attitude change after tip night

[Stacy]

I think my biggest gripe of all is the instant attitude change once the tip envelopes are passed out. It's like, "I got your lousy money now get off the ship so I can start smoozing the next people." This change does not seem dependant on the amount of the tip or the person being tipped, either. We don't tip less than the recommended amount and will often tip more... so this really bugs me.

Have any of you experienced this?

I've only been on one cruise, but we definitely did not experience that on HAL. Impeccable service from the moment we set foot on the ship until the moment we stepped off.

[Paul B]

I habe been on 19 cruises and habve not noticed it either.

[Lisa]

I think some of it may come from the fact that your servers, room stewards, etc, have been up most of the night hauling luggage and starting prep to turn the ship over. And once, you are off the ship, they have a very limited amount of time to get everything else ready for the embarking passengers. Everyone has to help with debarkation and preparation for the next group of passengers. I will say that on 9 cruises I have seen this only twice - and both were on Carnival cruises.

[Laurie M]

Yes...I have noticed it too.

However, Lisa's explaination makes sense. Maybe they are tired.

[gb52877]

I have been on a few cruises and I have never experienced this. If fact we always have had the best time with our dining room staff and room attendants the last day after we pass out the envelopes. By this time we know them and they know us. We tease them and they tease us and we all just have a blast like if we were family.

[pebbs]

I have experience that too, but I never knew about the luggage thing. Naively I thought there were either

1) Special luggage people
2) luggage fairies

I am into attitude avoidance so I eat at the buffet on the last morning...that and I am too depressed to go to the dining room!!

[MichelleP]

I think Lisa must be right.

Although, on our last cruise, we prepaid our tips along with our cruise fare, and noticed a decrease in service throughout the cruise. We won't be doing that again.

Cheers,
Michelle P.

[carol]

Yes I noticed after the tips are received, rarely a thank you or a good bye. On the Grand Princess in addition to the automatic tip, I put a $50.00 bill in the envelope with a thank you note, and an invitation for my cabin attendant to stay in my oceanfront Fl. condo when he had time off, but he never thanked me or said good bye. Needless to say tipping is a sore subject with me, and I no longer tip more than the recommended amount, especially now that we all know tips are pooled.

Happy Sailing!

[babe ruth]

From what I read above, it seems that this problem is confined to ships run by Carnival Corp. We never experienced this problem on several cruises on RCI, NCL, and the old Crown lines, and don't experieence it on Radisson where tips are included in the fare.

Thanks,
Richard

[Stacowgirl]

I didn't feel that way on any of my cruises either. I think maybe lots of them are getting prepared to start busting butt to get ready for the next cruise. I am sure they have to stay up all night getting the kitchens ready for stocking and the room stewards know that they have to work extra fast to get rooms ready for the next guest and some like to get their work done so the can get off the ship for a few hours themselves. So it might not be that they are over looking you it's just stress thinking about all the stuff they need to get prepared for. Just my opinion thought I maybe wrong. Also a question to Richard, those other ships you named other than carnival lines that you say tip is included in the fare, can you tell me if they are less expensive than carnival or at least the same amount? I am just wondering because I prepaid my tips when I book my cruise and recently I went on a 5 day (with tips paid with the fare) 3 of us for 1206.00 which I thought was amazing and we was on the empress deck, anything above that was suites. If I can get the same value with another cruise line other than carnival please let me know. Thanks

We were told on our Celebrity Cruise in April by the cruise director that tips
are not pooled. It was during he debarkation talk. I was glad to hear, and
I gave extra to some of the crew. They were very happy and thanked us very
much for the tips. Most of the crew are from different countries and they all
are different on how they thank you. Some are not gonna make a big fuss over
you giving them tips, its depends on how their countrys background.