tipping on top of tipping

[SilvertoGold]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

[Tatka]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

How do you feel it?

 

We tip extra when service was far and beyond, but we never ever felt that it was anxiously expected. That would make us uncomfortable and it's wouldn't be good.

[Roz]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

I've never observed or experienced this.

 

Roz

[SilvertoGold]

How do you feel it?

 

We tip extra when service was far and beyond, but we never ever felt that it was anxiously expected. That would make us uncomfortable and it's wouldn't be good.

 

We don't really feel it, we see it. Sometimes, some waiters.

 

You can see them talking at the service station, a quick shake of the head, a frown while looking at certain tables.

 

The Assistant DRMs often talk to the guys, then a frown.

 

When pax say good-bye and thanks, you can see the strain, the let-down, sometimes. I once saw a smile/sneer combination at the table behind us so obvious it surprised me because it was so far from the norm.

[kazu]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

No worries Silver.

 

My experience has been what I thought was delightful surprise by anyone to whom I gave an envelope to.

 

In fact, I had to ask my wine steward to come back. She wasn't looking for anything IMO.

 

But, you may well be more observant than I and thinking about this,

 

I'm not often in the dining room on the last night. We often eat in the PG. We tip our waiters on our last night we are in the MDR (unless we are getting new waiters in a turnaround port).

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Op, have no fear.

 

You do not have to tip on top of tipping. It's not required or expected.

 

You will pay 15% for your drinks and daily HSC of $13.50 or $15 pp depending on your cabin category.

 

that's it. No need to do anymore but...you might be so impressed with some service (ie your cabin stewards, your dining room stewards, a bartender or server) that you want to. And if you do, no matter what the amount, it will be appreciated.

 

It is NOT and expectation or a requirement. Some of us do it because we choose to based on the service we get. Others choose not to. It's all good :D

 

 

 

 

We are New Zealanders, we have never removed the daily service charge, we have done the opposite and added to the daily amounts, as well as tipping extra to such people as the cabin stewards, dining stewards, Yummy Yummy man etc.

 

Tipping is not part of our culture, unfortunately some visitors to this country are trying to change our culture by insisting on tipping, even when they know not to tip.

:(

We respect the culture of others, and tip when in countries such as U.S.A.

I think that both kazu's and erewhon's posts should be required reading for all cruisers. They both explain the issue so well.

[StartrainDD]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

We do fixed dining and usually share our table with others. We have special dietary needs that I know create extra effort for the wait staff, so we typically give them a little extra in an envelope at the end (last evening) when saying goodbye. We often have to hunt them down as they are busy getting their tables ready for the later diners!

 

Often our table-mates may not leave anything extra, but they still get a grand farewell and "Hope to see you again" from the wait staff. We've never experienced otherwise (not saying it doesn't happen; just not our experience!).

[Toofarfromthesea]

We have found the exact opposite. Waiters in the PG are the most unfriendly I have ever met. They are quite snobbish. Maybe our collared shirt and slacks didn't meet their expectations.

We have always found the MDR waiters very friendly and helpful.

 

That was not our experience on Zaandam 6 weeks, or so, ago. Got great friendly service in both the PG and Canneletos.

[contributor]

I'm a restrained tipper; cabin stewards, MDR dining stewards, and room service, but it's as a modest increment to the service charge.

 

I have been troubled by the question of what to do in the Pinnacle and Canaletto. I do not like the idea of introducing cash into what I like to think of as a "club-like" atmosphere, unlike commercial restaurants ashore, so I don't. I've consoled myself with the thought that the stewards there seem to have a much more leisurely pace to enjoy as compared to the MDR stewards. (Maybe it's only leisurely when we go, a half hour or an hour after it opens.)

 

I expect that almost everyone who was ever employed in a tip receiving position will disagree with me. Does anyone agree with me?

[SilvertoGold]

No worries Silver.

 

My experience has been what I thought was delightful surprise by anyone to whom I gave an envelope to.

 

In fact, I had to ask my wine steward to come back. She wasn't looking for anything IMO.

 

But, you may well be more observant than I and thinking about this,

 

I'm not often in the dining room on the last night. We often eat in the PG. We tip our waiters on our last night we are in the MDR (unless we are getting new waiters in a turnaround port).

 

No problem, Kazu. We just watch and see what goes on: what we see is what we see. How do you like the last night in the Pinnacle? Haven't tried it then.

[kazu]

No problem, Kazu. We just watch and see what goes on: what we see is what we see. How do you like the last night in the Pinnacle? Haven't tried it then.

 

As long as you have a good PG (which we have the last few times), it's a nice way to end the cruise. I'm not a fan of the last night's menu on some cruises so it has worked out well for us. We usually go earlier than our MDR time so we are still done with time to enjoy the ship, finish packing, chat with friends we have met, etc.

 

I've found the service very good on the last night and the staff especially attentive knowing it's the last night.

[SilvertoGold]

As long as you have a good PG (which we have the last few times), it's a nice way to end the cruise. I'm not a fan of the last night's menu on some cruises so it has worked out well for us. We usually go earlier than our MDR time so we are still done with time to enjoy the ship, finish packing, chat with friends we have met, etc.

 

I've found the service very good on the last night and the staff especially attentive knowing it's the last night.

 

That's good to know. We went to the Pinnacle for lunch on the last day once and were left high and dry at exactly 1:30 pm. The waiters, the manager just disappeared, plates still on the table, no coffee/tea for the few left still dining. Zilch.

[kazu]

That's good to know. We went to the Pinnacle for lunch on the last day once and were left high and dry at exactly 1:30 pm. The waiters, the manager just disappeared, plates still on the table, no coffee/tea for the few left still dining. Zilch.

 

WOW:eek:. Inexcusable :mad:

 

I've never had that happen but we haven't done lunch there on the last day. If we're doing dinner, we can't do lunch too ;).

[rkacruiser]

As to PG tipping, it depends upon my experience. I always have some cash with me when I dine there, but, more often than not, those dollar bills are still in my pocket when I leave the PG.

 

As to Stewards in the MDR "expecting" an additional gratuity as another poster implied: I have never observed such on a HAL vessel. Every time that I give my Stewards an envelope, there is appreciation and thankfulness expressed by them.

[sammiedawg]

We were fairly new cruisers when cruise lines rolled out automatic gratuities. This policy was widely hailed as a progressive way to handle the old, mysterious practice of handing out envelopes to tip for service.

To the OP- you are absolutely fine to limit tipping to the daily hotel service charge added to your bill. If you buy drinks the added gratuity on many lines is even higher than the 15% Holland America charges. 15% is a significant bar tip and there is no need to add onto this.

[OlsSalt]

We were fairly new cruisers when cruise lines rolled out automatic gratuities. This policy was widely hailed as a progressive way to handle the old, mysterious practice of handing out envelopes to tip for service.

To the OP- you are absolutely fine to limit tipping to the daily hotel service charge added to your bill. If you buy drinks the added gratuity on many lines is even higher than the 15% Holland America charges. 15% is a significant bar tip and there is no need to add onto this.

 

Same with spa services, a hefty gratuity is automatically added and they leave a space to add even more. I just circle the amount that was automatically added and leave the other blank space crossed out. But always let them know personally and in the post-cruise evaluation when they offered good services.

 

There was a time not that long ago when staff started "begging" for five star rankings on onboard evaluation forms. The CD on one cruise (that legendary Susan Woods character) admonished passengers during the departure program that anything less than five stars would be seen as the equivalent of a fail by HAL management. That led to many very uncomfortable interactions between passengers and crew in the final days, and this practice wisely was quickly discontinued.

[idiebabe]

We have found the exact opposite. Waiters in the PG are the most unfriendly I have ever met. They are quite snobbish. Maybe our collared shirt and slacks didn't meet their expectations.

We have always found the MDR waiters very friendly and helpful.

