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Extra tips at the end of the cruise

calicakes

By calicakes,
in Celebrity Cruises

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DENIE Holiday Sharing Rare

DENIE

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On our past cruises we first, and foremost, leave the standard gratuities "as is", and make no adjustments.  We tip our cabin steward about $20 on the first full day at sea, and then a bit more in the middle and a bit more at the end.  We know how hard they work, and love how wonderful they keep our stateroom

 

We also tipped the server in the Martini Bar on our last cruise in similar fashion.  My wife and I upgraded Classic to Premium with him, and my SIL bought the Premium package outright.  Considering we were there every night (sometimes 2x), he always seemed to find us before we even saw him.  Made excellent suggestions, and of course, if something wasn't made right, he immediately tried to figure out why (even found out that one night the olive juice was bad!).  Amazing service!!

 

We also gave our favorite server in the Rendezvous Lounge a few dollars along the way.  Again...we NEVER waited for service.

 

In addition - if they are not super busy, we like to ask questions about where they are from, etc.  We find they love to chat, and we really enjoy getting to know them!

 

We do not feel we go "overboard", and this kind of money means a lot to them.  Grateful to all of them for making our experience wonderful!

 

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Scottygirl1

Scottygirl1

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10 minutes ago, DENIE said:

On our past cruises we first, and foremost, leave the standard gratuities "as is", and make no adjustments.  We tip our cabin steward about $20 on the first full day at sea, and then a bit more in the middle and a bit more at the end.  We know how hard they work, and love how wonderful they keep our stateroom

 

We also tipped the server in the Martini Bar on our last cruise in similar fashion.  My wife and I upgraded Classic to Premium with him, and my SIL bought the Premium package outright.  Considering we were there every night (sometimes 2x), he always seemed to find us before we even saw him.  Made excellent suggestions, and of course, if something wasn't made right, he immediately tried to figure out why (even found out that one night the olive juice was bad!).  Amazing service!!

 

We also gave our favorite server in the Rendezvous Lounge a few dollars along the way.  Again...we NEVER waited for service.

 

In addition - if they are not super busy, we like to ask questions about where they are from, etc.  We find they love to chat, and we really enjoy getting to know them!

 

We do not feel we go "overboard", and this kind of money means a lot to them.  Grateful to all of them for making our experience wonderful!

 

 

That seems more reasonable to me.  I don't think we've ever spent time at any one bar so haven't tipped a barman.  I'm sure we will tip our room steward after our next trip and maybe a few others but just smaller amounts than others have tipped.  It's hard coming from a complete 'non tipping' culture - it really doesn't come naturally to us.  We know we have to tip for service while in US and that's not an issue... you never know - we might tip our barman on the next trip 🙂

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Miaminice "Live from...." Rare

Miaminice

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It’s a nice gesture to give them gifts and whoever does it means well.

However, the crew simply prefer cash. And I fully understand that.

 

Put yourself in their shoes... they meet thousands of guests. If just 2 % were to give them gifts, they‘d have all the stuff cluttering their tiny private space on the ship without any „value“.

 

I can also relate to it myself LOL. Whenever my mum comes by she brings something. She means well, but I already have a belt, a wallet, I don’t use this kind of soap or simply don’t like the color of tie she brings... she means well but we always tell her not to bring anything. 

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trishtoro

trishtoro

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For those (like me) that didn’t think ahead to bring envelopes, thank you cards etc.... do I hunt down my butler and cabin steward towards the end of the trip and just hand them cash then? In the dining room and favorite bars I can do that easily I suppose 

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warmwinds

warmwinds

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You can get small envelopes at the Guest Relations desk.  They have a pile of them on the last couple of days just for this purpose.  But no one ever turned down cash handed to them, either.

 

We prefer the envelopes...we leave those for the cabin people on the bed our last night before we go to dinner, and we hand the envelopes to the restaurant staff as we are leaving the dining room on the last night.

 

And I also find empty wallets and make-up to be bizarre gifts to give to strangers. 

 

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G.M.T.

G.M.T.

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9 hours ago, calicakes said:

I was really looking for specific dollar amounts that people give, however I guess no one wants to share that. 

 

Everyone has an opinion( me especially).  

 

I think a wallet is super nice for someone who served me breakfast 1 or 2 times.  As I stated I gave a generous cash gift and the wallet to my regular waiter and assistant.  

How much did you give?

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G.M.T.

G.M.T.

