Holand America - Volendam - Tipping Outrage!
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From: Jean O'Boyle on 30 May 2007 19:03 "skipfromla" <skipfromla(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:s0fr53tlplel7ecbtaht4ncs3a6jgscmb7(a)4ax.com... > Friend of mine just got back from a combo cruise/land tour and spent 7 > days of a 12 day Alaskan cruise on Holland America's Volendam. Tips > were supposed to have been included in the price of the cruise at the > rate of $10 per day per person on the cruise. > > Once aboard they were told that 70% of the tips included in the price > of the cruise went to people who worked in the background, not to the > people they were in contact with, cabin stewards, waiters, bus boys, > etc. The ship recommended that these people be tipped in addition to > the tips already charged in the bill for their cruise.. > > It appears Holland America has involved itself in some deceptive > business practices by telling people all the tips are included in the > price and then changing the rules once the cruise starts. > > Doubtful my friends will be cruising on any Holland America ship > again. I think that your friends misunderstood...The tips on all the HAL cruises that we have taken were $10 a day and never were included in the price of the cruise; but posted on our shipboard account in the amount of $10. pp. per day.. Only the bar staff got tipped 15% on any drinks that were purchased...I do not believe the ship recommended that the cabin stewards, waiters, asst. waiters, etc. be tipped again...We usually tip over the amount if someone deserves it because of exceptional service. Something just does not sound right here and I can't help but believe that it was a misunderstanding. --Jean
From: skipfromla on 31 May 2007 02:07 On Wed, 30 May 2007 18:57:41 GMT, J Carnaghie <jacarnaghie_NOSPAM(a)yahoo.com> wrote: >skipfromla wrote: > >> Friend of mine just got back from a combo cruise/land tour and spent 7 >> days of a 12 day Alaskan cruise on Holland America's Volendam. Tips >> were supposed to have been included in the price of the cruise at the >> rate of $10 per day per person on the cruise. >> >> Once aboard they were told that 70% of the tips included in the price >> of the cruise went to people who worked in the background, not to the >> people they were in contact with, cabin stewards, waiters, bus boys, >> etc. The ship recommended that these people be tipped in addition to >> the tips already charged in the bill for their cruise.. >> >> It appears Holland America has involved itself in some deceptive >> business practices by telling people all the tips are included in the >> price and then changing the rules once the cruise starts. >> >> Doubtful my friends will be cruising on any Holland America ship >> again. >> >Dear Skip, > Are you sure that "Tips were supposed to have >been included in the price of the cruise." >Every time we have been on HAL ships in the past >few years, it has been a "suggested gratuity of >$10 per day per person" added to the cabin bill. > That's exactly what my friends said. They were told one thing when booking the cruise and another when they were aboard.
From: skipfromla on 31 May 2007 02:10 On Wed, 30 May 2007 17:56:57 -0400, Sue and Kevin Mullen <kjmullen(a)comcast.net> wrote: > > >skipfromla wrote: >> Friend of mine just got back from a combo cruise/land tour and spent 7 >> days of a 12 day Alaskan cruise on Holland America's Volendam. Tips >> were supposed to have been included in the price of the cruise at the >> rate of $10 per day per person on the cruise. >> >> Once aboard they were told that 70% of the tips included in the price >> of the cruise went to people who worked in the background, not to the >> people they were in contact with, cabin stewards, waiters, bus boys, >> etc. The ship recommended that these people be tipped in addition to >> the tips already charged in the bill for their cruise.. >> >> It appears Holland America has involved itself in some deceptive >> business practices by telling people all the tips are included in the >> price and then changing the rules once the cruise starts. >> >> Doubtful my friends will be cruising on any Holland America ship >> again. > >We sailed on the Volendam in Jan. '07 and tips were not included. They >did put the typical $10/day/person on our onboard account. > >I wonder if the problem your friends had, was something to do with the >cruise/land package or some kind of misunderstanding with their travel >agent. > >sue Nope. All of what I related was for the ship only although I think I might have made an error when I said that the $10 per day per person were included in the price of the cruse. They were automatically added to their shipboard account, of which, they were told 70% goes to the behind he scenes people and then recommended that the personal servers and room stewards be tipped in addition.
