To each their own. Tipping in general is way out of hand. At its core, a tip is a ‘thank you’ for a service that was performed admirably. It is not to simply provide money to somebody who expects it for literally no service performed.
At the same time, in multiple industries, tipping is ingrained to the point that it’s “needed” to retain the industry service folks, so that they actually perform the service for all of us.
Respectfully, I don’t buy the argument ‘they had to clean the room before you checked in and had to clean it after you checked out.’ Sure, that’s accurate. If they didn’t, I don’t think many people would be booking unkept staterooms, so
DCL wouldn’t be able to charge OP thousands upon thousands of dollars to rent that tiny cube of a room to him for several days, and similarly, DCL wouldn’t be able to rent it to the next for thousands upon thousands of dollars for the next several days thereafter. DCL receives handsome profits from providing the clean stateroom, while providing a clean room to patrons is a minimum expectation in hospitality.
Respectfully, I also don’t buy the argument that having a stateroom but not using its services / not tipping is taking money from the attendant’s pocket, just like going to a nice restaurant but not eating. To me, the more appropriate parallel is going into that nice restaurant’s restroom, which still has a seated attendant. Don’t want to have a spray of scent or a pump of lotion? Don’t want a lozenge or a mint? Well, you were offered, so maybe a guilt tip is in order. But, the attendant did not even offer to provide the minimum service of handing you a towel to dry your hands? Then why on earth would you tip?
The pendulum does swing back. You say the attendant did provide that minimum service? I’d provide a tip. In this vein, if the room attendant performed a required mid-stay safety check, why would I tip for that? Ohhhh…. while there, s/he did provide some services to clean up after me. I’d provide that tip. If after 5-10 days in a room that was at most minimally serviced during the entirety of my stay, I assume it will require some effort to clean due to my actions of spilling or dropping or sneezing or who knows what. So yeah, the room’s not in the same general shape that it was in when I checked in, so on check-out, I’d tip as mostly obligatory, but also some societal guilt. It wouldn’t be the same amount as if I actually benefitted from them cleaning up after me and for me during the stay, but would still tip.
When I want or at least expect a service and it’s performed well, regardless of service industry, I tip on the high end of the spectrum.
