Gratuities

[susanmaz]

And to add to Dwayne's comments, you will most likely see your dinner / dining room servers in the lido and/or dining room at breakfast and lunch.

[Wheels87]

I have personally seen my waiter/assistant waiter working in the buffet many times on every cruise I have been on.

These folks work really hard with long hours and very odd shifts and given that they have to spend so much time away from home/family, I really think they are underpaid.

Take care,

Brad

[Cruisehappy]

Just got off the Victory recently and there were no extra envelopes for anyone in our cabin. We asked for them. We usually leave the tips (wages) on the bill and give extra for those who went above and beyond.

[Dwayne]

Usually the Cabin Steward will leave one per guest in the cabin for the Maitre'd tip. I always go to the Purser's (Info) Desk and get some additional ones while getting my bills in the right denominations for the extra gratuities.

Another thing I do is to write a thank you note and put in the envelope as well.

[LHP]

The "concern" that service would suffer if the gratuities were not adjustable...is the same "concern" that was expressed when Carnival started automatically adding it to the Sail and Sign card.

We had done about 10 cruises before they were automatically added (when you handed everyone cash) and about 30 since the change and we have seen no decrease in service.

If these were handled like service surcharges (which is what they truly are), I do not believe the service would suffer because these individuals are professionals who take pride in their work.

The very FEW who sluff off will do so no matter how they are paid.

Unfortunately, (like the 50% we just experienced on the Destiny)...you have a culture in America that does not tip. That means many cabin stewards and wait staff worked for free last week.

Perhaps if Carnival made the service surcharge nonrefundable on groups of more than 25 (like restaurants do for groups of 10 or more) ... then the majority of the workers would be protected.