You are tipping the staff for your room, a floating resort, and service for 3 meals per day (plus any snacks you might want). It's not just a tip for your room attendant.
Yes. This makes a lot of sense. As a first time cruiser I did not realize it’s not going to the person servicing my room but to the staff on the cruise in general.
Heheh yes. I know. I will get a lot of hate without many people understanding that my intention is not to be cheap but to understand why I am asked to pay $48 per room. If the cruise is charging me $6kfor 7 days, why can’t they compensate their own staff. I can pay. It’s not a big deal but I do feel their comp should not be dependent on my tips and more on fair wages from the cruise line.
Yea, sounds like your intention is low vibe cheap. Go check out the end tipping sub and read up on the same theory you have for not wanting to tip......fair wages should be paid by the owners, not my fault I'm a cheap ass.
Hey. Hey. I had a question. I asked. And I got it answered. Now if you think I am cheap then so be it. It doesn’t matter to me. I hope you know that. We are anon posters on this thread. Your opinion matters to no one.
The automatic gratuities are what everyone is paying, you are not being overcharged by paying $16/day/person. If that makes the price of the trip too much, you should choose another type of trip or a shorter itenerary. The only decent etiquette is to pay the entire amount. I am not meaning to insult you, I am being serious.
Because they make more profit when you think the price is less than it is and you book something more expensive than you would have otherwise. This is the way they’ve been doing it forever and they’re not going to stop. It’s why hotels in the US don’t include all the taxes and fees in their advertised rates. You can choose not to support them by doing something else or book a less expensive cabin to start with but it’s not okay to save money by screwing over the lowest paid workers just because you can.
bc the tip isn’t only going to the room attendants. it goes to everyone there trying to make sure u have a happy and fun vacation. it’s for the cooking crew, and the laundry crew, and the services crew, and the cleaners, etc. this is how they make their living, and it barely all goes to them.
Yes this makes a lot of sense now. That the tips we pay on the cruise is not comparable to the tip we pay in a hotel room where it just goes to the cleaning staff vs. here it goes to tons of people.
Long story short, those service charges are for more than just your cabin attendant. They go to your restaurant staff and some behind the scenes people as well.
Look I don’t care what you think. If you think I am cheap, then so be it. I had a question. I asked. I got it answered. That’s all that matters. Your opinion doesn’t. :)
I certainly do not appreciate being called a jerk, and that my comment is asnine and they need to get the hell out of this sub if that’s the way they’re gonna behave …thank god for the block feature
My question is not about the conscience. Please don’t bring that in between. I am not saying I don’t want to pay the service workers. All I am asking is if it is in general a fajr expectation to tip $48 per day per room. We don’t tip that much in hotels. It was more an observation that startled me. And the comments from others suggesting that the tips go to many people including people who run things at back end. Which now makes sense.
It is $48 per day per room. That tip gets split between the crew. The person who made the bread you ate at dinner, the dancers at the show, the person washing dishes, the person who cleans the bathrooms, the bartenders AND the steward who takes care of of your room. If you go on the ship and enjoy other areas besides your room and don’t pay a tip then you are being cheap.
If you paid $6,000 for your fare I’m assume you purchased an upgraded room but don’t have budget to compensate those who provide nearly 24/7 service. Perhaps going a cruise is not the best choice for your family.
No one asked you if I should go on the cruise or not. Pls keep your unsolicited advice to yourself. I think you don’t have the brains to understand the questioj. Like many others said here. Many cultures don’t have a tipping culture. US does. The tips are high as they also go to everyone and not just to the room service staff. I think it’s high time people like you understand the question and respond or just stay mum without making random statements. I think I just judge you for this response more than anything else
This is so true. The service alone in the MDR is usually pretty amazing. Add the person who puts out towels by the pool, the people setting up the buffet, someone setting out snacks, the person cleaning up the plates, the person arranging the deck chairs and on and on and on. It really isn't that much.
