Gratuities/Tipping etiquette?

[Cheadle_Chick]

1 minute ago, Haljo1935 said:

@Cheadle_Chick you also have the option of leaving the grats in place but not pre-paying them; they will show on your daily statement and will be billed to the card you have on record w/HAL (that you provide during online check in). Then once onboard, after you've had a chance to get a good feel for the service you're receiving, you can go Guest Services and have the amount adjusted. You can have it decreased or removed for your kiddos if that's what you feel is appropriate (you will not be met w/resistance from GS); you can also have it increased to any amount you wish if you want to tip extra but not in cash.

There are several options for handling the daily grats. Glad you agree that however you choose to pay them, they will be paid 🙂

I would also add to not forget about the hard working rock stars that provide laundry service - they do an amazing job and I think w/kids you may find that a great convenience. To me, one of the best services HAL provides. Consider sending out a final bag (or 2) at the end of the cruise - surely you guys will appreciate not doing laundry when you get home. 🙂

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

 

Oh definitely! This will only be our second cruise but the first time around, the staff is really what made you feel special. It was more a question of "how best to do this" than not doing it. I had someone tell me to cancel the auto gratuities and just give tips to servers/cabin stewards/room service as you go but it seems that's not the best way to go about it. Glad I asked! 

 

And yes the laundry thing definitely crossed my mind! I think it may also help me from overpacking terribly! LOL

[Lido deck main]

4 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

That is Canadian Dollars (Not USD) as the option to pre pay is quoted in the currency of booking.  This is an opportunity to get a good rate of exchange and save a few dollars.

I prepaid for our Grand South America I worked it out to an HAL exchange rate of 1.27 when the going rate was 1.35 so the rate they provided to Canadians  was pretty competitive. 

[crystalspin]

4 hours ago, AFNavigator said:

The other issue that many may not know if that the auto-gratuities don't just go to your cabin steward(s).  There are other crewmembers that get a share of the gratuities also.  I don't recall who all gets a share--it's been listed in these forums before--but they are some behind the scenes crewmembers that support you that you may never see.

Thanks to Roger, our @Crew News, I have this breakdown of where the Crew Appreciation goes. As of six years ago (with no reason to think the allotment has changed), the percentages were:

30% Room Steward(s)

30% Waiters

40% Those who work behind the scenes supporting the passengers (laundry, cooks,

cleaning crews, etc.)  Non-passenger support crew (lifeboat drivers, engine folks, etc.).

 

While looking for that breakdown, I came across a post by @kazu two years ago that cited an announcement from HAL that they were adding an 18% service fee to Specialty Restaurants and added charge items in other venues including Room Service. It read as if it didn't apply to no-charge Room Service, and I will continue to tip (quickly) the Room Service volunteer!

 

As far as additional tipping, 30% of either $16 or $17.50 is about $5, times two persons. I add $20 each per week for the (usually) two room stewards. I do not favor the chief steward over the assistant! they both work so hard and LONG. We have decided that eating in the Lido (or specialty restaurants) suits us well, and mostly do not develop "relationships" with the wait-people, but I do remember the names of particularly pleasant ones for the Let Us Know opportunity! I add a dollar or two daily to the slips for coffee and/or bar service (in addition to the 18% the Beverage Package covers). Now that we have unlimited laundry, I will be putting a couple USD in the bag!

 

When we have travelled with family, we chose early seating in MDR, and did tip our regular servers above the automatic. But I don't remember how much it worked out to.

 

All of this is just our approach. As long as you don't remove the Hotel Service Charge (as it was once called), and recommend those who positively influence your experience, you will be doing fine.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by crystalspin

[TiogaCruiser]

6 hours ago, Cheadle_Chick said:

 

Yes it is an Alaska cruise leaving from Vancouver, BC. 

 

Do people ever leave any other type of appreciative gifts for their cabin attendants? Like little gifts or? We are travelling with 2 small kids and I definitely think it might be a good idea to show a bit of extra appreciation as we all know how kids can be... lol 

One cruise when I didn’t have to fly I went to an Asian market and got a couple pounds of Indonesian and Filipino candy, and made up lots of goodie bags that I gave to crew members around the ship. If I was going to the library for awhile, to the lido, to a program, etc.- I brought along 5-6 bags and randomly handed them out. They were quite received. (This was NOT in place of gratuities).

