Did you tip your officiant? (Embarkation Day, NY)

[jaded99]

I am finding contradictory answers on this forum and by Google search... so I'll just ask the people who have been married recently - did you tip your officiant? Specifically we requested a non-religious ceremony so I assume we will get a JP? (getting married in NY). Did you tip/did they accept the tip? Is $100 a good amount?'

 

And the carnival coordinator - you tip them as well, right?

[JulieRose]

We did not tip since we were married by the captain and it would have been bad form but in your situation, I would probably tip the officiant. We had planned to but did not end up tipping the onboard coordinator because she made such a mess of things. She didn't seem to expect it either since she disappeared half way through the proceedings (after mucking everything up) and we didn't see her again until we ran into her on the last day of the cruise.

[Carnival_Brides]

The coordinators are usually the officiants, or at least they are in Baltimore. They are certified as JoP's so they don't have to pay an extra person.

[jaded99]

The coordinators are usually the officiants, or at least they are in Baltimore. They are certified as JoP's so they don't have to pay an extra person.

 

Oh that's good to know. That's a pretty smart business decision for them, actually.

[B&BE]

We were married in Miami and we had a coordinator plus a JP. We tipped both of them but no where near $100.00 a piece. I think it was suggested to tip $40-$50 each, or whatever we felt comfortable with and/or depending on the service you received. The person playing the music was tipped $20. but that's only because he played only during the service for a total of 3 songs.

[LilBlackDress]

I looked it up when we were getting married(married 12/09) and what I found was 15.00 - 40.00 per person involved, including the JoP.

 

The wait staff (including the bartender) at the reception is an optional tip as well. 10.00 - 15.00 per server and 15-25 for the head server.

 

I tipped the coordinator 20.00 and the JoP 20.00 but I couldn't bring myself to tip the wait staff since everything for my reception was messed up.

 

Our photographer said he was not able to accept tips but we saw him at one of the ports and made up for it. (he was the only positive of the day)

 

Also if you are having the piano bar or DJ you may want to tip them...

 

I am sure the JoP would love the 100.00 but honestly I would break it down among the others as well.

 

and just a word or two of advise

My situation is very rare, where everything went wrong, so don't let the negative situations scare you. Learn from them.

 

When I called to complain about the things that went wrong, I was told since I tipped the coordinator and the JoP, I must have been happy so my complaint went no where. I was also told I should have complained to Guest Services, since I didn't complain to them during the cruise, I must have been happy.. etc etc.

 

What would have solved 90% of my problems... if I had a copy of the contract and final receipt with me at the wedding/reception. Unfortunately it was in my checked bags.

 

Sorry for the long post

[JulieRose]

Our photographer said he was not able to accept tips but we saw him at one of the ports and made up for it. (he was the only positive of the day)

 

and just a word or two of advise

My situation is very rare, where everything went wrong, so don't let the negative situations scare you. Learn from them.

 

Not as rare as you think. My wedding was a complete mess as well... There's nothing I personally could have done to change that. I, on the other hand, DID NOT tip the coordinator. It was all her fault, she didn't deserve anything. The photographer was also the shining star in our situation. He deserved every penny that we gave him (probably more.)

[cruiseonthebrain]

I looked it up when we were getting married(married 12/09) and what I found was 15.00 - 40.00 per person involved, including the JoP.

 

The wait staff (including the bartender) at the reception is an optional tip as well. 10.00 - 15.00 per server and 15-25 for the head server.

 

I tipped the coordinator 20.00 and the JoP 20.00 but I couldn't bring myself to tip the wait staff since everything for my reception was messed up.

 

Our photographer said he was not able to accept tips but we saw him at one of the ports and made up for it. (he was the only positive of the day)

 

Also if you are having the piano bar or DJ you may want to tip them...

 

I am sure the JoP would love the 100.00 but honestly I would break it down among the others as well.

 

and just a word or two of advise

My situation is very rare, where everything went wrong, so don't let the negative situations scare you. Learn from them.

 

When I called to complain about the things that went wrong, I was told since I tipped the coordinator and the JoP, I must have been happy so my complaint went no where. I was also told I should have complained to Guest Services, since I didn't complain to them during the cruise, I must have been happy.. etc etc.

 

What would have solved 90% of my problems... if I had a copy of the contract and final receipt with me at the wedding/reception. Unfortunately it was in my checked bags.

 

Sorry for the long post

 

I think you raise a great point- keep your paperwork with you. I had a wedding binder with everything in it that was always within reach (except for the ceremony :-)

 

I am so sorry things didn't go as planned for you. We had the opposite experience. After dealing with TWE beforehand I fully expected everything to go wrong. Instead the coordinator and the rest of the staff were incredible.

 

It's great that you had a good photographer though. And it sounds like you have a good attitude about everything!

[Carnival_Brides]

I tipped the coordinator 20.00 and the JoP 20.00 but I couldn't bring myself to tip the wait staff since everything for my reception was messed up.

Sorry for the long post

 

Did you get married on Carnival?

[Artemis908]

I got married on Princess, but in port in NY. Did tip the officiant $20 and he was AWESOME so it was worth it.

[Spiralshell]

Got married on Carnival in NY on 20Apr2012. We tipped the officiant $50, the coordinator $75, the bartenders $60 altogether, and the photographer $100 bEcause he was just that awesome.

[LilBlackDress]

I was married On Royal Caribbean

 

My reason for tipping the coordinator with all that went wrong is she tried to fix things as they came up... The reason we didn't give more is she didn't actually get anything fixed...

 

I paid for the appetizers and open bar for 2 hours. The wait staff told us we did not have an open bar and then when I said I would pick up the tab to please serve my guests they said the 'bar' we had the reception in was not allowed to serve my guests because we had 3 people under the age of 21 in attendance. 5 mins before the reception was over the head waiter came over and said you do have an open bar can we get your guests drinks now? Since they offered the drinks, with 5 mins left to go, TWE claims I had an open bar. LOL

 

That was just one of many mishaps that could have been prevented with contract in hand.

[jaded99]

Than you for your input, everyone. I will make certain we have our wedding info with us, in hand! Hopefully everything goes well and it's nice to know what ranges the tips should be in.

 

I would have gotten into the same trouble as you I think - I never feel right not tipping service people, and will do only a small tip if the service wasn't good. I don't think that was fair that they wouldn't help you just because you were polite and tipped.

[Lipz]

We married on the Norwegian Jewel out of NYC and tipped the officiant, and two wedding coordinators. The officiant actually showed up just in case the person we wanted to marry us didn't. Since he was not needed he helped the coordinators. We ended up tipping all 3 of them $50 each. My wife wanted to give more but that's just how she is. We tipped our own officiant $100.