Who do you tip in cash?

[Minoushka]

We always leave 10$ at specialty 

1$ per drink at Casino bar 

if service stellar 20$ to room steward at  end of cruise 

i prefer anytime dining so no extra 

for 2 30$ per days as deducted is goodtipping iMO

[JeffElizabeth]

We tip cash to our room stewards and our main dining room head and assistant waiter. Never thought of tipping others. 

[JeffElizabeth]

5 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

In addition to all that has been posted already, we always leave a tip for the gal who makes my morning coffee in the Explorations Cafe. It's a morning ritual for us on cruises.  DH (who doesn't drink coffee) goes to the Explorations Cafe to pick up some special brew for me so I'll have it while getting ready for the day.  🙂  

What a nice husband! My wife likes to sleep in so I will bring her back pastries from breakfast. 

[St. Louis Sal]

It’s always a good feeling to tip extra on my cruises.
 

I tip our dining room staff if we are assigned the same table for the whole cruise because they get to know us and our likes. I give it to them the last night. One time I did the Pinnacle last night, so I tracked them down 😀 so as not to miss. 

 

I rarely do room service but do tip when I get it, amount depending on size of order.

 

For drinks I usually only tip extra if I’ve chosen a particular bar to hang at and get to know the bartender. 

 

I always tip my room steward(s). Usually on the last night, I leave it on the bed when we go to dinner. On holiday cruises I tip an additional small amount on the day of, usually in a happy holidays card I bring along or else just write a note. 
 

I always remind myself that those amounts are small to me, but may be special for the recipient. 
 

St Louis Sal

[cruisin'mama]

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I usually address it to the laundry staff then put I short note inside saying how much I appreciate their great service.  I just don’t want them to think I accidentally dropped something in there which it could easily happen with me.

I do the same thing. I get messages back from the laundry staff with my clean clothes about how much they appreciated it.

[dobiemom]

1 hour ago, St. Louis Sal said:

I always remind myself that those amounts are small to me, but may be special for the recipient. 

👍

[rkacruiser]

11 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I now give 2 envelopes (one to each steward) as I learned the hard way that one may not pass any to the other.  I had time to rectify it because I was on a Collectors but from there on in, I give separate envelopes just as I do to my MDR stewards.

 

I appreciate your post.  That is what I used to do with the two MDR Stewards:  one envelope for each.  Then, when I experienced two Cabin Stewards:  what to do?  I started to give one envelope for the two of them with both their names on it and tried to do so when both were present so that they both knew that I had done so.  I try to the same with my MDR Stewards.  

 

They can "fight" between the two of them as to how they divide the money.  None of my concern.  

[muffin]

Re giving tips early so crew can take it off to spend in port if they get a day or part of a day off. We have often offered to pick up something onshore for our steward if he is needing something, or just wants a treat. Sometimes they need shaving cream, or special chocolate bars they like, or once a bear toy for a new niece!  It becomes a tip gift as we never let them pay.  Some go several ports before 5hey can get off to do personal shopping. 

[kazu]

25 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I appreciate your post.  That is what I used to do with the two MDR Stewards:  one envelope for each.  Then, when I experienced two Cabin Stewards:  what to do?  I started to give one envelope for the two of them with both their names on it and tried to do so when both were present so that they both knew that I had done so.  I try to the same with my MDR Stewards.  

 

They can "fight" between the two of them as to how they divide the money.  None of my concern.  

 

Interesting view point. Since the senior steward who was getting off on the 1st segment gave nothing to the assistant I had to redo.  Frankly in that scenario the “assistant” did far more for us than the senior.  I made up for it and from there on in,  I did separate envelopes for all and gave what I thought was appropriate for each.

There have been times when the “assistants” got more than the seniors and deservedly so.  Each to their own.  But personally, I want the extra tip if I deem to do it to go in the pocket that deserves it. 

[RuthC]

5 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

When you tip with cash directly to the crew, they get to keep it.

There's a caveat with that: cash tips given directly to the crew can be retained by them IF AND ONLY IF  you have not removed OR reduced the Hotel Service Charge (by whatever name HAL decides to call it when you sail). Otherwise, the recipients are bound to turn that cash tip in to the tip pool. 

[Mrsfrz]

1 hour ago, RuthC said:

There's a caveat with that: cash tips given directly to the crew can be retained by them IF AND ONLY IF  you have not removed OR reduced the Hotel Service Charge (by whatever name HAL decides to call it when you sail). Otherwise, the recipients are bound to turn that cash tip in to the tip pool. 

We would never think of removing the gratuity charges from the pool. Are you saying as long as we individually have not removed them, then they can keep their tips? 

[bluesplayer]

Happy to read this pro tipping thread AND paying hotel service charges.  We happily do both.  Anything above and beyond is appreciated.  HA staff has always been wonderful on all my cruises!!  I read a few suggestions here that I have left out..   stepping up!!  

[zgscl]

3 hours ago, RuthC said:

There's a caveat with that: cash tips given directly to the crew can be retained by them IF AND ONLY IF  you have not removed OR reduced the Hotel Service Charge (by whatever name HAL decides to call it when you sail). Otherwise, the recipients are bound to turn that cash tip in to the tip pool. 

This is interesting. I wonder how they are supposed to know if we turned it off or not. We would never dream of removing it, but i wonder if they actually have to check if cabin 105 or the family at table 26 on Wednesday turned it off or not.

