OMG - another tipping question

[SDHALFAN]

After 400 plus days sailing with HAL I never thought that I would raise the dreaded tipping flag, however, on my last cruise I was faced with something I had never encountered before.

 

I always tip my cabin and dining room stewards over and above the "Hotel Service Charge" but on my last cruise I was magnificently attended to by two cabin stewards instead of the usual one. Now, here's my dilemma: I usually decide how much I am going to tip, place the tip in an envelope and give it to my cabin steward on the night before disembarkation with my heartfelt thanks. This time I was faced with two stewards so I divided the money equally between the two. Bo had introduced himself to me as my steward and introduced me to Hari, his assistant. Should I have given Bo a larger amount and Hari a smaller amount?:confused:

 

I know it sounds like a dumb question but I consoled myself with the fact that on some ships the stewards pool their tips anyway.

 

I did send in a couple of comment cards commending both of them during the cruise and of course mentioned them in the cruise questionnaire at the end of the cruise.

 

Valerie:)

[cruisinjudy]

We had the same problem and were not sure what to do. We saw one more than the other, but we still gave the same extra to each.

[sail7seas]

December on Maasdam was the first time we had two cabin stewards. One introduced himself as Steward and told us the other was his assistant. We tipped both 'over and above' as they took wonderful care of us for two weeks.

[serendipity1499]

After 400 plus days sailing with HAL I never thought that I would raise the dreaded tipping flag, however, on my last cruise I was faced with something I had never encountered before.

 

I always tip my cabin and dining room stewards over and above the "Hotel Service Charge" but on my last cruise I was magnificently attended to by two cabin stewards instead of the usual one. Now, here's my dilemma: I usually decide how much I am going to tip, place the tip in an envelope and give it to my cabin steward on the night before disembarkation with my heartfelt thanks. This time I was faced with two stewards so I divided the money equally between the two. Bo had introduced himself to me as my steward and introduced me to Hari, his assistant. Should I have given Bo a larger amount and Hari a smaller amount?:confused:

 

I know it sounds like a dumb question but I consoled myself with the fact that on some ships the stewards pool their tips anyway.

 

I did send in a couple of comment cards commending both of them during the cruise and of course mentioned them in the cruise questionnaire at the end of the cruise.

 

Valerie:)

 

Valerie...In my Opinion you did it exactly as it should be done...We also intend to divide the cash equally between the two, from now on....

Cheers..Betty

[CowPrincess]

We did small bills ($5s and $10s) and left them with a thank you note in an envelope addressed to both. That way -- they could share however they agreed upon ('cuz I'm pretty sure the teams DO have some sort of agreement)

[SDHALFAN]

We had the same problem and were not sure what to do. We saw one more than the other, but we still gave the same extra to each.

 

 

Valerie...In my Opinion you did it exactly as it should be done...We also intend to divide the cash equally between the two, from now on....

 

Cheers..Betty

 

Thanks Judy and Betty. From now on, if faced with two stewards, I will divide the tips equally amongst them. I did see Bo more often than I saw Hari but I'm sure that they both worked equally hard.

 

I have to say that they both thanked me with a smile, but then they were both always so darned nice and polite. Their families must be very proud of them - what nice young men they are.

 

I did divide my tip equally between my two dining room stewards because I could see that Ketut worked just as hard as Edi did.

 

Valerie:)

[SDHALFAN]

We did small bills ($5s and $10s) and left them with a thank you note in an envelope addressed to both. That way -- they could share however they agreed upon ('cuz I'm pretty sure the teams DO have some sort of agreement)

 

I think that you are definitely on to something here. I have been hearing more and more that the stewards do indeed pool their "extra tips".

 

Valerie:D

[vanrhyn]

Hello:

 

I am on a 20 day med cruise this fall.

 

My question would be:

 

Since the Cruise also sold as as 2 ten day cruises, and I read somewhere that sometimes the crew is reassigned areas that they work in between cruises do you tip extra to the people deserving of it between the two ten day segements or just at the end?

