Tipping: U.S., Europe, and "Cruise"
Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 1:34 pm
I recently got back from a 10-day Baltic Cruise, during which I got into more than one conversation with other passengers on the topic of tipping.
Tipping is a rather poignant subject on cruises for a number of reasons, some of which are as follows:
• Tipping is customary in the U.S., but not so much in Europe; the cruises are mainly populated by so-called “Americans,” but in this case, the cruise took place entirely in Europe.
• Cruises, despite all claims to the contrary, are expensive propositions. All BS aside, you are probably paying at least couple hundred bucks a day, per person (which includes all meals).
• The cruise lines do their best to require you to pay a “tip” of $5-10 dollars per day, per person, to the cruise staff, at the end of the cruise, mainly for the benefit of the cleaning people and the servers at the various restaurants – who invariably do a fantastic job(!).
• The cruise lines (and various third-party companies) sponsor shore excursions at essentially every port. The excursions are ridiculously expensive (typically, $100 per person for a 4-hour bus tour of the local city). The cruise lines and excursion companies “suggest” a “tip” of 10% for the tour guide and 5% for the driver of the tour bus.
• When you buy a drink on a Cruise, they automatically add 15% to the price of the drink as a “tip,” then they have a space marked for “Additional Tip” at the bottom of the chit that you sign for your drink (you don’t pay cash for anything on board ship; it is all charged to your ship ID card, which is, in turn, charged to your designated credit card).
So in total, if a couple of travelers were to do all of the tipping “recommended” during a 10-day cruise, they could easily roll up a thousand dollars in “tips.”
And again, keep in mind that this all takes place in Europe, where tipping is not customary. My assumption is that tipping is not normal in Europe because waiters and such are paid what we in the U.S. would refer to as a “living wage,” and they don’t have to rely on tips to supplement their wages. The prices in restaurants over there certainly support my assumption. I know nothing about the wages of Cruise staff; they are probably “not much” by U.S. or European standards, which might explain why there are NO Americans or western Europeans among those actually doing any work on a Cruise ship. But “not much” is probably a nice wage for a Philippino or Dominican or Indian.
Traditionally, tipping in the U.S. has been reserved for specific types of jobs that involve direct customer services – jobs like waiter/waitress, cab driver, bell-hop, and so on. It is so much a part of the economic culture in the U.S. that it is incorporated into federal wage and hour laws. Specifically, such employment is not subject to minimum wage laws and these employees invariably make quite a bit less than minimum wage, on the theory that with the addition of tip income, they will make at least MW. Indeed, in recent years, employers have been required to add presumed tip income to the employees’ reported wages (W-2), to ensure that Uncle Sam get his taste of the tip income (they under-estimate the tip income in all cases, so it’s not as bad as it could be).
Parenthetically, an odious new custom has arisen at Starbuck’s and similar businesses in the U.S.; the placement of a “Tip jar” at the counter, to solicit tips for preparing the refreshments behind the counter. But this is bullshit, because the “baristas” ARE beneficiaries of the MW laws, so their incomes do not require supplementation through tip income.
But getting back to Cruises, they are NOT PART OF THE U.S. ECONOMIC system. If the Cruise line is not adequately compensating their employees, it shouldn’t be the concern or obligation of Cruise passengers to supplement staff income, as they are already paying a king’s ransom for the cruise. And that goes in spades for the excursion staff. If I and 39 other Cruisers are already paying $100 each for a four-hour bus ride (that’s a thousand dollars an hour if you’re counting), there should be no need to supplement the wages of the tour guide or driver – that’s the excursion provider’s responsibility.
However, my impression was that a fairly significant number of the American (and Canadian) travelers either deviously or blatantly minimized their tip outlays wherever possible. On the excursions they would bail out one stop early from the end and walk or bus back to the ship, or leave the tour bus from the back door, so that they wouldn’t have to “say goodbye” to the tour guide or driver. I presume they minimized their tips to the cruise staff as well, which was possible if you went out of your way to do it.
It was also noteworthy that at least one of our tour guides seemed a bit uncomfortable with the whole tipping thing. Our guide in Berlin (six hour excursion, $250/person) simply said good-bye and walked away from the bus at the end of the tour. (He was raised behind the so-called “Iron Curtain,” so maybe that had something to do with it). I had 40 Euro in my pocket for him, but…
As I think I’ve written here before, as far as I’m concerned, unless service is truly extraordinary, the only appropriate circumstance for tipping is when being served by someone who is not subject to MW. My “baseline” tip is 1/7 of the bill – more for great service, less for substandard service. Otherwise, the price I’m paying for the service or food is all the compensation I’m obliged to provide. If the baristas of the world have a problem with their wages, they need to find another job. Maybe in their next life they won’t major in Mass Communications.
Tipping does have a benefit. It incentivizes service providers to provide prompt, cheerful services. If they were paid a Living Wage regardless, who knows what would happen to the quality of service? Cruises are a peculiar case, made more peculiar because of a couple of unknowns. How much of my “tip” goes directly to the person who cleaned my room (or is the tip money pooled and distributed to everybody on the ship)? Are they paid adequately without the tip revenue? It used to be that you always sat at the same table in the restaurant on a cruise, so that you got to know your servers. At least you had the belief that your tip went to those particular people, to recognize their service. Now, it doesn’t seem to be that way anymore.