 

We usually say it is “something extra for them” hopefully that makes it clear enough for them. 

[Boytjie]

51 minutes ago, zgscl said:

This is interesting. I wonder how they are supposed to know if we turned it off or not. We would never dream of removing it, but i wonder if they actually have to check if cabin 105 or the family at table 26 on Wednesday turned it off or not.

 

We usually say it is “something extra for them” hopefully that makes it clear enough for them. 

They get a list of passengers who removed the gratuities. On the honor system they are supposed to hand over any cash tips they received from anyone on the list.  

[kazu]

9 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

We would never think of removing the gratuity charges from the pool. Are you saying as long as we individually have not removed them, then they can keep their tips? 

 

Absolutely.  As long as the HSC/Crew Incentive is left in place, the crew get to keep any individual tips they are given 👍 

7 hours ago, zgscl said:

This is interesting. I wonder how they are supposed to know if we turned it off or not. We would never dream of removing it, but i wonder if they actually have to check if cabin 105 or the family at table 26 on Wednesday turned it off or not.

 

We usually say it is “something extra for them” hopefully that makes it clear enough for them. 

 

Oh believe me, they know.  No need to check.  There’s a list.  

[AncientWanderer]

7 hours ago, zgscl said:

This is interesting. I wonder how they are supposed to know if we turned it off or not. We would never dream of removing it, but i wonder if they actually have to check if cabin 105 or the family at table 26 on Wednesday turned it off or not.

 

We usually say it is “something extra for them” hopefully that makes it clear enough for them. 

 

I had one stateroom attendant give me a very quizzical look when I "extra-tipped" him at end of a very long cruise.  While they may indeed get a list of who has removed automatic tips, the removal can take place at any time, and these guys presumably don't have a lot of leisure to check the list.  After that one quizzical look, I now do as you do, very plainly say that the envelope is extra beyond that automatic gratuity, to thank for the extra good service provided.

[RuthC]

12 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

We would never think of removing the gratuity charges from the pool. Are you saying as long as we individually have not removed them, then they can keep their tips? 

No. I am saying that if you have not removed OR REDUCED the service charge, the recipients of a cash tip may keep them. 
Reducing the amount charged by HAL matters as much as removing the amount entirely, as far as duty to turn in cash tips goes. 

[StLouisCruisers]

15 hours ago, kazu said:

There have been times when the “assistants” got more than the seniors and deservedly so.  Each to their own.  But personally, I want the extra tip if I deem to do it to go in the pocket that deserves it. 

 

 

Agree 100% with your comments.  We definitely want to tailor our extra tip to each individual person and not by rank of assistant or senior.  Some of our assistants have been superior than the seniors.  And of course we always leave the hotel service charge on in addition to that.  Making two crew members divvy up the extra tip is not the best plan for us.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Everyone onboard except the casino workers and spa workers are included in the tip pool.  The beverage wait staff and bar tenders get 18% of all your drink purchases.   

 

Room service servers are included in the tip pool.   They get a piece of the tip pool.  The same with the specialty restaurant servers.

 

While additional tips are always appreciated - keep in mind that you are already tipping everyone and HAL does all the distribution for you.    What ever you do - DO NOT reduce the automatic gratuity.   You can increase this amount if you want to tip everyone a little bit more.     

 

I never carry money around during the cruise.   I don't tip anyone extra during the cruise.   HAL tips them on my behalf and i appreciate the convenience of not having to carry a bunch of small bills.

 

If someone was truly above and beyond I will give them something extra on the last day.   

[Mrsfrz]

13 hours ago, RuthC said:

No. I am saying that if you have not removed OR REDUCED the service charge, the recipients of a cash tip may keep them. 
Reducing the amount charged by HAL matters as much as removing the amount entirely, as far as duty to turn in cash tips goes. 

That's what I said, that I don't remove or reduce them, so the answer to my question is yes. 

[Laminator]

On 8/29/2021 at 11:27 PM, zgscl said:

This is interesting. I wonder how they are supposed to know if we turned it off or not. We would never dream of removing it, but i wonder if they actually have to check if cabin 105 or the family at table 26 on Wednesday turned it off or not.

 

We usually say it is “something extra for them” hopefully that makes it clear enough for them. 

There used to be a list of the cabins where the tips have been removed in the stewards utility room. Some guests are down at the front desk on embarkation day removing the HSC. 

[VMax1700]

5 hours ago, Laminator said:

Some guests are down at the front desk on embarkation day removing the HSC. 

That is why I believe that the 'Have it All' package should include HSC in place of Internet.  Not all need or want internet, but HSC inclusion would benefit the crew directly and be much more difficult to remove.

[Eveann]

On our last cruise my husband had lost weight, his wedding band slip off his finger. Looked for the ring but couldn't find it. We're booked on a shore excursions so we had to leave ,we asked the room stewards not to vacuum. When we came back they had found his ring. We gave each of them  50 dollars,  because he wears his dad's wedding band from 1941 

[RuthC]

11 hours ago, Mrsfrz said:

That's what I said, that I don't remove or reduce them, so the answer to my question is yes. 

I must have missed the part of your quote where you included 'reduced' then. So sorry. 

[OldBoot]

This thread has me wondering . . . Where do crew members safely store cash while on their long stints at sea?