 

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this

 

Rod

[SDHALFAN]

December on Maasdam was the first time we had two cabin stewards. One introduced himself as Steward and told us the other was his assistant. We tipped both 'over and above' as they took wonderful care of us for two weeks.

 

Yes, but did you split the tip equally between the two? That was my question.

 

Valerie:)

[CowPrincess]

I think that you are definitely on to something here. I have been hearing more and more that the stewards do indeed pool their "extra tips".

 

Valerie:D

 

The bills we left could easily have been split 60/40 or 70/30 or 50/50 -- I know I fussed a LOT to get it into the correction denominations.

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

We just tipped them both the same amount. Two envelopes each with the names.

[SDHALFAN]

Hello:

 

I am on a 20 day med cruise this fall.

 

My question would be:

 

Since the Cruise also sold as as 2 ten day cruises, and I read somewhere that sometimes the crew is reassigned areas that they work in between cruises do you tip extra to the people deserving of it between the two ten day segements or just at the end?

 

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this

 

Rod

 

 

Hi Rod:

 

I was faced with the same dilemma. I was on a 28-day cruise that was apparently also sold as two 14-day cruises. I had the same two cabin stewards for the entire 28 days but at the end of the first 14 days my dining room stewards were reassigned to the lower dining room so I tipped them at the end of the 14 days.

 

I was moved to another table for the second 14 days and unfortunately did not have so much fun with my tablemates so only ate in the dining room maybe twice, thereby never even getting to know my dining room stewards. Didn't know them - didn't tip them since I ate in the Lido or ordered room service, where I did tip.

 

If I were you I would ask my dining room stewards if they are going to be reassigned to another area at the end of the first 10-day segment and then you can decide whether or not you wish to tip them.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Valerie:)

[~Jo~]

We are going on our first HAL cruise in a few weeks and was wondering about the tipping procedure. I read the cruise brochure from cover to cover and nothing was mentionned there. On Hal website, I think it says that gratuities are automatically added to your shipboard account. Now I read this here, I am confused. Are we talking about additional tipping here? Can someone clear this up for me?

Thanks,

~Jo~

[CowPrincess]

Yes, Jo, it is additional tipping that is being discussed.

[jtl513]

We gave an equal amount to both, in separate envelopes, but I think one envelope with both names would work equally well.

[PenelopeCorelli]

I think that you are definitely on to something here. I have been hearing more and more that the stewards do indeed pool their "extra tips".

 

Valerie:D

 

Here is some info from another website that seems to indicate that cash given above the auto tip is kept.

 

In my conversations with Hotel Manager X he did clear up one important question about Holland America's tipping policy. I asked him if the staffers are allowed to keep cash tips given to them directly by passengers. He said they are if the passenger has not removed himself from the automatic tipping program. If he has, then the staffers must turn the money back into the pool to be shared by the entire staff. If the passenger had not removed himself from the program, the staff member is free to keep the money. So they keep a list of all people who remove themselves from the program, and it is posted in the dining area and the cabin and bar staff areas. Holland America's automatic tipping policy also apportions a small share of gratuities to staffers you don't see, ensuring that behind-the-scenes workers such as cleaning, laundry and galley staff are also fairly remunerated.

 

 

:eek:Whoa! Remove yourself from the auto tip and your name goes up on the boards! (That in response to all the ?? and comments in the other kazillion tipping threads!) That may explain why the non-tippers can complain they don't get good service. Then they feel justified in not tipping....which comes first here, chicken or egg...?:confused:

[brucory]

Our stewards were wonderful and they each got additional tips on top of the daily charge, at the same rate as we would have given the single steward on our previous cruises. That said, if I felt one did more for us than the other, I would not hesitate to adjust the additional to represent that.

 

:D:D:D

[English_in_Spain]

Hello:

 

I am on a 20 day med cruise this fall.