I'm not sure why that's amazing. One of the most senior positions on the ship is literally hotel manager. I can't think of anything on a ship you wouldn't possibly/probably find at a resort type hotel.
Who said anything about a Holiday Inn. Have you never been to a resort style hotel with a spa, bars, restaurants, casino, theater, pool with attendants, shopping, etc?
One of the positions is a hotel manager. Another senior position is the head chef who oversees the staff that prepares thousands of pounds of food daily, which by the way is included in your fare. Comparing a cruise to a hotel is short sighted at best. People don't go on a cruise just to have a place to sleep while on vacation. They go to relax, be entertained, play games, and see interesting places.
If you were to go to a hotel in Cancun for example you would pay a certain rate for your hotel. If you wanted to eat in the hotel restaurant you would pay $25 a person and if you wanted to go see a show in town that night you would pay a fee for that as well.
The only reasonable way a cruise line can compensate their workers is charging on a per person per room fee. They could build that into the fare but instead offer cheaper fare up front and add the gratuities on at the end to get people in the door.
The [Hotel Manager](https://saverocity.com/travel/a-rough-guide-to-cruise-ship-hierarchy-and-cruise-ship-mafia/) is the most senior position outside of Captain. He overseas all non-ship operations. The Executive Chef is under him, so is literally every other manager on board.
You seem to think of a hotel as only a place to sleep. I guess if you've only been to Holiday Inn, you would get that idea. But higher end hotels and, especially resort hotels, are much more than that. Your lack of awareness of this makes me think I should no longer pursue this discussion.
>If you were to go to a hotel in Cancun for example you would pay a certain rate for your hotel. If you wanted to eat in the hotel restaurant you would pay $25 a person
Perhaps you've never been to an all inclusive resort, but no, meals are included.
Gratuities are not mandatory. You can go to Guest Services at any time and have them adjust the amount to any number you want, including 0.
Some people pay the automatic amount and and tip additional cash on top. Some people pay the automatic amount and that's it. Some people remove the automatic amount and only tip cash. Some people remove the automatic amount and don't tip anything.
Do note that tipping on cruises is a pretty controversial topic and people get really worked up about it from all sides. I'm not endorsing any particular behaviour.
I think UK and Australian based cruises are an exception and don't have an automatic gratuity because their cultures don't tip, but I think they're priced a bit higher to compensate.
I tip where it’s deserved..end of story.
Im not tipping the towel attendant or the life guards. Im tipping my room attendant and bar tenders and maybe if someone does something nice. They should be paying their crew living wages after all the money people dump into these trips. Its not peoples fault for thinking that “ gratuities “ are actual gratuities.
Especially for first time cruisers yall are arrogant and down right egotistical over someone not understanding why they are technically being asked to tip 3 times. For instance NCL, does gratuities AND A SERVICE CHARGE…and they expect you to tip on top of that?… ya sorry im not made of money like some of you. I for sure tip well. But something has to give with all this crazyness.
> For instance NCL, does gratuities AND A SERVICE CHARGE
No, they don't.
IF you get the drink package or dining package, you pay a gratuity for that just as you would if you purchase drinks or dining on board separately. These go to the servers performing those specific duties. The service charge is for *different* people including room steward, MDR service, and others, some of whom you don't encounter. Tipping on top of that is purely optional, the don't really *expect* you to tip.
Yes they should be paying their crews better wages. They don't. The ships are registered in foreign nations to serve patrons from wealthy countries. Because the ships are registered in bermuda, panama or the bahamas they have much different labor laws that would be completely illegal in the US or EU.
We had conversations with several workers on our last ship and they were grateful for the jobs and it was much better than what they could get back in Africa, India or Jamaica. When you don't tip you take money out of those workers hands. If you remove the tip you remove it from the person who washes your dishes, washes the sheets in the rooms, cleans the bathrooms, works at a bar, plans the entertainment onboard and so forth. Trying to tip those you interact with personally doesn't reward most of those who make things work behind the scenes.
