crew appreciation increasing Feb 01,2024

[anniegb]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

The perspective of someone from the 'no or very small' tipping culture area.  Before our very first cruise (only 15 years ago!) very good friends had cruised a couple of times and recommended that we try it.  They told us about the tips and the envelopes being delivered to the stateroom just before the end of the cruise, complete with a list of those who should be tipped.  I said 'no way'.  I am not handing money out to all those people!  Several reason were in my head.......Why should I?  I have paid for my vacation and why should I have to do this?  (not our culture.)  Also, how the **** am I going to find all these people on the last night to hand over these envelopes......I should be enjoying my final night and not having to go looking for various people to pay them.

Anyway, when we booked our first cruise (it was on X, the cruise line, not the thing formerly known a Twitter!) the travel agent offered the option to pre pay tips.  So, begrudgingly, I took that option.  Imagine my confusion on the last night, when a stack of envelopes and recommended names where delivered to the stateroom.  What do I do now?  I found it very awkward.

Fast forward three years to our first HAL cruise (2011) and tips (or whatever nomenclature is used) being added to the onboard account was magic. It is now a cost of the vacation and is just accepted as such by us.  We certainly would never consider removing tips and we+ still give a little more to those who really look after us in a special way.

 

Now if only we could simplify the other tipping nightmares that we dread when we go to USA.  Taxis.....bellboy.......waiter......maitre d'........hotel housekeeping......staff at hotel buffet breakfast......etc, etc.  We laughingly say.."who, what, when......why?", but that is only to hide our bewilderment.

 

 

in addition to the above, i am often curious how Japanese nationals handle tipping in USA and USA vessels. In Japanese culture, tipping is viewed as insulting and their people always go the extra mile - in my limited experience.

 

PS Thanks for the tip re exchange rate used when prepaying tips.

Edited January 15 by anniegb

[anniegb]

3 hours ago, Bill B said:

 

On Cruisecritic you will find 99.9% of the people claim to tip more than the suggested/billed amount (I find it difficult to believe).

 

Personally, I've never removed gratuities, but I've never added to the amount ether. 

Cynic that I am, I view such claims as hot air..

 

I have sailed with American cruisers who openly brag about removing gratuities on the grounds they do not receive tips in their day jobs.  On same cruise, one passenger reported the loss of a bank roll of 500 USD he was keeping for additional tips.

 

Roll the tips into the cruise fare - simple.

Edited January 15 by anniegb

[Real NHDOC]

Do keep in mind the crew is given a list of those guests who opt out of the appreciation program so for those who think they will get the same attention as everyone else they may not. It might help explain why some people complain about their experience onboard if they have chosen to opt out of the program. 

Edited January 15 by Real NHDOC

[anniegb]

1 minute ago, Real NHDOC said:

Do keep in mind the crew is given a list of those guests who opt out of the appreciation program so for those who think they will get the same attention as everyone else they may not. It might help explain why some people complain about their experience onboard. 

If someone does opt out on the last few days of the cruise, how will they be impacted??

[Real NHDOC]

9 minutes ago, anniegb said:

If someone does opt out on the last few days of the cruise, how will they be impacted??

The policy used to be that in order to opt out of the crew appreciation program you needed to do it on the first day. There’s some conflicting information about how this is handled now with some information online saying that you can do it at any time although I cannot find this on HALs website or in the contract.
 

If that’s the case it would not surprise me to hear that it gets noted in your guest profile so that you’re known as a non tipper.
 

I cannot imagine that opting out doesn’t have consequences other than being able to have a clear conscience about letting everyone else pay for your share of the crew’s compensation. 

[cbr663]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

One wonders if the crew even has a clue.  I assume they receive money, which they are told comes from the tipping pool, but they also may not be privy to "top secret" formula.  

 

Ask the crew what is the best thing that you can do for them and you won't get the response leave a tip.  It will always be leave a positive comment in Navigator or, as my recent cabin steward told us (we had him for both cruises that we took last year and he remembered us from our earlier cruise) the very best thing we could do for him was mention his name in the post cruise survey that we receive from HAL.  Written compliments to management generally indicate a points reward system.  

[anniegb]

1 minute ago, Real NHDOC said:

The policy used to be that in order to opt out of the crew appreciation program you needed to do it on the first day. There’s some conflicting information about how this is handled now with some information online saying that you can do it at any time although I cannot find this on HALs website or in the contract.
 

If that’s the case it would not surprise me to hear that it gets noted in your guest profile so that you’re known as a non tipper.
 

I cannot imagine that opting out doesn’t have consequences other than being able to have a clear conscience about letting everyone else pay for your share of the crew’s compensation. 

I only made the comment based on what I witnessed at Guest Relations on the Zaandam on a long South American cruises.  There was a bundle of forms to be completed by a guest if they wished to withdraw from the auto gratuities.

[Real NHDOC]

10 minutes ago, anniegb said:

I only made the comment based on what I witnessed at Guest Relations on the Zaandam on a long South American cruises.  There was a bundle of forms to be completed by a guest if they wished to withdraw from the auto gratuities.

