Tip amount for Victor Bodden tour?

[LindaCt]

Hi

My husband and I have booked a tour with Bodden which will cost us $40.00 each: a total of $80.00---are we also expected to tip the guide---and if so, how much total? Thank you.

[sassy1ja]

I think for the price you can't beat what you receive with Bodden tours. Remember this is how they make their living. We tipped around $75 for 6 of us last year and will probably tip around $10 per person this year with a group of 11. Tipping $10-20 per person is still cheaper than if you were to book with a cruise. Now I suppose this is dependent on your driver we LOVED ours but I can't emagine any of Victor's drivers not being great.

[sassy1ja]

Another thing to think about is trying to find a couple more people to join you. Maybe check the board for your sailing or if you meet anyone on onboard before the day of the tour. Price goes down to $25 per person if you have 4 or more. You can then easily tip $10 per person off the $15 per person saved.

[eandj]

In our eyes, tips are for better than expected service on tours. You have already paid the price of the basic tour. If we have a great guide that goes the extra mile for our enjoyment, we tip. If it is a run of the mill driver, offering nothing special to the trip, they could get minimum or nothing. The guides DO get paid by Bodden.

 

It is impossible to put a dollar amount on what you "should" tip. You are certainly not obligated in ANY way to tip. As you see from the responses it varies per person and that's the way it should be. Do what YOU feel comfortable with.

The guide would have to do some really good "guidin'" for us to give him/her $10.00 a head on a $40 tip. 25% ????? To me that's excessive. Just MY opinion. Again, do what YOU want.

[sassy1ja]

Agreed with pp do what YOU want. To us we are saving a lot by booking ourselves and not through the cruise line. $10 per person is the cost of two drinks on the boat so to us $10 tip for an entire day for a private tour is a steal. Yes they get paid but you have no idea how much they are being paid. We feel we are lucky to have all that we have in the states and if we can help someone who most likely does not have nearly what we have then we are happy to do so. Working in the restaraunt business in college to pay for school I too was paid by the owners barely over $2.00 an hour. My wages barely covered gas to driver there. I needed to live off those tips, my guess the tour guides are in the same category.