Who tips their cabin steward

[okieyankee]

We just got off Serenade on Friday and left more for our cabin steward than we ever have before! Incredible service. I had a generous pre-planned tip set aside for him. Our wait staff in the MDR were abysmal, the worst service we've ever had. So their pre-planned tip money was rolled into John's as well. And then my husband added an extra $40 at the last minute because we were so grateful for his service.

 

We had 4 people (2 adults, 2 kids ages 5 and 8) in our oceanview room (aka tiny) and he kept the room as tidy as humanly possible. We kept our wine tucked away in a drawer for lack of room and he would make sure the bottle was on ice well before dinner each night. He taught my kids how to fold towel animals, gave them riddles each morning to solve and tell him later. He rushed laundry for us when one of my kids had a bloody nose and stained his shirt. It goes on and on. John made our 11 days on the Serenade absolute perfection. He earned every single cent. I would absolutely follow him where ever he goes :D We hunted down his supervisor to tell her so.

Awww, what a great story.

 

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

[josprince]

widallas, you mentioned towel animals. After many cruises, we've seen them all and thought our cabin steward would like a break by not doing them for us. He said they are required, and if the room was inspected by the supervisor the steward would not have a satisfactory rating.

[riclop]

Only for great service.

[widallas]

widallas, you mentioned towel animals. After many cruises, we've seen them all and thought our cabin steward would like a break by not doing them for us. He said they are required, and if the room was inspected by the supervisor the steward would not have a satisfactory rating.

 

No wonder!!! We thought we were cutting her a break -- I am much happier to see a bucket of ice and clean wine glasses daily than I am to see a towel monkey -- but she would have none of it! Must say, the towel turkey was a riot....

[ronandcarla]

Back in the days when we travelled family style in a suite we always over tipped by reason that their were 4 of us, etc. Now when we cruise its just 2 of us and just like in our real life at home when we leave for the day its show room ready so our habits aren't going to change and in our opinion there is no need for any additional tips. As for dinning we do MTD and if we are fortunate to have the same staff for the week then in that event we will give more money to them and I don't remember the last time we gave any money to the head waiter for basically opening a lobster tail.

[DrD]

I wanted to but I never found him sleeping standing up.

[BEENSAILING]

When we do MTD with different dining times it would be a lot of cash to carry to tip each waiter and asst, so we do pre paid gratuities. When we have done set dining time we also give extra if servers are great. On Rhapsody in South America our assistant waiter was better than the regular waiter and the additional tip we gave at end of our cruise reflected great service by the assistant. Yes we also give extra cash to state room attendants who usually go above and beyond (we have cruised lots and we know the difference...) And I have brought something from home on past few cruises which I have found makes someone (female state room attendant or other female working on the ship) very happy. The staterooms for the crew are very small and their storage space is very, very limited. Women usually have a need for more storage space than men. I go to Bed Bath and Beyond and I buy the plastic over the door shoe holders - with holes and hooks on top. DH and I use this over bathroom door for toiletries, cell phone chargers, medicines, vitamins, sun tan lotions....gives extra space when needed based on stateroom size and drawer/counter space or lack of it. Or we hang it in closet using hooks over a hanger. At end of cruise we give it to either stateroom room attendant (if a female) or another female crew member who has been helpful.

[grapau27]

When we do MTD with different dining times it would be a lot of cash to carry to tip each waiter and asst, so we do pre paid gratuities. When we have done set dining time we also give extra if servers are great. On Rhapsody in South America our assistant waiter was better than the regular waiter and the additional tip we gave at end of our cruise reflected great service by the assistant. Yes we also give extra cash to state room attendants who usually go above and beyond (we have cruised lots and we know the difference...) And I have brought something from home on past few cruises which I have found makes someone (female state room attendant or other female working on the ship) very happy. The staterooms for the crew are very small and their storage space is very, very limited. Women usually have a need for more storage space than men. I go to Bed Bath and Beyond and I buy the plastic over the door shoe holders - with holes and hooks on top. DH and I use this over bathroom door for toiletries, cell phone chargers, medicines, vitamins, sun tan lotions....gives extra space when needed based on stateroom size and drawer/counter space or lack of it. Or we hang it in closet using hooks over a hanger. At end of cruise we give it to either stateroom room attendant (if a female) or another female crew member who has been helpful.

