New Service Rate

[jimgev]

I just recived my documents for a November Cruise on the Oosterdam- YIPPEE! There was a note included that there will be a new per diem service rate effective on this cruise. The old rate of $10 per diem per person has been increased to $11.

Perhaps this has already been announced on the board and I might have missed it. If that is the case, I apologize.

I have no problem with this whatsoever as I always give extra gratuities to those wonderful people who serve us on HAL ships. I do expect that we will see some negative reactions on the board - so be forewarned.

 

Jim

[sail7seas]

There is a thread about that....... Most of us agree the slight increase is fine by us.

 

HAL crew/stewards make our cruises so outstanding, they deserve a little extra thanks IMO

[Krazy Kruizers]

The new auto tip is supposed to take effect starting with many cruises in October.

 

Congratulations on getting your documents.

[tomc]

I always add extra anyway. No complaints from this end.

[FLACRUISER99]

IMO the service on RCL is much better then on HAL and the recommended tip is only $9.50/day. I am not happy with this.:mad:

[DMorris]

I only have 1 HAL cruise under my belt and we were in a suite... the service was great all around. Will see if it is the same when I sail again in November. At this time I have issues with the increase, because I usually give extra to those that warrant it.

[MamaTene]

I have never been one to particularly care for the auto tip feature that seems to have been adopted throughout the lines. I feel the service took a deep dive when the auto tip became the norm. As I usually tip over and above the "suggested" amount by giving extra to the cabin steward and dining room attendants who serve me (dont do the anytime dining bit either..REALLY dont care for THAT) will have to see how this plays out on my upcoming cruise in November.

[NapTown Jim]

I always add extra anyway. No complaints from this end.

 

Same here.

[usha]

I've got no problem with 11 bucks a day.:)

[sail7seas]

At a land restaurant, were you to have any meal comparable to HAL's dining room, the bill for two would be how much? How much would a 20% tip for that meal amount to? Don't you tip in U.S. land restaurants? In Canada?

 

That doesn't begin to consider cabin stewards! Nor anyone else throughout the ship who is sharing in that auto tip amount.

 

[usha]

s7s, exactly!

$11 doesn't begin to cover the extent of service received on a cruise.

[Sow There]

s7s, exactly!

$11 doesn't begin to cover the extent of service received on a cruise.

Nor does the auto tipping compensate most of the service providers on board.

 

This is the problem with this procedure.

 

As far as I am permitted to know the bartenders are not part of the tipping pool nor are the great people at the purser's office and many, many others. The list of people on board who are in "customer contact/customer service" positions ranging from the tender staff to deck staff at pool side, from the burger chef on deck to the room service staff, etc., etc., is very long...but the only people that were given gratuities by most people in the old "tipping not required" days were the dining room staff and the cabin steward.

 

Back in those days we tried to "remember" everyone from whom we received terrific service, but now with the new policy and without a list of recipients, I'm really uncomfortable giving separate gratuities to some but not to all.

 

That's why we opt to remove all gratuities from our cabin bill and tip the people who earned the tip individually just as we did in the good old "tipping not required" days.

 

The total then and now is always more than $10.00 or $11.00 per day.

[hammybee]

steward.

 

 

That's why we opt to remove all gratuities from our cabin bill and tip the people who earned the tip individually just as we did in the good old "tipping not required" days.

 

 

And you are free to do so.

 

Be aware however, that whatever you do choose to leave, is required to be turned over to the gratiuity pool. So regardless if you go with the flow or opt out, the money ends up in the same place.

 

Cruise lines have been pooling tips behind the scenes for 50 years. Pooling of tips or "tipping out" the behind the scenes folk at land based restuartants is also very common.

[sail7seas]

Bartenders receive the better part of the 15% tip that is automatically added to all beverage purchases. You Cannot remove that charge. The only way to not tip the bartenders is to not purchase any beverages.

 

That is possible BTW Iced Tea, iced water, hot coffee and tea are complimentary so it is very possible to be aboard for a week and purchase no drinks.

 

[VegasRealtor]

At a land restaurant, were you to have any meal comparable to HAL's dining room, the bill for two would be how much? How much would a 20% tip for that meal amount to? Don't you tip in U.S. land restaurants? In Canada?

 

That doesn't begin to consider cabin stewards! Nor anyone else throughout the ship who is sharing in that auto tip amount.