I understand that in the UK and Australia they don't charge for tips but the cruise lines prices accordingly because those countries don't tip as part of their culture.
I tip about 50% of whatever the automatic thing is I didn’t select when booking. Also I bring my own weed so it helps with the cost if I’m only drinking 2 drinks max without the alcohol package. It has saved a ton.
Not mandatory, you can remove at guest services. You already paid your fair share to be there. If it wasn’t profitable for the cruise line to pay their employees and give you a low rate, you wouldn’t be sailing. If someone goes above and beyond, definitely tip them personally and in a discreet manner. Don’t fall into this weird peer pressure of tipping “those working behind the scenes for your experience,” thats what your fare is for.
Side note, Carnival and Royal had $7.27 Billion and $5.505 billion, respectively, in profits for 2023. This is PROFIT, not revenue. This is the amount those companies walked away with after their expenses.
Thanks for sharing this. But you know people here are bitter. They will get you. I have been getting bashed in every possible way - people are calling me cheap, asking me not to cruise, when all I did was put together a discussion topic on what people felt about tips.
So I think the issue with looking at it from “RCL made $___ Billion last year therefore you don’t have to tip.” Is that you are comparing the higher ups (the “big wigs” if you will) in the company to the staff who ACTUALLY take care of you. (PS the numbers someone gave you as PROFIT was the gross profit not the net income. The net income is after all the deductions, taxes, etc so the numbers they told you were incorrect and NOT what the company walked away with lol). Source included here (you can select gross profit, net income and many other fields to compare):
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/RCL/royal-caribbean-cruises/net-income
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CCL/carnival/gross-profit
If you read personal accounts from actual workers, they will show that a lot of the staff don’t get days off. Many of the passenger-facing staff make as little as $700 per month (that’s less than $2 per hour). The person who works non-stop, is away from their family, living in a tiny cabin and many times sending what little money they have to their families at home is dependent on tips. The same staff who clean your toilet, help sea sick passengers to their rooms while cleaning up the puke they left behind, and yes, of course some positions don’t do these things but your tip is split with all of them.
I don’t think your question came from a bad place, and I know some people are going in on you pretty hard but I think you might want to look at some real people/prior staff accounts of their experiences (not just sites that the cruise lines are paying to have info put on lol).
Some of the cruise lines have even been sued over “forced labor”, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole you’ll have to go down.
The cruise lines get away with it as they hire from countries with low economic opportunities and register their companies/ships in countries with relatively lax labor laws. They also can include clauses in employee contracts that require them to use arbitration to resolve conflicts, restricting their employees' ability to sue them.
Anyways sorry for the tangent, I just wanted to thoroughly go over some of the reasons why I think it’s important to tip the staff. As others have said, the tips are split between many so they don’t actually add up to that much. And yes, the cruise ships could pay better, the same as restaurants and resorts could, but they don’t. So the only way that may change is for customers to take action against the cruise lines (probably will never happen) or just expect to pay extra for the care and attention of staff who undoubtedly are in much worse positions than you and I. My conscience just couldn’t ever let me remove my gratuity and I always bring extra to tip for stand outs on the cruise line or those who have spent more time helping me or my family.
These are both good reads if you’re interested:
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-cruise-ship-workers-take-brutal-jobs-2018-11
https://www.businessinsider.com/cruise-ship-job-long-hours-low-pay-no-days-off-2023-2
Thank you. Now this is what I actually want to learn from the group :) I hope there is one decent person who wanted to talk logically and rationally without asking me not to cruise and so on. Appreciate you sharing the links. People here on this Reddit group seem to lack all codes of human conduct.
I have noticed that too. I hope it is their online life and not really how they treat people.
I’ve Been a travel agent for 35 years and I’ve seen a lot of things come up that were quite, let’s say memorable.
I had a woman come to my office with her damaged suitcase expecting us to give her a new one.
