Gift for cabin steward?

[mnventure]

Our cruise is less than a week away! On one of these threads, I saw someone mention bringing a small gift for the cabin steward. This is only our 2nd cruise, so I still feel like I'm learning how it works (I was completely clueless on our 1st cruise two years ago).

 

Do many people bring gifts? What do people bring? I'm having a hard time coming up with something as I'm sure they don't have a lot of storage space.

 

Thanks for your help!

[ColinIllinois]

I couldn't imagine bringing a gift for a cabin steward personally but to each their own. I think a nice tip, if warranted, is more than enough.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[cliffd64]

A nice tip is always appreciated!

[mnventure]

I couldn't imagine bringing a gift for a cabin steward personally but to each their own. I think a nice tip, if warranted, is more than enough.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Just doing a tip would be much easier (and I was planning on doing that anyway). Thanks!

[roger001]

Money is the best gift you can give them (tip at end of cruise). A gift is thoughtful, but frequently not very practical...or useful. However, we've become more knowledgeable about some of the cabin stewards that we've seen several cruises. My wife, who makes beautiful earrings and bracelets, will frequently give those items to the guys to send or give their wife. An exception with the gifts, we know two of the bartenders pretty good. One is a Jack Daniels enthusiasts to the extreme. We live near JD. So last cruise we saw him, we had genuine, from the JD distillery, a bunch of JD stuff. Another is a Harley Davidson enthusiast. Got him a HD t-shirt from our local dealer (HD guys collect them). But my opinion, unless you really know the person and know it's something he/she can actually use effectively, Money, money, money....

[Turtles06]

Really, the most appropriate "gift" is a cash tip (and mentioning them by name on any comment cards/surveys for having done a good job). They share very small quarters, I doubt they really want stuff from guests, however well-intentioned the gift. I know folks have reported on here how "appreciative" a crew member was to receive some tchotchke from them, but their entire job is to please, so what other reaction would they give you?

 

A cash tip will be truly appreciated.

[Ilovesailing]

I have always been under the understanding that staff are not allowed to accept non monetary gifts for many reasons such as they don't have the space to store them and most staff share a room with many others and could you imagine having to haul or ship home gifts to their families.

The main purpose that these folk's are on ship working their butts off is to earn money to send home to their families and extended families, it's also much easier and cheaper to wire money than to pack up gifts that would cost a fortune to ship.

 

Cask is king!

[Casino Comp Chick]

Cash is King!

[Sauer-kraut]

Pictures of presidents ... a couple of Jackson or Grant!!

[blueteam]

At the risk of being repetitive, yes, cash. You can imagine how cluttered a steward's small cabin becomes with a thoughtful memento from every guest every week.

[SuiteTraveler]

If your cabin steward is outstanding, give him or her an extra $50 or $100 on top of the standard tips and they will be absolutely thrilled. Last March, I had a great cabin stewardess and she and I worked together to resolve various small problems I found in my suite - she had just been assigned to the suites on this cruise and I guess the previous steward either didn't know about the burnt out lightbulbs, stuck fold out table, leaking pipe in the tub, etc or didn't care. So anyway, I was nice about all this and just pointed the issues out to her in a friendly way and she did a great job of marshaling resources and getting everything fixed. At the end of the cruise, when I gave her the extra cash she was so surprised, she burst into tears of joy and threw her arms around me and gave me the biggest hug ever. Honestly it was worth every cent to make someone that happy, and it was well deserved, especially when she had done such a great job for us! The average cabin steward makes $1600 - $2000 per month, so these tips mean a great deal to them. Money is the best gift you can give your cabin steward. Then in November, I had another excellent cabin stewardess and she, too, received an extra $100 on top of the prepaid tips. She was also beside herself with joy.

[TSUmom]

We usually just give them some cash on our last morning unless we request something and they go out of their way to take care of it then we tip them at that time too. We have also given them a bottle of wine that we did not drink.

[GeezerCouple]

We usually just give them some cash on our last morning unless we request something and they go out of their way to take care of it then we tip them at that time too. We have also given them a bottle of wine that we did not drink.

 

Interesting.

 

We have tried on a couple of occasions to offer the butler some complimentary alcoholic beverages we didn't want and didn't drink.

