Club Orange Tipping

[ventigirl]

We are currently on a cruise and wondering about tipping in Club Orange. We have had various wait staff depending on where we’ve been seated and they are all amazing. The host/hostess are equally great. Does anyone know if they share tips or we should try to figure out who to tip individually and how much?  We’re thinking of giving one tip to the main host and ask him to make sure all are compensated…that feels the most appropriate but wanted some others experiences who have done it previously. Thanks!

[mcrcruiser]

Tipping is a personal thing  & since you already pay your daily tips any thing you give is  over & above the daily tips . you need to single out those people who gave you extra  ordinary  service not just their job . Then decide what tip is appropriate . No one can offer guidelines since it is a personal thing to do 

[cbr663]

It will be really hard to get a definitive answer on any tipping thread.  

 

On our last cruise on the Koningsdam we dined in the CO dining room.  During one dinner I was seated at a table where I had a clear view of the kitchen and the drop zone where the waiters bring out the trays and remove the plate covers prior to serving the meals.  This drop zone has a drawer in it with various cubbies.  Several times I saw a waiter return to the drop zone with a closed bill folder in their hands.  I watched as they opened the drawer, opened the folder and placed a sign receipt in one cubby and cash in another, quickly close the drawer, place the bill folder in its designated spot and then moved on to other duties.  Based on the fact that cash tips were not personally pocketed by the waiter and placed in an open and shared drawer I guess that tips are shared.  

[ventigirl]

14 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

It will be really hard to get a definitive answer on any tipping thread.  

 

On our last cruise on the Koningsdam we dined in the CO dining room.  During one dinner I was seated at a table where I had a clear view of the kitchen and the drop zone where the waiters bring out the trays and remove the plate covers prior to serving the meals.  This drop zone has a drawer in it with various cubbies.  Several times I saw a waiter return to the drop zone with a closed bill folder in their hands.  I watched as they opened the drawer, opened the folder and placed a sign receipt in one cubby and cash in another, quickly close the drawer, place the bill folder in its designated spot and then moved on to other duties.  Based on the fact that cash tips were not personally pocketed by the waiter and placed in an open and shared drawer I guess that tips are shared.  

Thank you. This is very helpful!  I realize tipping is subjective and often controversial but wanted to see if anyone had a personal experience…like you shared….that helped answer if tips were shared by all or kept by the person who received it. Appreciate your response! 

[CruiseIreland]

We were on a two week cruise on Nieuw Statendam, in Club Orange. A few of the wait staff were very engaging and we wanted to add a tip in addition to the Daily charge. It is very awkward to tip one and not another on the QT. So, in the last couple of days, we slipped our waiters a bill in a handshake (cheesy I know). However, we unexpectedly did not go to breakfast in CO on disembarkation day and missed out on tipping another favourite waiter. Hard to know how we should have done it!

[YourWorldWithBill]

This was very difficult for us also. We tipped the manager at the end of the cruise, as we had asked a lot of him. Similar to what some others have said, there were several staff members that were extra helpful, and we saw all of them doing whatever they could, so we stuck with the manager. Next time I thought of giving the manager an envelope in the hearing of some staff and ask that it be distributed, unless there are one or two that I felt deserve more.

 

But this all might be irrelevant, as @cbr663seems to have a pretty clear answer to that issue, and that makes the most sense.

[Nodakboiler]

We've given the manager an envelope for all to share and sometimes individuals would get additional. There are usually 11-12 total people on CO staff.

[ventigirl]

I appreciate everyone chiming in because we have felt the same as you have stated….they all do a great job and it’s so hard to know who, how and when!  We will probably go the route of handing it to the main host on our last night. Thanks so much for the input!  

[Torquer]

Over numerous HAL cruises over the years, I have never noticed anyone give a tip in the CO dining room on Pinnacle Class ships nor in the lower MDR (anytime dining) for other ships.  It might be different  upstairs in the MDR where you have the same servers every night, but we have never done fixed dining.

[0106]

When in Club Orange, we ask to be seated in the same section with the same waiter for every meal.  We do this for a variety of reasons but mainly because DH has some health issues that we prefer not to explain every time we are seated.  We also have some special requests (no bread, extra vegetables, tea after dinner) which a regular waiter quickly accommodates.  On the NS in CO this March, we had an excellent service from our waiter($20), his assistant ($10) and the beverage server ($10). As a former server, if the service is excellent on the ship, I always provide an additional tip.

[Live4cruises]

We give our CO (and any other tips) directly to the person with their name on an envelope. The smiles and comments that we receive make us believe they get to keep them. D
If you’ve removed set tips from your account, the staff is aware of that and must share any individual tips. 

I can’t imagine that the restaurant staffs would be different from bar or stewards. I’ve specifically asked if bar staff keeps additional tips, which was confirmed. 

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, Live4cruises said:

I can’t imagine that the restaurant staffs would be different from bar or stewards. I’ve specifically asked if bar staff keeps additional tips, which was confirmed.

Restaurant and bar/lounge staff are in two different tipping pools. Restaurant staff draws their tips from the daily gratuity charge, while bar/lounge staff draws theirs from the 18% added to drink prices. 

