HAL's Tipping Policy

I can only go by our experience which was last October, before the new
policy went into effect.

I don't know how Pinnacle's "grapevine" works, but because we were suite
passengers we had done lunch there before we did dinner.

Danni was, she thought, gluten intolerant, and we were given the next
night's menu at the end of each dinner so she could see what she could eat.
Given the options one night, I left and made a reservation at the
restaurant. I was please that even without Danni and the dog, they knew who
I was.

When we arrived for dinner they put us at a table by the window so that
Heidi, the service dog, had plenty of room.

As dinner progressed with its exemplary white glove service I started to
wonder how you reward the staff. Since I was sitting with my back to the
rest of the dining room, I asked Danni to keep an eye out for some clues,
but she says that she never saw anything helpful.

So how do you tip for a meal where there is no bill except for the "service
charge" for eating there? I didn't know then and I don't know now.

When I got the "check" I asked if I could add a tip to the bill. They were
forthright and said that we could but that they would not receive it because
it would be shared. Fortunately I had cash on me so I left what I thought
was appropriate.

If people would like to discuss how to tip at an alternative restaurant I
probably could learn something because I know that Pinnacle is certainly
something that we will do on our upcoming cruise.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


"Jean" wrote in message
...


Dick Goldhaber wrote:

Some time ago there was a thread concerning the confusion over HAL's new
policy of a standard per diem charge which was to be added to your
passenger
account and pooled among the folks who worked in the service areas.

I wrote to HAL who sent me a stock answer which didn't add anything, but
when Danni asked, unlike myself who added the booking number, as someone
interested in booking, she received the following reply:

Dear Ms. Goldhaber,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding our tipping policy. To answer your
question, crew members are allowed to keep additional tips from
passengers
who do not ask to lower the $10.00 a day amount that is posted to
their on
board account. This is done because we feel that the service our
guests
receive requires a teamwork of many people, many whom passengers never
see.
Therefore, we do not feel it would be fair for a passenger to adjust
the
tipping amount off of their on board bill and then only tip a select
few
crew members. However, if a passenger wants to tip a select few crew
members above the tipping amount automatically posted to their on
board
bill, then those crew members are allowed to keep those tips
personally.

We realize that this new policy will bring up some questions from
passengers, and we hope we have helped you understand the specifics of
this tipping policy.

Best regards,

Debbie
Customer Relations
Holland America Line
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


What about if one were to eat in the Pinnacle Grill, their alternative
dining
restaurant? Would one tip them out-of-pocket as normal?

We were on the Zaandam (first time HAL) this past Feb. and so liked the Pinnacle
Grill the first night, we ate there EVERY night. Never did hit the dining room
at all and come to think of it, never ate there for breakfast or lunch either.
Anyway, we figured what we would be spending if we ate out the same kind of meal
at home (granted, we are not in a big city or state) and tipped $10 each for the
maitre'd, and the 2 waiters each night. They all seemed very pleased and in
short order, they brought everything we liked without asking. (husband is very
predictable. I was a bit more of a challenge). But my "6 grapes" port arrived
everynight on cue!
Jean

Dick Goldhaber wrote:

I can only go by our experience which was last October, before the new
policy went into effect.

I don't know how Pinnacle's "grapevine" works, but because we were suite
passengers we had done lunch there before we did dinner.

Danni was, she thought, gluten intolerant, and we were given the next
night's menu at the end of each dinner so she could see what she could eat.
Given the options one night, I left and made a reservation at the
restaurant. I was please that even without Danni and the dog, they knew who
I was.

When we arrived for dinner they put us at a table by the window so that
Heidi, the service dog, had plenty of room.

As dinner progressed with its exemplary white glove service I started to
wonder how you reward the staff. Since I was sitting with my back to the
rest of the dining room, I asked Danni to keep an eye out for some clues,
but she says that she never saw anything helpful.

So how do you tip for a meal where there is no bill except for the "service
charge" for eating there? I didn't know then and I don't know now.

When I got the "check" I asked if I could add a tip to the bill. They were
forthright and said that we could but that they would not receive it because
it would be shared. Fortunately I had cash on me so I left what I thought
was appropriate.

If people would like to discuss how to tip at an alternative restaurant I
probably could learn something because I know that Pinnacle is certainly
something that we will do on our upcoming cruise.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


"Jean" wrote in message
...


