Cash Tips

[guitarboy53]

Hello,

 

My wife and I prefer to leave cash tips when cruising. Are we able to remove the auto tip/hotel charge from our on board account and tip cash instead?

 

Thanks!

[BruceMuzz]

Hello,

 

My wife and I prefer to leave cash tips when cruising. Are we able to remove the auto tip/hotel charge from our on board account and tip cash instead?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, you can.

But the staff receiving those tips must put them into the tipping pool, along with the charged auto-tips.

 

If your waiter and cabin steward do not receive as much in cash from you as they would have via the auto-tips, they normally are coerced to make up the difference from their own pockets.

[PSTIXS]

if you leave the auto tip in place and wish to give additional cash for service above and beyond will this cash tip have to be turned over for the "pot" or with the person receiving it be able to keep it?

[Krazy Kruizers]

HAL has a policy where you can remove the Hotel Service Charge -- you sign a form -- and you have to give a reason for removing them.

Once you do that -- any cash tip that you give to anyone -- cabin stewards, dining room staff -- must be turned in by those people. They are on an honor system to do this. The names of those of you who sign that form are passed onto the various supervisors who in turn pass on your names to the people working under them.

Now -- at the bars -- there is no way that you can remove the 15% gratuity that is added onto all your soda, beverage, alcohol, etc., bills.

We leave the Hotel Service Charge in place and tip extra to those whom we feel have made our cruise an enjoyable one.

[Krazy Kruizers]

if you leave the auto tip in place and wish to give additional cash for service above and beyond will this cash tip have to be turned over for the "pot" or with the person receiving it be able to keep it?

 

No -- when you leave the Hotel Service Charge in place -- those people that you give extra tips to are allowed to keep it -- they do not have to put it into the pool.

[taxmantoo]

if you leave the auto tip in place and wish to give additional cash for service above and beyond will this cash tip have to be turned over for the "pot" ... NO ... or with the person receiving it be able to keep it? ...YES...

 

Cash tips only have to be turned in to the common pot when auto-tips have been disabled.

[sail7seas]

We have been told stewards are questioned if a guest removes auto tips. They are asked if they are providing poor service and what could be done to make the guest happier so they would wish to leave their automatic tips in place?

 

It would make me very uncomfortable to think a steward has to answer for my decision to eliminate tips.

 

You should always feel free to tip anything additional in cash to anyone who particularly goes out of their way to make your cruise more special.

 

If you leave your auto tips in place, anything over and above you tip goes directly to that person and they do not have to share ............ According to what we are told by CD's etc

 

[lazey1]

if you leave the auto tip in place and wish to give additional cash for service above and beyond will this cash tip have to be turned over for the "pot" or with the person receiving it be able to keep it?

 

The person receiving an additional tip with the hotel service charge remaining in place will be able to keep it.

[sail7seas]

Sorry, I was typing while others were posting same info.

[catl331]

Now -- at the bars -- there is no way that you can remove the 15% gratuity that is added onto all your soda, beverage, alcohol, etc., bills.

That is also a service charge, not a gratuity. A gratuity is a gift, given voluntarily.

 

No -- when you leave the Hotel Service Charge in place -- those people that you give extra tips to are allowed to keep it -- they do not have to put it into the pool.

But on most ships cash tips given to bartenders and servers are also tossed into a shared-pool jar, sometimes in plain sight.

[sail7seas]

That is also a service charge, not a gratuity. A gratuity is a gift, given voluntarily.

 

But on most ships cash tips given to bartenders and servers are also tossed into a shared-pool jar, sometimes in plain sight.

 

That's true about tips given at the bar each evening by guests. I, too, have seen a box/jar where they share them.

I'm not sure if that is the case for 'end of cruise envelopes'. We always give the bartenders who took such good care of us a envelope on the last evening.

[Krazy Kruizers]

That is also a service charge, not a gratuity. A gratuity is a gift, given voluntarily.

 

But on most ships cash tips given to bartenders and servers are also tossed into a shared-pool jar, sometimes in plain sight.

 

The bar staff that we have given extra tips to -- pocketed the money -- watched that many times. Rarely I have seen them put anything into a jar. The majority of the bar staff that do wait on the same people night after night do keep those extra tips to themselves. There is no rule that they have to pull their extra tips.

[iriemon]

That's true about tips given at the bar each evening by guests. I, too, have seen a box/jar where they share them.

I'm not sure if that is the case for 'end of cruise envelopes'. We always give the bartenders who took such good care of us a envelope on the last evening.

 

We have not seen envelopes that last couple of cruises we have gone on. I usually give them the tip in a handshake with it tucked in the palm of my hand. They can do what ever they want or have to do with it, at least they know we really appreciated their extra ordinary service.

[CaveDiving]

...If your waiter and cabin steward do not receive as much in cash from you as they would have via the auto-tips, they normally are coerced to make up the difference from their own pockets.

 

These people are great and certainly deserve their tips, but I find your statement just a bit off the deep end.

 

Scott & Karen

[peaches from georgia]

Yes, you can.

 

If your waiter and cabin steward do not receive as much in cash from you as they would have via the auto-tips, they normally are coerced to make up the difference from their own pockets.

