Originally posted by jlp651
I think that just charging the tips automatically is a GREAT idea!
I'm *hoping*and planning on getting great service...I'm even hoping to spend more than expected on tips...
I agree 100%. On our cruise this past week, I was so annoyed with how much the tipping issue has grown among the servers and the staff in general, that I was absolutely disgusted. Yes, excellent service deserves a tip. However, at the end of every meal, do you need the server to go through a whole speech of how he wants to give you excellent service, and then goes around to each person at the table and specifically asks if he is delivering excellent service? That's a bit annoying. At our table, we learned very quickly that you do not say something was "very good", you had to say "excellent". On Thursday evening, not only did we get the daily speech about excellent service, we also got a reminder that we should think about the service over the past week, with obvious references/implications to giving a tip appropriate to excellent service. Further, during our disembarkation meeting on Friday afternoon, the cruise director had only a brief comment on tipping "we know this is a touchy subject, I won't spend any time on it, and our suggested tipping is simply what American Express Travel gives as their guidelines". It's always stated "you should not feel obligated to tip, but it is customary...blah, blah, blah", but that is exactly what was being done - you were being made to feel you were obligated to tip.
By contrast, our stateroom host was beyond fabulous. The guy made up our room and changed towels 3 times a day - morning, afternoon, and then turndown. I spoke with him in the hallway or other room he was doing each morning, he was always pleasant, never once spoke a word with anything having to do with a tip, and at the end of the cruise I was more than happy to give him an appropriate tip for the enjoyment he was able to provide us during the week - and I specifically brought him/that up in the comments. They have a job to do, they should do it, and if the customer feels they deserve a tip, they should provide what they feel is appropriate - not what some "tipping guideline" recommends.
Prior to our disembarkation meeting, I was talking with a couple who said that NCL has gone the route building the tip into the total cruise price. Having been on
DCL twice now, and seeing all of the other great things they do, I am very surprised that they have not moved in this direction. Especially in this economy, where peoples budgets are stretched to begin with, paying premium pricing for a DCL cruise, to recommend coughing up another $200 to $300 (in our case) for tipping on a 7 day cruise is a bit much.
HOWEVER, who and what are PORTERS?? Are they the guys that handle your luggage...I'm sorry but I am more than capable of carrying my own...and with today and security...I'm really not comfortable with someone else handling my bags...sorry...and I don't appreciate it when they just grab at your bags looking for the tip..know what I mean?
Your view of the porters is completely wrong.
First, if you are so concerned about someone else handling your luggage, there are more/bigger concerns for you. What about the baggage handlers at the airport - you know everyone who touches your luggage between the time you check in at the airport until the time you get them back at your destination - or if you use the direct transfer to DCL, even more people handling it. Second, when you use a porter - you are standing right next to them - what is the security issue you are concerned about? They might slip something into or out of your bag when you're not looking? Me, I get the all the bags from the claim area, move them over and out of the way, then grab the porter to load and wheel the bags out.
What if you have too many bags to carry out on your own, or they are too heavy? We have used the porters twice, and not only do they serve the purpose of handling the bags for you, but, you give them your customs form, and you will notice, they go to the right side of the customs officer - where there is no line, they hand them the form and do not stop. Handle it yourself, and you will go to the left side of the line with everyone else doing it themselves and wait in the line. If you use the porter, you will not wait - been our experience every time. On Saturday, our total time from having our luggage to boarding the DCL bus was about 3 minutes. Spend the $5 tip - it is well worth it.
You can tip who ever you want - I do. I'm all for tipping these folks. My point was that they are serving us ALL of the time, and the people who skip out and don't tip them are really screwing the staff over. If you notice on many of the other threads regarding tipping, I'm as big of a promoter of tipping people as you are. I also think that there are many people who don't realize that our wait staff work all over the ship - all of the time.
