Increasing Gratuities

[beentothere]

[Apologies, did not get back to my post quickly enough to add the following edit.]

 

Although we always send a letter, post cruise, providing [positive] feedback on crew who have given us exceptional service, increasing the gratuities for an individual in this way also makes it clear immediately to management that that crew member has been recognised by the guest in a positive way.

 

We prefer to give our additional gratuities in cash but, sometimes, we can do better by adding it to our on board account. For the few that think that the individuals do not know about the changes you have made, it is not our experience. We have been thanked for the additional gratuities we have added [before we have got round to handing them our usual "thank you" card].

 

 

I, a male creature of bad habits, always thanks those that make an effort

on my behalf and do it such a way that they may remember me. So few commendations ever produce a result, unless it was delivered in a powerful

medium.

 

Suggestion: If you want to provide such a thanks, get 10 or more people and

hit guest relations and a few managers with a concurrent thank this person.

A brief note with the person's name and the reason can work wonders.

 

A certain restaurant manager certainly remembers my gathering of over 40 in his behalf. That's how he got the promotion.

 

Make it big, make it splashy, and make it public.

[gek]

I'm sure someone will correct me if wrong, but you can't just increase your gratuity to a specific person. If you increased it it would just increase all's allocation. You can't just tell the ship to add $10 per day for your room attendant for example.

 

 

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In the past we have received forms from Guest Relations with spaces to specify how much for individual crew members.

[gek]

Believe it or not on our last cruise towards the end of it the most important issue on the minds of waiting and stateroom staff was not a few extra dollars but a favourable report by name on the end of cruise report. This report effects future employment and promotion so if you think someone has done exemplary service in addition to any cash you may give them name them on the end of cruise report.

 

On our last cruise I managed to overhear some of the Captain's address to the waiters in Blu during a crew meeting on the second last day of the cruise. He was stressing most strongly the importance of the cruise survey and how everyone should make sure all the passengers knew their names. The next day all the staff were very keen to make themselves known to us, almost overwhelmingly so. It was a little odd but much better than the old days of crew standing around expectantly waiting for envelopes stuffed with cash.

[sandancer]

Last April my wife found perticulaly helpful bathroom attendant on infinity that she ran into a lot. She gave her a 40 dollar tip at the end of the trip. She said she had never had anybody do that. With the threat of noro on board we where happy with her extra effort. We also gave out personal notes to several other people on board. Not required but the people "crew" we have kept up with is worth it it truly humanizes people that sometimes go unnoticed.

 

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We both regularly tip the restroom attendants. I don't think many people tip them, but when someone hands you a towel, opens the door for you with a big smile and keeps the facilities in great condition, a couple of $ is not going to break the bank. Rather than wait to the end of the cruise, we tend to tip as we go along. We are big fans of pre-paid tips and used to do this long before Select came along, so tipping a few $ here and there on top of the suggested gratuities works well for us.