Cash for tips?

[RayWitt001]

Hi all,

We have booked our first cruise for October 2015 and have been reading up about gratuities and tipping. We are travelling on a Princess ship out of Sydney Australia and I understand that there will be an $11.50 charge per person, per day added onboard to our account. Living in Australia where tipping is not customary I am a little confused about giving staff on board tips (should we feel they go above and beyond in their service).

From my understanding the ship card is used when purchasing things onboard which is either linked to a credit card or prepaid with cash, so say we are buying drinks, at the end of the night would we make a 'purchase' of a tip for the barman or do we have to also carry cash around while onboard? Also people mention tipping the cabin attendant/room service so, likewise, is there a way to add a tip to the bill total or do we need to have small change all the time?

Generally in local restaurants we just round the bill up to leave a tip but that is when paying cash, but onboard we won't be using cash...

Considering we are in effect paying a tip to all staff with the daily gratuity is it wrong to not tip at all? When staying in a hotel I have never tipped staff before- even in 5* hotels.

Thanks in advance.

[Philob]

In most cases drinks will have an auto gratuity (10-20%) added to your tab. An extra line is there if you want to add more. This will be added to your account.

 

You cabin attendant & waitstaff is already 'tipped' by the daily charge. Some people feel if they gave 'above and beyond' service they should be tipped in cash at time of service or at the last night of the cruise.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Philob

[MagicNMe]

Usually when served you'll give the bartender/cocktail server your ship card and get a slip to sign, where you can add tips and sign off- that charge will go to your onboard account (which you can pay off in cash or by credit). Some ships may already put an auto-gratuity in the tip line, and you can add more at your discretion for exceptional bar service.

 

 

Your dining room and cabin staff are paid from your pre-paid tips. For exceptional dining service (which I've always felt we've had in the main dining room, on the 4 RCCL cruises I've had) we will usually tip additionally on the last night of the cruise, in cash, to the serving staff that have really gone above and beyond to remember our preferences and entertain us night after night.

 

Usually they'll provide you with tip envelopes and surveys in your cabin toward the end of your cruise. If you've already paid the daily gratuity pre-cruise, it's at your discretion to give 'bonus' tips.

[toodietat]

Our Family of 6 have just returned from a 2 week cruise on-board a Celebrity ship. We just tipped our "favorite over & beyond personnel"" with Aussie dollars on the last night/morning. They really appreciated it!!! No worries, the ship can exchange most currencies for them.

[RayWitt001]

Thanks for your quick responses.

So basically there is no need to carry cash around and just tip at the end of the cruise if we feel it is warranted.

The kids can keep their piggy banks full then :D

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

You will not need to carry cash when on the ship. I never do.

 

As to autotips. On Princess it depends on the ship. For those that are based in Australia/NZ, the autotips are included in the fare for Australians and New Zealanders. I believe this is for the Dawn, Sun and Sea. For ships based elsewhere, the autotips are charged even when sailing in Australia.

[cb at sea]

You will not need to tip additionally to anyone that the auto-tips cover. The daily charge is more than sufficient.

The only one ON the ship that isn't covered by the auto-tips is the room service delivery person...plan on $1-2 per delivery.

 

The ships are advertised as "cashless"...so take them at their word!!!!

[NewSalt]

After our first cruise, we did bring a lot of singles. We never use room service when we travel, but it was so convenient and pleasant to put the hang tag out at night and have juice and coffee while sitting on the balcony in the early morning and while we dressed.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Princess is one of the lines that try for a cashless system while on board. We always keep our auto-grats on (so they'll get listed to our folio every night). If we feel the cabin steward and/or waitstaff (we try to always have traditional dining) are exceptional, we'll give them an envelope with some cash. When my daughter was in the kids' programs, we would give an envelope to that staff on the last night. We'll also keep a list (I don't carry money with me while on board, but I keep a tiny notebook and a pen in my purse so I can take notes for a trip report here on CC) of crew members who did something nice for us, and then fill out a "made a difference" card for them -- it'll go into their personnel folder and can help them at raise or promotion time.

 

We don't tip at the beginning of the cruise. We haven't ordered room service in several cruises. We also don't go into the casino, but I believe some big rollers probably will tip in there.

[bonvoyagebites]

We don't carry much cash on the ship...Usually a small stack of $1 bills so that we can tip our favorite bartenders (you take care of them and they will take care of you ;)) We also keep some $1 bills for room service deliveries.