'Tipping' the crew with wine

[take us away]

Does anyone know if it is still acceptable to 'tip' a favorite steward / bartender with a bottle of wine or champagne?

 

Have heard the liquor policies for crew were recently changed.

[sail7seas]

Many of the Indonesian cabin stewards are Muslim. It would be inappropriate to provide them with any liquor.

 

The bar staff are Filipino and they may or may not drink, same as anyone. I would not tip with wine. I tip with cash, however, if for some reason I had a left over bottle of wine, I might ask a favorite bar staff person if they would like to have it. I would not consider that their over and above tip.

 

And, yes, it is true that liquor policy for crew changed some time ago.

Edited August 27, 2015 by sail7seas

[visagrunt]

This wouldn't be my practice, for two reasons.

 

First, you cannot be certain that the person you are tipping drinks alcohol. Many of the Indonesian crew are Muslim (though many of the Balinese will be Hindu), and a gift of alcohol isn't likely a great choice for them. While the beverage department are mostly Filipino, even then you cannot be sure that they would appreciate a bottle.

 

Second, the vast majority of crew are working to support families back home. They send back remittances of salary and tips to support spouses and children. In those circumstances, the most valuable gifts are either money with which they can supplement those remittances, or gifts of things that they need that they will not have to buy from their own funds.

 

When I lived in Hongkong and Christmas rolled around, our domestic helper wanted basic things like shampoo and toiletries so that he could send home more money to his wife and children.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would not give any crew members any alcohol or any other kind of a gift as a tip.

They much prefer to receive money.

[Mary Ellen1]

I agree with sail's thoughts about leftover wine.

 

We don't drink, and had a bottle left over at the end of a cruise (a gift from HAL for some cabin issues we experienced). Our non-drinking cabin steward was very happy to accept it, he told us, as currency to use in the below-decks barter economy.

 

This was a couple of years ago. If the liquor policies have recently changed, I can't speak to that.

[Topsham]

Alcohol is very restrictive on board HAL ship for crew/staff/officers.

 

 

They are allowed beer or wine.... NEVER by the bottle.

 

So... they would not be allowed to have a bottle.. even they wished.

 

Thanks for one Costa Line's "Captain". :mad:

[Keith1010]

I would not recommend doing this.

 

Keith

[OlsSalt]

This wouldn't be my practice, for two reasons.

 

First, you cannot be certain that the person you are tipping drinks alcohol. Many of the Indonesian crew are Muslim (though many of the Balinese will be Hindu),......

 

I believe the Balinese are more likely to be Buddhist.

Edited August 27, 2015 by OlsSalt

[wander]

Several years ago I had several unopened bottles of left at the end of a cruise. I asked a senior supervisor of the cabin stewards if I could leave it with such a note, knowing that many cabin stewards are Muslim. He said - oh yes, you can leave it with a note. They use it to barter for things or services from other crew who do drink alcohol. Similar information to what Mary Ellen1 received. Now, maybe this is no longer reasonable with the new crew rules.

 

That said, in any event I would never substitute a bottle of wine for a cash tip.

[serendipity1499]

I would never give a bottle of wine in place of an extra cash tip..

[Lizzie68]

I gave a bottle of wine that I hadn't opened (gasp:eek:) to our cabin stewards, just said have this for your crew party. They were quite happy to get it. I wouldn't do that in place of a cash tip, however.

[GmaPajama]

Just last year we "tipped" with a bottle of wine. It was the bartenders suggestion, and it was fine with us. It was an unused Explore 4 card with a $50 balance on the last day. He joked about what a great bottle of wine he could get for that and we gave it to him. He ran it through against our card and gave us the bottle. Which we then gifted back to him. It was above and beyond any other tipping - we just saw it as leftover OBC and were glad crew could make use of it. Maybe we did something wrong, but everyone was happy and we were fine with it.

Edited August 27, 2015 by GmaPajama

[iancal]

Cash.

 

We only tip with cash. No Tshirts, candies, phone cards, whatever. Just cash. It travels well.

 

if we have a left over bottle of wine we simply leave it. We do not consider it to be much of a tip. If our steward can drink it, trade it, whatever that is fine with us. But we would never adjust our cash tip downward because we left an unused bottle in our stateroom.

[sail7seas]

The best reason to leave a note with the bottle of wine is to avoid any problem the steward may have about having it.

 

Topsham explained they are not permitted to have a bottle of wine but perhaps there is some place they can 'deposit' for a future party use? I'm sure end of each cruise, a number of people leave behind a bottle of the sparking gift wine or whatever and it would be good if HAL has arranged a place those bottles can be stored for crew to have for their party without anyone being caught having a bottle in their possession.