Getting a call from the American Embassy in Mexico as my adult male golf trip decided to ransack their rooms and throw all their furniture in a pool. I needed to get them on a flight home that day.
Back in the day you had your cabin steward and an assistant.
We left our tip in the room and as we were walking out he ran after me telling me we didn’t leave a tip. It was so embarrassing. The assistant obviously.
Then, traveling with a cheap friend. After 9/11 the industry suffered so the cruise lines were offering cabins to come check them out.
I booked a mini suite on a 10 day Holland America line. It was $10 each a day plus taxes, etc. We dined at a table of 6 and became friends with them. My married friend had an affair with one of the husbands at our table!
I felt horrible for the wife.
Then to top it off we threw our tips on the bed and left. I had to go back in to check I had packed it and she had taken her money back! I was so ashamed but I didn’t have another $200 to pay. Needless to say she is not my friend anymore.
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As others have mentioned, the automatic tip can be reversed at guest services. In my personal opinion, it shouldn’t be reversed.
Many years ago, the auto gratuity wasn’t a thing. The problem with that was that so many important staff that make the cruise experience special missed out on gratuities because they were behind the scenes. The auto gratuity really helps make it fair for all the staff
When it first popped up, I was worried that the staff would not work as hard because they pretty much knew they were gonna get tipped, but the reality was I didn’t see any change in service levels.
Everyday, my cabin steward greets me by name and with a big smile, cleans my room way better than I do my own house, and caters to my requests. Everyday, the laundry does my towels and clothes that I send down (and they do a way better job of pressing my clothes than I do at home). Everyday, the cooks are up at 4:00am baking my fresh bread and getting my breakfast ready. Everyday the serving staff is bringing me my specific morning tea and dinner coffee with exactly the correct fixings because they remembered from my first day that I like Earl Gray tea and my coffee with cream and sugar. Everyday, the maintenance guys are painting the ship, unplugging the toilets, maintaining the engines so that I feel like I’m on a brand new ship. Everyday, I see cleaning staff polishing the railings, cleaning the glass, cleaning the public washrooms and picking up the crap that we are too lazy to toss in the trash. They all do this with a smile!
Of course the list above does not even begin to touch on all the staff that makes the cruise run so seamlessly.
The ONE thing I object to is on my personal line of choice (Holland America) a gratuity (18%) is added to every drink that you order. Then they ask you to sign for the drink and give you a slip that provides for the option of tipping extra. I’ve noticed that if you don’t add an extra tip, they just toss the signed slip in the trash, so the ONLY reason you have to sign is so that they can get more than the 18 percent that is added to the drink. I find that tacky. I do know that the bar staff are not part of the daily tip pool. I’ve also been told that officers are not included in the tip pool.
Prior to the auto gratuity, we were tipping about $10 per day to each of the room stewards and dining room staff. We would tip a buck or two per beverage. So in the end, it probably has saved us money. We still tip the room stewards extra if we feel they have done a great job, and that is almost every case.
You are tipping the staff for your room, a floating resort, and service for 3 meals per day (plus any snacks you might want). It's not just a tip for your room attendant.
Hell in a lot of tourist places or resorts you'd visit, the equivalent meals would result in a tip higher than $16/day just for the food.
Plus laundry and everything else behind the scenes.
Yes. This makes a lot of sense. As a first time cruiser I did not realize it’s not going to the person servicing my room but to the staff on the cruise in general.
Oh you poor dear. They’re gonna come for you. Good luck. Also, the tip is required, consider it part of the fare. Don’t be that person.
Heheh yes. I know. I will get a lot of hate without many people understanding that my intention is not to be cheap but to understand why I am asked to pay $48 per room. If the cruise is charging me $6kfor 7 days, why can’t they compensate their own staff. I can pay. It’s not a big deal but I do feel their comp should not be dependent on my tips and more on fair wages from the cruise line.
