Average amount of tips above gratuities

[Wilson]

You beat me to it. [emoji3]

 

Ken says your tips look more like this...

 

 

:D

[Yorkvillain]

Ken says your tips look more like this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

 

 

Haha!

[Thetrail]

Perfect I love it!:)

[Thetrail]

I think if you read the OPs responses, he was asking a reasonable question, on a cruise forum where people can ask questions and hope to get responses. If you want to ask cruise questions, seems like the logical place to go. I think they were just trying to figure out if they were tipping too much or too little based on the average. I totally agree with you on one point -- what other people tip doesn't influence what I will tip (or not), and the auto-grats are there to cover basic services for doing their job.

 

For the OP, on our last cruise, we tipped the room steward an extra $20, but I don't think I would again under the same circumstances...she was barely visible, and there were things that weren't done well. We felt a little "guilt-ed" into it. We tipped the MDR waiter $20, even though we only ate there twice...he was awesome, and would have gotten a larger tip had we gone all week.

 

For this cruise, we have budgeted $20 for the steward and $40 for the waitstaff; we will bring some $1s for the barstaff. I like to tip for really good service, and that doesn't seem like a crazy amount to me considering how much we are spending on the cruise. But I am not going to tip extra if it's not earned with good service, I will tip more if they have gone above-and-beyond.

First off all it's a personal decision and noone elses business. Since you felt compelled to reveal your tip I will say it seems paltry and somewhat cheap. So you felt "guilted into the extra whopping 20". Who cares! Its a private matter what and who you tip, if your foolish enough to respond and also foolish enough to give the amount you tip, expect negative responses....K.O.:rolleyes:

[Shivdan]

My tips are on top of the auto gratuities charged - I would never dream of removing the "auto" and I have given the OP and others the benefit of the doubt in relation to this. The question is valid because we should be all aware of the low rates of pay on the ships for those services and the breakdown of the auto gratuities charged. It's nice to be nice

 

 

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[widallas]

First off all it's a personal decision and noone elses business. Since you felt compelled to reveal your tip I will say it seems paltry and somewhat cheap. So you felt "guilted into the extra whopping 20". Who cares! Its a private matter what and who you tip, if your foolish enough to respond and also foolish enough to give the amount you tip, expect negative responses....K.O.:rolleyes:

 

Can I ask why you think it's OK to just be flat out rude in your response? Roll your eyes all you want..good grief. I gave an opinion, and yes I gave an amount...and yes I felt "guilted" into giving extra money to a person who had already been tipped when the service was, frankly, bad...whether a cruise ship or a hotel, I am paying for a service. You ask "who cares?!" but I was answering the OPs question. Seriously...I really don't care how much you tip, but for someone who supposedly doesn't care how much I tip, you sure seem happy throwing some shade. This is a cruise forum where people exchange information. If you don't want to participate constructively, move to another board. Geez.

[CanadaDeb]

 

OMG laughed out loud...you take today's internet prize!

[kalliekae]

We have always given a bit extra going back to the days when no auto gratuities were available and money had to be stuffed into envelopes. I usually give the assistant waiter and the waiter the same amount. I tip my room steward and the concierges a tip if I use their services. This trip I did not see the suite concierge but did tip the diamond concierge. All is personal choice.

 

However, I do think the auto amount for tips is getting very high. Will I change the amount extra that I give dependent on increases in the auto tips? Maybe - maybe not. Just will have to wait and see.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

I also think the auto tips are getting higher not to mention the cost of the cruise. Whether this plays a part in how much we tip in the future, I don't know yet, but it might.

 

In the past, we have always given the room steward extra money up to $50 extra if he is very good. Otherwise, we lower it and only once did we not give anything. We never tip extra in the MDR anymore since there are so many specialty restaurants that we frequent. In those restaurants, we always tip at least $20 per meal and have tipped more if the service and food was outstanding. Dh usually leaves a dollar when he gets a drink since Royal includes a gratuity in the drink price. As for the op, do what makes you feel comfortable. Some people do deserve an extra tip, others do not.

[Merly]

Why do you think that? Why don't you think that maybe the OP wants to be sure they are doing the right thing, maybe they are young, maybe it's a first cruise, maybe tips are foreign to them. I know there have been times in my life that I would have like to have been able to ask someone "hey, am I supposed to tip these people?" or "How much is appropriate?" when it comes to delivery people, holiday tips, etc. Heck I still don't know if I am supposed to tip the Uber drivers!

 

According to their signature they have been on 9 cruises so you would think someone who has been on that many would know by now how it works. However it is still my opinion that it is personal choice. If you are happy with what you give, whether it is the auto gratuities or extra, then that's it. There is absolutely no need to tell others or ask others. ( in my opinion).

[DaisyL]

Thank you for your kind response! My DH and I just got off the Oasis yesterday. We tipped the waiter, assistant waiter and cabin steward $20 each. We also brought $1 bills to tip throughout the week for extras. While we were going through customs, a fellow cruiser mentioned that they generally tip $50 to their cabin steward. They did not mention how much they tip the waiters in the MDR. As we've cruised through the years, we've tipped a little more each time. After hearing that a fellow cruiser tipped $50, we wondered if we were tipping enough. I do understand that the waiters and cabin stewards make very little money. Also, this was our first cruise where we were diverted due to weather issues and a medical emergency and were unable to make it to St. Kitts and St. Thomas. The cruise staff had to put up with a lot of complaining. I hope they were all tipped very well. Rough week for them!

 

I think your question is valid! We usually give the room steward, main waiter and assistant waiter an additional $25 each if we feel they did a good job. I don't ask for much: ice daily, extra hangers and if I need another toiletry and if the waiters are efficient, friendly and refill water, etc. I know this should be standard but it isn't always the case so then they don't get anything extra.

 

We'll give the drink waiter at dinner an additional $25 because we like to place our orders before we order our meals. They will usually stop by again to ask if we want something else. Love that!

 

We don't carry around singles, but we'll add an additional $10 to the usual drink servers and bartenders periodically over the week.

 

We give the porters $10 when we arrive and $10 when we leave, for the 2 of us. They seem to appreciate it.

[cruzsnooze]

They figured it all out so I don't feel any need to reinvent the wheel. I tip zero extra and think the daily suggested amounts are a bit to high as they stand. I also don't believe that the people who boast on these boards about giving all that extra money to everyone really does.

Edited August 28, 2016 by cruzsnooze

[Johnamac123]

Ktkcruisers, reasonable question. So far seems like a lot of people who hate tipping to begin with answered. Best answer "what ever you feel they deserve." We have almost always added to the tip. But we ask for different things. If the crewmember does the minimum, then no additional. If they go above and beyond, then additional. Only YOU can decide if the service was "above and beyond." We do ask for some things like ice twice a day, etc. Usually we add $20-$40 to the cabin steward, same to waiters. But we've done more and less. You'll know if you think someone deserves additional tip. You'll also know how much you want to tip. Don't let anyone talk you out of it because they want to feel better for never adding to the tip. These people work very hard for very little money.

Saying I "hate tipping" is total bovine manure. Tipping is a personal choice as is the amount. No two guests cruising experience is exactly the same. I give above the auto-gratis when it is warranted, IMHO.

[marci22]

ALSO, if you want to tip extra, by ALL means, tip whatever you want, I feel like asking what amount other people tip extra is just tacky.

 

Asking the stranger standing next to you would be tacky. Here, it is purely informational.

 

It shouldn't be mysterious.

[ducklite]

Can I ask why you think it's OK to just be flat out rude in your response? Roll your eyes all you want..good grief. I gave an opinion, and yes I gave an amount...and yes I felt "guilted" into giving extra money to a person who had already been tipped when the service was, frankly, bad...whether a cruise ship or a hotel, I am paying for a service. You ask "who cares?!" but I was answering the OPs question. Seriously...I really don't care how much you tip, but for someone who supposedly doesn't care how much I tip, you sure seem happy throwing some shade. This is a cruise forum where people exchange information. If you don't want to participate constructively, move to another board. Geez.

 

It's unfortunate that you felt guilted into tipping anything extra when the service wasn't even satisfactory. Please take this with the constructive intent it is given--if you are ever getting bad service again, speak up. Tell a manager. If it doesn't improve, go higher. And don't reward bad service with anything extra. Some people just shouldn't be in certain jobs, whether they are a server who doesn't like people, a bank teller who doesn't do math very well, or a brain surgeon with shaky hands.

[ducklite]

I also think the auto tips are getting higher not to mention the cost of the cruise.

 

It's called inflation, and it should be expected. If you paid $1000 for a cruise 10 years ago, it's pretty much common sense that you should pay about $1200 for the same cruise now.

 

If the daily auto-gratuity was $10 in 2006, it should be $12.00 today.

[Biker19]

Some people just shouldn't be in certain jobs, whether they are a server who doesn't like people

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by Biker19

[ThePhysicsProfessor]

First of all I will start off by saying I worked on tips for roughly 6.5 years (from senior year in HS though my Masters degree).

Two of us went on the cruise and on top of the standard daily tip, we left:

$100 for our stateroom attendant - this guy was on top of his game! This was our first cruise and he recommend which activities not to miss on the boat as well as advice on shore excursions. He basically helped us plan out each day and even saved us some money in the process (such as what sales the boat would have and when drink specials like the 10 for $79 would appear). The room was always in tip top shape and we never had to ask twice for anything. Hands down one of the hardest working person I've met in my life. I left my business card with him and offered to show him around NYC if he ever is on the Anthem of the Seas.

$20 for the Waiter and $20 for the Asst. Waiter - we had them for 4/7 nights and they did an amazing job. The first night we had a really creepy guy, the other two nights it was standard service. They got the tip because we never had to ask twice for our drinks to be refilled (or new ones brought out), remembered our food preferences (I don't eat pork), great recommendations on food with some annoying requests (mostly for desserts). Additionally, we left half a bottle of wine ($50) for them to enjoy.

We ordered room service for breakfast two mornings and the first morning the order was kinda screwed up. The second morning they arrived, well I don't know because we waited for an hour and than had to leave for an excursion. No additional tip left.

Bar service, usually no additional tip outside of the auto 18%, just didn't see anything above and beyond. If I could I would've reduced the 18% to 10%. Rarely got a smile, must of always went after someone rude?

We only had carry on luggage and did not use the bell hops.

I would say tip what you think is fair and if someone made your vacation extra enjoyable/special.

 

 

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