Tipping on Star, recent returnees

[SD_31]

Going on the Star April 6/05. Has anyone just recently returned from the STA?. Do you still have the option near the end of your cruise to take off your account the $80 tipping charge and pass it out as you see fit in envelopes? So much conflicting info out there, but i believe this coming May you have no choice but to pay the $80 tipping correct? Please let me know of the current situation on board this ship. Thanks in advance fellow cruisers.......

[Ella2]

I did just return 2/17, and met some folks who took off the charge to pay as they saw fit. Personally EVERY staff member I encountered deserved the tip and MORE. I could never try and redistribute it to certain people.

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[EmJakeBubbie]

Because of pre-cruise ThreadPostings, I was concerned about the automatic tipping - We were billed $10 pp/per nt with the total of $160 for the 8 nt cruise automatically billed to our cabin invoice. Easy/no envelopes; we appreciated that on the last night whenever any crew member approached us, we felt their kindness was sincere rather than feeling like they were holding out their hand for a gratuity. I asked our cabin attendants HowTheyLikedIt? WasItEquitable? They both responded: "yes" and smiled as they said "yes". One thing we were told by crew members is what really helps is when a passenger expressly writes their name in the Passenger Comment Card to describe nice things about the crew member. I spent the last day trying to track down certain crew to get the spelling of their names accurate. They appreciated seeing their name being written on the comment card as I did this in front of them. Although I am a loyal Royal Caribbean/Celebrity cruiser, NCL really got my attention this time. Freestyle/Automatic Grautities/Great Tours/Early Debarkation. I was on Celebrity's CONSTELLATION 12/04; I'll be on RCL's SERENADE OF THE SEAS 12/05; but I'm under deposit for a repeat on the STAR 2/06. I'm anxious to see who copycats what NCL is doing!:cool: Each cruise company has it's own personality and each ship is nice in it's own individual way - If NCL would add Celebrity's Conceirge Class to their mini suites, I think this would be the perfect combo ;)

[kalamari]

It's nice to see someone go above and beyond with kindness. It is very true, that promotions, etc. are based on what is written on the comment cards, and it is also a sad reality that crew do not realize an equal share of the service charge or "auto tipping" or whatever the catch word of the day is. The total that you might be charged in the auto tipping is split up in a myriad of ways and some of it is to actually cover costs and salaries, and many mistakingly believe that crew are getting wealthy off of this. So hats off to you for being so kind and appreciative! :) Menina

 

 

Because of pre-cruise ThreadPostings' date=' I [i']was[/i] concerned about the automatic tipping - We were billed $10 pp/per nt with the total of $160 for the 8 nt cruise automatically billed to our cabin invoice. Easy/no envelopes; we appreciated that on the last night whenever any crew member approached us, we felt their kindness was sincere rather than feeling like they were holding out their hand for a gratuity. I asked our cabin attendants HowTheyLikedIt? WasItEquitable? They both responded: "yes" and smiled as they said "yes". One thing we were told by crew members is what really helps is when a passenger expressly writes their name in the Passenger Comment Card to describe nice things about the crew member. I spent the last day trying to track down certain crew to get the spelling of their names accurate. They appreciated seeing their name being written on the comment card as I did this in front of them. Although I am a loyal Royal Caribbean/Celebrity cruiser, NCL really got my attention this time. Freestyle/Automatic Grautities/Great Tours/Early Debarkation. I was on Celebrity's CONSTELLATION 12/04; I'll be on RCL's SERENADE OF THE SEAS 12/05; but I'm under deposit for a repeat on the STAR 2/06. I'm anxious to see who copycats what NCL is doing!:cool: Each cruise company has it's own personality and each ship is nice in it's own individual way - If NCL would add Celebrity's Conceirge Class to their mini suites, I think this would be the perfect combo ;)

[shadowfox7]

check out our roll call for STAR 4/6/05 sailing.

Looks there are only 3 of us on the whole ship...

We plan to remove the tipping on our cruise as we will be eating breakfast and dinner nightly in our suite.

We will tip all...bar, roomservice, butler, steward, etc. as we cruise.

It will probably cost us more in the long run but at least it will go directly to the people that serve us.

[ikajus]

I was under the impression that there's no sense in taking off the mandatory tip (unless you're trying to be cheap) because even the tips you give to individual crew members goes into a general pool and then redistributed. Am I wrong? I have 6 weeks until sailing.