When to tip

[aprilcruisers]

We’re on our first B2B.

Do you tip after the first leg or wait till the very end?  We’re in the same room.

[grapau27]

2 minutes ago, aprilcruisers said:

We’re on our first B2B.

Do you tip after the first leg or wait till the very end?  We’re in the same room.

It is best to leave autogratuities on your account then you don't have to worry about when to tip and the crew are happy.

Edited April 27, 2019 by grapau27

[Colorado Babe]

Yes, keep tips on your account for both legs and tip additional as well if you feel they have gone above and beyond.

[DHADEN]

1 hour ago, aprilcruisers said:

We’re on our first B2B.

Do you tip after the first leg or wait till the very end?  We’re in the same room.

Each cruise is completely separate.  There are staff members that may be getting off after your first leg.  It is conciderate to tip each cruise.😉

[Grandma Dazzles]

Back-to-back cruises are treated as two separate cruises. Leave the auto gratuities in place and you won’t have a problem. Also, you may not have the same staff for each cruise. 

[Ocean Boy]

If you are taling about tipping extra beyond the auto grats you could always ask your cabin attendant if he has the same cabins the following week and provide the extra at the end of the second cruise. I see nothing wrong with that.

[Merion_Mom]

2 hours ago, aprilcruisers said:

We’re on our first B2B.

Do you tip after the first leg or wait till the very end?  We’re in the same room.

 

I do MANY consecutive cruises and I ALWAYS tip at the end of each cruise.

[Missymo]

I alway have the auto tips in play, but the cabin attendant gets $$ when we board, to insure we get extra towels every day , fills ice bucket  and extra comforter.(cabin is cold lol)   We also tip when eating in speciality restaurants. or if we need  am extra service .

[Grandma Dazzles]

20 minutes ago, Missymo said:

I alway have the auto tips in play, but the cabin attendant gets $$ when we board, to insure we get extra towels every day , fills ice bucket  and extra comforter.(cabin is cold lol)   We also tip when eating in speciality restaurants. or if we need  am extra service .

 

Nice that you tip extra but extra towels, ice, etc. are normal requests that don’t require an extra tip.  Many people feel that tipping in advance is almost like a bribe - makes it look as if you don’t feel the steward can do their job.  I agree about specialty restaurants, concierge/diamond lounge waiters, but not cabin steward. An extra tip on departure is much more the norm. 

[aprilcruisers]

Thanks folks!  Separate weeks seems to be the way to go. 

And yes, I meant extra gratuities.  

[grapau27]

24 minutes ago, aprilcruisers said:

Thanks folks!  Separate weeks seems to be the way to go. 

And yes, I meant extra gratuities.  

Extra gratuities for DL waiters I give $1 per drink at all times and speciality restaurant waiters I give $10 after our meals.

If I request anything additional from the CS I give a tip there and then.

At the end of a weeks cruise I normally give our CS an extra $20-$30 cash on top of prepaying our gratuities pre cruise.

[LeeW]

Have had stewards leave after first cruise due to end of contract.  

 

While we use MyTime Dining, we sit at the same table with the same waiters for each cruise.  Dining room policy is to rotate waiters to new sets of tables between cruises, so if we kept the table we lost the waiter (last cruise we had a great 2-top by a window).  First night on the next cruise we found out our previous waiter had left and the assistant waiter didn't have any 2-tops in his area.  We have also had the same waiter but different assistant on second part of a B2B.

 

All in all, if you are going to give these folks any extra it is a good idea to do it for each cruise.

[sparks1093]

On 4/27/2019 at 11:54 AM, Grandma Dazzles said:

 

Nice that you tip extra but extra towels, ice, etc. are normal requests that don’t require an extra tip.  Many people feel that tipping in advance is almost like a bribe - makes it look as if you don’t feel the steward can do their job.  I agree about specialty restaurants, concierge/diamond lounge waiters, but not cabin steward. An extra tip on departure is much more the norm. 

Yes, they are normal requests but they do require more work on the part of the staff since they are not part of the normal activity. It was my job as a bellhop to bring ice to guest's rooms back in the day but a tip was definitely appreciated. 

 

OP, I would treat each leg as a separate cruise (which they really are) and provide any extra at the end of each leg.

[leisuretraveler223]

Tips are automatically charged.  No need to overthink it at all.  People here will ramble on about tipping in person, or tipping extra.  They just like to make themselves feel special.  Leave it be and don't worry about it.  Anything else isn't about the person doing the work, it's about the person doing the tipping.

[Ocean Boy]

35 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

Yes, they are normal requests but they do require more work on the part of the staff since they are not part of the normal activity. It was my job as a bellhop to bring ice to guest's rooms back in the day but a tip was definitely appreciated. 

