For those who have cruise on Christmas

[fluffyscruffy]

For those of you who have cruised on Christmas, do you give anything to or do anything special for your room steward and wait staff on Christmas Day?:confused:

[PescadoAmarillo]

We generally do not. Many crew members are not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas.

[mrell345]

We didn't give anything special last year on Coral for Christmas and New Years, we just gave our customary envelope with cash on the last day of the cruise.

[TracieABD]

We have given candy... Chocolate candy is highly coveted. We bring M&Ms. This in no way impacts any tip at the end of the cruise.

Edited December 6, 2015 by TracieABD

[Colo Cruiser]

We have, and award gifts accordingly. :)

[MTJSR]

We generally do not. Many crew members are not Christian and do not celebrate Christmas.

 

Sadly I think that only mattered 50 plus years ago.

 

Christmas for most is a big gift swapping event. Our crew being away from home will only appreciate a thoughtful gift. I also bring candy, big bags of M&M's from Costco for each. Its affordable and it shows they matter too.

 

I am bringing them again when I board the Grand in two weeks. If the room steward is below par, I will eat them in front of him with his name on the bag.:D

 

 

.

Edited December 6, 2015 by MTJSR

[Gabrielle R.]

I have given a small decoration..... One time It was a little snowman that had a battery light that lit it up- a friend made it... Our room steward thought it was cute and decorated his cart with it. He liked it since it was from our home state and he appreciated the thought.

We of course gave our tip

[cazzi]

I am sure any day of the year doesn't mean anything to them. They are working hard and away from there family, give them what you feel as I am sure everything is appreciated.

 

Cheers to our hardworking cruise crew

[Cruisin' Chick]

As we wouldn't know their background nor what they like, we just stick with the auto-tips and the extra last-day tips.

[nealstuber]

for raising this point. We're cruising Christmas this year and hadn't really thought about it. My Grandmother was a waitress for may years. I remember her being late for many a Christmas and Thanksgiving when I was young. Year's later, when I as getting paid by the hour, she took us all out for a very nice Thanksgiving dinner. She tipped at 25%. The look on my face inferred I thought she might be going senile. She said, "if you were working a holiday, wouldn't you at least expect time and a half?"

 

So I guess I'll ask my steward and waiter if they celebrate Christmas, and if they are away from their families during a holiday they would otherwise celebrate, respond as my grandmother thought me.

[trishh]

For those of you who have cruised on Christmas, do you give anything to or do anything special for your room steward and wait staff on Christmas Day?:confused:

Yes we cruise every Christmas and always give our Steward $20 and if we are dining in the MDR then we give the same to our waiters. I don't agree with the comment that many of the staff don't celebrate Christmas because many of the staff we've come into contact with were Christian.

Trish

[moki'smommy]

I would respectfully suggest that you not give them "stuff" They have VERY small quarters and cannot haul it home at the end of a contract. Cute little knicknacks will be re-gifted or tossed out. The gift they really want is the green stuff. They DO appreciate food gifts, provided they have no allergy issues or religious prohibitions. Yes, chocolate is a big hit with most.

 

Another thought--people remember the tipped positions. Think about sending a bag of individually wrapped candy to the theatre tech people or the engine room crew. You can do this by dropping it at Guest Services and asking that they pass it to the department!

[floridalover5623]

Wouldn't it be a little kinder to just ask the steward for better service instead of trying to humiliate them? I'm sure most of them would rather be with their families rather than picking up after guests all the time and a gift other than food would probably be more appropriate anyway.

[OnVacation11]

We cruise every Christmas and give our room steward $20 and a bag of chocolates. Nothing for waiters as we always have any time dining.

[whatcruiseisnext]

 

I am bringing them again when I board the Grand in two weeks. If the room steward is below par, I will eat them in front of him with his name on the bag.:D

 

 

.

 

 

Tacky!

[rwstout]

Because they have to split any cash given to them we gave gift cards wrapped last year. These were to Walmart. We also sent chocolates to different departments. I also bought a very expensive bottle of wine from the wine bar just because I he was extra special and I know it made him look good to his boss. We have done Christmas and New Years for the last 4 years this year makes 5. Even if they are not Christian they seem to like to celebration and are happy for the gifts as long as they don't take up to much space. Have to say the Walmart gift card had the best reaction and seemed to be the most appreciated.

Edited December 7, 2015 by rwstout

[floridalover5623]

A great gift for a crew member is a bottle of their favorite liquor. They're not allowed to bring it on board while passengers can (either in port or on the last day). The crew is less likely to try to smuggle since they'll get in trouble while a passenger doesn't have problems.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I gave what I thought was a nice, thoughtful gift to our cabin steward the last time we did a Christmas cruise (I think it was 2 yrs. ago now). I stuffed a stocking with gifts like a calling card (those are hard to find now BTW!), a silver photo frame, and a bunch of other things. I wrapped the larger items and keeping in mind that our steward may not celebrate Christmas, I included a general holiday card telling him how much we appreciated his hard work. I spent about a month collecting things I thought would be useful. (This is in addition to the usual tip of course.)

 

I never even got a thank you. So, that's the last time I do that. :(

[casavaha]

we have been doing Christmas/NYE for the last 10 years. We always ask our Steward

if he or she would like something from the different ports we visit. Most Stewards get

very little tome off and miss most of the ports. Our last Steward on the Royal in Europe

wanted a magnet from every port. So that is what we got him. We do it any time we

cruise, not just Christmas.

 

Greg

[MicCanberra]

I haven't cruised at Xmas but have over Easter, there were plenty of eggs for the stewards, bar staff, waiters, Maitre de' and any one else of the crew I felt like giving them to. The crew may or may not follow what Easter is about but I do not know many that do not like gifts, especially chocolate.:D

[Sam's Mom]

One time while cruising on Christmas we were in port in San Juan. We asked our room stewardess what her favorite food was and we brought it back from a local restaurant. She loved it as she was getting tired of the ship food and was too busy to get off the ship that day.

[Silent Penguin]

Tacky!

 

I'll go out on a limb and suggest the person wasn't serious about that.

[Silent Penguin]

One time while cruising on Christmas we were in port in San Juan. We asked our room stewardess what her favorite food was and we brought it back from a local restaurant. She loved it as she was getting tired of the ship food and was too busy to get off the ship that day.

 

That was very thoughtful.

 

We have never sailed over Christmas, but if we did, I'm positive I would want to give small gifts (cash, candy or both). It's not a judgement on those who don't.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Silent Penguin