HAL answer re jeans formal dining and re automatic tip

[Ine]

On Facebook a person posted the reply by HAL re the jeans in diningroom on formal nights.

Also a reply re tipping.

I think the reply is clear and avoids many discussions.

HALresponse.pdf

Edited May 8, 2015 by Ine

[OVgirl]

Thanks for the link, Ine.

[57redbird]

Thanks for sharing this! -- can't be any clearer than that!

[Debz62]

Yes, thank you for sharing this information.

[Vict0riann]

Excellent, and right up to date! Thanks. Should be a sticky!:)

[rwams]

Thank you for sharing this information, agree it should be a sticky.

[summersigh]

Well done :)

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing the information.

[Cruising-along]

Thank you. It should clear up any question. Wish that it was a sticky too, so future posters could be referred to the sticky and stop the arguments.

[jtl513]

It should clear up any question.

 

Except what happens if you hand cash to someone who has no idea who you are, and therefore has no way to determine at the end of the cruise if you removed the HSC or not. ;)

 

Edited May 8, 2015 by jtl513

[SilvertoGold]

Except what happens if you hand cash to someone who has no idea who you are, and therefore has no way to determine at the end of the cruise if you removed the HSC or not. ;)

 

 

This is a good question.

 

On long cruises (6-8 weeks for example) if we give our servers, cabin stewards a little extra each week or so, what happens? No one actually knows at that point if we will leave the HSC on or not.

[Cruising-along]

Except what happens if you hand cash to someone who has no idea who you are, and therefore has no way to determine at the end of the cruise if you removed the HSC or not. ;)

 

 

Good point. To add to the confusion, on our last cruise at the farewell talk the Cruise Director made the blanket statement that all tips are kept by the crew. I took notice of it because it is not what we have heard here or from HAL. Maybe she didn't state clearly what she really meant, but that's what she said.

 

No wonder people are confused. :rolleyes:

[Sir PMP]

On Facebook a person posted the reply by HAL re the jeans in diningroom on formal nights.

Also a reply re tipping.

I think the reply is clear and avoids many discussions.

 

Answers are still vague to me: neat and clean jeans, what does that mean, all the holes in it are lined up right?

[jtl513]

This is a good question.

 

On long cruises (6-8 weeks for example) if we give our servers, cabin stewards a little extra each week or so, what happens? No one actually knows at that point if we will leave the HSC on or not.

Well, what the people who know who you are should do is set aside that money until they know for sure whether they get to keep it or not.

 

I'm talking about those who don't have any way of identifying you. DW likes to surprise carpet sweepers, brass polishers, lavatory cleaners, Lido busers, etc with a couple of bucks here or there. I remember one little hall cleaner who we witnessed being chewed out big time by her supervisor, and how her face lit up when DW gave her some money later and told her we liked the job she was doing. ;)

 

Edited May 8, 2015 by jtl513

[Boytjie]

Answers are still vague to me: neat and clean jeans, what does that mean, all the holes in it are lined up right?

 

 

It is quite elementary, my dear sir.

[kazu]

Well, what the people who know who you are should do is set aside that money until they know for sure whether they get to keep it or not.

 

I'm talking about those who don't have any way of identifying you. DW likes to surprise carpet sweepers, brass polishers, lavatory cleaners, Lido busers, etc with a couple of bucks here or there. I remember one little hall cleaner who we witnessed being chewed out big time by her supervisor, and how her face lit up when DW gave her some money later and told her we liked the job she was doing. ;)

 

 

I don't think this is an issue. They get so little of the pool IMO that it's not worth worrying about.

 

Roni was so fabulous on our cruise (the yum yum man) that we had to tip him. Since he knew our names it wouldn't have been hard to figure out who we were. Our names are not common on the ships. :)

 

Our HSC always remains in place. If we have an issue we address it. But that doesn't justify removing the HSC.

[ski ww]

The tipping answer is not very clear, as mentioned by others, how does the employee know who does or doesn't maintain their auto gratuities? We always tip our wait staff & room stewarts extra at the end of the cruise & we still do the auto gratuities.

Allan & Marlane

[kazu]

The tipping answer is not very clear, as mentioned by others, how does the employee know who does or doesn't maintain their auto gratuities? We always tip our wait staff & room stewarts extra at the end of the cruise & we still do the auto gratuities.

Allan & Marlane

 

there is a list of who has removed or reduced the HSC for the crew to see.

 

I think it is on each floor of the ships.

 

the crew knows who has taken it off

[Danni3ll3]

They probably post faces too so the crew would recognize the face if they didn't know the name. Of course, this is pure conjecture on my part.

[cbr663]

The direction provided by HAL only clarifies what happens at the end of a cruise, and this is consistent with its HSC policy:

 

"If our service exceeds or fails to meet your expectations, you are free to adjust this amount at the end of each segment and/or voyage." (bolding mine).

 

It is easy for HAL to determine which crew member gets to keep their tips and which are pooled at the end of the segment. I am also of the opinion that it is reasonable to assume that HAL's intention is for passengers to tip at the end of the cruise or segment. Of course, we know that some passengers tip throughout. As we know that HAL does pool tips, it would seem fair and reasonable to me that any tips that are provided to any crew member throughout the cruise or segment must be turned into the purser and kept until the end of the cruise. Should the passenger providing the tip keep the HSC in place, the tip is then returned to the crew member. Should the passenger providing the tip remove or reduce the HSC, the tip is added to the general pool and then disbursed accordingly.

[jhannah]

Pretty straightforward to me. Still, some folks will inevitably try to argue around it.

[Sherry H]

All 3 answers were straightforword and clear.

 

Don't make it complicated!

[Krazy Kruizers]

The answers given by the HAL employee are the same ones I have given to people since this Hotel Service Charge was started many years ago.

I also add this information: the purser passes the names of those passengers onto the various supervisors who then pass the names onto the crew who work under them. Yes the lists are posted for only the crew to see and the crew are required to turn in those extra tips or they will be fired. How honest are the Crew? Do they want to risk being fired? Those questions I can't answer.

[Ky Colonel]

On Facebook a person posted the reply by HAL re the jeans in diningroom on formal nights.

Also a reply re tipping.

I think the reply is clear and avoids many discussions.

 

When I saw the letter to Mr. Downey, I must admit that I was (uncharacteristically) skeptical as to its authenticity. So I sent an e-mail to Guest Relations at HAL, and (surprise of surprises) Christine Ferris (the lady who signed the letter) called me on the 'phone to confirm that (1) she is a real person who works for HAL's Seattle Headquarters, and (2) she did write the letter to Mr. Downey (who, she said, is a regular pen pal of hers).

 

Ms. Ferris (or "Chris" as she prefers her friends to call her) and I talked for several minutes about our mutual interest in cruising and other things HAL. Chris had nothing but really good things to say about Orlando Ashford, HAL's new President, including that he is very customer friendly. So when she asked if I had any complaints or suggestions that she could pass on, I told her (honestly) that my only request would be to bring back the Butternut Squash with Huckleberries Soup on the "Evening at Le Cirque" menu. She made no promises, but I am hopeful.

 

Smooth sailing,

 

Rod

[regnig]

Except what happens if you hand cash to someone who has no idea who you are, and therefore has no way to determine at the end of the cruise if you removed the HSC or not. ;)

 

In anticipation of just that situation we always go prepared with envelopes and on the front I put our name & stateroom number. With that information an employee can always check with their supervisor if necessary. Since Princess had the same type of Hotel Service charge and pooling plan this system has worked well for us for years.