10 dollar a day

[angeldust4300]

On our last cruise we tipped our waiter, Louis, an extra $20.00, and the men who cleaned my sons room an extra $20.00. These people, I believe, went above and beyond the call of duty. The crew on the Spirit were really great.:) Counting the days until I sail again.

[hotspur]

This was our first time on NCL but have cruised a lot on HAL and Windstar. Are used to the $7.50 pp daily tip for waiter and cabin steward and then $3 pp daily for Maitre'D, cabin asst and supervisor. This is $49 per day for a couple or about $350 for a week's cruise.

Huh? $49 per day per couple? On HAL? No way.

 

Here's a quote from the HAL web site: "A gratuity of $10 per guest per day for dining and stateroom services will be automatically added to your shipboard account on a daily basis. We are confident that you will find the service onboard exemplary and, should you wish to make adjustments, you may do so at the end of the cruise by contacting the front desk. A 15% service charge will be automatically added to your bar charges and dining room wine account."

 

Also, our dinners on HAL's Maasdam didn't come close in quality to our two NCL cruises on the Dream. Small portions. Lukewarm food. Meats overdone. Insipid service. HAL is overrated. [Celebrity, too.]

[Cruiser#5]

This is just my opinion so don't shoot me down. I believe in tipping, afterall the services I've received in the past has been fantastic. I realize working on a ship is not a glamourous job but these guys really hide their stress from their day to day routine and yes they deserve the tips.

But what gets me annoyed is that it is automatically charged on your account (its more like a forced tipping). Personally I would rather tip as I go

with their 10 a day charge, You lose the personal touch of rewarding the employees of their great job.

Oh sure, I know I can give them an additional tip on top of what we get charged but where I'm going on this is, I'm finally treating myself to a penthouse suite, and it is costing me a fortune for that! (that is my choice) and this is in Canadian money:eek: . I'm going to get a butler...which means I also have to save additional money for his tipping too.

I realize I can have my account adjusted but I won't.

Tipping to me should be from the individual

[pvtbear]

Huh? $49 per day per couple? On HAL? No way.

 

Here's a quote from the HAL web site: "A gratuity of $10 per guest per day for dining and stateroom services will be automatically added to your shipboard account on a daily basis. We are confident that you will find the service onboard exemplary and, should you wish to make adjustments, you may do so at the end of the cruise by contacting the front desk. A 15% service charge will be automatically added to your bar charges and dining room wine account."

 

Also, our dinners on HAL's Maasdam didn't come close in quality to our two NCL cruises on the Dream. Small portions. Lukewarm food. Meats overdone. Insipid service. HAL is overrated. [Celebrity, too.]

 

Interesting...

Our last HAL cruise was Jan 2004 and they still had their "Tipping Not Required" policy at that time. That was also the policy on our first HAL cruise in 1985. Found out "not required" is not the same as "not expected" but that was OK.

 

Odd that they have adopted the automatic service charge policy.

 

Guess a lot of people either like having it included automatically or just figured it was already included in the cabin price.

 

Maybe we've been over tipping all these years. Well, at least we've had a great time on every cruise and probably made some crew members happy in the process.

[Host CMLA]

Tipping to me should be from the individual

Unfortunately with freestyle cruising what you want to do wouldn't work because you don't see the same poeple all the time. The $10 a day also covers people you never see. If you tipped as you went, those people normally covered by the $10 would get nothing. I understand your position. I'm just adding why it would be difficult for you to do it the way you'd like to.

Always wanted to know how much of the specialty restaurant cover charge went to wait staff.

None of the fee charged for the specialty restaurants goes to the wait staff. The wait staff in the specialty restaurants get their tips from the $10 a day pool. The surcharge for the specialty restaurants is straight profit for the cruise line.

[Baitman19]

We have sailed on the Dawn twice and will be going again in September. We have always found the staff to be great. We have never had a bad service person.

 

Think about this. If you eat in the dining rooms for three meals a day, have your room cleaned, your bed turned down, extra towels delivered, ice delivered as many times as you need, etc. This only costs you $20.00 per day. What a steal. One dinner on Long Island and it's at least a $20.00 tip.

