Tipping.

[Drazil65]

Porters handling the luggage coming and going (we park at port so they take the luggage to the car and load it), $5 per bag.

 

$20 to cabin steward in beginning when we meet him/her (we like an ice bucket each day) and $20 at end of trip (can go to GS and get envelopes to leave extra tips in).

 

$20 at end of trip to each member of our dinning room wait staff (with YTD we typically will ask for the same wait staff and table each night once we find a table we like).

 

$1 each drink ordered at bar or coffee cafe, $5 if we go to piano bar. $2 for room service, also for any shore excursion where there is a guide usually $5 at end of excursion.

[bUU]

Assuming all goes well, we'll leave the automatic gratuities in place covering the good service by, "Dining Room wait staff and the stewards who service your stateroom each day," and, "many others who support their efforts whom you may never meet, such as galley and laundry staff." In addition, beverage gratuities are tacked onto the bill for beverages.

 

We've also budgeted $3 per visit for tips for room service deliveries, and 15% for tips for spa services.

 

The cost of our transfer from airport to hotel the night before the cruise, and from hotel to cruise ship, are both covered in the cost of the transfers. Otherwise, we'd tip for that as well, $1-$2 per bag (assuming a bus or van transfer).

 

For excursions, we tip guides and drivers an amount based on a percentage of the cost of the excursion and the number of people being served by the person we're tipping at the same time. That way, we tip a tour van driver more than tour bus driver; with many more people tipping them, that should even itself out with them both getting a proper gratuity for their service. For example, we have a short excursion to Saxman Village planned; if we're in a group of 20-40, we'll probably tip the guide $10 and the driver $5. If we're in a group of 8-10, we'll probably tip $20 and $10.

 

We have an after-cruise excursion that eventually takes us to the airport; we'll tip driver and guide just like any other excursion. Otherwise, we would have tipped porters $1-$2 per bag.

 

Fantastic resource for today's tipping standards in NA: http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/

[sparks1093]

So as a first time cruiser, I’ve done an extensive research on about everything to prepare myself. With tipping though, what is your guys opinion on when to tip & such? I know tipping is included already in our fare, but tipping my cabin steward?? Should I tip every time or tip a lump sum at the end of the cruise? I’m not sure how to go about this.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I've seen people swear by tipping ahead of time as a way to get better service and to tip extra with each drink for better service. I've tried it both ways and my conclusion is that service is great either way.

[AbbyGirl]

Tip the room steward the VERY FIRST time you see him. Let him know who you are and in what cabin. You'll get better cabin attention then waiting until the end ....... We always do this and they are very appreciative. Cash on top of prepaid grats.

 

I completely agree with this... I slip them an extra $20 as soon as I meet them.

[SkyPiglet]

You will get as many different answers here as there are people who answer. Here is what to keep in mind. The crew depends on the tips, even folks you don't always see. Pre-paying the gratuities ensures that they all get their fair share, except room service, they are seperate.

 

Beyond that but here is what I do...

 

1) We never remove the pre-paid gratuities, and just consider it a service charge, even in the rate event that one crewmember has a bad day, which is pretty rare.

2) We tip the steward early. It does make a difference. To make it not awkward, we make a small request. My wife ALWAYS want more pillows. When we first meet the steward, we make the request, it gets honored, and we give an immediate $5 tip. Near the last day, we usually give him or her $20 more.

3) Bars, we but Cheers, so we assume that the gratuities on the program go to the servers who serve us, so for the random drink, we do not tip extra. For the bars we plan to repeat (Casino, Alchemy), we tip an extra $1 ever 2 to 3 drinks, with a bit more at the beginning, especially at Alchemy if they make us special requests.

4) Main Dining Room, we may or may not give extra depending on the service (remember the autograts have us covered), but for exceptional service we give a few dollars each occurance.

5) Room Service, NOT INCLUDED IN PRE-PAID GRATUITIES, last I heard. We always give maybe $2-3 per trip.

6) Baggage, we pack light and self assist so this doesn't affect us.

 

Anyway, this is what we do. Hope it helps!

[beerman2]

Yep, totally. If you are loaded and like to spread the wealth, go for it, but if you don't, you still get good service (because if they don't give good service I report them to management!)

 

You don't always have to bribe people to deliver when it is their job to do so.

 

It's not a bribe, it's letting them know you appreciate what they do.

 

I could see if the service was extremely bad throughout the cruise to report them. But everyone has bad days once in awhile.

 

OP tip/don't tip extra it's ALL about how YOU feel. As you can see there are those that are comfortable and those that aren't and don't.

 

If your looking for a number , $100-$150 should be sufficient. YOUR choice.

[Havingfun2010]

Tip the room steward the VERY FIRST time you see him.

 

Why? That's not a tip. Tips are for good service, not to guarantee good service. There jobs depend on good service already, so the bribing for what you would already get is a bad precedent.

 

 

Let him know who you are and in what cabin.

 

It's his job to go meet you, not the opposite, another strike for the room steward. Are you saying, you go search for him, hand him money, and tell him to take care of the room? If so, you just basically told him to do his job, and paid him extra, thinking it helps.