Tipping is a rather poignant subject on cruises for a number of reasons, some of which are as follows:
• Tipping is customary in the U.S., but not so much in Europe; the cruises are mainly populated by so-called “Americans,” but in this case, the cruise took place entirely in Europe.
• Cruises, despite all claims to the contrary, are expensive propositions. All BS aside, you are probably paying at least couple hundred bucks a day, per person (which includes all meals).
• The cruise lines do their best to require you to pay a “tip” of $5-10 dollars per day, per person, to the cruise staff, at the end of the cruise, mainly for the benefit of the cleaning people and the servers at the various restaurants – who invariably do a fantastic job(!).
• The cruise lines (and various third-party companies) sponsor shore excursions at essentially every port. The excursions are ridiculously expensive (typically, $100 per person for a 4-hour bus tour of the local city). The cruise lines and excursion companies “suggest” a “tip” of 10% for the tour guide and 5% for the driver of the tour bus.
• When you buy a drink on a Cruise, they automatically add 15% to the price of the drink as a “tip,” then they have a space marked for “Additional Tip” at the bottom of the chit that you sign for your drink (you don’t pay cash for anything on board ship; it is all charged to your ship ID card, which is, in turn, charged to your designated credit card).
So in total, if a couple of travelers were to do all of the tipping “recommended” during a 10-day cruise, they could easily roll up a thousand dollars in “tips.”
And again, keep in mind that this all takes place in Europe, where tipping is not customary. My assumption is that tipping is not normal in Europe because waiters and such are paid what we in the U.S. would refer to as a “living wage,” and they don’t have to rely on tips to supplement their wages. The prices in restaurants over there certainly support my assumption. I know nothing about the wages of Cruise staff; they are probably “not much” by U.S. or European standards, which might explain why there are NO Americans or western Europeans among those actually doing any work on a Cruise ship. But “not much” is probably a nice wage for a Philippino or Dominican or Indian.
Traditionally, tipping in the U.S. has been reserved for specific types of jobs that involve direct customer services – jobs like waiter/waitress, cab driver, bell-hop, and so on. It is so much a part of the economic culture in the U.S. that it is incorporated into federal wage and hour laws. Specifically, such employment is not subject to minimum wage laws and these employees invariably make quite a bit less than minimum wage, on the theory that with the addition of tip income, they will make at least MW. Indeed, in recent years, employers have been required to add presumed tip income to the employees’ reported wages (W-2), to ensure that Uncle Sam get his taste of the tip income (they under-estimate the tip income in all cases, so it’s not as bad as it could be).
Parenthetically, an odious new custom has arisen at Starbuck’s and similar businesses in the U.S.; the placement of a “Tip jar” at the counter, to solicit tips for preparing the refreshments behind the counter. But this is bullshit, because the “baristas” ARE beneficiaries of the MW laws, so their incomes do not require supplementation through tip income.
But getting back to Cruises, they are NOT PART OF THE U.S. ECONOMIC system. If the Cruise line is not adequately compensating their employees, it shouldn’t be the concern or obligation of Cruise passengers to supplement staff income, as they are already paying a king’s ransom for the cruise. And that goes in spades for the excursion staff. If I and 39 other Cruisers are already paying $100 each for a four-hour bus ride (that’s a thousand dollars an hour if you’re counting), there should be no need to supplement the wages of the tour guide or driver – that’s the excursion provider’s responsibility.
However, my impression was that a fairly significant number of the American (and Canadian) travelers either deviously or blatantly minimized their tip outlays wherever possible. On the excursions they would bail out one stop early from the end and walk or bus back to the ship, or leave the tour bus from the back door, so that they wouldn’t have to “say goodbye” to the tour guide or driver. I presume they minimized their tips to the cruise staff as well, which was possible if you went out of your way to do it.
It was also noteworthy that at least one of our tour guides seemed a bit uncomfortable with the whole tipping thing. Our guide in Berlin (six hour excursion, $250/person) simply said good-bye and walked away from the bus at the end of the tour. (He was raised behind the so-called “Iron Curtain,” so maybe that had something to do with it). I had 40 Euro in my pocket for him, but…
As I think I’ve written here before, as far as I’m concerned, unless service is truly extraordinary, the only appropriate circumstance for tipping is when being served by someone who is not subject to MW. My “baseline” tip is 1/7 of the bill – more for great service, less for substandard service. Otherwise, the price I’m paying for the service or food is all the compensation I’m obliged to provide. If the baristas of the world have a problem with their wages, they need to find another job. Maybe in their next life they won’t major in Mass Communications.
Tipping does have a benefit. It incentivizes service providers to provide prompt, cheerful services. If they were paid a Living Wage regardless, who knows what would happen to the quality of service? Cruises are a peculiar case, made more peculiar because of a couple of unknowns. How much of my “tip” goes directly to the person who cleaned my room (or is the tip money pooled and distributed to everybody on the ship)? Are they paid adequately without the tip revenue? It used to be that you always sat at the same table in the restaurant on a cruise, so that you got to know your servers. At least you had the belief that your tip went to those particular people, to recognize their service. Now, it doesn’t seem to be that way anymore.
