re: #52 A hollow voice says NOW drain that swamp!

The captain and engineering staff are highly paid (and mostly “first-world”)professionals. The service, kitchen and cleaning staff make enough to be well-off in comparison to their neighbors. Especially if they’re tipped.

The cruise ships are just another business that depends on their customers to supplement the low pay they give to their workers. A couple of days before the end of the cruise, a card and several envelopes are left in your stateroom. The card “suggests” the proper tip amount for each of the individuals who may have “assisted” you. This includes positions such as Room Steward, Ass’t Room Steward, Head Waiter, Ass’t Waiter, Wine Steward, and the maître d’. The suggestion was a tip of $50 for the maître d’ (who assigned you your meal seating at the first meal and someone you never saw again).

On a 10 day cruise, if you tipped the suggested amounts ($ per day X 5-6 employees X no. of days) you can expect to drop off at least another $500 to subsidize their employees salaries.

We were generous with the ass’t waiter and ass’t room steward as they really worked to keep us comfortable. The rest, not very much.

Cruise ships are just like restaurants, expecting tipping to offset poor employee salaries.