"Adjusting gratuity via front desk"

[CowPrincess]

Few people adjust up.

 

>SNIP<

 

We adjusted up once, as we had a bunch of promo OBC that we couldn't use, so figured the crew could benefit.

[Ians Grandma]

I think that I have a better understanding of the service charge and I am just going to pay it and forget about it. I have a 35 day cruise coming up with 2 of my sons and I am really looking forward to it!!!! Too much worry about dress codes and tips takes away from the fun. Thanks for all the great advice that was directed my way. We always have a wonderful time.. MDR or not, and we have recieved excellent service in the lido, no complaints. I was just wishing that I could direct my autotips(service charge) to those that I thought were most deserving. Fifteen more days and we're off the the South Pacific, woohoo!

[jtl513]

We adjusted up once, as we had a bunch of promo OBC that we couldn't use, so figured the crew could benefit.

Great idea! I'll try to remember that if I ever have any excess OBC. :)

[RevNeal]

Huh??? No matter what HAL called their dining options before they named it "As You Wish Dining," you could have eaten dinner in the Lido whenever you wanted. Even if you were assigned fixed seating in the MDR, you could have skipped any meal you wanted to and gone to the Lido instead.

 

As far as being asked for your cabin number in the Lido, that may be a ship-by-ship requirement. I was on Zuiderdam in July and ate many times in the Lido....not once was I asked for my cabin number.

 

You ate dinner in the Lido aboard the Zuiderdam many times in July and were not asked your stateroom number? I agree, they don't ask for stateroom numbers at breakfast and lunch, but for dinner (the evening meal, not the lunchtime meal) they do, indeed, ask for your stateroom number. I've eaten dinner in the Lido aboard several different damships (the Rotterdam, Noordam, Prinsendam, Ryndam, and Amsterdam at least once each ship) over the past 3 years. Sometimes I've been late back aboard ship after a shore excursion, once I wanted to enjoy the arrival at the Horn in South America, and once my mother wasn't feeling very well and I didn't relish the thought of dining alone in the MDR, so I decided to make a quick meal out of it in the Lido. At EVERY occasion that I've gone into the Lido for dinner they have asked for my stateroom number.

 

I asked and they told me they are tracking where we eat so that they can have a better idea of dining trend each cruise. They ask stateroom numbers at breakfast and lunch in the MDR for the same reason.

[Copper10-8]

"Casual dinner" in the Lido has gone through some changes since first incorporated. Asking for pax cabin # and/or name(s) in the Lido was done at certain times during that process of changes, yes! It was part of ship's management attempting to find out pax "eating patterns" re: the usuage of the different restaurant facilities onboard. Doing so was up up to the HM and COM. At certain times those questions were asked when you showed up in the Lido for dinner, at other times, they were not!;)

[Typhoon1]

We adjusted up once, as we had a bunch of promo OBC that we couldn't use, so figured the crew could benefit.

 

More people should do this, they work the hardest. They should be rewarded accordingly.

[DizzyDallasDi]

You ate dinner in the Lido aboard the Zuiderdam many times in July and were not asked your stateroom number?

 

That is correct. I ate dinner (the evening meal) in the Lido on the Zuiderdam in July 4 nights out of 7 and was never asked for my stateroom number. In addition, I ate lunch there several times as well as the occasional snack and was never asked for my stateroom number. :D

[sail7seas]

I think that I have a better understanding of the service charge and I am just going to pay it and forget about it. I have a 35 day cruise coming up with 2 of my sons and I am really looking forward to it!!!! Too much worry about dress codes and tips takes away from the fun. Thanks for all the great advice that was directed my way. We always have a wonderful time.. MDR or not, and we have recieved excellent service in the lido, no complaints. I was just wishing that I could direct my autotips(service charge) to those that I thought were most deserving. Fifteen more days and we're off the the South Pacific, woohoo!

 

 

Hope you and your family have a wonderful time. A 35 day cruise with them sounds fabulous.

