Tipping – Not a city in China
If there’s one topic that’s sure to spark a firestorm of chatter among cruisers, it’s the topic of tipping. All of the mass market cruise lines and some of the luxury lines as well charge some sort of daily fee for the services provided to you as you’re being pampered on the ship. Some call it a service charge, some call it a gratuity, but no matter what it’s called, it’s being automatically added to your shipboard account. Here’s a few things you need to know about tipping on a ship.
Different countries have different tipping etiquette. Since cruising has such an international clientele, having a standardised amount set forth makes things much easier and takes away the guesswork. While some people don’t wish to tip at all, once you get on a ship and see how hard some of these folks work for you, it’s likely that you won’t mind. I’ll say it again later on, but one thing to remember is that you can always go to the Purser’s desk and adjust the amount of your daily service charge either up or down, or you may remove it entirely if you choose. However, that can have its own consequences, which I’ll go into in a bit.
First things first: what/who does the service charge cover?
Although it (as with many things) varies from line to line, your basic service charge is split between: cabin steward, steward’s assistant, head waiter, waiter, waiter’s assistant, and buffet stewards. Each one of those people gets a little piece of your daily service charge.
Your cabin steward comes in to your room twice a day to straighten up, make the bed, vacuum the sand from your carpet, clean the bathroom, make sure you have fresh towels, deliver your daily newsletter, turn down your bed in the evenings (as well as preparing/putting away extra berths if there are more than two of you in the cabin), place chocolates on your pillow, fill your ice bucket, and sometimes leave amusing animals on your bed made from the clever twisting and folding of towels. Sort of like a hotel housekeeper, but supercharged. However, they are like ninjas and largely operate when you’re not in the cabin (you could leave for 20 minutes to go get some fresh cookies from the buffet and when you come back, your room has been magically set to rights and your cabin steward is nowhere to be seen). Also, they can be your best friend. They can provide safety pins, take photos of you on Formal Night, give insights to the ship and various ports that don’t sound like paid advertisements, and pass the word along to other crew how awesome you are so that you get treated like Ultra Royalty wherever you go on the ship. They tend to work extremely long hours with very little sleep, and they’re in your cabin twice a day. It pays to make friends with your cabin steward.
Buffet stewards on shore are generally people that we wouldn’t tip if we were dining, say, at Old Country Buffet. However, the quality of food on a cruise ship is going to be higher, and those stewards work long, hard hours preparing and maintaining those buffets so that they’re always well-stocked whenever you want to stuff your face. They also will tell you about the various foods, help you with your tray, and remove the entire pan of bread to be replaced with fresh when some uncouth pig decides to ignore the tongs and just reach in with their bare hands (hello, Norovirus!).
You know what waitstaff do unless you live in a mud hut, and if you live in a mud hut, where are you getting your internets from? The waitstaff on a cruise ship, however, will smile, remember your name, remember your childrens’ names, remember your favourite foods (and bring them to you unbidden, sometimes), and occasionally bring you special little treats from the kitchen if they know that it’s something you might like.
Okay, so what’s this gonna cost me?
It varies from line to line, but here’s a sampling of what the mass market cruise lines are charging these days for a daily charge. (Extra special awesome thanks to Miss Kelly Lindsey of Cruise Adventure Travel, Customer Service Queen, asset to the company, and all-around Goddess, for compiling this list right when I needed it.)
Carnival: $10 per person, per day
Royal Caribbean: $9.75 pp/pd for standard cabins, $12 pp/pd for suites (increasing to $11.65 and $13.90 respectively for sailings beginning 7/1/2011)
Celebrity: $11.50 pp/pd for standard cabins, $12 pp/pd for Concierge Class & Aqua Class, $15 pp/pd for suites
Azamara: Included in the voyage fare
Princess: $10.50 pp/pd for standard cabins, $11 pp/pd for suites
Norwegian Cruise Line: $12 pp/pd for all cabins
Cunard: $11 pp/pd for standard cabins, $13 pp/pd for Princess & Queens Grills (suites)
Holland America Line: $11 pp/pd for all cabins
Disney Cruise Line: $12 pp/pd for all cabins
MSC: $12 pp/pd for adults, $6 pp/pd for children (ages 0-17)
Costa: Caribbean – $11 pp/pd for adults, $7.50 pp/pd for children (ages 0-17)
Europe – 6.5 Euro pp/pd
Why should they get tipped at all? Don’t they get paid?
Yes, they get paid. On some lines. Certain lines don’t pay a base wage to their staff – their room and board is considered their wage. On the lines that do pay a base wage, but that’s not for an average work week. The cabin stewards I’ve spoken with generally tend to work 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s rare that they get a day off to actually enjoy either the climates in which they’re sailing or the exotic ports of call. When you break it down, they make about $5/hour. Sure, they get room and board, but they’re required to buy their tickets to/from the ship at either end of their contract (done up front, and a requirement of their employment), and should the line lend them the money to do so, many are from such far-flung places that they start their contract owing the cruise line a month or two worth of salary. Similar to the way that waitstaff are paid here in the U.S. (i.e. incredibly low hourly wage for hard work), tips are a huge part of their potential income. Also, many cruise line employees send their salaries home (which supports the families that they don’t get to see for months and sometimes years at a time). Me, I can’t begrudge them the tiny amount of each day’s “recommended service charge” that they get.
Well, can’t I just tip them in cash?
You can, and there are many that do. However, there are some things to take into account there as well. First, keep in mind that you may forget to tip somebody who provided excellent service to you that would normally be covered under the automatic tipping. Second, should you remove the auto-tipping from your stateroom account and choose to tip solely in cash, the recipients of that cash will likely have to turn it in to a pool anyhow. Only if you leave on the auto-tipping and choose to give something extra in cash to somebody (or somebodies) who’ve given you amazing service can you be assured that they will get to keep all that you intended them to have.
Keeping a little cash on hand is a good idea anyhow. Even though all of your charges on the ship will be placed on your ship-board account via your room key, there are a few people who tend to get missed in the automatic tipping who may deliver excellent service to you, and as always, sometimes a little cash can make things go a little more smoothly. At the embarkation port, for example, the standard tip for a porter is $1-2 per bag. Give them a little extra, and your bags will likely arrive at your cabin a little sooner and a little less thrown around. Should you call Room Service (available 24 hours a day and included in your cruise fare on most ships), your Room Service waiter is going to be mighty grateful for the dollar or two you give him, and your future Room Service orders may arrive faster because of it. Bartenders on cruise ships are just as swayed by good tipping as are their shoreside counterparts. While it’s true that a 15% gratuity is added on to each beverage order from a bar on the ship, sliding a dollar or two per drink at a bartender or waiter is likely to get you the occasional free round, and extremely attentive service.
Well, I’m “thrifty” and creative. Can’t I find another way to show them I appreciate them?
You wouldn’t be alone. There are those who feel that the feeling of appreciation is more important than cold hard cash. I disagree. While it’s important to not treat these people poorly, treating them with patronizing contempt really blows. I’ve seen the things that some people do in lieu of cash – they’re rather proud of it and they crow about how clever they are and how generous they are, and how much the recipients of their “treats” just LOVE them! In the end, it is your discretion. My thoughts on the matter are this: The person who is in my room twice a day, who marvels at the dolphins that we both just saw off the balcony even though I’m sure it’s a commonplace sight for her, who leaves extra-special towel animals and admonishes the other crew to take good care of me? She deserves way more than a $1 bill made fancy by folding it into origami shapes. She has access to enough chocolate every day that she sure as hell doesn’t need “Fun Size” candy bars. And she shares a room with 2-3 other people, so she doesn’t have room for the novelty coffee mug I brought her as a souvenir of the city from which I traveled. The waiter in the dining room who remembered my name after the first meal, brought me shrimp cocktail at every lunch and dinner because he knew I liked them, and busted out with a special dessert that wasn’t on the menu just because I mentioned I had heard of it and thought it sounded good? Deserves way more than a $10 Kmart or Walmart gift card (just in case they happen to get some time off on an island that actually HAS one of those stores). The waitress/barista in the cafe who knew what coffee I liked and how I liked it AND helped me with my horrible butchering of her language (Russian) with a big smile AND got other Russian speaking crew to greet me in Russian? Deserves more than a $5 pre-paid phone card which may or may be valid on the phone system she’s using.
Cold hard cash is the way to go. The only other thing I’ve heard of that’s really cool is talking to these people (they have personalities and everything!) and finding out what they dig, what they like, and maybe asking if there’s anything at the next port that you can pick up for them. As long as it’s not illegal drugs, go for it!
Here’s another fun tip: If you purchase a bottle of wine on board and you don’t drink the whole thing in one dinner or lunch, they’ll hold it for you and you can ask for it later. Should you choose, you can also take it back to your room to drink it there. Should you decide that you just can’t finish it, the crew is always happy to help you. More than once, a half-finished bottle of wine or a bottle of champagne that we just couldn’t drink has either been “donated” to the Help Those People Blow Off Some Damn Steam Fund or left with a note for our cabin steward/ess to please enjoy it with our compliments and thanks.
Whatever you give them, they’re going to say that they like it, and they’re going to thank you for it. It’s their job to be gracious and warm. If they’re not, they don’t get to stay doing that job for very long. But you’ve gotten that baffling birthday or holiday gift before, and the giver was RIGHT THERE, and you had to play nice and smile big. As soon as they left or you went home, you know what you went through. These people do the same thing. Give them the gift that keeps on giving, or at least leave the auto-tipping on and mention specific names in the comment card you get at the end of the sailing. Don’t cheap out and then congratulate yourself on how clever you are and how philanthropic you are to “treat” these poor Third-world savages who pampered your pasty, spoiled butt all week to an origami dollar wrapped around a Fun Size Snickers. You cheap bastard.