Recommended Ship-Boarding Time? (and a tipping question)

I wouldn't say they tag after you; they find you the first time you want
something, and generally the same person finds you the NEXT time you
want something (and are in the same area), and all the subsequent times.
Nothing wrong with that, in MY book!

Most of the time, all I want is a glass of water. I am delighted to tip
for the smiling service I get.

Eileen

MarkT wrote:

Ah, not so, grasshopper. The people on HAL don't ever tag along after you
looking for a handout on the last night. Nice attitude to end the cruise.

Mark T.
"Eileen Garland" wrote in message
...

THEY find YOU. No problem!

I don't know if it'll be as good as some of the reviews I've read here
before, but I'm game for trying!

Karen


Laura Billmers wrote:

We are doing the same cruise on Dec. 11. I hope you will post a
detailed review.

Have a great cruise!

Laura

Karen M Chan wrote:
We're leaving on the HAL 10-Day Southern Carib Seafarer cruise on the
Volendam on Nov. 1 -- yippee!! The documents say embarkation time is
3:00 p.m. (with a 5:00 pm. departure time) -- what's a good time to
arrive at Port Everglades to go through security, etc.? Can we get on
the ship earlier than 3:00?

We'll have arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the night before, so in theory we
could arrive any time, but don't want to waste a lot of time just
sitting around looking at the ship from the outside... we'd rather be
boarded early to look at the ship from the INside!

Also, can someone tell me what's the recommended tipping schedule for
the various people who make our stay comfy and fun, like the room
steward, dinner maitre'd, etc.?

Thanks!
Karen


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......and how do you calculate a tip for drink service after a week of
ordering drinks? (especially since you had different servers)

"Eileen Garland" wrote in message
...
THEY find YOU. No problem!

Eileen

Rich Cacace wrote:
We've never been on HAL but it sounds like a pain trying to find the
waiters
who gave you drinks during the week or carrying money with you in order
to
tip on the spot. I suppose it goes along with their "no tipping"
policy.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 12:10:37 GMT, "Rich Cacace" richcacace-REMOVE TO
wrote:

.....and how do you calculate a tip for drink service after a week of
ordering drinks? (especially since you had different servers)

Hi Rich,

You give them what you consider fair. There is no guideline but your
own conscience.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

Karen, I hope you'll post a review of this cruise. We are on the 12/28
New Year's sailing of the Volendam and are anxious to hear all about
this ship. Our previous HAL experience was on the Rotterdam in July
2001 and we just loved it. Anyone else on the New Year's cruise? Helen


Karen M Chan wrote in message ...
We're leaving on the HAL 10-Day Southern Carib Seafarer cruise on the
Volendam on Nov. 1 -- yippee!! The documents say embarkation time is
3:00 p.m. (with a 5:00 pm. departure time) -- what's a good time to
arrive at Port Everglades to go through security, etc.? Can we get on
the ship earlier than 3:00?

We'll have arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the night before, so in theory we
could arrive any time, but don't want to waste a lot of time just
sitting around looking at the ship from the outside... we'd rather be
boarded early to look at the ship from the INside!

Also, can someone tell me what's the recommended tipping schedule for
the various people who make our stay comfy and fun, like the room
steward, dinner maitre'd, etc.?

Thanks!
Karen

Then it's going to be up to me to keep track of how many drinks I order &
which waiter serves them. It's much to complicated.

"Ray Goldenberg" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 12:10:37 GMT, "Rich Cacace" richcacace-REMOVE TO
wrote:

.....and how do you calculate a tip for drink service after a week of
ordering drinks? (especially since you had different servers)

Hi Rich,

You give them what you consider fair. There is no guideline but your
own conscience.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 21:38:40 GMT, "Rich Cacace" richcacace-REMOVE TO
wrote:

Then it's going to be up to me to keep track of how many drinks I order &
which waiter serves them. It's much to complicated.

Hi Rich,

It is not complicated unless you make it so.

Best regards,
Ray
LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL
800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905
http://www.lighthousetravel.com

Yes, I second this. I just booked for an Alaska cruise on the Volendam in
July. Please, let us know how you liked it.

Harvey

"Helen" wrote in message
om...
Karen, I hope you'll post a review of this cruise. We are on the 12/28
New Year's sailing of the Volendam and are anxious to hear all about
this ship. Our previous HAL experience was on the Rotterdam in July
2001 and we just loved it. Anyone else on the New Year's cruise? Helen


Karen M Chan wrote in message
...
We're leaving on the HAL 10-Day Southern Carib Seafarer cruise on the
Volendam on Nov. 1 -- yippee!! The documents say embarkation time is
3:00 p.m. (with a 5:00 pm. departure time) -- what's a good time to
arrive at Port Everglades to go through security, etc.? Can we get on
the ship earlier than 3:00?

We'll have arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the night before, so in theory we
could arrive any time, but don't want to waste a lot of time just
sitting around looking at the ship from the outside... we'd rather be
boarded early to look at the ship from the INside!

Also, can someone tell me what's the recommended tipping schedule for
the various people who make our stay comfy and fun, like the room
steward, dinner maitre'd, etc.?

Thanks!
Karen

We will be on NOV 1st cruise -

"Rich Cacace" richcacace-REMOVE TO wrote in message et...
We've never been on HAL but it sounds like a pain trying to find the waiters
who gave you drinks during the week or carrying money with you in order to
tip on the spot. I suppose it goes along with their "no tipping" policy.

Actually, it wasn't a pain at all. We've been on one HAL cruise and
met a bar waiter on embarkation day. He learned our names that first
day, and always seemed to be around when we were looking for a drink.
I don't remember specifically tipping him at the end, but I know we
tipped him throughout the cruise (like $10 every few days or
something).

It almost seemed like each bar waiter "adopted" say 100 passengers for
the week and took care of their bar needs. I don't think we were
served by any other bar staff, save the bartenders. Our waiter just
always seemed to be there.

And, to reiterate once again, that which has been stated so many times
before, HAL has a "no tipping required" policy which is vastly
different than a "no tipping" policy.

Lee