Gratuity question

[dlopiccolo]

Hi all. Just working out the particulars of our vacation budget. When do you get charged the Hotel service fee "gratuity". I see it is calculated at $11 a person per day. My parents have paid for our cruise and I am just curious if that was in the initial price or will it be charged to our room on the final day? No problem, just want to make sure we have the money accounted for. Thanks! 18 days to go! Whooo hooo.

[Harry1954]

It is charged daily to your onboard account which you will settle at cruise end. Keep in mind that certain staff are not included in this such as Pinnacle Grill and Room Service. Don't make the mistake we did on our first HAL cruise thinking the auto tip covered all tips. Also, if there are staff members who you feel have performed above/beyond for you, you may want to add a little extra in an envelope that you can get from front desk to show your appreciate.
harry

[uppitycats]

Hi all. Just working out the particulars of our vacation budget. When do you get charged the Hotel service fee "gratuity". I see it is calculated at $11 a person per day. My parents have paid for our cruise and I am just curious if that was in the initial price or will it be charged to our room on the final day? No problem, just want to make sure we have the money accounted for. Thanks! 18 days to go! Whooo hooo.

Unless you've pre-paid it (some cruise lines allow that), it will show up on your on-board account each day, payable at the end of the cruise.

[songbert]

The gratuity assessment of $11 per person per day is not included in the intitial cruise price. It will appear on your onboard account statement.

You also need to know that there is a $60 per person per day "hold" amount for your shipboard account (the $11 is included in that). If you check in on line and register a credit card, you need to be aware that they will put a "hold charge" on that card. You may want to call the credit card company so that they know you will be using it in your cruise location.
If you are using cash, HAL will expect you to give them the money "up front" in order to establish your onboard account.

Have a wonderful time on your cruise! You can see by my countdown clock that I am in major excitement mode!!

[dlopiccolo]

Does the $20 surcharge for the PG cover tips or should we plan on adding more. Does anyone know if the PG can accomadate a group of 13 or would they split us into smaller tables?

[swalm22]

From HAL

HOTEL SERVICE CHARGE


Our crew works very hard to make sure that every aspect of your cruise meets the highest standards. This includes those crew members who serve you directly, such as our dining room wait staff and the stewards who tend to your stateroom each day. There are also many others that tend to your care that you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff. To ensure that the efforts of all of our crew members are recognized and rewarded, a daily Hotel
Service Charge of US$11 per passenger is automatically charged to each guest's shipboard account. If our service exceeds or fails to meet your expectations, you are free to adjust this amount at the end of the cruise. The Hotel Service Charge is paid entirely to Holland America Line crew members, and represents an important part of their total compensation package. A 15% service charge is automatically added to bar charges and dining room wine purchases. In terminals, airports, ports of call and on shore excursions, we suggest that you extend gratuities consistent with customary local practices.

This is for all crew members incl. rome service.

The only extra you have to pay is: A 15% service charge is automatically added to bar charges and dining room wine purchases.

With other words, you pay your tips already to all crew members but if you want you alway's can pay an extra tip.

[dlopiccolo]

So are you telling me that if I check in online today with my credit card they will charge my card $1680 for my family of 4 on a 7 day cruise? And as I check out at the end, reimburse me for the difference? Seems pretty steep. My only concern is that I just prepaid a bunch of excursions. I'll double check my limit but $60 per person per day seems like a lot. Oh well. Good to know about it ahead of time.

[Cruz'n Couple]

No, it is a HOLD, not a charge! Meaning that amount is "held up" and not available to you until you have been charged, and the balance of the hold is released. This is a common practice in the travel industry--hotels, rental cars, etc. There are numerous threads addressing this subject, and others can state it better than I.

[Krazy Kruizers]

No -- they will not put a $1680 charge on your credit card now if you do your immigration forms.

The day you check in at the pier that amount will be put on "hold" on your charge card -- still will not be charged that actual amount.

[dlopiccolo]

Ok. I understand. Thanks!

So tipping for the Pinnacle Grill...is it included in the $20 fee or should we plan on tipping additional. Trust me we have no convern about tipping folks I jsut want to make sure we are following the rules. Thanks!

[cb at sea]

The surcharge INCLUDES the tip, but many will tip additional amounts....it's entirely up to you, and the service you receive!

[GeriatricNurse]

Does the $20 surcharge for the PG cover tips or should we plan on adding more. Does anyone know if the PG can accomadate a group of 13 or would they split us into smaller tables?



Yes, the $20 surcharge for the PG covers tips!

[GeriatricNurse]

Ok. I understand. Thanks!

So tipping for the Pinnacle Grill...is it included in the $20 fee or should we plan on tipping additional. Trust me we have no convern about tipping folks I jsut want to make sure we are following the rules. Thanks!


Yes, tipping for the Pinnacle Grill is included in the $20 fee and no, you should not plan on tipping additional!

[jtl513]

No, the PG $20 does NOT include any tip, but the waiters are in the pool that is financed by the $11 daily HSC, and so they will get a small amount if you leave nothing extra.

[Debbie&Chaz]

Yes, tipping for the Pinnacle Grill is included in the $20 fee and no, you should not plan on tipping additional!

