Canceling gratuity

[Thebes]

Some experienced cruiser who works with my wife advised her to always request waiving gratuity from the ship and pay individuals instead. . I said let me clarify from my cc friends because that doesn't sound reasonable to me. I could be wrong. Does anyone have a comment on this proposal ?

 

 

Thank you CC family :)

taneous@hotmail.com

[cruz chic]

Please don't do this. If you do the people that you tip will have to turn it into a pool and questions will be asked about service. If you leave the hsc in place people that you tip can keep the money.

[luvteaching]

Good morning,

 

From my understanding, if the Hotel Service Charge is canceled, then any money given to any of the crew has to be turned in and divided among everyone. I've also heard that the crew are questioned as to what may have caused the HSC to be revoked. If someone wants to tip a specific person then it's best to leave the HSC in place and do an additional tip. If I'm mistaken others will jump in quickly!

 

Karen

[DaveOKC]

Please don't do this. If you do the people that you tip will have to turn it into a pool and questions will be asked about service. If you leave the hsc in place people that you tip can keep the money.

 

Agree 100%. You actually may be hurting the people you are trying to help by doing this.

 

Instead, give those crew members a small tip (either at the end of the cruise or as you go along) and they will appreciate this more (and end up keeping more this way).

 

DaveOKC

[Krazy Kruizers]

If you wish to remove the Hotel Service Charge, you will be asked to sign a form and the reason for removing it. They need to know if you think the service is not good.

HAL has a policy that once you sign that form and remover the Hotel Service Charge, your name is passed onto the various managers and they pass your name onto the workers under them.

Any cash tips that give out once that form is signed, the crew members are required to turn that money in and it will then be divided among all the crew members. Any crew member who does not turn in that money will be fired. How honest are the crew members -- I do not know.

We leave the Hotel Service Charge in place and know that any extra cash we give at the end of the cruise is theirs to keep.

[Randyk47]

By accident....I was looking for our cabin steward the final full day of our cruise on the Maasdam....I peeked inside the open door of the service closet near our cabin. Very plainly and very clearly there was a list taped to the front of one of the cabinets with a list of passengers by cabin number who had removed their Hotel Service Charge. I didn't read the list, really none of my business, nor did I read the verbiage at the bottom of the list but I suspected it was instructions or a reminder of how to handle any cash tips received from those passengers. We give additional tips to a handful of people who have made our cruise special but leave the HSC in place so as not to cause them any issues or problems.

[Thebes]

All makes sense to me. Thanks guys :)

 

 

Thank you CC family :)

taneous@hotmail.com

[KRUZZN]

On HAL they usually give a breakdown of the percentage of the daily gratuity which goes to the different staff "sections" I think it is a bargain, frankly. Imagine the tip on dinner alone at a 5 star restaurant. I do leave extra at the end for cabin steward or waiters, etc who have given terrific service--which is often the case with HAL

 

Grants Pass OR

[doublebzz]

By accident....I was looking for our cabin steward the final full day of our cruise on the Maasdam....I peeked inside the open door of the service closet near our cabin. Very plainly and very clearly there was a list taped to the front of one of the cabinets with a list of passengers by cabin number who had removed their Hotel Service Charge. I didn't read the list, really none of my business, nor did I read the verbiage at the bottom of the list but I suspected it was instructions or a reminder of how to handle any cash tips received from those passengers. We give additional tips to a handful of people who have made our cruise special but leave the HSC in place so as not to cause them any issues or problems.

 

On a Carnival cruise, I noticed on the service cart a listing of all cabins that attendant was responsible for. It indicated whether pre-paid gratuities were paid or not alongside each cabin number. I suspect those cabins that elected not to pre-pay gratuities received less care than those who did.

[janmcn]

Don't forget there are a lot of "behind the scene" people that this is also given to.

Yes, people are correct about them having to turn in any tip if you have removed the auto tip. We tip extra for those people who have really made a big difference in our experience...but that is in addition to the auto tip...so they are allowed to keep that. There are always some people who seem to make our day now and then...the ice cream lady was amazed we would give her a little extra, but she had always been such fun and so cheerful.

[mamaofami]

leave the hotel service charge in place, and then if you wish to tip anyone extra for good service, you can do so and they can keep the money.

[sail7seas]

Please don't remove the hotel service charge.

 

If you have a problem with the service, speak with the steward or his/her supervisor. If you still have a problem, ask to speak with Executive Housekeeper (formerly known as Chief Housekeeper) and if still a problem, Hotel Director (formerly Hotel Manager :rolleyes).

 

If the steward in the MDR is the problem, do the same with chain of command in Main Dining Room.

 

The goal is to get good service, not to stiff them of tips.

 

 

 

[Linda&Vern]

Some experienced cruiser who works with my wife advised her to always request waiving gratuity from the ship and pay individuals instead. . I said let me clarify from my cc friends because that doesn't sound reasonable to me. I could be wrong. Does anyone have a comment on this proposal ? Thank you CC family :) taneous@hotmail.com

I'm guessing the "experienced cruiser" has either (1) never sailed HAL or (2) Doesn't understand what happens when waiving gratuities on HAL.

[RJ2002]

Agree with everyone else's comments.

 

I would not remove the service charge unless something extraordinary happened. To me, it would have to be that I'd received uniformly poor service in the dining rooms, from the room stewards, etc - - which is highly unlikely.

 

It is said time and time again that it's best to bring up service lapses with the appropriate manager right away so that they have a chance to correct the problem. Although I admit this has not always been easy for me... sometimes I don't want to have that sort of confrontation in the middle of my vacation. :o

[rafinmd]

Just as an aside, you can also modify the HSC upwards. I did that on the Zaandam when I was on anytime dining and it was not practical to directly tip the waiters. I did tip my cabin stewards extra and when they thanked me it was obvious they knew the extra was theirs to keep.

