Tipping for Room Service

Tipping is not required for room service. Tipping is also not required when you go out to dinner anywhere ( except for parties of six or eight or larger, usually). But, in both cases, it sure is a decent thing to do.

I always start off with a supply of singles and then supplement via the Front Desk when I need to. I have a friend who goes to the bank and gets $2 bills. It's always a hit with the staff.;);)

I'm ashamed to say we never tipped the room service guys before. I had thought it was all part of the hotel service charge.

 

We plan on correcting this for our upcoming cruise, ~$5 per order

Glad you've realized the error of your ways. I'm quite sure you're not alone.

Oh My I've never tipped for laundry delivery, as it's normally there when we get back from a day out of the cabin & nor4mally it's our Cabin Steward, who delivers it..

You're correct. Your cabin steward or assistant delivers the laundry. If you are already tipping them, you've got it covered. If you have decided not to tip them, the HSC covers them. If you decide to remove the hotel service charge, you should pay $3.75 per sock, $5.32 for a pair of underwear, and $6.88 for a t-shirt. Shorts are free, unless they have cuffs. Then it's €2.50, or ¥335. (No Yankee dollars..)

There have been times I've had a knock on the door and the Yum Yum is delivering our laundry/dry cleaning. I didn't have any cash ready as had no idea he was coming but felt bad I did not tip him. I then realized our stewards must have been extremely busy and the Yum Yums were called to pitch in and help. They are part of the tipping pool so didn't feel so bad but were I prepared, I certainly would have tipped him.

Most of the time, it is one of our stewards who delivers the laundry.

HAL Room Service stewards do not linger and hang around waiting for or expecting tips. The hint to have the cash out and ready is a good idea. Almost always, they bring your tray, may go over the order with you and immediately turn to leave the cabin. I have never had any Room Service steward linger though he may have come day after day for a week or more and know we always tipped, but we always have cash ready.

I always start off with a supply of singles and then supplement via the Front Desk when I need to. I have a friend who goes to the bank and gets $2 bills. It's always a hit with the staff.;);)

I took two dollar bills on a cruise once and everyone seemed fine with taking them although I didn't see any extra delight. However, I then read on these message boards that many of the Caribbean countries have not seen two dollar bills all that often and are skeptical about taking them, so it can cause a problem for the crew if they try to spend them in the islands. I then switched back to one dollar bills for tipping.

I took two dollar bills on a cruise once and everyone seemed fine with taking them although I didn't see any extra delight. However, I then read on these message boards that many of the Caribbean countries have not seen two dollar bills all that often and are skeptical about taking them, so it can cause a problem for the crew if they try to spend them in the islands. I then switched back to one dollar bills for tipping.

I agree with You.. When I worked in the Airlines & travelled on business, I always was told never to tip with $2.00 bills or even with silver dollars which were plentiful in many casino's ..

We have had several threads about tipping with $2.00 bills & many have said they are very hard for the crew to exchange them.. Not only are they not accepted in the Caribbean but they are not accepted in Europe or Asia either.. As a matter of fact I once tried to give a dollar bill to a vendor in Mexico, which had writing on it & he would not accept it unless it was pristine..

Stuart Maclean who was a Carnival Cruise Director in 2006 explains why:

http://crewoffice.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html

Part of his post on May 9, 2006: Quote

If you are going to tip your room stewards, or anyone onboard for that matter, you should try and use only clean, fresh, unmarked American bills. No rips, no pen marks, no creases. The reason for this is that in Eastern Europe and the Philippines the exchange houses will not give full value on money that is marked or ripped or OLD. I have even had it happen to me; they will rip you off and give you 75% value. Unquote

<SNIP>

Quote Also, tipping in “fun” or collector money is pointless. A $2.00 bill will not be exchanged by an exchange house in eastern Europe or the Philippines. Some crew offices won’t even take them. Yes, I know, your all getting angry now and saying “but this is good honest American currency”, well this is true but these people are not Americans nor are they in America.

In fact, even if they try and exchange money ashore in America old for new, or $2.00 bills for $1.00 bills they are treated like money laundering drug dealers because not everyone in the USA trusts a foreigner these days, let alone a foreigner on a temporary seaman visa trying to “clean” some money! You may want to argue that with me, but if YOU owned an exchange house and an Indonesian, South African, Romanian, Russian, Philippine or Malta citizen came to your window with a crumpled handful of 1000 dollars in old American money and asked to exchange it for new American money, what would you honestly think? We don't even have passports, just I-95's which look fake because they are on cheap tissue paper and ship ID cards. That's it. Would YOU trust these crew and not suspect them? Unquote

Not sure if you can pull up his post now as Cruise Critic had a lot of changes several years ago..

