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How much do you tip your Steward at the end of the cruise (poll)


Sim1979
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How much do you tip your Stewart at the end of the cruise (poll)  

378 members have voted

  1. 1. How much do you typically tip your stewart at the end of the cruise (Standard cabin - not haven)?

    • Nothing - Stewart is already being tipped using the Onboard Service Charges
      84
    • 5$
      1
    • 10$
      10
    • 20$
      118
    • 25$
      27
    • More then that?
      138


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Hi

 

Just curious now..seeing that the cabin stewards are already included in the tipping pool and many people are quite willing to give extra, do you give to the same level to housekeeping staff at hotels and resorts as well?

 

While I will give some extra, but I don't make an effort to go overboard. The same would be true for my wait staff, and definitely not much extra for bar staff. I will however make sure that the staff providing me with clean accommodations at hotels I stay at get rewarded. They typically are the working poor. 

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1 hour ago, ocdb8r said:

 

This is what I have been told by several NCL cabin attendants (although, admittedly, has not come up in the last few years so may not still be the case).  I was also told that if auto-gratuities are removed, they are also requested to verify if they received any cash or not (and reminded that all cash gratuity was to be put into the shared pool).

That’s weird. I’ve been told the exact opposite, e

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Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

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1 hour ago, ColeThornton said:

Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

 

 

Me either, never considered that position to be tip based.  They work for the hotel owner and don't provide what I categorize as personal service. 

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2 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

 

I'm like some of the other PPs, usually leave $5/day for the room in a hotel.  There I tend to leave something every day or two, not just at the end of the stay, since I rarely see housekeeping and don't know if it's the same person every day.  I know chambermaids (is there a gender-neutral word for this?) in the US do get "proper" salaries, unlike waiters in the US, but I also know the salaries aren't exactly lucrative and anything extra is much appreciated.

 

Tbh, I'm not completely sure why I do this beyond that I believe that I've been extremely fortunate financially so I feel better when I a) give to charity, b) tip 20% for normal service at a restaurant and 25%+ for "over and above" service, and c) tip room attendants whether I'm on land or on a ship.  If you count the number of "I"'s in the previous sentence you'll see that it's all about me, i.e., a purely personal preference.  I don't believe there's any societal norm to do the same.  Unlike the first 15% for normal service in a restaurant in the US.  Or the DSC on NCL.

Edited by havenfan
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2 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

 

We tip 2-3 a night in a hotel.  Hotel housekeepers are not paid well unfortunately.

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In reading the poll so far, nearly 75% tip extra more than ZERO.  

 

For those who do tip extra, does the auto gratuity even play into your decision?

 

As for us, we do tip, at the insistence of DW. She hates to not “hand” a person a tip.  Kinda like when you wait until your hometown pizza clerk is watching before you put the tip in the jar. You know who you are...   Then the auto gratuity becomes part of the  “cruise fee”in reality.  Personally, I tip for every drink. I do see the benefits immediately.

 

NCL made the rule - not me or anyone on this thread. The responses to this thread are just eye opening. 

 

 

Edited by trex-de
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We tip $15 per person per day to the Butler and $10 per person per day to the Concierge and to the Room Steward for average levels of service.  We adjust the amounts up or down depending on the received level of service.  I know the Room Steward is covered by the DSC but we like to tip them extra.

 

To minimize the amount of cash we bring, we put their tips on Vouchers that are charged to our onboard account.  If we are on B2B2B cruises, we tip them at the end of each segment for services received during the segment. You can obtain the vouchers at the Reception Desk or from the Concierge.

 

One way we like to reward the Butler and/or Concierge on B2B2B’s if we get chummy with them is to take them out to dinner at the Speciality Restaurant of their choice on the date and time that works for them. The Concierge needs the permission of the Hotel Director and the Butler needs the permission of the Concierge.

 

Yet another way to reward the Butler, Concierge or Room Steward is to fill out Hero Cards for them.  They are available from the Concierge, Butler or Reception Desk.

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7 hours ago, Cruisin&Relaxin said:

One way we like to reward the Butler and/or Concierge on B2B2B’s if we get chummy with them is to take them out to dinner at the Speciality Restaurant of their choice on the date and time that works for them.

 

It's a nice idea.  How often have your butler or concierge had the time for this?  I thought they were "on call" literally from 06:30 to 22:30.  I know that they have quiet hours in the middle of the day, but I would have thought they were busy throughout the evening/dinner hours.

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21 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

wow, we have always left a few $$s for our hotel house keeper. No, not as much as some seem to leave but usually $2 about Of course they do not do as much as your steward o a ship but they are not paid well either other than in Vegas. 

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21 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

Slightly off tangent here but I'm surprised at how many of you tip in land hotels.  Paying for rooms at usually a couple of hundred bucks a night I expect that a clean room will be part of that bill.  I've never tipped there.

 

19 hours ago, pbenjamin said:

When I traveled extensively on business, tips to maids were not expendable according to whoever it was that reviewed my expense reports. I sorta got out of the habit. 

 

Hi

 

Yes. That is why these people are considered the working poor, often working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

 

You can't really believe they are anywhere close to being well paid. Whether you are paying hundreds a night or staying at a motel6 these workers are probably getting the same wage. Whatever is considered legally minimum for a region is likely to be their pay range. Also depending on legal requirements (generally based on hours worked), they might have little or no benefits. 

