First Day Room Steward Tip-how much?

[kerryincork]

Daily service charge includes stewards. There is no need to give extra.

We have always had really good stewards so usually leave any unused currency behind as they will get the odd afternoon off in port and can use this instead of changing own money. About $20 worth.

 

I occasionally round up the tips in the bars too.

 

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[LrgPizza]

Your DSC covers the room steward. Very few people leave anything beyond that. (CC is not going to be representative of most cruisers.) Of those handful of people who do choose to leave extra, most do so at the end. Leaving a tip before you've been rendered service is, well I don't know, weird? It's like you're telling the steward, "I assume you are going to suck, so I'm going to pay you a bribe hoping you'll do a good job." It's kind of insulting, if you think about it.

[DinaS]

I usually give our steward $10 when we first arrive, when I ask him to empty out the fridge and please assure that we have a filled ice bucket each afternoon. If I ask for something, I usually give him a couple of dollars. The last time (on Celebrity) when I gave the steward $10 to empty the fridge, we never saw him again. He took care of the cabin - but we actually never saw him for the rest of our 7 day cruise.

 

We'll continue to give extra whenever we ask for something that is not in their usual routine. Depending on service, we usually leave something at the end as well. The last time on Celebrity we left nothing additional.

 

We always fill out the comment card rewarding good service.

[cage keeper]

A gratuity (also called a tip) is a sum of money customarily given by a client or customer to a service worker, in addition to the basic price. Tipping is commonly given to certain service sector workers for a service performed or anticipated. (from Wiki) Tipping began as a means to insure a good table and or good service. This was given before the service was given. So either way is good.

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[detroitlions]

Your DSC covers the room steward. Very few people leave anything beyond that. (CC is not going to be representative of most cruisers.) Of those handful of people who do choose to leave extra, most do so at the end. Leaving a tip before you've been rendered service is, well I don't know, weird? It's like you're telling the steward, "I assume you are going to suck, so I'm going to pay you a bribe hoping you'll do a good job." It's kind of insulting, if you think about it.

 

 

This is great advice.

The way some cruisers think of the workers on the ships is very odd and naive to me.

[UnaPalomita]

Tip what you can :) I think the room steward would appreciate anything honestly.

 

We don't make unreasonable requests from them or leave our room looking like a high school party lol That being said, I think my husband did $10 to $15 first day and then $20ish at the end of the trip. If it's a longer trip I think the tip should be slightly more. I think there is no wrong answer for this one!

[ImNotSara]

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.

 

There is a difference between the steward 'getting some' of that money and it being a tip. That money is NOT a tip.

[ImNotSara]

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.

 

 

Actually they ONLY call it that when getting the DSF pair for you is part of the free at sea. Everywhere else it is still called the DSF (or DSC) and rightfully so,

[ImNotSara]

Daily service charge includes stewards. There is no need to give extra.

We have always had really good stewards so usually leave any unused currency behind as they will get the odd afternoon off in port and can use this instead of changing own money. About $20 worth.

 

I occasionally round up the tips in the bars too.

 

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DSF/DSC includes almost everyone on the ship. There is no NEED to tip anyone. Tipping is 100% optional.

[ImNotSara]

Your DSC covers the room steward. Very few people leave anything beyond that. (CC is not going to be representative of most cruisers.) Of those handful of people who do choose to leave extra, most do so at the end. Leaving a tip before you've been rendered service is, well I don't know, weird? It's like you're telling the steward, "I assume you are going to suck, so I'm going to pay you a bribe hoping you'll do a good job." It's kind of insulting, if you think about it.

 

 

Actually most people tip their cabin steward. That $13.50 a day goes to hundreds of people and it is part of their pay. It is not a tip even though some people use that as an excuse.

[ImNotSara]

Agratuity(also called atip) is a sum of money customarily given by a client or customer to a service worker, in addition to the basic price. Tipping is commonly given to certainservice sectorworkers for a service performed or anticipated. (from Wiki) Tipping began as a means to insure a good table and or good service. This was given before the service was given. So either way is good.

.

 

Actually it Ensures good service. :)

[cage keeper]

Exactly.

 

 

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[DMH15]

I tip after.

 

First day is not a tip. It's a bribe.

 

 

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[clskinsfan]

I always bring a collapsible cooler with me when I cruise. I tip the steward $20 on the first day and 9 times out of ten that cooler stays filled with fresh ice for the week. On my last cruise our steward was pretty bad and filled the cooler every couple of days. I think if you have some special requests (extra towels, pillows, blankets or ice) a tip up front will go a long ways to getting the help you want.