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5 hours ago, Scottygirl1 said:

OK, I am absolutely gobsmacked (astounded) at the additional tips mentioned by some here. We always pay the auto-tip but that's it.  We've never tipped a barman or a waiter etc.  Mind you we hardly eat at the MDR and if we do we never get the same staff.  We did tip a butler years ago when he did go over and above for us and also a room steward on a recent short cruise.  I'm blown away by the amounts given over and above the auto tip.  

Don't worry, you are not alone. Tipping is a very cultural thing depending very much on the country that you come from.

 

You are NOT required to tip over and above the auto service charge.

 

The main thing is you enjoyed your cruise.

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ipeeinthepool

ipeeinthepool

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6 hours ago, fleckle said:

 

No doubt your intentions were good, but realistically, makeup is an inappropriate gift to give a total stranger, since there are so many individual differences in skin color and tone, skin type, eye color, etc. 

 

Additionally,  some woman may prefer a liquid, others prefer a powder, and still others a cream for similar products.

Then there are the ingredients in different products to consider.

Different people are allergic to different things, and different women like different brands.

 

It would be so much better to give cash, or even gift certificates that they can use to select the products they really want.

 

Now if you know that your stateroom attendant or waitress loves a certain makeup product in a particular color and you get it for her, then that would be a different situation entirely.

 

To paraphrase the golden rule:

    If you do a good job at work, would your rather receive a cash bonus, or would you prefer some makeup or other trinkets that a stranger selected for you without even knowing your personal likes or dislikes?

                            

 

I agree with you, but the OP doesn’t want to debate the choice of gifts.  Many of us think the gift can’t be separated from the money because we believe that people would rather have the money spent on the gift than the gift.  The additional gift and cash from the OP was generous but I doubt they appreciated the extra cost and effort to find the gifts.  

 

IMO if you want to do something special, take some origami classes and make animals out of 20 dollar bills.  The Celebrity staff will certainly remember that.

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Nachosdelux

Nachosdelux

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

Don't worry, you are not alone. Tipping is a very cultural thing depending very much on the country that you come from.

 

You are NOT required to tip over and above the auto service charge.

 

The main thing is you enjoyed your cruise.

 

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

From my experiences, if crew members are to be given a gift, then it is one of three things:

 

$

€

£

 

 

 

this is the best advice, in my opinion.  Extra tips are appreciated but not required or expected.  

YOU may think a personalized gift is appropriate, but crew members are not your extended family, and it is not Christmas. Cash is king.

Edited by Nachosdelux
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mysparky

mysparky

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14 hours ago, calicakes said:

I know that money is a really touchy subject to a lot of people.  I'm not one of them.  So with that being said, I would like to know if you tip extra( and specifically how much) at the end of the cruise? 

 

We just returned from 10 days on Equinox and we did tip extra.  I wasnt sure how much extra to tip.  A few months before we left, I ordered men's leather wallets from Ebay.  I got a ridiculously good price on them.  If you want to know, I'll tell you.  They look much more expensive than they were.  I wrapped those up with cash inside for the server and his assistant in Blu.  I gave the wallets( no extra cash) to the few people in Blu who served us 1 or 2 times.  I gave a wallet and cash to the main pool server( we spent every single sea day at the pool).  For the women, I assembled makeup bags with makeup purchased with coupons and received in subscription boxes.  Those went to the gals at Cafe Al Bacio, the hostess in Blu, the pastry gal in Blu.    I'll add a picture to the next post. 

Calicakes -

I truly commend your thoughtfulness and going what I'd consider to be "above and beyond".  While we generally tip extra for our room steward and the concierge (on Royal Caribbean), it admittedly hasn't been as extensive.  Whether or not the staff appreciates the extra gifts, who cares, it was done by you in the right spirit - to give extra thanks.  I was always taught that "it's the thought that counts" and clearly you put thought and effort into your gifts.

 

I have found it AMAZING that on the Celebrity board that there is so much criticism.  I come here for information and ideas and thankfully there are plenty of those, but the negativity and self-righteousness is too much at times.  I especially enjoyed your blog and I'm glad that you didn't stop posting even though there were some very opinionated comments on your post. I had been considering upgrading to an Aqua suite, but you provided very specific feedback on the meals in there and I decided to skip the upgrade.  We have a great hump balcony and I decided I'd rather spend the extra on specialty restaurants.

 

I also recall that YOU are the one that posted picture of the ridiculous shower chair that you were provided as a substitute for the footstool.  I copied that picture and posted on Twitter.  YOU were the one that spoke with housekeeping and gave many of us on these boards hope that footstools would, in fact, be returning.