Dick Goldhaber wrote:

Some time ago there was a thread concerning the confusion over HAL's new
policy of a standard per diem charge which was to be added to your
passenger
account and pooled among the folks who worked in the service areas.

I wrote to HAL who sent me a stock answer which didn't add anything, but
when Danni asked, unlike myself who added the booking number, as someone
interested in booking, she received the following reply:

Dear Ms. Goldhaber,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding our tipping policy. To answer your
question, crew members are allowed to keep additional tips from
passengers
who do not ask to lower the $10.00 a day amount that is posted to
their on
board account. This is done because we feel that the service our
guests
receive requires a teamwork of many people, many whom passengers never
see.
Therefore, we do not feel it would be fair for a passenger to adjust
the
tipping amount off of their on board bill and then only tip a select
few
crew members. However, if a passenger wants to tip a select few crew
members above the tipping amount automatically posted to their on
board
bill, then those crew members are allowed to keep those tips
personally.

We realize that this new policy will bring up some questions from
passengers, and we hope we have helped you understand the specifics of
this tipping policy.

Best regards,

Debbie
Customer Relations
Holland America Line
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ


What about if one were to eat in the Pinnacle Grill, their alternative
dining
restaurant? Would one tip them out-of-pocket as normal?

From: "Dick Goldhaber" ojunk

As dinner progressed with its exemplary white glove service I started to
wonder how you reward the staff.

When I got the "check" I asked if I could add a tip to the bill. They were
forthright and said that we could but that they would not receive it because
it would be shared. Fortunately I had cash on me so I left what I thought
was appropriate.

If people would like to discuss how to tip at an alternative restaurant I
probably could learn something because I know that Pinnacle is certainly
something that we will do on our upcoming cruise.

Dick,

Glad to hear that you received the white glove service that HAL touts for the
Pinnacle Grill. I wish we could report the same from our recent cruise on the
Maasdam. The service was the worst we have received on any line over the last
ten years. We were seated for almost ten minutes before we received a menu.
The waitress claimed that she did not know that the table where we seated was
her area? Five minutes later we received water, followed by bread ten miutes
later; the water and bread was by way of the assistant waiter. The waitress
finally came to take our order, and refused to offer any suggestions. The wine
steward was excellent, discussing our menu choices and offering suggestions of
compatable wines. Once during the meal, our waitress walked past our table and
asked if everything was OK; she did this without stopping, just kept walking.
About 10-15 minutes after we finished our entrees, the waitress asked about
dessert, and left the menu. Ten minutes later, the assistant waiter took our
dessert and beverage order, and later delivered both. When we were finishing
our dessert, our waitress was passing by, and seem disturbed when I stopped her
to request a second cup of coffee for Janet. Ten minutes later, no waitress,
no coffee. Finally, the assistant waiter aske dif we needed anything else; he
immediately got the coffee for Janet. Shortly after that he brought me our
'check'.

About the time we were finishing our entrees, I began looking about for the
Pinnacle Manager to express our dis-satisfaction with the service (the food was
absolutely excellent). I only saw him twice, once talking with the captain who
was also dining there with a party (they were getting much better seviceg),
and the other time heading for the kitchen area. When I asked for him as we
were leaving, I was told he would back in about 1/2 hour. Needless to say the
only tip offered was to the wine steward, basically for his wine suggestion.
With the $20/pp surcharge for Pinnacle, I feel $5/pp gratuity is appropriate
for excellent service. I actually felt that HAL should have pad us for the
dismal experience. I stopped back at the Pinnacle the next night to speak with
the Manager; I told him of my total dissatisfaction with the service aspect of
our dining experience, except for the wine steward. I told him that I could
not even find him to express my concerns. He checked back at our reservation
(didn't remember me smiling face - highly unusual on HAL) he said he knew who
the server was and she would be spoken to. I told him the $20/pp surcharge was
out of line for what was delivered, he said there was nothing that could be
done about that, except offer apologies. We were tempted to try Pinnacle later
in the cruise, but decided to stay with the excellent service at our regular
table in the Dining Room.







Ray

Wishing light winds and smooth seas to all

pamnot (Zegarskis) wrote:

You didn't by any chance say, "Excuse me, WAITRESS, did you?"


