First Day Room Steward Tip-how much?

[daydrmblvr]

Heading out today on our first cruise on the Breakaway. Read lots of informative info the last few weeks here, one of which was to tip your room steward on the first day. Just wondering how much? $20? :confused:

[vince_g]

You will get so many different opinions on this. Lots of people will say that the daily service charge of 13.50 is enough to pay, and probably just as many will say you must tip additional. If you do want to tip extra, I suggest waiting until the last evening.

[Laszlo]

We always leave a $50-$75 tip for the room steward the last night

[roger001]

I disagree. I don't think first day tipping is common. We just tip on our last evening of the cruise. On a 7 day cruise we usually tip $40 in an envelope with a note written to him/her thanking them for everything. I usually add that I've also filled out a STYLE card for them. Of course, this all assumes you are happy with the services provided by the steward. We always have been.

[NMLady]

Heading out today on our first cruise on the Breakaway. Read lots of informative info the last few weeks here, one of which was to tip your room steward on the first day. Just wondering how much? $20? :confused:

 

 

We have never tipped the steward the first day.

We prepay the DSC and unless the steward does an extra request from us we do not tip during the cruise at all. We do give an extra tip at the end of the cruise of $25 or more depending on the length of the cruise and how satisfied we were with the service. My husband goes to the cabin early so we appreciate having the turndown service completed by 7:30pm.

[daydrmblvr]

You will get so many different opinions on this. Lots of people will say that the daily service charge of 13.50 is enough to pay, and probably just as many will say you must tip additional. If you do want to tip extra, I suggest waiting until the last evening.

 

 

I read that the $13.50/day service charge that I prepaid was not part of the gratuities. I also read that the recommended tip was 3.50/pp per day...so at the end of a 7 day cruise, assuming the service was worth it, for 3 of us it would be roughly $75. Was thinking maybe $25 on the first day and the other $50 at the end?

[sha32]

We give $20 the first day when we meet them, then we leave $40 in a card on the last evening.

 

 

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[daydrmblvr]

We give $20 the first day when we meet them, then we leave $40 in a card on the last evening.

 

 

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Perfect...just wanted confirmation! Thank you so much!

[biker@sea]

Heading out today on our first cruise on the Breakaway. Read lots of informative info the last few weeks here, one of which was to tip your room steward on the first day. Just wondering how much? $20? :confused:

 

 

Yup. $20 is :cool:

[All-ready2cruise]

We always tip the last day and usually around $40-$50. The idea of giving someone a tip before they've done anything doesn't really sit well with some people, but, to each his own.

 

Also, I'd like to know where you've read these things, as it's sometimes a good idea to post them along with your statement so that they can be discussed. Not that there's any shortage of things to discuss. ;)

[Mistizoom]

I read that the $13.50/day service charge that I prepaid was not part of the gratuities. I also read that the recommended tip was 3.50/pp per day...so at the end of a 7 day cruise, assuming the service was worth it, for 3 of us it would be roughly $75. Was thinking maybe $25 on the first day and the other $50 at the end?

You read wrong. The DSC (daily service charge) does include an amount paid to your room steward. That said I do leave extra, maybe $40-$50, but not until the end of the cruise.

[daydrmblvr]

You read wrong. The DSC (daily service charge) does include an amount paid to your room steward. That said I do leave extra, maybe $40-$50, but not until the end of the cruise.

Thank you for clarifying! And for taking the time to respond!

Edited February 19, 2017 by daydrmblvr
Spelling error

[Imalismom]

I leave an envelope in the bathroom sink addressed to "room steward and the date" daily. It always has $5 per person in that envelope. That way if for some odd reason our room steward changes, they all get a little extra tip then the daily service charge tips.

[Cruisercl]

I read that the $13.50/day service charge that I prepaid was not part of the gratuities. I also read that the recommended tip was 3.50/pp per day...so at the end of a 7 day cruise, assuming the service was worth it, for 3 of us it would be roughly $75. Was thinking maybe $25 on the first day and the other $50 at the end?

 

 

The daily service charge is the gratuity; this is what NCL calls it now for a variety of reasons.

If you choose to tip over and above the amount depends on what you wish to give. I have not seen the 3.50/pp per day additional recommendation; that is usually how the daily service charge is figured out on some cruise lines. It is the same thing not 2 separate gratuities.

We do not tip the first day but we usually leave a nice amount at the end of the cruise over and above the daily service charge. :) We are tippers.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We have never tipped the steward the first day. The daily service charge (which we always leave on) does include a daily tip for the steward. We usually do tip extra the last day, $20-$40 depending on length of cruise and level of service.

[mafig]

We've only given a tip in advance once, and that was on a Princess cruise where we had an extra large balcony and asked the room steward to bring us another lounger.