 

You'll get better cabin attention then waiting until the end

 

Or you could wait to the end, and if he does his job, and does it well, he gets rewarded. Why would you want to reward someone who would have done a bad job without a payoff?

 

....... We always do this and they are very appreciative.

 

You put money in anyone's hand, and they will be appreciative.

 

Cash on top of prepaid grats.

 

Yes, if they "show you" that they "deserve" it first.

[bUU]

I've seen people swear by tipping ahead of time as a way to get better service and to tip extra with each drink for better service. I've tried it both ways and my conclusion is that service is great either way.

Thanks for sharing your comparison.

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

[fireofficer5]

If all the heavy hitters think the service is not up to par with your pre tips, do

you ask for your per tip back?

 

By the way, $1 for one bag, thats to shut the dummy up at the luggage drop off.

 

Auto tips are the best invention since Methuselah was a child.

[briehon]

Yep, totally. If you are loaded and like to spread the wealth, go for it, but if you don't, you still get good service (because if they don't give good service I report them to management!)

 

 

 

You don't always have to bribe people to deliver when it is their job to do so.

 

 

 

As someone who is, as you say, loaded, I do like to spread the wealth. I believe you get back what you put out...like karma. I also always think, this $20,$50,$100 whatever will not change my day or my bank account but it surely will for whom I am tipping. On the other end of the spectrum from what I am hearing here from some, I will tip my cabin steward $50 at the beginning of a 4 night, and throw $5 bills down with every drink and $10-$20 if the service was especially good and I’m planning to revisit that bar, like at Alchemy. I will also put $100 in as a tip at the steakhouse if they were friendly and attentive. So, yeah, they need to earn the tip but it doesn’t take much to please me, just some kindness and doing their job well. I have been known to leave a bundle (I left a Disney room steward $200 at the end of a 7 night once because she was off the charts amazing!) for the room steward if they were exceptional or give a tour guide $100 a person on a less than that excursion. I will also leave two $10 bills at the end of a meal in the MDR when I do my time dining.

 

Give what you can, these people are here to SERVE you! They are not servants so remember that when you feel treated like a king/Queen.

 

Oh, and tip in cash when you can. I’ll just leave that there.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Sam Ting]

We remove the charge and tip as we go. Usually give the steward 75 to 100, and leave anything from 2 dollars at the buffet up to 20 dollars at the main dining room for dinner, dependent on the circumstances. I don’t know how they split it up, nor do I care. Never did the math but I think the amount we leave is fair.

 

Have a great cruise!

[April42749]

I'm enjoying this thread and all the "large tippers".

 

 

We usually do ship tours, and at the end try to observe "what others are giving". More often than not, people leave the vehicle without handing anything to the driver or guide.

[spleenstomper]

As everyone says, you don’t have to tip extra, but I do. I tip on day one and if he/she did a great job, on last night too.

[cheermomof2girls]

We don't tip extra up front, but do tip extra if the service was great. For drinks, I usually add 1-5 depending on the drink, how often I frequent that bar, etc. For our kids sodas, they add .50-1 every other one or so, or more if it's from a bartender we have been going to a lot. For stewards, we give 20-60 at the end.

[mz-s]

I typically prepay for my gratuities when I book, and keep a handful of ones on me during the cruise.

 

$1-2 per bag to the porters at the terminal if I'm checking bags.

 

I'll give room service $2 every time they bring me something, and if someone brings me a drink (rather than me going up to the bar), I give them an extra $1 or so on top of the tip automatically on the bill. If I go to the bar, they keep the standard tip.

 

If you are a drinker, giving a particular bartender an extra $5 every day or so will get you to the top of the line when you're waiting for a drink, and may even give you stronger pours. I use this at the casino bar on most every cruise since that bar gets busy.

 

I don't tip excursions, and I don't tip my steward extra until the end if I feel they've gone above and beyond.

[Cushing985]

I've seen people swear by tipping ahead of time as a way to get better service and to tip extra with each drink for better service. I've tried it both ways and my conclusion is that service is great either way.

 

Exactly! I don't understand why some people think they have to throw money at the steward as soon as they meet them to get great service. It's their money though so as long as they aren't slipping their hand in my pocket to pay the pre-service tip I really don't care.

 

How we tip?

 

$2.00 per bag to the porter coming and leaving

$1.00 per plate for room service

$1.00 per drink

$20.00 for both the MDR team (and let the senior waiter split the tip) and $20.00 for the cabin steward

For the excursions I tip 15-20% of the total amount we paid

Lido workers, if they do exceptionally well, I'll leave a couple of bucks.

 

This is in addition to the pre-paid tips.

[dmdiver]

We remove the charge and tip as we go. Usually give the steward 75 to 100, and leave anything from 2 dollars at the buffet up to 20 dollars at the main dining room for dinner, dependent on the circumstances. I don’t know how they split it up, nor do I care. Never did the math but I think the amount we leave is fair.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

 

When you do this, you are stiffing some 'behind the scenes' people that also rely on those auto tips.

