Butler and Concierge

[Sootie]

I know that grats. are 12 dollars a day but if you are staying in the owners suite and have a concierge and butler can anyone tell me what the rule of thumb on tipping is for them? Is it a daily thing or a lump sum at the end of the cruise? as I'm on a 16 day TA cruise.. Any help would be appreciated. :rolleyes: Thx

[youngestof9]

It really depends on how much you use them. Some people say $10/person per day but I didn't give nearly that much. On Epic, our concierge didn't do much for us at all. So I gave her $50. But our butler was outstanding - I think I gave him $150, but I can't remember now. On the Gem, it was reversed but there were 2 of us (4 of us were on Epic). I loved our concierge, but our butler didn't do much so I gave the concierge more.

 

It just depends on how much you use them. I see you're on a 16 day cruise, so I'm guessing you will give more than I did on a 7 day.

[sail7seas]

Last time we had a butler, we gave him a tip to go away and leave us alone. :eek:

He was more a nuisance than anything else.

 

I suggest you choose how much or even if to tip by how helpful your butler is.

If (s)he renders many services, we would tip about halfway through and then again at the end of the cruise. For a shorter cruise, we would tip only at the end.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Sootie]

Thx youngest that truly helps.. 150 for 7 days... must of been an excellent butler

[sail7seas]

On HAL, which we now sail exclusively, we have Concierges and they are terrific. They are so much more helpful than any of the butlers ever were.

 

We far prefer the combination of an excellent cabin steward and competent, willing concierge.

 

[SuiteTraveler]

Keep track of what they do for you. If the butler brings you breakfast everyday, tip him for that. Throw a party and the butler brings hors d'ouerves and wine AND poses for photos with your guests just for fun? Tip him for that. The butler's we've had have been good sports and gone out of their way for us and deserved good tips.

 

For the concierge, I usually tip $5 for every reservation she made for us. Last time I took the tip down to the concierge in her office and we had a nice chat. She was so pleased with her tip she insisted on taking my super heavy suitcase off the ship FOR me which was so kind of her!

 

I think, just be thoughtful and consider how you would feel doing either of those jobs and what you would appreciate being tipped for and how much makes sense.

[puddles99]

On our last cruise, the concierge was welcoming at first and then seemed to forget we existed unless I tracked him down. Our butler was eager to be helpful, but we didn't need much; we used room service only twice. Our steward was fabulous. In the end, we end up tipping less than we planned overall but took extra good care of our steward. Tipping really is subjective.