it's seen as an obligatory service charge. I understand none of the three "mass market" UK lines (Thomson, Island, OV) make tipping recommendations, but instead include them in the cost of the cruise, and I suspect that's recognition of the cultural difference. I don't know the policy with P&O or Cunard, so can't comment.

We have pre-paid our tips on our upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise, and will tip extra on the final night if it is deserved . The bottom line is I think Sue is spot on with her perspective earlier in the thread - the 'tips' are effectively the crew's wages, and they are distributed more widely than the guidelines would suggest. I think that perhaps the most honest of the cruiselines is NCL, which says describes the money taken from your account as a service charge for general distribution, rather than specifying individual crew members' ratios. This is obviously a side effect of the freestyle model.

In my own head, I draw a clear distinction between tips and gratuities. Tips are the crew's wages which I feel obliged to pay (and, incidentally wish were incorporated into the cost of the cruise), gratuities are discretionary gestures to recognise exceptional service which I may choose to offer if deserved.

Oh how I wish things were different. This is a topic that runs and runs. No easy solution to the problem.

Sue