Crew Fund-Something to Consider

[mariner]

On our Seabourn cruise, we contributed to the "crew fund." I thought that was a nice way of thanking the crew and the gesture was repaid so many ways.

 

I never realized until now, you can contribute to the crew fund on HAL.

 

You can contribute money at the Front Office by cash, check or putting it on your account. This is in addition to the auto tip.

 

We found it to be a nice way to thank so many that you never see.

[Himself]

Sounds like a great idea.

[dobiemom]

On our Seabourn cruise, we contributed to the "crew fund." I thought that was a nice way of thanking the crew and the gesture was repaid so many ways.

 

I never realized until now, you can contribute to the crew fund on HAL.

 

You can contribute money at the Front Office by cash, check or putting it on your account. This is in addition to the auto tip.

 

We found it to be a nice way to thank so many that you never see.

Thank you for this info. The crew are SO deserving! :)

[sail7seas]

I never knew this was an option.

Thanks for sharing that with us.

I love the idea.

[bothak]

Great idea

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Gamelan1971]

Thanks- good to know! HAL should publicize this. It would be good to know also how the funds are distributed.

[MasterNotCommander]

Crew Funds generally provide things such as crew excursions, parties and extra recreational facilities onboard. The company provides a set amount to this on a monthly basis. With a good crew fund manager, the funds are generally used for the more deserving crew who would not normally get an opportunity to go on good excursions, such as laundry staff and sailors. Officers can generally get onto pax excursions fairly easily for free.

[kazu]

Thank you very much for letting us know - I didn't know about this either.

 

What a nice way to add extra thanks to many you don't see.

 

Great idea - thanks:D

[Topsham]

When cruising with Saga I usually paint a small oil or watercolour while on board. The finished the piece is framed and put on display. For a few days the cruise staff will sell raffle tickets for 1 pound each. When convenient a draw is held and the winner gets the painting. All of the money raised goes to the Crew Welfare Fund.

[HamOp]

When cruising with Saga I usually paint a small oil or watercolour while on board. The finished the piece is framed and put on display. For a few days the cruise staff will sell raffle tickets for 1 pound each. When convenient a draw is held and the winner gets the painting. All of the money raised goes to the Crew Welfare Fund.

 

That's a really, really nice thing of you to do. I'm sure the crew is thrilled as is the winner of your wonderful paintings.

Nice going!!:)

[Nghthawke]

I would gladly give them my leftover foreign currency when disembarking if there was a big jar or something available to collect it.

[stlouistravelers]

Not to be snarky but do you contribute to the welfare fund at schools, hotels, auto service stations, restaurants, hospitals? The crews are wonderful and I give you that but beyond tips for services these individuals have applied for and recieved a job for which they are compensated. The amount of compensation is agreed upon once they accept the position and if they are unhappy with this arrangement then they can seek employment elsewhere once their contract has been fullfilled. My guess is that most compensated employees are happy considering the long tenures on the ships. "Tip" is said to represent "to insure promptness" and is also reputed to stand for "to insure proper service"(tips). In service industries people in postions to get tips recieve low pay or no pay and the tip becomes somewhat of a commission. The company (HAL) has a system set up for rewarding employees and makes great revenue. Why must we pad the bottom line of a multi-million dollar company. Ask my wife who is 100% commission if anyone owes her anything. She does well because she works at it and is rewarded in the end.

[sail7seas]

Easy..... you don't wish to contribute, don't.

But why try to persuade others they should not? I don't understand that.

I am feeling awful right now that I never knew about a Crew Fund and all these years DH and I would have loved to provide a bit cash for the crew to have some extras. Had we known, we never would have left a ship without putting something in the fund. We've always tipped extra but this is something else I wish we'd known.

 

No one has any need to give it a moment's thought if they don't want to.

To answer your question, yes, I have tipped at auto service stations when in the pouring rain, a very nice fellow provided me wonderful service. His smile made MY day. I have sent a check to staff holiday fund when I had a relative in a nursing home. I have sent gifts for the staff to enjoy at hospitals. I am very sure I am not the only one who does those sort of things.

[Scrapnana]

Not to be snarky but do you contribute to the welfare fund at schools, hotels, auto service stations, restaurants, hospitals? The crews are wonderful and I give you that but beyond tips for services these individuals have applied for and recieved a job for which they are compensated. The amount of compensation is agreed upon once they accept the position and if they are unhappy with this arrangement then they can seek employment elsewhere once their contract has been fullfilled. My guess is that most compensated employees are happy considering the long tenures on the ships. "Tip" is said to represent "to insure promptness" and is also reputed to stand for "to insure proper service"(tips). In service industries people in postions to get tips recieve low pay or no pay and the tip becomes somewhat of a commission. The company (HAL) has a system set up for rewarding employees and makes great revenue. Why must we pad the bottom line of a multi-million dollar company. Ask my wife who is 100% commission if anyone owes her anything. She does well because she works at it and is rewarded in the end.

 

As a teacher I "applied for and received a job for which [i was] compensted." But it still meant a great deal when a student would give me a small gift for Teacher Appreciation Week or a thank you at the end of the school year.

[Typhoon1]

An excellent way to recognize the hard working crew members.