 

I agree........ don't worry about dress code and tipping and enjoy. The hotel service charge will be distributed for you and your cabin stewards and the food service stewards will all get their share.

 

Travel safely and make some fabulous memories. :)

[RevNeal]

"Casual dinner" in the Lido has gone through some changes since first incorporated. Asking for pax cabin # and/or name(s) in the Lido was done at certain times during that process of changes, yes! It was part of ship's management attempting to find out pax "eating patterns" re: the usuage of the different restaurant facilities onboard. Doing so was up up to the HM and COM. At certain times those questions were asked when you showed up in the Lido for dinner, at other times, they were not!;)

 

Thanks. This essentially confirms what I was told was the reason behind the taking of the stateroom numbers. And, of course, I've not had deck under my feet in over a year, now, so I've not experienced any changes that have occurred since last July. Thanks.

[RevNeal]

That is correct. I ate dinner (the evening meal) in the Lido on the Zuiderdam in July 4 nights out of 7 and was never asked for my stateroom number. In addition, I ate lunch there several times as well as the occasional snack and was never asked for my stateroom number. :D

 

Thanks. I was asking for specificity purposes.

I NEVER encountered them taking stateroom numbers in the Lido at breakfast or lunch, only in the MDR.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks. This essentially confirms what I was told was the reason behind the taking of the stateroom numbers. And, of course, I've not had deck under my feet in over a year, now, so I've not experienced any changes that have occurred since last July. Thanks.

 

You're welcome! What it confirms however, is exactly what DizzyDi in Dallas, Tejas stated and that is that she was never asked for her room # and/or name while taking part in Lido's casual dinner in July this year on ZUDM. I don't doubt that you, on the other hand, have been asked that info. during your Lido dinners on the five dam ships you referred to prior to July of this year. At one time HAL was doing that! When DizzyDi experienced her Lido dinner, they were not!

Indeed, you, seven posts ago, were the one questioning, let me rephrase that, in your own eloquent way, more like challenging, DizzyDi re: her casual dinner experience on Zuidy's Lido. Hence, that was interesting to me:cool:

[edward01ca]

We pay the daily fee and then tip our room stewards, the maitre'd, and our serving people a the beginning of the cruise and in the middle if it is over 20 days. You then get guaranteed good service for the whole trip. The maitre'd in the main dining room made reservations for the the same table same time each night for us as well as reservations in Canaletto and Pinnacle. We will do the same in two weeks when we sail to Hawaii and French Polynesia.

[Wakepatrol]

When we go out to eat and have mediocre bar food wings, burgers etc

We tip $8-$10

 

$11 for 24 hour service is really cheap for this hardworking crew.

 

What a deal, you mean people complain about this?

[kazu]

When we go out to eat and have mediocre bar food wings, burgers etc

We tip $8-$10

 

$11 for 24 hour service is really cheap for this hardworking crew.

 

What a deal, you mean people complain about this?

 

Welcome to cruise critic :D Yes, there are some who do complain about it for various reasons :D Most of us think it is a great deal and that the great service on the ship more than warrants it;) Smooth sailing:)

[CowPrincess]

Great idea! I'll try to remember that if I ever have any excess OBC. :)

 

 

We thought it was a sensible thing to do, as otherwise the promo OBCs would have just been reabsorbed/disappeared. Not sure HOW we ended up with excess, we did our best to use them all :D but failed.

[RevNeal]

You're welcome! What it confirms however, is exactly what DizzyDi in Dallas, Tejas stated and that is that she was never asked for her room # and/or name while taking part in Lido's casual dinner in July this year on ZUDM. I don't doubt that you, on the other hand, have been asked that info. during your Lido dinners on the five dam ships you referred to prior to July of this year. At one time HAL was doing that! When DizzyDi experienced her Lido dinner, they were not!