[jints07]

I don't hand them a tip on day 1, but when heading out of the room on the morning of day 2 I usually leave like five bucks somewhere that makes it obvious it is for them. I do this each morning of the cruise on then at the end of the cruise if the service was good I will leave another 40 or so, but any number of factors could change this one way or another of course.

 

When staying in a hotel I do the same each morning, again amounts vary of course depending on a number of factors. In my opinion this is just sort of "hey, thanks for cleaning up after me today, here's what is basically a very small token to show my appreciation". In a million years I wouldn't consider it a bribe and any reasonable room steward wouldn't either. Those that do, oh well.

 

OP: in the end it's between you and the steward so just do what you are comfortable with since as you can see by the responses, there are a myriad of things that a given steward will see along these lines. I would however suggest you pretty much ignore any of the responses that come across as definitive, because there simply isn't really a 100% answer on this topic for so many reasons.

[NMLady]

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. ....

 

 

Actually, that is not a special request. Filling the ice bucket each morning when they make up the cabin and again each evening at turndown is part of the cabin steward's job, at least on NCL.

[NMLady]

...

When staying in a hotel I do the same each morning, again amounts vary of course depending on a number of factors. In my opinion this is just sort of "hey, thanks for cleaning up after me today, here's what is basically a very small token to show my appreciation". ...

 

 

I also do this in a hotel on a daily basis because the maids sometimes change. But on a cruise since we have the same cabin steward all week I wait until the end of the week to leave the tip.

[ColeThornton]

Actually most people tip their cabin steward. That $13.50 a day goes to hundreds of people and it is part of their pay. It is not a tip even though some people use that as an excuse.

 

 

How would you know if MOST people tip or not? :confused:

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I don't tip ahead of time and usually leave a little extra at the end because on all but one cruise I've received great service from my room steward. Personally, I would never give a tip at the beginning of the cruise (or a meal or getting my hair done or getting into a cab, etc.)...it just seems awkward. What do you say to the steward? I'd feel really odd doing that unless I were making special requests (no idea what they would be!), but even then I wouldn't give my steward a tip until after he or she had done those extra things.

 

Not sure how anyone can say what most people actually do. What's reported here on CC isn't likely an accurate representation of what most cruisers do. I've read posts where people say they get better service because they tip on the first day, but when they describe that service it's no better than the service I've gotten on cruises without tipping ion the first day.

 

 

Actually, that is not a special request. Filling the ice bucket each morning when they make up the cabin and again each evening at turndown is part of the cabin steward's job, at least on NCL.

 

That's been my experience as well. I don't ask to have my ice bucket filled daily, but it always is. Now I just expect it. If it weren't filled, I would just ask my steward to do that for me, but I would be handing him a 20-dollar bill as I asked him.

[pe4all]

I usually ask for only one special thing from our steward all cruise: a light blanket, as the quilts are too hot for me. I hand him/her $5 at that time when he/she brings it. When we leave a bag of laundry, I place a $5 bill on top of it - usually do 2 loads a cruise. (I love coming home with clean/folded clothes!) Otherwise, we don't bother him/her, or tip extra at the end unless they do something extra ordinary.

[Cruisercl]

Actually they ONLY call it that when getting the DSF pair for you is part of the free at sea. Everywhere else it is still called the DSF (or DSC) and rightfully so,

 

 

No, NCL calls it a discretionary service charge, (acronym used often for this is DSC) charged per person daily. It is in the text of the vacation summary. :)

[Gimmiethebeach]

Actually, that is not a special request. Filling the ice bucket each morning when they make up the cabin and again each evening at turndown is part of the cabin steward's job, at least on NCL.

 

 

Sorry, it was late last night when I posted. [emoji12] I was talking about keeping a wine cooler bucket filled for us for the week as we bring wine on board.

 

 

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[ImNotSara]

No, NCL calls it a discretionary service charge, (acronym used often for this is DSC) charged per person daily. It is in the text of the vacation summary. :)

 

 

"Actually they ONLY call it that when getting the DSF paid for you is part of the free at sea. Everywhere else it is still called the DSF (or DSC) and rightfully so" The THAT refers to me responding to someone calling the DSF a gratuity. NCL does only call the DSF a GRATUITY in the Free At Sea promo,. So basically you are agreeing with me, thank you!

Edited February 19, 2017 by ImNotSara

[ImNotSara]

How would you know if MOST people tip or not? :confused:

 

 

Observing and listening.

[cage keeper]

How would you know if MOST people tip or not? :confused:

 

 

Right. A lot of people do not tip. I had worked in the service industry for many years and some parts of the country only tip between 3 and 5%. Some not at all. Other country's include tips so people are not used to tipping. It was a big problem for cruise workers before they started adding service charges and still is. Because they get room and board their salary's are quite low.