Coming from Australia/Questions

[fless]

We are cruising on the Ryndam Sept. 3rd and as you may know Australia does not have tipping as part of its culture unless you want too. So, is it true that $10us will be credited to my curise account each day! If so can my daugther (19yrs) and myself share one card thus saving $50 or would this be rude. Also can my daughter drink on the ship (drinking age in aus is 18yrs).

Question 2.

We gave up the balcony idea for the tours. In Juneau- Dog Sledding. Skagway- Yukon & white Pass Railroad & in Ketchikan - flightseeeing & crab feast. However, we would really like to see bears but the tours are full. Is there anyway to go on standby as i dont want to cancell our existing tours & miss out completely.

Question 3.

How formal is the formal nights on the Ryndam when we did a cruise on the carnival in 2002 it was pretty casual & as we are travelling far plus stopping in Honolulu packing is becoming a nightmare-help

Any other suggestions would be great as this will most likely be my last trip to Alaska thanks

[Marie321]

The tipping is $10 per person per day. On a 7 day cruise the tip was $70 per person. We had one cabin 2 years ago with 4 family members sharing the one cabin. Each family member was charged the $10 per day. Actually, this is a small amount considering the tip goes to your room steward, wait staff, other crew members, etc. We generally tip above this amount (giving cash to individuals who really make our trip special).

 

Age 21 is required for drinking.

 

You will really enjoy the dog sledding and railway! You can be waitlisted for tours. Are you using a ship tour? Have you considered booking independently? I've used recommendations from these boards when choosing operators and I've never been steered wrong.

 

Women usually wear dressy dresses or pant suits. Men generally at least wear a suit and tie. You don't have to eat in the dining room, though, if you don't want to dress up. On the Westerdam and Oosterdam, there was another option. We ate in the lido and could show up informally dressed. The same menu was available, tables had tablecloths and candles. The best part--you could choose your seat. I don't know if the same is true on the Ryndam.

 

Have a great time!

[GORDONCHICK]

HAL is more dressy than Carnival, by quite a bit. But don't stress over it. If you wanted to rent a tux, contact their provider online and set that up. It would be in your cabin when you get there. If you don't go that route, at least pack a sports jacket at the minimum (suit would be better). As for your daughter, what ever she wore to dressy events like a prom (I'm guessing you guys have those or something similar). I don't usually see 19yo in the formal or dressy separates, but they would be fine if that's something she likes.

 

The tipping is $10 per person, per day, and it is well-earned! Please don't short-change the staff unless you have sub-standard service AND you've contact the appropriate people about it and it hasn't been fixed. They really do work hard to make our cruises enjoyable experiences.

[GMoney]

Here's a thread started by an Aussie on the RCI boards that may be of interest.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=818494

[Budget Queen]

The tipping, as noted is at least $10per person, per day. YES it most certainly would be rude for you to short change this. Any drinks may have the tip added, read the receipt. Also you would tip at the time for any room service, and also the porters who accept your bags.

 

Have you tried independent bear tours??? I suggest you look for an independent company that may still have space and book it. (look for Traitor's Cove) It is very unlikely you are going to clear a wait list, if there is one. These tours, are very limited in the numbers available.

 

HAL has way more formality than Carnival. You actually have chosen probably the most "formal" line, (Celebrity also is more formal). Black goes a long way. Bring some simple jewelry. Consider doing laundry, greatly cuts down on bulk.

[PennyAgain]

Tipping is a very sore subject with family members in Alaska who work in the cruise industry. This year with the poor weather, many people have reduced their tips or are not tipping at all.

 

One younger family member got a $1 tip after taking care of a family of 4 on a long tour out of Talkeetna.

 

His basic wage is not far above the minimum wage which is pitiful with the Alaskan cost of living. He depends on tips to make a living.

 

Sadly our federal government assumes that such people get a certain level of tips so they have to pay taxes on tips they aren't even getting this year!

 

Please don't punish the employees if the skies cloud up and it rains!