I always start off with a supply of singles and then supplement via the Front Desk when I need to. I have a friend who goes to the bank and gets $2 bills. It's always a hit with the staff.;);)

Skipper's Mom.. Your Friend is not doing the crew any favors..:eek: You might want to pull up the URL in my post above & explain this to your Friend..The Carnival CD in his blog even says to only give $1 ' date=' $5 & $10 bills...He says not $20 bills as "$20.00 have a very high counterfeit rate so they are harder to exchange." Now I can't swear that all of this is still true since his blog is almost 10 years old, but IMO why take a chance & make it hard on the crew..

Have a nice Day..

P.S. Stuart Maclean's blog is still on the Internet & his take on tipping is toward the bottom of the page..[/size']

I agree with You.. When I worked in the Airlines & travelled on business, I always was told never to tip with $2.00 bills or even with silver dollars which were plentiful in many casino's ..

 

We have had several threads about tipping with $2.00 bills & many have said they are very hard for the crew to exchange them.. Not only are they not accepted in the Caribbean but they are not accepted in Europe or Asia either.. As a matter of fact I once tried to give a dollar bill to a vendor in Mexico, which had writing on it & he would not accept it unless it was pristine..

 

Stuart Maclean who was a Carnival Cruise Director in 2006 explains why:

http://crewoffice.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html

 

Part of his post on May 9, 2006: Quote

If you are going to tip your room stewards, or anyone onboard for that matter, you should try and use only clean, fresh, unmarked American bills. No rips, no pen marks, no creases. The reason for this is that in Eastern Europe and the Philippines the exchange houses will not give full value on money that is marked or ripped or OLD. I have even had it happen to me; they will rip you off and give you 75% value. Unquote

 

<SNIP>

 

Quote Also, tipping in “fun” or collector money is pointless. A $2.00 bill will not be exchanged by an exchange house in eastern Europe or the Philippines. Some crew offices won’t even take them. Yes, I know, your all getting angry now and saying “but this is good honest American currency”, well this is true but these people are not Americans nor are they in America.

 

In fact, even if they try and exchange money ashore in America old for new, or $2.00 bills for $1.00 bills they are treated like money laundering drug dealers because not everyone in the USA trusts a foreigner these days, let alone a foreigner on a temporary seaman visa trying to “clean” some money! You may want to argue that with me, but if YOU owned an exchange house and an Indonesian, South African, Romanian, Russian, Philippine or Malta citizen came to your window with a crumpled handful of 1000 dollars in old American money and asked to exchange it for new American money, what would you honestly think? We don't even have passports, just I-95's which look fake because they are on cheap tissue paper and ship ID cards. That's it. Would YOU trust these crew and not suspect them? Unquote

Not sure if you can pull up his post now as Cruise Critic had a lot of changes several years ago..

 

Excellent post, Betty.

You have it exactly right.

These are grown men and women working very hard for cash. The don't need or want cutesy games with their tips. To hand them a $2 bill in almost all cases is a waste of your time and money. It is bothersome and troublesome for them. These aren't little children looking for games and play with their income.

You're correct. Your cabin steward or assistant delivers the laundry. (No Yankee dollars..)

We have quite often had the laundry delivered by attendants who bring up the laundry (we have all seen them in the halls with the hotel carts full of clean clothes) who are not our steward or assistant and if we are in the room when they deliver.

As someone who often has to exchange US$ Worldwide, I can attest NOT TO TIP in 2$ bills, and NOT to tip in coins.

A lot of countries simply do not accept these values/forms

Also, please make sure the bill is in PERFECT condition. Excange bureaus most often refuse any bill with even the slightest cut, tear or drawing on it.

You're correct. Your cabin steward or assistant delivers the laundry. If you are already tipping them, you've got it covered. If you have decided not to tip them, the HSC covers them. If you decide to remove the hotel service charge, you should pay $3.75 per sock, $5.32 for a pair of underwear, and $6.88 for a t-shirt. Shorts are free, unless they have cuffs. Then it's €2.50, or ¥335. (No Yankee dollars..)

POA1..You made my day! Thanks for the laugh, I needed that this morning!:D

Have a nice day everyone!

POA1..You made my day! Thanks for the laugh, I needed that this morning!:D

 

Have a nice day everyone!

Mine too. What I want to know though is don't you find you get scratches on your legs from the cufflinks holding your shorts together:D

Thx for the info on the bills being new and crisp. Also for the info on the $20. I know I've tipped my room stewards with twenties before. This thread has been informative.

I'm ashamed to say we never tipped the room service guys before. I had thought it was all part of the hotel service charge.

 

We plan on correcting this for our upcoming cruise, ~$5 per order

It was our understanding that tips provided to individuals are required to be turned in and "pooled" with their associates.

Therefore the additional "tip" seems relatively useless.

It was our understanding that tips provided to individuals are required to be turned in and "pooled" with their associates.

 

Therefore the additional "tip" seems relatively useless.

No, that is incorrect. If you remove the hsc then they must turn it in, otherwise it's theirs to keep.

I learned a lot reading this thread. I had no idea that bills for tips need to be newer, or that twenties aren't a good idea. It looks like I will be stopping by the bank for crisp ones, fives, and tens. Not that I claim to hand out twenties freely, but the larger bills are good for the end of the cruise tips. Thanks all.