 

Roy

[S_D_Sweet_Dougie]

At the risk of being firebombed, I'm going to comment on something that's bothered me each time I've cruised and it stays with me each time for at least a few weeks. The cruise lines make it very clear by soliciting tips for the crew during the voyage that the staff is underpaid. These companies operate for the most part in the US, yet they get around our labor laws by being flagged elsewhere. I'm sure that they pay their CEO's huge salaries. One of my all time favorite Americans said "you're either part of the problem or part of the solution" so you know that I'm not some bleeding heart. Why can't these lines pay their employees a living wage and pass the costs on to the passengers? Either way we are going to pay, but wouldn't it be easier if we didn't have to put up with the Cruise director's constant shilling?

[LobstersLass]

At the risk of being firebombed, I'm going to comment on something that's bothered me each time I've cruised and it stays with me each time for at least a few weeks. The cruise lines make it very clear by soliciting tips for the crew during the voyage that the staff is underpaid. These companies operate for the most part in the US, yet they get around our labor laws by being flagged elsewhere. I'm sure that they pay their CEO's huge salaries. One of my all time favorite Americans said "you're either part of the problem or part of the solution" so you know that I'm not some bleeding heart. Why can't these lines pay their employees a living wage and pass the costs on to the passengers? Either way we are going to pay, but wouldn't it be easier if we didn't have to put up with the Cruise director's constant shilling?

 

Your post makes no sense. They're flagged in the Netherlands which has more generous labour laws than the USA.

[Wakepatrol]

Some cheap skinflint cruiser who works with my wife advised her to always remove the auto gratuity

[catl331]

The cruise lines make it very clear by soliciting tips for the crew during the voyage that the staff is underpaid.

The staff is not underpaid, they are paid through the mechanism of the Hotel Service CHARGE. That is not a tip or gratuity - it is a fee for services rendered, and the only legitimate reason for removing it is if satisfactory service is not provided, after having brought any problems to the attention of those who can correct such problems.

[cruz chic]

Some cheap skinflint cruiser who works with my wife advised her to always remove the auto gratuity

 

Winner winner...chicken dinner:D.

[Purvis1231]

At the risk of being firebombed, I'm going to comment on something that's bothered me each time I've cruised and it stays with me each time for at least a few weeks. The cruise lines make it very clear by soliciting tips for the crew during the voyage that the staff is underpaid. These companies operate for the most part in the US, yet they get around our labor laws by being flagged elsewhere. I'm sure that they pay their CEO's huge salaries. One of my all time favorite Americans said "you're either part of the problem or part of the solution" so you know that I'm not some bleeding heart. Why can't these lines pay their employees a living wage and pass the costs on to the passengers? Either way we are going to pay, but wouldn't it be easier if we didn't have to put up with the Cruise director's constant shilling?

 

There are cruise line that included tipping in the fare, they are a far expensive than Holland America. I look at the tips as apart of the fare. I also give extra tips since the service on Holland America is beyond expectations.

[sail7seas]

At the risk of being firebombed, I'm going to comment on something that's bothered me each time I've cruised and it stays with me each time for at least a few weeks. The cruise lines make it very clear by soliciting tips for the crew during the voyage that the staff is underpaid. These companies operate for the most part in the US, yet they get around our labor laws by being flagged elsewhere. I'm sure that they pay their CEO's huge salaries. One of my all time favorite Americans said "you're either part of the problem or part of the solution" so you know that I'm not some bleeding heart. Why can't these lines pay their employees a living wage and pass the costs on to the passengers? Either way we are going to pay, but wouldn't it be easier if we didn't have to put up with the Cruise director's constant shilling?

 

 

HAL is doing away with Cruise Director's Disembarkation talk so no more 'constant shilling' as you put it.

 

On our recent Veendam cruise, there was no Disembarkation Talk, disembark worked fine and they said all the ships will be following this new plan.

 

[CruiserBruce]

Oh boy....time to get in the recliner, and load up the popcorn.

 

For the record, just spend 22 days on the Eurodam. Never once heard any HAL employee, Cruise Director or other, "shilling" for tips. We went out of our way to tell supervisors about superior (and in two cases, poor) performance by their employees. In the cases of the superior performance, the consistent reply was to please mention them by name in the evaluation survey, which we did. In the cases of poor performance, the supervisor addressed the issues in a timely manner. And we tipped the appropriate above the Service Charge many times.

[Typhoon1]

If you cancel your HSC, supervisors start asking questions of your cabin stewards, inquiring as to why they didn't deliver quality service.

 

Auto tip, and then give extra to those that have delivered exceptional service. IMO, every crew member goes out of their way to deliver the Signature of Excellence we've come to expect.

[S_D_Sweet_Dougie]

Maybe I was wrong, but I was led to believe that the cabin stewards routinely work 12 hour days. At a low of 8 bucks an hour plus time and a half(you state that the Dutch labor laws are more generous than ours) for those 4 hours, that's at least $100 bucks a day, probably 6 days a week. If they're making that much, I find it hard to believe that they would need any more to support a family in Indonesia or the Philippines. From the Cruise Director's talk, I was led to believe that they depend on our tips for the majority of their pay. I believe about 40% of our daily gratuity goes to the behind the scenes staff(kitchen, laundry, et al) and the rest goes to the front of the house and room stewards. Please explain to me where I've gone wrong. Am I mistaken about the salary or am I mistaken about the cost of living in those countries where these workers come from? Or am I mistaken about the majority of their pay coming from gratuities?