New Board - New Info on TIPPING from HAL

[wdblake]

Tipping should be a personal choice. I believe Royal Caribbean did it best by providing you with envelopes with each persons position on it. That way you could tip as you see fit. Example: We don't drink wine so why should I be tipping the wine steward? I believe you get better service than when your staff can only expect the same money time and time again. If they are going with auto tipping why not just raise the rate of the cruise and eliminate tipping all together? I for one will be removing my auto tips.

[Cruiseoften]

Just off the Statendam and did we see a change in service since the tipping policy change. Don't worry about looking up the staff as they won't be around as they use to be. HAL has made so many employee changes that the employees could care less how they do. Please do not think I take this out on employees I do not. It is the company. We have still never been introduced to our dining room staff (that has always been a first night meeting) Sorry to see the change as It is not the same.

 

We've done many many HAL cruises and can't recall the waitstaff ever hanging around for tips - we've usually had to keep an eye out for our cabin steward.

 

Not sure just what you mean re being introduced to our dining room staff. The fellows have usually done that themselves and there's usually a card on the table giving their names.

 

I'm experimenting with the new options! :o

[Jacqueline]

I have to agree woht the poster who explained that this is just getting to be too much to micromanage.

I will figure that people who choose to sign employment contracts with HAL have signed onto the program.

I will autotip and write positive commments for all who perform well.

Period.

[blossom]

My husband and I were recently on the Rotterdam (5/17-27) out of NY. We did have the opportunity to visit with a dining room steward that we had had on a previous trip. On one occassion in the Lido (late night) we had the chance to speak with him about HAL's new tipping policy. We just had a casual conversation and never really asked his opinion about the change. A few days later, he saw us and asked us not to mention it again. It seems that the crew who discuss this with passengers are issued letters of warning from their supervisors (possible dismisal). We were very shocked by this and, of course, we never brought the subject up again.

 

Just be aware.

 

Blossom

[Travalot]

I can confirm blossom's experience that the crew is not supposed to discuss the new policy. At our disembarkation talk on the Ryndam, the cruise director said that we may have found the crew reluctant to discuss tipping which is "as it should be" since he (the cruise director) was only one who should be talking about it.

 

On the Ryndam they had a separate line the last day for people with gratuity issues. I was getting some envelopes, and was surprised to hear one of the front desk people tell someone that even if the auto tips were left in place, additional monies given to the crew still had to be pooled. I wasn't surprised this was true, because it is true on many lines, I was surprised he admitted it, however.

 

I do still give additional gratuities - above the auto tip - because I still believe it rewards these employees in the long run.

[valeriequeenofthesea]

We just returned from our cruise yesterday. When we asked at the front desk how the automatic tipping works we were told exactly what you've seen here. If you opt out of the automatic tipping anything you give to your servers or cabin stewards will be pooled. If you leave it in place they can keep it.

When we gave our excellent waiter, Janar, an additional tip we noticed he did not stick it in his pocket, but set it aside at his station. We observed him doing that with other tips he received that night as well.

We can only assume he had to wait until everyone's account was paid to be sure that the automatic tipping was left in place before he could keep the money for himself. I hope he did, but can't worry too much about it. I know that he was very grateful to have received it and be acknowledged for his excellent service above and beyond what is necessary. For that reason alone I'm glad we did it. After that it doesn't really matter.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) Hopefully, the crew will get back from the office (once all acounts are settled) all that they have turned in.

 

:)

[vjb223]

I also have been told by a District Sales Manager and higher up staff that any extra tips above the $10 per day had to be pooled. That is sad because you want to tip the person (only) for their extra special service. Wish it was different and they got to keep the extra for themselves. Just what I was told.

[darnapar]

wjterry, why would you blame HAL and not the staff for a poor job? It is still the stewards responsibility to clean the room, etc. They are still being paid for it. With the auto tipping there is a good chance that their income has increased as it sounds like many people prior to this took the "no tipping" policy to heart and didn't tip.

[Sailure]

Superstien I found your comments comical... cracked me up..

 

I'm not convinced the extra tips given by people who haven't reduced or cancelled automatic tipping would not be pooled. If the cabin steward is handling X amount of rooms.. do they give him a list stating who didn't pay the suggested amount? I doubt the cabin steward would be his own accountant and say.. well.. I'm keeping this money in my back pocket and turning this money in for the pool.. I feel sorry for the wait staff and cabin attendents. It seems so confusing. But since I have no idea what the ratio was prior of those who skipped tipping, It's possible they will get more than they use to.. I'd really like to hear from those who sailed recently. What's the staff think of the new policy?

I was on a Carnival cruise not long ago and I was talking to our waiter about this. He said that they at Carnival ARE given a list of their passengers at their tables and their cabin numbers and they know if the passengers did tip and how much.

[Sailure]

I feel the same way. I will let them take out my tip automatically and I will reward those that have gone above and beyond on top of that.

 

I've been on plenty of cruises on plenty of lines since they've gone to the auto-tipping policy and I've not noticed any difference in attitude from the staff and crew.

 

I'd be willing to be that if someone were to go and read some cruise reviews going back before the auto-tipping went into effect, you'd see some people writing that they had "less than attentive" service back then too.

 

When we go to restaurants and leave a tip for the waiter/waitress they too have to share their tips with the busboys and whoever else their company designates gets a piece of the action.

 

I do the best I can, I don't run the company and I doubt many will stop cruising because of it.

[ore-ee-gun]

Bobpatj - On my one non-HAL cruise, the amount was based on full days. How is HAL doing this. Our 7/10 Rotterdam cruise is 17 days which means that there are 16 full days plus the two partial embarkation/debarkation days. So would the amount per person be $160, $170, or $180?

I just returned today from the Amsterdam, and our final bill showed that the gratuity was added each day from 6/27 (embarkation day) to 7/3. We returned to port this morning at 7:00 am, but no gratutity fee was charged for today. We tipped our cabin steward additional $$ in person because IMO, his services were far superior to what we experienced in the dining room. We left the auto tip in place.

[Jemima]

Ore-ee-gun,

Thanks for the answer. If it works the same on a 17 day (16 full days plus embark day and debark day), then our auto tip would be $170 per person. We are planning on leaving that in place plus tipping additional $$ for excellent service.

We're vegetarians which means a little extra work for the dining room steward and head steward - bringing veg menus at the end of dinner each evening, noting any requests from that menu, and seeing we get the request the next evening. We've always tipped extra for this and will do so again.