[oosterhoff]

As for tips, we always tip the cocktail waitress' in the casino. We also on our other cruises tipped the room steward at the end of the cruise. However, on our last cruise on the Magic in January, our room steward asked if we wanted one service a day or we could have two services a day. We were really surprised we were asked that as we never had that question asked on any other cruise. So we went with one a day and felt that no extra tipping was necessary. We always tip on room service and the porters when we arrive at the cruise.

[bUU]

When you do this, you are stiffing some 'behind the scenes' people that also rely on those auto tips.

I fear that your good words will fall on deaf ears. Rationalizations run deep and the excuses some people use to enrich themselves at the expense of those who provide them good service are numerous. The fact that the cruise line makes clear *in advance* that that's the source of much of the compensation for those crew members will be ignored. The reasonable expectations of behavior of guests with regard to their hosts will be denied. We see this behavior by some guests in many forms: chair hogs, liquor smugglers, late night door slammers, and even the occasional passenger who arrives at dinner in the MDR in beachwear. This isn't a cruise only thing. We see such behavior at major theme park destinations, historical sites, and even all inclusive resorts. A reasonable balance between what's good for them and concern about how it affects others is something other people should be concerned about, not those who aim to get the most for themselves no matter what.

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

[Havingfun2010]

When you do this, you are stiffing some 'behind the scenes' people that also rely on those auto tips.

 

Not really. What happens, is there is a computer program for HR. Each person get charged to their paycheck a large percentage of their expected tips. The employee is expected to turn over the cash tips, up to the expected amount. Many people remove tips, and stiff everyone. In this case, the front line employee must still turn over the cash tips, to the expected amount. So if you tip more, and your neighbor stiffs, you just paid your neighbors tips. Behind the scenes employees still get the tips, because the front line person just paid it out.

 

People play games with tips. Some truly believe handing cash is better. The reality is, that it makes no difference. Most employees will just want to tell you, stop playing the games, let the auto tips alone, and give us extra cash. But they won't, because it's their job to smile, and get the money any way they can.

 

Once and for all, stop playing games, keep auto tips, and overcome all the conspiracy theories on tips.

[bUU]

In this case, the front line employee must still turn over the cash tips, to the expected amount.

Quoted for emphasis. If you remove the automatic tips, your servers and stateroom attendant pay your tips for you out of their own pockets. If you've put money in their pockets, no big deal. It's a wash. Everyone gets what they are supposed to, including the staff you don't see. If you didn't put money in their pockets, you've aggrandized yourself at the expense of someone who probably couldn't afford it and shouldn't have had to.

 

And if you really want to reward the person you see, the only way to do that is to give them more than the expected amount, so they can pay your share of the expected amount and then keep the rest.

 

But alas there will be the deniers, putting their own personal benefit over truth the feel compelled to deny even though we have heard from numerous sources over the years how the cruise lines actually operate.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

[Sam Ting]

Quoted for emphasis. If you remove the automatic tips, your servers and stateroom attendant pay your tips for you out of their own pockets. If you've put money in their pockets, no big deal. It's a wash. Everyone gets what they are supposed to, including the staff you don't see. If you didn't put money in their pockets, you've aggrandized yourself at the expense of someone who probably couldn't afford it and shouldn't have had to.

 

And if you really want to reward the person you see, the only way to do that is to give them more than the expected amount, so they can pay your share of the expected amount and then keep the rest.

 

But alas there will be the deniers, putting their own personal benefit over truth the feel compelled to deny even though we have heard from numerous sources over the years how the cruise lines actually operate.

 

 

This message may have been drafted using voice recognition. Please forgive any typos.

 

Please keep the service charge intact. If too many people remove it they wii just add it to the fare, and take away my ability to have it removed.

 

Happy sails and thanks!

[Keys2Heaven]

So as a first time cruiser, I’ve done an extensive research on about everything to prepare myself. With tipping though, what is your guys opinion on when to tip & such? I know tipping is included already in our fare, but tipping my cabin steward?? Should I tip every time or tip a lump sum at the end of the cruise? I’m not sure how to go about this.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Do whatever you want. You'll find out that that it doesn't matter what folks respond with in these types of threads. What depresses me is the long line at guest services the day before debarkation where people are lined up to remove their pre-paid gratuities.

[mdsgu]

Do whatever you want. You'll find out that that it doesn't matter what folks respond with in these types of threads. What depresses me is the long line at guest services the day before debarkation where people are lined up to remove their pre-paid gratuities.

 

Probably because they overspent on themselves and see it as a "free" way to recoup some of their money. Bottom line: if you cannot afford the gratuity charge/service charge/whatever you call it, you cannot afford to cruise.

[mrsh678]

We always pre-pay gratuities and tip extra. We tip the porters really well to ensure our luggage is taken care of. We tip our head waiter extra on the last night of the cruise. We bring a thank you card and put extra tip in it for our room steward. We save extra through the year so we can give (probably too extra) big tips. My mom likes to say we "live rich" when we cruise, LOL!