Tipping on RCL ships

[fruby]

Hello,

I have been on 14 cruises and I believe in making sure that the cruise staff who work on my behalf should be compensated fairly and honorably. Tipping is of course a private matter but my question is...are tips pooled on RCL ships. Essentially I would like to know if all tips go into a pool including amounts above the recommended. On a recent cruise on a Princess ship, the dining room manager told us that dining room tips were pooled. We had excellent service but it was made clear to me that my very harding woking Waiter and Asst. Waiter would not receive the extra that I wanted to give them.

Can someone please let me know what they know about this.

Thanks,

Fred

[EnjoyLife]

It is my understanding that the tips on RCL are pooled - at least that is what I have been told. However, it was also suggested to me (by a crew member) that tips that are given on the side (meaning not in the envelope and handed to them discreetly at another time) are not necessarily pooled (it is the decision of the individual crew member if they add it to the pool or keep it for themselves).

[oppis]

I´ve asked people in the self-service-restaurant on the NCL SUN, if they have a pool for the staff. But they negated it.
I asked crew members on a RCCL ship and they told me the same.

When you look, which waiters are working in the selfservice, you can see, that they change from time to time. So some can participate from the tip at the end of the cruise, because they are also serving in the dining room and some are not.

Maybe on other cruiselines they have created a pool. I know that on the German AIDA ships, where no tip is required, they place a big glas at the end of the cruise for tips from the passengers.

Best regards
Marita