Two guests, one room steward, Optimus Prime on the Breakaway.. do you do gifts?

[FreestyleNovice]

Whilst scouring the web for some Escape information I somewhere found the story of two guests who accidently, or a bit naive to me, gave their Optimus Prime toy mascot to their room steward. Unintended.

 

Check it out:

 

 

The read:

 

"This post is in loving memory of our travel companion (family name) Prime. He has served as our travel mascot for the past year, posing with us on our other adventures. Apparently when I left a sign saying “goodbye” to our stateroom steward in (his)’s hands, our steward thought it was a gift for him. Sigh…"

 

I LOLed, it seems they overcome the unintentional gift, as they wrote;

 

"This is the last photo we have of our dear friend. May he forever rest in peace aboard the Norwegian Breakaway."

 

But it sure looked like it was to keep for Fernando to me.. :D

 

To make this a valid thread; do you ever do gifts for crew?

[garnet115]

I have never given anything but cash, but I've seen others mention giving gifts instead, so I don't think it is unusual.

 

And I agree - it looks like it was meant to be a gift.

[Jane Don]

I frequently leave gifts to hotel or cruise staff while on vacation. Usually something small that I present with their envelope. Because I am Canadian, I often bring small maple leaf shaped bottles of 100% maple syrup. It is unique and many have never tasted the real thing. But I would never replace my cash gratuity with a gift.

[www3traveler]

Do I bring staff gifts:YES!!!

[Yinster]

I frequently leave gifts to hotel or cruise staff while on vacation. Usually something small that I present with their envelope. Because I am Canadian, I often bring small maple leaf shaped bottles of 100% maple syrup. It is unique and many have never tasted the real thing. But I would never replace my cash gratuity with a gift.

 

We always take Scottish gifts or tokens (keyrings, fridge magnets, scottish tablet, Tunnocks teacakes, shortbread and even wee cuddly toys) on our travels and give them to people we meet whether they serve us in some way or just happen to be sitting next to us and a conversation has started.

 

It all started when we used to go to international events like World Youth Day when patrons would swap items from home with others from another country. And so we just continued it even though we expect nothing in return. Love seeing how genuinely happy people are when they don't expect our wee "gift from Scotland". One of my very awesome experience was the Captain of our Las Vegas let us sit in the cockpit after the flight after we started chatting cos the flight was delayed.

 

It will be the same for this cruise and already started getting stuff every so often. And I probably make a wee special goodie bag for our room steward like last time and others on our roll call.

 

We too also tip and DSC and the gifts/tokens are additional to them.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Yinster

[pizzalady1]

Do I bring staff gifts:YES!!!

 

Such as....

[conandrob240]

No offense but they don't want this stuff. They live in tiny rooms. Can you imagine if they saved all the useless key chains and trinkets people give them? I guarantee if goes right in the trash. Just tip them a few extra bucks or fill out a nice card complimenting their service and submit it at the guest relations desk or mention them in the survey cards.

[Sparkygirl]

My four year old made pictures and gave flower to our cruise staff friends on Valentine's Day. We also keep in touch with some staff post cruise and have become friends. We did bring a small gift (my husband turns wooden bottle stoppers) when we met up at the ship on turn around day for a visit but these were for our friends and we knew that they would use them at home (not on the ship since they can't drink as it isn't allowed).

 

 

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[luvtheships]

I give John Deere key chains and hats most of the time...just a little something to commemorate middle America.

 

At Christmas I bring 14 inch stockings stuffed with chocolates

 

At Easter I pack medium to larger size Easter baskets

 

I also buy international phone cards here at home and give them out freely to any crew member that does me the slightest favor so they can call home from international ports

 

In this day and age a pax can never be 100 % sure that crew actually have a cell phone or know about audio facetime or even wifi....so those old timey phone cards bought in the USA seem like just the perfect gift

 

Cash seems so impersonal

 

 

 

 

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[conandrob240]

But cash is what they want and need. They don't want a bunch of trinkets or stuff you think they want. These people don't make much money and many send it home to their families. A $5 or $10 bill that they decide how to use is the best gift. Put it in a thoughtful card if you want personal. I can guarantee you they don't want or need a dozen key chains a week from guests.

[Cauzneffct]

But cash is what they want and need. They don't want a bunch of trinkets or stuff you think they want. These people don't make much money and many send it home to their families. A $5 or $10 bill that they decide how to use is the best gift. Put it in a thoughtful card if you want personal. I can guarantee you they don't want or need a dozen key chains a week from guests.

 

Having had wedding and baby showers in the not-so-distant past and had some people go off-registry for gifts, I agree that its not always the thought that counts. What you may think is a nice token may be seen as clutter by the recipient. If you really want to get servers/stewards a "gift," ask them if there's something they want/need from port. That way you can feel good about giving them something, and you'll know they'll appreciate it.

 

Having said that, I just give cash so that they can decide how best to use it.

[rbrugler]

I vote for cash. We all use cash. I also will no longer bring an exchange gift for a M&G. Twice we have received shirts that people purchased at bars where there was still smoking. They smelled so bad we threw them out.

[www3traveler]

Such as....

Gifts depend on which ship and which staff member. Sometimes it is chocolate from a local chocolate shop which usually gets hidden from other munchie staff members. I will bring story books about the area where I live for staff member's children, or small picture calendars from Washington State, international phone cards. I always take and write Thank You notes to staff from bartenders up to and including the Captain.