Reply To: JoCo Cruise Crazy 3: Get excited and talk about things!
@kate The synopsis of the article basically states that the average cruise line worker earns 75p (~$1.25) per hour, working 11 hour shifts, so their gross earnings is about $14 per day.
The auto-calculated optional tip varies, but breaks down for room attendants, waiters, etc, and that’s what the article is talking about. The optional tip can actually be partially withheld by the cruise line if the survey result from the rooms doesn’t measure up to the cruise line standards. That seems extremely unfair, as those funds are meant to be distributed to the staff, and not to the cruise line. If someone is unhappy enough to mark the customer satisfaction survey as inadequate, is it really such a logical leap to think that this would also be reflected on the tip they give out?
Personally, I wasn’t aware that the wages were so dire, or I’d have tipped even more than I did (and I think I gave both of my room attendants somewhere around $30 each in cash total on JCCC2, above and beyond the automatic tip – which I also approved).