Prepaid gratuities

Who do you typically tip beyond the people who are covered by the prepaid gratuities ? Now that there is a service charge would you still tip for room service ? Is it OK to tip the concierge ? What amount would be appropriate for excellent service ? I read the cruise critic guidelines they seem a little dated. What do you guys think ?

Yes, it's perfectly fine to tip the Concierge. Tip whatever you think is appropriate based on how much you use their services and how well they were able to help you.

Who do you typically tip beyond the people who are covered by the prepaid gratuities ? Now that there is a service charge would you still tip for room service ? Is it OK to tip the concierge ? What amount would be appropriate for excellent service ? I read the cruise critic guidelines they seem a little dated. What do you guys think ?

We typically tip above the included prepaid tips. $7-20 a day for the room steward. Concierge varies based on what services they have rendered for us. A nice walkoff is worth $20 to us. I generally asked the Concierge to have my mini bar stocked with a 12 pack of beer, doing so warrants $20-40 and if I can track down the crew member responsible for the mini bar, a tip of at least $10 is warranted. If they arrange something else for us, find a good time for a specialty dinning, then $10-$20 depending on what was done. We always tip at least $1 cash per drink and sometimes more if it is a bar we frequent. If in the DL/CL/SL, the first night is at least a $5 first drink so we have their attention for the remaining cruise. Some people are against additional tipping, but I will say from experience it matters in the quality of service you receive.

When we were on Allure, we tipped the Maitre D for the CK $100 for the 7 days, the assistant $50, and each waiter in the CK at least $10.

Who do you typically tip beyond the people who are covered by the prepaid gratuities ? Now that there is a service charge would you still tip for room service ? Is it OK to tip the concierge ? What amount would be appropriate for excellent service ? I read the cruise critic guidelines they seem a little dated. What do you guys think ?

Room service staff does not share in the automatic gratuities so we do tip them $2 - $5 depending on the size of the order. We typically to not tip our room steward or MTD waiters additional, but do when we feel they have added significantly to our cruise experience. Tips for the DL or SL concierge and wait staff is normal and we do always tip them. For the wait staff we tip them nightly, usually $2 - $5 per drink order for the two of us. The concierge tip starts at $40 (for 7 day cruise) and more depending on the services we request their help with.

We rarely use any service from the concierge (we cruise often but are low key and don't ask or need much)....We opt to tip the great waitstaff in the lounge (DL,CL) and favorite bartenders in some of the bars at the end of our cruise. We also eat a lot of dinners in the WJ and tip those that we've gotten to know. Also when traveling with extended family that includes infants in the nursery and toddlers in Adventure Ocean we tip those that have provided a great time and cared for our most precious family members.

Who's got the popcorn? I'm settling in early.

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Honestly, we feel that the prepaid gratuity is ample, so we don't usually tip anything additional. However, if someone does something truly special for us, that is way outside the realm of their typical duties, then we will give them an extra $10-20.

Who's got the popcorn? I'm settling in early.

 

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Hysterical. I'm here to enjoy the ranting as well.

FWIW, we usually hand our room steward a $20 on day one and find our service to be exceptional. Our prepaid gratuities simply make our budgeting easier, but we often tip extra to staff who help make our trip smooth and relaxing.

I usually travel solo. I keep my cabin immaculate. My cabin is so easy to clean!That it has always been

cleaned within a 1/2 hour of me leaving. A couple of times it took an hour.

I tip my cabin steward the part they lose because I travel solo and then a little extra.

I usually tip the concierge $10 for every issue that they help me with.

If they didn't help me with anything I will still give them between $10 and $40 depending on the length of the cruise.

Years ago the concierge's made a decent salary so when you added on the Tips they made a great salary.

When they cut their salary I increased what I gave them.

I tip the bar staff in the CL a dollar for every drink every night as well as $10-$20 on the last night depending on how well I'm doing in the casino.

I've been on the independence quite a bit and I have had the same bar servers on multiple cruises, so at the last night of the cruise they know I'm going to give them extra and they laugh, smile and say, thank you Terri we can always count on you on you doing the same thing every cruise.

One time on the enchantment when It was out of Port Canaveral they changed the bar servers on the last evening in the CL.

I searched out that F&B and found out where they were assigned and went to them to give them the extra that I always do.

They couldn't believe that I took the extra time to do this and were extremely thankful.

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I pay the pre-paid gratuities and that's it, for the most part. I do not tip for room service after the service charge. I tipped a couple bartenders who were super funny and always made my day and were honest and open, and I tipped our waiter in Coastal Kitchen. I really appreciated that when I told him I didn't care for the entree I ordered and I didn't need anything else, he didn't bring me anything else. I don't play games, what I say is what I mean, and No, I don't want anything else means just that. I know a lot of people would tip for the exact opposite reason (e.g. "I didn't like the dinner but felt bad asking for something else but the waiter brought me out the dish I had last night and loved and I was so happy!") but for me I would just be sat there with a plate of food I wasn't going to eat that I explicitly said I didn't want and I'd be pissed.