 

Go ahead, give your cabin steward a generous tip over and above what the cruise line suggests, even though they are salaried with room and board, but you can't say that the hotel workers in your own country (or others) don't deserve the same. Sometimes you need to look at situations from a different perspective.

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2 hours ago, havenfan said:

 

It's a nice idea.  How often have your butler or concierge had the time for this?  I thought they were "on call" literally from 06:30 to 22:30.  I know that they have quiet hours in the middle of the day, but I would have thought they were busy throughout the evening/dinner hours.

 

You have to be extremely flexible on the day and time.  On a one week cruise we never do this because we don't really get to know them well enough.  However on a 40ish day multiple segments B2B2B's cruise, they can always find some late evening downtime at some point if they wish to join you and their boss authorizes it.  

Edited by Cruisin&Relaxin
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1 hour ago, Nic6318 said:

 

 

Hi

 

Yes. That is why these people are considered the working poor, often working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

 

You can't really believe they are anywhere close to being well paid. Whether you are paying hundreds a night or staying at a motel6 these workers are probably getting the same wage. Whatever is considered legally minimum for a region is likely to be their pay range. Also depending on legal requirements (generally based on hours worked), they might have little or no benefits. 

 

Go ahead, give your cabin steward a generous tip over and above what the cruise line suggests, even though they are salaried with room and board, but you can't say that the hotel workers in your own country (or others) don't deserve the same. Sometimes you need to look at situations from a different perspective.

 

So, if economic need is the criteria for tipping, shouldn’t  we be tipping Fast food restaurant workers, Tim Hortons' servers, Walmart greeters, and all the other minimum wage, or near minimum wage, workers in the economy?

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39 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

 

So, if economic need is the criteria for tipping, shouldn’t  we be tipping Fast food restaurant workers, Tim Hortons' servers, Walmart greeters, and all the other minimum wage, or near minimum wage, workers in the economy?

 

 

Hi

 

No, that's not the point. Here we have many people who have no issue over tipping people who do very similar jobs and are possibly in better situations, and yet for one group they express they are very happy to give and for the other group they feel deserve nothing. There's no logic there. It's your money, you can do what you want, but people go on about how much they give their butler, or drop $20 for a guy that puts a bag on a cart. Give me a break, if you don't see a problem there.

 

Just so you do understand, you can give someone working in a fast food restaurant, Tim Horton's, and even the Walmart greeter a tip as well as saying "thank you", which many forget even that.

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3 minutes ago, Nic6318 said:

 

 

Hi

 

No, that's not the point. Here we have many people who have no issue over tipping people who do very similar jobs and are possibly in better situations, and yet for one group they express they are very happy to give and for the other group they feel deserve nothing. There's no logic there. It's your money, you can do what you want, but people go on about how much they give their butler, or drop $20 for a guy that puts a bag on a cart. Give me a break, if you don't see a problem there.

 

Just so you do understand, you can give someone working in a fast food restaurant, Tim Horton's, and even the Walmart greeter a tip as well as saying "thank you", which many forget even that.

 

I understand your point. But "Sometimes you need to look at situations from a different perspective."

 

 

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When I stay in a hotel I bag up the garbage, put all the dirty towels in one area, straighten up the room

and leave $5 per day for housekeeping. It's a tough job and I just want to make it easier for them if

I can.

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6 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

 

Hi

 

Yes. That is why these people are considered the working poor, often working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

 

You can't really believe they are anywhere close to being well paid. Whether you are paying hundreds a night or staying at a motel6 these workers are probably getting the same wage. Whatever is considered legally minimum for a region is likely to be their pay range. Also depending on legal requirements (generally based on hours worked), they might have little or no benefits. 

 

Go ahead, give your cabin steward a generous tip over and above what the cruise line suggests, even though they are salaried with room and board, but you can't say that the hotel workers in your own country (or others) don't deserve the same. Sometimes you need to look at situations from a different perspective.

 

 

Since when does their salary level have any impact on if a tip should be left?  We are all surrounded daily by people who make the 'legal minimum'.

 

Bottom line, hotel staff primarily clean the room in land based hotels.  The steward on a cruise offers a much more personal level of service above an beyond cleaning to include daily reconfiguration of couches and bunks, delivering ice, turn down service and all the small things such as towel animals.  That is what separates the two for me and one worthy of a gratuity.

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7 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

 

Hi

 

Yes. That is why these people are considered the working poor, often working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

 

You can't really believe they are anywhere close to being well paid. Whether you are paying hundreds a night or staying at a motel6 these workers are probably getting the same wage. Whatever is considered legally minimum for a region is likely to be their pay range. Also depending on legal requirements (generally based on hours worked), they might have little or no benefits. 

 

Go ahead, give your cabin steward a generous tip over and above what the cruise line suggests, even though they are salaried with room and board, but you can't say that the hotel workers in your own country (or others) don't deserve the same. Sometimes you need to look at situations from a different perspective.

 

Not the same at all.

Hotel workers go home to their family after work daily!

 

.o

Edited by biker@sea
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