Indeed, you, seven posts ago, were the one questioning, let me rephrase that, in your own eloquent way, more like challenging, DizzyDi re: her casual dinner experience on Zuidy's Lido. Hence, that was interesting to me:cool:

 

Why are you being so caustic with me, Officer John?

 

I was not challenging. I was asking a question because I wasn't sure if my fellow Dallasite was talking about dinner or was she referencing lunches or breakfasts in the Lido when she said that she ate "many times in the lido." My experience through July of last year was that they were asking for stateroom numbers at dinner, and at that time I had thought that was uniform across the fleet. Her experience is a year more recent than mine.

[startwin]

We pay the daily fee and then tip our room stewards, the maitre'd, and our serving people a the beginning of the cruise and in the middle if it is over 20 days. You then get guaranteed good service for the whole trip. The maitre'd in the main dining room made reservations for the the same table same time each night for us as well as reservations in Canaletto and Pinnacle. We will do the same in two weeks when we sail to Hawaii and French Polynesia.

 

We've gotten that kind of service without ever extra-tipping at the beginning or middle of a cruise. It's all part of the service. I give extra tips at the end of the cruise only.

[Jo-Bob]

Rev and John:

 

Please don't start-up again. I have missed you both and want to see you around here more:) Thanks.

[Tamaracboy]

Thanks. This essentially confirms what I was told was the reason behind the taking of the stateroom numbers. And, of course, I've not had deck under my feet in over a year, now, so I've not experienced any changes that have occurred since last July. Thanks.

 

Hadn't realized just how dry your feet had gotten :rolleyes:

I was going to suggest prayer until I saw the upcoming cruises in your signature.

Seems you are on the same Zuidy canal entrance & turn around as a certain Cocoa lover ;)

Then we have a cocktail date the evening before ? ? :cool:

 

Welcome back,

r.

PS: I'm doing my first ever canal transit SAN/FLL on the Westerdam in October.

PPS: Someone told me that my posts appear "wider" than others in the same thread.

Could you please report back on this?

[sapper1]

Sorry if you find my answers too logical -- but I was just answering OP's question as to what we do.:eek:

KK--Stephen was agreeing with you, not mocking you. British humour is very dry and subtle. Canadians are very tuned into it---Americans not so much so. They are more used to an "in your face" type of humour.

 

He was saying that your approach was most sensible and lamenting the fact that so many people could not apply your logic.

[trvlcrzy]

PPS: Someone told me that my posts appear "wider" than others in the same thread.

Could you please report back on this?

 

Yes, your posts are "wider" because of the number of countdowns you have lined across the bottom. I'm jealous. I have NOTHING on my sailing horizon. :(

 

If you want to change the signature, I believe you can force an "enter" between two and three (or even three and four, maybe), and your width should return to normal. Can't guarantee success, but it's worth a try.

[Krazy Kruizers]

KK--Stephen was agreeing with you, not mocking you. British humour is very dry and subtle. Canadians are very tuned into it---Americans not so much so. They are more used to an "in your face" type of humour.

 

He was saying that your approach was most sensible and lamenting the fact that so many people could not apply your logic.

Thank you Sapper for clearing that up - you are right -- it has been years since we have spent a lot of time in England and have gotten away from the way the British talk.

Sorry Stephen.

[RuthC]

PPS: Someone told me that my posts appear "wider" than others in the same thread.

Could you please report back on this?

Trvlcrzy explained it quite well. At least for those of us who have images turned off, the string of future cruises listed in code more than doubles the width of your post.

 

If you would list them down, instead of across, that should solve the problem.

Thanks.

[Mary Ellen]

PPS: Someone told me that my posts appear "wider" than others in the same thread.

Could you please report back on this?

Not to me. Your posts are same width as everyone else's. However, I have signatures turned off. I just find the boards MUCH easier to read without them.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Rev and John:

 

Please don't start-up again. I have missed you both and want to see you around here more:) Thanks.

 

 

me too.:(

 

"Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a hand (or pen :o)that never hurts."

Charles Dickens