4 people in suite tipping question

[CanSail]

I will have four people staying in one suite for a ten day cruise. Instead of tipping $400. dollars into the general pot I would like to keep $200. on the general bill and then tip extra to our room steward, waiter, & Neptune staff since they will be the people we have the most contact with. I do not want to deduct any money from our bill if the above people have to share what I will be tipping them. Can I do this or is it better to leave the $400. on the bill as is and then give a little bit less to special people. I know there is another thread about tipping going on right now, but it is a too extreme for me. I thank you for any advise you can give me, we have over 10 cruises with HAL but this is the first time that all four of us are actually cruising together.

Thanking you again for any help.

And Happy Cruising To All.

CanSail

[AAAAmerican]

Leave the Auto-Tip in place.

 

 

Tip extra if yopu choose. The removal of the Auto-Tip will create many problems for the staff .:(

 

 

I will have four people staying in one suite for a ten day cruise. Instead of tipping $400. dollars into the general pot I would like to keep $200. on the general bill and then tip extra to our room steward, waiter, & Neptune staff since they will be the people we have the most contact with. I do not want to deduct any money from our bill if the above people have to share what I will be tipping them. Can I do this or is it better to leave the $400. on the bill as is and then give a little bit less to special people. I know there is another thread about tipping going on right now, but it is a too extreme for me. I thank you for any advise you can give me, we have over 10 cruises with HAL but this is the first time that all four of us are actually cruising together.

Thanking you again for any help.

And Happy Cruising To All.

CanSail

[hammybee]

To sum up lessons learned from the "extreme thread", all tips are pooled so it is not going to matter if you leave them intact or do part in cash. What will make a difference, will be naming those you feel did a god job as part of the Passenger Comment card and/or, if you are inclined, a simple note to management.

 

Enjoy your cruise and come back and tell us about it.

[kryos]

If anyone removes the auto-tip, then anything they give to their waiter or cabin steward in cash will have to be turned into the pool.

 

My suggestion would be to just keep things simple all around. Leave the auto-tip in place and then if you want to throw your cabin steward an extra few dollars at the end of the cruise, do so. But you're better off keeping the auto-tip in place ... and then if your budget doesn't allow for additional tipping beyond that, then don't tip. Beyond the auto-tip it really isn't necessary to hand cash to anyone at the end of the cruise ... unless you wish to do so.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[CanSail]

Thank you so much for your answers, it was just what I needed to know!

It was very kind of you to help me with this question.

CanSail

[AAAAmerican]

HammyBee is very correct.

 

And the Comment Card is such an important tool to give your views. List any person that went above and beyond the call of duty.

 

Your comments are read and acted upon.

 

 

 

To sum up lessons learned from the "extreme thread", all tips are pooled so it is not going to matter if you leave them intact or do part in cash. What will make a difference, will be naming those you feel did a god job as part of the Passenger Comment card and/or, if you are inclined, a simple note to management.

 

Enjoy your cruise and come back and tell us about it.

[peaches from georgia]

To sum up lessons learned from the "extreme thread", all tips are pooled so it is not going to matter if you leave them intact or do part in cash.

The official policy, and what we have been told by a number of officers on several ships, is that tips over and above the autotip may be kept by the steward if the autotip is not reduced or eliminated. You are saying something entirely different here. Is this now HAL's tipping policy and where did you get this information?

[bruce-r]

What will make a difference, will be naming those you feel did a good job as part of the Passenger Comment card and/or, if you are inclined, a simple note to management.

Exactly. Write the names of the service people who were especially helpful on the comment card and be sure to use the word "excellent" in your description of the quality of service they provided.

[dakrewser]

The official policy, and what we have been told by a number of officers on several ships, is that tips over and above the autotip may be kept by the steward if the autotip is not reduced or eliminated. You are saying something entirely different here. Is this now HAL's tipping policy and where did you get this information?

 

You understand the "official" policy correctly. In practice, some groups of people will pool their tips as a way of ensuring that everyone gets what they deserve...

[gizmo]

The official policy, and what we have been told by a number of officers on several ships, is that tips over and above the autotip may be kept by the steward if the autotip is not reduced or eliminated. You are saying something entirely different here. Is this now HAL's tipping policy and where did you get this information?

 

Take a guess . I will give you a hint. He is 3 persons in 1.:rolleyes:

 

I am assuming Hammybee's statement is referring to one of his recent posts. Hammybee please correct me if I am wrong about this.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Maybe this is what one poster meant to say: $3.50 goes to your cabin steward, $3.50 to your dining room wait staff. The last $3 goes into the pool that is divided among all the other workers.

[peaches from georgia]

Take a guess . I will give you a hint. He is 3 persons in 1.:rolleyes:

 

I am assuming Hammybee's statement is referring to one of his recent posts. Hammybee please correct me if I am wrong about this.

But, Gizmo, who's to know when he is talking about HAL? First he's the authority on what goes on with HAL then he changes his story and knows nothing about HAL. When stories change depending on the replies they get, I'll take the word of HAL staff who I know to be who they say they are and don't hide behind 3 identities and several cruiselines. ;)

[Stevesan]

But, Gizmo, who's to know when he is talking about HAL? First he's the authority on what goes on with HAL then he changes his story and knows nothing about HAL. When stories change depending on the replies they get, I'll take the word of HAL staff who I know to be who they say they are and don't hide behind 3 identities and several cruiselines. ;)

 

Amen, Peaches!!!!

