Tipping in Luminae and Butler tip

[Brookefairway]

Do the waiters and other staff if tipped in cash in Luminaie share it only with each other? keep it? or does it get shared with rest of crew on ship? Also, what do most do with the butler tip if you do not really use him/her? I know they bring snacks but other than that if we dont use what should we tip per day? Any past exterience in this area would be helpful. 

[dkjretired]

Just now, Brookefairway said:

Do the waiters and other staff if tipped in cash in Luminaie share it only with each other? keep it? or does it get shared with rest of crew on ship? Also, what do most do with the butler tip if you do not really use him/her? I know they bring snacks but other than that if we dont use what should we tip per day? Any past exterience in this area would be helpful. 

The Butlers tip and the Luminae tips  is part of the tipping structure just like room attendants etc. Anything else is a personal decision. 

[jelayne]

If you booked with AI your daily gratuity is covered, that includes the Butler.  You are not obligated to tip extra unless you choose to.

[Northern Aurora]

While tipping is such a personal decision, even when we have pre-paid gratuities we have tipped extra.  The Luminae wait staff provide such excellent service, and their tips are pooled.  We rarely ask much from a butler, but still tip extra.  And of course, there is the sommelier.

[Brookefairway]

Yes .. perhaps my question wasnt phrased properly..I know their tips are included  .. but the extra tips for them in cash are they pooled with each other only the luminaie staff?  or the rest of the ship waiters? What is the expected ? what most people do who have stayed in these suites) above the included in a sky or celebrity suite to tip the butler whom we do not ask much of? what have you tipped?

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, Brookefairway said:

Yes .. perhaps my question wasnt phrased properly..I know their tips are included  .. but the extra tips for them in cash are they pooled with each other only the luminaie staff?  or the rest of the ship waiters? What is the expected ? what most people do who have stayed in these suites) above the included in a sky or celebrity suite to tip the butler whom we do not ask much of? what have you tipped?

Whatever one is comfortable with 

[jelayne]

I believe the tips in Luminae  shared among the Luminae staff. We normally have been served by 2-4 different waiters plus assistant waiters and the person who serves the breakfast pastries, dinner rolls.etc over the course of a cruise.  
 

The amount we tip the Butler depends on what we have asked of him/her.  We rarely have a  meal in a suite so on some cruises the Butler hasn’t had to do much more than pick up & return laundry once.  We have also had cruises where we had the Butler solve some wardrobe malfunctions, make dinner reservations and arrange a surprise for DHs birthday.  We don’t have a set amount we tip. 

[Redtravel]

Tips are pooled.  Your tip will be shared by 1000+ crew members.  
 

[DogLover]

Extra tips are pooled in Luminae but only with staff of Luminae - not the entire dining pool. Wine stewards are not part of the tip pool in Luminae, nor is the Maitre D.

 

Butler tips are not pooled - a cash tip will go directly to that butler. Extra compensation depends of how much you asked the Butler (now called "Retreat Host," btw) to do. Even when sailing in a Royal Suite, we rarely request much of the Retreat Host ... an occasional in suite breakfast on an early port day. As @jelaynementioned, we don't have a set amount as it will depend on our needs per each cruise.

 

 

[Mark_T]

4 hours ago, DogLover said:

...we don't have a set amount as it will depend on our needs per each cruise.

We are much the same and the Butlers are aware of this of course.

 

We will usually find ours making sure there is nothing more we need after a few days of no special requests.

[emmas gran]

55 minutes ago, Couple-Somerset said:

Just remember, on a 7 night cruise you are already paying $280 per cabin (2 people) in gratuities when staying in a suite.

 

Your stateroom attendant, butler and luminae servers will share gratuities from more than 1 cabin - for instance, there are 176 suites on Apex so that's nearly $50,000 in pre-paid gratuities every week to be shared.

 

Celebrity promote the very best service and experience - so if a few guests are a little more demanding Im pretty sure it will balance out amongst the remainder who are very "low maintenance".

 

Tip extra if you wish BUT please don't be silly - when I read of $100, $200 and even $300 extra for a butler I have to ask what on earth did the butler have to do for these people lol

 

Personally, I prefer to say Please and Thank You as I find it gets excellent service anyway.

