New to Suites on HAL tipping Concierge question

[Gamerchick]

I took the liberty of copying the following from HAL's website:

 

Our crew works very hard to make sure that every aspect of your cruise meets the highest standards. This includes those crew members who serve you directly, such as Dining Room wait staff and the stewards who service your stateroom each day. There are also many others who support their efforts whom you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff. To ensure that the efforts of all of our crew members are recognized and rewarded, a daily Hotel Service Charge is automatically added to each guest’s shipboard account.

 

Beginning with sailings departing after December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge for suites is US$12.00 per guest per day, and US$11.50 per guest per day for other staterooms. All sailings departing prior to December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge is US$11.00 per guest per day. (The charges are subject to change without notice)

 

If our service exceeds or fails to meet your expectations, you are free to adjust this amount at the end of each segment and/or voyage. The Hotel Service Charge is paid to Holland America Line crew members, and represents an important part of their compensation. A 15% Bar Service Charge is automatically added to bar charges and Dining Room wine purchases. In terminals, airports, ports of call and on shore excursions, we suggest that you extend gratuities consistent with customary local practices.

 

Hope that clarifies the issue for everyone....

 

Gamerchick:)

[Bearnaise]

The NL concierges are always willing to go above and beyond.

 

They are deserving of an additional gratuity.

How "above and beyond" do they go :confused:

 

It seems to me that they sit there and fulfill suite passengers' requests for dining reservations, etc. For that, they are paid some sort of salary. Suite passengers already pay for concierge service. So I'm curious how much more do they really do that would warrant paying above what the suite passenger already pays and that is not covered by their salary?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I took the liberty of copying the following from HAL's website:

 

Our crew works very hard to make sure that every aspect of your cruise meets the highest standards. This includes those crew members who serve you directly, such as Dining Room wait staff and the stewards who service your stateroom each day. There are also many others who support their efforts whom you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff. To ensure that the efforts of all of our crew members are recognized and rewarded, a daily Hotel Service Charge is automatically added to each guest’s shipboard account.

 

Beginning with sailings departing after December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge for suites is US$12.00 per guest per day, and US$11.50 per guest per day for other staterooms. All sailings departing prior to December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge is US$11.00 per guest per day. (The charges are subject to change without notice)

 

If our service exceeds or fails to meet your expectations, you are free to adjust this amount at the end of each segment and/or voyage. The Hotel Service Charge is paid to Holland America Line crew members, and represents an important part of their compensation. A 15% Bar Service Charge is automatically added to bar charges and Dining Room wine purchases. In terminals, airports, ports of call and on shore excursions, we suggest that you extend gratuities consistent with customary local practices.

 

Hope that clarifies the issue for everyone....

 

Gamerchick:)

 

That's exactly what I read and why I questioned the one person who said that suites were only going up $0.50 cents.

I kew that I was right.

[Krazy Kruizers]

How "above and beyond" do they go :confused:

 

It seems to me that they sit there and fulfill suite passengers' requests for dining reservations, etc. For that, they are paid some sort of salary. Suite passengers already pay for concierge service. So I'm curious how much more do they really do that would warrant paying above what the suite passenger already pays and that is not covered by their salary?

 

If you are hosting a party in your cabin or even having dinner in your cabin -- they will come and make certain that everything is set up correctly.

I have been on ships where a couple of them actually went shopping for some passengers.

They just don't sit there -- there are times when they are constantly going around and checking up on problems that may occur in cabins. They are also in charge of setting up the invitations for suite functions and prepping information for the next cruise passengers.

[hrhdhd]

How "above and beyond" do they go :confused:

 

It seems to me that they sit there and fulfill suite passengers' requests for dining reservations, etc. For that, they are paid some sort of salary. Suite passengers already pay for concierge service. So I'm curious how much more do they really do that would warrant paying above what the suite passenger already pays and that is not covered by their salary?

 

Agreed. We sailed in an SC once and asked a few things of the NL concierges (Pinnacle reservation, needed a laundry bag), but certainly those requests didn't require them to leap tall buildings in a single bound. We did not tip them extra at the end of the cruise.

[DaveOKC]

I agree with the comments about tipping the Neptune staff based on how much we used them. On our recent 2 week cruise, we used them a fair amount for small things and questions and had them set up a high tea for us and friends one day.

 

Plus they went out of their way to send us a floral arrangement and bottle of wine for our anniversary (on the day of our Renewal of Vows ceremony)! Based on this, we definately felt a nice tip and thank you note was appropriate.

 

DaveOKC