gift bags for room stewards

OP,

We know you mean well, but you are wasting your money giving anyone on the staff "stuff". It will be thrown away

Really dumb idea. How much candy or food junk have you ever received that you did not like. What did you do with the stuff? They will do exactly the same thing.

 

The the money that you will waste on the junk food and add it to the cash pille.

 

DON

Don, we tip generously. From time to time we have given something such as candy. If we didn't we would not have tipped more.

Sorry you think it's a dumb idea. I don't.

I am not sure if you have seen the crew come back from being in port with a bunch of food that you might not buy but they do.

On cruise lines that I sail with guests often do things for the crew that are in addition to money. Just because you don't agree doesn't make it "dumb". To each his/her own.

Keith

Cash, cash and nothing but cash and the first person that says.." I always give a little gift and they appreciate it!" ...I will scream.

 

Of course they will pretend to appreciate it. What are they going to say?????? "Ugh, more junk to throw in the dumpster"

In general, I agree with all of the cash only statements. But there are occasional exceptions for something personal in addition to plenty of cash and a great write up.

On an Asian B2B cruise we had the same waiter in Blu for 4 weeks and got to know him very well. We learned that his 7-year-old daughter was a fan of Disney character memorabilia and that he was going to see her when the ship stopped in Bali on the cruise immediately following our 2nd leg. So when we happened to see a Disney store while on one of our tours, we purchased a Disney character water bottle for him to take to his daughter. It was definitely appreciated. But so was the extra cash over and above the standard gratuities.

They will only truly appreciate it if you fill it with cash. They will pretend to appreciate anything

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I would never make gift bags for the cabin stewards.

You have no idea what religion they are (that eliminates food), they have tiny cabins to share and not much room to store items.

The crew really appreciates CASH as many of them have families back home who really need the money.

Money of course. Don't we all like to decide for ourselves, what toiletries or candy we prefer

Sandra

I was just wondering if I could get your ideas for things you put in a gift bag for your room stewards. Thank you!

I don't do a gift bag. I give a cash tip at end of cruise.

(In addition to gratuities automatically billed to account)

If you want to give a gift bag, fill it with cash.

Cash is KING.

Three words that say it all.

CASH. And, if they did a good job for you, a heartfelt "thank you" at the last encounter. And, a good review on the comment card.

 

I don't understand people who think it is helpful or cute to give trinket or other junk. Do you give trinkets to your servers at restaurants or the Housekeeping staff or Bellmen at hotels??? Why would it be any different on a cruise ship for staff?

 

At one of my hotels, we had this gentleman stay for a few days for a medical conference. He was from somewhere in the Greater Baltimore/Chesapeake area. He brought keychains and fridge magnets from home that he bought at a tourist store and gave them out as tips. He became the joke of the hotel. And, that cheapskate never gave out a single penny as a gratuity for anyone.

 

Someone on a CC board used to brag that they gave staff photos of themselves as tips - that the staff was so happy to receive them. Want to bet the staff had a good laugh over the idiocy of that "tip" and then either used them for darts or spitball targets or went straight into the circular file???

Worst I ever read was someone bringing down uneaten deserts from the MDR. She swore that the room steward loved the "gift".

I have never heard of giving a "gift bag" to our room steward. We tip our Steward, butler and Concierge cash. It is always the perfect gift. [emoji4]

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:)Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

As others have said, CA$H is the most appreciated gift.

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I am not sure if you have seen the crew come back from being in port with a bunch of food that you might not buy but they do.

 

 

 

 

 

My concern would be cultural differences. While there are treats we like they might not care for them. For instance, I grew up snacking on dried, spicy cuttlefish - can't get enough of the stuff and at my age, it's a very special treat. Every single person I have offered a sample to would literally gag on it. Similar reaction to many of the Chinese candies I nosh on.

I agree that cash would most likely be preferred so they can purchase what they enjoy.....

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There was a very popular thread on the Facebook group recently about it and of course everyone said cash but someone suggested to Google crew cabins on board whatever Cruise Line you use. And it was shocking how little room they have. Much less than I anticipated and I felt like I was already sure they didn't have a lot of room. So that absolutely made me know that I would never give them anything but cash. And of course offer to pick them up anything while we were in Port in case they were not off that week and needed something.

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Don, we tip generously. From time to time we have given something such as candy. If we didn't we would not have tipped more.

 

 

Sorry you think it's a dumb idea. I don't.

 

 

I am not sure if you have seen the crew come back from being in port with a bunch of food that you might not buy but they do.

