Sapphire Princess - Notes from First Time Cruisers - Tipping

We originally booked ourselves on a Silversea cruise that would have been
fewer days for a higher cost. Minimally, the higher cost offsets the cost
of alcohol and 'charges' (pseudo-mandatory tipping) associated for service.

It seems the cruise line is bent on asking you to supplement the pay of many
workers one never comes in contact with. Who deserves and tip and who does
not? I have always considered tipping as a gift to those who supply a
direct service in an exemplary manner, including promptness. Princess would
like to broaden that definition by having you additionally pay the wages of
those the cruise may underpay with the promise of tips from deep pocket
passengers.

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.


rg

Sharkbait wrote:

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.

Is that why your use your posting name of "Sharkbait" to bait someone
to tell you how uninformed you are?

Your attitude is among what's known in the world as the "Ugly
American" who thinks everyone should speak English and do things
like Americans do.

You want to cruiseships to hire only people who can speak Chinese?
There are almost TWICE as many Mandarin speakers than all the
English speaking people in the world, and that's not counting the vast
number of Chinese who had settled overseas in the PORTS which
you may cruise who DON'T speak Mandarin at all, but only Cantonese.

There are almost as many Hindi speakers as English. :-)

See: http://www.aneki.com/languages.html

If you CRUISE, you'll do quite well if you can speak (at least a bit)
of
Spanish, French, and Cantonese, besides English.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

This guy must be "pulling our leg" - NOBODY can be this negative!!

"Sharkbait" wrote in message
news:5J6hh.766$Ei5.387@trndny05...
We originally booked ourselves on a Silversea cruise that would have been
fewer days for a higher cost. Minimally, the higher cost offsets the cost
of alcohol and 'charges' (pseudo-mandatory tipping) associated for
service.

It seems the cruise line is bent on asking you to supplement the pay of
many workers one never comes in contact with. Who deserves and tip and
who does not? I have always considered tipping as a gift to those who
supply a direct service in an exemplary manner, including promptness.
Princess would like to broaden that definition by having you additionally
pay the wages of those the cruise may underpay with the promise of tips
from deep pocket passengers.

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.


rg

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
ups.com...

If you CRUISE, you'll do quite well if you can speak (at least a bit)
of
Spanish, French, and Cantonese, besides English.


You've cruised a lot more than me for sure (just 2 cruses for me.) So,
with all due respect, your statement sounds ridiculous. English is the
international language - period. Americans should not have to learn any
foreign language to enjoy a cruise ship or port of call. And I'm willing to
bet if you told people they should learn a few phrases of a language to
enjoy their cruise or ports of call, those people would head to Vegas
instead of the Caribbean or wherever.

With all due respect to the previous poster, including his 'ugly American'
comment, my point was way above his head. My wife and I speak Mandarin,
Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and English. We have absolutely no desire
to travel to India or the middle east. So for us, we can speak to most of
world that interests us. The cause of my concern about the servers assigned
to food stations was that they only sort of grunted when confronted with a
question that only required a "yes", "no", "one", "two", etc. Many of them
seem to suffer from the same lack of education so common in the U.S. lately.
So yes, your expectation of very basic English comprehension could be
appropriate.

Perhaps like in some states, the daily, Princess Patter should be published
in 57 languages so I don't come off as an 'ugly American', wishing that
everyone speak English. My wife and I would be quite happy if Princess
published the Patter in one of the languages above. This was the concern of
one German tour guide leading a group of 47 Germans who didn't speak a lick
of Chinese, Hindi, or English. They only spoke and understood German. She
felt the Patter should be published in German. Hell, why not? Did the
Germans get good value for their euros? You can't get through a day of
cruising without reading the Patter. And how much of the shipboard TV
announcements did they understand? I only hope somebody explained what
seven short and one long horn blast should have meant to them.

Sharkbait





"Von Fourche" wrote in message
...

"Reef Fish" wrote in message
ups.com...

If you CRUISE, you'll do quite well if you can speak (at least a bit)
of
Spanish, French, and Cantonese, besides English.


You've cruised a lot more than me for sure (just 2 cruses for me.) So,
with all due respect, your statement sounds ridiculous. English is the
international language - period. Americans should not have to learn any
foreign language to enjoy a cruise ship or port of call. And I'm willing
to bet if you told people they should learn a few phrases of a language to
enjoy their cruise or ports of call, those people would head to Vegas
instead of the Caribbean or wherever.

I would never pull your leg but thanks for reposting for me.

Sharkbait


"Art" wrote in message
...
This guy must be "pulling our leg" - NOBODY can be this negative!!

"Sharkbait" wrote in message
news:5J6hh.766$Ei5.387@trndny05...
We originally booked ourselves on a Silversea cruise that would have been
fewer days for a higher cost. Minimally, the higher cost offsets the
cost of alcohol and 'charges' (pseudo-mandatory tipping) associated for
service.

It seems the cruise line is bent on asking you to supplement the pay of
many workers one never comes in contact with. Who deserves and tip and
who does not? I have always considered tipping as a gift to those who
supply a direct service in an exemplary manner, including promptness.
Princess would like to broaden that definition by having you additionally
pay the wages of those the cruise may underpay with the promise of tips
from deep pocket passengers.

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.


rg

Reef Fish wrote:
Sharkbait wrote:

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.

Is that why your use your posting name of "Sharkbait" to bait someone
to tell you how uninformed you are?

Your attitude is among what's known in the world as the "Ugly
American" who thinks everyone should speak English and do things
like Americans do.

You want to cruiseships to hire only people who can speak Chinese?
There are almost TWICE as many Mandarin speakers than all the
English speaking people in the world, and that's not counting the vast
number of Chinese who had settled overseas in the PORTS which
you may cruise who DON'T speak Mandarin at all, but only Cantonese.