 

We have sailed on crusie lines that give you envelopes to give your tips at the end of the cruise. On our last Celebrity Cruise, only four of us, from a table of eight, showed up at the last dinner. The food was great, the service was great & the seas were clam. I guess the tip caused the no shows. I'm sure this was happening a lot. The $10.00 service fee added to you account is okay by me.

 

Maybe NCL should change it's policy and add 15% to the cruise price, Caesar's Pocono Resorts does. That would make a great thread.

 

Try to enjoy cruising, it's great relaxing vacation.

 

Monty

[2fun]

I think one difference (and it was covered on another thread) is when there are teens involved and suddenly you are paying $40 per day.

 

This wouldn't be so bad IF the teens ate in the dinning rooms for all of their meals but many eat on the run at the Pizza place or room service which IS tipped. With MY teens, it seems the ONLY sit down meal we eat together (on every cruise) are the couple of nights in the Specialty restaurants which ARE tipped extra. So, we are paying for double the clean up (not double the mess) and double the restaurant staff (but really the same amount of meals as 2) and then paying extra tips for all of the room service and specialty meals!

 

Granted, we could not give a tip to room service or leave an extra $20 after each meal in the Specialty restaurants but that would be unfair to those folks. I also could demand the twins eat with us at every meal and on and on as everyone has a choice BUT we do not have a choice about the $10PP per day tipping.

 

I am not against tipping or the idea of it coming off my bill but I do wish we were in control of it. Once we were on another line and had all of our meals brought to our room (we love eating on the balcony) and we did not tip any of the dinning staff -- we did let them know at the front of the cruise and they asked us to just let them know ahead of time if we wanted to dine as they wouldn't hold up the rest of the table otherwise. Anyway, my point is, we didn't use their service and didn't tip them and neither do my teens now but we are now forced to on NCL.

 

We will end up paying the $440 on our bill plus the 3 nights out ($60 min), and daily room service cost for eating on the balcony and the kids ordering. I know, our choice but it does have us paying for services unused.

 

On a side note, my DH and I traveled on the Sprit a couple of months ago and even though we ate on the balcony one night and at 2 of the specialty restaurants, we never felt the full tip wasn't warranted. It is only when we add in the twins, that starts to bother me.

[GregInCharlotte]

I like vacations to be simple, I like knowing the real price for things. Did you ever see an add for a product where the sale price was low but the shipping and handling was way too much? The service charge seems like just another way of making the sale price less.

 

NCL has never implied they count the service charge collected then divide it up amoung the service personnel.

 

On my only NCL brand cruise (unlike some people, I don't measure my life by how many cruises I've been on or the number of seconds 'til I board again) I made a point of responding to exceptional service (1) informing the manager present and (2) on-the-spot comment cards and (3) last-cruise-night face-to-face cash tips.

 

The dining room staff told us the on the spot comment cards directly effect decisions like promotions.

 

I simply regarded the $10 a day NCL put on my bill as a "hidden" charge.

[hotspur]

I simply regarded the $10 a day NCL put on my bill as a "hidden" charge.

I suppose you can view as you'd like but it is not "hidden" in the slightest.

[Host CMLA]

This wouldn't be so bad IF the teens ate in the dinning rooms for all of their meals but many eat on the run at the Pizza place or room service which IS tipped. With MY teens, it seems the ONLY sit down meal we eat together (on every cruise) are the couple of nights in the Specialty restaurants which ARE tipped extra. So, we are paying for double the clean up (not double the mess) and double the restaurant staff (but really the same amount of meals as 2) and then paying extra tips for all of the room service and specialty meals!

Your $10 for your teens also covers the people that work in the Pizza place and also the buffet workers. If your teens are eating somewhere other than the main dining room most of the time, they're still being served by someone and those people, except for the room service people, get part of the $10.

[GregInCharlotte]

I suppose you can view as you'd like but it is not "hidden" in the slightest.

 

Obviously, NCL doesn't include the service charge in their advertising, even though they include the price.

 

I really don't mind tipping - I just want ALL of it to go to the person delivering the service. My barber once said, "Do you want to pay the senior citizen price?" and I said, "I plan to pay $xx which includes the gratuity. You can choose how to ring it up." She laughed and said, "You look like you've aged 10 years since I last saw you."

