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We just got back from a seven day cruise on Carnival and like other cruises, the service was very good. Carnival has instituted the practice of automatically charging tips onto passengers' shipboard accounts. We theoretically had the power to opt out of paying them this way, and we opted out when we booked, but Carnival still charged our credit card over $180 for tips on the 7 day cruise. We had to go to Guest Services to get them to remove the charge. And every cocktail and specialty coffee drink we ordered was assessed an automatic 15% gratuity that we couldn't opt out of.
Before I'm accused of being a cheapskate, I tip generously in the States, but the practice has gotten out of hand, and there are many threads here that attest to that. Just doing a job, even if it is low paying, does not automatically entitle a person to deserve tips. Tips are deserved for going above and beyond the call of duty. Some tipping on a cruise is polite and customary. But mandatory tipping is a fee, not a tip. And I have a few issues with Carnival and these tips specifically. Why should we tip every staff member for doing their jobs? Does every employee in every industry deserve a tip just for going to work? That is Carnival's rationale for charging us these "gratuities."
It should not be the passengers' responsibility to directly pay the bulk of the staff's wages because Carnival doesn't pay them a living wage. But because of the American practice of tipping everywhere for everything, if the cruiser says no, they are made to feel guilty for refusing. Because Carnival ships are registered internationally, they are not bound by American minimum wage laws, so they pay their employees very little.
When we buy cruise tickets, the fare should cover the bulk of our costs. Even the lowest fare costs a lot of money. We shouldn't have to kick in another $200, $400, or even more to pay for tips. When we went on a cruise and a resort vacation a couple of years ago, neither one deducted tips. Cruises used to be inclusive, but now they are nickel and diming quite a bit. We were on vacation, but we were also on a budget; in the cheapest room with no internet service, no drink packages, and no special services. We tipped, but not the nearly $200 Carnival wanted us to.
I have read on cruise forums that Carnival is not passing these gratuities onto the staff members as they claim they are; they are pocketing most or all of these monies themselves. They are also increasing the rates of these tips frequently by large amounts and cruisers are paying them believing the staff are actually receiving the monies. If you cruise, do you allow the cruise line to do the auto-tipping or do you tip separately?
I have no problem tipping for good service.
Cruise employees work long hours and for months at a time with little time off.
Everytime I take a cruise I feel I am well taken care of and I make sure they are tipped extra cash on top of the regular card charges.
As for the tip charges on drinks- wouldn't you tip for a drink if you went to a bar?
All of these charges are clearly on the carnival website so if you don't like it maybe you should consider vacationing in another way.
I have no problem tipping for good service.
Cruise employees work long hours and for months at a time with little time off.
Everytime I take a cruise I feel I am well taken care of and I make sure they are tipped extra cash on top of the regular card charges.
As for the tip charges on drinks- wouldn't you tip for a drink if you went to a bar?
All of these charges are clearly on the carnival website so if you don't like it maybe you should consider vacationing in another way.
I think the argument is the required tipping. Or, in the cruise lines spin "We're putting this on your bill as a convenience"
I don't cruise.. I'm split on this.. A tip and amount should be elected to be given on specific service. So, including it automatically, I tend to disagree with. It's rather like the "20% gratuity added to all checks for parties of 8 or more" at a restaurant... Except you're dealing with many, many people.
The problem here is you're about being forced to tip for bad service, if it happens. But, so far as I know.. Cruise lines will remove that auto-gratuity if asked? So, you have the option to carry cash and tip or withhold tip if you so choose.
The practice until maybe a decade or two ago was for the customer to leave the tip seperately and not automatically as part of the bill but I guess the employees were complaining about being short changed too much. Yeah you just have to write it off as the cost of the cruise and don't sweat it and, yes, you can get part of the tips removed at customer service if you've had bad service. I've done it before. I don't remember it being that much of a hassle.
The cruise lines hire young employees from 3rd world countries and indeed they make wages slightly above slave labor. If these tips are not going to them I would like to see support for your claims other than "I read it in another forum".
It'd be interesting to see the reaction if cruise line employees were paid a living wage.. Think about what the cost of that cruise would be at that point.. You know, paid an amount that tipping wasn't required.
I've read some of the 'I worked for a cruise line' blogs and the like.. But many of them are written by former employees and many seem to be bitter.. Are they only bitter because they are former employees? I have seen in some of those blogs talk of people going out for 2 to 3 months and getting a check of under $1000. How much truth is there to that?
Is any of that legit? I don't know, to be honest. I know that I probably would feel better leaving cash out for the specific employees to pick up, because at least then I have a PRETTY good idea that their tips aren't being swiped.
it's as standard practice on a cruise line as the pax expectation to be surrounded by water, your picking the wrong battle to fight...pay up or don't cruise.
So, you have the option to carry cash and tip or withhold tip if you so choose.
Carnival does not accept cash. You have to use your sail and sign card that is tied to an account that you set up with either cash, or a credit card.
Cruise workers don't get paid very much. They depend on these gratuities to have a living wage since most all ships are registered outside of the US as are the workers. Do I agree with it? No..... But if I want to cruise I have to accept the standard practice. If you want to pay Americans a living wage to work on an American registered cruise ship you can expect the cost of a cruise to double (at least). Are you willing to spend $4-5k for a cruise just so you can choose whether or not to tip 15%? Probably not. So pick your poison.
We understand that it is rolled into the cost of the cruise. They can call it anything they want. These folks work extremely hard for us so that we don't have to lift a finger. I've yet to have one employee on a cruise line fail to go above and beyond for us (and next week will be our 4th cruise). I normally tip when I buy a drink at the bar anyhow, so I don't care that they take the tip off the top. My drinks are always cold and strong, so it's worth it to me. Same with dinner service. Service has always been fantastic and the waitstaff should be tipped for it.
As others have said... if you don't like tipping just don't go on the cruise. Carnival is not the only ones who do this. It is industry practice.
It'd be interesting to see the reaction if cruise line employees were paid a living wage.. Think about what the cost of that cruise would be at that point.. You know, paid an amount that tipping wasn't required.
You don't have to wonder. Go look at the prices of cruises offered by Seabourn and Silversea and Regent. Make sure you're sitting down when you do so.
You can give cash to the employees for extra tips. I usually leave an extra 50$ or so that last night in the dining toom and on the bed for the stewards
You can also choose to pay cash when you get on board instead of pre-registering with a credit card for your expenses. I don't think many people do that but I'm sure some do.
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