Gratuities

[sgmburt]

How much do I need to plan to pay in gratuities on a 7 night cruise to Alaska? I have so many questions as we are first time cruisers. Thanks!

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL automatically puts am $11 per day per person Hotel Service Charge on your bill when you get on the ship.

$11 x 7 days = $77

For 2 people that would be $154.

[jtl513]

The Hotel Service Charge of $11/p/day covers all of your "normal" service. If someone gives you superior service you can give them an additional amount - whatever you think it is worth. Nothing would be refused.

 

I believe most people tip the room service stewards $2 to $5 depending on how much was ordered, and how accurate it was in terms of content and time.

 

Many people (I don't know if it is "most") will leave a cash tip in the Pinnacle Grill. Again, whatever you think it was worth to you.

 

If you Search this forum for threads with "tipping" in the title you will find literally hundreds of threads, some of them running into the hundreds of posts. Happy reading!

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you order cocktails, sodas, bottled water, wine -- there will also be a 15% gratuity added to your bill.

[willowoodf]

How much do I need to plan to pay in gratuities on a 7 night cruise to Alaska? I have so many questions as we are first time cruisers. Thanks!

 

If you believe your room steward(s) and dining steward(s) and wine steward deserve a tip above and beyond the automatic tip charged by HAL, it would be much appreciated by them. If you don't want to sift through the literally hundreds of posts on this subject, I'll give you a summary. Most people have suggested tipping anywhere from $20 to $100 for each of these people mentioned, and it seems to me that most often I've read people tip as follows:

 

Room steward(s) - $30-$60 (total if one person, divided between the two of them if there are two)

dining steward - $20-$50

asst. dining steward - $10-$30

wine steward - $10-$30

particularly liked bartender - $10-$20

 

Tipping, of course, is a highly individual thing, but I know what it is like to be a first time cruiser and have NO IDEA, so the above are just what I have read in these hundreds of posts on the subject.

 

If you have anytime dining, I'm not sure how the tipping works.

 

And of course, many people don't tip anything extra other than the automatic tip. On most large dining tables we have sat at on our cruises, we don't often see more than half the people tipping.

 

I'm sure if anybody disagrees with me, they'll jump right in! I just remember how clueless I was when I started, and really appreciated some actual $$$ suggestions.

 

Mary

[suse]

Bring lots of cash. I love these tipping stories. It is so much fun!

[Jemima]

Most people??? Those who like to tip big (or claim to do so) are the people most likely to post suggested tipping amounts. The $11 per day per person hotel service charge is sufficient unless you want to tip someone more. We just completed our 12th HAL cruise and are down to tipping only our cabin attendants extra plus leaving a token amount ($1) for room service. There is also the option to go have the Front Desk simply increase the amount per day if you wish. I overheard several people talking of doing that rather than tipping any individuals extra. But... you don't need to tip anything above the service charge.

(Note: We have open dining and have various beverage servers. Room service is just a moderate breakfast ordered from the card.)

[CowPrincess]

Most people??? Those who like to tip big (or claim to do so) are the people most likely to post suggested tipping amounts

 

I disagree. Lots of people want some guidance re tipping, and this board is a good place to get info. It has ZERO to do with "claiming" to tip, and EVERYTHING to do with being helpful to new cruisers.

 

You contribute to CC how you want, let others contribute how they want.

[cb at sea]

$11 per person per day covers the tips for your room attendant, waiter, ass't waiter and head waiter. Bartenders have 15% added to every drink tab....

That's all you NEED to tip. If you order rooms service, a cash tip at time of delivery is expected...$1-5, depending on the amount they have to carry to you...

 

No other tips are needed, unless you want to, and feel generous, or someone has gone "above and beyond" doing some "service" for you.

[gebo]

I usually tip a bit over.

Here's my question; next cruise we have open/AYW dining. This is a first, and we only got it because fixed seating was closed (we are wait listed). So what happens to that little $ envelope on the last night???

[Pokeynose]

We keep the $11.00 a day tipping. Room service depends on how much we order, anywhere from $3-$5. After we got to know our room stewards we got them each a $10.00 phone card so they could call their family. They really appreciated that. We always tipped at the Pinnacle grill but in the diningroom our service was not that good, no extra there, we gave up on eating there. At the end of the cruise we tipped our room stewards, their service was exceptional. We also tipped the Conserige (sp?), she did alot for us. We should be getting the same room stewards and again my spelling is bad, the same Conseirge when we cruise next Jan., that's what they told us. Same ship and same suite.:)

[Jemima]

Room service servers would be included in the hotel service charge. Why would they be left out when it includes even "behind the scenes" people? There is no reason to tip for room service unless you wish to do so.

[Pokeynose]

Room service servers would be included in the hotel service charge. Why would they be left out when it includes even "behind the scenes" people? There is no reason to tip for room service unless you wish to do so.

 

Our room service was always on time if not early and those trays are not the lightest so that is why we tip extra. My kids worked through college and they always appreciated those extra tips for good service, these kids that work on the ship, they're kids to us at our age, remind me of them. Those few dollars won't make us or break us and might make a difference to them. It's our choice as it's yours.:)

[IVaSong]

HAL automatically puts am $11 per day per person Hotel Service Charge on your bill when you get on the ship, is this in addition to the 60.00/day/person they charge my CC ? :confused:

[serendipity1499]

I usually tip a bit over.

Here's my question; next cruise we have open/AYW dining. This is a first, and we only got it because fixed seating was closed (we are wait listed). So what happens to that little $ envelope on the last night???