In any case I'm going on MSC in the Yacht Club at the end of next year and there are a lot of extra amenities as well as free room service so I'll be tipping much more there.

Good service helps, we will tip extra..

We typically tip above the included prepaid tips. $7-20 a day for the room steward. Concierge varies based on what services they have rendered for us. A nice walkoff is worth $20 to us. I generally asked the Concierge to have my mini bar stocked with a 12 pack of beer, doing so warrants $20-40 and if I can track down the crew member responsible for the mini bar, a tip of at least $10 is warranted. If they arrange something else for us, find a good time for a specialty dinning, then $10-$20 depending on what was done. We always tip at least $1 cash per drink and sometimes more if it is a bar we frequent. If in the DL/CL/SL, the first night is at least a $5 first drink so we have their attention for the remaining cruise. Some people are against additional tipping, but I will say from experience it matters in the quality of service you receive.

 

When we were on Allure, we tipped the Maitre D for the CK $100 for the 7 days, the assistant $50, and each waiter in the CK at least $10.

The extra tips you give seem reasonable to me plus we always give $3 to the room service waiter who brings our hot breakfast every morning.

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I usually travel solo. I keep my cabin immaculate. My cabin is so easy to clean!That it has always been

cleaned within a 1/2 hour of me leaving. A couple of times it took an hour.

I tip my cabin steward the part they lose because I travel solo and then a little extra.

I usually tip the concierge $10 for every issue that they help me with.

If they didn't help me with anything I will still give them between $10 and $40 depending on the length of the cruise.

 

Years ago the concierge's made a decent salary so when you added on the Tips they made a great salary.

When they cut their salary I increased what I gave them.

I tip the bar staff in the CL a dollar for every drink every night as well as $10-$20 on the last night depending on how well I'm doing in the casino.

 

I've been on the independence quite a bit and I have had the same bar servers on multiple cruises, so at the last night of the cruise they know I'm going to give them extra and they laugh, smile and say, thank you Terri we can always count on you on you doing the same thing every cruise.

 

One time on the enchantment when It was out of Port Canaveral they changed the bar servers on the last evening in the CL.

 

I searched out that F&B and found out where they were assigned and went to them to give them the extra that I always do.

They couldn't believe that I took the extra time to do this and were extremely thankful.

 

 

 

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You sound wonderful.

Not many people would do what you do.

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I prepaid will my gratuities I thought it was the right thing to do an much easier. Whether you keep your room nice or not really doesn't have to do with it it's just a courtesy for them for all the hard work that they do do and yes I agree over the top the ones that really do extra you could always add a little extra to them at the end of the cruise as we did

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Who's got the popcorn? I'm settling in early.

Biker, who wonders if the tipping threads are waning.

I've read this with interest.

Being a Brit, we're not really used to the tipping culture so I really don't know who I'm supposed to tip.

I've also pre-paid gratuities. If I buy a drinks package, I thought this also included a service charge? If I order room service, who gets the service charge?

I have no idea what the concierge would do for me...? If I want to book an excursions, I'd go to the booking desk, correct?

When I usually go on holiday, I'll tip the bell man a few pounds, bar staff (if service isn't included) and I'd leave a few pounds for the maids every other day.

What does the pre paid gratuities cover please? I don't want to come across as rude if I'm not tipping right.

Equally there's no way I'd tip unless the service was adequate. Surely people don't still give tips if someone has been rude to them??

I've read this with interest.

 

Being a Brit, we're not really used to the tipping culture so I really don't know who I'm supposed to tip.

 

I've also pre-paid gratuities. If I buy a drinks package, I thought this also included a service charge? If I order room service, who gets the service charge?

 

I have no idea what the concierge would do for me...? If I want to book an excursions, I'd go to the booking desk, correct?

 

When I usually go on holiday, I'll tip the bell man a few pounds, bar staff (if service isn't included) and I'd leave a few pounds for the maids every other day.

 

What does the pre paid gratuities cover please? I don't want to come across as rude if I'm not tipping right.

 

Equally there's no way I'd tip unless the service was adequate. Surely people don't still give tips if someone has been rude to them??

Prepaid gratuities cover your stateroom attendant and helpers, and your dining staff at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

With regard to drinks, gratuities are either included in the price or added at the time of purchase (depending on where the cruise is based).

The concierge could book your excursions if you like, or you can go to the shore excursion desk.

If I order room service, who gets the service charge?

According to RCI, the new $7.95 charge for room service includes tips for the delivery person.

