Gratuities Holland America

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, yarramar said:

According to the HAL contract for Australians:

Certain laws such as the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and any applicable state based consumer legislation (from here known as 'Consumer Laws'), are in place for Your protection. They are designed to ensure Our services are provided with due care and skill and are reasonably fit for a cruise holiday. These terms and conditions do not alter any protection given to You by Consumer Laws.

If you read the act, all costs must be included in the advertised price. Under the act this includes an additional charge per day if not purchasing something new.

When a cruise line charges gratuities on board (such as HAL and Cunard), it is obvious that they have not included this in the basic fare. We could argue that they should, but they don't. Gratuities are charged on board. Here is an explanation by Graham (Sinbad).

 

If the pre-selected fee is avoidable, e.g. voluntary gratuities, then it doesn't need to be shown as part of the advertised total cost. So the only legally permissible gratuities in Australia are those folded into the total cruise cost, or those that can be removed at the discretion of the customer. Mandatory gratuities not shown as part of the total cruise cost at the time of purchase are not allowed.

 

The companies that charge gratuities could argue that it is possible to remove these from the on-board account so they are not mandatory.