gratuities question..

[mommy42208]

i am booked for EOS and we pre-paid our gratuities...does that mean we do not tip anyone at all??! i just want to make sure bc i would feel like crap not tipping someone when i should be. also how does the wait staff know i pre-paid my tips and not think im just some cheapo who is not tippng them?!

thanks

[Aquahound]

They staff will know you pre-paid. You are all set.

 

Although, take plenty of small bills for other scenarios, like room service, where you may want to tip a few dollars.

[SheilaSailAway]

i am booked for EOS and we pre-paid our gratuities...does that mean we do not tip anyone at all??! i just want to make sure bc i would feel like crap not tipping someone when i should be. also how does the wait staff know i pre-paid my tips and not think im just some cheapo who is not tippng them?!

 

thanks

Hi there,

You will receive gratuity vouchers the second to last night...you also will get envelopes to put them in...you can add more in cash if you feel you get extra attention, etc. We tip bartenders extra cash sometimes when they give us special service...use your own judgement...have a wonderful cruise!!!:)

[Tucker in Texas]

I have found if I tip a server in the WJ at lunch who has gotten me a drink, he/she looks for me to come in and will hustle to clear a table for me if the seating is tight and/or come right over with my drink and check if I need refills. They have even gotten dessert for me. From what I have read, servers work three weeks in the dining room and then one week in the WJ. They call it "free week" because no tips from the auto-tips for them so they really appreciate them.

 

I have, also, left a couple of bucks a day with my room steward with a note thanking he/she for something and that has gone a long way in getting my room serviced in a timely fashion (like when I put the make-up room sign out) and keeping my six-pack cooler full of ice. With them having to service so many cabins, they sometimes don't get to your cabin until late in the morning or late at night. Once they get the idea of when we eat breakfast and dinner, then the cabin is cleaned then and not necessarily in "order." Bottom line is I'm not tipping them anymore than I would ordinarily because we always put extra in envelope unless they were really bad. Only once has that happened in 30 plus cruises.

 

Tucker in Texas

[cruzlover56]

I'm a first timer on RCCL. With HAL the prepay on the tipping is automatic and we would just do envelopes with cash for any staff we wanted to tip over the mandatory. How do you prepay on RCCL? I didn't see anything when I booked online.

[jcl410]

Mommy4208 -

 

Your prepaid tips take care of your room attendant, and the folks in the dining room...

 

Every time you buy a drink, they add a 15% gratuity to the bill...

 

There are a number of other services that, if you use them, are customary to tip separately. The ones that come to mind are room service delivery and spa services.

 

Oh, if you have kids with you and they use the Kids program, many passengers tip the councilors (these are pooled together)

 

Aloha,

 

John

[Tucker in Texas]

I think HAL started to lose their crew to other lines with the "no tipping required" policy.

 

On our last HAL cruise in 1997, the CD at the dembarkation talk in addressing the tipping question said "tipping is not required but it is an international way of saying thank you." Then he read (and did read it) the age old statement about "tipping is not required, it is our pleasure to serve you, yada, yada, yada" with no guidelines.

 

This caused even more confusion because people got the message they should tip but had no idea (particularly the newbies) how much to tip and to whom. Those at my dining table were among them so I told them what the other cruise lines suggested and that we usually tipped that and "rounded up" if the service was good which it always was on HAL. Then it was $3 a day for the steward/waiter so we usually gave $50.

 

I'm glad they finally got off the "pot" (which I told them to do in all my end of the cruise surveys) and joined the rest of the cruise lines.

 

Tucker in Texas

[Kittycatwlv]

You're finished with the usual tipping. All bar services add 15% so that's also finished. I tip a dollar for room service and I think that about covers it.

[Happy ks]

Mommy4208 -

 

Your prepaid tips take care of your room attendant, and the folks in the dining room...

 

Every time you buy a drink, they add a 15% gratuity to the bill...

 

There are a number of other services that, if you use them, are customary to tip separately. The ones that come to mind are room service delivery and spa services.

 

Oh, if you have kids with you and they use the Kids program, many passengers tip the councilors (these are pooled together)

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

 

I've never understood the reason people will tip the counselors in the kids program. They are salaried employees who do not depend on tips. However, I do know that not many people would deny receiving a persons excess cash ;)

 

To the OP, pre-paying tips is pretty much just taking care of it before leaving. We know we will tip all the people who have served us. We don't believe that cutting tips sends any sort of message other than the customer is cheap.

 

If we do receive service we feel is inadequate, a call to the manager of that department usually takes care of any problem. A notation on the comment card with a low grade for the server will also go a long way towards a reprimand of that server or attendant. Not tipping sends no message to management...at all.

 

Fortunately, we've only encountered poor service twice in eleven years of cruising. Once a server, although the assistant made up for the lack of grace and the other time from a cabin attendant. Neither was a huge deal, just a bit surprising since all others are so very kind.

[unklez]

I've never understood the reason people will tip the counselors in the kids program. They are salaried employees who do not depend on tips. However, I do know that not many people would deny receiving a persons excess cash ;).............

 

I'm with you 100%.

[mommy42208]

thank you everyone! thats good to know

my husband and I are very generous tippers so i would hate to think we werent tipping certain people but now i understand how it works!

 

i also agree in tipping extra if the job was well done!