crew appreciation increasing Feb 01,2024

[dobiemom]

20 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

No TV statement, but here are portions of the final statement w/my name, OBC and cash deposits redacted. As you can see, there are no entries for grats.

HAL is SO inconsistent! 😳

[Niagarawine]

On 1/6/2024 at 10:44 AM, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

That's good, they work very hard.

Yep, glad to see gem get an increase

[Haljo1935]

On 1/8/2024 at 9:38 PM, dobiemom said:

HAL is SO inconsistent! 😳

Yes, but I still find more good than bad so I continue to cruise w/them. Their consistently inconsistency is why we need to ask each other these questions. 😉

[Bill B]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:00 AM, cbr663 said:

But, this may be foreshadowing an increase in the HIA+ package is on the near horizon as it typically includes crew gratuities.

 

Can you buy a HIA+ package?

 

I got HIA with: upgraded Elite Beverage & Premium Wi-fi and gratuities, but it was part of a promo included in the fare and not purchased separately.

[Bill B]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:00 AM, cbr663 said:

But, this may be foreshadowing an increase in the HIA+ package is on the near horizon as it typically includes crew gratuities.

 

Can you buy a HIA+ package?

 

I got HIA with: upgraded Elite Beverage & Premium Wi-fi and gratuities, but it was part of a promo included in the fare and not purchased separately.

[bgomes]

We are sailing on the Rotterdam in February.  I will pay the increase for crew gratuities, they certainly earn and  deserve it.   Items for them have increased just as much as it has increased just as much as for us .  After all, it is only $1 per person per day.

Edited January 10 by bgomes

[cbr663]

13 hours ago, Bill B said:

 

Can you buy a HIA+ package?

 

I got HIA with: upgraded Elite Beverage & Premium Wi-fi and gratuities, but it was part of a promo included in the fare and not purchased separately.

 

It depends on whether or not HAL is promoting it.  My experience is that there isn't any one standard Have It All package.  It is simply a bundling of amenities and HAL changes them almost as regularly as it changes its promos.  I have seen differences between the HIA packages so I always make sure to read the T&Cs for each.

 

I have had HIA included in my fare in the past and had one fare in which I couldn't purchase it.  I have seen HIA with refundable deposits and non-refundable deposits.  I think HAL is constantly making changes as time moves on and it sees how its passengers respond to the package.

 

BTW:  cruise lines have stated publicly that they have raised their passenger spend on their ships by more than 15% by offering packages.  People with the packages like HIA are typically spending more now than they did previously without the packages.

[Hlitner]

13 hours ago, bgomes said:

We are sailing on the Rotterdam in February.  I will pay the increase for crew gratuities, they certainly earn and  deserve it.   Items for them have increased just as much as it has increased just as much as for us .  After all, it is only $1 per person per day.

Let me ask you a simple question,  All that "crew appreciation: you pay......where does it go...who gets how much?  I bet you have no clue.  HAL fans constantly take the position that whatever it costs, it is fine!  Really?  So call your PCC (if you deal with a PCC) and ask for a breakdown of how that money is spent.  I would be you will not get an answer.

 

Hank

[Sea42]

6 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Let me ask you a simple question,  All that "crew appreciation: you pay......where does it go...who gets how much?  I bet you have no clue.  HAL fans constantly take the position that whatever it costs, it is fine!  Really?  So call your PCC (if you deal with a PCC) and ask for a breakdown of how that money is spent.  I would be you will not get an answer.

 

Hank

Are you thinking it doesn't go to the crew? That would be an issue for me.

Otherwise, how is it any of our business what the details are?

[Nodakboiler]

We were told by the Hotel Manager at a Q&A that the money is pooled and distributed once a month to  crew members.

[crystalspin]

Roger @Crew News learned the following percentages of the daily fees, from a Hotel Director (now Hotel Managers):

 

30% Room Steward

30% Waiters

40% Those who work behind the scenes supporting the passengers (laundry,

cooks, cleaning crews, cooks, etc.)  Non-passenger support crew (lifeboat

drivers, engine folks, etc.).

 

While it was some years ago, no reason to think the breakdown has changed.

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Are you thinking it doesn't go to the crew? That would be an issue for me.

Otherwise, how is it any of our business what the details are?

I am thinking nothing other than I have no clue where it goes, what percentage goes to who, etc.  It is a big secret.  Although passengers pay, we are not entitled to any information about where the money goes.  Just try to ask the next time you cruise.

 

Bottom line is at one time you tipped the folks who gave you direct service (steward, waiter, assist steward, etc).  Now, it goes into a secret pool and is distributed the way management sees fit.  The person who gives you no service or lousy service gets a cut just like the person who gives you good service,   Unlike a reward for good service it is simply a supplement to pay the crew.  Why not also have us pay separate for the fuel, food, maintenance, debt service, etc?

 

Hank

[Bill B]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Let me ask you a simple question,  All that "crew appreciation: you pay......where does it go...who gets how much? 

 

 It's used to pay the crew's wages. You don't think HAL pays them... do you? 😂

 

[Sea42]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I am thinking nothing other than I have no clue where it goes, what percentage goes to who, etc.  It is a big secret.  Although passengers pay, we are not entitled to any information about where the money goes.  Just try to ask the next time you cruise.

I agree to pay the crew appreciation fee. The company and the crew agree, via a contract, how that money is divided. If you don't agree, either don't pay it or sail on a line where it is not charged separately.

Of course, if not charged separately, you still don't know the super duper secret formula for crew reimbursement.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Sea42 said:

I agree to pay the crew appreciation fee. The company and the crew agree, via a contract, how that money is divided. If you don't agree, either don't pay it or sail on a line where it is not charged separately.

Of course, if not charged separately, you still don't know the super duper secret formula for crew reimbursement.

We do routinely cruise on lines that do not have any tipping.  I might add that the crew on those lines are quite happy because they sign contracts that include a specific wage (just like most jobs).  I am still old enough to remember when HAL was set apart from most mass market lines because they had a "no tipping policy."  Eventually HAL moved to a ":tipping not required" policy (most would have said that real tips are never required)" and eventually to an auto-tips system.  But now, they pull the wool over folks eyes with the term "crew appreciation."  ROFL.

 

Trying to justify a ridiculous term like "crew appreciation" is simply laughable!  The next time you fly on an airliner, stop in flight deck and hand "crew appreciation" payments to the Captain :).  And when you see a tanker filling the underground storage tanks at your local gas station, make sure to go over and hand that driver a "crew appreciation" payment.  

 

You are being played and played by the cruise lines.  They "low ball" their cruise prices and load them up at the back end with "crew appreciation,"  alternative dining fees, add-ons to the MDR and even the extra cost alternative dining venues, room service fees (on some lines), etc.  As long as customers simply accept these extra charges, the mass market lines will impose additional fees and increase existing fees.  Tis a slippery slope.   Having been a very frequent cruiser for about 50 years, we have watched (first hand) the way cruise lines (primarily the mass market lines) have gradually moved to a nickel/dime business plan.  At some point a cruise ship becomes a ferry boat where you pay for the basic cruise and accept a la carte for nearly everything else.  

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 I have too - And those cruise lines are pricier than HAL 😉 

 

Check out the crew manual.  (Links have been posted here in the past as well as PDF’s).  Crew appreciation is clear in it as well as the need to pool tips IF the passenger removes the regular crew appreciation.

 

I take it you are no longer sailing on HAL with your cynicism.

You "take it" right :(.  But it was not the tipping policy that did us in but rather the big decline in overall quality.  Much of that was delineated in our CC blog during are spring Westerdam cruise (42 days).

 

Hank

[Bill B]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 I have too - And those cruise lines are pricier than HAL 😉 

 

 In general, yes. However, on occasion they can be less - especially for solo travellers when the single supplement is 0-25% (and they go places the mainstream lines don't). You just have to monitor pricing. Sometimes, it 'all falls together' and for a few weeks my bathroom is clad in marble not fiberglass.

[Native Floridian 26]

HAL website still doesn't reflect this increase and my major cruise TA doesn't have any info on it yet.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Bill B said:

 

 In general, yes. However, on occasion they can be less - especially for solo travellers when the single supplement is 0-25% (and they go places the mainstream lines don't). You just have to monitor pricing. Sometimes, it 'all falls together' and for a few weeks my bathroom is clad in marble not fiberglass.

 

Thanks for pointing this out.  I wasn’t solo at the time so my experiences were as a couple sailing.

I know one or two of the luxury cruise lines have lesser solo supplements.  So far, I haven’t seen an itinerary that calls to me 😉 

[albingirl]

The staff on the ships are so hard working.  I'd never do the work they do.  Not that I am a lazy bean, but look at them.  Every time I go out of my house, things have gone through the roof.  Sometimes I think that restaurants have taken this to the nth degree, since they have become impossibly expensive.  But, if you want to cruise, this is the deal.  Kind of take it or leave it.

[Bill B]

11 minutes ago, kazu said:

I know one or two of the luxury cruise lines have lesser solo supplements.  So far, I haven’t seen an itinerary that calls to me 😉 

 

It helps to be quick. A few months ago, I found an 18-day expedition cruise (I really wanted to do) on Silversea with 0% single supplement for $5,500. By the time I looked into: visa(s), air fare and hotels etc. and was ready to book i.e. 24 hrs. later, the base fare had risen and the 0% single supplement had disappeared - making it $15,000. ☹️ I didn't book.

[Hlitner]

44 minutes ago, Bill B said:

 

It helps to be quick. A few months ago, I found an 18-day expedition cruise (I really wanted to do) on Silversea with 0% single supplement for $5,500. By the time I looked into: visa(s), air fare and hotels etc. and was ready to book i.e. 24 hrs. later, the base fare had risen and the 0% single supplement had disappeared - making it $15,000. ☹️ I didn't book.

That is not just true for singles.  We have seen many deals come and go, sometimes in only a few hours.  If you see it, and you want it, book it!

[Cuttersmom]

2 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

HAL website still doesn't reflect this increase and my major cruise TA doesn't have any info on it yet.

I received this email response from my PCC. 
 

I cannot confirm the rumors but I do suggest that if you want to lock in the current crew appreciation rate you can prepay that through Ship Services 

 

When I replied that last years increase was not locked in by prepaying them, she said she would message that department and let me know. Haven’t heard back yet. 

 

[kazu]

19 minutes ago, Cuttersmom said:

I received this email response from my PCC. 
 

I cannot confirm the rumors but I do suggest that if you want to lock in the current crew appreciation rate you can prepay that through Ship Services 

 

When I replied that last years increase was not locked in by prepaying them, she said she would message that department and let me know. Haven’t heard back yet. 

 

 

I thought the same thing she said that pre-paying would lock it in until I saw some contradictory posts.

 

Curious to see what she replies.

 

It’s strange that your PCC is calling them rumours and a couple of people have received notification from their TA’s while the rest of us have not.

[FlaMariner]

3 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

HAL website still doesn't reflect this increase and my major cruise TA doesn't have any info on it yet.

 

I emailed my TA (big internet TA) 1/6 after reading on here about the tip increase....

 

(I wanted to find out if I bought tips pre-increase, would that be "grandfathered")

 

She got back to me on 1/9 saying she was having difficulty getting an answer on and was still checking.

 

I wonder what is up?  Is this an internet rumor or for real? Or a corporate secret that got out early?

LOL.