[hotspur]

Obviously, NCL doesn't include the service charge in their advertising, even though they include the price.

"

What restaurant in this country includes the tip in its menu prices? What hotel includes the tip for the housekeeper in its room rate? Do you go on a cruise and not include tips in your budget?

 

As for your statement about wanting all the money to go to the person who serves you: Do you tip everyone working in the buffet when you eat there? Do you tip everyone in the pizza bar, or pasta bar, or waffle station? Or all the folks who bring out the late night nibbles for you in the casino and lounges? It truly amazes that people object to a very rational process for tipping in an environment (freestyle) where otherwise you'd have to carry around and hand out money to nearly every crew member who passes you by.

[seahorse]

I do not understand why the naysayers are singling out NCL, most all of the mainstream cruise lines do this. RCI and Celebrity give the option now. Tipping/service charge is not a new concept in the cruise industry:rolleyes: and NO cruise line puts the tipping charges in their advertising.

 

I feel people should get a grip on this thing put it in ther budget and move on.

[GregInCharlotte]

While it's true no cruise line advertises their gratuity policy they don't all automatically add it to your room charges then insist you have a counseling session with dad to explain to him why you're dissatisfied.

 

I'm glad you're amazed. What amazes me is the way there seems to be 2 political parties in these discussions:

 

Conservative Goats: Grump, complain, argue with everything the cruise line does. Sneak your liquor aboard.

 

Liberal Sheep: The cruise line is always right. If they were supposed to change something God would tell them to.

[seahorse]

While it's true no cruise line advertises their gratuity policy they don't all automatically add it to your room charges then insist you have a counseling session with dad to explain to him why you're dissatisfied.

 

I'm glad you're amazed. What amazes me is the way there seems to be 2 political parties in these discussions:

 

Conservative Goats: Grump, complain, argue with everything the cruise line does. Sneak your liquor aboard.

 

Liberal Sheep: The cruise line is always right. If they were supposed to change something God would tell them to.

 

Hmmmmm............or a Liberal indvidual who doesn`t believe in God and adheres to the cruiselines policies:D

[SailAways]

While it's true no cruise line advertises their gratuity policy they don't all automatically add it to your room charges then insist you have a counseling session with dad to explain to him why you're dissatisfied.

 

I'm glad you're amazed. What amazes me is the way there seems to be 2 political parties in these discussions:

 

Conservative Goats: Grump, complain, argue with everything the cruise line does. Sneak your liquor aboard.

 

Liberal Sheep: The cruise line is always right. If they were supposed to change something God would tell them to.

 

Which of these groups best describes you?

[hotspur]

What amazes me is the way there seems to be 2 political parties in these discussions:

 

Conservative Goats: Grump, complain, argue with everything the cruise line does. Sneak your liquor aboard.

 

Liberal Sheep: The cruise line is always right. If they were supposed to change something God would tell them to.

Not surprisingly, your analysis is way off the mark. No one in this world thinks a cruise line is "always right." But when they are right--as in the case of the $10 service charge that makes it hard for the cheapskates to avoid giving a reasonable tip to hard-working staff--open-minded people feel secure enough to say so.

 

I notice you didn't answer any of the questions I posed to you. And, lastly, your little barber story above--and how proud you seem to be about your con--speaks volumes about you.

[GregInCharlotte]

Which of these groups best describes you?

 

Rationally responding to every new situation as it comes up.

 

Avoiding knee-jerk responses in either direction.

[Checkmate1955]

The cover charges for the specialty restaurants are for what? The room, the service or the food upgrade? If you pay $12.50 for the cover charge then what do you tip...? Based on the cost of the meal $25.00 total for two or some amount that you may have been charged in Las Vegas, etc... Why would those waiters not be covered by the $10.00 per day service charge and then you tip extra based on the service experience?:)

 

Tip some but not others? Tip your waiter in the dining room but not the person cleaning your table at the buffet? It can be confusing... If I understand these previous comments we should pay the $10 service charge and then tip everyone that provides service from the buffet to the dining room to the room steward to the maitre'd to the Captain to the ice cream dipper....on and on..... If we feel that they provided a service above the normal call of duty...;)

[GregInCharlotte]

What restaurant in this country includes the tip in its menu prices? What hotel includes the tip for the housekeeper in its room rate? Do you go on a cruise and not include tips in your budget?