[CowPrincess]

The Ryndam is a lovely ship. We went to Alaska on her in May, and had 400 Australians on board with us! Many of them just skipped formal nights in the dining room (due to packing issues), choosing room service or the Lido (casual restaurant) on formal nights. That said, if you're in a dressy top and pants, or a black dress with sparkly earrings, you should be just fine. My husband and I dressed formally for dinner on formal nights, then after a quick interior tour of the ship we put on casual wear and went out on deck. No one said anything about us being "casually dressed" on formal night -- we saw LOTS of people in the public spaces who were dressed casually after dinner, and at the late night buffet.

 

The Ryndam has several coin operated self-serve laundry rooms, so that will help.

 

Even though tipping is not something to which you are accustomed, please do not reduce your tips. The staff on board work VERY hard to help you have a good time -- they earn their tips, believe me!

 

If you want to save a bit of money, and don't mind adequate/ordinary (but not offensive) wine, buy a wine card when you get on board. I think a card for 10 glasses is about $40, including tip. A very good value. Holland America allows you to bring bottles of wine onto the ship, so you could save a bit that way, too. If you consume your PERSONAL wine in the dining room, there will be a $15 corkage fee per bottle. If you consume your PERSONAL wine in your cabin, there is no charge.

 

When you have time, have a look through the "Holland America" board here -- there's lots of good info on it.

[CowPrincess]

This year with the poor weather, many people have reduced their tips or are not tipping at all.

 

Yeah, like the tour operators and workers can control the weather. Y'know what? My suspicion is that people who are doing that are just looking for an excuse to keep the money in their own pockets, and even if the weather had been perfect, they had seen 1000 brown bears, 200 eagles AND the northern lights, they wouldn't have liked the guide's "tone of voice" or something. Sometimes people suck :(

[PennyAgain]

Yeah, like the tour operators and workers can control the weather. Y'know what? My suspicion is that people who are doing that are just looking for an excuse to keep the money in their own pockets, and even if the weather had been perfect, they had seen 1000 brown bears, 200 eagles AND the northern lights, they wouldn't have liked the guide's "tone of voice" or something. Sometimes people suck :(

 

What people tend to forget is that the people in the tourist industry in Alaska have to pay Alaskan prices to eat, have a place to sleep and to put gas in their vehicles. Also in many cases they have to buy their own uniforms in order to be able to go to work. At the very least a company t-shirt and appropriate pants and shoes.

 

A $1 tip or a handfull of coins is basically an insult. Yes, the people who work in the food service industry sometimes get only a handfull of small change. The people who work in fast food usually get next to nothing in tips.

 

These poor tippers may be the same way at home.

[kenish]

I appreciate that Australia may be no tipping or tip optional. I think that is great and is why I really enjoy Japan where offering a tip is borderline insulting.

 

Having said that, I always try my best to fit into local customs and culture. After all, isn't that why we travel? If I wanted things exactly like home, I would stay in the US. Here in the USA, like it or not, tipping is so ingrained that it's even built into the tax structure as another person commented. On HAL I think you will end up motivated to give your cabin steward something extra when you see how incredibly hard they work for their families far away. On land, most of the tour guides are college students working in AK for the summer to get the coming year's tuition, room and board. Being youthful, they are willing to live in crowded or less than ideal places. It's the only way they can end the summer with enough in the bank.

 

Hope this doesn't come off as a flame or criticism; prices would be higher if tipping were not part of our culture and economy. Enjoy your cruise!

[fless]

ok we will certainly do our fair share of tipping. I didn't appear to be rude about tipping. In Australia people generally earn fairly good money for working per hour. Young people $13 per hour and Adults $20 on a part time basis and more for casual rates (approx). So tipping for us is when we recieve service that is about and beyond what is considered 'normal'. Certainly weather wouldn't be an issue as no one can control that. So we tip the porters, room service and drink orders come with the tip included. oh and we tip our tour operator. Do we need to know anything else about tipping. I must say when I have travelled mostly to thailand/bali we certainly tip the people who clean our room. Well thank you all for your info the internet really does make travelling easier as one can be more prepared for the unexpected and us aussies wont appear to be so rude. thanks again

[tee_harbor]

If you don't find a bear tour, take the $14 round trip shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, and at that time of year, you may see some bears feeding on salmon from the viewing platforms. The only problem is, if there's too many bears, they close these areas!