 

One very young man - he barely looked old enough to be at sea- who was polishing the banisters late one evening, was so surprised and happy- he shouted up the stairs “Bless you Ma’am”. 

[oakridger]

3 hours ago, crystalspin said:

 It read as if it didn't apply to no-charge Room Service, and I will continue to tip (quickly) the Room Service volunteer!

 

Our CC blogger Pete @The-Inside-Cabin said this just on Monday regarding room service waiters:

 

"I have asked 3 officers on recent cruises, including the Hotel GM, and they all assured me that room service people are included in the tip pool.    

 

"I do not believe they get any additional "tip pool" for this but volunteer in the hopes of additional tips"   

 

This is also correct.    People volunteer because they know many people will give extra tips."

 

Room service waiters are in the tip pool, but you are welcome to tip them extra.

 

People on ships, like me when I worked, do so for money and to do a good job.  

 

~Nancy

 

~Nancy

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

My experience is that most room service is delivered by the full-time room service waiters, which is their primary job.   

 

Occasionally, you will see other people providing room service including your MDR waiter, etc.   This usually occurs in port when your normal room service people are probably getting time off, and they need to fill it some gaps.   Unless something has changed recently, the normal room service waiters are not a volunteer group but full-time paid employees in the tip pool.   

 

We often get room service - we rarely see people outside the normal delivery team. 

 

You will also see your MDR waiter working the lunch and breakfast meals.   Maybe they are assigned Room Service duties as part of their additional duties.   All crewmembers will have additional duties.  For example, you will see them working the gangway in port.   Maybe they have the option to work the gangway or do room service - i don't know.  

 

Keep this in mind - your daily auto gratuity is the same as leaving about a $10 tip per day in your hotel room ashore (2 people figured at .3 x 16 or $9.60)   How many people tip hotel maids $10 a day when they leave?  

 

If you only eat in the MDR - you are leaving about a $5 tip per meal split with the assistant or about $2.50 per waiter.    They are working 1.5 to 2 hours for dinner.   Your room service person may spend 10 minutes delivering your tray and a $3 extra tip is the same as your MDR waiter gets for working a whole meal.  (Plus the room service waiter gets something out of the tip pool)    

 

 I will leave the auto gratuities in place, but we will spread around an extra $80 a week to the waiters room stewards, and anyone else who went above and beyond.   

 

I usually tip 25% in restaurants which is about 38% above the 18% standard.     So when we are paying $224 a week for the auto gratuities, I figure that 38% above the baseline gratuity is around $80 a week.    That's how I figured out my extra tips.   

 

But if you only leave the auto gratuities in place, you support the hard-working crew just fine.   

 

BUT removing the auto gratuities is NEVER OK.   If you do remove them, this will cause an investigation of your service team from management - ( Why is Guest A not happy?  What did they say etc etc - so you are not only stiffing them, but will cause them stress)

 

 

 

[alwaysfrantic]

I would definitely continue with the children’s automatic gratuities also.  Kids are more work for the staff.  They have to make up the extra beds.  It’s two more sets of towels and trash to remove and if they are little, likely the inevitable cheerios on the carpet.  And again if young I bet the dining staff go out of their way to make the meals fun for the littles. 

Edited August 31, 2023 by alwaysfrantic

[crystalspin]

4 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

My experience is that most room service is delivered by the full-time room service waiters, which is their primary job.  Occasionally, you will see other people providing room service including your MDR waiter, etc.   This usually occurs in port when your normal room service people are probably getting time off, and they need to fill it some gaps. 

 

...All crewmembers will have additional duties.  For example, you will see them working the gangway in port.   Maybe they have the option to work the gangway or do room service...

 

Keep this in mind - your daily auto gratuity is the same as leaving about a $10 tip per day in your hotel room ashore (2 people figured at .3 x 16 or $9.60)   How many people tip hotel maids $10 a day when they leave?  

Pete!

Thank you so much for your well-reasoned explanation. I think our former difference in opinion on room service waiters is resolved -- we only get room service on early-excursion port days!