 

As for your statement about wanting all the money to go to the person who serves you: Do you tip everyone working in the buffet when you eat there? Do you tip everyone in the pizza bar, or pasta bar, or waffle station? Or all the folks who bring out the late night nibbles for you in the casino and lounges? It truly amazes that people object to a very rational process for tipping in an environment (freestyle) where otherwise you'd have to carry around and hand out money to nearly every crew member who passes you by.

 

What restaurant adds a tip to the bill (except a large group) then demands you explain why if you disagree with the amount?

 

Yes, I include tips in my budget, in fact, I go to the bank to get the necessary combination of bills I anticipate needing.

 

Yes, I have tipped at a buffet. Buffet workers like pocket money also. Yes, I have tipped a 3am pizza buffet worker who was cheerful and helpful. I don't eat waffles but I do tip the omelette maker. In the casino I frequently tip in the tradional manner - I place an additional bet beside by own for the dealer. (in casino parlance, a tipper is referred to as a 'George' a non-tipper is referred to as a 'stiff') I do not hand out cash to nearly every crew member who passes by but I always initiate or respond to what the military calls, "The greeting of the day" - "Good morning", "Good afternoon" or "Good evening".

 

I'm glad you were able to interpret my barber story for the con that it was. It's gratifying to know so few words can speak volumes.

 

You never heard me say I objected to or didn't understand a tip once per day plan for freestyle crusing. IF a company collects a fee ostensibly to be distributed to a group of service employees then doesn't give that fee to the employees they are pulling what you call a "con". I have no reason to think NCL doesn't give the service charge to the employees.

[CoolCruiser55]

I feel that tipping should always be done when good service or better is done. That's the only leverage one has to ensure a certain qulity of service. NCL should make this "Add-On" payment an option at embarkation. Some folks like to tip with the envelopes and other just don't want to be bothered and put it on the card. That's OK. Sometimes folks who opt to pay themselves run "Short of Cash" and go down the purser's office to change back to the automatic tipping.

 

I understand with Freestyling Cuisine that's impractical on the food side of the tips but not with your cabin steward. I always feel good to say thanks and goodbye to the steward. Have a drop off near the dining rooms for the the food service folks. This way people feel that they are not being forced to tip and have some control over their levels of service. There will always be those who won't tip at all.

 

The only thing I have a problem with is tipping the room service person. Since we go without cash throughout the ship for everything else it's hard to grab a buck or two for the room service person when you just wake up and need that first cup of coffee after a night on the ship.

 

I hope they get some of those tipping $$ as well.

[icecreamfiend]

I think one difference (and it was covered on another thread) is when there are teens involved and suddenly you are paying $40 per day.

 

I will never understand why parents are consistantly surprised that their children cost them money and that the sum adds up. I wondered about this reading the other thread and I wonder about this reading your post. It's not like you woke up one day and there were these teenagers living in your house you were expected to care for and you didn't know how they got there. :eek:

 

Yes, $40 is twice as much as DH and I have to pay per day for tips. If I invited two family members to join us on the cruise, then I'd budget for it and not act surprised when tips were charged to my account. Why on earth does it "bother" you to have to pay for your children?

[Host CMLA]

The cover charges for the specialty restaurants are for what? The room, the service or the food upgrade? If you pay $12.50 for the cover charge then what do you tip...? Based on the cost of the meal $25.00 total for two or some amount that you may have been charged in Las Vegas, etc... Why would those waiters not be covered by the $10.00 per day service charge and then you tip extra based on the service experience?:)

As I said before, the waiters in the specialty restaurants ARE COVERED IN THE $10 PER PERSON PER DAY SERVICE CHARGE. You do not have to tip extra in the specialty restaurants. The cover charge for the specialty restaurants is 100% profit for the cruise line and DOES NOT go towards the tipping of the staff.

