Do you tip at every meal? Luggage locking?

[NYcoolcruiser]

I'll be a first time cruiser and am still very confused about tipping. I am worried about embarrassing myself when everyone tips and I don't. I'll be going on Carnival which already required gratuities of $10 per person, per day (which would be automatically deducted from our account). In addition to this, do you tip at every meal? For example, in a day, do you tip at breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight buffet (Carnival)?? And who do you tip? Do we just leave the tip on the table? And how much each meal do you tip? Also, do you tip your steward or stewards per day? or at the end of the trip? And how much is the customary amount?

 

I also have a question regarding luggage. Is it allowed to lock your luggage (combination locks/small luggage locks, etc.)? Airports doesn't allow us to do that (they need to be able to check each luggage if necessary for security reasons). So I'm wondering if cruises let us lock them or not.

 

Thanks for your help.

[crb04]

Believe the gratuities added in include your wait staff and cabin steward, so no daily tipping is required. However, when eating in alternative venues (ex, a dinner buffet or during breakfast/lunch), I leave something extra on table for server if they do something especially helpful (quick to clear dishes, bring drinks, etc). I also tipped additional on last evening to steward and dining wait staff because they provided exceptionally attentive, and personalized service--additional amount is really up to you. Room service staff are customarily tipped when the food is delivered to cabin--amount for me depends on what I ordered (couple of bucks if just coffee, fruit--more for full meals).

 

The cruise lines don't care if you lock your luggage as far as I am aware, some even encourage it. We use zip/cable ties on ours--the airlines just cut them open if they need to (easy to replace and we bring extra).

[CruiseFever]

I'll be a first time cruiser and am still very confused about tipping. I am worried about embarrassing myself when everyone tips and I don't. I'll be going on Carnival which already required gratuities of $10 per person, per day (which would be automatically deducted from our account). In addition to this, do you tip at every meal? For example, in a day, do you tip at breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight buffet (Carnival)?? And who do you tip? Do we just leave the tip on the table? And how much each meal do you tip? Also, do you tip your steward or stewards per day? or at the end of the trip? And how much is the customary amount?

 

I also have a question regarding luggage. Is it allowed to lock your luggage (combination locks/small luggage locks, etc.)? Airports doesn't allow us to do that (they need to be able to check each luggage if necessary for security reasons). So I'm wondering if cruises let us lock them or not.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

The automatic tipping takes care of everyone. If you'd like to give something extra to, say, your cabin steward, up front to insure good service , that's fine. A lot of people do that and it seems to work pretty good.

 

Otherwise thats about it unless you feel that someone has gone above and beyond the call of duty. In that case you might tip someone personally at the end of the voyage.

[hajekfam]

When we retrieve our luggage from the airport, we switch the cable ties to regular locks that we have in our carryon. We have nail clippers in the baggie with the locks to cut the cable ties.

When we have to put our luggage outside our room on the last night, we lock it with the regular locks. After retrieving our luggage at the terminal, we remove the locks and replace them with cable ties that are in the baggie in our carryon.

At the port, the luggage is loaded by longshoremen. You drop it off and as we like to think, it magically appears outside your door. For disembarking, you put your luggage outside your cabin door the last night and claim it in the morning in the cruise terminal - after the dogs have sniffed it for drugs. We have heard many cruise directors' spiel about "If dog stops at your luggage, you better hope he is lifting his leg!".

[serene56]

I have not tipped the waiters during the week. (I do leave bags of kisses or M&Ms after dinner) tipmore then I leave on my card the last night in a thank you card.

 

tips for room service when service is rendered.. when they deliver please give a buck or two depending on how much was ordered.

 

If you have a special bar waiter-- that seems to always wait on you..tip accordingly.

 

Playing tables in the casino- tip the dealer once in a while.

 

porters who handle your luggage the first day get a buck a bag.

 

thats about all.

[SPI_Rick]

As mentioned earlier, no additional tipping on a per meal basis is expected by the staff. Your auto-tipping covers that. However, at the end of the cruise, if you feel that you have received 'special' attention or if you have requested 'special' services then leaving a little something extra is always appreciated.