We always carry a lot of cash as we spend a lot in ports.In Europe we have to exchange pounds to get Euros for the ports but i always take 200 dollars just for the crew extra tips as well.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[kalliekae]

We always tip the cabin steward on the last day. How much extra is dependent upon how great the service was during our cruise. Since we eat in the specialty restaurants most nights, we do not tip extra for the MDR wait staff. We make sure to take good care of the wait staff in the specialty restaurants. It has been our experience that those people provide superior service to the MDR staff perhaps because the MDR is busier and the wait staff has more tables to service.

[poutanen]

I wanted to but I never found him sleeping standing up.

 

HA!!!

 

This thread brings up a great debate about tipping in general. It seems to be very regionally dependant. Common practices in the states (where it seems like you tip everyone?), aren't mirrored in Canada, and may be very different in Europe and Asia. Some people may take offence to you offering them additional money for doing their job!

 

My personal view is that a tip should never be EXPECTED. I would much prefer the standard wage to be built into the cost of the items. I'd rather meals at restaurants be 10-15% more than they currently are, and then if you get better than expected service, you could tip an additional 5-10% on top of the price.

 

I tend to tip my massage therapist, because she does a GREAT job every time, and gives me additional stretches to do at home to help. That said, why don't I tip my dentist for doing a great filling? Why don't we tip our auto mechanics when they solve a problem in record time? Why doesn't the wife give me a tip for taking the garbage out and cleaning the cat litter?

 

The custom is inconsistent. And it's inconsistency is a problem that can leave people expecting a tip to feel snubbed, and people that are unsure of what's the local custom to feel anxious. I tend to look up the local customs of wherever we're travelling, but I'd much rather the world worked on a more consistent philosophy that tipping should only be for service "above and beyond what is expected".

[grapau27]

HA!!!

 

This thread brings up a great debate about tipping in general. It seems to be very regionally dependant. Common practices in the states (where it seems like you tip everyone?), aren't mirrored in Canada, and may be very different in Europe and Asia. Some people may take offence to you offering them additional money for doing their job!

 

My personal view is that a tip should never be EXPECTED. I would much prefer the standard wage to be built into the cost of the items. I'd rather meals at restaurants be 10-15% more than they currently are, and then if you get better than expected service, you could tip an additional 5-10% on top of the price.

 

I tend to tip my massage therapist, because she does a GREAT job every time, and gives me additional stretches to do at home to help. That said, why don't I tip my dentist for doing a great filling? Why don't we tip our auto mechanics when they solve a problem in record time? Why doesn't the wife give me a tip for taking the garbage out and cleaning the cat litter?

 

The custom is inconsistent. And it's inconsistency is a problem that can leave people expecting a tip to feel snubbed, and people that are unsure of what's the local custom to feel anxious. I tend to look up the local customs of wherever we're travelling, but I'd much rather the world worked on a more consistent philosophy that tipping should only be for service "above and beyond what is expected".

Excellent comments.

 

love sailing with RCCL

[floatel_lvr]

I cannot remember which sailing it was but there was one I did not leave an extra tip. I never saw him (her) the entire week. And he(she) was not there the morning I left.

 

We had a similar experience recently (only saw the Cabin Steward) briefly once or twice... Once because we hunted him down to ask a question. But the room was VERY WELL taken care of twice daily. He was like the invisible man but our cabin looked new each time we returned. It was really nice... He got a nice "stipend" at the conclusion of the cruise.

[BEENSAILING]

I just learned on another thread and then did some research that if you book in Australia and NZ thru Royal's call center or Australian website your basic cruise fare is higher than in the US because Royal and Celebrity add in the gratuities of dining room and stateroom and behind the scenes workers. There is no additional line item for pre paying grtauities or gratuities being added to sea pass. (In Australia they do not tip in restaurants as dining is priced higher which then automatically covers tipping.) So now on Royal and Celebrity they have no choice.

[grapau27]

As long as the crew are well paid thats the main thing. I'm sure some Aussies just like some of us from England will still tip extra if service deserves it.

 

love sailing with RCCL