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Five lines have raised or announced increases
so far this year. Cruise passengers are paying more in gratuities, as
almost all big cruise lines seek to retain and attract good service personnel
and remain competitive with each other.
Princess Cruises was the latest to jump on the bandwagon, saying last week that
it would raise gratuities 12.6% starting Jan. 1.
The moves raise the overall cost of a cruise without raising the fares on which
travel agents earn commission. But several agents said clients are not noticing
or pushing back against higher gratuities and that agents don’t go out of their
way to discuss them, other than to say they are automatically billed at the end
of a cruise.
Most of the people, when they are initially booking a cruise know they have to
pay gratuities and they know that it’s in that $12 vicinity. They don’t seem to
have that much concern about it.”
That kind of accepting attitude on the part of many passengers has opened the
door to increases that were harder to pass along during the downturn in the
economic
Princess, which as late as 2007 was at $10 a day, raised the figure by 50 cents
in 2008 and then waited until May 2011 to increase it to $11.50. Beginning with
cruises departing Jan. 1, the suggested gratuity will jump to $12.95 a day, with
suite guests paying $13.95. These increases bring them in line with other
premium brands.
While most lines’ gratuities are now at $12.95, Carnival Cruise Line’s are at
$12 after raising its rate to that level a year ago.
At the high end of the scale, Norwegian Cruise Line’s has twice raised its
gratuities in a year with suggested gratuity charge currently being $13.50,
having raised it in March from $12 to $12.95 and then again, in August, to the
current rate.
At a press luncheon several weeks ago in Papenburg, Germany, where Norwegian is
completing construction of its next ship, Norwegian President Andy Stuart
declined to go into detail about the line’s rationale for higher gratuities,
saying merely that management feels they are now at an appropriate level.
Frank Del Rio, chairman of Norwegian’s parent company, Norwegian Cruise Line
Holdings, has made it known that he considers better service one of the keys to
improving customer retention at Norwegian.
It isn’t clear exactly how much of crew compensation is derived from tips, since
most cruise lines closely guard that information. But it's generally recognized
that gratuities represent an “important” part of crew compensation.
Estimates of the share of crew salary that tips constitute vary from around 50%
to nearly all of it in some positions. Cabin stewards earn from $1,400 to $2,400
a month in wages alone, according to Cruiseshipjob.net, a recruitment site.
Waiters earn between $2,500 and $4,000 a month in combined wages and tips,
according to another site, Cruiselinesjobs.com.
Throughout the economy, the level of tips in general has been rising, although
not at the same rate as gratuities at sea. The most recent Zagat Dining
Trends Survey found the average meal tip in the U.S. was 19.3%. That compares
with an average of 18.6% in 2004.
“Tips increase over time,” said William Michael Lynn, a professor at the school
of hotel management at Cornell University, who said that the average tip at a
U.S. restaurant is now approaching 20%.
Historically, cruise lines have provided breakdowns of where tips go, and some
still do. On its website, Carnival says of its $12 total gratuities that $6.10
is allocated to dining staff, $3.90 to stateroom attendants and $2 to kitchen,
entertainment, guest services and other hotel staff members.
Increasingly, however, gratuities are being treated as lump-sum service charges
added to the bill at the end of the cruise. Guests remain free to adjust the
amounts, although Norwegian recently said charges can only be altered after
guests depart the ship, not onboard. Other lines continue to ask that
adjustments be made at the guest services office, with some saying amounts are
final if undisputed by the time of disembarkation.
Agents say cruise lines have made raising gratuities more palatable with some
loopholes, they all give a little window of time where you can go ahead
and prepay your gratuity at the old rate.
Increasingly, cruise lines are also offering promotions in which free gratuities
are one among a choice of three or four options however, clients seldom pick the
free-gratuity option.
But most lines also allow onboard credits to be applied to gratuities, and many
do that, guests can also apply onboard credits they get from shareholder
perquisites, from credit card offers or by booking their next cruise while on
the current voyage.
Rising gratuities mean a family of four now pays $336 or more in tips for a
seven-night cruise. It does add up but people sort of resign themselves to the
fact that it is part of the overall cruise price. |