We were always told they couldn't accept something that could be "from a passenger cabin".

Maybe they were just being cautious about appearances (?).

 

GeezerCouple

[TSUmom]

Interesting.

 

We have tried on a couple of occasions to offer the butler some complimentary alcoholic beverages we didn't want and didn't drink.

We were always told they couldn't accept something that could be "from a passenger cabin".

Maybe they were just being cautious about appearances (?).

 

GeezerCouple

 

This was not our butler but our cabin steward and he was more than happy to take it off our hands;)

[hawkeyetlse]

We have tried on a couple of occasions to offer the butler some complimentary alcoholic beverages we didn't want and didn't drink.

We were always told they couldn't accept something that could be "from a passenger cabin".

Anything that you could possibly give them comes from a passenger cabin, doesn't it? Like your cash, which they gratefully accept with no problem. My guess is they didn't want your alcohol and didn't want to get into the real reasons (religious, medical, whatever) and so they told you this.

[GeezerCouple]

This was not our butler but our cabin steward and he was more than happy to take it off our hands;)

 

Again, interesting.

 

We weren't able to "convince" any crew member at all to take the complimentary booze.

 

We tried more than once, on more than one cruise.

 

As for "gifts" other than money, unless we knew there was something very specific a crew member wanted, we'd always give cash.

 

GeezerCouple

[Tricialy]

I read that once too - and we took a couple of gift bags of snacks from Texas. We were cruising out of New Orleans at the time, but everything had a Texas theme - pecans, candy - nothing you'd have to haul home and things they could give to someone else if they chose. They seemed to enjoy it - not that they would have let us know if they didn't. My husbands favorite casino dealer told him which part she ate each evening. We only did it once though, it was kind of a pain.

 

We did include a note with the gift bag - my father in law had the housekeeping service at a casino they frequented tell him they weren't allowed to accept tips left on the bed anymore unless they had a written note aknowledging them as a tip and signed by the guest.

 

We also tip in cash at the end of the trip.

 

Another time, we were in Roatan and the weather was terrible, so we were back on the boat early - and decided to get off to buy some bottled sodas in the port area - we asked our steward if he'd like us to bring him one. First he said yes, then - caught us in the hallway and said, no - thank you. So, I didn't know if he thought he could be accused of "asking" us to bring him something back - and thought better of it or what.

Edited January 13, 2015 by Tricialy

[Cruise_More_Often]

I read on another similar thread that someone had given gifts of prepaid phone cards. I know nothing about these, but if they're useful for calling to their home countries, that might be another option. We've always given cash.

[ClarkBHM]

We gifted one of the complimentary bottles of wine along with our tip to the cabin steward. I specifically wrote a note saying that it was our gift, just so that he wouldn't get in trouble for it. Even then, he seemed reluctant to take it.

[watchdiva]

Cash is the best "gift". The steward can then buy whatever he/she wants or needs.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[luddite]

Their favorite gift is small pictures of famous dead Americans.

Next after that is donuts.

[cb at sea]

Money....that's all...cash, is what they want. It's why they work...why do you work...for gifts? or MONEY!?

[Da-Painter]

I am wondering what your opinion is of leaving 1/2 full containers of toothpaste/shampoo/other toiletries. I have always thought they could use these, but I always wondered if they just threw them out??

 

If we have an attentive steward we will give them additional cash.

 

What do you give people for X-mas presents?:eek:

[SuiteTraveler]

I've let unopened soda and bottled water in my cabin - not as a gift or tip, just because I had some left. I don't know if they want it or not or if they just throw it out, but I can't take it back on the plane due to weight limit.

[camper06]

We gifted one of the complimentary bottles of wine along with our tip to the cabin steward. I specifically wrote a note saying that it was our gift, just so that he wouldn't get in trouble for it. Even then, he seemed reluctant to take it.

 

On our last cruise, we had purchased our last bucket of beer, but only drank one. When we saw our steward on the morning of disembarkation, we told him he was welcome to it. He said he couldn't take it then, but if we left it in the room after we left, he certainly could (and gave us a wink). So maybe they can't "accept" it from you directly, but if you leave it there...

 

This had nothing to do with our tip. We left DSC in place and left him additional $$ as well. He was excellent!!