tip some but not others? Tip your waiter in the dining room but not the person cleaning your table at the buffet?[/color] It can be confusing... If I understand these previous comments we should pay the $10 service charge and then tip everyone that provides service from the buffet to the dining room to the room steward to the maitre'd to the Captain to the ice cream dipper....on and on..... If we feel that they provided a service above the normal call of duty...;)

No, you don't understand it correctly. If you pay the $10 per person per day service charge, you DO NOT NEED TO TIP AGAIN unless you feel that you've received service that warrants a personal tip. If you never feel that an additional tip is needed then you pay the $10 per person per day and everyone who needs to be tipped will be tipped. You're done.

[SailAways]

Rationally responding to every new situation as it comes up.

 

Avoiding knee-jerk responses in either direction.

 

Bzzzz - wrong answer!

Come on Greg - you named us, and obviously since you are posting here, you must also belong to one of your named political groups.

Sheep and Goats are your only two choices.

In all fairness to the rest of us who must, according to your assessment, fall into one of your previously stated political groups, you must also.

I am trying to respond rationally to this situation as it came up, and avoid a knee-jerk response.

As stated in my earlier post on this subject, I feel that I agreed to the $10 fee/assessment/service charge/whatever you call it, when choosing this cruise line. It is clearly stated in their borchure, so I felt that I had no reason to dispute it. I have also seen this $10 per day per person fee advertised on several online travel agency information pages. It did not come as any surprise to me - even though I am a first time cruiser.

[newmexicoNita]

I think one difference (and it was covered on another thread) is when there are teens involved and suddenly you are paying $40 per day.

 

This wouldn't be so bad IF the teens ate in the dinning rooms for all of their meals but many eat on the run at the Pizza place or room service which IS tipped. With MY teens, it seems the ONLY sit down meal we eat together (on every cruise) are the couple of nights in the Specialty restaurants which ARE tipped extra. So, we are paying for double the clean up (not double the mess) and double the restaurant staff (but really the same amount of meals as 2) and then paying extra tips for all of the room service and specialty meals!

 

Granted, we could not give a tip to room service or leave an extra $20 after each meal in the Specialty restaurants but that would be unfair to those folks. I also could demand the twins eat with us at every meal and on and on as everyone has a choice BUT we do not have a choice about the $10PP per day tipping.

 

I am not against tipping or the idea of it coming off my bill but I do wish we were in control of it. Once we were on another line and had all of our meals brought to our room (we love eating on the balcony) and we did not tip any of the dinning staff -- we did let them know at the front of the cruise and they asked us to just let them know ahead of time if we wanted to dine as they wouldn't hold up the rest of the table otherwise. Anyway, my point is, we didn't use their service and didn't tip them and neither do my teens now but we are now forced to on NCL.

 

We will end up paying the $440 on our bill plus the 3 nights out ($60 min), and daily room service cost for eating on the balcony and the kids ordering. I know, our choice but it does have us paying for services unused.

 

On a side note, my DH and I traveled on the Sprit a couple of months ago and even though we ate on the balcony one night and at 2 of the specialty restaurants, we never felt the full tip wasn't warranted. It is only when we add in the twins, that starts to bother me.

It may not seem fair, but you need to remember a couple of things: one-your kids have the option of eating with you and when you choose a cruise, regardless of the line you are expected to tip a certain amount: if you choose to cruise a line that just give a suggested amount like $3.75 per day to the waiter would you subtract for the nights the kids ate elsewhere? 2-that $10 is also going toward gratuities for those who work the pizza bar or whatever. It does seem like alot of money and I would not just with joy either but going into the cruise we always budget for tips. My daughter and SIL took the girls on about 3 cruises while they were teens, they always had their own cabin and the tips were distributed to all the staff in the same amount as adults would give. Before the days of automatic service charge our daughter would give the girls each about $80 the day before the cruise was over to tip the way they felt was right: if the wait staff was outstanding but room steward not as good the girls could decide to give more to the wait staff, etc. This has taught them how to tip. Many of their friends are amazed at how at 19 and 22 they seem to know exactly how to tip. Both of them even leave a few dollars for house keeping when they are staying at a hotel or motel. NMnita