Tipping and Internet Acces on the Wind Surf

[Joanandjoe]

Both of these topics were probably dealt with ad nauseum on the old boards, but the boards are no longer available.

 

Tipping. Parent company HAL has abandoned the "tipping not required" policy in favor of fixed charges (which can be increased or reduced); but the Windstar web site still says "tipping not required." The two times we sailed on HAL we got great service and tipped much more than the new guidelines. Our first Windstar cruises will be in November.

 

Recent Windstar sailors, what is the current tipping policy? How much did you tip?

 

Internet. A column on today's CC web site says that internet access from the Wind Surf business center is $1 per minute, which is absurd. Are packages available to cut the cost? If we borrow a laptop (we have a desk top), will we be able to use it on board (and at what cost)? Is Wi-Fi available? We could go to internet cafes at our stops in the Med., but who wants to spend shore time surfing the internet?

 

Thanks.

[lovecruisingtoo]

We were on the Spirit a couple of months ago and there is still the tipping optional policy.

 

We did tip most of the service providers because of the great service but there were a couple that we did not give an extra tip to. My wife and I believe that the tipping not required policy allows us to tip people who really did provide the service rather than feeling we needed to tip everyone.

 

Just our thoughts.

[mmtwrite]

I agree with those thoughts. We have always tipped those who gave us great service and we did not tip everybody.

 

As for the internet access, $1 per minute may be absurd but it is worth it to have a place where family members, house sitters and pet sitters can get a message to me if necessary,

 

mmt-happy wind surf cruiser