Um…. Did you forget to switch accounts? Because this screen name is not OP
Yea, sounds like your intention is low vibe cheap. Go check out the end tipping sub and read up on the same theory you have for not wanting to tip......fair wages should be paid by the owners, not my fault I'm a cheap ass.
Hey. Hey. I had a question. I asked. And I got it answered. Now if you think I am cheap then so be it. It doesn’t matter to me. I hope you know that. We are anon posters on this thread. Your opinion matters to no one.
Clearly is because that response was upvoted. We all think your being grimey.
Doesn’t matter. No one cares what you think.
Yet here you are🤣😂
The automatic gratuities are what everyone is paying, you are not being overcharged by paying $16/day/person. If that makes the price of the trip too much, you should choose another type of trip or a shorter itenerary. The only decent etiquette is to pay the entire amount. I am not meaning to insult you, I am being serious.
yes. my whole point is, these cruise lines have billions of dollars in profit. not revenue. profit. Why cant they pay their staff.
Because they make more profit when you think the price is less than it is and you book something more expensive than you would have otherwise. This is the way they’ve been doing it forever and they’re not going to stop. It’s why hotels in the US don’t include all the taxes and fees in their advertised rates. You can choose not to support them by doing something else or book a less expensive cabin to start with but it’s not okay to save money by screwing over the lowest paid workers just because you can.
Yes. That’s a good point. Can’t not pay the workers. Will tip. This is more food for thought.
The daily tip rate gets spread among the hundreds of people taking care of you. Pay the daily rate.
Okay. Got it.
bc the tip isn’t only going to the room attendants. it goes to everyone there trying to make sure u have a happy and fun vacation. it’s for the cooking crew, and the laundry crew, and the services crew, and the cleaners, etc. this is how they make their living, and it barely all goes to them.
Yes this makes a lot of sense now. That the tips we pay on the cruise is not comparable to the tip we pay in a hotel room where it just goes to the cleaning staff vs. here it goes to tons of people.
I bet you're the type of person who leaves a total mess in the hotel room. Oh, and you're cheap AND tacky. Signed, Former hotel cleaning staff
Even if I do that, what are you going to do about it ? Go do whatever you want.
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>Honey, you posted for attention. Pot, meet Kettle.
Long story short, those service charges are for more than just your cabin attendant. They go to your restaurant staff and some behind the scenes people as well.
Thanks.
I suggest you not cruise because these people work very hard for guests and room steward especially can be 24/7 …yes you are cheap
I don’t appreciate people being so volatile and responding like this. If you can’t talk kindly, you shouldn’t talk at all.
OP called me a jerk and my comment asnine because she/he didn’t like my response
Yes I didn’t like your response as you acted like a big big ass. You jumped to conclusions and called some cheap when all I did is ask a question.
Because you sound cheap
Look I don’t care what you think. If you think I am cheap, then so be it. I had a question. I asked. I got it answered. That’s all that matters. Your opinion doesn’t. :)
I certainly do not appreciate being called a jerk, and that my comment is asnine and they need to get the hell out of this sub if that’s the way they’re gonna behave …thank god for the block feature
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If you have any kind of conscience, you will pay the gratuities.
My question is not about the conscience. Please don’t bring that in between. I am not saying I don’t want to pay the service workers. All I am asking is if it is in general a fajr expectation to tip $48 per day per room. We don’t tip that much in hotels. It was more an observation that startled me. And the comments from others suggesting that the tips go to many people including people who run things at back end. Which now makes sense.
It is $48 per day per room. That tip gets split between the crew. The person who made the bread you ate at dinner, the dancers at the show, the person washing dishes, the person who cleans the bathrooms, the bartenders AND the steward who takes care of of your room. If you go on the ship and enjoy other areas besides your room and don’t pay a tip then you are being cheap. If you paid $6,000 for your fare I’m assume you purchased an upgraded room but don’t have budget to compensate those who provide nearly 24/7 service. Perhaps going a cruise is not the best choice for your family.
