Carnival Cruise Line shares news on mandatory tips

Tipping has become a controversial topic, not just on land but at sea as well.

Some land-based restaurants have begun adding mandatory 18% charges to their bills. a sort of forced tip. In most cases, however, these establishments defy the norm and offer higher wages and benefits like health insurance to their entire staffs.

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Waitstaff in the U.S. generally get paid low hourly wages and make their real money in tips. If restaurants did away with tipping and paid a higher/living wage, then prices would have to be higher.

You might not actually spend more, but the menu prices would rise to pay for the money lost from tips. That makes a restaurant seem more expensive and the tactic can work only if the whole industry adopts it. (Some restaurants have tried this and then reverted to the standard low-wage-plus-tips method.)

Cruise lines have seen their advertised prices go up as the entire industry now includes taxes and port fees in their advertised fares. Those prices, however, still do not include the cost of the daily per-person gratuities that get added to your bill.

That's because those charges technically are not mandatory and you can remove them from your bill. (But you should not do this.)

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Carnival asks for tipping opinions

Carnival passengers tip in two ways: The first is the tradition of handing someone a tip directly for good service and the second is the daily gratuities added to your bill.

The cruise line outlined its tipping policy on its website:

"It is customary for our guests to extend gratuities to the shipboard staff in appreciation for their hard work and exceptional service. 100% of your gratuities are distributed to the crew who you interact with, such as your stateroom attendants, dining and culinary services staff, as well as other members of the onboard team who work behind the scenes to enhance your overall cruise experience."

Those charges — $16 per person per day in a standard cabin and $18 per person per day in a suite — can be prepaid or added to your bill each day.

"Applying this charge automatically streamlines the recognition process and ensures our crew will share in your generosity," the cruise line added.

Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald, responding to a message he recently received, addressed the idea of making those charges mandatory.

"If you stop your customers having the right to remove all gratuities then you would see an exodus like never before," an unidentified passenger wrote to Heald. "I don't concern myself about what the staff makes, how gratuities are divided up, or their workload. That's between the employee and the employer. If I feel occasionally that someone deserves a gratuity I will give it to them. If not then I will not. It is our choice. It is not the cruise line to take away."

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Carnival shares its tipping policy plans

Heald made clear that Carnival has no immediate plans to change its tipping policies.

"Many of the people who do remove their gratuities give the same or more in cash but yep, like this lady, some do not," he wrote. "If they have a legitimate reason to give nothing then of course they should not but, well, it would be dishonest of me not to say that it makes me sad to read this and to see people remove their gratuities and give the crew who have given their all nothing."

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If you remove your daily gratuities because your room steward does not perform to your expectations and hand a tip to your waiters, you're punishing the behind-the-scenes workers who share in the tip pool. You never meet the person who does your laundry, but that does not mean they don't earn a tip.

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Many of the more than 800 people who commented on Heald's post shared some version of the idea.

"I totally agree with you, John," posted Sheila Harris White. "Some of the gratuities go to some crew members that I never see working behind the scenes. We always prepay gratuities and give extra to those who go above and beyond for us. They’re some hard-working individuals on those crew ships that make it an awesome experience for us all. Thank you for all you do Carnival."

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