 

I do admit to giving the odd $5 here and there to the hard working and under appreciated crew I find cleaning public restrooms, hoovering or wiping handrails etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tipping or Gratuities is a personal choice. Our next cruise is in a suite with gratuities included and what extra I/we give is nobodies business but ours . If you think it silly fair enough, but you do what you want and everyone else can do the same!  

Edited August 22, 2021 by emmas gran
spelling

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, Couple-Somerset said:

I do admit to giving the odd $5 here and there to the hard working and under appreciated crew I find cleaning public restrooms, hoovering or wiping handrails etc.

That’s a nice idea.

[BridgeBabe]

Just a word here...On one cruise, and I can't remember which one, but it was outside Luminae.

The women's restroom attendant was one of my VERY favorite staff ever.  I tipped her independently and also wrote her a note and mentioned her in my exit review.  I still remember her fondly.  She was always singing or humming, a big smile on her face and the facilities were spotless!.. So it is simply your choice who you appreciate and act accordingly!

[excitedofharpenden]

16 minutes ago, BridgeBabe said:

Just a word here...On one cruise, and I can't remember which one, but it was outside Luminae.

The women's restroom attendant was one of my VERY favorite staff ever.  I tipped her independently and also wrote her a note and mentioned her in my exit review.  I still remember her fondly.  She was always singing or humming, a big smile on her face and the facilities were spotless!.. So it is simply your choice who you appreciate and act accordingly!

I think I might have had the same attendant on one of my cruises!  A real character and always singing and happy. Unless of course there's more than one and it's part of the job description! Lol 

 

Phil 

[emmas gran]

6 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I think I might have had the same attendant on one of my cruises!  A real character and always singing and happy. Unless of course there's more than one and it's part of the job description! Lol 

 

Phil 

I think she has been on Solstice and Eclipse, the ladies room just outside Luminae. We were travelling with Australian friends and when we called in she always referred to us as “the sisters “

[zdad59]

 

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, zdad59 said:

 

LOVE LOVE this!!!

[George C]

20 hours ago, Brookefairway said:

Yes .. perhaps my question wasnt phrased properly..I know their tips are included  .. but the extra tips for them in cash are they pooled with each other only the luminaie staff?  or the rest of the ship waiters? What is the expected ? what most people do who have stayed in these suites) above the included in a sky or celebrity suite to tip the butler whom we do not ask much of? what have you tipped?

Agree tipping is up to you , many tip many do not. I tip normally for each meal 5 or possibly ten for Luminae in some Luminae you may get same waiter some you don’t . We tip butler between 50 and 100 depending on how much we used them for request . Not sure about being pooled or not .

[BridgeBabe]

2 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I think she has been on Solstice and Eclipse, the ladies room just outside Luminae. We were travelling with Australian friends and when we called in she always referred to us as “the sisters “

We have been on the Eclipse a couple of times, so may be the same wonderful woman!.. Always a delight to see her!

[hcat]

We always have given extra to cabin stewards, sommelier in BLU  and BLU staff.

Will probably follow suit in our  sky suite next cruise.

[dkjretired]

21 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Tips are pooled.  Your tip will be shared by 1000+ crew members.  
 

Absolutely not true. Where tips are pooled they are within different groups. They do not pool with 1000 people.

[glmacruise]

Pretty sure the tips I handed my butler in the room goes to her pocket. There is no such thing as over tipping. It’s your money do what you want. 

[docsneeze]

I agree with many of the comments here.  My perspective is that many of the crew come from disadvantaged backgrounds in countries that do not provide the opportunities of more developed nations.  Giving thanks for our good fortune is to provide a little extra to hard working individuals spending so much time away from their families just to support them.  At a time when so many people out in society are looking for a handout, it is gratifying to "reward" others who provide exemplary service to make our cruise a memorable one. 

[laslomas]

How many suites does a butler normally look after, or an average? After reading about tips of $50 and $100 for a butler I am interested to know. They could be one of the best remunerated on the ship 😕

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, laslomas said:

How many suites does a butler normally look after, or an average? After reading about tips of $50 and $100 for a butler I am interested to know. They could be one of the best remunerated on the ship 😕

 

Last time we were in a suite on Celebrity our butler had 12 suites to take care which included 4 Royals, a Penthouse, 3 Celebrity suites and 4 Skys.