HAL Crew that are under appreciated and under recognized

Lovely idea, rka.

I always want to give extra thanks to the women (especially the women) who clean the women's rest rooms. When I see them there, they always seem to happy to be doing their job; they chat a bit, hand me a towel, and even get the door for me. And somehow, they seem to give the place that "women's touch".

On the Statendam last cruise the employee of the month was a lovely young lady who cleaned the public restrooms. She told me she had been on the ship only a few months and that it was her first assignment and so first trip away from Indonesia.

In the thread concerning Thank You notes to crew, sapper1 made a post that led me to thinking that this topic might be an interesting one for CC.

 

There are crew members that "fly under the radar" whose daily work contribute to our enjoyment, as guests, on any cruise. MDR. Lido Restaurant, Specialty Dining, Cabin Stewards, YUM men, even Lounge and Bar staff are obvious in providing service that enhance my cruise. And, no doubt, yours as well.

 

For me: a young man who was responsible for setting up, taking down, placing and removing the cushions on the Lower Promendade Deck chairs one one of my long cruises is a stand out. He usually offered Lemonade or Iced Tea in the morning or afternoon. And, since I was 2nd Seating, I remained in my deck chair late into the afternoon during the time he was removing the chair cushions. Never did he ask me to vacate the chair whose cushion I was using inspite of me asking him if he wanted me to do so. He always returned to collect that cushion from my sole deck chair. He worked in lovely weather, of course. But, I saw him out on deck struggling and fighting wind and driving rain, as well, in order to do his job. There was never a negative word that left his mouth when I spoke with him. "How are you? What have you done today?" Often, that is what I heard when he had time to chat.

 

In deciding which crew deserved an additional gratuity, this young man received one from me on that last afternoon before arrival into port. When he came around for the final time to collect the chair cushions for that cruise, I left my chair and gave him my envelope and my verbal thanks for the service. He almost started to cry in appreciation.

 

That is what the "Signature of Excellence" motto is all about, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for your welcome comments, we have been in the same position last time it was with the little girl who was serving the ice cream, ever smiling always appearing happy. She appeared at times not to be so well looking and we found out later she had left the ship due to being ill.

This is an excellent thread. Glad you started it. I always think of the nice young people who are cleaning the many railings around the ship in the early morning hours. They get very little recognition, but it's an important job. I always thank them, but now I will make sure to get names and write a card so their boss knows how much we apreciate their work plus give them a tip. I bet they don't see many tips in that position.

... There are crew members that "fly under the radar" whose daily work contribute to our enjoyment, as guests, on any cruise. MDR. Lido Restaurant, Specialty Dining, Cabin Stewards, YUM men, even Lounge and Bar staff are obvious in providing service that enhance my cruise. And, no doubt, yours as well.

 

...

 

In deciding which crew deserved an additional gratuity, this young man received one from me on that last afternoon before arrival into port. When he came around for the final time to collect the chair cushions for that cruise, I left my chair and gave him my envelope and my verbal thanks for the service. He almost started to cry in appreciation.

Excellent post and wonderful suggestion. Would be interested to hear how you recognize/reward crew members who are also "invisible" (such as Engine Room mechanics, Maintenance workers, Line Cooks, Pot Scrubbers, etc) and with whom you have no personal contact. Surely they deserve special recognition/reward when they do something extraordinary, right? So how can passengers take special care of them?

avian777,

An interesting question that you ask and I have been thinking about this for a few hours. I have no definitive answer that would cover all of those crew who have no "direct, daily" contact with guests. For those who work in the Lido Restaurant and are the line cooks/servers, finding one who deserves recognition could be done by the Comment Card available at the Front Office.

For crew working in the Engineering or Maintenace Departments, how can a guest recognize them for their efforts? If I have a plumbing problem or an air conditioning problem and the worker is able to solve it, I think a Comment Card expressing my satisfaction with their efforts is sufficient.

Surely, I am open to other ideas.

We have also taken the time to reward staff that are outside the stewards or wait staffs in the dinning rooms. On our Noordam cruise in the Caribbean we took the time to find someone that was not normally tipped individually.

I love my ice cream and visit the station number of times during the day. The young lady serving ice cream in the Lido was always smiling and learned my name the first few days on board. She always greeted me with those smiles and a positive attitude. Francesca was one of the most pleasant staff members we met while on board that we decided to give her a small tip on the last night on board. After I handed her the bill you would have thought I gave her a hundred dollar bill as she nearly broke down in tears. It made our day and the cruise even more enjoyable.