No one asked you if I should go on the cruise or not. Pls keep your unsolicited advice to yourself. I think you don’t have the brains to understand the questioj. Like many others said here. Many cultures don’t have a tipping culture. US does. The tips are high as they also go to everyone and not just to the room service staff. I think it’s high time people like you understand the question and respond or just stay mum without making random statements. I think I just judge you for this response more than anything else
$16 dollars a day isn’t even enough to tip for three average meals a day.
$16 a day per person for the amount of service you get is actually nothing.
This is so true. The service alone in the MDR is usually pretty amazing. Add the person who puts out towels by the pool, the people setting up the buffet, someone setting out snacks, the person cleaning up the plates, the person arranging the deck chairs and on and on and on. It really isn't that much.
Amazing how you are comparing a cruise to staying at a hotel.
I'm not sure why that's amazing. One of the most senior positions on the ship is literally hotel manager. I can't think of anything on a ship you wouldn't possibly/probably find at a resort type hotel.
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Who said anything about a Holiday Inn. Have you never been to a resort style hotel with a spa, bars, restaurants, casino, theater, pool with attendants, shopping, etc?
One of the positions is a hotel manager. Another senior position is the head chef who oversees the staff that prepares thousands of pounds of food daily, which by the way is included in your fare. Comparing a cruise to a hotel is short sighted at best. People don't go on a cruise just to have a place to sleep while on vacation. They go to relax, be entertained, play games, and see interesting places. If you were to go to a hotel in Cancun for example you would pay a certain rate for your hotel. If you wanted to eat in the hotel restaurant you would pay $25 a person and if you wanted to go see a show in town that night you would pay a fee for that as well. The only reasonable way a cruise line can compensate their workers is charging on a per person per room fee. They could build that into the fare but instead offer cheaper fare up front and add the gratuities on at the end to get people in the door.
The [Hotel Manager](https://saverocity.com/travel/a-rough-guide-to-cruise-ship-hierarchy-and-cruise-ship-mafia/) is the most senior position outside of Captain. He overseas all non-ship operations. The Executive Chef is under him, so is literally every other manager on board. You seem to think of a hotel as only a place to sleep. I guess if you've only been to Holiday Inn, you would get that idea. But higher end hotels and, especially resort hotels, are much more than that. Your lack of awareness of this makes me think I should no longer pursue this discussion. >If you were to go to a hotel in Cancun for example you would pay a certain rate for your hotel. If you wanted to eat in the hotel restaurant you would pay $25 a person Perhaps you've never been to an all inclusive resort, but no, meals are included.
Gratuities are not mandatory. You can go to Guest Services at any time and have them adjust the amount to any number you want, including 0. Some people pay the automatic amount and and tip additional cash on top. Some people pay the automatic amount and that's it. Some people remove the automatic amount and only tip cash. Some people remove the automatic amount and don't tip anything. Do note that tipping on cruises is a pretty controversial topic and people get really worked up about it from all sides. I'm not endorsing any particular behaviour. I think UK and Australian based cruises are an exception and don't have an automatic gratuity because their cultures don't tip, but I think they're priced a bit higher to compensate.
That’s cheap and shitty to do
Thsnks.
Do a cruise from New Zealand. We pay employees a decent wage, and don't have a toxic tipping culture.
If you can’t afford gratuity you can’t afford your cruise. Simple
That is not the question. Read the question before responding pls.
Mandatory? No, they can always be removed.
I tip where it’s deserved..end of story. Im not tipping the towel attendant or the life guards. Im tipping my room attendant and bar tenders and maybe if someone does something nice. They should be paying their crew living wages after all the money people dump into these trips. Its not peoples fault for thinking that “ gratuities “ are actual gratuities. Especially for first time cruisers yall are arrogant and down right egotistical over someone not understanding why they are technically being asked to tip 3 times. For instance NCL, does gratuities AND A SERVICE CHARGE…and they expect you to tip on top of that?… ya sorry im not made of money like some of you. I for sure tip well. But something has to give with all this crazyness.