 

[Despegue]

I believe the Balinese are more likely to be Buddhist.

 

Incorrect.

 

Most Balinese are Hindu.

[frankc98376]

Last cruise we ended up with 4 bottles of the "Bon Voyage" Sparkling Wine.

 

We don't care for it so we left it with a note saying "Something for the crew" on the personalized stationary. We let our Steward know that we were leaving it and maybe someone on the crew would like it.

 

We have on occasion gotten small gifts ashore for crew when we learn that they like something. Never has it replaced cash though.

[taxmantoo]

We once had an extra bottle of Port two days before the end of the cruise that I delivered in person to a favourite wine attendant in the Pinnacle Grill who was also a Certified Sommelier that had studied in Bordeaux. The Pinnacle Grill was closed at the time (mid-afternoon) so he got a plate of cheese from the kitchen and we shared a glass and he brought the rest of the bottle to his cabin. Not for me say whether or not he broke the rules, but we both enjoyed it and he seemed happy.

[sapper1]

Whenever we find ourselves stuck with a leftover unopened bottle of wine I just give it to a favourite crew member and tell him it is for a crew party. That way if he is a non drinker it won't offend him because it was not given for his exclusive personal use. However should he choose to keep it for himself, it's his business, not mine.

[sail7seas]

We once had an extra bottle of Port two days before the end of the cruise that I delivered in person to a favourite wine attendant in the Pinnacle Grill who was also a Certified Sommelier that had studied in Bordeaux. The Pinnacle Grill was closed at the time (mid-afternoon) so he got a plate of cheese from the kitchen and we shared a glass and he brought the rest of the bottle to his cabin. Not for me say whether or not he broke the rules, but we both enjoyed it and he seemed happy.

 

What a nice story. Thanks for sharing. :)

 

[OlsSalt]

No wonder there is confusion. Bali is a mixture of religions with their own animist twist. From that great resource WIKI::rolleyes:

 

The vast majority of the Balinese believe in Agama Tirta, "holy-water religion". It is a Shivaite sect of Hinduism. Traveling Indian priests are said to have introduced the people to the sacred literature of Hinduism and Buddhism centuries ago. The people accepted it and combined it with their own pre-Hindu mythologies.[6] The Balinese from before the third wave of immigration, known as the Bali Aga, are mostly not followers of Agama Tirta, but retain their own animist traditions.

[blizzardboy]

Their tips are a big source of their disposable (probably not the right adjective) income. Most send their regular pay home. Cash is king, and giving them a portion day one with a promise of more for a good job done really impresses them.

[sun~]

As an FYI - crew/staff are not permitted to have alcohol in their quarters. They get inspected regularly and can be in trouble if it is found.

 

More than likely the crew who accepted a full bottle of wine are able to turn it in for dollar value. You can be sure unopened wine gets dumped right after they say "oh thank you, how wonderful".

 

I do know a very senior former officer for a major cruiseline who lost his job over a very small amount of alcohol found in his cabin. He was devastated. He said to me a couple of weeks after it happened that he knew the rules, but he figured it was such a small amount that he didn't think his boss would care. Clearly, it was taken very seriously.

 

Cash is always best.

[Randyk47]

Personally I would never leave wine or other beverage of any kind as a tip. We did leave two bottles of unopened wine in our cabin once that had been given to us as gifts that we just never got around to drinking. We had debated actually taking them off the ship with us and waited maybe too long to decide not to do it. Anyhow, I pointed it out to steward and he said he'd take care of it. I have no idea, nor do I care, what he did with them. I certainly didn't consider the wine a tip or bonus in any sense or manner. we only give cash as a tip.

[Hlitner]

We in the era of the "O"word (offensive) and some folks do carry this to extreme. But when you are dealing with a crew where many are Muslim, and others are possibly anti-alcohol, why risk offending anyone by giving wine. The members of the crew do not want gifts (they have limited storage space). They prefer money :). Instead of giving a crew member a $30 bottle of booze, give them the $30 and let them decide where it would best be spent.

 

As to the HAL rules for the crew and booze, they can drink beer and wine. But other alcohol is now a no-no.

 

Hank

Edited August 27, 2015 by Hlitner

[sail7seas]

Their tips are a big source of their disposable (probably not the right adjective) income. Most send their regular pay home. Cash is king, and giving them a portion day one with a promise of more for a good job done really impresses them.

 

Just a suggestion but maybe the word you are looking for (happens to me all the time :o) is salary. Tips are a huge part of crew pay. They do not work the ships as a hobby. We all know that is how they support their families.