Tipping question.....

[Mlascheid]

Is it possible to prepay the gratuities and get that expense out of the way, so to speak, or is it only able to applied to the onboard account?

[jhannah]

It is applied to your onboard account. However, you can send HAL money in advance to apply to your account. So yes, you can prepay that (or any) amount.

[hammybee]

Your T/A should be able to take care of this for you, before you cruise.

[Scottish Cruiser]

Why on earth would you want to? Surely it is better to have the money in your hands - hopefully earning interest - than in HAL's hands.

But maybe that is just an old Scottish accountant's viewpoint.

[newmexicoNita]

Why on earth would you want to? Surely it is better to have the money in your hands - hopefully earning interest - than in HAL's hands.

But maybe that is just an old Scottish accountant's viewpoint.
Unless you are taking a 100 day cruise or something that little bit of interest isn't worth worrying about. If the OP would feel better tipping up front good for them. NMNita

[Mlascheid]

To the above poster.....

My thoughts exactly....the $280(for 4 pax x 7 days) in tips would not gain any interest in my checking account....so why not have one less expense to deal with after the cruise when my credit card bill comes? I'm sure we'll have plenty of other onboard expenses showing up on the credit card after our return home! I have never exercised the prepay option that has been offered by some other lines we have cruised with, but it may not be such a bad idea. You end up paying for it one way or the other...it just depends on what appeals to you. That's why they make chocolate and vanilla ice cream!

[kryos]

Unless you are taking a 100 day cruise or something that little bit of interest isn't worth worrying about. If the OP would feel better tipping up front good for them. NMNita
Some group cruises add the gratuities onto the fare and list them as "prepaid." My Celebrity cruise in December was like that.

What I would do if I wanted to prepay them as an individual passenger, though, would be to just visit the front desk at the beginning of the cruise, cash in hand, and put an advance right on my account to cover them. Believe me, HAL will be only too happy to take your money, and you won't lose the interest on it for all those days leading up to the cruise.

I know some people who routinely put several hundred dollars down on their shipboard account as soon as they get onboard. Makes the "sticker shock" at disembarkation much easier to deal with. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[noblepa]

Why prepay tips?

If the OP is planning on funding his/her account with cash, it reduces the amount of cash that they must carry and risk losing. If they plan on funding it with a debit card, it reduces the account balance necessary. They may be able to draw the funds from savings or other account and, therefore, reduce the amount they must maintain in their checking account.

Then, too, there are some people who simply refuse to have any credit cards. I personally think that, in this day and age, that is short-sighted, but that's their choice. I agree with not using credit cards, but its a good idea to have one or two.

Paul Noble

[winegirl]

I am not familiar with what HAL does with regard to tipping. Other cruises that we've taken had different practices. According to the HAL website, they will add $ 10 per person per day to the shipboard account. That can be adjusted by the guest at the end of the cruise. Does anyone tip the cabin steward or maitre'd directly, at the beginning of the cruise? I have found this greases the wheels at times and makes your experience a little better, but I don't know if this is done on HAL.

[lougee1043]

Does anyone tip the cabin steward or maitre'd directly, at the beginning of the cruise? I have found this greases the wheels at times and makes your experience a little better, but I don't know if this is done on HAL.

when you say directly --do you mean in addiion to the 10.00 pp that is automatically added to your acct -- the answer is yes a lot of people tip in addition to the prepaid tips --- if it is your intent to remove the auto tip and tip directly then those people must turn that tip back into the tip pool -just like it was an auto tip

the tipping in advance has come up on this board a number of times and most people myself included do not "grease the wheel" in advance but extend any extra tips on the last nite of the cruise with the exception of tipping the room service waiter

bty i never tip the maitre d' unless he has performed a special service for me

some people feel that by tipping in advance of service you have taken away their motivation to earn an extra tip for superior service because they already have it in hand and know that you are not going to ask for it back

[winegirl]

I meant in addition to the gratuity added to your account. Thank you for the observations.