 

My question would be:

 

Since the Cruise also sold as as 2 ten day cruises, and I read somewhere that sometimes the crew is reassigned areas that they work in between cruises do you tip extra to the people deserving of it between the two ten day segements or just at the end?

 

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this

 

Rod

 

We have been in this situation several times. We always tip at the end of the first segment.

 

Not just because we might not get the same waiters but also because it shows, for the second segment, that we tip extra for exceptional service.

 

Although HAL service is wonderful, it gets even better when they know you are a good tipper.

[Krazy Kruizers]

After 400 plus days sailing with HAL I never thought that I would raise the dreaded tipping flag, however, on my last cruise I was faced with something I had never encountered before.

 

I always tip my cabin and dining room stewards over and above the "Hotel Service Charge" but on my last cruise I was magnificently attended to by two cabin stewards instead of the usual one. Now, here's my dilemma: I usually decide how much I am going to tip, place the tip in an envelope and give it to my cabin steward on the night before disembarkation with my heartfelt thanks. This time I was faced with two stewards so I divided the money equally between the two. Bo had introduced himself to me as my steward and introduced me to Hari, his assistant. Should I have given Bo a larger amount and Hari a smaller amount?:confused:

 

 

I know it sounds like a dumb question but I consoled myself with the fact that on some ships the stewards pool their tips anyway.

 

I did send in a couple of comment cards commending both of them during the cruise and of course mentioned them in the cruise questionnaire at the end of the cruise.

 

Valerie:)

 

We were faced with this dilemma on our Nov/Dec and Feb cruises. On these cruises we decided to give the tips personally to our cabin stewards rather than leaving leaving envelopes on the bed as we were not certain who would not be making up the room on the last night and if that person would keep both envelopes.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hello:

 

I am on a 20 day med cruise this fall.

 

My question would be:

 

Since the Cruise also sold as as 2 ten day cruises, and I read somewhere that sometimes the crew is reassigned areas that they work in between cruises do you tip extra to the people deserving of it between the two ten day segements or just at the end?

 

I am interested in anyone's thoughts on this

 

Rod

 

We have been on quite a few back-to-back cruises. And recently we were on a 20 day cruise that for some was sold as 1 cruise - we had booked it as 2 separate cruises.

But no matter -- we still tipped our cabin stewards at the end of the first 10 days and as well as at the end of the second 10 days.

We always ask our dining room staff if they are going to be moved at the end of our first cruise -- most times they are moved -- as well as our wine steward. Naturally we tip then. On our recent Noordam we were surprised when our dining room wait staff told us that they would be taking care of us for the second cruise -- but we still tipped them at the end of the first segment.

[hawgwildterry]

On our most recent Oosterdam cruise we only saw our main cabin steward. That being the case he was the only person we gave the magic white envelope. If he opted to share it with his assistant then that would be his choice.

[Sage]

We gave each of the gentlemen the same amount in an envelope addressed to each of them, and if they could decide if there should be an adjustment. Our stateroom stewards, Buddi and Affandi were incredible, and they took very good care of us. I believe they were the best stewards that we have ever had. We also had fabulous room service and each tip was handed to the gentleman as service was rendered.

[jtl513]

... and they each got additional tips on top of the daily charge, at the same rate as we would have given the single steward on our previous cruises.

But remember that these 2-man teams now cover twice as many cabins as they used to as individuals. We gave each of ours a little more than 1/2 what we would give a single steward in the past.

[NoWhiners]

not too be indelicate, but I was wondering if anyone would care to share how much they tipped room stewards, dining staff, wine steward, etc? I would like to leave tips for exceptional service but have no idea what a reasonable amount would be. Since the auto-tip is $10/person/day, is the ecxtar tip the same/

 

i have been obsessing about tipping a lot as we prepare for our alaska cruise in June!!

 

Mary Lynn

[CowPrincess]

The auto-tip is now $11/person/day. What we did for extra tipping was figure out more or less what the recipient was getting from the auto-tip (there's a breakdown somewhere on this board), then gave that amount again in cash.