Rare cbr663 Posted January 10, 2018 #1301 Share Posted January 10, 2018 We have seen trays on the floor outside of cabins on every cruise we have taken. I have been known to stick a post-it on the door asking them not to do so any more as this presents a hazard. I hope that you signed these notes. If I were to find such a note on my door, it would never occur to me that it was from a fellow passenger. I would assume that it was from a crew member and I would think that it was a very unprofessional way in which to communicate with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underwatr Posted January 10, 2018 #1302 Share Posted January 10, 2018 It was nice, however to read that Room Service Waiters take on the duty during their off hours to earn extra cash. My most recent cruise on the KDam over Christmas, one of the waiters told me that not everyone tips. That makes me sad. We customarily tip a couple of dollars for room service, but it's not required nor expected that passengers should do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted January 10, 2018 #1303 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Ok – recently, I read on a thread that when an HAL pax reverses the automatically charged gratuities, they may be thinking they will individually reward their stewards, waiters, etc. Having just completed my 9th HAL cruise, I have been in the Front Desk line right before debarkation and have seen passengers requesting gratuities removed from their account, so I know it must happen a lot fleet wide. But I did not know that if the pax does decide to individually tip, say their steward, that the steward must turn over the tip or risk being fired. Not only are the ship’s personnel behind the scenes being robbed,the person being individually tipped has also been cheated. That really has me bothered. I know, I keep reminding myself that tipping is subjective. It was nice, however to read that Room Service Waiters take on the duty during their off hours to earn extra cash. My most recent cruise on the KDam over Christmas, one of the waiters told me that not everyone tips. That makes me sad. Oh, and before I get off my soap box, why do passengers insist on leaving their used Room Service trays outside their doors. Don’t they realize that everyone needs to walk in the halls? In my 9 cruises, the KDam pax seemed to be the worst offenders. Everyone knows that. DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summersigh Posted January 10, 2018 #1304 Share Posted January 10, 2018 It's pretty much common knowledge that the crew cannot keep their cash tips if auto grats are removed. It happens all too often. This topic has been discussed here for a very long time and it can become a very heated conversation. Copied from HAL's employee handbook: TIPPING NOT REQUIRED POLICY All ships have the Rewards for Excellence (RfE) Plan which consists of Hotel Service Charges and Beverage Service Charges. If a guest chooses to adjust out of the RfE Plan and instead provide cash tips to an employee, the employee is required to turn in this cash to their Department Head so the money can be added to the RfE plan. Any “tips” received above and beyond the guests standard amount may be kept by the crewmember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lady Arwen Posted January 10, 2018 #1305 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Copied from HAL's employee handbook: TIPPING NOT REQUIRED POLICY All ships have the Rewards for Excellence (RfE) Plan which consists of Hotel Service Charges and Beverage Service Charges. If a guest chooses to adjust out of the RfE Plan and instead provide cash tips to an employee, the employee is required to turn in this cash to their Department Head so the money can be added to the RfE plan. Any “tips” received above and beyond the guests standard amount may be kept by the crewmember. Thank you for reiterating what I, and others, have been saying throughout this thread. Nice to see it in HAL's words/print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randyk47 Posted January 10, 2018 #1306 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Everyone knows that. DON Problem is that not “everybody knows that”. Not everybody participates on Cruise Critic where tipping is discussed frequently on almost every cruise line section here. Just was playing trivia at my favorite sports bar and a group of us got in a discussion about cruising. One of fellows said he’d just discovered the greatest thing and that was after 12+ cruises on HAL he could remove the HSC and tip out of pocket. He went in to say he preferred that because he knew who got the money and enjoyed tipping the staff face-to-face. He was “shocked” when I told him about the requirement to turn the money in. He’d never heard such a thing and even after I showed him this thread on my iPhone he questioned whether it was true or not. I didn’t get the impression he was trying to stiff the staff, more that he liked handing tips to them directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tampa Girl Posted January 10, 2018 #1307 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Isn't Seabourn still owned by Carnival Corp? tipping is included on that luxury cruise line I am quite sure? But even HAL includes the gratuities in their fares on special "sale" fares and on some Grand Voyage categories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summersigh Posted January 10, 2018 #1308 Share Posted January 10, 2018 Thank you for reiterating what I, and others, have been saying throughout this thread. Nice to see it in HAL's words/print. You're welcome ... and sorry the text appeared so huge:) At first it appeared too small but when I posted "POOF" it grew and I couldn't find a way to edit it smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lady Arwen Posted January 10, 2018 #1309 Share Posted January 10, 2018 You're welcome ... and sorry the text appeared so huge:) At first it appeared too small but when I posted "POOF" it grew and I couldn't find a way to edit it smaller.No problem at all, it was easy on the eyes.....didn't need to squint to see the small print! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irish Eyes Are Sailing Posted January 11, 2018 #1310 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) JMO, for what it is worth on tipping/HSC. When I go to an upscale hotel, usually a "Resort Fee" or the like is imposed daily, usually around $20-$25. They also tack on a "Parking Fee" if you brought your car, sometimes included in the "Resort Fee". These fees are not negotiable. You pay them whether you like it or not. Whether you used all the facilities there or not. Makes no difference, you pay it if you want to stay at that hotel. I, for one, wish the HSC on the cruise line was "not negotiable/not removable". If you want to tip more, fine, but the base line HSC stays on the bill. This is for the crew and they deserve every penny. The other alternative would be to bake the fee into the cruise fare. That would eliminate the "I'm from XYZ country, and we don't tip" or the "I stayed in my room all cruise and only ate in the Lido" excuses. Even if you eat in the Lido, someone has prepared and delivered the food to the buffet. I guess it is just me, but I never have resented tipping those who help/serve. I have worked for tips several times early in my life and I know how important tips are. Anyone else who ever worked in a restaurant or other service industry knows too. The only "cheap tippers" or "non-tippers" I have ever known never worked in a job where they received tips!! If they did, they would think differently. If anyone wants to flame me for this, go ahead, but it is how I feel about it. And PS, I always leave a small tip in the hotel room for the maids. I feel good about doing that......they work hard and their work is appreciated. Edited January 11, 2018 by Irish Eyes Are Sailing additional comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bUU Posted January 11, 2018 #1311 Share Posted January 11, 2018 I agree with your overall message, in other words to leave the HSC intact, but that last bit is quite debatable. Yes housekeepers work very hard but set of plumbers so do custodians so do Engineer's assistants... An argument can be made for tipping a whole bunch of people who you don't see, and that there's an inherent problem in a system that provides that kind of generosity only to people that you do see. While I personally would like to see the HSC baked into the cruise fare that runs directly against standard American consumer purchasing behaviors. Everything that we learn about consumers today tells us that we need to unbundle. We need to present to the consumer the absolute lowest base fare and separate out from it as much as we can in the form of add-ons and surcharges. Consumers complain very loudly about the nickel-and-diming but remarkably nickel-and-diming has very little adverse effect on their purchasing behaviors. Their complaints are effectively just empty venting. This post may have been entered by voice recognition. Please excuse any typographical errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Host Walt Posted January 11, 2018 #1312 Share Posted January 11, 2018 The discussion about room service trays is now in this new thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2584070 Please use this thread for discussion of HAL's tipping and hotel service charges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinS Posted January 26, 2018 #1313 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I am going on a 7 day music charter on HAL next week. All the gratuities were included in the amount charged by the charter company, however I know my roommate, who grew up very poor, will insist on tipping well. While of course there's no set guidelines, what seems like a good amount to tip the room attendant? Because of all the concerts happening we'll only do a few MDR meals and will likely not have the same waitstaff. Should we still tip a few bucks after each MDR meal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underwatr Posted January 26, 2018 #1314 Share Posted January 26, 2018 For 7 nights $40-50 to the room steward isn't out of the question. Any lesser amount, including zero, is acceptable if the daily gratuities are kept on the account. If you have "traditional" dining any dinners in the MDR will have the same wait staff. We don't eat My Time but I think it would be unusual to tip every night. Specialty dining has a gratuity as part of the upcharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinS Posted January 26, 2018 #1315 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Thanks! All the gratuities were pre-paid as part of the charter cruise cost. I'm not even sure one could get them taken off the account if one wanted (and we wouldn't). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysfrantic Posted January 26, 2018 #1316 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Specialty dining has a gratuity as part of the upcharge. It does not, actually. If you choose to tip the waist, you need to do so in cash after the meal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underwatr Posted January 26, 2018 #1317 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Sorry, I missed that this thread was HAL specific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted January 28, 2018 #1318 Share Posted January 28, 2018 We have been on NCL Gem 3 times the first was on her maiden voyage from Dover England in October 2007 and used a lot of different restaurants and always given cash tips to the waiters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grapau27 Posted January 28, 2018 #1319 Share Posted January 28, 2018 We have been on NCL Gem 3 times the first was on her maiden voyage from Dover England in October 2007 and used a lot of different restaurants and always given cash tips to the waiters. We have done the same on all our cruises including Hal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkNC Posted January 28, 2018 #1320 Share Posted January 28, 2018 For 7 nights $40-50 to the room steward isn't out of the question. Any lesser amount, including zero, is acceptable if the daily gratuities are kept on the account. If you have "traditional" dining any dinners in the MDR will have the same wait staff. We don't eat My Time but I think it would be unusual to tip every night. Specialty dining has a gratuity as part of the upcharge. Do you tip that per room steward or is that combined for the two? I ask because that would be very generous per room steward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal lover Posted January 31, 2018 #1321 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I have just booked an 11 night cruise on the Koningsdam. When I got my final price quote I added to my list the HSC. JUST DO IT! Leave it on the account. If you wish to tip extra, DO IT! Just do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysfrantic Posted January 31, 2018 #1322 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Do you tip that per room steward or is that combined for the two? I ask because that would be very generous per room steward. I don't think I had 2 stewards the last 2 HAL cruises I took. Did I? hmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted January 31, 2018 #1323 Share Posted January 31, 2018 I don't think I had 2 stewards the last 2 HAL cruises I took. Did I? hmmm Interesting, we've had 2 room stewards (I forget the right term but the second was called an assistant I think) for our number of cruises over the years - even on the Prinsendam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ithaca gal Posted February 4, 2018 #1324 Share Posted February 4, 2018 I don't know if there is ever just one steward to a room. I wonder if they sometimes split the number of cabins between them? Doesn't matter as we have never had any complaints about their services! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KroozNut Posted February 4, 2018 #1325 Share Posted February 4, 2018 I don't think I had 2 stewards the last 2 HAL cruises I took. Did I? hmmm Yes, you did. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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