I'm happy to see people really saying what they tipped, because I had a hard time figuring out what was fair, when would be good over tipping. Our cruise last month (not Royal, but still applicable) we:

1. Did not tip wait staff or dining staff anything beyond the prepaid gratuities. We had a drink package and we still had excellent service, but since it was included in the price I didn't feel the need to add extra money each transaction. We did not have formal seating and never had the same server twice. Again, this is covered in the service charge/gratuities.

2. We did tip our room attendant extra. We gave her an extra $100, but she really made our stay special and we have 3 kids. My teenage sons are a mess and I know they didn't clean up their bedroom before she came.

3. We also tipped $100 to the pool valet that spent a lot of time with us through the week. Again, I felt he really went above and beyond. I hadn't even considered that there would be a pool valet I wanted to tip when budgeting beforehand, but had brought extra cash just in case.

4. I hadn't planned on tipping the concierge because I didn't think I'd use her services. Turned out we rearranged dining multiple times, she also got us priority debarkation at each port and warned us when the boys ran up the arcade account. I wound up slipping her $80 on the way off the ship our last morning.

5. We had butler service. This was the hardest thing for me to figure out how to tip. She was the one to bring food to our room when we ordered it for delivery (which was more than once with a cranky toddler in tow). She also delivered treats daily, kept milk, water and ice refreshed. I didn't feel like we made a lot of demands, but there was at least one call daily to her requesting something. So I left her $350 (which was $10/person/day).

I still really don't know if what we left was fair/generous/otherwise, but it's what we did.

I'm happy to see people really saying what they tipped, because I had a hard time figuring out what was fair, when would be good over tipping. Our cruise last month (not Royal, but still applicable) we:

 

1. Did not tip wait staff or dining staff anything beyond the prepaid gratuities. We had a drink package and we still had excellent service, but since it was included in the price I didn't feel the need to add extra money each transaction. We did not have formal seating and never had the same server twice. Again, this is covered in the service charge/gratuities.

 

2. We did tip our room attendant extra. We gave her an extra $100, but she really made our stay special and we have 3 kids. My teenage sons are a mess and I know they didn't clean up their bedroom before she came.

 

3. We also tipped $100 to the pool valet that spent a lot of time with us through the week. Again, I felt he really went above and beyond. I hadn't even considered that there would be a pool valet I wanted to tip when budgeting beforehand, but had brought extra cash just in case.

 

4. I hadn't planned on tipping the concierge because I didn't think I'd use her services. Turned out we rearranged dining multiple times, she also got us priority debarkation at each port and warned us when the boys ran up the arcade account. I wound up slipping her $80 on the way off the ship our last morning.

 

5. We had butler service. This was the hardest thing for me to figure out how to tip. She was the one to bring food to our room when we ordered it for delivery (which was more than once with a cranky toddler in tow). She also delivered treats daily, kept milk, water and ice refreshed. I didn't feel like we made a lot of demands, but there was at least one call daily to her requesting something. So I left her $350 (which was $10/person/day).

 

I still really don't know if what we left was fair/generous/otherwise, but it's what we did.

Thanks for your experience, I appreciate the information. I rely on other experienced cruisers to point me in the right direction. Cruise Critic participants have always come through with helpful info it really makes for a more relaxing vacation when the small details are out there, no surprises.

I'm happy to see people really saying what they tipped, because I had a hard time figuring out what was fair, when would be good over tipping. Our cruise last month (not Royal, but still applicable) we:

 

1. Did not tip wait staff or dining staff anything beyond the prepaid gratuities. We had a drink package and we still had excellent service, but since it was included in the price I didn't feel the need to add extra money each transaction. We did not have formal seating and never had the same server twice. Again, this is covered in the service charge/gratuities.

 

2. We did tip our room attendant extra. We gave her an extra $100, but she really made our stay special and we have 3 kids. My teenage sons are a mess and I know they didn't clean up their bedroom before she came.

 

3. We also tipped $100 to the pool valet that spent a lot of time with us through the week. Again, I felt he really went above and beyond. I hadn't even considered that there would be a pool valet I wanted to tip when budgeting beforehand, but had brought extra cash just in case.

 

4. I hadn't planned on tipping the concierge because I didn't think I'd use her services. Turned out we rearranged dining multiple times, she also got us priority debarkation at each port and warned us when the boys ran up the arcade account. I wound up slipping her $80 on the way off the ship our last morning.

 

5. We had butler service. This was the hardest thing for me to figure out how to tip. She was the one to bring food to our room when we ordered it for delivery (which was more than once with a cranky toddler in tow). She also delivered treats daily, kept milk, water and ice refreshed. I didn't feel like we made a lot of demands, but there was at least one call daily to her requesting something. So I left her $350 (which was $10/person/day).

 

I still really don't know if what we left was fair/generous/otherwise, but it's what we did.

You were very generous but it sounded like the crew deserved it.

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