 

I think you are mistaking "Silent Service" with unfriendliness. Servers in a more Upscale restaurant are trained to give "Silent Service". If they "read" the Customer that it's acceptable to be friendly, they will be friendly. At least this has been our experience!

 

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

I'm in the Business and have never seen what you are describing and we notice things that the average customer would never pick up on!

[NY_23]

What is usually do is I tip the waiter and housekeeping before hand this way I get extra good service for the entire cruise :).. I usually tip the bartenders if I got to the same spot, I’ve gotten several free drinks that way so it evens out in the end.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sevenseasnomad]

As long as you have a good PG (which we have the last few times), it's a nice way to end the cruise. I'm not a fan of the last night's menu on some cruises so it has worked out well for us. We usually go earlier than our MDR time so we are still done with time to enjoy the ship, finish packing, chat with friends we have met, etc.

 

I've found the service very good on the last night and the staff especially attentive knowing it's the last night.

 

We also use the last night for PG. In our 29+ cruises with HA we've never been to the dining room on the last night. PG has become a "tradition." As you do, we go early, so we can enjoy the experience but still have time for the rest of the evening.

[VennDiagram]

I beg to differ on one of Kazu's excellent posts.

 

"Not required, not expected". What we see in the MDR the last few evenings is a serious amount of hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) of extra personal tips.

 

I hate to suggest it, but it is a reasonable explanation -- the people being watched with "hope and expectation (and maybe anxiety) may have removed their HSC..... :(

 

We've only seen that sort of anticipation/angst once, and it was the last night when our table companions didn't show up :mad:

[rkacruiser]

I don't disagree that the 15% gratuity added to one's bar bill ought to be increased by an additional amount. (I have added an extra amount on some cruises during Carnival and HAL cruises and have found that it usually makes no difference in service or quantity of pours. But, to be totally truthful, it did make a difference on a minority of ships of both Companies depending upon the Bartender.)

 

What I do find is most appreciated by these good people is recognition of their excellent service by giving them a nice gratuity at the end of the cruise, just as I would do for MDR or Cabin Stewards or any other crew members whom I choose to recognize.

 

Doing so is not going to benefit me during the cruise. That is not what a gratuity is supposed to represent.

 

However, if one encounters these same crew members on a future cruise, I have found that they do remember. And, I do appreciate it; I don't expect it and am always thankful that they are better able to remember me than I am them.

[Stratheden]

I think you are mistaking "Silent Service" with unfriendliness. Servers in a more Upscale restaurant are trained to give "Silent Service". If they "read" the Customer that it's acceptable to be friendly, they will be friendly. At least this has been our Experience

 

I can't believe that you think the PG is an upscale restaurant that delivers "Silent Service" You obviously haven't dined at any 'real' upscale restaurants. They can't even cook steak to the requested 'doneness'.

[VennDiagram]

We have found the exact opposite. Waiters in the PG are the most unfriendly I have ever met. They are quite snobbish. Maybe our collared shirt and slacks didn't meet their expectations.

We have always found the MDR waiters very friendly and helpful.

 

We have had VERY mixed experiences in the PG. (A few times service there was like a Three Stooges movie :( ) However, we had a fantastic PG on the Noordam this year.

[Lovincruisin1321]

I'm reading all these responses and now I am confused.

 

I am surprising DH with a HLA cruise. I thought the daily gratuity (except alcohol) was included on bill? I want to make sure I pay for as much as I can up front.

 

Can someone clarify?

[Stratheden]

I'm reading all these responses and now I am confused.

 

I am surprising DH with a HLA cruise. I thought the daily gratuity (except alcohol) was included on bill? I want to make sure I pay for as much as I can up front.

 

Can someone clarify?

You are quite correct. The Hotel Service Charge is added to your account and 15% gratuity is added to the cost of each drink and also added to your account.

If you want to give an additional cash tip to anyone whilst onboard the ship that is entirely at your discretion and is not expected by the staff.