shackpacker Posted September 30, 2011 #1 Share Posted September 30, 2011 If we booked tours through Oceania, what is customary, if anything, to tip tour guides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted September 30, 2011 #2 Share Posted September 30, 2011 If we booked tours through Oceania, what is customary, if anything, to tip tour guides? Naturally the tip should be whatever you feel most comfortable with giving. Since you ask, however, we usually figure on 10% (or 12.5% if we're tipping a driver AND a guide). That said, we have also been known to end the tour with a simple "thank you" if it has been a bad experience, or to tip 25% if it was wonderful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted September 30, 2011 #3 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Naturally the tip should be whatever you feel most comfortable with giving.Since you ask, however, we usually figure on 10% (or 12.5% if we're tipping a driver AND a guide). That said, we have also been known to end the tour with a simple "thank you" if it has been a bad experience, or to tip 25% if it was wonderful. So we just booked an all day bus tour out of Athens at a cost of about $200pp, $400 total. You are saying you would tip $40-50 and if you really liked it you would tip $100? I have never seen anyone tip a guide on a bus with 30-40 people more than a dollar or two. Your comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted September 30, 2011 #4 Share Posted September 30, 2011 So we just booked an all day bus tour out of Athens at a cost of about $200pp, $400 total. You are saying you would tip $40-50 and if you really liked it you would tip $100?I have never seen anyone tip a guide on a bus with 30-40 people more than a dollar or two. Your comments Actually, you are correct, the tip scale that I mentioned was for a smaller more private tour with 4 or 6 people. Still, on a bus tour, we would typically tip at least (a combined) $20 for an all day tour, unless we were very unhappy with the guide. A dollar tip? Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted September 30, 2011 #5 Share Posted September 30, 2011 So we just booked an all day bus tour out of Athens at a cost of about $200pp, $400 total. You are saying you would tip $40-50 and if you really liked it you would tip $100?I have never seen anyone tip a guide on a bus with 30-40 people more than a dollar or two. Your comments A few dollars on a bus tour used to be the rule of thumb however, on the only Oceania tour we have taken in the last few years, many people exited the bus from the back door and did not tip at all. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted September 30, 2011 #6 Share Posted September 30, 2011 We usually give $5-10 PP depending on the length of the tour & quality It is a personal choice We usually do private tour though but have done a few ship's tours in the past If it is just a transfer DIY type excursion then just a couple of $$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Hughy Posted September 30, 2011 #7 Share Posted September 30, 2011 That is a reasonable level but there are times when the tour guide is so inept that we tip the driver but not the guide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropiclady Posted October 1, 2011 #8 Share Posted October 1, 2011 We usually give $5-10 PP depending on the length of the tour & qualityIt is a personal choice We usually do private tour though but have done a few ship's tours in the past If it is just a transfer DIY type excursion then just a couple of $$ We mainly tipped $5-10 to our tour guides on the Oceania excursions this past Aug/Sept and so did our friends. The tour guides were appreciative and we found that most people did not tip at all. We seemed to be part of the rare few. On a private excursion we do tend to tip more and usually in the $20 range. Cheers, Tropiclady Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted October 1, 2011 #9 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I must confess that it appears that we have been badly undertipping -- although we DO tip. (And we too have noticed that many do not.) I guess we're stuck in the days of our youth when a $2-3 tip was adequate. So we will up the ante ... It's true that we have a different ratio when on a private tour. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda93 Posted October 3, 2011 #10 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'm curious - when cruisers mention tipping $5, $10, $20, $100 etc in the posts above, are tips actually being given in dollars? Or are posters simply providing the dollar equivalent of the Euro or other local currency used for tips? Sorry for the silly question; I just wasn't sure what was meant - and want to be sure that by tipping in the local currency I'm not committing a gaffe. If guides and drivers would prefer dollars to Euros (or Turkish lira etc) I could use dollars. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepawa Posted October 3, 2011 #11 Share Posted October 3, 2011 In Europe, I tip in Euros, even if the country has a different currency. In the UK, I use pounds. In the Caribbean, US dollars. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropiclady Posted October 3, 2011 #12 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I'm curious - when cruisers mention tipping $5, $10, $20, $100 etc in the posts above, are tips actually being given in dollars? Or are posters simply providing the dollar equivalent of the Euro or other local currency used for tips? Sorry for the silly question; I just wasn't sure what was meant - and want to be sure that by tipping in the local currency I'm not committing a gaffe. If guides and drivers would prefer dollars to Euros (or Turkish lira etc) I could use dollars. Thanks. Sorry, should have said we tipped in the local currency! So when we tipped in Europe it was 5 or 10 Euro's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 3, 2011 #13 Share Posted October 3, 2011 local currency except in Russia we did USD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted October 3, 2011 #14 Share Posted October 3, 2011 local currency except in Russia we did USD Why?? :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragnar Danneskjold Posted October 4, 2011 #15 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Back in the 80's in Moscow I was offered $300 worth of rubles at the official exchange rate for my Levis jeans.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted October 4, 2011 #16 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Our time in St. Petersburg was back in May 2001 but we asked our guide and she definitely preferred dollars to rubles. I think whether you tip in the local currency or dollars can depend on where you are. Dollars are pretty weak these days, but there are still plenty of countries where the tipee would prefer to receive them. I'm not sure about what to do in Greece later this month ... Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted October 4, 2011 #17 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Why?? :confused: Why what? If you mean why we used USD in Russia because that is what the guide prefered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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