Tipping...lol...

[tartana]

Okay, I'm not opening a can of worms here - I just want a quick confirmation of my idea of tipping....I am going on my first cruise soon - a 10 day Mediterranean - I am used to extensively traveling in the Caribbean countries at all inclusive resorts, and I am "used to" tipping there. However, cruise ship tipping seems, from all my research, to be quite a bit different. However, I'm wondering if I can get away with what I am used to, or if I will be looked at very strangely. I read a post about someone who just had a bunch of smaller/medium bills, and tipped various people on any given day (or every day) a dollar or two - or whatever they felt showed their appreciation- INSTEAD of the "envelopes" at the end of the week. I would still leave the prepaid gratuity to whomever that is shared amongst. I like this a LOT better than the idea of a large tip in an envelope to who knows how many people- once at the end of the cruise. It just seems so "corny" and rehearsed and "fake" and "expected" to me... Just wondering if some regular cruisers could let me know if this would be okay? I don't want to seem too weird or strange or out of place. I like to tip to show my appreciation to those who I have appreciated lol....just would rather do it the way I'm used to...

[surebeatssailing]

As long as you leave the cruise ship gratuities in place ,any additional tipping should be done however you prefer. We sometimes do it just the way you stated & other times we do those extra envelopes at the end of the cruise

[britestar]

Perfectly acceptable and very much appreciated. Have a wonderful cruise!:)

[Lois R]

Celebrity has not done "envelopes at the end of the week" in quite a

few years.

Normally, your gratuities are charged to your on board account on a

daily basis...UNLESS you have "select dining".....then your gratuities

are paid up front (when you pay for your cruise).

 

If you want to tip certain individuals extra? Go for it. I am a "regular cruiser"

and I just got off a cruise.....I had a bartender at the Passport Bar who

waited on me all week....I gave him some cash on the last day and a

big thank you. It is not corny (in my opinion)....some folks tip extra

and some do not......do what you feel comfortable doing:)

Edited May 20, 2015 by Lois R

[Phxazzcruisers]

Yes, agree. As long as you leave the prepaid gratuities, whatever you wish to give as extra is entirely up to you and will be greatly appreciated by any of the staff that receives them. Enjoy your cruise

[Wine-O]

I always leave on the pre-paid gratuities. If there is a certain bar I frequent, I always give the bartender a $5 up front every evening. I always have my beer on Ice, and my wife's cosmo is always made from scratch when we arrive.

[A1A]

Just wondering if some regular cruisers could let me know if this would be okay? I don't want to seem too weird or strange or out of place. I like to tip to show my appreciation to those who I have appreciated lol....just would rather do it the way I'm used to...

 

Tipping is a deeply personal matter, if you decide to give a little extra here and there on top of your prepaids that is your decision! I would be thrilled if someone thought I was weird or strange for throwing a bartender a few singles. Do what makes you happy with extra gratuities and have a great cruise!

Cheers!

Ken

[mateck810]

We also have pre paid the gratuities. On our last cruise we also gave a little extra to those who made the cruise so much more enjoyable for us, ie. the room steward and assistant and the MDR servers. I'm curious now if they get to keep those extra tips for themselves or if they are required to share it with everyone else. Does anyone know?

[A1A]

We also have pre paid the gratuities. On our last cruise we also gave a little extra to those who made the cruise so much more enjoyable for us, ie. the room steward and assistant and the MDR servers. I'm curious now if they get to keep those extra tips for themselves or if they are required to share it with everyone else. Does anyone know?

 

I think the OP indicated that they did not want to open a can of worms! :D We better stick to the OP's question or this will turn in to something completely ridiculous

[elena7seas]

We also have pre paid the gratuities. On our last cruise we also gave a little extra to those who made the cruise so much more enjoyable for us, ie. the room steward and assistant and the MDR servers. I'm curious now if they get to keep those extra tips for themselves or if they are required to share it with everyone else. Does anyone know?

 

If you have pre-paid your tips, or you have had auto-tips and left them on your account to be paid at the end of the cruise, then any other tips that you give to any other staff are theirs to keep.

[cb at sea]

It is customary to tip on the last evening of a cruise...not daily....with the "auto-tip", you don't need to worry about it at all! Don't worry about who keeps what, or how it's divided...everyone who is supposed to be tipped, IS tipped. The staff is fine with it, or they wouldn't work there. There are other cruise lines!

Edited May 20, 2015 by cb at sea

[redjetz]

It is customary to tip on the last evening of a cruise...not daily....with the "auto-tip", you don't need to worry about it at all! Don't worry about who keeps what, or how it's divided...everyone who is supposed to be tipped, IS tipped. The staff is fine with it, or they wouldn't work there. There are other cruise lines!

 

I think that has actually changed in recent years, for many of us, anyway. We leave the auto tips intact, And then we carry $1 bills with us and share them liberally with bartenders, pool waiters, and room service delivery. We also tip extra to our room stewards, generously when deserved, more modestly when not.

 

The style of tipping the last night seems to be ebbing away. Change is good :-)

[CroisiereDeReve]

sorry to butt in, but I am always uncertain if I am tipping enough so may I ask: what exactly is considered "generous"? Say I am in a regular / aq stateroom and do not have any special requests for the attendants, do not leave a mess for them to clean up, leave on the auto tips - what do I give the 1. and the 2nd attendant at the end, so that they would consider the tip to be more or less "generous"?Can you give me a number to go with? TIA

[Cruising Is Bliss]

Okay, I'm not opening a can of worms here - I just want a quick confirmation of my idea of tipping....I am going on my first cruise soon - a 10 day Mediterranean - I am used to extensively traveling in the Caribbean countries at all inclusive resorts, and I am "used to" tipping there. However, cruise ship tipping seems, from all my research, to be quite a bit different. However, I'm wondering if I can get away with what I am used to, or if I will be looked at very strangely. I read a post about someone who just had a bunch of smaller/medium bills, and tipped various people on any given day (or every day) a dollar or two - or whatever they felt showed their appreciation- INSTEAD of the "envelopes" at the end of the week. I would still leave the prepaid gratuity to whomever that is shared amongst. I like this a LOT better than the idea of a large tip in an envelope to who knows how many people- once at the end of the cruise. It just seems so "corny" and rehearsed and "fake" and "expected" to me... Just wondering if some regular cruisers could let me know if this would be okay? I don't want to seem too weird or strange or out of place. I like to tip to show my appreciation to those who I have appreciated lol....just would rather do it the way I'm used to...