Lorie

Skipper's Mom.. Your Friend is not doing the crew any favors..:eek: You might want to pull up the URL in my post above & explain this to your Friend..The Carnival CD in his blog even says to only give $1 , $5 & $10 bills...He says not $20 bills as "$20.00 have a very high counterfeit rate so they are harder to exchange." Now I can't swear that all of this is still true since his blog is almost 10 years old, but IMO why take a chance & make it hard on the crew..

 

Have a nice Day..

 

P.S. Stuart Maclean's blog is still on the Internet & his take on tipping is toward the bottom of the page..

Carnival Senior Cruise Director is John Heald they will accept any $. Also he has lots of post on his blog about the $2.00 bill mith!

Thx for the info on the bills being new and crisp. Also for the info on the $20. I know I've tipped my room stewards with twenties before. This thread has been informative.

We've tipped with $20's for years...... not for laundry delivery specifically but in general. When we tip the Concierges, (for example), it is some combination of cash that often includes at least one $20. No one ever made any indication it could be a problem for them. We always thought a $50 or $100 bill would be harder for them than a $20.

It was our understanding that tips provided to individuals are required to be turned in and "pooled" with their associates.

 

Therefore the additional "tip" seems relatively useless.

That is not true:

According to the HAL house rules booklet given to all employees, if you leave 100% of the Hotel Service Charge in place, any extra you give to the employees who have made your cruise so wonderful they are able to keep.. If you remove or reduce the Hotel Service charge they are required to give any extra you give them to their Supervisor..

This is the Quote from the Employee House rules Booklet:

Quote http://www.welcome2hal.com/publications/house_rules.pdf

Quote TIPPING NOT REQUIRED POLICY

All ships have the Rewards for Excellence (RfE) Plan which

consists of Hotel Service Charges and Beverage Service

Charges. If a guest chooses to adjust out of the RfE Plan

and instead provide cash tips to an employee, the employee

is required to turn in this cash to their Department Head

so the money can be added to the RfE plan. Any “tips”

received above and beyond the guests standard amount

may be kept by the crewmember. Unquote

However, some employees elect to pool their extra tips, but IMO that is their own decision to make.. We normally give the employee a thank you note in addition to an extra cash tip.. What he/she wants to do with that tip should not be a concern of ours..

Carnival Senior Cruise Director is John Heald they will accept any $. Also he has lots of post on his blog about the $2.00 bill mith!

As I mentioned in my previous post, the info I posted is 10 years old & I do not know if it is still relevant.. However I've just read a great deal of John Heald's blog & I can't find any of the info you say he posted... Would you be kind enough to give us both the URL & quote the part of his blog where you state that the $2.00 bill is OK to give to Carnival's & HAL's Stewards..

Thanks..Have a nice day

... Would you be kind enough to give us both the URL & quote the part of his blog where you state that the $2.00 bill is OK to give to Carnival's & HAL's Stewards..

If it has a $ or € or £ or ¥ in front or after it ... it is OK and don't worry about it. The crew is much more resourceful than most Americans and will have absolutely no trouble using whatever is given to them.

If you scroll down on this page (http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/05/10/fantasissi/), John responds to the acceptance of the $2 bill. John responded that the crew enjoys getting them. John also confirmed with the accounting department that the $2 bill can be used while on the ship and the crew can easily go to the pay office and convert the $2 bill to singles.

If you scroll down on this page (http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/05/10/fantasissi/), John responds to the acceptance of the $2 bill. John responded that the crew enjoys getting them. John also confirmed with the accounting department that the $2 bill can be used while on the ship and the crew can easily go to the pay office and convert the $2 bill to singles.

Thanks for the link Your much faster than I am. I know he posted a lot about it.

If you scroll down on this page (http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/05/10/fantasissi/), John responds to the acceptance of the $2 bill. John responded that the crew enjoys getting them. John also confirmed with the accounting department that the $2 bill can be used while on the ship and the crew can easily go to the pay office and convert the $2 bill to singles.

OK I found it.. Thanks so much!

Per John Heald the Senior CD at Carnival it's OK to give $2.00 bills to crew..

http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/05/10/fantasissi/

Quote Hello <SNIP>

I know that you love to hand out the $2 bills and your kindness is to be praised. I checked with two stateroom stewards and two waiters about this and while one waiter had never seen a $2 bill before the other three had and said that they love to get these. I also checked with our onboard accounting department who pay the crew. They told me that there is absolutely no problem in the crew wishing to change these $2 bills for singles if they wish to. So I am glad that you asked and maybe you would post this on the thread thingy. Thank you both again for all that you do and your continuing loyalty to Carnival.

Best wishes to you both

John Unquote

Guess that we can assume it's also OK on HAL.. Maybe someone who is on HAL now will get the latest info from a HAL CD, the Front Desk, or an Officer..