Thread: Carnival Increasing Gratuity Charges

This just in from Carnival.

I like that they say they add the gratuities to your onboard accounts as "a convenience".

Pete



November 1, 2011

Greetings Travel Partner,

While we're sure your clients are not quite packing their bags yet, we thought we'd take a moment to provide you with some important information regarding gratuities for their upcoming vacation.

After careful consideration, our gratuity guidelines will be increasing from $10.00 per person per day to $11.50 per person per day with voyages departing December 1, 2011 and onward. Guests who have pre-paid their gratuities will not be affected by this change.

While decisions like these are never easy, increases to gratuity guidelines are common with all cruise lines. In our case, we have not increased our gratuity guidelines since 2001. Additionally, this new amount will put us in line with most other cruise lines in the
industry.

Our shipboard team members work very hard to provide our guests with top-notch service so we hope your clients will agree this increase is well deserved.

Tipping, as you know, is at their discretion. So even though gratuities are automatically added to their onboard Sail & Sign account as a convenience, they are always free to adjust as they please.

We'll need your help in passing this information on to your clients. We appreciate your assistance and look forward to having your clients sail with us. Most importantly, we thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Vicky Rey, 'TC
Vice President - Guest Services

Not bad since it is the first increase since 2001. MSC charges $12 per day per person, $6.00 for kids.

I like that MSC have a kids option - that's great!

Pete I noticed your resistance to the 'convenience' turn of phrase but have to admit as an Australian where it is not so common or cultural to tip I appreciated the option of having a recommended amount placed on the account - meant I didn't awkward at any stage of the cruise as to how I should be reacting to service staff, who I was mean to tip and when and how much!

As a Purser it is also a big relief - if we had to break change for everyone who wanted to tip those queues at the Purser's desk on debark night would be even longer!

I think it's a big convenience to have it on my card as Carnival and NCL and I guess all the others do. I don't have to guess how much to tip, who to tip and I can always give extra if I feel it's deserved.

What I meant about the convenience is that they're making it convenient to add it to your account without your permission to do so and in the amount they want. This is fine if that's what you want. But they make it inconvenient if you don't want to do it that way or want to give a different amount. Should be the other way around.

A gratuity, by its very nature, is something that is optional, not required. It's like they're making gratuities mandatory and, quite frankly, that's where it's heading with most cruise lines. NCL, for example, tells you right up front they're going to charge you for a 'service charge' of $12 per person per day for anyone 3 or over - careful not to call it a gratuity or tip to encourage you to provide a gratuity on top of the service charge. On another side, Princess does not let their employees keep any cash gratuities - they're required to turn them in for everyone to share, whether they've earned them or not. Princess charges your 'discretionary' gratuities to your onboard account at the rate of $11.50 per person per day for everyone in the cabin - you have no choice in the matter unless you want to pre-pay them.

I've had clients tell me they've waited in line for quite a while at the Purser's Desk to have their onboard charges relating to gratuities changed. Then when they request the change, they're given the third degree about it and made to feel bad. Shouldn't be that way.

Personally, I've always felt that a gratuity should be my choice, not theirs. And while I don't mind them encouraging me or recommending an amount, I should not be made to feel that I have to give it, how much I have to give, and to whom. In other words, I should be given a choice as to how I want to pay it and how much I'd like to give to each person providing me service.

Don't get me wrong, I always tip my servers when on a cruise - often more than the recommended amount. And while charging it to my onboard account is easy and convenient, call me old fashion, but I much prefer to hand an envelope to my servers and thank them for their service. After all, isn't that what a gratuity is; a reward for providing good service? Conversely, if they did not perform up to my expectations, I will provide a less than recommended amount and inform them as to where I thought they needed to improve. This has really only happened on a couple of occasions in our 41 cruises and I understand that most people would not like to do this, but constructive feedback is more important than just leaving a tip without saying anything at all. Or paying the full gratuity even though the service was not up to par only because you don't want to hassle with changing the amount.

Also, I just feel if a service fee or gratuities are going to be made more or less mandatory, then why not just add it to the cruise fare in the beginning and pay a higher wage to the staff. Forget gratuities altogether.

But don't listen to my ramblings - perhaps I'm just a little irritated with the cruise lines right now. They have increased their NCF's (non-commissionable fees) without justification and now their increasing their gratuities, but they're not increasing the cruise fare or the commissions. Agents make a commission on the cruise fare only. And lately, cruise lines have been charging passengers more in the form of increased NCF's, so they're getting more money, but they're not having to pay more money in the form of commissions or higher port fees. This is the same thing as when they add the 'fuel supplement' - another way of getting more money without having to pay more commissions. In other words, if it costs more money to cover expenses, then raise the rate and pay more to those who've earned it.

