Gift for room steward

[GUT2407]

So, does this mean you don't tip because their wages should be paid by the cruise line?

 

Actually it is none of your business if I tip or not.

 

If I tip it is because I have had good service, not because the line doesnt pay them enough.

Edited July 28, 2015 by GUT2407

[GUT2407]

Also I leave the service charge on.

 

That and the ship should pay the wages a tip should be gift.

[biker@sea]

Here is the problem as I see it with comments like the above. You and biker@sea are pretty quick to tell us you cruise so much that you personally know the crew and several of the captains, even calling them "friends". people who haven't had the opportunities to develop friendships like you have,

 

That is what I find offensive. You are using your level of familiarity with your crew and captain friends to judge those of us who don't have that luxury, implying that we are lesser people for taking the safe approach by giving only cash.

 

That is not very fair. What you have is a very different relationship with the crew than we have..

 

Actually anybody can hob nob with the brass on NCL.

 

Anyone can attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet .

 

NCL does a very good job of it with most of the top officer attending.

 

AS a C.C. member you can have the guest coordinator put you on the " Dinner with an Officer " list.

 

On your very first cruise you could be at the captains table too.

 

.

Edited July 28, 2015 by biker@sea

[SantaFeFan]

Actually anybody can hob nob with the brass on NCL.

 

Anyone can attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet .

 

NCL does a very good job of it with most of the top officer attending.

 

AS a C.C. member you can have the guest coordinator put you on the " Dinner with an Officer " list.

 

On your very first cruise you could be at the captains table too.

 

.

 

Not everybody cruises on NCL Dawn, in case you didn't know. You cruise on that one ship only - 15 times in less than three years! - so often and frequently that the crew probably thinks you are one of them! :eek:

 

As soooooo many people have already told you, your situation is entirely different than the vast majority of cruisers who cruise much less frequently than you, and also prefer the variety of different ships instead of going on the same ship over and over and over and over again.

 

And yet you continue to refuse to acknowledge that your experience is completely different. You clearly have no idea what the cruise experience is for the rest of us, which makes your advice virtually worthless.

 

Oh, and for your information, many of us couldn't care less about "hob nobbing with the brass." We don't need to be the captain's pet to enjoy our cruises.

Edited July 28, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[sail7seas]

Actually anybody can hob nob with the brass on NCL.

 

Anyone can attend the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet .

 

NCL does a very good job of it with most of the top officer attending.

 

AS a C.C. member you can have the guest coordinator put you on the " Dinner with an Officer " list.

 

On your very first cruise you could be at the captains table too.

 

 

Wow, am I glad I just read this post. I'm sailing NCL for the first time after about 85 HAL cruises and it never occurred to me NCL Captains might invite 'newbies' to a Captain's Table. I wasn't planning to pack an appropriate dress but now know I'd best do so. :eek: My friends are in the large suite and I'm in a Penthouse so there is a chance we may have that opportunity now that you have mentioned this.

 

 

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I give cash and only cash but one thing about giving trinkets is that many of these folks have children at home. Getting box of trinkets every few months from Mom or Dad might be thrilling for a young child. I know I would have loved it coming from my Dad. I know I used to be thrilled when he brought a pen or pad of paper home for me.

 

Yes, cash is king but for those of you who want to give a token of appreciation in addition don't feel bad.

[biker@sea]

Wow, am I glad I just read this post. I'm sailing NCL for the first time after about 85 HAL cruises and it never occurred to me NCL Captains might invite 'newbies' to a Captain's Table. I wasn't planning to pack an appropriate dress but now know I'd best do so. :eek: My friends are in the large suite and I'm in a Penthouse so there is a chance we may have that opportunity now that you have mentioned this.

 

 

 

It's luck of the draw on what officer. NCL pics. Could be Captain, H.D , Head of house keeping Etc.

NCL accommodates quite a few guest. Different officer each with a few couple spread out in the MDR'S .

Usually drinks are on the house too.

Edited July 28, 2015 by biker@sea

[sail7seas]

No need to tip the stewards who serve when dining with an Officer.

 

Many cruise lines do very similar routine for Officer's Dining Tables. Our experience on "X", Princess and HAL for Captain's Tables was always for those dining together to meet in one of the lounges and be introduced to each other. Drinks for all. Proceed as a group to the table, seating cards will be at each chair, Captain/Officer orders wines and a great time is had by all. :)

 

No tipping required. :)

 

Edited July 28, 2015 by sail7seas

[Elaine5715]

I give cash and only cash but one thing about giving trinkets is that many of these folks have children at home. Getting box of trinkets every few months from Mom or Dad might be thrilling for a young child. I know I would have loved it coming from my Dad. I know I used to be thrilled when he brought a pen or pad of paper home for me.

 

Yes, cash is king but for those of you who want to give a token of appreciation in addition don't feel bad.

 

Crew members are not likely to spend good, hard earned money on shipping trinkets home for children. Dropping $50+ to ship home items mentioned above would be grounds for divorce. Even putting items in their luggage home would take up space that would be better used for items requested by their families.

[Cruisin' Chick]

....

 

Oh, and for your information, many of us couldn't care less about "hob nobbing with the brass." We don't need to be the captain's pet to enjoy our cruises.

 

So true about the last part with many of us. That's why whenever people talk about the necessity (for them) that ship's officers attend a meet and greet, I roll my eyes (and often see some others post the same opinion -- that if we attend a CC meet, it's to meet the others we've been talking to on the roll call).

