Another Tipping Question.

[sirarthur]

My DW and I are taking our third cruise to Alaska on the Veendam in July. Since our last trip, apparently, HAL has changed its tipping policy and now allows ten dollars per person per day for gratuities. We are not wealthy but believe in rewarding exceptional service....is individual tipping permitted? Expected? If so what is a benchmark amount...for our waiter? steward? I see that there is a 15% SURCHARGE on beverage charges...is that sufficient to cover gratuity?

[sail7seas]

HAL places a charge of $10 per person per day on everyone's shipboard account to cover tipping. For some people, they consider that adequate for tipping and do not tip anything additional.

 

Some other people like to tip over and above that amount and do so privately with whoever it is they wish to tip.

 

IF you leave the automatically charged tips on your shipboard account, anything additional you choose to give a steward or anyone else is theirs to keep.

 

IF you remove the automatic tipping (which I hear a few people have done), then if you give any tips to anyone they must turn them in and are pooled among all others.

 

There is a 15% tip added to the bar check for all bar drinks/soft drinks.

 

Again, some people choose to tip their favorite bartender or bar steward(ess) additionally.

 

You CANNOT have the 15% tip on beverages removed from the bar check. It is not optional.

 

 

This new system has been in effect for about two years (give or take) , I think.

 

[AlohaPride]

My DW and I are taking our third cruise to Alaska on the Veendam in July. Since our last trip, apparently, HAL has changed its tipping policy and now allows ten dollars per person per day for gratuities. We are not wealthy but believe in rewarding exceptional service....is individual tipping permitted? Expected? If so what is a benchmark amount...for our waiter? steward? I see that there is a 15% SURCHARGE on beverage charges...is that sufficient to cover gratuity?

 

I thought I read somewhere that it was only $10 a day. I didn't read a per person section. That takes a BIG chunk out of our budget for the trip. I thought the purpose of a TIP was just that...extra money for outstanding service. :(

[sail7seas]

It is $10 per person......not per cabin. I think most cruisers have felt that to be reasonable as compared to what we tip on land. Any restaurant shoreside, three meals a day, surely you would tip the waiter/waitress? Any hotel shoreside.....surely you tip the housekeeping service? These tips also go to back of the house personnel and some small amount trickles down to Pinnacle stewards as well.

 

 

 

[RuthC]

AP, it is $10 per person, per day.

You may or may not like the system, but that's the system in place.

[AlohaPride]

AP, it is $10 per person, per day.

You may or may not like the system, but that's the system in place.

Thanks for clearing that up. I will be sure to save more money before the trip. I have pleanty of time to come up with $220 strictly for baseline tipping.

[sail7seas]

AP.......which ship are you sailing December 16?

I can't figure it from you ticker.

 

[AlohaPride]

AP.......which ship are you sailing December 16?

I can't figure it from you ticker.

 

I'm on the Noordam. :-D

[twinkletoes4445]

Thanks for clearing that up. I will be sure to save more money before the trip. I have pleanty of time to come up with $220 strictly for baseline tipping.

 

Actually, if you calculate what you would tip in a regular restaurant dining situation, and the number of meals you consume on a cruise, and also add in the normal tips you would have for housekeeping in a hotel, $220 is a bargain. :)

 

I'm one of those people that believe the tip should be tacked onto the cost of the cruise. Then anything additional we would leave, would just be "extra." After spending a week on a cruise, and seeing how overworked most of these people are, I felt that $10 per day per person, really isn't sufficient for the jobs they perform.

 

Have a great cruise!

[AlohaPride]

.....I'm one of those people that believe the tip should be tacked onto the cost of the cruise. Then anything additional we would leave, would just be "extra." ....

Have a great cruise!