I must strongly disagree. The service we have had when dining in the Pinnacle has always been OUTSTANDING. I can not imagine not rewarding that level of excellent service.

[lauramiddl]

I understand that an additional tip may be in order for PG, but what amount? If you order wine, 15% is already added to the bar tab. Would you tip an additional 15-20% on your total or service fee and bar tab? Or would you just leave a few dollars on the table?

[leoandhugh]

Trying to seat 13 people at one table in PG is, to my way of thinking, the worst thing you can do and the way to ruin a great experience. One of the best things about dining there is the ambience and the outstanding service - both of which would suffer trying to serve a big group like that. Suggest that you make reservations for either 3 tables for 4 and squeeze the additional diner at one of the tables or perhaps 2 tables for 6. When doing fine dining on several courses, service is really diminished at big tables.:)

[Debbie&Chaz]

I understand that an additional tip may be in order for PG, but what amount? If you order wine, 15% is already added to the bar tab. Would you tip an additional 15-20% on your total or service fee and bar tab? Or would you just leave a few dollars on the table?

As has been stated well, tipping is certainly a personal choice. Personally - our DS is still young enough that he is still not charged the additional fee for the Pinnacle - however we are getting very close. He loves dining in the Pinnacle, and with one exception the dining stewards seem to really enjoy a well behaved, shy young diner. Due to their exceptional treatment and acceptance of him (unlike some other pax on HAL), I usually leave a $10 tip.

[RuthC]

It is charged daily to your onboard account which you will settle at cruise end. Keep in mind that certain staff are not included in this such as Pinnacle Grill
This is not correct. As a HAL employee has posted, the Pinnacle Grill workers are well included in the $11 per person, per day service charge.

[RuthC]

The surcharge INCLUDES the tip,

Yes, the $20 surcharge for the PG covers tips!

Yes, tipping for the Pinnacle Grill is included in the $20 fee
No, the PG $20 does NOT include any tip, but the waiters are in the pool that is financed by the $11 daily HSC
John is correct. The $20 surcharge does not include tips to the Pinnacle Grill staff. However, the $11 per person, per day service charge does include them.

[MightyQuinn]

As a HAL employee has posted, the Pinnacle Grill workers are well included in the $11 per person, per day service charge. Exactly.
And that HAL employee was Sodomojo, who has proven himself to be a very accurate & reliable "insider". I have copied below an excerpt of how he described the tipping formula in March/09. The full thread is at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=939777&highlight=



One- The Pinnacle Waiters, proportionally speaking, gets the most of the $11/day.
Two- the cabin attendants still gets the same $$ as before the team approach
Three- the dinning room staff still gets the same $$

I just cannot believe how people can think they know how the system works when they simply just have no idea what they're talking about.

For the record here's how the $11/day/person works. Every position in the entire hotel team (from your cabin attendants down to the waaay back of the house crew) is assigned certain points, some have more (cabin attendants, dinning room stewards, Pinnacle Grill servers) and some has less (back of the house crew members you'll never see) At the end of each cruise the ship will have a final tally to see how much is in the "pool" (the sum of ALL the HSC collected) and then it will be distributed depends on how many points each position is entitled to. NO, it's not $3.50 here or $2.50 there. That's just the easy way to tell the guests how they're being distributed. There, end of this mystery:mad:

[catl331]

For the record here's how the $11/day/person works. Every position in the entire hotel team (from your cabin attendants down to the waaay back of the house crew) is assigned certain points, Well, if that's true on all ships, all I can say is that an awful lot of us have been led astray by CDs in their disembarkation talks! :eek:

[MightyQuinn]

Well, if that's true on all ships, all I can say is that an awful lot of us have been led astray by CDs in their disembarkation talks! Catl, just to be absolutely clear here - the info I posted was provided by HAL employee Sodomojo & shouldn't be quoted as mine. I agree that from HIS description, it does appear that CDs may indeed "simplify" tipping info during their disembarkation talks. ;);)

[Harry1954]

This is not correct. As a HAL employee has posted, the Pinnacle Grill workers are well included in the $11 per person, per day service charge.
Thanks, Ruth .. sorry for that - learned something new (again). Nice to know as I am in the 60s range now, I can still be educated!
Knowing this now, we will still continue our added tipping in PG when the staff provides the way above expected level of service - and we are currently batting about 80% on that aspect.
harry

[dlopiccolo]

OK..I am a little lost So my understanding is...$20 PG charge does NOT cover tip but Staff in PG are part of the $11 a day Hotel Service fee BUT as a general practice...if we feel the service in PG was respectable leave a tip...do you leave cash on the table? On average for a good meal...how much per diner?

[Harry1954]

OK..I am a little lost So my understanding is...$20 PG charge does NOT cover tip but Staff in PG are part of the $11 a day Hotel Service fee BUT as a general practice...if we feel the service in PG was respectable leave a tip...do you leave cash on the table? On average for a good meal...how much per diner?
we only leave extra tip if the service was especially grand - which it has been on most of our PG dinners - and we tend to dine there at least 2 or 3 times per cruise.
harry