 

Thank you for sticking through this.  You've been very helpful.

Edited by mysparky
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calicakes "Live from...." Rare

calicakes

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2 hours ago, mysparky said:

Calicakes -

I truly commend your thoughtfulness and going what I'd consider to be "above and beyond".  While we generally tip extra for our room steward and the concierge (on Royal Caribbean), it admittedly hasn't been as extensive.  Whether or not the staff appreciates the extra gifts, who cares, it was done by you in the right spirit - to give extra thanks.  I was always taught that "it's the thought that counts" and clearly you put thought and effort into your gifts.

 

I have found it AMAZING that on the Celebrity board that there is so much criticism.  I come here for information and ideas and thankfully there are plenty of those, but the negativity and self-righteousness is too much at times.  I especially enjoyed your blog and I'm glad that you didn't stop posting even though there were some very opinionated comments on your post. I had been considering upgrading to an Aqua suite, but you provided very specific feedback on the meals in there and I decided to skip the upgrade.  We have a great hump balcony and I decided I'd rather spend the extra on specialty restaurants.

 

I also recall that YOU are the one that posted picture of the ridiculous shower chair that you were provided as a substitute for the footstool.  I copied that picture and posted on Twitter.  YOU were the one that spoke with housekeeping and gave many of us on these boards hope that footstools would, in fact, be returning.

 

Thank you for sticking through this.  You've been very helpful.

Thank you so much for saying this.  Yesterday, after I began this thread and started to read some of the comments towards me, I wanted to delete it.  I'm assuming those people's parents never taught them " If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all".  

 

My wife was even guilty of this on the cruise.  When we'd be strolling thru the buffet, she would make comments to me " Thats gross, etc".  She eats like a kid, so I get it, but I told her not to Yuck on someone else's Yum. 

 

I wonder, has anyone specifically asked a female cabin attendant or server " Do you think makeup is tacky"?   If only I could have recorded the pastry gals reaction.  She was THRILLED.  

 

We've had housekeeping staff at Mexican resorts practically cry( in delight) when we hand them makeup.  An inexpensive brand of drug store mascara for Americans is 3x the cost for Mexicans.  

 

I didn't post for people to start debating my choice of gifts. I'll continue to do what I think is nice,  I just won't post about it.   I only wanted to find out a dollar amount because I didn't want to be seen as "cheap" as far as cash goes.   I wonder if the crew thinks that all Americans are "rich".   

 

This was said to us in Mexico at a resort when we were at a timeshare presentation( we didn't buy).  The salesperson said " You're American, you can afford it".   

 

I know I'm opinionated and can be judgmental, however I'm a nice person.   I would never start criticizing someone for doing something that is thoughtful, whether or not I agree with it.   I'm also very honest.  I know I received a lot of flak because I didn't enjoy some of the food in Blu.  I know a lot of other people dining didn't as well, I just spoke up about it( on a public forum).   Same with Labadee.  I hated it.  I was criticized for haggling with the salespeople, not paying full price for an item because " They need the money".  

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calicakes "Live from...." Rare

calicakes

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2 hours ago, Tulsacoker said:

interesting that you didn't provide that info at the beginning 

What is so interesting about that?  I did ask " specifically how much".  Are you accusing me of something?  Please, by all means, share....

Edited by calicakes
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calicakes "Live from...." Rare

calicakes

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1 minute ago, Tulsacoker said:

interesting that you wanted others to post the amount they tip extra (and got upset when people didn't) but you did not originally. Me personally would have stated I tip $ 50 extra for room steward and $100 to concierge then asked what amount others do. 

Seriously?  You think I was "upset" because people didn't mention it.  Obviously, you don't know me, so you don't know what upsets me, but strangers on the internet not answering a specific inquiry isn't one of them.   

 

Yeah, I didn't originally say how much $$$  I tip because I thought 20 bucks sounded cheap to me. ( which was the entire point of my post) If you have issues with me or my postings, please feel free to hit the IGNORE button. 

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calicakes "Live from...." Rare

calicakes

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16 hours ago, calicakes said:

I was really looking for specific dollar amounts that people give, however I guess no one wants to share that. 

Is this what you call a "snit".  Not a snit, just an observation. 

 

 

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lamondys

lamondys

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1 minute ago, Tulsacoker said:

reread #1 which i quoted. She only stated the amount after she got in a snit (post #13) when people didn't provide the info.

lol why do I need to reread #1? I'm not the one who cares which post # she mentions how much she tips.

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