Tipping Excursion Guides and Bus Drivers

[firstimer2009]

I'm taking a couple of ship excursions on our Venice sailing plus a private excursion.  How much do you tip the tour guides?  Does anyone also tip the bus drivers?

[RaiderDuck]

Rarely do we tip either the tour guides or the bus drivers: if your company is charging us anywhere from $80 to $150 (or more) per person for an expedition, I assume you're making enough to pay your drivers and guides.

Edited August 21, 2019 by RaiderDuck

[mertziek]

We tip both, and usually more for private tours.  For a half day tour driver gets $3-$5/person, guide $10-$15/person.  But that’s just us.  I know a lot of people don’t add to the fare they paid.  I don’t think there’s any right answer.  Do what you are comfortable doing.

[kfnesq]

9 minutes ago, mertziek said:

We tip both, and usually more for private tours.  For a half day tour driver gets $3-$5/person, guide $10-$15/person.  But that’s just us.  I know a lot of people don’t add to the fare they paid.  I don’t think there’s any right answer.  Do what you are comfortable doing.

We do the same. 

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

As others have mentioned, tipping is a very personal thing and different for us all.  If I felt the guide went above and beyond to make it a great experience, I feel they should be recognized.  If so, I'l do a tip anywhere from $10 - $20 per person.  It certainly is just a personal choice with no right or wrong answer.  I've certainly had others where the guide just did their job and nothing more to add to the experience in which case I wouldn't tip.

[pspercy]

36 minutes ago, RaiderDuck said:

Rarely do we tip either the tour guides or the bus drivers: if your company is charging us anywhere from $80 to $150 (or more) per person for an expedition, I assume you're making enough to pay your drivers and guides.

 

Maybe, maybe not, customs vary around the world.

[PelicanBill]

I tip tour guides or excursion crew about $10 per person (so $20 for the two of us).  For drivers, I watch carefully to see if they provide service:  Do they assist people getting on and off the bus, greet them, generally help make the experience pleasant? Then a few dollars  or as much as $5. 

[buddylover]

Tipping also varies customarily and is different around the world.  In Europe (Italy etc),  for example, Europeans do not tip like we do,  and do not expect tips like we are used to giving in the US...it would be advisable to do some research on tipping customs in the locations where you are travelling and tip accordingly.

Edited August 21, 2019 by buddylover

[Birdie And Sue]

Tip each $10,000 and you will be fine!

[Stealthdog]

For me depends on location.  I very rarely tip excursions when on European cruises.  Private tours I have a couple times.  Tours through the cruise line in Europe I have never tipped.  On Caribbean cruises I tip the guide about 1/2 of the time ($5-10/person) and never tip the driver.  Really depends on what the excursion is and my satisfaction of the guide.  If all they are doing is bringing me from one place to another and saying a few things on the way I won’t tip.  I don’t tip bus drivers in the city I live in when I take a bus, or a bus driver that take me from DC to NY.  I don’t personally see the need to tip a bus driver for an excursion.

[YankeesFan4Life]

I just got back from Western Caribbean.  Tipped the guys who helped with luggage for sure, usually $3-5 per bag. Had a private tour in Roatan, guy went out of his way to make the day great.  We took him to lunch with us, and gave him $10 per, so $40.  Did a private fishing excursion in Cozumel, the owner of the company (of 3 boats) took us out, felt weird tipping the owner, especially since we only caught one fish, but when he offered to take us back to the pier in his private vehicle, I felt a lot more comfortable giving him $60 ($15/per).

Again, depends on how you feel the service was, and what they did to earn that tip.

 

My room steward, for instance, didn't get an extra penny.  We already prepaid the grats, he did nothing to go out of his way to get anything extra.  We saw him one time, nothing special...no extra tip

[firstimer2009]

Thanks to all for the replies.  And @Stealthdog not certainly you are following the Venice Star threads but it appears the ship is leaving quite late embarking because of the requirement of 3 tugboats for each ship to sail through the canal.  It's possible Monday might be on the ship now instead of going to Kotor. 

 

 I went back and looked at the dailies from your live postings in June to see what was going on Day 2.  Looks like there is plenty to keep us occupied. Thanks again for doing all of that on your cruise.

Edited August 21, 2019 by firstimer2009

[teachberry]

Wow! I guess i'm not a very good tipper...lol! But if you have a bus load of people, say 40, and at $20 a person, that's $800 in tips for a day's work...or even half a days work. But, I have wondered if the driver and guide split the tips. Sometimes one will be standing at the front of the bus and the other at the middle door of the bus. Also, last summer we were on a Viking Ocean cruise to the Baltics. I budgeted my tip money and was always sure I had the correct amount of currency (very proud of myself). Then on the last tour it dawned on me that there were two of us, and I was only tipping for me!

[zqvol]

10 hours ago, firstimer2009 said:

I'm taking a couple of ship excursions on our Venice sailing plus a private excursion.  How much do you tip the tour guides?  Does anyone also tip the bus drivers?

 

Read up on tipping customs in the countries where you are taking the excursions and act accordingly.

[ollienbertsmum]

10 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

For me depends on location.  I very rarely tip excursions when on European cruises.  Private tours I have a couple times.  Tours through the cruise line in Europe I have never tipped.  On Caribbean cruises I tip the guide about 1/2 of the time ($5-10/person) and never tip the driver.  Really depends on what the excursion is and my satisfaction of the guide.  If all they are doing is bringing me from one place to another and saying a few things on the way I won’t tip.  I don’t tip bus drivers in the city I live in when I take a bus, or a bus driver that take me from DC to NY.  I don’t personally see the need to tip a bus driver for an excursion.

 

I am European, I usually tip in Europe  but I consider it is a tip and not a salary.  On a 50 seater bus I would expect one or two euro a person for the guide to be enough.  I agree with Stealthdog.  Driver has driven.  

 

On a private tour where I have paid for our party I would consider $20 enough in total unless the guide had done something really out of the way.   Driver might get a note too.  

 

 

 

[newmexicoNita]

There is no right or wrong. I remember about 5 years ago we did an all day tour in Canada. When we exited the bus, at the end we noticed only a handful of people tipped the guide. We were among those who did. But I am sure some would think we are cheap tippers as we normally tip about $5 for both if the tour is just a few hours and more if it is a 1/2 day or longer.  I think the max we have tipped has been about $15 for 2 of us. Remember some of the guides are also owners of the tour company. 

[Stealthdog]

16 hours ago, firstimer2009 said:

Thanks to all for the replies.  And @Stealthdog not certainly you are following the Venice Star threads but it appears the ship is leaving quite late embarking because of the requirement of 3 tugboats for each ship to sail through the canal.  It's possible Monday might be on the ship now instead of going to Kotor. 

 

 I went back and looked at the dailies from your live postings in June to see what was going on Day 2.  Looks like there is plenty to keep us occupied. Thanks again for doing all of that on your cruise.

 

I haven’t been following.  Reading them now.  Next cruise is on Celebrity, so following those more.  It’s a shame Kotor is getting dropped on some sailings.  Going into the cruise I probably would have shrugged my shoulders if that happened because I was interested in Dubrovnik and Greek islands.  But kotor was a nice stop and people will lose out of that experience.

[YankeesFan4Life]

15 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

 

I haven’t been following.  Reading them now.  Next cruise is on Celebrity, so following those more.  It’s a shame Kotor is getting dropped on some sailings.  Going into the cruise I probably would have shrugged my shoulders if that happened because I was interested in Dubrovnik and Greek islands.  But kotor was a nice stop and people will lose out of that experience.

We booked that same cruise on the Dawn for August 2021.  Hope we make it to Kotor, I've been reading really great things about it.  The one thing I am not thrilled about on that itinerary is the short amount of time we are in port.  I get it, 6 ports in 7 days, but only 4 hours in Croatia?  Is that enough to go to the beach or do anything?

[Stealthdog]

17 minutes ago, YankeesFan4Life said:

We booked that same cruise on the Dawn for August 2021.  Hope we make it to Kotor, I've been reading really great things about it.  The one thing I am not thrilled about on that itinerary is the short amount of time we are in port.  I get it, 6 ports in 7 days, but only 4 hours in Croatia?  Is that enough to go to the beach or do anything?

 

Some of the stops do feel a little rushed, but there was still enough time to do what we wanted to do.  Generally the port is right there at destination attraction. In Dubrovnik it was all about Game of Throne for us so we didn’t research any Dalmation Coast beach options.  4 hours was enough time for a quick city tour and then go back to the steps and do the Walk of Shame.  

[YankeesFan4Life]

35 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

 

Some of the stops do feel a little rushed, but there was still enough time to do what we wanted to do.  Generally the port is right there at destination attraction. In Dubrovnik it was all about Game of Throne for us so we didn’t research any Dalmation Coast beach options.  4 hours was enough time for a quick city tour and then go back to the steps and do the Walk of Shame.  

 

Holy CRAP!  Didn't realize that was THERE!!!!!!  

[bakersdozen12]

I don't tip the drivers, but I do tip the guides because I feel like they go out of their way to give us a great tour.  I tip based on the experience, anywhere from $5 (once, where there was a specific reason for it) to $20.

[TSUmom]

I have asked this question before and was given many answers, but the best one  that I will use for sure is, when using a private tour guide the best thing you can do is give them a review on a travel site.  I am also a generous tipper so I will have a hard time not over tipping when we are in Europe.

[Buford T Justiice]

We tip the individual who greets following the conclusion of the excursion. My opinion is that the bus driver  / guide have worked out some satisfactory arrangement to share tips... like in a restaurant.. I don't run around looking for the bus boy... hostess... etc.

[Jasonmom]

We almost always tip our guides and bus drivers, but then again we have almost always had good tours.  We don't tip as much as people have talked about on here.  I think for us it has to do with how many people are on the excursion.  If there are over 50 people on an excursion I think a few bucks each is enough.  If there are only a few of us, we booked a private excursion, we tip more.  

 

Agree with most everyone, you should tip what you want.

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

We sailed the Med on the Epic in July.  I tried researching how much to tip our guides before the trip, and like you, saw a wide range of responses.

So, here’s what we did for reference.

Private tour in Barcelona - all day, from 8-5, with amazing guidance and insight.  5 people, we gave him 120 Euros (total) as a tip.  He was excellent.  It was the Barcelonadaytours.eu tour of Barcelona and Montserrat.

3 Italy Private tours with Italytours.eu

Private driver/guide in Naples - Sorrento, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, gave our amazing driver 100 Euros and the Pompeii guide 25 Euros.

Private Diver in Rome - 50 Euros (she was good, not great), Vatican guide 25 Euros 

Private Driver Florence/Pisa - 50 Euros, Florence guide 25 Euros

 

According to many on these boards, we may have over tipped... but I don’t feel we did.  These tours were private, and the guides did some amazing things above and beyond.  They all gave excellent dining recommendations, took slight detours off the beaten path, and showed us things we’d otherwise never have seen.