I am sure if someone was determined to do that they could. I only recall the old policy was it had to be done at the beginning of the cruise. 
 

I know the world is full of all kinds of people but anyone who can afford to take a grand voyage and then at the end elects to opt out of the crew appreciation program really does set a new low.  I do hope that their guest profile does reflect that so that in the future they will receive the service they deserve. 

Edited January 15 by Real NHDOC

[anniegb]

13 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

I just got an email update from my TA (she's answering emails on a Sunday evening.....wave season must be very busy)

 

RE:  Can I pre-pay tips now and save a few bucks before the increase?

 

This is a her response.....

 

I have been trying to get answers about the gratuity increase and the only information we have been able to get is that they are going up.  They are not currently telling us if you will be able to prepay to lock in the current rate but based on what we are hearing, that seems unlikely. 

 

 

 

 

FWIW I have just managed to prepay my gratuities for my upcoming cruise next month at the current (pre increase) rate.  The on-line payment system is being worked on, according to Seattle, and may explain some of the glitches.

[Real NHDOC]

23 minutes ago, anniegb said:

I only made the comment based on what I witnessed at Guest Relations on the Zaandam on a long South American cruises.  There was a bundle of forms to be completed by a guest if they wished to withdraw from the auto gratuities.

It’s especially difficult to hear this about someone doing that to the Zaandam crew.
 

We were on the holiday cruise that began at the end of the most recent South America cruise and can honestly say the service on that ship was probably the best of any we received on any HAL cruise so I cannot imagine that there could be a justification for doing that if it was on the most recent Zaandam SA cruise. 

Edited January 15 by Real NHDOC

[Real NHDOC]

21 minutes ago, anniegb said:

FWIW I have just managed to prepay my gratuities for my upcoming cruise next month at the current (pre increase) rate.  The on-line payment system is being worked on, according to Seattle, and may explain some of the glitches.

As was mentioned previously, depending on how the ship accounts for it you may only receive credit for what you prepay and land up being charged the prevailing day rate onboard anyway.  
 

 

[anniegb]

24 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

As was mentioned previously, depending on how the ship accounts for it you may only receive credit for what you prepay and land up being charged the prevailing day rate onboard anyway.  
 

 

Let us wait and see 🙂

 

My revised invoice states Pre-paid crew appreciation.

Edited January 15 by anniegb

[BermudaBound2014]

For those who have pre-paid at todays crew appreciation rate, you may want to have a quick chat with HAL and screen shot the conversation.

 

I was just told that since I have prepaid crew appreciation I will NOT be charged any additional monies onboard.

 

Here is a screen shot of the end of our chat where the HAL rep states that gratuities are paid at the original price when purchased.

 

[VMax1700]

 

I think the important part of that statement is the 'No', as the rest of it is unintelligble.  What does 'Original Price' even mean?  Current Price?? Offer Price??

Just do not delete that 'No'!

[BermudaBound2014]

34 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

I think the important part of that statement is the 'No', as the rest of it is unintelligble.  What does 'Original Price' even mean?  Current Price?? Offer Price??

Just do not delete that 'No'!

 

IKR?? The actual chat session was much longer and much clearer. I have a screen shot in its entirety, but I would encourage anyone in this boat to initiate their own chat and screen save it. Super quick and easy.

[regnig]

I surely do not want to seem rude or insult anyone, but folks we are talking about $1 a day here. Okay if there are two people in a stateroom it is $2 a day. Neither amount is going to make or break anyone with enough resources to take a cruise. I consider the situation similar to Port Charges. If they go up after booking one pays the additional cost and if they go down HAL refunds the difference.  I'm certainly not going to spend my time, worth far more than $1 a day, worrying about this. 

[Mosaic]

1 hour ago, regnig said:

I surely do not want to seem rude or insult anyone, but folks we are talking about $1 a day here. Okay if there are two people in a stateroom it is $2 a day. Neither amount is going to make or break anyone with enough resources to take a cruise. I consider the situation similar to Port Charges. If they go up after booking one pays the additional cost and if they go down HAL refunds the difference.  I'm certainly not going to spend my time, worth far more than $1 a day, worrying about this. 

I agree with this, but for us it is $100.00---no big deal either. But when you are told one thing and then it is another.....

[RuthC]

Frankly, I don't see where it's any of my concern how much of the crew appreciation fee any given employee gets. That's between the employee and HAL. Do you ask your Uber driver how much he is paid? You pay his tip, after all. 

I know they all have agreed to a group contract that guarantees them a certain amount, with such things as seniority and job title are taken into consideration, so that even two different cabin stewards could get a different amount. I also know that if the crew appreciation fee doesn't generate enough to cover what the crew is guaranteed, then HAL has to make up at least a portion of the difference. 

If HAL wasn't living up to its obligation to pay the crew the crew appreciation fees as they have agreed to, word would spread, and we wouldn't be meeting up with the same crew members on subsequent cruises. 