I hate to hear that. Those that remove their auto-tip often don't have a legitimate gripe, but are just cheap. What a shame the steward has to pay the price of putting his own money in the pool. I don't like that policy as it automatically is punishing the steward for having by chance served a cheapskate.

[sapper1]

We have not seen envelopes that last couple of cruises we have gone on. I usually give them the tip in a handshake with it tucked in the palm of my hand. They can do what ever they want or have to do with it, at least they know we really appreciated their extra ordinary service.

I have asked at the front desk and they are more than happy to give you a supply of envelopes to use for extra tipping. I like them because I can write a personal note on the front to thank the person for taking such good care of us.

[sail7seas]

We have not seen envelopes that last couple of cruises we have gone on. I usually give them the tip in a handshake with it tucked in the palm of my hand. They can do what ever they want or have to do with it, at least they know we really appreciated their extra ordinary service.

 

I have asked at the front desk and they are more than happy to give you a supply of envelopes to use for extra tipping. I like them because I can write a personal note on the front to thank the person for taking such good care of us.

 

 

Exactly.

 

If one wishes to pass a bill with a handshake, absolutely fine. I'm sure the steward/bartender is happy to receive it.

Whichever way you prefer. We like to use envelopes for end of cruise tipping.

[Randyk47]

We leave the auto-tip in place but usually tip out-of-hand to selected staff who have made our cruise that little bit more special. In the past that's meant cash tips to room stewards, dining room staff, and bar staff. We usually stuff four or five envelopes in one of the side pockets of our luggage but more times than not we just do the "handshake" pass.

[blackroze]

Let say that you leave the tips in place, but get some bad service. Can you go and remove the tips, and tip whomever did a wonderful job, at the end of the cruise? TIPS = To insure prompt service. I am not saying that they do it, but some people would think that if they get a tip anyway (most american restaurants), then they do not have to provide good service...

[maxout]

Let say that you leave the tips in place, but get some bad service. Can you go and remove the tips, and tip whomever did a wonderful job, at the end of the cruise? TIPS = To insure prompt service. I am not saying that they do it, but some people would think that if they get a tip anyway (most american restaurants), then they do not have to provide good service...

 

Yes you could but the tips you hand out would then have to be "pooled" anyway so what would be the point?

 

Once you you remove the Hotel Service Charge, any Tips handed out are then required to be shared.

[sail7seas]

Let say that you leave the tips in place, but get some bad service. Can you go and remove the tips, and tip whomever did a wonderful job, at the end of the cruise? TIPS = To insure prompt service. I am not saying that they do it, but some people would think that if they get a tip anyway (most american restaurants), then they do not have to provide good service...

 

 

:confused: Rather than suffer service bad enough you would find the need to remove hotel service charges from your shipboard account, wouldn't you rather have the situation corrected so you could have the best possible service while aboard?

 

Isn't that the point? Don't we all want to enjoy our cruises to the fullest?

 

If you think a steward or whoever is not meeting your expectations, speak with the appropriate supervisor and request the situation be corrected. There is a Dining Room Supervisor for that reason, a Dining Room Manager, a Bar Supervisor, a Culinary Operations Manager, a Guest Relations Manager, a Housekeeping Supervisor, A Chief Housekeeper, a Hotel Manager and a Captain etc

 

Rather than quietly stew about a situation that is displeasing you, have it fixed.

 

Then it surely will be your pleasure to say thank you in the universally accepted manner. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have not seen envelopes that last couple of cruises we have gone on. I usually give them the tip in a handshake with it tucked in the palm of my hand. They can do what ever they want or have to do with it, at least they know we really appreciated their extra ordinary service.

 

We do the same thing -- a handshake to pass on the extra tip money.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:confused: Rather than suffer service bad enough you would find the need to remove hotel service charges from your shipboard account, wouldn't you rather have the situation corrected so you could have the best possible service while aboard?

 

Isn't that the point? Don't we all want to enjoy our cruises to the fullest?

 

If you think a steward or whoever is not meeting your expectations, speak with the appropriate supervisor and request the situation be corrected. There is a Dining Room Supervisor for that reason, a Dining Room Manager, a Bar Supervisor, a Culinary Operations Manager, a Guest Relations Manager, a Housekeeping Supervisor, A Chief Housekeeper, a Hotel Manager and a Captain etc

 

Rather than quietly stew about a situation that is displeasing you, have it fixed.

 

Then it surely will be your pleasure to say thank you in the universally accepted manner. :)

 

We have encountered a couple of bad situations -- did not remove the Hotel Service Charge -- did talk to guest relations -- problem "mostly" solved -- but we chose not to tip that person(s) extra at the end of the cruise.

[Typhoon1]

We would never remove the auto tip. The staff works too hard to have it removed, then be scrutinized by a supervisor.

[hrhdhd]

TIPS = To insure prompt service.

 

Sorry, but the etymology of "tip" or "tips" meaning a gratuity begins in the 18th century. The supposed acronym "to insure prompt service" (which to be correct would need to use "ensure") developed centuries later.

 

See http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp