Haven Gratuities

[Denverbri69]

I just found out that Haven staff members do not share in the per diem gratuity charges. Can anyone confirm this. I always tip those team members that directly take care of us, over and above the per diem. If you ever worked for tips, you become a generous tipper. But, if the Haven staff are not included in the per diem, then I need to bring a lot more cash. What do people suggest for the butler?

[Laszlo]

1 minute ago, Denverbri69 said:

I just found out that Haven staff members do not share in the per diem gratuity charges. Can anyone confirm this. I always tip those team members that directly take care of us, over and above the per diem. If you ever worked for tips, you become a generous tipper. But, if the Haven staff are not included in the per diem, then I need to bring a lot more cash. What do people suggest for the butler?

You can do a search..... Lots of talk about what to give. It really depends how much you use the butler and concierge. 7 day cruise we will typically tip the butler $100, concierge $50..... Lots of options. Last cruise it was $150 for the butler and nothing for the concierge... we didn't use them and only spoke to the person once

[Denverbri69]

22 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

You can do a search..... Lots of talk about what to give. It really depends how much you use the butler and concierge. 7 day cruise we will typically tip the butler $100, concierge $50..... Lots of options. Last cruise it was $150 for the butler and nothing for the concierge... we didn't use them and only spoke to the person once

Thanks. Good guidelines. 

[Denverbri69]

Thanks, very helpful guidelines. 

[UKstages]

just to be clear, when you say "haven staff members," it is typically the butler and the concierge(s) that we're talking about here... those haven staff members are not covered by the onboard service charge. others are covered, but you can tip anybody you like, including your cabin steward, who is covered by the OSC.

 

those who choose to tip tend to tip the bartenders, the sun deck and pool attendants, the butler, concierge and cabin steward. others like to throw a little cash toward favorite wait staff in the restaurant and the host and/or maitre d'.

[roger001]

Last Haven cruise, butler was great, tipped $100.  Concierge good, $75.  Cabin attendant, $75.  Main bartender $30, but we tipped for each drink $1.  Maitre D, $30 plus tipping servers for each meal.  And just tipped other times as we felt like doing.     

[Denverbri69]

2 minutes ago, UKstages said:

just to be clear, when you say "haven staff members," it is typically the butler and the concierge(s) that we're talking about here... those haven staff members are not covered by the onboard service charge. others are covered, but you can tip anybody you like, including your cabin steward, who is covered by the OSC.

 

those who choose to tip tend to tip the bartenders, the sun deck and pool attendants, the butler, concierge and cabin steward. others like to throw a little cash toward favorite wait staff in the restaurant and the host and/or maitre d'.

Good info. I thought Haven staff included the bartenders & restaurant servers. But I planned to reward those that provide good service. 

[UKstages]

57 minutes ago, Denverbri69 said:

I thought Haven staff included the bartenders & restaurant servers.

 

servers are covered by the OSC.

 

bartenders are theoretically covered by the gratuity on the drink package or the per drink gratuity, if no drink package. i say "theoretically" because nobody really knows what NCL does with the money collected for the OSC or gratuities and there is no direct relationship between the money you pay for those programs on your specific cruise and the compensation that staff later receives (if they get anything at all). remember that some or all of your onboard service charges may go to fund other employee incentive programs and may not be distributed as cash or bonus payments to staff and may not go to the staff with whom you interact.

 

Edited March 12 by UKstages

[RocketMan275]

56 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

servers are covered by the OSC.

 

bartenders are theoretically covered by the gratuity on the drink package or the per drink gratuity, if no drink package. i say "theoretically" because nobody really knows what NCL does with the money collected for the OSC or gratuities and there is no direct relationship between the money you pay for those programs on your specific cruise and the compensation that staff later receives (if they get anything at all). remember that some or all of your onboard service charges may go to fund other employee incentive programs and may not be distributed as cash or bonus payments to staff and may not go to the staff with whom you interact.

 

You have no assurance that any of the tips you put on  your credit card at a shore based restaurant goes to your server either so why do  you keep bringing this up?

[havoc315]

3 hours ago, Denverbri69 said:

I just found out that Haven staff members do not share in the per diem gratuity charges. Can anyone confirm this. I always tip those team members that directly take care of us, over and above the per diem. If you ever worked for tips, you become a generous tipper. But, if the Haven staff are not included in the per diem, then I need to bring a lot more cash. What do people suggest for the butler?

Butlers and Concierge staff do not participate in tips.  The range of tipping varies widely. So there is no “right” answer. 
Personally, I tip the butler $10-20 per guest per day.  (So if it was just me and my wife, I’d tip $200-$300 for a week. More for whole family, etc).  I tend to tip the concierge $15-$20 per day total. 

[havoc315]

56 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

You have no assurance that any of the tips you put on  your credit card at a shore based restaurant goes to your server either so why do  you keep bringing this up?

Yes, you do have that assurance on shore based restaurants where there are actual labor laws in place. 
 

At sea… calling it a “service charge”, they can do anything they want with the money. 

[david_sobe]

I am surprised that no one mentioned that Haven guests pay a higher auto daily gratuity fee than other passengers.  With the increased DSC the Haven staff such as house keeping, waiters, and bartenders better get the DSC.  The Haven rooms are made twice per day compared to the rest of the ship.  We can assume this increase in fees covers this additional work.

The only members of the Haven team that are not part of the DSC pool is the concierge team and butlers.

Edited March 12 by david_sobe

[zqvol]

7 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I am surprised that no one mentioned that Haven guests pay a higher auto daily gratuity fee than other passengers.  With the increased DSC the Haven staff such as house keeping, waiters, and bartenders better get the DSC.  The Haven rooms are made twice per day compared to the rest of the ship.  We can assume this increase in fees covers this additional work.

The only members of the Haven team that are not part of the DSC pool is the concierge team and butlers.

Don’t assume that any crew member gets any part of the OSC. They re paid a salary and where it comes from no one knows. 

[david_sobe]

5 minutes ago, zqvol said:

Don’t assume that any crew member gets any part of the OSC. They re paid a salary and where it comes from no one knows. 

Very true.  But the thread is not about IF anything we pay in gratuities is paid to crew.  I met an older couple on my first cruise that cruised all the time.  They told me the first thing they do every cruise is remove the auto gratuities at the customer service desk.  They gave cash to all the room stewards, waiters, etc. that served them.

Your premise could be true, NCL is ripping us all off and especially Haven passengers who pay more gratuities than anyone. But that's another thread.

[valereee2000]

Where can I get cash? I didn't bring any. 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, havoc315 said:

Yes, you do have that assurance on shore based restaurants where there are actual labor laws in place. 
 

At sea… calling it a “service charge”, they can do anything they want with the money. 

Not really, the crew is part of a union which can perform audits to keep the lines from doing anything they want.

[UKstages]

the crew is part of a union?

 

please do go on.

 

 

[mjkacmom]

24 minutes ago, valereee2000 said:

Where can I get cash? I didn't bring any. 

ATM.

[havoc315]

14 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Not really, the crew is part of a union which can perform audits to keep the lines from doing anything they want.

“ anything they want” is of course not the literal truth.  They have to abide by their agreements with employees - whether a collective agreement or individual. 
 

But we have no idea whether those agreements say anything about the handling of the service charge.  
 

The agreement could simply be, “compensation for bartenders shall be $20 per hour, which is inclusive of a base pay and gratuities.  Bartenders shall have no separate claim to any revenue received by NCL as part of service charges.”

 

The only money I’m certain a bartender receives is any cash tip I give them.  (Obviously, they aren’t slaves. I’m certain they are being compensated but I have no certainty as to what that compensation includes).

 

 

[RocketMan275]

19 minutes ago, UKstages said:

the crew is part of a union?

 

please do go on.

 

 

https://www.itfseafarers.org/en/issues/cruise-ships

[havoc315]

18 minutes ago, UKstages said:

the crew is part of a union?

 

please do go on.

 

 

all cruise line staff belong to the Seafarer’s Union. 

https://www.itfseafarers.org/en

 

[RocketMan275]

2 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

“ anything they want” is of course not the literal truth.  They have to abide by their agreements with employees - whether a collective agreement or individual. 
 

But we have no idea whether those agreements say anything about the handling of the service charge.  
 

You have no idea what the agreements covering any number of organizations say.  The only reason this is an issue is the reluctance of many to pay gratuities of any type.

[havoc315]

Just now, RocketMan275 said:

You have no idea what the agreements covering any number of organizations say.  The only reason this is an issue is the reluctance of many to pay gratuities of any type.

I think I was pretty clear in admitting that I have no idea.  Point being, we have no idea to what extent the service charge is actually shared as a “gratuity.”

 

 

[RocketMan275]

7 minutes ago, havoc315 said:

I think I was pretty clear in admitting that I have no idea.  Point being, we have no idea to what extent the service charge is actually shared as a “gratuity.”

No, the point is why do we care, what difference does it make?

[MoCruiseFan]

5 hours ago, Denverbri69 said:

I just found out that Haven staff members do not share in the per diem gratuity charges. Can anyone confirm this. I always tip those team members that directly take care of us, over and above the per diem. If you ever worked for tips, you become a generous tipper. But, if the Haven staff are not included in the per diem, then I need to bring a lot more cash. What do people suggest for the butler?

1) There is no per diem gratuity.  The DSC (reading the FAQ) is an incentive program that is not a tip/gratuity.

2. Reading further in the FAQ gratuities are NOT reqwired at all.  However they are encuraged.

3.  The ONLY rule about tipping is to tip anyone you want, any amunt you want, any time you want.  Then be done wth it and move on.  What anyone else chooses to do about tiping is irrelevant.

Havra  great cruise, the Haven is amaziong!