Let me say that again, if it costs more money to cover expenses, then raise the rate and pay more to those who've earned it. This includes the staff onboard! If the servers deserve more money, then raise the fares and pay them higher wages. Don't hide it in the form of an increase gratuity just so they can keep their advertised cruise fares lower.

I just had a client cancel their cruise 2 days before they were suppose to leave due to health problems. So I contacted Carnival and made the cancellation. Because it was so close to sailing, the client lost their entire payment, except for taxes, which will be refunded. Carnival got all their money and could even re-sell that cabin if needed. Their expenses are less because the client is not going on the cruise. They also do not have to pay the NCF's because these are suppose to be a total of the port fees and port fees are only paid based on the number of people onboard when the ship arrives in port. So, these fees should actually be refunded back to the client. In effect, Carnival makes more money when a passenger cancels than they do when the passenger goes on the cruise. And, by the way, not one cruise line has been able to explain to me why they do not refund the NCF's when there's is no reason to keep them. As I said, this is money they collect to pay for fees imposed by the ports. When a client cancels, the cruise line does not pay these fees. So why are these fees being falsely kept by the cruise line?

Now, here's the kicker! Carnival does not pay commissions to agents when a cruise is cancelled! That's right - we do all the work and get absolutely nothing, while Carnival is making more money than they really should be making. Luckily, in this case, the client purchased travel insurance, so they will be getting full reimbursement for their out-of-pocket losses.

Sorry for such a long response. I know alot of this has nothing to do with gratuities and I got off the subject matter, but if you understand how all this works, you begin to see how they are manipulating the system so they can get more money while paying out less in order to increase their profits. And because there is real no accountability, as in the case of the NCF's, who really knows if, in fact, all the gratuities they're collecting actually get paid in full to the servers. That would be an interesting subject to hear about from someone who's worked on a ship as a steward or waiter.

But my whole premise is that if it's time for a raise, give it to them. Don't hide it in the form of an increase in gratuities.

Pete

While I agree with you that gratuities should be your choice, unfortunately people from outside the US are known for not tipping or undertipping. Tipping is a big American thing. That is why besides cruise ships, many restaurants in NY now add on 18% tip to checks because the staff, which rely on tips, are undertipped by many tourists. When I was in Europe, my hosts over there told me I was tipping too much and to take back some of the tip when we ate out. Because of this I understand the automatic charges. The alternative is to raise salaries of staff and raise cost of cruise to compensate and then not allow tipping. Of course then you are locked in and cannot reduce the tip for bad service.

Originally Posted by kirkz

While I agree with you that gratuities should be your choice, unfortunately people from outside the US are known for not tipping or undertipping. Tipping is a big American thing. That is why besides cruise ships, many restaurants in NY now add on 18% tip to checks because the staff, which rely on tips, are undertipped by many tourists. When I was in Europe, my hosts over there told me I was tipping too much and to take back some of the tip when we ate out. Because of this I understand the automatic charges. The alternative is to raise salaries of staff and raise cost of cruise to compensate and then not allow tipping. Of course then you are locked in and cannot reduce the tip for bad service.

You're right about Europeans and their tipping practices! We found that to be very true. They love Americans over there because we tip as a matter of proper etiquette but Europeans are notorious for not tipping or under-tipping. The very first time I tipped someone after our first trip to Europe, they looked at me like I had just done something very unexpected. I asked them what was wrong, thinking perhaps I should have tipped more, and she responded by asking me if I was an American. We got into a conversation about tipping and that's when I learned how much different they are than we are when it comes to such matters. After that, I made it a point to hand my tip to my server instead of leaving it on the table because they were always happy to see what I gave them, which in my opinion, was just an average tip by our standards. But I really understood why the servers over there love Americans and why our servers over here hate Europeans.

I can only imagine since CCL has increased their tip guidelines .. the rest will follow shortly.

Originally Posted by JoeyandDavid

I can only imagine since CCL has increased their tip guidelines .. the rest will follow shortly.

Actually, they aren't the first. But it won't be long before the 'new normal' is $12 per person per day.

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

Actually, they aren't the first. But it won't be long before the 'new normal' is $12 per person per day.

i know they were not the first ..

but they are the ones normally... leading the charge ..so to speak