Gratuities and settling onboard bill

[Oldies123]

I have 2 questions, when settling our final bill on board, can we pay in dollars or does it have to be a credit card ?

Also - gratuities, we normally like to reward individually rather than the automatic charge which applies, and on previous cruises have taken off this charge and handed out envelopes to the staff who we feel have served us well on our cruises.   Is it possible to do this with HAL ? 

[RuthC]

You can settle your account in cash. Either put down a credit card when you board, then switch to cash the last night, or put down your deposit ($60 per person, per day) in cash right at the start. If you do deposit in cash, then, if the balance drops too low, you will be asked to add to your total. 

On HAL, gratuities are automatic, charged as Hotel Service Charge, per person, per day. This money goes to the people you see, as well as to those you may not see. Those who are constantly cleaning the staircase bannisters, vacuuming the carpets, keeping the public restrooms fresh & clean (and well stocked), and others are all a part of the pool recipients. 
If you choose to remove or reduce the charged amount, then give your stewards a cash tip, they are obliged (under pain of termination) to turn that money in to the HSC pool. 
If you decide to leave the HSC in place, and still give some extra cash to those you have interacted with, they may keep it. 

[kazu]

9 minutes ago, Oldies123 said:

I have 2 questions, when settling our final bill on board, can we pay in dollars or does it have to be a credit card ?

 

You can pay in cash if you like.

 

Quote

Also - gratuities, we normally like to reward individually rather than the automatic charge which applies, and on previous cruises have taken off this charge and handed out envelopes to the staff who we feel have served us well on our cruises.   Is it possible to do this with HAL ? 

 

While you can remove the HSC (gratuities) that is charged automatically, I don’t recommend doing so.  If you do remove it, then the crew who you choose to tip don’t get to keep it.  It has to be turned over to the pool.  IF you leave the HSC in place and choose to tip a bit extra to staff who served you well, then they get to keep it.

 

oops, looks like Ruth and I were posting at the same time.  She said it well 🙂 

[avian777]

2 answers:

1.  Yes.

2.  Yes, but you should understand that whatever you give " to the staff who [you] feel have served [you] well on [your] cruise ..." will be put into the general pool and shared by all who would've otherwise shared in your "automatic" HSC.

[Oldies123]

Many thanks for your replies, I will consider now leaving the HSC and just extra tipping those staff who have served us personally each day.  Its a bit mean if it goes into a pool, wouldn't want to do anyone a disservice they work so hard.

[Riversedge]

When we were recently on the Zuiderdam we dined with an officer.  I asked her about tipping and how much the employees actually got from the daily tips.  She explained that the automatic tips is divided by 81 people (on that ship...probably varies by size of ship).  Not only that,  but it is divided between all of the ships belonging to HAL.  They are now doing it that way to make it fair to those working on certain ship itineraries that may have a lot of cruisers onboard who are coming from countries that don’t believe in tipping. While the amount of tips keeps going up and I don’t believe I should have to help HAL pay their employees thru tips I will never take them off because I’m only punishing those who work so hard.  We always tip generously at the end of the cruise to those who provide us great service and they are allowed to keep that whole amount.  You can see from the smiles on their faces that they really appreciate it. 

[Djptcp]

On the next to last day, DH usually goes to Guest Services and pays off most of the balance in cash so very little goes on our credit card.

[TrolleyGirl]

22 minutes ago, Riversedge said:

When we were recently on the Zuiderdam we dined with an officer.  I asked her about tipping and how much the employees actually got from the daily tips.  She explained that the automatic tips is divided by 81 people (on that ship...probably varies by size of ship).  Not only that,  but it is divided between all of the ships belonging to HAL.  They are now doing it that way to make it fair to those working on certain ship itineraries that may have a lot of cruisers onboard who are coming from countries that don’t believe in tipping.

 

Fascinating!  Thank you for your input.

 

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, Oldies123 said:

Many thanks for your replies, I will consider now leaving the HSC and just extra tipping those staff who have served us personally each day.  Its a bit mean if it goes into a pool, wouldn't want to do anyone a disservice they work so hard.

That’s how we handle it.  Our out of pocket cash tips have actually gone done over the years.  Two factors in that.  One, with the basic demise of the Crow’s Nest as a viable night entertainment venue we spend virtually no time in what was once our favorite bar.   And of course, separate from the HSC, there is a 15% gratuity added on each drink.   Two, we started going with anytime dining and now rarely have the same waiters and don’t establish a connection to the dining room waitstaff like we did with fixed dining.  

Edited October 15, 2019 by Randyk47

[cbr663]

2 hours ago, Riversedge said:

When we were recently on the Zuiderdam we dined with an officer.  I asked her about tipping and how much the employees actually got from the daily tips.  She explained that the automatic tips is divided by 81 people (on that ship...probably varies by size of ship).  Not only that,  but it is divided between all of the ships belonging to HAL.  They are now doing it that way to make it fair to those working on certain ship itineraries that may have a lot of cruisers onboard who are coming from countries that don’t believe in tipping. While the amount of tips keeps going up and I don’t believe I should have to help HAL pay their employees thru tips I will never take them off because I’m only punishing those who work so hard.  We always tip generously at the end of the cruise to those who provide us great service and they are allowed to keep that whole amount.  You can see from the smiles on their faces that they really appreciate it. 

Just a slight clarification.  Did you mean automatic tips is divided by 817 crew, not the 81 that you mentioned?

[catl331]

2 hours ago, Riversedge said:

She explained that the automatic tips is divided by 81 people

Either that's a typo or you misunderstood what you were told.  The HSC is shared by everyone in the Hotel Department except officers ... just about everyone you see around the ship and those you don't see, working below passenger decks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do leave the Hotel Service Charge in place.  Like Randy our extra tipping has gone down quite a bit the last several years.

 

We like to have cocktails in the Ocean Bar but it is rare when we have the same server.  We don't dine in the dining room any more, so no extra tips there.

[Riversedge]

29 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Just a slight clarification.  Did you mean automatic tips is divided by 817 crew, not the 81 that you mentioned?

 

I thought she said 81 people on that ship.  We were discussing bar tips so I don't know if that's separate?  You are correct that 81 does not sound like enough for all staff  

Edited October 15, 2019 by Riversedge
correction

[catl331]

24 minutes ago, Riversedge said:

We were discussing bar tips so I don't know if that's separate?

Yes, the beverage pool funded by the 15% service charge on drinks is separate from the HSC pool.  81 sounds to me like a realistic number for the beverage staff.

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by catl331

[mamaofami]

We leave the hotel service charge in place, but give extra to those who have served us well, like in the dining room where we have the same server and team every night, the Pinnacle Grill, and room stewards.

[richwmn]

3 hours ago, Riversedge said:

 

I thought she said 81 people on that ship.  We were discussing bar tips so I don't know if that's separate?  You are correct that 81 does not sound like enough for all staff  

Bar tips are different than the HSC. The bar tips come from the 18% gratuity added to all drinks. If you are only looking at bartenders and bar servers, 81 sounds about right, and someone told me in the past that tips for bartenders are apportioned to all ships

[catl331]

9 minutes ago, richwmn said:

18% gratuity

18% now?

[richwmn]

2 hours ago, catl331 said:

18% now?

sorry, typo 15%

[VMax1700]

20 hours ago, Oldies123 said:

I will consider now leaving the HSC and just extra tipping those staff who have served us personally each day.

 

That is the best way!

Last couple of cruises we started giving small (additional!) cash tips to Lido staff who had been exceptional during our cruise. They really seemed to appreciate it.