[sail7seas]

The only thing 'different' regarding tipping that I got out of the discussion of what happens to tips that are over and above automatic tips is that the stewards in various departments meet and among themselves vote to pool all of these addtional tips. He/they ? said in his/their post that this is the choice of the stewards and has nothing to do with HAL corporate.

 

There is no incentive for any steward to advise us that this is really true as they have every reason to think the amount of the tipping will decrease. IF it is true and the stewards opt to share all extra tips, that is fine by me. Once I give that tip to someone, IMO, it is his or hers to do with it as they wish.

 

PLEASE.....do not take this post as meaning I want to start another discussion about it. The other thread is the place to discuss our opinions about it.

 

This post is only to try to answer the questions asked here.

Maybe someone else's interpretation of what he/they wrote is not the same as my understanding.

 

[Grumpy1]

The only thing 'different' regarding tipping that I got out of the discussion of what happens to tips that are over and above automatic tips is that the stewards in various departments meet and among themselves vote to pool all of these addtional tips. He/they ? said in his/their post that this is the choice of the stewards and has nothing to do with HAL corporate.

 

There is no incentive for any steward to advise us that this is really true as they have every reason to think the amount of the tipping will decrease. IF it is true and the stewards opt to share all extra tips, that is fine by me. Once I give that tip to someone, IMO, it is his or hers to do with it as they wish.

 

PLEASE.....do not take this post as meaning I want to start another discussion about it. The other thread is the place to discuss our opinions about it.

 

This post is only to try to answer the questions asked here.

Maybe someone else's interpretation of what he/they wrote is not the same as my understanding.

 

My understanding is the same as yours, Sail, but I do not know if the pooling described occurs on HAL ships or not, since the poster says he/they do not work for HAL... but then maybe they do and don't want corporate to figure out who they are...:rolleyes:

 

I just leave the autotip in place, tip extra to those that deserve it, and after that it's none of my concern what they do with their money.

[sail7seas]

I just leave the autotip in place, tip extra to those that deserve it, and after that it's none of my concern what they do with their money.

 

That is exactly what we do. We also feel it is none of our concern what happens with that money once we give it someone.

[hammybee]

You understand the "official" policy correctly. In practice, some groups of people will pool their tips as a way of ensuring that everyone gets what they deserve...

 

OK dakrewser,

 

We hear the same "offiicial " policy. What happens to cash tips, once given, is none of our business.

[hammybee]

Take a guess . I will give you a hint. He is 3 persons in 1.:rolleyes:

 

I am assuming Hammybee's statement is referring to one of his recent posts. Hammybee please correct me if I am wrong about this.

 

More importantly than one of the many posters with multiple personalities, I trust the posters that vouch for him/them. Men of the cloth and badge have no incentive to vouch for anyone unless they know, really know. It works for me. How about you?

[hammybee]

That is exactly what we do. We also feel it is none of our concern what happens with that money once we give it someone.

 

Ditto.

[Hojo's redbeard]

Since OP mentioned they are staying in a suite...Do Suite passengers on HAL tip the same as everyone else? I know on a couple of other lines it is customary for suite passengers to tip more to their room steward. Mainly because there is so much more for them to keep up with than in say an inside cabin.

[Grumpy1]

Since OP mentioned they are staying in a suite...Do Suite passengers on HAL tip the same as everyone else? I know on a couple of other lines it is customary for suite passengers to tip more to their room steward. Mainly because there is so much more for them to keep up with than in say an inside cabin.

The autotip is the same in all categories. I suspect that the additional tips are larger ON AVERAGE in the suites, as being a steward in the suites is considered to be a promotion. Of course, there will always be some suite passengers that will tip nothing extra and inside passengers that will be very generous, and that is why I emphasize the average.

[Stevesan]

I will give you a hint. He is 3 persons in 1.:rolleyes:

 

In the name of the ........

 

Holy Smoke!:eek:

[peaches from georgia]

In the name of the ........

 

Holy Smoke!:eek:

You take the prize for the post of the day! Make that post of the week...month...maybe even year. :D

[kryos]

Since OP mentioned they are staying in a suite...Do Suite passengers on HAL tip the same as everyone else? I know on a couple of other lines it is customary for suite passengers to tip more to their room steward. Mainly because there is so much more for them to keep up with than in say an inside cabin.

No, on HAL it's $10 p/p per day ... regardless of accommodations.

 

I never understood that either. It would seem as though people in suites should have a higher auto-tip, simply because they get much more service than those in regular "accommodations." But I guess HAL figures that those people will just tip more additional than others.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

The official policy, and what we have been told by a number of officers on several ships, is that tips over and above the autotip may be kept by the steward if the autotip is not reduced or eliminated.

Here's an interesting hypothetical, though ...

 

Assuming HAL is forthright in their assertation that any tips in cash above the auto-tip amount can be kept by the person you give it to, what happens in this case:

 

You have four people in a suite ... two couples. Your cabin steward was dynamite that week ... and you really want to give him a much nicer tip than $3.50 per day. You weren't that impressed with your wait staff, so don't care if they get a dime.

 

Two people in the suite (one couple) deletes auto-tips entirely. The other couple leaves them on. Now the couple that deleted them gives a tip envelope stuffed with cash to the other couple who kept auto-tips in place. That couple hands the cash envelope to the cabin steward.

 

Question is: Does he get to keep it? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita