Tipping procedure?

[sapete]

If you plan to opt out of the Hotel Service charge, do the crew members a favor. Stay home.

 

Amen!

[donaldsc]

... are you certain that cabin attendants, stewards, waiters, etc, who receive "extra" tips are required to share those tips with everyone in the "tipping pool"? Thanks for clarifying.

 

Rod

 

I did not say that or at least I do not think that I said that. The way it works is if you remove the standard tip and hand out envelopes, they are required to put the money into the tip pool. If you leave the standard tip on and then give some people extra money above and beyond the $12.50 per day, they get to keep the extra money,

 

DON

[Tripper10]

People feel so strongly about this topic. How do you know the employees don't keep the cash tips? Can someone show where it is a company policy? If it's so frowned upon to tip in cash, why does the cruise line hand out envolopes to tip in cash? Doesn't seem to make sense.

[DaveOKC]

People feel so strongly about this topic. How do you know the employees don't keep the cash tips? Can someone show where it is a company policy? If it's so frowned upon to tip in cash, why does the cruise line hand out envolopes to tip in cash? Doesn't seem to make sense.

 

Of course the cruise line cannot monitor every transaction, but the employee likely would not risk his/her job but not reporting it.

 

The cruise lines hand out envelops for people who want to tip extra. Also they are for people who do not want to pay the auto-tip and would rather tip the employees on their own (not knowing that these tips have to be turned in by the employees).

[Tripper10]

Where is that written in cruise line policy, that the cash tips, over and above, or below the auto tip amount is pooled? I want to see that to be sure.

[Randyk47]

Where is that written in cruise line policy, that the cash tips, over and above, or below the auto tip amount is pooled? I want to see that to be sure.

 

There is NO requirement to turn in tips recieved from passengers who have left the Hotel Service Charge in place. That said I did accidently come across a notice and list on the Maasdam of passengers who had reduced or removed the charge with a caution that staff was required to turn in any tips recieved from those passengers.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Randyk47

[sos1720]

The folks who remove the standard tip charge should have their pictures shown on the ship's TVs so we could all see what misers really look like. We just returned from a cruise on the Volendam and the crew was great. There were a few times, too few to mention, that the passengers didn't behave but the crew was great all the time. They went out of their way to make the cruise special.

[taxmantoo]

Where is that written in cruise line policy, that the cash tips, over and above, or below the auto tip amount is pooled? I want to see that to be sure.

 

I believe it would be in in the "employees'" manual which you will never see because it is not a "public" policy. It should not matter to you in any way what the policy is for HAL employees nor should it affect your contribution to their well-being. The only thing we need to know as guests is that a service charge will be added to our account and we are free to provide additional funds to certain employees if we wish. The rest, frankly, is none of our business!

[Tripper10]

So if employees get cash, nobody has a official answer from Holland America about the policy. So much speculation here. Some people might just choose to tip or not tip in cash, whether it be the exact amount, under or above the standard amount suggested. Basically, there is no definitive official answer, just opinions, as far as I can tell.

[Cruiser Andi]

So if employees get cash, nobody has a official answer from Holland America about the policy. So much speculation here. Some people might just choose to tip or not tip in cash, whether it be the exact amount, under or above the standard amount suggested. Basically, there is no definitive official answer, just opinions, as far as I can tell.

 

 

If you call Holland America and ASK THEM they will tell you the policy. This is what I did on my first cruise. The answers that have been given on this thread are the same as those I received when calling. If you're suspicious of the answer then do the footwork and ask the company their policy. It's pretty simple really.

[Tripper10]

If you call Holland America and ASK THEM they will tell you the policy. This is what I did on my first cruise. The answers that have been given on this thread are the same as those I received when calling. If you're suspicious of the answer then do the footwork and ask the company their policy. It's pretty simple really.

 

Holland America have suggestions on the topic, like the people in this thread. From reading these boards, if there is definitive answer, it will be produced. Sometimes it seems like opinions are trying to passed off as facts of the matter. Personal tipping preferences withheld, is a rule or not on the cash, credit, or cruise credit based tips? Cruisers should, but can't be informed if the person you wish to tip is actually getting to keep the gratuities. I guess we don't really know.

[Globaliser]

So if employees get cash, nobody has a official answer from Holland America about the policy.

Is Randyk47's post not good enough for you?

 

Remember that the consensus view here has been informed by many discussions over the years that have included people who are in a position to know: HAL insiders, current and former HAL crew, and non-HAL people who personally know such people.

 

As for your question about whether crew might break the rules and keep the cash they get: Yes, in theory they might. But for most crew who might share in tips, the job on the ship is close to being a lucrative gold mine for them compared to what they might earn at home. That's why they're prepared to be away from their families for 11 months at a time, work 18 hours a day 7 days a week etc. And that's why you'll find some crew members who are wildly over-qualified for their cruise ship jobs - including engineers, doctors and the like. So they're not likely to risk their jobs by breaking the rules.

 

In addition, ships are very small places. If a crew member started to pocket cash that they should be handing in, their colleagues would notice. Not much escapes your colleagues' attention when you're living and sleeping four-to-a-room in cabins that are about the size of the smallest inside cabin that a customer can buy. Anyone who's pocketing such cash tips is effectively stealing from their colleagues, who therefore have an incentive to report them. In those circumstances, do you think anyone's likely to keep cash when they should be handing it in?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Just off the Zuiderdam and the Cruise Director Hamish explained in his debarkation remarks on the TV, that 35% of the HSC goes to cabin stewards, 35% to the Dining stewards including Lido, Pinnacle Grill, and the Caneletto stewards, and 30% to the "Heart of the House", those who work behind the scenes.

[GeriatricNurse]

Just off the Zuiderdam and the Cruise Director Hamish explained in his debarkation remarks on the TV, that 35% of the HSC goes to cabin stewards, 35% to the Dining stewards including Lido, Pinnacle Grill, and the Caneletto stewards, and 30% to the "Heart of the House", those who work behind the scenes.

 

So NO additional tips are required or expected by the staff in the PG and Canaletto! ;)

[taxmantoo]

So NO additional tips are required or expected by the staff in the PG and Canaletto! ;)

 

No additional tips are required or asked of anyone by any staff anywhere on the ship ... but some nice people still do like to reward some employees who they feel are more deserving.

[catl331]

Seems like a lot, but broken down across a crew of 929, ...

 

Now granted, officers are likely excluded from this and are probably salaried,

 

Also excluded are all of the Beverage staff (who have their own separate pool funded by the 15% service charges) and all of the Engineering Dept who maintain and operate the ship. But your point is still valid - when your $11.50 per day gets spread out over many many people, each one does not get much for the hard work they do. :)

[Tripper10]

No additional tips are required or asked of anyone by any staff anywhere on the ship ... but some nice people still do like to reward some employees who they feel are more deserving.

 

The person you wish to reward won't even be able to keep the tip, as consensus says they will have to pool it and divide the monies up with others.

[taxmantoo]

The person you wish to reward won't even be able to keep the tip, as consensus says they will have to pool it and divide the monies up with others.

 

If you keep auto-gratuities in place, any individual tip can be kept by recipient. :rolleyes: If you read my previous post properly, I was talking about ADDITIONAL tips.

Edited March 7, 2015 by taxmantoo

[Randyk47]

The person you wish to reward won't even be able to keep the tip, as consensus says they will have to pool it and divide the monies up with others.

 

I see no consensus that even comes close to hinting at pooling cash tips.

[CowPrincess]

If you keep auto-gratuities in place, any individual tip can be kept by recipient. :rolleyes: If you read my previous post properly, I was talking about ADDITIONAL tips.

 

I think this is one of those "you can explain it as clearly as you want, but you cannot force someone to comprehend" kind of things ;)

[Tripper10]

If you keep auto-gratuities in place, any individual tip can be kept by recipient. :rolleyes: If you read my previous post properly, I was talking about ADDITIONAL tips.

 

I know people keep saying this, but unlike a smoking policy or embarkation rules, it is unwritten and hence we don't know. Besides, any extra tip given at a specialty venue are usually before any employee know or would ever know if someone removed auto tipping. Personally, I leave 10 dollars or 10 euros at specialty restaurants. I always wonder if they get to keep it.

[taxmantoo]

I know people keep saying this, but unlike a smoking policy or embarkation rules, it is unwritten and hence we don't know. Besides, any extra tip given at a specialty venue are usually before any employee know or would ever know if someone removed auto tipping. Personally, I leave 10 dollars or 10 euros at specialty restaurants. I always wonder if they get to keep it.

 

I give up ...

 

For those who understand, no explanation is needed.

For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

[jtl513]

I always wonder if they get to keep it.

There may be some voluntary pooling of cash tips among the staff at each specialty restaurant, but rest assured "they as a group", if not as an individual, will get to keep the cash provided your name does not appear on the "stiffers" list later on.

[RuthC]

I know people keep saying this, but unlike a smoking policy or embarkation rules, it is unwritten and hence we don't know.

Wrong pronoun in the use of "we" (plural). YOU (singular) are the only one who doesn't seem to know. It's been explained to you any number of times.

[Randyk47]

There may be some voluntary pooling of cash tips among the staff at each specialty restaurant, but rest assured "they as a group", if not as an individual, will get to keep the cash provided your name does not appear on the "stiffers" list later on.

 

I agree. Leads me to wonder exactly when the list is first made available. The one and only list I saw was the afternoon of the last full day of our cruise. I have no idea if this was the first list or latest of a number of list. I admittedly have wondered about that as it could put staff in an awkward position if they started receiving tips earlier and now are expected to remember how much from whom. More of a curiosity than a concern.