We would simply emphasize a point that has been made many times over the years. Besides rewarding exceptional staff with a nice tip, one should also consider writing-up a positive comment for Guest Relations. On longer HAL cruises they will usually have forms for this purpose (we assume they also have this on short cruises). A nice comment from a passenger can have a real ripple effect on the ship. For example, on a long (over 60 day) Prinsendam cruise we spent a lot of time in the Crows Nest and really appreciated the service (and conversation) from many of the staff in that venue. After a couple of week we wrote a very complementary note which we turned-in at Guest Relations. Within a few days, several of the staff in the Crows Nest came over to our table and thanked us for the nice words. A few days later the ship's Beverage Manager (who was already a friend) stopped me in a corridor and said that our note had caused some positive outcomes and apparently made it all the way to the Captain (who was also somewhat of a friend). Positive remarks from passengers can get some rewards for the crew such as extra time off and other rewards. It also can have a major impact in whether they get future contracts and even promotions.

Hank

We would simply emphasize a point that has been made many times over the years. Besides rewarding exceptional staff with a nice tip, one should also consider writing-up a positive comment for Guest Relations. On longer HAL cruises they will usually have forms for this purpose (we assume they also have this on short cruises). A nice comment from a passenger can have a real ripple effect on the ship. For example, on a long (over 60 day) Prinsendam cruise we spent a lot of time in the Crows Nest and really appreciated the service (and conversation) from many of the staff in that venue. After a couple of week we wrote a very complementary note which we turned-in at Guest Relations. Within a few days, several of the staff in the Crows Nest came over to our table and thanked us for the nice words. A few days later the ship's Beverage Manager (who was already a friend) stopped me in a corridor and said that our note had caused some positive outcomes and apparently made it all the way to the Captain (who was also somewhat of a friend). Positive remarks from passengers can get some rewards for the crew such as extra time off and other rewards. It also can have a major impact in whether they get future contracts and even promotions.

 

Hank

We have added compliments on the end of the cruise survey commending specific staff. But thanks to input on this thread we now know that one can hand in compliments during the cruise, thanks for the info.

avian777,

 

An interesting question that you ask and I have been thinking about this for a few hours. I have no definitive answer that would cover all of those crew who have no "direct, daily" contact with guests. For those who work in the Lido Restaurant and are the line cooks/servers, finding one who deserves recognition could be done by the Comment Card available at the Front Office.

 

For crew working in the Engineering or Maintenace Departments, how can a guest recognize them for their efforts? If I have a plumbing problem or an air conditioning problem and the worker is able to solve it, I think a Comment Card expressing my satisfaction with their efforts is sufficient.

 

Surely, I am open to other ideas.

... ditto here, and would appreciate others' ideas as to how I can give an extra reward to someone whose job keeps him/her anonymous ... Surely, someone on CC has thought this through and come up with a solution ...

Kind of surprised that no one posted any suggestions. Oh well ... FWIW here's what we do:

Since we cannot know those whom we do not know, we increase the HSC to a total amount equal to 10% of our cruise fare. That way, everyone (including the "invisibles") will get more. In addition, we give cash tips to our Concierge, Room Stewards, and MDR and specialty restaurant wait staffs.

We also try to recognize in surveys/comment cards any crew member whose extraordinary service we see - if we are unable to identify the crew member(s) by name, we do it by job description, such as, for example, "... the 2 painters who were touching up the hull in San Juan".

It's not perfect but the best I have been able to think of. That's why I was hoping other CCers would chime in with their suggestions ...

Being the son of an engineer who worked for HAL from 1947-1991 I'll put in good word for all the people working in the non-airconditioned engine room . If it weren't for them the ship would not move, no water or electricity etc. But if the staff on the bridge would not navigate, the ship would be all revved up with no place to go. So I guess everybody on board plays an important part in giving us a wonderful cruise. Some we see, others we don't. But I appreciate every single one of them !

...

 

For me: a young man who was responsible for setting up, taking down, placing and removing the cushions on the Lower Promendade Deck chairs one one of my long cruises is a stand out. He usually offered Lemonade or Iced Tea in the morning or afternoon. And, since I was 2nd Seating, I remained in my deck chair late into the afternoon during the time he was removing the chair cushions. Never did he ask me to vacate the chair whose cushion I was using inspite of me asking him if he wanted me to do so. He always returned to collect that cushion from my sole deck chair. He worked in lovely weather, of course. But, I saw him out on deck struggling and fighting wind and driving rain, as well, in order to do his job. There was never a negative word that left his mouth when I spoke with him. "How are you? What have you done today?" Often, that is what I heard when he had time to chat.

...

Our first cruise with HAL was on the SS Rotterdam in 1974. Although this ship no longer did the traditional Atlantic crossings, it continued the transatlantic tradition of passengers hiring deck chairs with cushions and steamer rugs. The cost, I believe, was $10 and a card with the passenger's name would be placed on the chair in the morning and removed in late afternoon. The deck steward provided limited service of snacks and beverages. At that time, of course, HAL had a "tipping not required" policy so I doubt the young chap received much in tips.

I'm not sure when this tradition was abandoned. The last time we hired a deck chair was on the QE2 in the early 1990s. On Cunard, at least, a deck steward could make a lot in tips.