 

My daughter works as a food server in one of Las Vegas' 5 star hotels - it is very well known among most service personnel that many European guests (I won't mention specific nationalities here) tip very little or nothing at all for their service, sometimes running up tabs in excess of $300. They all seem to say "that's not how it's done in our country", full well realizing that's how the servers make their living! I guess you could say "if you don't like it, get another job". We always tip extra on cruises for all the great service we receive, especially on HAL.;)

[RuthC]

They all seem to say "that's not how it's done in our country",

And she's not allowed to reply "But we're not in your country". :(

Sad, isn't it.

[VegasRealtor]

And she's not allowed to reply "But we're not in your country". :(

Sad, isn't it.

 

Management would show her the door very quickly!!

[sail7seas]

There are always some people who will find a way to stiff the servers.....be them crew on ships or wiat staff in restaurants on land. I don't know how they can bring themselves to do it but so be it.

 

[pipedreams62]

I've sat next to these people at dinner who want to remove the auto tip.

 

They want to see the expression on their waiters face when they discreetly hand him $10 at the end of a trip.:mad:

[Spinner2]

I know that before the service-charge or auto-tip went into effect we would sit at meals and try to keep our tempers while the conversation at the table concerned how people planned to avoid the dining room on the final day to escape having to leave any tip whatsoever. Some seemed very proud of their plans. And indeed, that last dinner was often very sparsely-attended; I remember one evening when we were the only guests that our dining steward had for that meal. I am all in favor of the $11 and I'll continue to look for opportunities to add to it when we can. There is no way that we can know, or meet, all of the behind-the-scenes persons who help to create our enjoyable vacation and the auto-tip helps out with that distribution. We are far from wealthy, but if we can afford the cruise we can afford to help compensate those who make it such a great experience. From conversations we've had with our dining and cabin staff it seems that the extras that they receive are often shared with their behind-the-scenes colleagues; I think how that 's decided varies from ship to ship.

[jhannah]

They want to see the expression on their waiters face when they discreetly hand him $10 at the end of a trip.:mad:

Sad. But true. If money is that tight with folks, I can't help but wonder why they're on a cruise! :confused:

[jimgev]

In many other countries, (especiallty in europe) gratuities are included automatically in the charge for the meal. People from those countries may not be used to including gratuiteis as an extra charge.

Then again, some are happy to play the game and say that they are "not used" to a system where gratuities are left to the patron.

Unfortunately, there are always people, from any culture or background, who will do anything they can to avoid paying for services.

 

A wise person once observed that people who treat service people poorly are just not nice people.

[pipedreams62]

I know that before the service-charge or auto-tip went into effect we would sit at meals and try to keep our tempers while the conversation at the table concerned how people planned to avoid the dining room on the final day to escape having to leave any tip whatsoever. Some seemed very proud of their plans. And indeed, that last dinner was often very sparsely-attended; I remember one evening when we were the only guests that our dining steward had for that meal. I am all in favor of the $11 and I'll continue to look for opportunities to add to it when we can. There is no way that we can know, or meet, all of the behind-the-scenes persons who help to create our enjoyable vacation and the auto-tip helps out with that distribution. We are far from wealthy, but if we can afford the cruise we can afford to help compensate those who make it such a great experience. From conversations we've had with our dining and cabin staff it seems that the extras that they receive are often shared with their behind-the-scenes colleagues; I think how that 's decided varies from ship to ship.

 

 

It's definitely a profile these people have. They don't take any side trips (those cost money) When they dine they order 2 dinners 3 shrimp cocktails and 3 desserts.

I'm sure they go back to their cabin and drink their booze out of their 'Prell" bottle.

[VegasRealtor]

It's definitely a profile these people have. They don't take any side trips (those cost money) When they dine they order 2 dinners 3 shrimp cocktails and 3 desserts.

I'm sure they go back to their cabin and drink their booze out of their 'Prell" bottle.

 

We were on a repo (7 day) cruise a few years ago with a couple we never saw tip anybody anything. They also did not show at the last night's dinner, but when I ran into them later that evening, they complained loudly about their $1,600 bar bill! Go figure!:confused:

[localady]

We were on a repo (7 day) cruise a few years ago with a couple we never saw tip anybody anything. They also did not show at the last night's dinner, but when I ran into them later that evening, they complained loudly about their $1,600 bar bill! Go figure!:confused:

 

Perhaps they confusing tipping with tipsy !!:eek: :eek: