How to plan for different currencies for tips on Excursions

[Ctkittinger]

We would love some tips on bringing cash/currency  for tipping. For example we are doing a 3 day safari in Africa and have no idea what and how much to give our guides. 26 countries can be overwhelming! I hate to be presumptuous and give in dollars. In some countries that is totally fine. Thank you!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I agree, this is daunting.  As for amounts in South Africa, can't say, but you might want to look elsewhere online--like the destination-specific boards here, or on Tripadvisor.com.  If your tour is through a private company, I would ask them about tipping.

 

As for currencies, it depends, doesn't it?  If it's SA, I would expect them to want their own currency.  Some other places, euros or dollars might be fine.  

 

I'm eventually going to make a list of all the countries I'm visiting on my WC, and consider if I'll need the local currency at all, whether they might take some other currency like euros or dollars, or whether credit cards would do the trick.  And also consider whether I'll have an easy opportunity to find an ATM depending on my tour plans.  A place that I'm only in for a day, like Phuket, I'll probably use dollars if needed, other places like Singapore I wouldn't dream of it, but then again, tipping in Singapore is not common.

 

Let's face it, ATM's are ubiquitous and our best bet for solving these problems.  Lucky you having a 3-day safari!  

[Mich3554]

When we were in South Africa (not on a cruise, but a safari), our guide preferred to be tipped in US $$.  We had our guide for 2 drives each day for 6 days.  I want to say we tipped him $300.

 

However, there are ATMs everywhere and since we spent 3 weeks there, we did have rand on us as well.

[Heidi13]

On our previous World Cruise, we purchased about $20 in local currency for every country we visited, plus a few hundred of US$, UK Sterling, Euros & AUS $. For US $ we requested mostly small bills. Most purchases we used Visa, using cash for small purchases from local vendors and tips, where warranted. When we didn't have local currency for tips, we provided US $.

 

For our next World Cruise in 2020, we will purchase similar currencies from our local bank before departure. Although we have numerous overnights, many ports are only 8-12 hrs, so we have no desire to waste time finding an ATM that accepts out debit cards.  

 

With respect to safaris, we have completed multiple-day safaris in each of Kenya, Tanzania & South Africa. We received exceptional service from the guides/drivers in both Kenya & South Africa, so in recognition of our appreciation we provided them US $, which were very well received.

 

Having travelled the world for over 40 years, I have never met anyone who complained about receiving cash, regardless of the currency. So enjoy your cruise and don't worry about currencies.🙂

[ed01106]

In any county tipping in any major currency (€£¥$) is fine.  Buying stuff merchant might not take foreign currency.  But with tips the receiver will take it along with all the other tips and get it converted. Bills only.  Coins are useless.  (and pretty stingy). 

 

Think about this if someone gave you a gift of New Zealand dollars would you throw it away, or convert it to US dollars next time you went to the bank.

[rkacruiser]

As has it been suggested by others, I did my best to determine prior to the world cruise what currency I ought to obtain--if possible--before I left home.  I like to have some local currency on hand wherever I travel.  Once I decided what I needed and the amount I ought to have, based upon what I expected to do in those ports, my Bank has an excellent international currency availability with good exchange rates/fees for a customer as myself.  Currency is delivered to my Branch office within 48 hours if not sooner after I order it.  

 

Did I overestimate?  Yes, in a few instances.  And, if the $ amount was worth it, I cashed it in on my return.  But, I still have a few small amounts, i.e. a bill from Tonga or a French franc, etc.  that bring me a bit of joy when I look at them and remember.....

 

Tipping customs and amounts:  one needs to research specific countries and tours as to what is appropriate. 

 

[Keith1010]

On 6/30/2019 at 4:35 PM, Ctkittinger said:

We would love some tips on bringing cash/currency  for tipping. For example we are doing a 3 day safari in Africa and have no idea what and how much to give our guides. 26 countries can be overwhelming! I hate to be presumptuous and give in dollars. In some countries that is totally fine. Thank you!