However, this does not prevent people who work a specific area from coming to an informal agreement within their area to pool additional tips. 
The crew in CO on one ship, on one cruise, could have and agreement to pool all additional tips, while on another ship, or another cruise on that ship, might not have that agreement. 
Same for the bar/lounge crew on any given ship, at any given time. 

Once you have given an additional tip to an individual in an area, it becomes their money. At that point them following the informal agreement, if one exists, is beyond your influence. 

[ship101]

Last week on the Koningsdam I specifically asked the manager if tips were shared or not and he told me it was shared among the servers and the busboy but not by him and his assistant. We gave him the envelop with the tips for the server team to be shared. As someone wrote, it may be different on another ship but ask the manager. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, 0106 said:

When in Club Orange, we ask to be seated in the same section with the same waiter for every meal.  We do this for a variety of reasons but mainly because DH has some health issues that we prefer not to explain every time we are seated.  We also have some special requests (no bread, extra vegetables, tea after dinner) which a regular waiter quickly accommodates.  On the NS in CO this March, we had an excellent service from our waiter($20), his assistant ($10) and the beverage server ($10). As a former server, if the service is excellent on the ship, I always provide an additional tip.

We also have some special request, but at times had different waiters in CO. It seems that the requests are passed on, so it always worked. I was told that the staff working CO are specially chosen from various cruises.

[Ready2go11]

We have been fortunate enough to dine in Club Orange on a few occasions across all three of the pinnacle class ships. We have not tipped CO staff each time, as the service has not always been stellar.
 

Last fall on the Rotterdam TA cruise, the staff was outstanding, and we gave each person we got to know well an envelope on the last day with some money and a thank you note.  Each person slipped the envelope into their pocket. 
 

If the tips are shared, so be it, but that person knew we appreciated their service. We also mentioned each one in the Navigator app feedback during the cruise (and they mentioned they received notice of that) and in the post cruise survey. 
 

The Rotterdam CO team are phenomenal, led by manager Edgar, and part of the reason we booked another CO experience on the Rotterdam. We wanted them to know how much we appreciated them. 

[tompeter]

We were on NS a few months ago. We had the same server for the whole 10 days, so I asked if we should do separate envelopes for who we wanted to tip and he advised it is simpler just to do one, as they pool everything and split evenly amongst the 10 or 11 staff members in the restaurant.

 

[horseymike]

Just of the Rotterdam a few weeks ago, we gave an extra tip to the hostesses and an envelope for all the wait staff who took care of us to share a few nights before the end of the cruise, several members  of the waitstaff as well as the hostesses thanked us for the extra tips.

With all the different people taking care of us throughout the cruise it was very difficult for me to figure out who should get what.

[horseymike]

For the record , we were in Club Orange.🍊 

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, horseymike said:

With all the different people taking care of us throughout the cruise it was very difficult for me to figure out who should get what.

And that is the reason that there is the daily hotel charge/crew gratuities/ or whatever they have named it this week.  Correct?

[ventigirl]

We are currently on NS and ended up asking the manager Ari if tips were pooled or not. He and the entire staff have been fabulous and work together as a team so it would be difficult to give individual tips. They all go above and beyond, remember our preferences/habits, are always so welcoming and pleasant. They are generally quite busy/full so being sat in the same section each time is almost impossible. We have a preference and they try to make that happen but it isn’t always possible. Ari said they pool tips so we plan to hand him an envelope on the last night. It’s helpful to know that isn’t always the case so will be aware of that for future cruises. 

[horseymike]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

And that is the reason that there is the daily hotel charge/crew gratuities/ or whatever they have named it this week.  Correct?

Absolutely. Any additional tips are at the discretion of the individual.

[RedIguana]

Since the advent of anytime dining, of which Club Orange is also part of, I just leave a tip on the table when I leave each night. Usually a five for the 2 of us, although some nights I'll drop a ten, especially if they have had to pay extra attention to us (quick turnaround time so we don't miss an activity, off menu selection,  escargot on nights it is not on the menu, etc.). If there is a sommelier or wine/beverage steward that takes care of us for the sailing, I'll tip them out later in the cruise. Same if the Maitre D. or Assistant Maitre D., depending on who was taking care of us. I'll do the same for the specialty restaurants. No worries about missing anyone that way.

[BSinPNS]

Gald to hear Edgar is back on Rotterdam.  He runs an excellent Club Orange operation. We did tip individually since we were seated at the same table each day.

[YourWorldWithBill]

9 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

The Rotterdam CO team are phenomenal, led by manager Edgar, and part of the reason we booked another CO experience on the Rotterdam. We wanted them to know how much we appreciated them. 

 

We found the same thing on the Rotterdam: entire staff was great, and the manager went above and beyond several times.

 

6 hours ago, ventigirl said:

 Ari said they pool tips so we plan to hand him an envelope on the last night. It’s helpful to know that isn’t always the case so will be aware of that for future cruises. 

This is the most sensible answer and solves the worry: we just need to ask if they pool tips, unless we want to make a point by handing tips to any particular staff person.

[KAKcruiser]

Edgar was not the manager at Club Orange on the March 29, 2024 sailing.  The manager was Ailene and she was very nice but things did not always run smoothly.