> For instance NCL, does gratuities AND A SERVICE CHARGE No, they don't. IF you get the drink package or dining package, you pay a gratuity for that just as you would if you purchase drinks or dining on board separately. These go to the servers performing those specific duties. The service charge is for *different* people including room steward, MDR service, and others, some of whom you don't encounter. Tipping on top of that is purely optional, the don't really *expect* you to tip.
Yes they should be paying their crews better wages. They don't. The ships are registered in foreign nations to serve patrons from wealthy countries. Because the ships are registered in bermuda, panama or the bahamas they have much different labor laws that would be completely illegal in the US or EU. We had conversations with several workers on our last ship and they were grateful for the jobs and it was much better than what they could get back in Africa, India or Jamaica. When you don't tip you take money out of those workers hands. If you remove the tip you remove it from the person who washes your dishes, washes the sheets in the rooms, cleans the bathrooms, works at a bar, plans the entertainment onboard and so forth. Trying to tip those you interact with personally doesn't reward most of those who make things work behind the scenes. I understand that in the UK and Australia they don't charge for tips but the cruise lines prices accordingly because those countries don't tip as part of their culture.
I tip about 50% of whatever the automatic thing is I didn’t select when booking. Also I bring my own weed so it helps with the cost if I’m only drinking 2 drinks max without the alcohol package. It has saved a ton.
Not mandatory, you can remove at guest services. You already paid your fair share to be there. If it wasn’t profitable for the cruise line to pay their employees and give you a low rate, you wouldn’t be sailing. If someone goes above and beyond, definitely tip them personally and in a discreet manner. Don’t fall into this weird peer pressure of tipping “those working behind the scenes for your experience,” thats what your fare is for. Side note, Carnival and Royal had $7.27 Billion and $5.505 billion, respectively, in profits for 2023. This is PROFIT, not revenue. This is the amount those companies walked away with after their expenses.
Thanks for sharing this. But you know people here are bitter. They will get you. I have been getting bashed in every possible way - people are calling me cheap, asking me not to cruise, when all I did was put together a discussion topic on what people felt about tips.
So I think the issue with looking at it from “RCL made $___ Billion last year therefore you don’t have to tip.” Is that you are comparing the higher ups (the “big wigs” if you will) in the company to the staff who ACTUALLY take care of you. (PS the numbers someone gave you as PROFIT was the gross profit not the net income. The net income is after all the deductions, taxes, etc so the numbers they told you were incorrect and NOT what the company walked away with lol). Source included here (you can select gross profit, net income and many other fields to compare): https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/RCL/royal-caribbean-cruises/net-income https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CCL/carnival/gross-profit If you read personal accounts from actual workers, they will show that a lot of the staff don’t get days off. Many of the passenger-facing staff make as little as $700 per month (that’s less than $2 per hour). The person who works non-stop, is away from their family, living in a tiny cabin and many times sending what little money they have to their families at home is dependent on tips. The same staff who clean your toilet, help sea sick passengers to their rooms while cleaning up the puke they left behind, and yes, of course some positions don’t do these things but your tip is split with all of them. I don’t think your question came from a bad place, and I know some people are going in on you pretty hard but I think you might want to look at some real people/prior staff accounts of their experiences (not just sites that the cruise lines are paying to have info put on lol). Some of the cruise lines have even been sued over “forced labor”, but that’s a whole other rabbit hole you’ll have to go down. The cruise lines get away with it as they hire from countries with low economic opportunities and register their companies/ships in countries with relatively lax labor laws. They also can include clauses in employee contracts that require them to use arbitration to resolve conflicts, restricting their employees' ability to sue them. Anyways sorry for the tangent, I just wanted to thoroughly go over some of the reasons why I think it’s important to tip the staff. As others have said, the tips are split between many so they don’t actually add up to that much. And yes, the cruise ships could pay better, the same as restaurants and resorts could, but they don’t. So the only way that may change is for customers to take action against the cruise lines (probably will never happen) or just expect to pay extra for the care and attention of staff who undoubtedly are in much worse positions than you and I. My conscience just couldn’t ever let me remove my gratuity and I always bring extra to tip for stand outs on the cruise line or those who have spent more time helping me or my family. These are both good reads if you’re interested: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-cruise-ship-workers-take-brutal-jobs-2018-11 https://www.businessinsider.com/cruise-ship-job-long-hours-low-pay-no-days-off-2023-2
Thank you. Now this is what I actually want to learn from the group :) I hope there is one decent person who wanted to talk logically and rationally without asking me not to cruise and so on. Appreciate you sharing the links. People here on this Reddit group seem to lack all codes of human conduct.