 

Otherwise, we usually tip a little extra at the end of the cruise. You don't need to tip more unless you want to.

[LMaxwell]

Heading out today on our first cruise on the Breakaway. Read lots of informative info the last few weeks here, one of which was to tip your room steward on the first day. Just wondering how much? $20? :confused:

 

 

$0. In 27 years of cruising I've never given a tip before receiving service. I do not need or demand special treatment. Some stewards are great and deserve extra at the end. Some do a good job but nothing exceptional warranting extra. Some do not even do the bare minimum and probably won't keep their jobs for long.

 

Giving extra up front indicates you want special treatment and it may or may not work out. No real way to know.

[ColeThornton]

Whenever I've started a new job none of my bosses has ever given me money the first day I was there. Act accordingly.

[808cruisef]

I gave a tip once on the first day. Because I asked for something and I thought it would help ensure good service for the two weeks. I actually felt like they thought that was going to be it as far as tips went and we got kind of subpar service instead.

 

 

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[Mike A]

We have always given $20 at the beginning of the cruise. At the end the amount can vary from $0 - $50 based on the quality of service provided. Only once gave $0. Maiden Voyage of Carnival Triumph. Steward was unresponsive to requests and unfriendly.

 

 

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[Turtles06]

In more than a dozen cruises, we have never "tipped" on the first day. Feels inappropriate, like a bribe. I can't imagine doing it.

 

We are very generous tippers; we carry thank you cards with us, and on the penultimate day, write out a personal note to our cabin steward (and anyone else we are tipping), put the cash inside, and personally give the envelope to the steward (and anyone else). This has worked well for us.

 

I don't think we've experienced any diminution in service because we haven't "tipped" up front.

[pattyj 1204]

I agree with Turtles06 We have sailed on Celebrity--this will be our first cruise on NCL. Our room stewards have always been helpful and happy. They greet us by name and our room is taken care of very well. I have never tipped before the cruise starts, but always adequately tipped at the end of the cruise. I always have thank you cards with me and write out kind comments on the comment cards we get--asking how our service was. I will miss having the same waiter/waitress at the main meal. But I'm willing to give freestyle a chance.

[OnTheGoMom921]

We usually give the steward $20 when we first get to our cabin. He/she will usually say "hi" if they see you going into one of their rooms. We introduce ourselves and usually very nicely ask for a few items for the evening if possible (maybe a foam mattress topper or a feather pillow) and more times than not, our steward has returned a few minutes later asking what color our luggage is (Lime Green Samsonite, btw, and our luggage arrives within the hour) and we've always gotten top notch service, a cheerful hello every time we are in the hallway and we usually end up filling out a vacation hero card for our steward. We tip again at the end of the cruise ($50-$80 depending on cruise length). I pack a wrapped box of chocolates and a thank you card to place the tip with. We actually get hugs from our stewards when we disembark. We appreciate their hard work, and know that we ourselves would never be able to so cheerfully provide the amount of service these hardworking employees provide. But hey, YMMV. :D

[uneamie]

We usually give the steward $20 when we first get to our cabin. He/she will usually say "hi" if they see you going into one of their rooms. We introduce ourselves and usually very nicely ask for a few items for the evening if possible (maybe a foam mattress topper or a feather pillow) and more times than not, our steward has returned a few minutes later asking what color our luggage is (Lime Green Samsonite, btw, and our luggage arrives within the hour) and we've always gotten top notch service, a cheerful hello every time we are in the hallway and we usually end up filling out a vacation hero card for our steward. We tip again at the end of the cruise ($50-$80 depending on cruise length). I pack a wrapped box of chocolates and a thank you card to place the tip with. We actually get hugs from our stewards when we disembark. We appreciate their hard work, and know that we ourselves would never be able to so cheerfully provide the amount of service these hardworking employees provide. But hey, YMMV. :D

That sounds very considerate of you. We may need extra pillows and since we have a slanted balcony I may request one lounger for it. We did tip $20 on first day on our last cruise and as i remember we were taken care of as one would expect even without the tip. You win some you lose some with different cabin stewards. But in the end I feel that if you know up front that you will be having extra request beyond their normal duties then giving them something up front sounds reasonable to me....it may sound like a bribe to some but to me it's showing that you will be appreciating their extra efforts. However, that tip could be thought of as the only tip they think you will be giving them and depending on how they are going to look at it....it may not work in your favor. LOL We always tip extra at the end as well.

[Gimmiethebeach]

On the first day we always request a new bucket of ice each day so will tip $20 on the first day for that special request. At the end we tip extra if the steward has been really good. On our Escape cruise last April we never saw or talked to our steward again after the first day, which was a little weird. I like getting to know them.