Custom and Practice on Tipping for Included Excursions

[Travelcat2]

There are a few posts indicating that some posters feel that tipping is personal. I agree with that as long as it does not affect others. One post -- do not recall which, seemed to indicate that this "personal" decision includes tipping on Regent. While I do not want this to become a thread about tipping on Regent......, when people start tipping on Regent, it can (and has) affected the service and can create an atmosphere of expectation. By the same token, if most passengers on Regent excursions get the reputation for not tipping, perhaps the tour operator will be less likely to put their top tour guides on Regent buses. Just food for thought.

[newlondon]

Sorry Jackie, We do tip on Regent and will continue to do so. We also give generously to the crew fund.

[Travelcat2]

Sorry Jackie, We do tip on Regent and will continue to do so. We also give generously to the crew fund.

 

 

My post was food for thought...... how our actions or lack thereof, affects others...... nothing more - nothing less.

[2old4this]

In many ports, particularly Italy that I know of, no one is permitted to even escort a group without extensive training (or even a college degree) required to acquire a license to guide.

 

2Oldfor this, while I have read and acknowledge your comments, there is buried somewhere in the website, I believe, that tips are not included on excursions. They never have been, and I think some cruisers may just not know, particularly new ones. Other posters on this thread seem to appreciate that.

 

This was perhaps more evident before excursions were included. Perhaps it is adverse to Regent's interests to offer "all-inclusive" EXCEPT......tips to tour guides. I would not think of getting off a bus without tipping. Just my opinion. Tour people may have a 3-4 hour cruise excursion, but this is their whole day's work to provide for a family, even if they are paid by the hour by the company who has engaged them for the day.

 

We all have our own tipping policies. I feel a few $$'s here and there off the ship are not going to "break me" on a cruise. I do like the policy aboard, where I feel no need day to day to be passing out tips, and what I do at the end is my discretion.

 

I think that the main agreement with us as a small group of responders to tipping is that tipping is a highly personal act between two parties. Or when the driver is involved, three. The question as to how much to give in dollars, euros, etc., is even more personal. Someone ahead in the line may choose to shake a hand and disappear. The next one gives $10 and goes on about her business. Who can argue the proper choice in tipping size or lack of a tip when everyone on the venture places value on the service rendered in an individual way? Who among us has this tipping amount computed correctly? I like the crew fund approach, but then, that's me and again I make it as personal as I possibly can.

[Travelcat2]

I think that the main agreement with us as a small group of responders to tipping is that tipping is a highly personal act between two parties. Or when the driver is involved, three. The question as to how much to give in dollars, euros, etc., is even more personal. Someone ahead in the line may choose to shake a hand and disappear. The next one gives $10 and goes on about her business. Who can argue the proper choice in tipping size or lack of a tip when everyone on the venture places value on the service rendered in an individual way? Who among us has this tipping amount computed correctly? I like the crew fund approach, but then, that's me and again I make it as personal as I possibly can.

 

Agree wholeheartedly that the amount given is personal as well as whether or not you choose to tip the tour guide or driver. IMO, this thread may open the eyes of some passengers that tips are not included on excursions. My posts have been to make other posters aware of this fact and also that tipping on Regent does affect others. Again, food for thought.

[Emdee]

I was on Voyager in May and on Crystal last week and really shocked to see such a few people tipping after excursions. We nearly always do so but we vary the amount depending on the quality.

 

The one time I got really angry with the guide and didnt tip was in Israel on the Masada excursion. The guide took us to a store that no one wanted to go to and gave us a story about going there to pick up something for Regent. Then he walked out of the store with two bags of stuff and handed one over to the driver and put the one in his satchel. We were delayed 20 minutes for this unnecessary stop at the end of a long day.....We was the last one on board the bus.

 

We too sometimes make a monetary present to some staff. Sometimes its a true present - they havent done much for us on that particular cruise but we are happy to see them again. We have also donated to the crew fund.

[2old4this]

I was on Voyager in May and on Crystal last week and really shocked to see such a few people tipping after excursions. We nearly always do so but we vary the amount depending on the quality.

 

The one time I got really angry with the guide and didnt tip was in Israel on the Masada excursion. The guide took us to a store that no one wanted to go to and gave us a story about going there to pick up something for Regent. Then he walked out of the store with two bags of stuff and handed one over to the driver and put the one in his satchel. We were delayed 20 minutes for this unnecessary stop at the end of a long day.....We was the last one on board the bus.