 

That's what I was trying to say. I don't think it came across this way, and for that I appologize. I'd love to have the $220 or more tacked on to the price (so no one could touch it) and then I could leave whatever I wanted at the end. I prefer to pay for things upfront and leave extra at the end if it was amazing. My DH and I don't use credit cards, so I'm going to have to be super careful with when and how we use our money so we have enough in our "travel" account available to pay for it all at the end of the cruise. ;)

[twinkletoes4445]

That's what I was trying to say. I don't think it came across this way, and for that I appologize. I'd love to have the $220 or more tacked on to the price (so no one could touch it) and then I could leave whatever I wanted at the end. I prefer to pay for things upfront and leave extra at the end if it was amazing. My DH and I don't use credit cards, so I'm going to have to be super careful with when and how we use our money so we have enough in our "travel" account available to pay for it all at the end of the cruise. ;)

 

I was totally shocked at how much we spent on our first cruise. We did pay for several excursions ahead of time, which was nice, but it was all the "extras" on the ship that added up. The pictures that were taken on the ship were my weakness. We had our three kids with us, and it was really hard to pass up the pictures...especially when they toss the ones you don't buy in the trash...right in front of you!

 

Have a wonderful time! :)

[Shaco]

Here's a headsup: Extra tips are almost always given to your waiter on the last night of the cruise. But on the last night on our Alaska Oosterdam cruise, it was open seating. I was quite upset that we couldn't find our waiter, who had done an outstanding job.

 

The following morning, before disembarkation, we found our waiter and gave him the envelope. HAL sure didn't make it easy to reward its employee.

[sail7seas]

This is the first time I ever read about an open seating last night dinner on an HAL ship. Wow..... that is NOT Good IMO

 

[maxiesmommie]

when we just left the Ryndam, it was not open seating. Regular dining room on all nights there.

[Scrumpy]

I think it was only open seating on the last night because the last night is in Victoria, so a lot of people eat off the ship. I can't remember if others have said Westerdam is the same or not. We had to remember to tip on Thursday night. Never did find our wine steward, but the cabin steward knew who he was and said he'd give it to him for us. It's kind of a shame that the hours for Victoria were in the evening, since it makes things more complicated. I don't know how fast ships travel, so there may be no other choice but to get to Victoria at that time... I wonder if it costs them extra tips since folks skipped out on that last night.

[CruisinGrams]

With regard to the open seating, we just sailed to Alaska and what happened on the Westerdam was for the first 15 minutes regular guests were seated at their regular table. After that anyone waiting to be seated was seated at tables that were not being used. With Victoria arrival at 6:00 pm they had moved up dinner seating times so people could eat and go ashore. We enjoyed our table servers so much that we actually cancelled our whale watching tour to have dinner in the dining room one more time (we saw lots of whales from our balcony). Regarding the tipping, I really wanted to reduce the $10.00 to the old level and take the difference and distribute extra to the people who really served us. We were definately not happy with our room steward and the wine steward was not good either, but they could not be exempted or reduced for a lack of standard service, never mind extra service. But I do understand the cruiseline trying to make sure that everyone gets a share since people are eating all over the ship now and not just in one location. I just think you have to give extra consideration for those who made a difference to your cruise.

[CruisinGrams]

My DH and I don't use credit cards, so I'm going to have to be super careful with when and how we use our money so we have enough in our "travel" account available to pay for it all at the end of the cruise. ;)

 

You may have to take a credit card for your cruise. We were told that we would have to provide a Credit card within 24 hours of boarding the ship, or we would not be allowed to charge anything to our room. I don't know if that is true, because we always give our credit card then go and pay the account with travellers cheques the day before we disembark, leaving just the last day on our credit card.

[dakrewser]

We were definately not happy with our room steward and the wine steward was not good either, but they could not be exempted or reduced for a lack of standard service, never mind extra service.

 

The wine steward doesn't get any of the $10/day auto-tip but gets his/hers from the 15% added to the beverage bills.

[etsumom]

You may have to take a credit card for your cruise. We were told that we would have to provide a Credit card within 24 hours of boarding the ship, or we would not be allowed to charge anything to our room. I don't know if that is true, because we always give our credit card then go and pay the account with travellers cheques the day before we disembark, leaving just the last day on our credit card.