 

That sounds fine to me. With the assessed tips, any extra is kept by the person it's given to and does not have to be shared. We leave the assessed tips on and I bring my own envelopes for any extras.

 

We always have breakfast in the cabin and tip for delivery. For waiters and cabin stewards we generally give any extra about 2/3 of the way through the cruise. On the back to back we gave all of them an additional amount at the end of the first week, and then again half way through the second week.

[sandancer]

We always pre-pay and then prefer to tip as we go rather than on the last night. We recently cruised and one server in Cafe Bacio was great. He also served drinks in the Elite social hour in the Sky Lounge. We tipped him (and others) a few dollars most nights. Very pleased we did because 2 days before the end of the cruise he went on sick leave and we never saw him again. He would have missed out on his well deserved extra tips if we had gone down the envelope route.

[tartana]

I really appreciate all of your very positive replies :) Like I said, I am a very experienced traveler - but only going the all inclusive resort way, so I am very unsure about the cruising scene lol. I think I will go it the way I always do and tip who and when I want - of course, leaving the prepaid gratuities on the acct, so no one gets missed. Looking forward to this new experience :)

[miched]

I favor tipping on the last evening as a small token of receiving constantly good service from a friendly worker that resulted from treating them respect and not demanding. It is also done without grandstanding, in a envelope along with a note of appreciation and after having said our good byes. If it is really great and outstanding service we will also write a note on the attention to service card.

 

I don't like to tip in advance because it becomes more of a bribe instead of a sign of appreciation and doesn't really promote a casual friendship or sincere service.

 

Each person has their own motive and reasoning for tipping and as others have said the workers are human and they like passengers that treat them courtesiously, respectfully and are polite. Of coarse they are like everyone and always enjoy more money but they do not expect more or demand more. The standard daily is sufficient if that is what you are comfortable with.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[Denny01]

As most others posting, we use to auto gratuity and add extra for special service. We get breakfasts on our verandas many times and if the server isn't our room steward, I tip them. If it is, I tip them at the end for overall service.

 

I have a friend who brings $2 Jefferson bills and uses those. Neat.

 

Den

[TomTN]

I always leave on the pre-paid gratuities. If there is a certain bar I frequent, I always give the bartender a $5 up front every evening. I always have my beer on Ice, and my wife's cosmo is always made from scratch when we arrive.

 

Huh, not as in "on the rocks"? :eek: I hope you mean in an ice bucket with ice to keep the cans/bottles cold?

[TeaBag]

I really appreciate all of your very positive replies :) Like I said, I am a very experienced traveler - but only going the all inclusive resort way, so I am very unsure about the cruising scene lol. I think I will go it the way I always do and tip who and when I want - of course, leaving the prepaid gratuities on the acct, so no one gets missed. Looking forward to this new experience :)

I think you have it sorted out well. With the auto tip in place, you don't have to worry about servers etc not getting a tip. I make cards and I always pack some to put our extra tips in. They are very much appreciated, as is the tip inside. I hope you enjoy your cruise so much that you book another on board! It's a great way to go!

 

In addition to the tip for those who do a great job, you can go to Guest Relations and request an "Attention to Detail" card where you can mention that employee by name. These often mean just as much to them as an extra tip.

Edited May 20, 2015 by TeaBag

[Barry ATL]

As a previous poster said, we all have our own way of tipping and for different reasons or motivations.

 

On our Carnival cruise in March we were in an accessilbe cabin. We always need a few extra things to make the cabin comfortable for DH and his wheelchair. My expectations for Carnival were low, so I was prepared for a lot of self service. Our steward stepped up as soon as we arrived. We needed some funiture moved around (read: beds) and a few other special requests. He impressed me immediately. Toward evening I ran into our steward in the hall and reached out to shake his hand and tipped him $10. For that short cruise I did that every day with our steward. It just felt right.

 

With tipping, you just have to do what feels right for you at that moment. There is no right or wrong.

[cle-guy]

Celebrity has not done "envelopes at the end of the week" in quite a

few years.

 

On my Connie TA I just got off, my final night, the cabin steward did leave 2 envelopes by the bed....

 

first time of my cruises i've seen this.

[Phxazzcruisers]

On my Connie TA I just got off, my final night, the cabin steward did leave 2 envelopes by the bed....

 

first time of my cruises i've seen this.

 

WOW, that is a new one. We have never seen that happen on all of our cruises on Celebrity.

[iSailor]

Huh, not as in "on the rocks"? :eek: I hope you mean in an ice bucket with ice to keep the cans/bottles cold?

 

I drink beer with ice if its not cold:D:D:D

[G&G]

I am new to Celebrity. Just tried to book a cruise next Nov15 and discovered what I think is an absurd policy. Since fixed dining was booked I could only reserve anytime dining. By reserving AD I have to pay all tips prior to sailing; in lieu of being charged while on the ship against my large cabin credits. What does tips at AD have to do with cabin steward tips?

 

We have sailed many different cruise lines and have never seen or heard of this tipping policy :(