sail7seas Posted September 13, 2013 #326 Share Posted September 13, 2013 .... Why can't these lines pay their employees a living wage and pass the costs on to the passengers?..." We DO get the cost passed on to us...we pay it in the form of Hotel Service Charges and additional tips. Yes, of course. Pay it here or pay it there but certainly the guests are paying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richarduk Posted September 17, 2013 #327 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Cruise lines compete on price. Of course, all companies do. But people are clever enough to know if the fare includes the HSC. Once they know, they know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boytjie Posted September 17, 2013 #328 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Of course, all companies do. But people are clever enough to know if the fare includes the HSC. Once they know, they know. If people were so clever we would not have these policies on almost all cruise lines ;). It wasn't always like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottC4746 Posted September 17, 2013 #329 Share Posted September 17, 2013 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 My experience is to have a gratuity waived is not an easy task. The one and only time I did this was on Princess a number of years ago. The bartender was totally ignoring me having a staring contest with me. Finally after 10 minutes he came over to me at the bar and asked if I needed something. He took my order gave it to me and said there. No thanks, no smile, nothing. I scratched out the gratuity and changed the total and signed and put a note "any charge other than this amount will be considered a fraudulent charge and will not be paid." The next morning I checked the folio and the full amount with gratuity was on there. I explained what happened to the auditor, showed him my copy, he pulled his copy where the bartender scratched out my comments, and the auditor adjusted the total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retafcruiser Posted September 17, 2013 #330 Share Posted September 17, 2013 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 If you do increase the HSC, can you stipulate that it goes to the wait staff? Or does the extra just get divided among all the staff including the cabin stewards, etc.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted September 17, 2013 #331 Share Posted September 17, 2013 If you do increase the HSC, can you stipulate that it goes to the wait staff? Or does the extra just get divided among all the staff including the cabin stewards, etc.? It gets divided in the same ratio as everything else. It would be wonderful if you could specify the people or groups who get anything above the standard but I know of no way to do that on HAL. Giving cash works for individuals but I really wish there were a way to target specific groups. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ2002 Posted September 17, 2013 #332 Share Posted September 17, 2013 It gets divided in the same ratio as everything else. It would be wonderful if you could specify the people or groups who get anything above the standard but I know of no way to do that on HAL. Giving cash works for individuals but I really wish there were a way to target specific groups. Roy On NCL, you can actually go to the desk and have additional tips (over and above the service charge) credited to individual employees, and have that amount charged to your onboard account. This was very convenient for us, since we were in a suite, and needed to tip the butler and concierge (who, on NCL, don't share in the daily service charge). It was nice not having to obtain lots of cash for that purpose.... easy to just charge it to the onboard account. The desk gives you a slip that you can present to the person you are tipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysfrantic Posted September 17, 2013 #333 Share Posted September 17, 2013 It gets divided in the same ratio as everything else. It would be wonderful if you could specify the people or groups who get anything above the standard but I know of no way to do that on HAL. Giving cash works for individuals but I really wish there were a way to target specific groups. Roy I agree, the system is unfortunate that way. On Disney they tell you how much of the daily fee goes to each person. You can add more money for a specific person's account or just add cash in that envelope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted September 17, 2013 #334 Share Posted September 17, 2013 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 The person who gave this advice was not an "experienced" cruise but one who was cheap and believes in taking advantage of (I was going to use another word but it might not be allowed on CC) the hard working crew. I am glad that you decided not to take their advice. DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatsyAnne Posted September 17, 2013 #335 Share Posted September 17, 2013 A friend and I were just discussing a recent land tour she took, and a person on that tour who kept trying to give dollars to someone who could only use euros. (Evidently that person was a jerk in many other ways also, but not on topic for this thread.) That made us think about our approach to travel. When we're lucky enough to take an international trip or a cruise, we consider it our responsibility to know and prepare for the cost of the trip, the tipping/gratuity/service charge expectations and practices, as well as the expenses we expect on port excursions. That includes reasonable and customary tips for each country we are in, and the currency that is most useful for our guides. We realize that each country and company has different practices and customs. After all, isn't that a large part of why we travel? Otherwise we could all just stay home. This isn't rocket science. The information is readily available from the cruise and tour operators, guide books, and the web. And... many experienced travelers on this forum are happy to provide their knowledge about different ports and countries.:D Finally, don't forget the power of mentioning people who have made you especially happy on your reviews. Happy travels y'all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunkiC Posted September 17, 2013 #336 Share Posted September 17, 2013 A friend and I were just discussing a recent land tour she took, and a person on that tour who kept trying to give dollars to someone who could only use euros. I have done a considerable amount of travel around this world and have yet to meet anyone who wasn't thrilled to get dollars. If they are in the tourist service industry, they are well aware of how to use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hgwells01 Posted September 17, 2013 #337 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Just got off the Noordam today, left the tips on and tipped our cabin stewards personally for their excellent service, were a few issues and I thought of reducing the automatic amount, glad I didn't or the tips I left would have had to be pooled, those guys deserved every cent I left and more, dam good service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
startwin Posted September 17, 2013 #338 Share Posted September 17, 2013 A friend and I were just discussing a recent land tour she took, and a person on that tour who kept trying to give dollars to someone who could only use euros. (Evidently that person was a jerk in many other ways also, but not on topic for this thread.) That made us think about our approach to travel. When we're lucky enough to take an international trip or a cruise, we consider it our responsibility to know and prepare for the cost of the trip, the tipping/gratuity/service charge expectations and practices, as well as the expenses we expect on port excursions. That includes reasonable and customary tips for each country we are in, and the currency that is most useful for our guides. We realize that each country and company has different practices and customs. After all, isn't that a large part of why we travel? Otherwise we could all just stay home. This isn't rocket science. The information is readily available from the cruise and tour operators, guide books, and the web. And... many experienced travelers on this forum are happy to provide their knowledge about different ports and countries.:D Finally, don't forget the power of mentioning people who have made you especially happy on your reviews. Happy travels y'all. Good post. As regards using dollars - we've travelled a lot and always use the currency of the country we are in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruz chic Posted September 18, 2013 #339 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Good post. As regards using dollars - we've travelled a lot and always use the currency of the country we are in. The last time I went to Mexico I took both usd and pesos. When I asked for a price in both the usd was less! I couldn't believe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatsyAnne Posted September 18, 2013 #340 Share Posted September 18, 2013 The last time I went to Mexico I took both usd and pesos. When I asked for a price in both the usd was less! I couldn't believe it. I agree that sometimes USD are preferred. I just don't think I should make that assumption. I think you took the best approach in Mexico, ready for whatever they preferred. This summer we took a camping trip through BC to Alaska, and I made sure we had Canadian currency and acceptable credit cards. I was a little surprised when one of the campgrounds in the Yukon said they also accepted USD. However, all the washers and dryers only took Loonies. :D It seems like I always ran short on the last dryer load and had to go hunting for more coins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watson's aunt Posted September 18, 2013 #341 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Hi I hope these cheepstakes have children grandchildren that have to work in a job where they need tips and find get customers like daddy and grandpa. I also bet these people are the most demanding and run the crew to there every demand. Mary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Eyes Are Sailing Posted September 18, 2013 #342 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Hi I hope these cheepstakes have children grandchildren that have to work in a job where they need tips and find get customers like daddy and grandpa. I also bet these people are the most demanding and run the crew to there every demand. Mary As someone who has worked for tips when I was young, I can concur that the cheapest tippers are always the most demanding......and usually make a mess of the table that will need to be cleaned up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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