[highscar]

In my previous cruise experience I pay with pleasure what ever the charge is.  I have always experienced excellent service and pleasure from whom ever I deal with. 

[kazu]

11 hours ago, Bill B said:

 

On Cruisecritic you will find 99.9% of the people claim to tip more than the suggested/billed amount (I find it difficult to believe).

 

Personally, I've never removed gratuities, but I've never added to the amount ether. 

 

You can believe what you want.  I know what I do. 

I don’t add to the amount usually, I tip in cash over & above to those who have provided wonderful service.  I know of others on my roll calls who have done the same.   it’s our choice to do so.

 

[Bill B]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You can believe what you want.

 

 

Worded that poorly. What I should have said is -

On Cruisecritic you will find 99.9% of the people claim to tip more than the suggested/billed amount (I find it difficult to believe this is representative of the pax population on any given ship).

[jlawrence01]

7 hours ago, RuthC said:

If HAL wasn't living up to its obligation to pay the crew the crew appreciation fees as they have agreed to, word would spread, and we wouldn't be meeting up with the same crew members on subsequent cruises. 

 

I think that you make a very good point.  Cruise employees talk to each other on the ship, to friends on other lines, and to guests.  We were on the Norwegian Epic in February 2023 right after they announced that they would be cutting the wages of senior room stewards and our room steward (a long term, 10+ year employee) asked us subtlety about our opinions of other cruise lines.

 

I believe that there was some serious breaches of trust among some cruise lines and their employees in the area of not being paid for the entire time that they were on the ship after the cruise shutdown in 2020.  There were also some safety and health issues.  Also, being away from a cruise ship led many employees to seek other employment.

 

The NEW (1st contract) people that I have talked to on recent cruises are not that interested in returning as many are asked to work 11 hours a day seven days a week over two shifts.  Ever bussed tables in the Lido for 11 hours a day??

 

This was a major discussion on a major YouTube podcast this week where Tony from the  La Lido Loca podcast interviewed a former cruise employee.  The relevant discussions of staffing come at the 1:02:00 mark.  It is an interesting discussion.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziVFOZSJMxc&list=WL&index=23

 

[trishbk]

On 1/15/2024 at 1:16 PM, RuthC said:

Frankly, I don't see where it's any of my concern how much of the crew appreciation fee any given employee gets. That's between the employee and HAL. Do you ask your Uber driver how much he is paid? You pay his tip, after all. 

I know they all have agreed to a group contract that guarantees them a certain amount, with such things as seniority and job title are taken into consideration, so that even two different cabin stewards could get a different amount. I also know that if the crew appreciation fee doesn't generate enough to cover what the crew is guaranteed, then HAL has to make up at least a portion of the difference. 

If HAL wasn't living up to its obligation to pay the crew the crew appreciation fees as they have agreed to, word would spread, and we wouldn't be meeting up with the same crew members on subsequent cruises. 

TRUE

[CurlerRob]

On 1/15/2024 at 4:16 PM, RuthC said:

Frankly, I don't see where it's any of my concern how much of the crew appreciation fee any given employee gets. That's between the employee and HAL. Do you ask your Uber driver how much he is paid? You pay his tip, after all. 

I know they all have agreed to a group contract that guarantees them a certain amount, with such things as seniority and job title are taken into consideration, so that even two different cabin stewards could get a different amount. I also know that if the crew appreciation fee doesn't generate enough to cover what the crew is guaranteed, then HAL has to make up at least a portion of the difference. 

If HAL wasn't living up to its obligation to pay the crew the crew appreciation fees as they have agreed to, word would spread, and we wouldn't be meeting up with the same crew members on subsequent cruises. 

 

Precisely - and it extends to the overall structure of the plans.

 

Most companies consider the structure of their compensation plans to be proprietary - and sometimes view them as a significant competitive advantage, so guard the details zealously. The details of the programs are not our business.

 

The cruise lines' job is to provide a comp plan that allows them to attract and retain personnel that will deliver a high level of service. The client's job is to decide if the total price for a cruise meets their standard for value. 🍺🥌

[Tigerlily75]

It looks like HAL has now updated their website: 

 

Crew Appreciation is a daily (adjustable) amount added to your onboard account and pooled in order to recognize the many team members throughout our fleet who contribute to the guest experience.

For all sailings departing prior to February 14, 2024 as well as the 2024 Grand World Voyage and the 2024 Grand Australia & New Zealand Voyage, the daily Crew Appreciation is $16.00* per guest per day for non-suite stateroom guests and $17.50* per guest per day for suite guests.

For sailings departing on or after February 14, 2024, the daily Crew Appreciation is $17.00* per guest per day for non-suite stateroom guests and $19.00* per guest per day for suite guests.

The Crew Appreciation charge is paid to Holland America Line team members and represents an important part of their compensation. An 18% service charge is automatically applied to all beverage purchases, bar retail items, specialty restaurant cover charges, all for-purchase a la carte menu items, and all Spa & Salon services. Local sales taxes are applied where required.

*The charges are subject to change without notice.