 

OP, I would treat each leg as a separate cruise (which they really are) and provide any extra at the end of each leg.

If you want to tip extra that is fine but extra towels and ice hardly qualify as extra work. 

[grapau27]

25 minutes ago, leisuretraveler223 said:

Tips are automatically charged.  No need to overthink it at all.  People here will ramble on about tipping in person, or tipping extra.  They just like to make themselves feel special.  Leave it be and don't worry about it.  Anything else isn't about the person doing the work, it's about the person doing the tipping.

The cruiseline recommend autogratuities and the crew acknowledge this is what they prefer.

If you leave your autogratuities in place you have done what is required and anything given in cash on top is not expected but is at the sole discretion of the passenger who gives it.

[sparks1093]

10 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

If you want to tip extra that is fine but extra towels and ice hardly qualify as extra work. 

It is part of their duties to provide it upon request which means they don't provide it to every guest. It is extra work, even if it isn't arduous. 

[grapau27]

19 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

It is part of their duties to provide it upon request which means they don't provide it to every guest. It is extra work, even if it isn't arduous. 

I think most people who want extra towels and ice realise this and why you would expect autogratuities to be left in place to cover this.

 

[papaflamingo]

17 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

If you want to tip extra that is fine but extra towels and ice hardly qualify as extra work. 

I agree with Sparks... extra work is in the eye of the beholder.  I have done both, tipped some at the beginning of the cruise and some after, or all after.  Both seem fine as to level of service.  But extra towels and ice twice a day is not "normal service,"  it's additional service.  You have to request it.  If it was "normal" you wouldn't have to request it. 

[sparks1093]

9 minutes ago, grapau27 said:

I think most people who want extra towels and ice realise this and why you would expect autogratuities to be left in place to cover this.

 

To me (and this is of course a personal decision/definition) the auto-grats cover the normal service and if additional service is provided then the customer may pro-offer additional gratuity, although it is of course not required. I always read that people give extra tips for service "over and above regular service" and if providing additional service doesn't fit that definition, what does? 

[grapau27]

52 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

To me (and this is of course a personal decision/definition) the auto-grats cover the normal service and if additional service is provided then the customer may pro-offer additional gratuity, although it is of course not required. I always read that people give extra tips for service "over and above regular service" and if providing additional service doesn't fit that definition, what does? 

I don't get ice or extra towels,I pre-pay our gratuities and for a weeks cruise I always give an extra $20-$30 cash tip to our CS because we appreciate what they do and their share of AG isn't a lot.

When we had my late mother in law with us her wheelchair tyres needed inflating and the GS took it away and got the tyres blown up so he got an extra cash tip.

When sailing from Europe there are no kettles in the balcony cabins so I always ask for a kettle and I will tip extra for that.

Graham.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Question about ice was raised at a Captain’s/staff question and answer session that I attended. 

 

Answer was was given that it was now “by request “ as so many people (many non Americans) never used or wanted ice. It was more work to provide, clean ice buckets, waste of time/money to provide, etc.  It was implied that it was not a big deal to provide if anyone requested and was steward’s responsibility - that’s one reason I don’t consider ice an extra duty. 

[sparks1093]

1 minute ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

Question about ice was raised at a Captain’s/staff question and answer session that I attended. 

 

Answer was was given that it was now “by request “ as so many people (many non Americans) never used or wanted ice. It was more work to provide, clean ice buckets, waste of time/money to provide, etc.  It was implied that it was not a big deal to provide if anyone requested and was steward’s responsibility - that’s one reason I don’t consider ice an extra duty. 

I'm not saying it's a big deal, but it is still an extra request that needs to be met. Some people think that it warrants a little extra, some people don't. In either case it's entirely up to the customer.

[grapau27]

7 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

Question about ice was raised at a Captain’s/staff question and answer session that I attended. 

 

Answer was was given that it was now “by request “ as so many people (many non Americans) never used or wanted ice. It was more work to provide, clean ice buckets, waste of time/money to provide, etc.  It was implied that it was not a big deal to provide if anyone requested and was steward’s responsibility - that’s one reason I don’t consider ice an extra duty. 

We are from the UK and never request ice so I can totally understand that reasoning.

[Ocean Boy]

3 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I agree with Sparks... extra work is in the eye of the beholder.  I have done both, tipped some at the beginning of the cruise and some after, or all after.  Both seem fine as to level of service.  But extra towels and ice twice a day is not "normal service,"  it's additional service.  You have to request it.  If it was "normal" you wouldn't have to request it. 

Ice twice a day was standard service until RCI decided it would be by request only. Did that cut back in work also lead to a cut back in the recommended daily gratuity?

 

I don't get extra anything and still tip extra just because. These tipping threads never lead to anything productive.