Re: crew salaries on cruise ships
i am surprised at 2 things mentioned in this thread - (1) gratuities = on all my cruises - as was stated in the brochures - they gave a guideline - gratuity guidelines which was self explanatory - as well as a assessment card - which you completed at the end of the voyage - the second (2) staffing of cruise ships = 3rd world is the term i have picked up here - all my cruises had foreign crews on board from different nationalities - and i can say categorically - every single one of my cruises - which i have to add - were from different shipping lines - the staff were - friendly - polite and went out of their way to make your cruise enjoyable - i had a mixture of old and new cruise ship experiences - so can find a balance here - a good friend - who works on the oasis of the seas- a ship i am do not like for the record - has been with them for years - has a lot to say about some passenger behavior - and their treatment towards staff and crew alike - this space does not afford the time for me to go into details - i have seen and experienced this myself - and their are a lot of passengers from certain parts of the world - that make for bad cruises - including my own home country - with complaint after complaint about the smallest thing - for the record my first cruise ship was a disaster - Betsy Ross x Leda - she was delayed - broke down - and smelly - BUT the shipping line DID refund our total fare and flights and hotel bills for the duration of our stay before and after the cruise - PLEASE NOTE i am only sharing my own personal experiences - and in no way intend to offend any remarks of other members - refer to attachments of the assessment and gratuity cards - both my collections
Re: crew salaries on cruise ships
I would like to think that the crew were paid fair wages and that my ticket price reflected that , not an additional surcharge of tips needed to make the wages up ,
Re: crew salaries on cruise ships
Have never been able to understand why the Hotel / catering industry have always relied on genorosity by the customer for subsidising wages of its' staff, most have already paid a reasonable sum for the service, personally it becomes an annoyance. No other industry expects the customer to pay staff part of their wages in tip form to me it all comes down to greed by the owners of such services.
Re: crew salaries on cruise ships
I have to agree with all that you say Ken - what also annoys me is the dictatorial * guide * to how much you are expected to pay in gratuities and to whom and the fact that employers take a percentage of those aforesaid gratuities. Thankfully I do not partake in Cruises as I would find all that very annoying. If everyone was required to pay gratuities to everyone who served us, from Police, Fire, Ambulance, to Shopkeepers, Dentists and Doctors it would be totally unacceptable so WHY should the Restaurant / Bar Trade /Hotel services be any different to other services. Its about time it was stopped, after all you pay enough for what you get without the need to pay gratuities as well. I am all for giving a tip to someone who has been very helpful but thats about all, things need a changing and these greedy employers made to pay a proper wage.