 

I have also (as you noted) encountered our MDR waiter on the gangway, welcoming us back at Sitka AK. It was quite a relief, actually, as I was able to ask if "little Mama" (my step-mom, as opposed to "tall Mama", my mom) had come back aboard -- as she had gone off to get coffee and not been on the last shuttle with us. She had gone on ahead! Whew.

 

I actually do leave $10 for a single-night stay land-side (and $5/day + $10 for the full-make-up last day for extended stays), but your math is sound. I will keep it in mind on future cruises!

[Nodakboiler]

If you put money in the laundry bag, leave a note. We got a call asking if we had forgotten to empty our pockets but explained it was for the staff. We now put in a notecard with the cash.

[Cheadle_Chick]

7 hours ago, alwaysfrantic said:

I would definitely continue with the children’s automatic gratuities also.  Kids are more work for the staff.  They have to make up the extra beds.  It’s two more sets of towels and trash to remove and if they are little, likely the inevitable cheerios on the carpet.  And again if young I bet the dining staff go out of their way to make the meals fun for the littles. 

 

You are SO right! I'm honestly not even sure why that thought crossed my mind, I should know that the kids are more work than the adults! 

[robotpony]

We try to maximize the benefit to great crew members by opting into the auto-grat, tipping key members an additional amount (e.g., stewards, Retreat staff), and giving positive feedback to other members that stand out (via the app and in the post-cruise survey).

 

We have found that the positive feedback often means more to staff than cash, as it provides them with additional time off, in addition to feeding into their performance metrics. When we have left positive feedback for crew members, they always reach out and thank us (and sometimes their managers do too). For completely outstanding members, we will both tip extra and provide detailed positive feedback.

 

We have asked a few crew members about gifts, and our limited sample set none of them needed anything or wanted trinkets, food items, etc., but we did get the sense that staff might be directed to not ask guests for goods.

[albingirl]

We tip on top of the tips. We are very tippy people 

[AllTheSun]

15 hours ago, alwaysfrantic said:

I would definitely continue with the children’s automatic gratuities also.  Kids are more work for the staff.  They have to make up the extra beds.  It’s two more sets of towels and trash to remove and if they are little, likely the inevitable cheerios on the carpet.  And again if young I bet the dining staff go out of their way to make the meals fun for the littles. 

Yes! OP, I’m glad you’re leaving all your tips in place because ^THIS^

[Toofarfromthesea]

23 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Thanks to Roger, our @Crew News, I have this breakdown of where the Crew Appreciation goes. As of six years ago (with no reason to think the allotment has changed), the percentages were:

30% Room Steward(s)

30% Waiters

40% Those who work behind the scenes supporting the passengers (laundry, cooks,

cleaning crews, etc.)  Non-passenger support crew (lifeboat drivers, engine folks, etc.).

 

Now that we have unlimited laundry, I will be putting a couple USD in the bag!

 

 

I assume the bolded laundry is referring to the folks doing the sheets, towels, etc., not the personal laundry?

 

On the unlimited laundry package, do they add an 18% gratuity?

 

And as to adding $ to the laundry bag, you DO know that money laundering is illegal, yes?  😉

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

I assume the bolded laundry is referring to the folks doing the sheets, towels, etc., not the personal laundry?

On the unlimited laundry package, do they add an 18% gratuity?

I believe it is all the launderers. The added dollars with the personal laundry may also be pooled.

 

Don't know about the unlimited, as we never bought it. Maybe the service charge is built in to the cost per day... That would be somewhat out of character for HAL, but it could be true! 

[Haljo1935]

3 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

I believe it is all the launderers. The added dollars with the personal laundry may also be pooled.

 

Don't know about the unlimited, as we never bought it. Maybe the service charge is built in to the cost per day... That would be somewhat out of character for HAL, but it could be true! 

There is no additional 18% on the cost of unlimited laundry; whatever price is shown in your booking is the total cost. And well worth it. 🙂

[bajae]

8 hours ago, robotpony said:

We have asked a few crew members about gifts, and our limited sample set none of them needed anything or wanted trinkets, food items, etc., but we did get the sense that staff might be directed to not ask guests for goods.

From what I have heard, the crew do not have a lot of storage space in their living quarters so gifts that take up space are really not wanted. Food may be a different story but I think cash is the way to go plus a note of appreciation.