Auto-tipping poll

[serendipity1499]

In Dec. 2004 Krazy Kruzers posted a new thread entitled:

Cruise Travel magazine - HAL - tipping

Stein Kruse claimed that 90% of the HAL passengers were in favor of HAL's new auto-tipping policy..

There was a big brouhaha on Cruise critic & the thread has recently been reserected..

The reason for this confidential poll is to see if some of those who were so opposed to the new Auto-Tipping have changed our minds after almost 5 years..

We've changed our minds & now like the Auto tip..We also enjoy giving an additional cash tip, with a Thank you note, for extraordinary service to deserving people..

Cheers..Betty

[world~citizen]

The auto tip works fine for us too!:)

Smooth sailing always...

[alohadad]

In the old days of cruising back when I started with HAL in 1984 they gave out white envelopes at the front desk so that each passenger "if they wanted" could leave a tip for the staff,(cabin steward,waiters and so on). Back then HAL used in there advertising " NO TIPPING REQUIRED" except for outstanding service. I made friends with my cabin steward who was my age on my first cruise and I will always remember what he said to me about passengers and tipping. He worked to make the passengers happy and all he wanted was for them to leave and say "Thank You Chipto for a great cruise and shake his hand" if he received a tip that was extra money to send home. What hurt his feelings the most were passengers that would leave there cabins before he came on duty @ 6 am with not even a Thank You.
My thought's are, I like to tip to those who give me service. A front desk girl said to me on a recent cruise when I opted out of the automatic tip program. That means the front desk staff won't receive any money from you. I don't tip front desk clerks at hotels, Why would I on a ship.

[world~citizen]

...I don't tip front desk clerks at hotels, Why would I on a ship.

Maybe because they are not quite in the same category as front desk clerks at land based hotels?

Smooth sailing...

[alohadad]

[QUOTE=world~citizen;21150400]Maybe because they are not quite in the same category as front desk clerks at land based hotels?

I beg to differ. The duties of clerks at sea may be different than on land but there overall job is to serve the needs of there guests. I live near casinos and at the casino cage (cashiers) they have tip box's at there windows. Why would you tip someone who makes change for you. Then why would there be a need to tip office staff.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Back then we left the auto tips in place and gave extra cash tips to those who eraned it.

And we still are doing the same thing years later.

[sapper1]

I like the auto tipping as that is less cash that has to be carried and worried about. I also give extra tips to those who have made our trip special.
On our recent Transatlantic cruise, there were a few dining room staff members who made our experience so much fun that we did something else for them in addition to the extra tip.
We knew that the Eurodam was going to be doing the Canada/New England route for the next six weeks and had heard that the crew members loved Tim Hortons. At our first Canadian port we went together with our friends and bought Tim Hortons gift cards to give to them so they could have their coffee and doughnuts when they went ashore.

These guys were so much fun that I hope we are lucky enough to have them look after us again on our upcoming Eurodam cruise.

[IRL_Joanie]

I'm with you on the Auto Tipping and giving additional tips for exceptional service, Serendipity!

As has been posted by many of us in other threads, some of us were ignorant of the tipping in the Specialty restaurants, Room Service, etc., etc.,

I think this Poll is great and hopefully HAL will see it and take it into consideration in it's decisions instead of Mr. Kruse, who may have just pulled the %'s out of a mystical hat.....

[Randyk47]

Admittedly we weren't all that excited when HAL first announced the auto-tipping program. After a couple of cruises under the new process we actually came to like it. We do tip out-of-hand to those special crew members who have made our cruise just that bit better. Certainly cuts down on the cash we have to squirrel away to the end of the cruise. Might add that only once since they went to auto-tipping did we feel somebody was going to get a share out of the pool that we didn't think deserved it. We left the auto-tip in place though and just "groaned" privately between us about that particular circumstance plus commented about it in our end of cruise questionnaire.

[MrsMuir]

The poll doesn't have a category for "I go along with the auto-tipping policy and leave something extra for good service." I don't prefer the policy, though I would never opt out of it. I like the old policy of "no tipping expected," with the envelopes at the end of the voyage. If we can afford to take a cruise, we can reward good service -- even if that reward is not extravagant -- regardless of what tipping policy is in place.

Mrs M

[scopewest]

I prefer auto-tip.

[fun_seeker]

At one time or another in their careers, all of our children worked in the hospitality industry as either chefs or waiters/waitresses. We know how hard that industry is and how poorly they are compensated for their efforts. For someone who loves to cook, it is hard to move on or change careers. The autotip compensates the chef, who has prepared the delicious meal that you are tipping the server for. It is only right that the people behind the scenes, who also make your cruise a delight, should share in the rewards.

[serendipity1499]

In Dec. 2004 Krazy Kruzers posted a new thread entitled:

Cruise Travel magazine - HAL - tipping


Stein Kruse claimed that 90% of the HAL passengers were in favor of HAL's new auto-tipping policy..


There was a big brouhaha on Cruise critic & the thread has recently been reserected..Cheers..Betty

Whoops..:o:o Can't believe I spelled resurrected wrong on several posts..It did not look right to me, but forgot to check it out in the wee hours last night.:o No one would ever believe that years ago, I spent hours correcting our Son's homework for spelling..:o:o

The poll doesn't have a category for "I go along with the auto-tipping policy and leave something extra for good service." I don't prefer the policy, though I would never opt out of it. I like the old policy of "no tipping expected," with the envelopes at the end of the voyage. If we can afford to take a cruise, we can reward good service -- even if that reward is not extravagant -- regardless of what tipping policy is in place...Mrs M

Sorry, Mrs Muir..Never thought of that, perhaps the last option would work for those of you who prefer complete cash tipping the old way..

Thank you all for taking the poll & your responses..