 

We too sometimes make a monetary present to some staff. Sometimes its a true present - they havent done much for us on that particular cruise but we are happy to see them again. We have also donated to the crew fund.

 

Emdee - When a tour side-tracks to a diamond store, pottery outlet, or a carpet seller, it is time for the generous tourist to wonder who the guide and driver work for. We all know, or should know, the ploy of a supposed side errand 'for only a few minutes' is really to bring a crowd of monied buyers to a shop.

 

On a tour of Cairo and the pryramids my wife and I were supposed spend 4 hours actually at the pryamid site. While enroute the guide said he had to make a short stop for his tour company. He claimed there would be little time wasted. Anyone wishing to use the restroom or have a free drink of iced tea could join him. The bus pulled into a diamond business and not one tourist got off the bus. We sat there looking about and held to the seats as if we had mutually agreed to do so. I noticed there was very little cash changing hands at the door step.

[Travelcat2]

Emdee - When a tour side-tracks to a diamond store, pottery outlet, or a carpet seller, it is time for the generous tourist to wonder who the guide and driver work for. We all know, or should know, the ploy of a supposed side errand 'for only a few minutes' is really to bring a crowd of monied buyers to a shop.

 

On a tour of Cairo and the pryramids my wife and I were supposed spend 4 hours actually at the pryamid site. While enroute the guide said he had to make a short stop for his tour company. He claimed there would be little time wasted. Anyone wishing to use the restroom or have a free drink of iced tea could join him. The bus pulled into a diamond business and not one tourist got off the bus. We sat there looking about and held to the seats as if we had mutually agreed to do so. I noticed there was very little cash changing hands at the door step.

 

Again, no one is suggesting that passengers tip for unsatisfactory excursions. IMO, the purpose of this thread is to make passengers aware that tipping is not included on Regent excursions.

[jhp]

Not sure I am right or wrong, but I have the impression that tours in Turkey require those guides in Turkey to include a visit to a rug factory. As a part of them being licensed. Irritated me the last pre-cruise, it had nothing to do with the ship.

 

Of course, this is completely off-topic from tipping, the subject of this thread, but some seem not to like it, so maybe it does.

[RachelG]

Not sure I am right or wrong, but I have the impression that tours in Turkey require those guides in Turkey to include a visit to a rug factory. As a part of them being licensed. Irritated me the last pre-cruise, it had nothing to do with the ship.

 

Of course, this is completely off-topic from tipping, the subject of this thread, but some seem not to like it, so maybe it does.

 

I have been to Turkey 3 times and hired private guides twice, did only ship tours once. There is no requirement that the tour guides include a rug factory visit. We specifically told our private guides that we were not interested in this. And on the ship tours we did in Ephesus and Istanbul, we did not visit a rug factory or store. I specifically selected tours which did not include shopping.

 

Now a tour guide may have led you to have this impression as an excuse to get around people not wanting to visit the rug factory. I can see that happening. But it is definitely not required.

[gnomie1]

This past summer we were in Turkey on a Regent cruise - twice the tour guide tried to get us to go to a "rug factory", but each time the entire bus just said no and did not get off, not even to use the restroom. The guide was not happy, but we left and continued touring. At one stop we got off the bus and she was leading us up the stairs to use a restroom, but we soon realized it was another rug stop and everyone turned around and went back downstairs.

 

As a side note: I collect antique rugs and have been studying about them for years. REMEMBER, there are no more rugs that are hand made in Turkey, they come from India and China. You may pass a store and see someone knotting a rug in the window, but that is not what you will be able to purchase. They have found huge warehouses in China where women (and children) and an instructor in the front guide the workers and each rug is identical, then they are told where to make "the mistake" so that it looks "one of the kind". Many of the rugs which look "handmade" are actually machine made.

 

If anyone is interested in a store in Istanbul where you can purchase genuine handmade antique Turkish rugs, please email me. They are expensive, but they are some of the most beautiful pieces of art ever made. There are no tours to this store, it is a hole in the wall that barely holds two people and there is absolutely no pressure whatsoever to buy.

 

gnomie :)

[fizzy]

What a fabulous idea it would be to offer this info onboard where people on private tours could explore this option and bypass the annoying bus stop routine. It sounds like savy folks are getting sick of this tourist trap stuff. It might even ease the demand for the "free excursions". I have often wondered how many purchases are actually made. Although with the group, my elderly aunt felt uncomfortable when one of the rug people followed her out of the rug place lowering and lowering the price of something she had been looking at.

[eliana]

I am confused.