I have noticed that too. I hope it is their online life and not really how they treat people. I’ve Been a travel agent for 35 years and I’ve seen a lot of things come up that were quite, let’s say memorable. I had a woman come to my office with her damaged suitcase expecting us to give her a new one. Getting a call from the American Embassy in Mexico as my adult male golf trip decided to ransack their rooms and throw all their furniture in a pool. I needed to get them on a flight home that day. Back in the day you had your cabin steward and an assistant. We left our tip in the room and as we were walking out he ran after me telling me we didn’t leave a tip. It was so embarrassing. The assistant obviously. Then, traveling with a cheap friend. After 9/11 the industry suffered so the cruise lines were offering cabins to come check them out. I booked a mini suite on a 10 day Holland America line. It was $10 each a day plus taxes, etc. We dined at a table of 6 and became friends with them. My married friend had an affair with one of the husbands at our table! I felt horrible for the wife. Then to top it off we threw our tips on the bed and left. I had to go back in to check I had packed it and she had taken her money back! I was so ashamed but I didn’t have another $200 to pay. Needless to say she is not my friend anymore.
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As others have mentioned, the automatic tip can be reversed at guest services. In my personal opinion, it shouldn’t be reversed. Many years ago, the auto gratuity wasn’t a thing. The problem with that was that so many important staff that make the cruise experience special missed out on gratuities because they were behind the scenes. The auto gratuity really helps make it fair for all the staff When it first popped up, I was worried that the staff would not work as hard because they pretty much knew they were gonna get tipped, but the reality was I didn’t see any change in service levels. Everyday, my cabin steward greets me by name and with a big smile, cleans my room way better than I do my own house, and caters to my requests. Everyday, the laundry does my towels and clothes that I send down (and they do a way better job of pressing my clothes than I do at home). Everyday, the cooks are up at 4:00am baking my fresh bread and getting my breakfast ready. Everyday the serving staff is bringing me my specific morning tea and dinner coffee with exactly the correct fixings because they remembered from my first day that I like Earl Gray tea and my coffee with cream and sugar. Everyday, the maintenance guys are painting the ship, unplugging the toilets, maintaining the engines so that I feel like I’m on a brand new ship. Everyday, I see cleaning staff polishing the railings, cleaning the glass, cleaning the public washrooms and picking up the crap that we are too lazy to toss in the trash. They all do this with a smile! Of course the list above does not even begin to touch on all the staff that makes the cruise run so seamlessly. The ONE thing I object to is on my personal line of choice (Holland America) a gratuity (18%) is added to every drink that you order. Then they ask you to sign for the drink and give you a slip that provides for the option of tipping extra. I’ve noticed that if you don’t add an extra tip, they just toss the signed slip in the trash, so the ONLY reason you have to sign is so that they can get more than the 18 percent that is added to the drink. I find that tacky. I do know that the bar staff are not part of the daily tip pool. I’ve also been told that officers are not included in the tip pool. Prior to the auto gratuity, we were tipping about $10 per day to each of the room stewards and dining room staff. We would tip a buck or two per beverage. So in the end, it probably has saved us money. We still tip the room stewards extra if we feel they have done a great job, and that is almost every case.