[newmexicoNita]

when you say directly --do you mean in addiion to the 10.00 pp that is automatically added to your acct -- the answer is yes a lot of people tip in addition to the prepaid tips --- if it is your intent to remove the auto tip and tip directly then those people must turn that tip back into the tip pool -just like it was an auto tip

the tipping in advance has come up on this board a number of times and most people myself included do not "grease the wheel" in advance but extend any extra tips on the last nite of the cruise with the exception of tipping the room service waiter

bty i never tip the maitre d' unless he has performed a special service for me

some people feel that by tipping in advance of service you have taken away their motivation to earn an extra tip for superior service because they already have it in hand and know that you are not going to ask for it backI never do either; can't understand why one would feel the need to tip him/her. On our last Celebrity cruise he did managed to change tables, adjust our group and made certain everything was the way we wanted. Yes, he got a tip. One time on an NCL cruise he came to our table every night, visited with our granddaughters and one night acutally danced with the 10 year old: yes, he got a generous tip. But when they pop in the first night an say, Hi I'm so and so, have a good cruise and pop in the last night to say, hi I'm so and so; no tip, sorry. NMNita

[ciska40]

We will be cruising with our 13 year old daughter do they charge $10 a day for her too. I guess they will we went on the disney wonder last year and had to pay the tipping fee for my daughter too. I have never had this with the holland america line they use to have a no tipping policy and I felt it was good everybody gives tips at the end of the cruise so I really don't know why they changed that.

Ciska

[peaches from georgia]

.... I have never had this with the holland america line they use to have a no tipping policy and I felt it was good everybody gives tips at the end of the cruise so I really don't know why they changed that.

Ciska
They changed it because NOT everyone gave tips at the end of the cruise, unfortunately.

Even with the new system you can have automatic tips removed from your account. But then if you give a separate cash tip to any steward it will have to be turned in by him and put in the pool.

Yes, the $10/day will be added to your account for your daughter also. Even if just 13, the steward will be cleaning your cabin for her and the dining stewards will be serving her meals, will they not?

[whogo]

One of the things I like about HAL's $10 per person per day tip is that I no longer feel obligated to tip the Maitre d' or head waiter. I get much less of the smarmy intrusions from these two on HAL than on other lines. An unctuous headwaiter makes my skin crawl.

[boards]

I tend to agree with you Whogo, except that on the two cruises we have done on Hal, those two have been best we have experienced on 7 cruises we have done on other cruise lines..

[Mlascheid]

We will be cruising with our 13 year old daughter do they charge $10 a day for her too. I guess they will we went on the disney wonder last year and had to pay the tipping fee for my daughter too. I have never had this with the holland america line they use to have a no tipping policy and I felt it was good everybody gives tips at the end of the cruise so I really don't know why they changed that.

Ciska

We cruise with our now 4 and 7 year olds(they have been on 4 and 8 cruises respectively) and we tip the $10/day for each of them. We feel that the stewards and waiters earn every penny of that $10pp/day. As an above poster stated, the cabin stewards and waiters do the same amount of work for children as they do for adults...and usually more. We often find that they go out of their way to do nice things for our children. They straighten up their toys in our cabin, do cute things with their stuffed animals like putting sunglasses on them, leave extra chocolates on their pillows, serve them meals etc., etc. Regardless of your daughter's age, she still sleeps in a bed that needs to be made, uses towels that need to be changed, and eats meals that need to be served...How you decide to tip is enitrely up to you, obviously, since you do have the option to remove the automatic tip. But, please think about how much work will be done on your daughter's behalf before you decide that it is not necessary to tip due to her age.

In response to why HAL changed their tipping policy. I would assume that it was because too many people took the "No tipping REQUIRED" slogan to mean that "Since they're not telling me I HAVE to tip then I won't". Way too many people were not giving ANY tips. It was the actions of these people that made it necessary to change the policy, although , there is still a loophole because people have the right to remove the automatic tips if they choose.

[AWED23]

I am not familiar with what HAL does with regard to tipping. Other cruises that we've taken had different practices. According to the HAL website, they will add $ 10 per person per day to the shipboard account. That can be adjusted by the guest at the end of the cruise. Does anyone tip the cabin steward or maitre'd directly, at the beginning of the cruise? I have found this greases the wheels at times and makes your experience a little better, but I don't know if this is done on HAL.Winegirl......I always give a Benjamin to the room steward and the MAITRE"D.....It causes wonderful things to happen!....Invitations to both the Hotel managers' table and the Captains' table for dinner etc...I have done this since way back before the "auto-tipping"....I feel it is my way of saying that this is for the good service I am sure you will provide....

[jagsfan]

I sometimes sail with an elderly friend. She scatters $100-200 everywhere
she goes. She always gets anything she wants. Unfortunately for me, what
she wants for meals (all meals) is a table for 2 by the window. One of the
best thing about cruising for me is the great people I meet at meals. Speaking
of tipping, I've actually been on a couple of cruises back when you tipped the
last night when people actually skipped dessert, and told us they were getting
out before the waiter and asst came back. Not crazy about automatic
tipping, but you do have the leeway to adjust it if you want. There will
still be those who are too cheap to tip, but most people wouldn't bother to
or be too embarassed to take it off.

[AWED23]

We cruise with our now 4 and 7 year olds(they have been on 4 and 8 cruises respectively) and we tip the $10/day for each of them. We feel that the stewards and waiters earn every penny of that $10pp/day. As an above poster stated, the cabin stewards and waiters do the same amount of work for children as they do for adults...and usually more. We often find that they go out of their way to do nice things for our children. They straighten up their toys in our cabin, do cute things with their stuffed animals like putting sunglasses on them, leave extra chocolates on their pillows, serve them meals etc., etc. Regardless of your daughter's age, she still sleeps in a bed that needs to be made, uses towels that need to be changed, and eats meals that need to be served...How you decide to tip is enitrely up to you, obviously, since you do have the option to remove the automatic tip. But, please think about how much work will be done on your daughter's behalf before you decide that it is not necessary to tip due to her age.

In response to why HAL changed their tipping policy. I would assume that it was because too many people took the "No tipping REQUIRED" slogan to mean that "Since they're not telling me I HAVE to tip then I won't". Way too many people were not giving ANY tips. It was the actions of these people that made it necessary to change the policy, although , there is still a loophole because people have the right to remove the automatic tips if they choose.Your post is right on target!!!....We have sailed on many different lines and very, very few have the "Eager to please" attitude of HALs' Indonesian and Filipino crew....I have never been disapointed by the level of service !

[lougee1043]

In response to why HAL changed their tipping policy. I would assume that it was because too many people took the "No tipping REQUIRED" slogan to mean that "Since they're not telling me I HAVE to tip then I won't". Way too many people were not giving ANY tips.

i read on these boards a while back that some tas were selling hal cruises and "no tipping required" to their clients as the tips were included in the cabin price---------one of the problems that could/will/do arise from using a generic ta rather then a cruise specialist---------now dont go flamining me-im sure that there are excellent generic tas out there with lots of quality and truthful cruise info

[Mlascheid]

AWED23....my experience exactly

We have not sailed on HAL for about 6 years, but we are booked on the Zuiderdam for 11/04/06. During those years we have sailed Celebrity(4cruises), Carnival(1 cruise), and Princess(1 cruise). On all of these cruises we found the service to be very good to excellent....with the exception of Carnival which we felt the crew to be indifferent and not all that willing to do anything above their basic duties. Of those cruises we never found any crew, as a whole, to be more warm, hospitable or caring as we found of the Indonesian/Filipino crews of HAL. I look forward to sailing again with HAL.:)