 

I'm not basing my success at a good cruise on whether I meet any officers or not (and I actually did meet the captain and some other officers and had a private tour of the bridge on my last cruise, but that was as a result of a favor I was doing for someone). We don't cruise all the time (life and work, etc.) and not always on the same ship (we've only repeated two ships in successive cruises), but also not trying to stay in the same cabin just to hae the same waitstaff (we actually did have the same waiter when she was moved from the ship on one cruise and to the next ship we were on -- just a coincidence....and the same thing happened with my hubby for another waiter).

 

So if the big thing for a couple of posters here is to form long lasting relationships with some crew members... well, goody for them. But it doesn't mean that as soon as biker person or any one else disembarks, the crew members move on and not think of you until the next time they happen to see you. That's not a relationship.

[Elaine5715]

So true about the last part with many of us. That's why whenever people talk about the necessity (for them) that ship's officers attend a meet and greet' date=' I roll my eyes (and often see some others post the same opinion -- that if we attend a CC meet, it's to meet the others we've been talking to on the roll call).

 

I'm not basing my success at a good cruise on whether I meet any officers or not (and I actually did meet the captain and some other officers and had a private tour of the bridge on my last cruise, but that was as a result of a favor I was doing for someone). We don't cruise all the time (life and work, etc.) and not always onthe same ship (we've only repeated two ships in successive cruises), but also not trying to stay in the same cabin just to hae the same waitstaff (we actually did have the same waiter when she was moved from the ship on one cruise and to the next ship we were on -- just a coincidence....and the same thing happened with my hubby for another waiter).

 

So if the big thing for a couple of posters here is to form long lasting relationships with some crew members... well, goody for them. But it doesn't mean that as soon as biker person or any one else disembarks, the crew members move on and not think of you until the next time they happen to see you. That's not a relationship.[/quote']

 

As anyone who works in the service industry can attest, it isn't unusual for frequent customers to comment "bet you missed me!". Proper response is "we sure did". Actual thought is "huh? ".

[Cruisin' Chick]

As anyone who works in the service industry can attest, it isn't unusual for frequent customers to comment "bet you missed me!". Proper response is "we sure did". Actual thought is "huh? ".

 

I worked for about ten years for one company which specialized in products for the film industry (for the most part) so we had many regulars. We also had a storefront so anyone could come in and buy our products. Many of the regulars did have sales staff that they worked with. But it's not like there's a thousand new "customers" every week. The staff would try to be friendly with anyone coming in, whether a regular or not. That's would you do in retail, service, or similar type of businesses.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

Crew members are not likely to spend good, hard earned money on shipping trinkets home for children. Dropping $50+ to ship home items mentioned above would be grounds for divorce. Even putting items in their luggage home would take up space that would be better used for items requested by their families.

 

 

I disagree. I think a parent would absolutely spend $50 to send a box back home.

[wowzz]

I disagree. I think a parent would absolutely spend $50 to send a box back home.

 

I'm not sure you understand how much $50 is in real terms to the staff. Why would they spend the equivalent of 3 or 4 days wages sending home a package of trinkets, when the $50 could be spent on something frivolous like, let me have a guess, food?

[Elaine5715]

I'm not sure you understand how much $50 is in real terms to the staff. Why would they spend the equivalent of 3 or 4 days wages sending home a package of trinkets, when the $50 could be spent on something frivolous like, let me have a guess, food?

 

Or the logistics involved in shipping overseas. As another cruiser complained loudly to Guest Services that they could not find a single mail box to mail their US stamped "Wish You Where Here" post cards anywhere in Grand Turk.

[notentirelynormal]

I disagree. I think a parent would absolutely spend $50 to send a box back home.

 

Clearly you have never shipped a package over seas. My brother's wife is from the Philippines. He often sends packages to the family. First, he has to make a special trip to the shipping place. He wants the package full because it is so costly. Then he needs to make sure there is absolutely nothing in there that he doesn't care about losing. Then he ships it and 6 to 8 weeks (if they are lucky) later they might get it. There have been many many times when they get their box it is only half full. Hmmm, what do you think might have happened? Maybe those cans of food disintegrated. Maybe those new shoes became invisible. Whatever happened they were no longer in the shipped box.

 

So, expensive, hard to ship and the bonus that most of the stuff never arrives. Yup, I can see every crew member/parent working on the ship wants to do that.

 

I once shipped a small box to my brother in Japan. It was full of sweetener that he couldn't get in Japan. I was going to send it to him so he had it for his birthday but once I found out how much it was I decided to ship it by ship for only $40 and it would only take around 2-3 months. The box was around 6x6 inches and weighed less than 1 pound.

Edited July 29, 2015 by notentirelynormal

[Viv0828]

International shipping costs are quite high and I would only ship a box to or from a foreign country by Fed Ex or UPS. You also need to fill out customs forms that are a pain. Our experiences with international shipping using the USPS have not been positive.

Edited July 29, 2015 by Viv0828

[sail7seas]

I disagree. I think a parent would absolutely spend $50 to send a box back home.

 

I imagine that $50 is heavily dependent upon how gracious and generous the guests he/she is taking care of have been in providing respectable tips. This is not a hobby for these people away from family and friends. They are adult people, working hard, hopefully under respectable conditions and for people to come here and complain about providing a widely accepted (worldwide) accepted way to thank them for doing all they can to make their vacation special, is hard for some of us to read.

 

So, yes..... the likely would Want to spend that $50 to send a box to their family but it is up to us to make it practical for him/her to do so.

[biker@sea]

I disagree. I think a parent would absolutely spend $50 to send a box back home.

 

My friend Agues that I meet on NCl Spirit in 2009 had a son as his first born child not long ago.

 

I think it cost me like $12 to mail a little Harley outfit to Bali Indonesia.