Tipping

An increasing number of passengers on cruises are now seen at the reception desk asking not to pay the gratuities allocated preferring to give what they wish .For example ,we gave the cabin staff way above what was suggested as they were so good but the waiting staff got much less as they were very slow and always seemed to leave our table till last.

I'm not a lawyer but I think tipping is discretionary. On some cruises (the American ones as far as I know) the tipping is paid up front with the option of withdrawing if the client is dissatisfied, I wonder how many actually bother? They probably have to put that clause in simply because tipping is not enforceable legally.
Again diverting from cruising my sis-in-law went to lunch with friends where a 15 percent service charge was added. They all agreed that was excessive and left 10%. This was queried and they said they felt 10% was enough. No more said.

This conversation about tipping in general was a diversion from the original discussion about cruise tipping, with excessive amounts suggested by the tour operators.
Does anyone know if these suggestions are enforceable in law?
I was under the impression that tipping was at the discretion of the customer.

I always tip my hairdresser £5, I go about 3 times a year and have the works highlights, cut, blow dry, my tip is less than the suggested 10 per cent, but it's a pretty expensive process anyway without adding another £12 or so. I don't think hairdressers get tips from all their clients, my contribution comes across as being acceptable, well receivd with a smile at any rate, but who knows. My husband always tips in restaurants and asks whether the waitress/waiter gets it personally, if not he tries to give cash instead of adding it to the bill on the card. I have read recently that some chains are keeping the tips, very mean, maybe since the "living wage" came into force.

I give a big tip at the hairdresser's at Christmas and don't bother otherwise. My hairdresser is self-employed now and rents a chair, but other staff do the shampooing and clearing up. I regularly take a taxi to and from the station when I go to visit family and either give 10% or say 'keep the change'.

I do not tip my hairdresser, she is self employed! the taxi driver like annsixty if they cannot be bothered to get out of the cab to open the door, then no tip, if they do, then it is just a small one. Also like ann, the prices vary from 50p to £1 for same distance/journey. We use dial-a-ride for hospital/doctor visits which are cheaper, and need to be used if they are to be kept going. The o.h. does drive, but only the shortest of distances, when he is well.
We always leave a tip for the waiter/waitress, 10% of the bill usually. Our friends who were regular cruisers always left a tip for the steward at the beginning of the trip, then topped it up at the end, they were sea cruises.

I give roughly ten per cent.What a cheeky chappy annsixty

I'm in a similar situation annsixty. I do tend to tip more for friendly helpful taxi drivers. After recent knee op I've had to rely on these. I average about 50p but it depends on what the fare comes to. Although I always have the same destinations the price varies which I don't understand! If its the lower amount I tip more as I'm sort of resigned to how much my trip will cost. If the fare is mysteriously a higher amount then I tip less.
Sorry -not very helpful!! I do understand your quandary though.

The shopping trips are local,using the same firm, and cost under £5.

Just to divert slightly, I now rely on taxis and wonder how others view tipping the driver, not if,but how much.
When shopping some drivers will get out and put my bags in the boot and then carry them up the drive. It doesn't seem enough just to round up the bill if it is 10/20p.
Others sit in the car and watch me struggle to get the bags in the myself and just tell me how much outside my home.
On Thursday last week I used black cabs and the second driver was a very cheeky chappy who when I got in warned me the traffic was very bad and asked how much I had paid before. He agreed a price £1 more than I told him and then switched the meter off. I paid him the agreed price and no more.

I have never taken any type of cruise, but was rather amazed by the amount of tip suggested by cruise companies.
Has anyone ever refused to tip?
I'm not anti-tipping, but do regard tips as being for service, ' over and above.'
I am happy to reward cheerful and thoughtful service, but unwilling to tip for surly, or 'just doing the job's style of service.
What is the law on tipping for cruises?

I bet you're popular!
I also tip waiters and hairdresser -if the service has been good. I wouldn't dream of tipping a tutor but might give them a gift at Christmas if we seemed to be on these terms. Of course they are in the UK, are paid properly already and are not part of a product or service that has already necessitated the forking out of many thousands of pounds. We're not going to agree on this Norah. Bon voyage for your next trip.

I feel opposite. I tip for my hair cut and other salon services. I tip delivery people. I tip in restaurants, cafes, my GC tutor - any time I can thank any service person for helping, I tip generously. And at Christmas.

As long as these big businesses depend on passengers' generosity to make up proper wages they will continue to underpay them. Its an American custom. I don't tip people in shops, hospitals or schools. Nobody ever tipped me nor did I expect it. Why should I subsidise these companies? Viking makes massive profits. They could pay their staff 'properly' rather than use emotional blackmail to get us, their paying customers, to top up poor wages.

This confuses me, why not be kind and generous?

Either I can go and enjoy or not, improper tipping won't enhance my holiday.

The service is good, the employees are kind, and mostly from Eastern Europe. I have a bit of empathy, they work hard and honestly need the money. I'll not begrudge tips that only cost an additional 8-10% to the cruise. I think if I can cruise, it's up to me to tip generously. To us it's just being charitable.

I think its a racket. I don't expect to pay all that money and then subsidise staff wages. The company must be more than happy that passengers cough up their 'recommended' amount!

I agree, that seems a lot of money when you consider what the cruise itself costs. Assuming other passengers gave a similar amount, that's a huge amount of tips overall.

It works out as £32 per day so £16 each person. Still seems a lot of money to me.

Norah! At Viking's prices you jolly well should have good service!!!

No, the ship gives an envelope with the scheme written out, we did the maths, added for tipping drinks, gave the total. We did not think it was a dear sum for 2 weeks service.

"Only"? Sounds quite a lot to me. Are you in the US Norah, as I think the tipping culture is different from here?

I found my journal entry to our last Viking cruise, dh only gave £453 in tips, fair enough to me.

We've been on several river cruises. Most seem to be run by American companies and adopt the American attitude to tipping. However, Aussies on board found tipping ridiculous especially at the rates 'suggested' by the company. As Brits we don't mind rewarding good service up to a point. These cruises are expensive to cover, among other things, staff wages. Unlike America we don't have staff working only for tips so we found the whole tipping system on board ridiculous. Apart from anything else, 15% tip is automatically added to every drinks order. We tend to give something to any member of staff who we felt had gone above and beyond the call of duty for us.

As a note of interest, there is absolutely NO security on a river cruise. ANY person, terrorist or not, could enter the boat whilst docked up during day tours. There is NO checking of persons entering the boat, none at all. That bit is scary, makes the boats sitting targets for bad acts. Most of the passengers, being Americans, really don't give three cares.