Cheers....:)Betty

[LOGHL]

we usually travel on a lux line, that includes tipping in it's fare. No extra cash needed, & if we want (&usually do) we make a donation to the crew welfare fund. That way, ALL the crew enjoy the benefits. The service has always been exceptional,and the servers, warm & friendly. By the way, liquor, wine, soft drinks, coffee, tea etc. included.

[basiaZ03]

We like the auto tipping and also give cash

[Pettifogger]

I agree with Mrs Muir in every respect.

[skankycat]

It is satisfying, though, to give that little extra to someone whose good service you've enjoyed. Their 'thank you' and smile go a long way.

[Jemima]

Choices 1, 2 and 3; but not choice 4. We really like the auto tip, we do give extra to one or two people each cruise and we do think the auto tip alone is sufficient. My preference would be for there to be only the auto tip and for extra tipping not to be permitted.

[Toad]

Why not just increase the price of the cruise, by the amount of the auto tip, and then go back to "tipping not required". People could still tip extra if they chose to or not. That way when the bill came at the end of the cruise it would be less of a shock, and tips could be paid in advance? Everyone could still bring less cash, but tip those who provided outstanding service.

[serendipity1499]

Why not just increase the price of the cruise, by the amount of the auto tip, and then go back to "tipping not required". People could still tip extra if they chose to or not. That way when the bill came at the end of the cruise it would be less of a shock, and tips could be paid in advance? Everyone could still bring less cash, but tip those who provided outstanding service.


Hello there..Have been thinking about you recently.. Wondering if you & DH are staying safe..We've been fortunate not to have the hurricanes hit so far, but it looks like you're getting more than your fair share of them..

Re adding tip to the cost of the cruise fare..May 26, 2008, Phillip217 (a cruise Line officer) explained why cruise Lines could not add the tip to our fares..

Th's is part of what he said: Quote

"For all of those who whine and moan about just adding extra money to the price of the cruise and omitting tipping altogether, you may be surprised to learn that the cruise lines have actually considered that idea a few times over the past 100 years. If we did it, that money would be taxable and commissionable, reducing the net earnings of our crew rather substantially. Unquote

Phillip's post is No. 35 in the following thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1043415&page=2

"]It's worth taking the time to read all of his posts on the subject..He does make sense..I believe if they did it as Seaborne does it our fares would cost much more...Not only would fares increase but the tipping amount would increase substantially in order for the crew to get their fair share & still pay U.S. Income taxes...

Take care E & T..Please stay well! Will send an e-mail soon..:)

Thanks everyone for your posts & remarks..Time to go to bed as our pool lanai is being re-screened tomorrow & the men will be arriving at 7:30 for the next three days..

Cheers..:)Betty[/COLOR]

[mrmac]

I do like the auto tipping but I do not like how HAL disburses it. It used to be on most lines suggested tips were $3.50 per day for waiter and steward and $2.00 per day for asst. waiter, or $9 total per day plus whatever you might like to leave for the maitre 'd. According to a post in that older thread only $3 per day is now going to the wait team and $4 is going to the back of the house workers. Personally, I am not interested in paying salaries to back of the house employees. They are not providing serrvice to me, they are doing their jobs and should be paid by the cruiseline. Waiters and room stewards provide continueing service to me directly and I tip them extra. But I would rather HAL pay them a higher percentage of the tips I'm already paying.

[hammybee]

It' used to be very common for those who received tips to "tip out" to the behind the scene staff who supported them. This is common in most restaurants too, that do not automatically pool tips.

Other people's compensation is none of my business.

[Jemima]

I do like the auto tipping but I do not like how HAL disburses it. It used to be on most lines suggested tips were $3.50 per day for waiter and steward and $2.00 per day for asst. waiter, or $9 total per day plus whatever you might like to leave for the maitre 'd. According to a post in that older thread only $3 per day is now going to the wait team and $4 is going to the back of the house workers. Personally, I am not interested in paying salaries to back of the house employees. They are not providing serrvice to me, they are doing their jobs and should be paid by the cruiseline. Waiters and room stewards provide continueing service to me directly and I tip them extra. But I would rather HAL pay them a higher percentage of the tips I'm already paying.

Maybe the other crew did receive part of the tips in the days before the auto tip. Perhaps the waiters and room stewards had to give part of their tips to those people.
I have no objections to part of the tip going to behind the scenes crew.

Oh. Posted while Hammybee was posting.

[serendipity1499]

I do like the auto tipping but I do not like how HAL disburses it. It used to be on most lines suggested tips were $3.50 per day for waiter and steward and $2.00 per day for asst. waiter, or $9 total per day plus whatever you might like to leave for the maitre 'd. According to a post in that older thread only $3 per day is now going to the wait team and $4 is going to the back of the house workers. Personally, I am not interested in paying salaries to back of the house employees. They are not providing serrvice to me, they are doing their jobs and should be paid by the cruiseline. Waiters and room stewards provide continueing service to me directly and I tip them extra. But I would rather HAL pay them a higher percentage of the tips I'm already paying.

As Hammy & Jemima state...Your Stewards always had to pay off the back room staff in order to get their laundry (room stewards), food (dining room stewards) out to you in time.The more they were paid off, the better your front of the house service was..

During my hat checking days in an exclusive restaurant, while supplementing my airline income, I had to give 50% of my tips to the Matre d' in order to keep my job..He hired me & he could fire me!...Our kids worked in all kinds of restaurant jobs & always had to share their tips with the kitchen staff & & busboys...

Now the tips on HAL are $11.00 per day & the back of the house staff get a set amount..

As Hammy states, it's not any of my business what the share is with the back of the house staff..I'm happy with the service & when I give extra to those who deserve it, they get to keep the entire amount.

Betty.