gatoorman

Learned today from my tour company Vantage that HA new tipping policy is to add $10 per day per person to your on board bill. All bar and beverage purchases will have a 15% service charge automatically added to your bill. You may at the end of the cruise "negotiate" the $ 10 PP charge but not the bar and beverage purchases. So much for their no tipping policy. I wonder how this will play out.

Rhea

Had heard rumblings about this for
a while.

Carnival owns 'em...it was in the
cards.

manycruiser

The best tipping policy is NOT this one. I have found that when tips are automatic, you do not get a very good level of service. Frankly, the envelopes are still the best way.

Just back from Oceania Regatta. That is the way they do it, and we had them all removed from our bill the third day. Horrid service. Their bar and beverage tipping was 18%. I think that is the highest I have ever seen.

Budman

I think the 15% added to all beverages has been in effect on all cruise lines with the exception of the "all inclusive" ones.

I think Holland America's no tipping policy was a little confusing. Tipping is not required on any of the cruise ships, but it is highly recommended as that is their source of income such as a waiter in a restaurant. To announce that tipping is not required would lead me to believe they were compensated by other means.

On our last Celebrity cruise, we could add tips to our final shipboard bill only if we gave all the recommended amounts to all the recommended people -- we could give more if we liked. I didn't like this because they recommended giving the Head Waiter something -- He never did anything for us except walk by the table and smile a day or two before the cruise was to end.

I prefer the recommended amounts given in the envelopes so we could give more or less based on the service we received.

petlover

Tipping policies seem to always be a tricky thing....especially when I've read that some "low lifes" go to a buffet on the last night just to avoid tipping the restaurant staff. How tacky is that!

Surprisingly, I've had the best service on cruise lines where tips are included in the fare, not automatically added on a per day basis or the envelope procedure. This enables all the staff to be paid regardless of which restaurant you choose to eat in each night.

I can only guess that maybe the service workers on these lines require more experience before being hired on and receive highter salaries across the board?? Has anyone ever read any articles regarding which cruise lines pay what?? That info would be interesting.

mzldc

Keep in mind, the amounts added to your bill, can be changed up or down.

Debbie

chicgeek

We just got off the Diamond Princess, and welcomed the automatic tipping. We hate the whole envelope method. We received excellent service from everyone, and feel that this is a fair solution to make sure that tips are distributed among all the staff. We also gave our cabin steward an extra tip at the end of the cruise.

MauiMaui

I personally prefer adding $10 per day per person and tip your favorites that do something special for you. Actually my main preference is sailing, Radisson and the other like them. No tipping, everything is included and service is impecable (sp).