 

We have used 'TSA Approved' locks on our airline checked luggage the last few years and haven't experienced a problem. These locks allow the inspectors to open them as needed with a special key. A few times at busy airports the baggage checkers have asked us to unlock the locks in advance....I guess to speed up the process....and then they have re-locked the bags after inspection. We have used the same locks on our bags pre and post cruise without any comments from the cruise line personnel. You can find TSA approved locks at most stores that have travel accessories.

[docksider21]

porters who handle your luggage the first day get a buck a bag.

 

As mentioned above, it is longshoremen, not cruise personnel, who move your luggage from your vehicle (car, bus, taxi, etc.) across the pier to the ship. Once loaded on ship, it is the ship's crew that delivers it to your room. The longshoremen do not receive any of the tip that is added to your account.

 

So, be sure to tip them. A buck a bag is right, but round up. I tip $ 5 for 3 bags. I want to BE SURE that my bag gets aboard ship, and doesn't undergo "special handling" by a ticked off longshoreman!

[kitty9]

Also, when you order drinks from the bar, a 15% gratuity is automatically added to the bill, so you don't tip in the bars/lounges either.

[trish1c]

Here's a list:

 

If you take a cab to the port, tip the driver.

 

At the port, tip the stevedores who take your bags.

 

Upon boarding, some people go find their cabins & stewards & tip the stewards a bit extra up front as they say hello. This is a good time to bring extra requests / needs to this person's attention if s/he is not swamped trying to get rooms ready.

 

We usually find a bartender, tip a few dollars extra & introduce ourselves. If there is a particular cocktail server who has been taking care of us, I will tip that person a little extra during the week. These are over & above the 15% gratuity automatcially added to all bar drinks.

 

I've never tipped the dining room staff extra but on a freestyle cruise, I do tip the maitre'd. It doesn't make a difference in traditional dining, IMO. I have given extra tips to particularly helpful sommeliers.

On excursions, you are expected to tip your drivers & your tour guides. Usually $1-$2 pp each for a 1/2 day is OK unless it was a difficult or special trip.

Enjoy your cruise.

[Catseyes]

We have just returned from our first cruise. We prepaid our tips for the cabin steward, waiters etc., received vouchers in our room the last evening. Put a bit extra in for our steward who was very good and our waiter at dinner who was great. Tipped when we had room service usually about 2 or 3 dollers. 15% was added on bar service, and also tipped our waiters in the speciallity restaurant as the service and food were wonderful. On trips we also tipped a bit extra to our guides, about 5 dollers.

 

We did not put locks on our suitcases because the airports do not like it. Never thought to put cable ties. Will buy the TSA approved locks for next time as our luggage had been opened. One of our cases had a padlock put on it when we got to the ship from our hotel, had to get maintenance to cut it off, no idea why it was put on.

[Floflegs]

Where in UK can you buy the approved ties?

[2Cruise4Ever]

You'd be surprised how far a simple thank you note can go. On our last cruise, NCL Dawn in June, I sent thank you notes to the Cruise Director (very helpful with restaurant selection), the head chef (awesome food and service in the dining rooms), our cabin stewards, and the hotel director. The swath of appreciation we received was immense. The hotel director gave us our specialty restaurants and wine and champagne on the house (would have been over $200). The head chef called and offered anything we wanted for room service. And, yes, we DID have the eggs benedict! And, the cabin stewards took extra time to make more towel animals than we would ever have hoped for (the kids REALLY loved THAT). I mean, think about it: all these people ever hear are complaints. We simply said, "thank you." Not expecting anything in return and were treated ABOVE what service we already had, which was stellar in the first place. And, of course, we gave a huge extra tip on our last night as another way of saying "thank you."

 

 

So, this next crusie? I packed 2 packages of thank you notes. Again, not expecting anything in return. Just want to express my appreciation to those who work so very hard for months at a time with NO breaks!

[Catseyes]

Where in UK can you buy the approved ties?

 

I found a site on the net called Outdoor Accessories. They are in Kingston Upon Thames. Their web address is www.outdooraccessories.co.uk, they do all of the TSA approved locks etc., work out about £5.99 each for the 3 dial combination locks,. come in different colours. I will definately get these for next time. Hope this helps.:)

 

Tessa

[Floflegs]

Many thanks. Will have a look at the site.;)