Blueeyes59

After reading a few more comments re; tipping and daily service charge, I am pleased that i am not the only person thinking that cruise Lines should increase staff wages to reflect "NO Tipping". In saying this I also would tip if i had exceptional service ( Room Steward, Waiter etc) But For Goodness Sake will the cruise companies Not Take notice of what Folks are saying on Cruise Critic regarding this problem. Just Give us a price Up front for the Cruise, Food and Entertainment and let us decide Who we Tip. this culture is a rought for Companies Like HAL to stiff you into giving More money everytime you Blink. Also dont get me started on On Board credit, They give it to you in One hand and take it of you in the other. What good is a $400 OBC when after a 14 day cruise you have $161 deducted for daily Housekeeping ??? what a joke. That would not happen if you booked into a Hotel. The price you pay for a room in a hotel is inclusive of housekeeping charges. I would be interested to know if any fellow cruise critics has ever contacted HAL or other companies regarding this, and asked them when they carry out this practice ?;)

Maybe this isn't exactly the right or correct thread but I wish HAL would just roll the hotel service charge (aka tips or gratuities) into the basic fare get it over with. To me it's like the old Fram oil filter ads with their "pay me now or pay me later" slogan. Barring just horrible service, which I've personally only experienced once in a dozen cruises with one person on HAL, I don't see the need to show it as a separate charge that can be removed by the passenger. That may not be very popular here but that's how I feel. Our cruise last year, not on HAL, was a "tips included" fare, actually stated in terms of them paying higher than average salaries, and the cruise line strongly discourages tipping. If you insist on tipping then the line suggests you give the tip to the "crew fund" that is used for crew parties, crew member emergencies, etc. Our cruise next year is on Seabourn which is also a "no tips expected or required" line so it's not like it there isn't some experience with that approach under the larger Carnival Corporation umbrella.

Hi Randy K 47,

I totally agree with you that this crazy service charge/tipping should be included in the fare before you Pay to get onboard. I am from Australia and cruises on Princess and P&O do not have this. When I look for a cruise I look for Bargains and then after I get a really good price and pay the travel agent, I get Papers emailled to me saying and additional $11.50 per day will be added to the Cruise for DAILY SERVICE CHARGE.($161 for 14 day cruise) If Holland America where to pay their staff a decent wage they would not need to rely on every passenger paying a daily charge. I recently found another Cruise critic put this post up.

richard1s

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Sep 2004

Posts: 361

The Grinch who took back the Hotel Service Charge

On our recent HAL cruise, I was at Guest Services the last evening of the cruise getting a copy of my bill. A man was next to me demanding from the person attending to him that the hotel service charge be removed from his statement. I believe from his accent that he was from a European country. He called the service charge "outrageous" and "ridiculous"; he was extremely rude and demeaning to the poor individual he was speaking too.

To me, it is very unfortunate that any cruise line accommodates this request. In my opinion, this should be a fixed cost of the cruise.

I imagine that some passengers may view this as "tipping" which, I know is not customary in many parts of the world. But some cruise lines charge this fee upfront at the time of booking. I am not certain if the passenger can still get a credit for the service charge at the end of the cruise but maybe it would be less likely.

I think it would be a positive step for HAL to consider this method of charging the service fee so their employees are certain to be paid for all their hard work.

As far as Im am concerned Most of the folk who Like to tip are from the USA, and because I have booked on a ship registered in the US HAL expect me to Pay the extra and in US $ no less.. Outrageous !!

Oh another thing lol. My ticket on the cruise includes gratuities. So I don't tip? Or really I do? I'm from Australia where tipping is uncommon . How often should I tip, how much, who am I tipping?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Hi riktoscale, I have just joined Cruise critic after returning from a cruise on Quantum of the seas (RCCL) and decided to do another from Singapore in December this year (8th Dec on HAL Volendam from Singapore again.

I noticed in your thread about tipping, I too coming from Perth WAust find it odd that on HAL ships the tipping is added in. I for one don't like this practice,as I feel you should only tip if you get Good service. I have found other folk on Cruise critic that say the Tipping or Hotel service charge can be turned off while onboard..I will be looking into this. Also I feel you pain when it comes to cruising as I have just paid over $3250 for the 14 day cruise because i couldn't get a friend to travel with me. So ended up paying the Big dollars for One guy in a room. I hope you cruise worked out well for you and I am also looking forward to to going away as well.:)

Hi Everyone, Just joined cruise critic after returning from a cruise on Quantum of the seas, I had a great time and decided to do another cruise this time on HAL Volendam the Dec 8th from Singapore. Maybe some other single travellers are going on the same Cruise ?