Shore excursions and tipping. A quandary for a cheapskate

[Katie333]

Like the room stewards on the ship, many tour guides rely on tips for their income, whether or not they are booked via the ship or privately.

 

I, for one, have tipped regardless but I can understand the financial downside of tipping on any already (overpriced?) expensive shore excursion. We have taken 4 Princess shore excursions and everywhere else done it privately or not done any sort of tour. I think you can better manage your costs by doing private excursions wherever possible.

 

Still, I remember being very turned off when the bus driver on our St Marteen tour (via Princess) 'reminded' everyone at the end of the trip "Don't forget your driver, don't forget your driver!" while shaking his tip jar.

[traveling1969]

one thing we have noticed that has not yet been mentionned here.

 

Private guides are usually a lot more discreet or totally silent about tipping when the excursion or tour comes to an end. Guides on ship-sponsored shore excursions tend to be more vocal about it to the point of sometimes being aggressive.

 

My rule (whether a private excursion or a ship-sponsored one)... If they ask, they are not getting any. If not, they will likely get a pretty good one!

 

I like that rule!

[truckmaker]

Yep. We're that tight and we generally always tip unless the tour person has done something pretty annoying and upsetting. Usully about $5 for two for a tour less than a full day and considerably more for full day tours. Oh and we always use ship tours.

[sept10dsm]

One thing we have noticed that has not yet been mentionned here.

 

Private guides are usually a lot more discreet or totally silent about tipping when the excursion or tour comes to an end. Guides on ship-sponsored shore excursions tend to be more vocal about it to the point of sometimes being aggressive.

 

My rule (whether a private excursion or a ship-sponsored one)... If they ask, they are not getting any. If not, they will likely get a pretty good one!

That's the way I am as well about tipping. I hate to be asked and will tip on my own. I guess sometimes they have a reminder bucket on a bus and that's quite not as bad as actually asking.

[sept10dsm]

When we were in Mexico we went a rally great excursion, had loads of fun. Near the end of the excursion out comes the tip jar and sales pitch. The operator told us that the servers work for tips they get no salary. He suggested tips starting at $100 for servers, and don't forget the owner. Kind of implied that it was expected for us to give them a $120 -- each! $200 for the server and $40 for the owner -- I don't think so. I did tip a total of $40 which is the largest tip I had ever given in my life.

That is something else!! I don't think I would have wanted to tip at all!! Who knows even if that was the truth!! THat's how the tour should have been sold if that was the cost of a tip.

[gooch47]

We tip unless the service is exceptionally bad.

 

I doubt it was true, but we've been on some excursions where someone else would claim that one or more of the crew members work for tips only.

[luxurysailer]

If a cruise line knowingly sponsored an excursion on which the tour guide and/or driver worked for tips only I would be highly offended and would probably never cruise with that line again. That would show total disregard for these people who are providing a service for which the cruise line makes a profit which is probably substantial. Not to mention a disregard for their passengers who would inevitably be subjected to a hard sell by the guide/driver asking for tips.

[gsrunyan]

Until I was a junior in high school, my mom worked as a waitress at a local country club. I myself worked as a busboy in high school. Tips were more important that the wage paid [if any]. I have never forgotten that and I always try to tip, remembering that tips are an important part of these folks income.

 

That said, on our Alaska cruisetour last may, we used private tour companies for our stops in the three cities. Generally, the quality was poor and I didn't tip. The Princess excursion in Denali was well done and a lot of fun and we gave both the driver and tour director tips.

 

Remember the importance of tips to these folks but don't reward poor service.

 

Glenn:cool:

[sept10dsm]

Until I was a junior in high school, my mom worked as a waitress at a local country club. I myself worked as a busboy in high school. Tips were more important that the wage paid [if any]. I have never forgotten that and I always try to tip, remembering that tips are an important part of these folks income.

 

That said, on our Alaska cruisetour last may, we used private tour companies for our stops in the three cities. Generally, the quality was poor and I didn't tip. The Princess excursion in Denali was well done and a lot of fun and we gave both the driver and tour director tips.

 

Remember the importance of tips to these folks but don't reward poor service.