 

We also usually tip a bit extra if we have good service..

However in Alaska last year we tried open Dining & had different waiters each night, so we did not give an extra tip..

 

Last Nov, two weeks before departure we were able to get a cabin on the Maasdam..Our Friends had been confirmed since Aug. & had late seating..We tried to all get late seating on board, but it was imposwsible, so our Friends gave up their late seating to be with us..The four of us asked to be seated at a large round table for 8..We met two lovely couples from Canada & got along so well together & also had wonderful waiters..So each night we all booked the same table with the same waiters..In other words we turned it into assigned late seating..At the last Dinner we all gave our waiters an extra tip..

 

HAL automatically puts am $11 per day per person Hotel Service Charge on your bill when you get on the ship, is this in addition to the 60.00/day/person they charge my CC ? :confused:

 

HAL is not charging your credit card $60.00 per day...It is merely a HOLD..That $60.00 hold is for your $11 per person per day tips plus anything else you may spend on board..All they are doing is notifying the Credit Card company of a Pending Charge to be submitted later..You will be charged only what you spend including your service charge...

 

Most Cruise lines, Hotels, Car Rental Agencies, Some Airlines, etc. put Holds on Credit Cards so they know you can pay the bill..They may not tell you about the hold, but it's still there..The Holds only lower your credit limit & you will not be anything until you pay your final bill..

In other words if you & your DH are on a 7 day cruise & give HAL a card with a credit limit of say $5,000...

Your limit will now be reduced to $4,160 as the $840 (for two people) is being held out until you pay your final bill..

The hold is lifted once you pay your final bill which will include the #11 per day per person..

 

For a better explanation of a hold you might read this article:

 

"CREDIT CARD HOLDS ARE NOT CHARGES"

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL NEWS (2005)

http://www.intltravelnews.com/2005/01/the-cruising-world-%C2%BB-a-credit-hold-is-not-a-credit-charge/

Betty

 

[azcaptainbob]

The $11.00 per person per day breaks down to : 35% Room Stewards $3.85 / day

35% Food Attendants $3.85 /day

30% Back of the House $3.30/day

(cooks & laundry-sheets)

[Cruzin Terri]

Once upon a time I was a new cruiser on HAL. This was after the tipping was added to the bill. Our first cruise on the Home Lines was before this practice was started.

That first cruise on HAL, not knowing much, we left the $10 pp in place and did not tip extra. We were embarassed in the dining room on the last night when we saw other people tipping and we didn't. I wasn't ready to do so. I really felt bad because we received excellent service on that ship.

At the time I was not a member of CC and I had no idea that extra tipping was even acceptable.

While I use my own discretion in how much I tip extra now, I will tell you that I would have been very happy to have gotten some suggestions before that cruise.

Thank you, Mary for posting suggested amounts. I am sure the OP appreciates it.

You live and learn.

Terri

[Randyk47]

We tip an additional amount out-of-hand to selected crew members but it certainly isn't required. Typically we give additional tips to our cabin steward, dining room waiters, and bar staff but not always. For instance, the service in the dining room on our last cruise was so marginal that even leaving the auto-tip in place was over doing it. I only recall one couple at our table for eight who tipped additional and that was more that one of them had special diet requirements that were actually met quite well.

[olefin32]

We feel the $11 a day is plenty enough for tipping and also expect good service for that.

[cruiseing marly]

Every one just needs to do what they feel the most comfortable with. If you want to add 0 or tip more that is your bussness no ones else. Removeing the preset tip is rude if you received good service.

[ziggypup]

Room service servers would be included in the hotel service charge. Why would they be left out when it includes even "behind the scenes" people? There is no reason to tip for room service unless you wish to do so.

 

Just shaking my head ................lol

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I wish someone would enlighten me as to when extra tipping is warranted. What is above and beyond? We use the Neptune Lounge when in a deluxe suite but do not ask the concierge to do anything extra for us. We book our own tours and our own reservations at the Pinnacle Grill. We do give the room service deliverers something. But if our room is made up and cleaned in an exceptable fashion, we do not think extra tipping is necessary. If our service in the dining room is normal, we do not think extra tipping is warranted. We always leave the service charge in place.

So my question remains, what is required to tip extra? Thanks for enlightening me.

 

Barbara

[CowPrincess]

So my question remains, what is required to tip extra? Thanks for enlightening me.

 

 

What a great question! Seriously. I/we tip extra if we feel the actions of certain staff members have enhanced our cruise. If we feel that we are getting special attention or if someone meets our (very few but specific) requests with a "Certainly, I'll do that right now" on a regular basis. If our dining stewards manage to pace a meal to our liking, keeping the food coming with just enough time between courses, if special requests are cheerfully fulfilled .... if the wine steward figures out immediately that we always order a glass of house merlot with dinner and has it waiting for us after a couple of evenings. Yes, I know -- any of those could be considered "doing their job" but for us, those little touches REALLY add to our cruise. So we like to provide a little extra direct thanks to the people who directly enhanced our cruise. And we mention the ones who were outstanding on our comment cards.

 

Once we did "pity tipping" when we suspect the stewards were getting run ragged by exceedingly demanding passengers who (we suspect) would never consider a little extra tip for them -- even though we did not perhaps get exceptional service (because the stewards were being run ragged by other exceedingly demanding passengers :) )

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do believe in tipping extra to those people who have gone out of their way to make our cruise an enjoyable one.

[Pokeynose]

We do believe in tipping extra to those people who have gone out of their way to make our cruise an enjoyable one.

 

I totally agree.:)