Which currency for onboard tipping in Europe?

[A.stew12305]

I was just curious if anybody knew if the crew on board had a preference for which currency their (extra) tips are in when cruising in Europe. I would assume they want Euros, but as I will probably have a mix of euros and American dollars I figured it was worth checking. We like to give a little bit of cash to our room Steward and waiters, I suppose I could ask them their preference but that seems a little forward.

[SiBreeze]

I was just curious if anybody knew if the crew on board had a preference for which currency their (extra) tips are in when cruising in Europe. I would assume they want Euros, but as I will probably have a mix of euros and American dollars I figured it was worth checking. We like to give a little bit of cash to our room Steward and waiters, I suppose I could ask them their preference but that seems a little forward.

 

Either Euros or Dollars would be fine. Just don't dump all your left over currency, such as pesos, krone, rubles etc on the crew. It costs them money to convert it and you are not doing them any favors.

[A.stew12305]

Thank you!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The crew is paid in US dollars (their salary) and the tips are added to your bill- unless you want to give them extra.

[emmak8]

We have always tipped in dollars.

[geoherb]

Either Euros or Dollars would be fine. Just don't dump all your left over currency, such as pesos, krone, rubles etc on the crew. It costs them money to convert it and you are not doing them any favors.

They should be happy to get whatever someone gives them. Even if it costs them 20 percent (and I hope it doesn't cost nowhere near that much) to convert the money, they're getting 80 percent of the value. Plus they may have the opportunity to spend the money if you're not on the last itinerary of the season going to those ports.

[Kenswing]

We're on the first British Isles cruise of the season. We almost always tip our room steward extra. We'll be tipping in left over GBP or Euros. I figure they'll have the entire season to spend it ashore if they choose. If not they can convert it to whatever currency they like..

[wheezedr]

Both dollars or euros would be appropriate and appreciated.

[Potstech]

Bear in mind that many send their money home to support their families in other countries? Many of the places they are from do not have International money exchanges so cnverting it to a usable currency can be difficult.

[paul929207]

They ae paid in US$, but in the case you are asking about, they are in Europe. They probably spend enough money ashore to use some (all?) of the Euros they are given. So either currency is fine.

[cruisequeen4ever]

If we have any Euros left, we tip with those first, and then we do the rest of the bonus tips in USD.

 

 

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[avcruz]

Either Euros to spend ashore or USD to spend onboard or send home would be appreciated.

[Melozone]

I've used both for handing out extra tips.

[idahospud]

Something interesting we learned when we were in Lisbon, Paris, and London last week - our tour guides in all three ports said they prefer US dollars for tips. All three make trips to the U.S. and they save the dollars for their trip to use as fun money. May just have been our guides, but something I hadn't even thought about.

[A.stew12305]

All of these reasponses were very helpful. I'll probably use euros we have left first, if I spend all of that I'll use USd. Thanks!

[Putterdude]

All gratuities in any currency are appreciated but in Europe the Euro, GBP, and USD are all appropriate. Crew members are able to convert the gratuities very easily at the crew bank or spend the currency ashore.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

The crew will like any tips above and beyond the $12 per day that Princess automatically charges you. Keep in mind that the crew send the majority of their earnings home to their families. They don't sail to see the world. They sail because they can earn more on the ships than they can in their home countries. They work 9 months with two months off. They get one afternoon off every seven days. It's grueling work.

 

When and if they get off the ship- they use the free wi-fi to contact their families at home. Most want to save as much as possible so that they can buy a home or business in their home countries, when they retire from cruising. Most stop by age 30 because it's not a good life for a parent.

[GUT2407]

They'll take any.

[easyboy]

All gratuities in any currency are appreciated but in Europe the Euro, GBP, and USD are all appropriate. Crew members are able to convert the gratuities very easily at the crew bank or spend the currency ashore.

I agree with the observation. We give tips though in USD and keep other left over currencies for future vacations.

[Lucky TGO]

We use USD all the time.

Tony

[Wehwalt]

We're talking sailors here. I wouldn't worry about foreign money going to waste. They'll deal with it.

[Putterdude]

I agree with the observation. We give tips though in USD and keep other left over currencies for future vacations.

 

One thing we tend to lose sight of is that in Europe not all the pax are American, for instance I am not, so have no reason to bring along USD to Europe. In fact a few years ago we were on a Princess Cruise out of the UK where the cruise had clearly been marketed in the UK and about 70% of the pax where British....do you think we think they tipped in USD.