 

Glenn:cool:

I feel the same way about rewarding good service. My husband always seem to think he has to tip 20% on a meal (no matter what the service) I'm not so quick to tip that much if not good service. Also, as others have said I hate when I'm told/asked to tip. I will tip for good service and those people really don't have to ask for tips because most will tip anyway.

[wa3hr]

I think that if people think of themselves as "frugal", then book on your own excursion and still don't tip. Paying a premium to Princess has nothing at all to do with whether you should tip or not. In my mind, no difference between frugal and cheap. Like a $5 tip will keep you from booking another cruise.

[WeBeGone]

We tip dependant on service, usually 10-15%.

[Stevesan]

When we were in Mexico we went a rally great excursion, had loads of fun. Near the end of the excursion out comes the tip jar and sales pitch. The operator told us that the servers work for tips they get no salary. He suggested tips starting at $100 for servers, and don't forget the owner. Kind of implied that it was expected for us to give them a $120 -- each! $200 for the server and $40 for the owner -- I don't think so. I did tip a total of $40 which is the largest tip I had ever given in my life.

 

That guy must be the Mexican version of Billy!

He succeeded in squeezing you for an oversized tip, and simultaneously put you on a guilt trip. :p

[FritzG]

Unless a tour is bad we always tip. I may try to get DH to give less if they blatantly ask for a tip, but the only time we didn't tip was on a ship's sponsored tour to Florence. Despite repeated requests by the bus guide, she kept leaving people behind. We finally gave up and went on our own so needless to say, no tip. We did, however, tip the guide who went on the bus with us to Florence. He did a good job with narration to Florence, and he really tried to get her to slow down and keep the group together.

[addictedtotravel1]

On ship tours, we tip $5 for half day tours and $10 for full day. When booking a private tour, we follow the same rule but give more if we feel the guide did an exceptional job. Only once did we not tip.....we were disappointed in the tour and they reminded us to tip.

[Genessa]

we tip on both privately booked and ship's excursions.

 

Half day, usually about $5 pp, full day $10pp, plus $1-$2-$5 for the bus driver.

Diving, I usually give more like $10 for a half day, $20 for exceptional.

In PUerto Vallarta, we gave, if I remember right $20pp - excellent service.

 

 

Twice we didn't tip at all - first time was in Acapulco and they didn't ask us for tips once or twice, but seemily every 100 words. There was even a woman, named Dolly (that is how upsettingly aggressive they were about asking for tips, I still remember her name and I'm talking spring 2002) who stood next to the door of the bus as we got on and off - not the driver, not the guide, just Dolly who said "hello" and "good-bye" each and every time we got off or on the bus, and the guide tried to tell us how much we should tip her. None of the three got a tip.

 

The other time was at Isla Margarita where we went swimming with dolphins. The people at the dolphin area were down-right rude and very aggressive asking for tips and even charging us money to take a picture with a trained seal with our own cameras. I was tempted to write "be nicer to the customer" and stick that in the tip jar.

[Pam in CA]

[quote name='addictedtotravel1']On ship tours, we tip $5 for half day tours and $10 for full day. When booking a private tour, we follow the same rule but give more if we feel the guide did an exceptional job. Only once did we not tip.....we were disappointed in the tour and they reminded us to tip.[/quote]

[quote name='Genessa']we tip on both privately booked and ship's excursions.

Half day, usually about $5 pp, full day $10pp, plus $1-$2-$5 for the bus driver.
Diving, I usually give more like $10 for a half day, $20 for exceptional.
In PUerto Vallarta, we gave, if I remember right $20pp - excellent service.
[/quote]We tip between $2 - $5/pp for a half-day tour, depending on how active the tour was, how much information the guide gave out, etc. In other words, if it's mostly a bus tour and the guide is taking you from point A to point B without a lot of detail or explanation, it's $2. If they are very knowledgeable and have enhanced our enjoyment of the port, we'll tip the higher amount. Likewise full-day tours; we tip between $5 - $10/pp. If they've annoyed the heck out of us (I've had some that told off-color or "the little woman" jokes), they get nothing.