 

You can leave a cash deposit instead of registering a credit card:

 

SHIPBOARD ACCOUNT

Our cashless society is designed to make your life on board as simple as possible. When you board the ship, your account has already been activated and you may make purchases by simply showing your guest identification card and signing a receipt. On embarkation day, you will need to register your credit or debit card (Visa®, Mastercard®, American Express®, Discover®) in order to use your onboard account for shipboard purchases. Your card will be pre-authorized for USD$60 per person for each day of your cruise. At the end of your cruise, you will receive a final statement, and your card will be charged only for the actual amount of your purchases. Please inform your credit or debit card issuer in advance that your card will be used on a Holland America ship. This will help prevent delays in obtaining pre-authorization on board. Some banks may keep the pre-authorization in place for up to 30 days. If you do not want to use a credit or debit card, the ship will collect a cash deposit from you at time of boarding in the same pre-authorization amount. Any excess deposit will be refunded to you at the end of the cruise. Traveler’s checks may be cashed at the front office to make your deposit. Personal checks are not accepted on board.

[KidNurse]

SHIPBOARD ACCOUNT

Our cashless society is designed to make your life on board as simple as possible. When you board the ship, your account has already been activated and you may make purchases by simply showing your guest identification card and signing a receipt. On embarkation day, you will need to register your credit or debit card (Visa®, Mastercard®, American Express®, Discover®) in order to use your onboard account for shipboard purchases. Your card will be pre-authorized for USD$60 per person for each day of your cruise. At the end of your cruise, you will receive a final statement, and your card will be charged only for the actual amount of your purchases. Please inform your credit or debit card issuer in advance that your card will be used on a Holland America ship. This will help prevent delays in obtaining pre-authorization on board. Some banks may keep the pre-authorization in place for up to 30 days. If you do not want to use a credit or debit card, the ship will collect a cash deposit from you at time of boarding in the same pre-authorization amount. Any excess deposit will be refunded to you at the end of the cruise. Traveler’s checks may be cashed at the front office to make your deposit. Personal checks are not accepted on board.

 

 

Is the $10/day/person included in this $60/day person???:confused:

[sail7seas]

Yes.

[noblepa]

Is the $10/day/person included in this $60/day person???:confused:

 

Yes and no. The $10/day/person is an actual charge, just as a gift shop purchase is. The $60/day/person is a reserve placed on your credit/debit card. If you spent nothing else on board on a particular day, your card is only charged the $20. The reserve is just there to insure that you have enough left on your credit limit to be able to pay the actual charges at the end of the cruise. So, yes, the $10 is included in the $60, in terms of providing for utlimate payment at the end of the cruise.

 

Beware, though, that the reserve may limit your ability to make purchases ashore at the various ports of call. If your current balance due plus the reserve amount plus the intended purchase amount exceeds your credit limit, the bank will decline the purchase. For a debit card, if your available account balance minus the reserve minus the intended purchase is less than zero, they will decline. This is true, even if your actual onboard puchases have been less the the reserve amount.

 

The reserve may not be released until well after your cruise.

 

I have heard some claims that the reserve is recalculated every day, to include actual purchases made to date plus $60/day/person for the remaining days of the cruise.

 

Paul Noble

[RuthC]

Yes and no. The $10/day/person is an actual charge, just as a gift shop purchase is. The $60/day/person is a reserve placed on your credit/debit card. If you spent nothing else on board on a particular day, your card is only charged the $20.

The charge will be $10, not $20. The $60 reserve, and the auto-tip discussion is in terms of per person.

Everything is doubled for a couple paying on the same credit card.

[KidNurse]

So if myself and my daughter both have $60 per day reserved or $120...$20 each day will automatically come off...leaving us $100 per day to use on other things. This calculates to $700 reserved for the 7 day cruise. If we don't use all that (which we may but if we don't...) it will not show up on the credit card statement or otherwise have to be reimbursed, correct? Sorry, just a little mathmatically challanged!!!!:o

[AlohaPride]

Or is it $60 per day plus the $10 tip so the line is actually holding $70 per person per day ($140 per couple per day)?So, I should bring in traveler's checks on an 11 night cruise approximately $1680 for a deposit?