You wrote (snipped to pieces by me):

Glad to hear that you received the white glove service that HAL touts for
the Pinnacle Grill. I wish we could report the same from our recent cruise
on the Maasdam. The service was the worst we have received on any line over
the last ten years.

snip

The waitress ...

snip

The waitress

snip

our waitress

snip

the waitress

snip

our waitress

snip

Ten minutes later, no waitress,

snip

I stopped back at the Pinnacle the next night to speak
with the Manager; I told him of my total dissatisfaction with the service
aspect
of our dining experience, except for the wine steward. I told him that I
could
not even find him to express my concerns. He checked back at our reservation
(didn't remember me smiling face - highly unusual on HAL) he said he knew
who the server was and she would be spoken to.


Do you notice the difference in tone between WAITRESS and SERVER?

Perhaps your server did, too.

(I am not excusing her behavior at all, and I'm not trying to pick a fight with
you at all, but someone who waits tables and serves meals should be called a
server, and possibly a waiter, regardless of gender.)

I, RTCReferee wrote:

You didn't by any chance say, "Excuse me, WAITRESS, did you?"

Ray didn't write that part.

My bad.



(Zegarskis) wrote:

(snipped to pieces by me):

Glad to hear that you received the white glove service that HAL touts for
the Pinnacle Grill. I wish we could report the same from our recent cruise
on the Maasdam. The service was the worst we have received on any line
over
the last ten years.

snip

The waitress ...

snip

The waitress

snip

our waitress

snip

the waitress

snip

our waitress

snip

Ten minutes later, no waitress,

snip

I stopped back at the Pinnacle the next night to speak
with the Manager; I told him of my total dissatisfaction with the service
aspect
of our dining experience, except for the wine steward. I told him that
I
could
not even find him to express my concerns. He checked back at our reservation
(didn't remember me smiling face - highly unusual on HAL) he said he knew
who the server was and she would be spoken
to.


Do you notice the difference in tone between WAITRESS and SERVER?

Perhaps your server did, too.

(I am not excusing her behavior at all, and I'm not trying to pick a fight
with
you at all, but someone who waits tables and serves meals should be called
a
server, and possibly a waiter, regardless of gender.)

Jean wrote:

We were on the Zaandam (first time HAL) this past Feb. and so liked the
Pinnacle Grill the first night, we ate there EVERY night.

How did you manage this? Didn't anyone else want a reservation?
Did you check back each day?

It's my understanding that you can't book the room as a standing reservation
for every night.

The CD on Rotterdam also said ALL tips are pooled & if you give extra to
someone they are required to surrender it to the POOL ! He also said
that NOW all crew such as laundry & maint. workers etc. will get their
share of the money ! I wonder how that is working out !!

BILL

On 11 Jun 2004 02:20:59 GMT, ando (RTCReferee)
wrote:

I, RTCReferee wrote:

You didn't by any chance say, "Excuse me, WAITRESS, did you?"

You're saying that a ridiculous semantic differentiation is going to
make for bad service on HAL? Did "waitress" suddenly become
politically incorrect while I was sleeping?


Mason Barge

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln

"Mason Barge" wrote in message
...
On 11 Jun 2004 02:20:59 GMT, ando (RTCReferee)
wrote:

I, RTCReferee wrote:

You didn't by any chance say, "Excuse me, WAITRESS, did you?"

Did "waitress" suddenly become
politically incorrect while I was sleeping?

Why yes, and that must of been some long nap. (Oh, helpful
hint, they don't like to be call stewardess any more either.)


Mason Barge

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please
bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Some HAL customer-service droid wrote:
Thank you for your e-mail regarding our tipping policy. To answer your
question, crew members are allowed to keep additional tips from passengers
who do not ask to lower the $10.00 a day amount that is posted to their on
board account. This is done because we feel that the service our guests
receive requires a teamwork of many people, many whom passengers never
see.

WTF?!! Why should I be expected to tip someone I never see? A tip is
for personal service. Someone I never see cannot be providing me
personal service. HAL should be paying people who aren't in direct
customer contact salaries, which is what my cruise fare is paying for.

I think HAL has completely missed the point of what a tip IS.

Why must they go from one policy which does nothing but confuse
passengers, to another that does nothing but irritate passengers? Why
not let HAL pay the salaries, and customers determine the tips, which is
what everyone expects and, as far as I can tell, prefers.

Mike