There are almost as many Hindi speakers as English. :-)

How many languages do YOU speak? The dominant people of the world
speak ENGLISH. Every airport tower at every major airport worldwide
is required to speak in ENGLISH. Get with the program, and save the
leftist
babble.

i see this alot in this NG.... you missed the point of the post. you
see one or two words that you do not like and fire off flame. RTFP.....
the poster has a point about tipping....

Reef Fish wrote:
Sharkbait wrote:

A good number of staff onboard the ship that could potentially offer a
service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages or those of minorities are persona non-grata.

Is that why your use your posting name of "Sharkbait" to bait someone
to tell you how uninformed you are?

Your attitude is among what's known in the world as the "Ugly
American" who thinks everyone should speak English and do things
like Americans do.

You want to cruiseships to hire only people who can speak Chinese?
There are almost TWICE as many Mandarin speakers than all the
English speaking people in the world, and that's not counting the vast
number of Chinese who had settled overseas in the PORTS which
you may cruise who DON'T speak Mandarin at all, but only Cantonese.

There are almost as many Hindi speakers as English. :-)

See: http://www.aneki.com/languages.html

If you CRUISE, you'll do quite well if you can speak (at least a bit)
of
Spanish, French, and Cantonese, besides English.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

Sharkbait wrote:
With all due respect to the previous poster, including his 'ugly American'
comment, my point was way above his head.

What's your point in this?

service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages

You THOUGHT English was the "most commonly used language".
That was why I pointed out how wrong you were.

My wife and I speak Mandarin,
Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and English. We have absolutely no desire
to travel to India or the middle east. So for us, we can speak to most of
world that interests us.

You can probably say the same if you could speak ONLY English!
Your languages reflect only your country of Singapore (I presume).


question that only required a "yes", "no", "one", "two", etc. Many of them
seem to suffer from the same lack of education so common in the U.S. lately.
So yes, your expectation of very basic English comprehension could be
appropriate.

Why English? They are hired from the most impoverished countries of
Europe, such as Yugoslovakia or Rumania and from the Philippines
and Thailand. They needed the low-paying jobs, and the Princess
needed them to provide fares that would otherwise be much higher.
It's the FREE MARKET, son.

Perhaps like in some states, the daily, Princess Patter should be published
in 57 languages so I don't come off as an 'ugly American', wishing that
everyone speak English.

You ARE an Ugly Person no matter what country your belong. You would
fit the image of an Ugly American perfectly if you're American, no
matter
how many languages the menus are printed in.

This was the concern of
one German tour guide leading a group of 47 Germans who didn't speak a lick
of Chinese, Hindi, or English. They only spoke and understood German. She
felt the Patter should be published in German. Hell, why not?

Because only IDIOTS like you would even ask "why not?" With that
many in a group that are non-German-illierates, they should hire their
OWN Tour Guide and translators.


Did the
Germans get good value for their euros? You can't get through a day of
cruising without reading the Patter. And how much of the shipboard TV
announcements did they understand? I only hope somebody explained what
seven short and one long horn blast should have meant to them.

Sharkbait

Don't flatter yourself, Sharkbait! The Germans are not nearly as DUMB
as you are.

I only hope somebody explained what
seven short and one long horn blast should have meant to them.

Möglicherweise hatte jemand in ihrer Gruppe bereits sie ihnen
erklärt,
sogar bevor Sie sie hörten.

-- Reef Fish Bob.

Sharkbait wrote:
With all due respect to the previous poster, including his 'ugly American'
comment, my point was way above his head.

What's your point in this?

service cannot speak English or any other language but their own tongue.
This tells me that hiring people who cannot speak the most commonly used
languages

You THOUGHT English was the "most commonly used language".
That was why I pointed out how wrong you were.

My wife and I speak Mandarin,
Cantonese, Vietnamese, Spanish, and English. We have absolutely no desire
to travel to India or the middle east. So for us, we can speak to most of
world that interests us.

You can probably say the same if you could speak ONLY English!
Your languages reflect only your country of Singapore (I presume).


question that only required a "yes", "no", "one", "two", etc. Many of them
seem to suffer from the same lack of education so common in the U.S. lately.
So yes, your expectation of very basic English comprehension could be
appropriate.

Why English? They are hired from the most impoverished countries of
Europe, such as Yugoslovakia or Rumania and from the Philippines
and Thailand. They needed the low-paying jobs, and the Princess
needed them to provide fares that would otherwise be much higher.
It's the FREE MARKET, son.

Perhaps like in some states, the daily, Princess Patter should be published
in 57 languages so I don't come off as an 'ugly American', wishing that
everyone speak English.

You ARE an Ugly Person no matter what country your belong. You would
fit the image of an Ugly American perfectly if you're American, no
matter
how many languages the menus are printed in.

This was the concern of
one German tour guide leading a group of 47 Germans who didn't speak a lick
of Chinese, Hindi, or English. They only spoke and understood German. She
felt the Patter should be published in German. Hell, why not?

Because only IDIOTS like you would even ask "why not?" With that
many in a group that are non-German-illierates, they should hire their
OWN Tour Guide and translators.


Did the
Germans get good value for their euros? You can't get through a day of
cruising without reading the Patter. And how much of the shipboard TV
announcements did they understand? I only hope somebody explained what
seven short and one long horn blast should have meant to them.

Sharkbait

Don't flatter yourself, Sharkbait! The Germans are not nearly as DUMB
as you are.

I only hope somebody explained what
seven short and one long horn blast should have meant to them.

Möglicherweise hatte jemand in ihrer Gruppe bereits sie ihnen
erklärt,
sogar bevor Sie sie hörten.

-- Reef Fish Bob.