 

I think the cost of everything going up, probably after folks booked and budgeted for their cruises, had led to this squeezing in the one place you can, the tips. After seeing in another post that itineraries are being changed on next year's cruises to save fuel, I'll be interested to see if prices rise enough to slow the number of cruisers.

[CowPrincess]

So we tip the porters, room service and drink orders come with the tip included. oh and we tip our tour operator. Do we need to know anything else about tipping.

 

The automatic tip that HAL adds to your shipboard account ($10/day per person) is split between your cabin steward, your dining room servers and the behind-the-scenes people. Whether or not you choose to tip additionally to the cabin steward and dining room servers is entirely up to you. Some do, some don't. Some also tip their favorite bartender.

 

If you are getting poor service from your cabin steward (VERY unlikely), mention it to the front desk, and the service will most likely improve. If your dining room servers aren't giving good service (again VERY unlikely) mention to the maitre d' that the service is a bit rough, and it will get better.

 

If your kid is in Club HAL, or if you are in a suite that has a butler, tipping to the Club HAL people, butler and Neptune Lounge concierge is appropriate. (Not sure of the exact job titles -- someone on the Holland America forum would know for certain). Very few cabins are of the grade that has access to the Neptune, and/or butlers, though :D

 

We make sure we have a stack of US $1 and $5 bills for the room service server on board, so when he delivers, we can slip him $2 or $5, depending on how much food he had to carry.

 

If you use the spa for personal services such as manicures,massages, etc, a tip to the worker is appropriate.

 

If you are in a restaurant before or after your cruise, in either the US or Canada, standard tip is 15% of the bill (before any taxes are added -- 15% of the value of the food & beverages).

 

I didn't appear to be rude about tipping.

 

I don't think anyone interpreted your questions as rude, at all -- just a request for information. Keep asking questions -- everyone is here to help.

[kenish]

In Australia people generally earn fairly good money for working per hour. Young people $13 per hour and Adults $20 on a part time basis and more for casual rates (approx). So tipping for us is when we recieve service that is about and beyond what is considered 'normal'.

 

Rewind to the 60's or 70's. In the US, wages and tips were as you describe for Australia. Tips were for exceptional service.

 

I think employers have used tips as an excuse to pay lower wages, and tips have pretty much become an expectation that has little or nothing to do with good service.

 

Someone else can comment on wages in tourism jobs. I don't know what they are but I'm almost certain they are below Australian standards. Also, medical/dental insurance is often not provided, especially in service sector jobs with seasonal workers. When it is, the employee must pay $50-$150 per month for it. Pensions have all but vanished so most people have to proactively save and invest for retirement. All of that plus the tax man conspire to make some very meager paychecks.

[DreamTeam]

Sadly our federal government assumes that such people get a certain level of tips so they have to pay taxes on tips they aren't even getting this year!

 

 

 

:eek: wow that's robbery......is good to be aussie

 

Col

[Jakdgr]

:eek: wow that's robbery......is good to be aussie

 

Col

Totally agree:D - but like the OP, because tipping isn't the 'norm' here, we would hate to be seen to be 'stiffing' anyone so I probably tip everyone ... just hope its the going rate and not less than I should.

[DreamTeam]

Totally agree:D - but like the OP, because tipping isn't the 'norm' here, we would hate to be seen to be 'stiffing' anyone so I probably tip everyone ... just hope its the going rate and not less than I should.

 

You must be getting excited Jakdgr :D getting very close for you....where you headed? We are doing Alaska & Hawaii :D Have you cruised before?

 

Cheers

Col (Perth) &

Sue (Melbourne)

[neecee23]

This year with the poor weather, many people have reduced their tips or are not tipping at all.

 

What does poor weather have to do with the level of service you receive on a tour? What cretins! Tipping is a way to show your appreciation for a service you received, and often, in the service and travel industry, represents a larger sum for employees than their salary. Sad but true. Please tip generously!

[PennyAgain]

You are correct. However, it is both the weather and buyer's regret over how much people have spent getting to and around Alaska.

 

Tourists are complaining that everything costs too much in Alaska. So is this a surprise?

 

It has been a gloomy summer.