Facebook can be great when you have an upcoming sailing. People usually create a Facebook group for their sailing and everyone can meet up and plan their cruise together, without even meeting. It’s great.
I was on the role call page last night and tipping was brought up. The person said they were planning to remove gratuities from their onboard account. I was shocked.
Tipping
Since I’m sailing on Carnival, we’ll use their tipping scale as the example.
Carnival’s website says that voyages departing October 9, 2014 onward; the total amount is $12.00 per guest, per day charged automatically to your onboard account, and brokendown as follows:
- Stateroom service team, $3.90 per day
- Dining room service team, $6.10 per day
- Alternative services team, $2.00 per day
As you can see, it’s reasonable and not a lot of money.
5 Bad Excuses Not to Tip
1. I Don’t Eat in the Dining Room
A person that says this just doesn’t understand the concept but it isn’t always their fault. Maybe they weren’t educated when they were booking the cruise.
However, you’re not just tipping the server. You’re tipping the food workers around the ship from the dishwasher to the head waiter. The tips are distributed among all the workers. Not just your waiter.
2. The Cruise Line Pays the Workers
Yes, the cruise line does pay the workers a basic wage, but it’s generally lower than minimum wage in the US. The bulk of their compensation comes from gratuities for providing service to the passengers.
Yes, they choose to work there, and most send money home to support their families. If it was a member of your family working on the ship, would you still stiff them?
3. They’ll Never Notice
If everyone had that mentality then no one would pay and you’d be screwing over a lot of crew members. Ridiculous excuse. This is the reason cruise lines should roll gratuities into the cruise fare.
4. The Cruise Cost too Much 
If you can’t afford the per-day gratuity on your cruise then you really can’t afford to cruise. When comparing a cruise vacation against a land vacation, it’s hands down the best vacation value – food, entertainment and lodging is all included.
5. My Travel Agent Told Me To
This one made my mouth drop in the main dining room. I was sitting with a family of four and they told me their travel agent said to take the tips off on the last night because they don’t really do anything and it will make their cruise cheap.
I couldn’t resist. I gave them my thoughts and we had the table to ourselves the rest of the cruise. Good riddance.
Final Thoughts
When considering a cruise vacation, factor in the cost of the gratuities, or bet yet just pre-pay them in advance! If you can’t afford gratuities, you can’t afford to cruise. Thoughts?
