Gratuities

[Glan Phillips]

It would be better if the cruise companies just paid a decent wage , and gratuities were voluntary extra payments to me . The cost of the cruise is what the company charges . the gratuity is what I would pay for exceptional service . Why mix the two ?. Does this really get shared amongst the deckhands and the non front of house crew as implied . I cannot imagine tipping the quartermaster or the donkeyman , because I had a good trip . I still regard this as a cover up for paying slave wages to crewmen . We fought for decent wages for seafarers , regardless of nationality years ago , now we support their exploitation by paying carnival cruises good money to treat them like unpaid serfs .

Sorry guys , I know that a lot of you like cruises , but I just cannot go along with the theory of this one

Regards

Rob

Rob....you are spot on, gratuities are something you should be able to pay for exeptional service. During my 15 years as master of cruise ships, gratuities were paid to hotel dept. staff (dining room and bar waiters), and of course cabin stewards.
Almost all cruise lines adopt the $50 per month basic pay for dining room waiters, bar waiters and cabin stewards, they have to depend on gratuities to make a decent living.
They are also required to complete a 12 months contract before being entitled to vacation. It does boil down to the fact that fare paying passengers pay crew wages......nothing but slave labor....carnival are major culprits in this game.

Cheers,
Glan........

[happy daze john in oz]

Rob mate with you all the way on this one. But here is the mad part, many cruises now give an on board credit depending on when you book and the type of cabin you choose. On this last one we got a $302 credit off our final account! I had not paid any gratuities apart from private ones so that total came off my bar account reducing it to $1700 for the trip. But I would much rather the cruise companies just set a fair and decent wage and a fair and decent rate for the cruise.

[robpage]

I never got a bar account up to $1700 Aus John and I was an Engineer with Union Castle . I tried a couple off times though !

[jimmys]

The beer I buy up here is about $15Aus per case. $1700 Aus would buy me over100 cases, enough for a nice little party.
I was Chief Engineer on a passenger ship the Amerikanis and I dont think I heard tips mentioned once. I was on her for six months and I never got one dollar. Cruising in the Caribbean, I dont think I spent a drunk day in six months. Six months was enough no more passenger ships. Somebody told the better half the ships nickname was the loveboat. You should have heard her.
Back to tankers my ghoollies were a lot safer.

regards
jimmy

[Graham Payne]

Rob
I have to agree with you 100%, the only reason I tip is because of the ( Low Pay they are alleged to receive ) and the GOOD service I receive ?? I did not know Deck & Engine room crew were supposed to be included, "don't know" but I find this hard to believe going on my experiance as a AB, I maybe wrong though?
Please would someone with knowledge inform me RE the 'mid 60s rates of pay I.E. the difference between an AB and Bedroom Steward/Waiter. Someone out there knows.

[Graham Payne]

John
my last bill Bar on "Aurora" for 14 nights was around £1200 but that was the wife on Large "Bombay Gin & Tonics" and the odd tour, nothing to do with me whatsoever ( had a good time though)

[Neville Roberts]

the rate of pay in the mid 60,s was 59 pound a month for stewards ie., waiters and other catering crew, wich in those days was equal too about $180 dollars ,thats before overtime and sundays at sea and 1 day a month extra ,so to us waiters at that time tips were a big add on too our pay, of course only the yanks were used too tipping and that was mainly new yorkers ,or the metropolitan area of NYC the rest of the country was hit or miss, once I emigrated too NYC tips were considered something like a comission on sales, every day was a challenge, to see how much we could make in a day

[robpage]

In John's post #1 he wrote

"I was unable to find out exactly where all the money goes but was assured by the assistant Purser that much of it goes to those behind the scenes, galley, deck etc? "

I just think that the assistant purser was very lenient with the truth , I cannot imagine that Deck and to that extent non front of house people get a penny . I would love to believe that they did . The other word there from John's post " much of it " where does the rest go ?


From ilovecruises Nov2010

HERE’S a guide to the tipping guidelines and policies on cruise ships.
“Envelopes” means you’ll find a selection of envelopes in your cabin on the penultimate night of the cruise, usually marked “waiter”, “cabin steward” and “maitre d’” . You’re meant to discreetly hand them out on the last night.
“Automatic” means the tips will be charged to your onboard account automatically. In most cases you can go to the purser’s desk to have the amount altered or removed – but beware, they’ll want to know why and the crew members you’re not tipping might have to explain how they let you down.
“No tipping” means the tips are already taken care of in the up-front fare, and the crew’s wages are adjusted upwards accordingly. While most crew still aren’t likely to refuse if you offer them a little extra, it’s frowned upon by the “No tips” cruiselines.
However they work it, tips form an essential part of the wages for most crew members.