[igraf]

HAL already has a "crew fund" and anybody can easily adjust the amount upwards, so an additional crew fund would be redundant.

 

Does Seabourn have a service charge that is added to the final bill? A quick Google search did not indicate that this is the case.

 

First of all, I have sympathies for the hard working crew. But, I think that it is wrong for a high-priced line to advertise "no tipping" and then to start a crew fund. It should be one way or the other. One would think that an expensive line like Seabourne would pay better crew wages (and thus alleviate the need for tipping income) then the less expensive lines like HAL.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

On our Seabourn cruise, we contributed to the "crew fund." I thought that was a nice way of thanking the crew and the gesture was repaid so many ways.

 

I never realized until now, you can contribute to the crew fund on HAL.

 

You can contribute money at the Front Office by cash, check or putting it on your account. This is in addition to the auto tip.

 

We found it to be a nice way to thank so many that you never see.

[Copper10-8]

I would gladly give them my leftover foreign currency when disembarking if there was a big jar or something available to collect it.

 

Actually, on HAL ships, there is. It, a big plastic see-through box with a lid, is located in a "crew area only" though, in the Crew Officer (Crew Purser's) office

[tangerinebunny]

Like it or not, the reality is that happier employees give better service and are more pleasant to deal with. Anyone who doubts this can spend a little time interacting with the big box folks who wear blue.

[DaveOKC]

I wonder if we can donate unused OBCs to this fund? I guess we could ask at the front desk.

 

DaveOKC

[wander]

As Copper said, there is such a "box" on HAL ships and I have left many, many coins in the box (and some paper money) over the years. You just have to ask at the Front Desk and they will provide access.

[Topsham]

Crew Welfare Fund is very common on aall kinds of ships, not just cruise ships. In my old company it was the Head Office that put money into our welfare fund. It could be used for anything we wanted and there is usuaally a committe on board to look after it. Might be used to purchase games equipment, outfit a photo lab, send crew on a shore excursion, pay for drinks and a BBQ.n In addition we could top pp the Fund by selling things like old oil drums. Sometimes the ecess in our fund might be handed to a local orphange or charity in some world port.

[peaches from georgia]

HAL already has a "crew fund" and anybody can easily adjust the amount upwards, so an additional crew fund would be redundant.

 

Does Seabourn have a service charge that is added to the final bill? A quick Google search did not indicate that this is the case.

 

First of all, I have sympathies for the hard working crew. But, I think that it is wrong for a high-priced line to advertise "no tipping" and then to start a crew fund. It should be one way or the other. One would think that an expensive line like Seabourne would pay better crew wages (and thus alleviate the need for tipping income) then the less expensive lines like HAL.

 

igraf

Seabourn does NOT have a service charge added to the final bill. They do not advertise 'no tipping', you just are told when you book that all tips are included in the basic cost of your cruise. Tipping is never mentioned by the cruiseline or by pax while on board. Everyone knows tips/sc is taken care of before you ever board in your fare. All the nonsense of removing an auto-tip etc is a non-issue. You expect good service and you more than get it. End of discussion. There is a crew fund which is never mentioned but you can contribute at your own initiative if you want to anonymously give the crew as a group some funds for parties or group activities.

[scamper]

Like it or not, the reality is that happier employees give better service and are more pleasant to deal with. Anyone who doubts this can spend a little time interacting with the big box folks who wear blue.

 

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH THAT!

 

I am glad to know of this fund...I had no idea, but I did know about Seabourn's since I have been a passenger. Now instead of tipping crew directly, along with the hotel charge, I will donate to this fund. Hopefully all crew will benefit.

[doublebzz]

Not to be snarky but do you contribute to the welfare fund at schools, hotels, auto service stations, restaurants, hospitals? The crews are wonderful and I give you that but beyond tips for services these individuals have applied for and recieved a job for which they are compensated. The amount of compensation is agreed upon once they accept the position and if they are unhappy with this arrangement then they can seek employment elsewhere once their contract has been fullfilled. My guess is that most compensated employees are happy considering the long tenures on the ships. "Tip" is said to represent "to insure promptness" and is also reputed to stand for "to insure proper service"(tips). In service industries people in postions to get tips recieve low pay or no pay and the tip becomes somewhat of a commission. The company (HAL) has a system set up for rewarding employees and makes great revenue. Why must we pad the bottom line of a multi-million dollar company. Ask my wife who is 100% commission if anyone owes her anything. She does well because she works at it and is rewarded in the end.

 

I might agree with you if either Seabourn or HAL promoted this crew fund. I've sailed on both lines and, like most of the responders, I never heard of a crew fund.

[sail7seas]

I might agree with you if either Seabourn or HAL promoted this crew fund. I've sailed on both lines and, like most of the responders, I never heard of a crew fund.

 

We've sailed over 80 cruises on HAL, know lots of folks on the ships, and this is the first I've ever heard of a crew fund on HAL ships so they hardly make it well known or 'solicit' for it. No way they are promoting or suggesting or hinting at guests making contributions. If we didn't hear of it, I'm sure there are a vast majority of HAL cruisers who never heard of it.

 

But I am very unlikely to forget about it and it will be a priority of ours to contribute on all our future cruises.