oysterbay1

[OYSTERBAY1]

my wife and I have not cruised in over ten years. We booked on the 9/13/17 Volendam. We booked a Neptune suite. Our tips were included in the cruise deal we got. Should we still give additional tips to room service or the concierge? If so, what amounts do you suggest? We are non smokers, are there any parts of the ship we should avoid? Also are there smoke free nights in the casino? HAL at one time said yes and other times said no. How are the steaks in the Pinnacle Grill? We are so looking forward to this cruise. Any tips you can give us will be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance, J & L

[Herfnerd]

That's up to you as to whether you wish to add additional gratuities - you're recommended HSC is already accounted for and paid

 

 

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[kazu]

my wife and I have not cruised in over ten years. We booked on the 9/13/17 Volendam. We booked a Neptune suite. Our tips were included in the cruise deal we got. Should we still give additional tips to room service or the concierge? If so, what amounts do you suggest? We are non smokers, are there any parts of the ship we should avoid? Also are there smoke free nights in the casino? HAL at one time said yes and other times said no. How are the steaks in the Pinnacle Grill? We are so looking forward to this cruise. Any tips you can give us will be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance, J & L

 

You will enjoy the Neptune Suite on this ship. The verandah is larger than the NS's on the later class ships (Vistas and above).

 

How many days is your cruise? I ask as traditionally I have seen several non smoking nights in the casino, but we usually are on a bit longer cruises.

 

Tipping is very personal and subjective. We do tip room service and extra to the concierge (not sure if they are actually in the HSC pool or not as they are part of the front desk?) as well as other key personnel who have made our cruise special and enjoyable. It's not required at all if you leave the HSC in place but if you are fortunate enough to have the same experience as we have by a number of the crew, I suspect you may want to do so as well ;)

 

IF you are going to tip room service, have the money handy as they don't stay waiting for one. Sapper1 suggested in the key slot. We put ours on the table where the tray will be placed. Either one works.

 

PG can vary by the chefs and staff of course, but generally speaking we have enjoyed our time there.

 

Since you are in a Neptune Suite, you will also have the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. A very nice ambience :). Love the Murano glass in the Pinnacle Grill on the Maasdam. (Hope I am not getting my ships mixed up ;) )

[OYSTERBAY1]

Since the concierge and room service are free I am not sure they get any of the prepaid gratuities. thank you so much for taking your time to reply. John

[OYSTERBAY1]

You will enjoy the Neptune Suite on this ship. The verandah is larger than the NS's on the later class ships (Vistas and above).

 

How many days is your cruise? I ask as traditionally I have seen several non smoking nights in the casino, but we usually are on a bit longer cruises.

 

Tipping is very personal and subjective. We do tip room service and extra to the concierge (not sure if they are actually in the HSC pool or not as they are part of the front desk?) as well as other key personnel who have made our cruise special and enjoyable. It's not required at all if you leave the HSC in place but if you are fortunate enough to have the same experience as we have by a number of the crew, I suspect you may want to do so as well ;)

 

IF you are going to tip room service, have the money handy as they don't stay waiting for one. Sapper1 suggested in the key slot. We put ours on the table where the tray will be placed. Either one works.

 

PG can vary by the chefs and staff of course, but generally speaking we have enjoyed our time there.

 

Since you are in a Neptune Suite, you will also have the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. A very nice ambience :). Love the Murano glass in the Pinnacle Grill on the Maasdam. (Hope I am not getting my ships mixed up ;) )

 

 

We are going on a 7 day cruise. I was anticipating giving the cabin and dinning staff additional at the end of the cruise. We always have in the past. I hope they do have a non smoking night in the casino . The ship is the volendam. It looks very nice. Thank you for the reply. I have read several of your insightful posts. I enjoy them. thanks. John

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do tip for room service. How much you use the concierges really depends on how much you should tip. They did not get anything from The Hotel Service Charge.

We love the steaks in the Pinnacle Grill. We do tip at the end of the meal as the price you pay for the meal does not include a tip for the workers there. They do get a tad bit from the Hotel Service Charge.