I would always tip tour guides and drivers unless they were poor, since this is part of their remuneration and they are paid accordingly. Presumably the same as waiting staff in the U.S.

On the other hand I cannot understand giving onboard tips where gratuities are included except for special services. It would be like adding a tip to a restaurant bill where service has already been added or it is mentioned on the bill that service is included.

[Travelcat2]

It just dawned on me (better late than never) that tour guides follow a schedule that often includes shopping stops. These schedules are approved by Regent. Perhaps we are blaming tour guides for something that is not their fault? I'm going to pay special attention to the detailed tour sheets that Destination Services provides when we board the Voyager later this month. As I recall, the amount of time spent at each place during the excursion is on the sheets that are in your suite when you board and also are available at Destination Services. In any case, I want to explore this further.

 

eliana: Agree completely:-)

[newlondon]

Jackie, You are so right. Throughout SE Asia the tour itineraries included shopping stops; some great-others not; but you knew ahead of time what was coming. Some of the most obvious were Bali, Danang and Canton.:confused:

[RachelG]

I make a special effort to avoid any excursion that includes a shopping stop. The problem is that the guides sometimes slip one in on you. I remember a particularly disappointing tour outside of Rome where the first stop was for shopping. It was not listed on the itinerary, and we tried to not get off the bus. But the driver insisted we had to get off. It was at what I would characterize as a freeway truck stop, and actually, if I had been in the market for gallon size tins of olive oil, I would have bought some as the price was very good. However, transport back to the US would have been problematic.

[newlondon]

I can't believe, RachelG, you didn't find a way.:D

[RachelG]

I can't believe, RachelG, you didn't find a way.:D

I could have packed it in my luggage, but I was afraid of the devastation a possible spill could cause.

[2old4this]

Sorry Jackie, We do tip on Regent and will continue to do so. We also give generously to the crew fund.

 

Who is Jackie?

[Emdee]

Who is Jackie?

 

Travelcat!

[4748]

We tip only well informed, understandable, non shopping and non political guides.

Usually $5 per half day.

[Travelcat2]

We tip only well informed, understandable, non shopping and non political guides.

Usually $5 per half day.

 

 

Mostly agree with you. Suggest that you look at the Destination Services itinerary provided for Regent excursions before you get upset about a shopping stop. If it is in the Regent contract, the guide has no choice other than to stop. I find your "non political" comment interesting. We will be in Vietnam in March and are concerned about what I hear are anti American statements made by some guides:o

[Mjflowers]

Mostly agree with you. Suggest that you look at the Destination Services itinerary provided for Regent excursions before you get upset about a shopping stop. If it is in the Regent contract, the guide has no choice other than to stop. I find your "non political" comment interesting. We will be in Vietnam in March and are concerned about what I hear are anti American statements made by some guides:o

 

Was on a Regent cruise in 2010. Included stops in Vietnam. Tour guides were very informative. Would conversate about past history without any anti American comments. Where did these concerns come from? In my observations, it was the Americans with the attitude. The majority of the population in Nam have gotten over their misfortunes from past history. Unfortunately some still blame these people for ours. Your concerns are over exaggerated.

[jhp]

That war was over a long time before most of these younger guides were born (well, under 50) and don't remember it. Yes, they call it the American War, just like we call it the Viet Nam War. I do remember on a past cruise that one guide told us that his father was "taken" from him in that war (not killed, but imprisoned).

 

In short, that war is in the past. I don't think any excursion company would be stupid enough to allow guides to bring up old wounds. TC, I can almost guarantee that you will not hear any anti-american statements from any guide you will have. At least I didn't, north or south. Just as I hear no judgment calls when I visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki.

 

Interesting though, they will take you to the Hanoi Hilton. And those of us of a certain age know what that is. I chose not to do that tour. I had one of my best excursions ever on this cruise in Haalong Bay with those gorgeous monoliths, and hope to return someday. BTW, it is a long ride to Hanoi from where the ship docks, and they definitely had a toilet/shop stop on our way home at the end on the almost 3hr. trip back to the ship. The traffic in ports is horrendous.

Edited December 10, 2013 by jhp

[Travelcat2]

Appreciate the last two posts. My concern about Vietnam comes from people I have spoken with that have been there. It is good to learn that visiting Vietnam can be a positive experience. The excursions we have booked do not take us to places that were specific to the conflict. We are really looking forward to seeing the monoliths in Halong Bay. I am interested in trying some local food and would love to see local entertainment.

 

It is particularly good to know that there is a toilet/shop stop on the way back from Hanoi. Also hoping that the bus has good air conditioning.