Azamara Club Cruises – No tipping.
Carnival Cruise Line – $10 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Celebrity Cruises - $11.50 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Cruise & Maritime – £5 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Crystal Cruises – $11 per day recommended, envelopes.
Costa Cruises – €7 per day, automatic, not variable.
Cunard Line - $11 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Disney Cruise Line - $11 per day recommended, envelopes.
Fred Olsen – £4 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Holland America Line - $11 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Island Cruises – No tipping.
Louis Cruise Line – €8 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
MSC Cruises – €7 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Norwegian Cruise Line – $12 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Oceania Cruises – $12.50 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
P&O Cruises – £3.10 per day recommended, envelopes (plus £1.60 per day automatic for Freedom Dining passengers).
Princess Cruises – $10.50 per day, automatic, variable at purser’s desk.
Regent Seven Seas – No tipping.
Royal Caribbean – $9.75 per day recommended, envelopes (but must be pre-paid by My Time Dining passengers). Rises to $11.65 per day from July 1, 2011.
Saga Cruises – No tipping.
Seabourn Cruise Line– No tipping.
Silversea – No tipping.
Spirit of Adventure – No tipping.
Star Clippers – $8 per day recommended, envelopes.
Swan Hellenic – No tipping.
Thomson Cruises – No tipping.
Voyages of Discovery – No tipping.
Voyages to Antiquity – No tipping.

[happy daze john in oz]

Having recovered now from our Christmas/new Year cruise I have had time to look through some of the papers I brought back. I will quote on 'Tipping' from the Welcome Aboard sheet given to all who sail.

'During your cruise, you will meet many members of our staff( note they do not refer to crew members) in a variety of locations as they provide you with excellent service. Additional, many more staff behind the scenes support those who serve you directly. To save you the worry of who to tip and how much, Princess make it easier for you to reward excellent service by automatically adding a discretionary hotel charge of $ 10AU per passenger for all over the age of 13 to your shipboard account.
The hotel and dinning charge will be shared amounts those staff who helped provide and support your cruise experience, including the wait staff, stateroom stewards (BR in our day) and housekeeping staff, buffet stewards, food production staff, laundry staff and others. Casino and Lotus Spa personnel do not share in the hotel and dinning charge as not all passengers utilize these services'.

One thing that did impress me with Princess Cruises was the lifeboat drill for passengers. The most comprehensive I have ever undertaken even as a crew member, so well organized with all muster stations well marked and all persons in charge of life boats, three seniors to each, were English speaking and introduced to the passengers of each boat to which they were allocated. The captain, a Canadian, ran what I believed was a very tight ship and it showed in the efficient professional manner in which all the crew worked. It is also a very happy ship.

It is for this reason I decline to take part in the compulsory tipping but do give to the BR and table waiters. From May 1st due to so many complaints by customers from Oz all automatic tipping will cease. I was told by one passenger, a solicitor from Melbourne, that the process is in fact in his opinion illegal!

The hours now worked are something almost out of the dark ages, if I recall the N.U.S. fought for a 40 hour week with Sundays at sea etc. Our BR was on duty seven days a week from 0630 to 1330 and then from 1730 to 2130, that is 11 hours a day or 77 per week. Dinning saloon may often work more depending on how fast they can get you in and out and bar staff even longer. Bars open from about 10 and do not close until midnight. By the time they clean up it could well be a 12 hour day. Night gang who clean the public areas and galley turn to at 2000 and go until 0800 next morning with a 30 minute meal break.
Most are from what many would call 3rd world countries, Filipinos, Indonesia, China, India, Romania, Kosovo, Chile, Serbia, while most officers appear to be English, Canadian, Italian or American. Senior positions such as Purser, Cruise director, child care, general entertainment crew all appear to be English. Got talking with one officer who said he was from Birmingham, I said Alabama, he said no, U.K.

Royal Caribbean is now the worlds largest cruise company and also has the largest ship,' Oasis of the seas' , with another of 160,000 tons on order. P&O appear to be the second largest but here in Oz they tend to operate to a price not a standard and I am not keen on them , nor are many more from the comments I have heard. Princess Cruise with 17 ships and two on order are the third largest. They began way back in the 70's with one ship. For those of you who watch television may recall 'The Love Boat' the Sea Witch, that was their first ship.

However if the cruise companies were to pay FULL rates I doubt very few would be able to afford the fare. Most crew members I spoke to were happy with their lot as they were so much better off than if they had stayed in their own country. One bar waiter from Serbia told me that at the end of his first six month contract he will have earned enough to buy his dream motorbike when he goes home, something that would have taken him over two years had he not gone to sea. That appears to be the case with so many of the crew, exploitation it may well be, and I am complicit in it, as is any one who takes a cruise. But I will continue to cruise and tip those I consider worthy of it which will always be the BR and saloon waiters at the least.

The other thing that impressed me was the lifeboat drill for all passengers prior to sailing. The most comprehensive drill I have ever attended even as a crew member. Each muster station has an allocated lifeboat with three English speaking personnel in charge of each boat.

[Richard Quartermaine]

In January 1947 I signed I signed on with Port Line as saloon boy for 5 pounds per month plus 5 pounds per month war bonus. In August 1947 I signed on SS&A as galley boy (scullion) for 11 pounds per month as the war bonus was then scrapped as such but added in. Can't remember the Asst Stewards rate in the very early fifties but after a six months voyage I used to get a wad of about 20 big white beautifully scrolled 5 pound notes. Crikey! I thought I was a millionaire (for a short while).

As for tips, you can't go past "be kind to your mother".

Richard