To Tip or not to Tip

[fairbourne]

From Fairbourne: "On your example of $10 pp for the tour guide - what if it's a 50 seater coach? simple maths would make that $500! I wish I got paid $500 a day! OK that may be an extreme example but this is how things can get out of hand! And that was the advice you gave!

 

I also think many of you make an awful lot of assumptions that everyone involved in the tourist industry "needs" or "depends" on tips to make a living! It's so disrespectful to assume that because someone, in your eyes, is doing what you think might be a "lower paid" job, that you have to come across as Lord Bountiful and throw your dollars around."

 

ARF! I must admit, when I read Fairbourne's cranky comment above, I literally spat my coffee out onto the computer screen as I was laughing so hard.

 

She truly made my morning with that goofy post! Thanks for the comic relief!

 

Happy to oblige Wristband :p LOL!!! - yes it was a "goofy" comment but like you who get so frustrated at those who do not tip - and it's not just always we Brits whom you "think" don't tip! - we get equally frustrated at the "must tip, must tip" flash the cash brigade, and those who automatically assume that because we are Brits, we don't tip! There is a balance I think, and as Oceans&Rivers asked how do you know people don't tip. For example, my DH always passes a folded note in the palm of his hand, usually as a firm handshake and a spoken thank you. Now if you were watching, and didn't know him, you may well presume that no tip was given. Discretion is the key I feel.

 

I can remember years and years ago my late mother going on "bus" trips with the local W.R.I., and they would always have a collection for the driver. I think the going rate then was about 50p to £1 each in old money, so from a bunch of Scottish ladies on a day out, he did rather well from a nation that doesn't tip!

 

If I were organising a small private tour I would always tell people the cost and then tell them to add on some for a tip. Or if you think they might baulk, add an appropriate tip in the total before you tell them and then it's all sorted. Done deal!

 

Now you be careful with that coffee Wristband! :)

[wristband]

Here is a possibility to consider for small group tours. Some tour operators will agree to provide, say, after the 8th or 10th participant the next one for free. So, if 8 pay the tour fee, the "free" slot can be given to the guide. This has worked well for me in Italy and Asia - it eliminates the heated issue of tipping by all participants + ensures the guide is fairly compensated.

 

To illustrate: 8 people pay $60 per person for a full day tour = $480 paid the tour operator. But rather than giving a "free" tour to a 9th person, the $60 waived fee is given to the guide by the tour operator in lieu of tips. The guide is told of this arrangement at the start of the tour and each of the 8 is free to add more should they care to. Or add nothing as tips are taken care of. In the example, it works out to about $8 p. p.

 

My standard tip is $10 p.p. for a small group tour that is handled well. If the tip is included, I often opt to add a bit more - some do not. This way, who gives what amount is irrelevant - but all give without really giving! - and the guide is taken care of.

 

Not all tour operators will do this. But some will so you should always ask for the 'discount'. Of course, it is possible the operator will not honor the agreement. I leave my email address with the guide and ask to be told if there is a problem with payment. I had this arrangement multiple times and never heard a guide email me about nonpayment.

[CintiPam]

Suggestions on how to get the people to tip ...short of standing there with your hand in their wallet/purse or asking them LOUDLY where is the $$ for a tip :confused::confused::confused:

 

When I organize a tour I usually take the money for the tour to pay in a lump sum if the tour was quoted as 1 price for the vehicle

 

If it is quoted PP then I leave it up to the guide to collect the proper amount

 

I let people tip as they please & I do the same

 

Lyn

 

I see no reason to put myself in the middle collecting money from others to give to the guide. I always tell everyone the per person amount as soon as I book the tour and mention tipping then as well. I then remind everyone the week before we leave for the cruise. Also, collecting would have been quite a hassle when I had 18 for Berlin!

[MaryGGG]

So here's a dumb question. How much cash do you bring on the ship for all these tips for excursions? Are there ATMs available?

[JimandStan]

So here's a dumb question. How much cash do you bring on the ship for all these tips for excursions?

 

How much you bring depends on the number of excursions that you intend to take.

 

Are there ATM's available?

 

Ashore yes, on the ships, no

[Mura]

Further to what Jim/Stan said, we tend to have local currency on hand which we generally get at ATMs. If you're on a "euro" cruise it's easier than when you have to get different currencies.

 

We also bring dollars when we are in regions that have made it clear they prefer dollars (such as on the Black Sea cruise last year). Virtually all of our guides wanted dollars, not local currency. ONE of those guides would accept euros in place of dollars.

 

I know that our guides in Brazil next November are going to want their own currency, not ours! So we will get some in advance.

 

Our experience is that getting currency at an ATM using a debit card, NOT a credit card, is the best way to get local cash.

 

On our first Renaissance cruise back in Oct '99, the ship just went back and forth from Lisbon to Barcelona. This was on the R2, now Regatta, and they had spanish and portuguese currency on board to exchange for a pretty reasonable rate. By the following February the ships were no longer doing a repeated itinerary, and suddenly there was no real currency exchange available on board. (That was an Athens-Istanbul cruise.)

 

This is pretty much the situation on Oceania these days, unless you are in EuroLand.

 

The fact is that if you are in third world countries, or countries (like Greece these days) that are having currency problems, the vendors may well prefer dollars.

 

If you are in a place where they want dollars, you will need to have newer, cleaner bills. The banks in many of these countries won't take old or damaged bills. When we left for our Black Sea cruise last August I went into our local Chase bank to get fresh new bills -- and they didn't have any! But the bills I was able to get passed muster.

 

Just be forewarned.

 

Mura