 

 

On cruise lines that I sail with guests often do things for the crew that are in addition to money. Just because you don't agree doesn't make it "dumb". To each his/her own.

 

 

Keith

But to be fair Keith, you take longer cruises and often sail on the same ships and end up with the same staff. In your case, sure, you get to know them and I'm sure you talk and get an idea what they might like. But most cruisers take a 4 to 7 day cruise and will never see the crew members again. They also probably don't talk to them any more then to say good morning or good night.

You really should avoid giving any of the crew anything other than cash. They really do not have any rom.

 

 

Take a look at this video. The crew member is part of the kids camp group and as such only has to share with one other person. Most stewards have four in a cabin like this.

 

Great video to show why you should not give the crew "stuff". Thanks for posting this.

But to be fair Keith, you take longer cruises and often sail on the same ships and end up with the same staff. In your case, sure, you get to know them and I'm sure you talk and get an idea what they might like. But most cruisers take a 4 to 7 day cruise and will never see the crew members again. They also probably don't talk to them any more then to say good morning or good night.

This is a really good point.

I cruise a lot and have been on long cruises but have never (that I remember) had the same room steward on a subsequent cruise.

I would not feel that I know a room steward enough to give them a gift; which to me is a more personal gesture. I do not know them at that level and they do not know me at that level.

I respect each person on the crew and give cash to show my appreciation; it really is the best gift. :cool: JMHO.

Safe sailing all!!!

But to be fair Keith, you take longer cruises and often sail on the same ships and end up with the same staff. In your case, sure, you get to know them and I'm sure you talk and get an idea what they might like. But most cruisers take a 4 to 7 day cruise and will never see the crew members again. They also probably don't talk to them any more then to say good morning or good night.

You are absolutely write. Often we take longer cruises and often no the same ship, although from time to time we

change it up.

We also don't do gift bags.

From time to time we do pick up something such as a small chocolate treat.

I do know people even on shorter cruises who have given some flowers to their stewardess.

On Holidays passengers also do other things.

I do agree with the majority of the posts that recommend cash because that is what the people are working for.

I do think that if someone is asking can they do something in addition to giving cash (eg., not cutting back on what they give as cash in lieu of some type of gift) that it is a nice idea but as others have said I would not give something that they would have to take home with them.

Thank you for your well thought out post.

I do want to say that we provide positive comments on the surveys, give a thank you note and send a note to the hotel director or to other senior officers for those crew members who perform admirably.

I didn't care for the other post that would say giving a gift is a "dumb" idea. Don't think that is the way to make a point. Rather a better way is to just say that we don't give a gift other then cash.

Thanks again.

Keith

Save that thank you bag of tricks and treats for the paper boy.

The room steward probably has a family at home to support. He/she wants and needs CASH.

Keep in mind...this should be about the recipient, not the gift giver.

OK, let's tell the OP that we know that he/she means well. However - and OP would have got the message by now- ...

Well I agree with Keith:)

Downunder, gratituties are build into cruise fare, but we still gave a cash tip to the room steward and a couple of other staff members..........

But I also gave a small (Kiwi made) chocolate bar each to the room steward and her assistant every day - simply because I wanted to; and I can tell you they really enjoyed them every day, in fact they started fighting between each other as to who was going to have which flavour!

I agree with all who have said cash only.

However, I'd be interested in hearing from an insider whether leaving our unused sunscreen, shampoo, etc. when we depart is useful for crew, or just more clutter.

I agree with all who have said cash only.

However, I'd be interested in hearing from an insider whether leaving our unused sunscreen, shampoo, etc. when we depart is useful for crew, or just more clutter.

It's typically trashed.

It's typically trashed.

We recently did a backstage tour on Queen Victoria. At some point there were a few shelves with lots of books, bottles of shampoo and such.

Our "guide " told us that these things are placed there by room stewards and are obviously donated / left behind items from the cabins. Particularly barely touched toiletries and perfumes / EDT are popular and rarely get thrown out

Well I agree with Keith:)

 

Downunder, gratituties are build into cruise fare, but we still gave a cash tip to the room steward and a couple of other staff members..........

 

But I also gave a small (Kiwi made) chocolate bar each to the room steward and her assistant every day - simply because I wanted to; and I can tell you they really enjoyed them every day, in fact they started fighting between each other as to who was going to have which flavour!

Yeah, right! :rolleyes:

Yeah, right! :rolleyes:

Yep - that is right, they were joking about it with us one day and asking where they could buy the Kiwi made chocolate from when the ship docked in Auckland:)