It really is not so hard but you do need to do the homework.

 

For example, some countries tipping is not expected. Examples include Australia and New Zealand.

 

In some countries tipping in USA dollars is fine.  Example is Vietnam.  They welcome USA dollars.

 

For your safari there is a wealth of information on that.  There are general resources that will guide you on how much to tip and sometimes the operator themselves will have recommendations either on their website or in their correspondence.  We have done two safaris and did them as part of the cruise line overland program and the ship provided us with recommended guidelines.

 

Keith

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 7/1/2019 at 5:26 PM, rkacruiser said:

As has it been suggested by others, I did my best to determine prior to the world cruise what currency I ought to obtain--if possible--before I left home.  I like to have some local currency on hand wherever I travel.  Once I decided what I needed and the amount I ought to have, based upon what I expected to do in those ports, my Bank has an excellent international currency availability with good exchange rates/fees for a customer as myself.  Currency is delivered to my Branch office within 48 hours if not sooner after I order it.  

 

Did I overestimate?  Yes, in a few instances.  And, if the $ amount was worth it, I cashed it in on my return.  But, I still have a few small amounts, i.e. a bill from Tonga or a French franc, etc.  that bring me a bit of joy when I look at them and remember.....

 

Tipping customs and amounts:  one needs to research specific countries and tours as to what is appropriate. 

 

 

I have a box full of little baggies with currency from lots of countries.  This always in the hope that we'll be going back.  On the other hand if you have left-over currency you can usually find some good charity for it--I know some airports have places where you can deposit spare currency for a good cause.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I have a box full of little baggies with currency from lots of countries.  This always in the hope that we'll be going back.  On the other hand if you have left-over currency you can usually find some good charity for it--I know some airports have places where you can deposit spare currency for a good cause.

 

You are not alone!

[Wayfairers]

On 7/2/2019 at 4:43 PM, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

I have a box full of little baggies with currency from lots of countries.  This always in the hope that we'll be going back.  On the other hand if you have left-over currency you can usually find some good charity for it--I know some airports have places where you can deposit spare currency for a good cause.

Me too

[Wayfairers]

I google tipping info about every country we visit.  When I book a private excursion I ask what currency they want payment in and if it is their currency I tell them we need to stop at an ATM.  

 

Last cruise I created an envelope for every port that needed cash and wrote the amount for the tour and the tip on the outside and put the cash inside    If USD I put the cash in before we left home.  If another currency and I had an opportunity to get cash at an ATM before I needed it,  the cash put into the envelope.  Envelopes were bundled by month using a rubber band and stored in the safe until we arrived in that port.  This worked great for us and I’ll do it again.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

11 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

I google tipping info about every country we visit.  When I book a private excursion I ask what currency they want payment in and if it is their currency I tell them we need to stop at an ATM.  

 

Last cruise I created an envelope for every port that needed cash and wrote the amount for the tour and the tip on the outside and put the cash inside    If USD I put the cash in before we left home.  If another currency and I had an opportunity to get cash at an ATM before I needed it,  the cash put into the envelope.  Envelopes were bundled by month using a rubber band and stored in the safe until we arrived in that port.  This worked great for us and I’ll do it again.  

 

Wow that's organization, and I will think about doing this too.  The lesser currencies will be the problem, and by that I mean ones where we might only be in the country for the day, or ones where the currency is perhaps unstable or difficult to get abroad. For us that will include Thailand, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Oman and Cyprus (I'm sure I have some baht).  Then there's the places where we'll be there for two days, either overnight or two ports, like Malaysia, Indonesia, UAE, Egypt, Israel and Turkey (my Turkish currency is totally obsolete I think).   Countries like NZ, Aus, India where we'll be in multiple ports, on multiple days, I'll think about it--my baggy of Indian currency may not be valid any more.

 

Lovely problems to have, eh?