From: skipfromla on 31 May 2007 02:14 On Wed, 30 May 2007 18:03:09 -0500, "Jean O'Boyle" <j.oboyle(a)removefudged.sbcglobal.net> wrote: > >"skipfromla" <skipfromla(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message >news:s0fr53tlplel7ecbtaht4ncs3a6jgscmb7(a)4ax.com... >> Friend of mine just got back from a combo cruise/land tour and spent 7 >> days of a 12 day Alaskan cruise on Holland America's Volendam. Tips >> were supposed to have been included in the price of the cruise at the >> rate of $10 per day per person on the cruise. >> >> Once aboard they were told that 70% of the tips included in the price >> of the cruise went to people who worked in the background, not to the >> people they were in contact with, cabin stewards, waiters, bus boys, >> etc. The ship recommended that these people be tipped in addition to >> the tips already charged in the bill for their cruise.. >> >> It appears Holland America has involved itself in some deceptive >> business practices by telling people all the tips are included in the >> price and then changing the rules once the cruise starts. >> >> Doubtful my friends will be cruising on any Holland America ship >> again. > >I think that your friends misunderstood...The tips on all the HAL cruises >that we have taken were $10 a day and never were included in the price of >the cruise; but posted on our shipboard account in the amount of $10. pp. >per day.. Only the bar staff got tipped 15% on any drinks that were >purchased...I do not believe the ship recommended that the cabin stewards, >waiters, asst. waiters, etc. be tipped again...We usually tip over the >amount if someone deserves it because of exceptional service. >Something just does not sound right here and I can't help but believe that >it was a misunderstanding. > >--Jean > I made an error when I said that the $10 per day per person were included in the price of the cruse. They were automatically added to their shipboard account, of which, they were told 70% goes to the behind he scenes people and then recommended that the personal servers and room stewards be tipped in addition. No misunderstanding. Because something was in effect a couple of years ago, a year ago or 6 months ago, it doesn't mean it will stay that way forever. If you can't believe it, believe what you like instead.
From: Jean O'Boyle on 31 May 2007 02:03
"skipfromla" <skipfromla(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message news:5ops5357u291k0bjjvjqma0nk63opfahv0(a)4ax.com... .. > I made an error when I said that the $10 per day per person were > included in the price of the cruse. They were automatically added to > their shipboard account, of which, they were told 70% goes to the > behind he scenes people and then recommended that the personal servers > and room stewards be tipped in addition. No misunderstanding. > > Because something was in effect a couple of years ago, a year ago or 6 > months ago, it doesn't mean it will stay that way forever. If you > can't believe it, believe what you like instead. LOL! Too funny! You come on here denouncing the Volendam and accusing it of a tipping outrage. You stated that $10. a day was already included in your friend's cruise fare and then you come back and say you made an error and that is was automatically added to their shipboard account instead (which is the way it is now done unless you request differently) and now you say they were told that 70% goes to the behind scenes people..WHO told them such a thing? It's a well known fact that the cabin steward and the waiter get $3-3.50 a day, the asst.waiter gets $1.50-2.00 a day; so THEY are the ones who get 70% of the tips and the rest goes to the people behind the scenes. I still say that your friends were misinformed or they misunderstood. Most all the cruise lines pretty much follow these tip amounts...sometimes more...On the 12 day Celebrity Constellation last month, we paid $12.50 a day pp. for our tips. No problem... they work hard for those tips and deserve every cent. Maybe you should do some research of your own before you make accusations here...there are many seasoned cruisers who post regularly here; so it is not easy to pull the wool over their eyes! ;) You might start with this link: http://www.vacationstogo.com/cruise_tipping.cfm |