Excursion gratuities

[sanger727]

For group tours, whether through the ship or independently arranged, we usually do $5 pp for a half day and $10 pp for a full day. That would be for an actual tour with guides or boats or something like that. For just a bus to a location to DIY, more like $1-$2 pp. 

 

For a private tour we would base it on a percentage of the cost. To my recollection we have only done one private tour so don't recall what percentage we felt was appropriate at the time. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by sanger727

[Top_of_the_Cube]

Before cruising, I was not really familiar with tipping.  My lifestyle was naturally void of gratuity-expected services, except the occasional sit-down restaurant.

 

When planning my first cruise, the idea of the tip made me anxious (how much, to whom, etc.).  Researching was rather frustrating with advice of "this is personal, whatever you feel in your heart is right."  While that is really the right answer, it didn't help someone like me who's only "experience" was Saturday morning television, where some cartoon character would flick a coin to the valet.  Somehow, I intuitively knew that a coin of any denomination was not adequate.

 

I developed my own scale for any excursion.  I really don't see a difference between ship-sponsored and independently engaged.  Always allowing for exceptional service from any of the excursion staff, it is $5 for whoever seems to be the main guide, $3 for the driver, and $2 for any associates who help in any meaningful way.  No double-dipping for those who might serve double duty.

 

So those who just need a starting point, this is what I do on Caribbean excursions.  Except for that one time in Jamaica where we forgot to take any money off the ship (thank goodness for prepaid excursions).  We just did a lot of "thank you's" and gave a lot of sheepish grins at the end of the ride.

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Was it a $2 bill or was it two single dollars?

 

Did you take it to the racetrack and turn it into a much larger amount?

Two singles.I was 16 and not yet going to racetracks,Mr.G.

[sparks1093]

As most do we usually tip up to $5pp depending on what was done and how well it was done (it would have to be very bad for me to not leave a tip at all). If we were doing a longer excursion then we might consider upping it. 

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

The driver and tour guide can easily split what they get.

 

To keep it simple for the tourist, that is what they ought to do.  But, do they do it?  None of us ever know.  Thus, the eternal question of to whom on a tour that involves a guide and a driver does one tip and how much?  

 

18 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

.A woman in a mink stole gave me a sealed envelope and asked that I not open it until I arrived home.I did so and opened it to find the sum of $2.00.

 

Cheap!  Cheap!  Cheap!  😠

[mom says]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

Cheap!  Cheap!  Cheap!  😠

Yeah but convert that to current dollars, adjusted for inflation. Len said he was 16, so that must have been around 60 years ago. In today's dollars that would be a tad over $18. 

Edited August 30, 2021 by mom says

[Covepointcruiser]

We usually tip $20 for a half day excursion, $40 for a full day unless the tour guide is a dude and that has only happened two times.    We also tip the driver at least $10 as they have a difficult job and it takes a lot of skill.

[navybankerteacher]

23 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Many years ago I had a job in which gratuities paid more than salary.A woman in a mink stole gave me a sealed envelope and asked that I not open it until I arrived home.I did so and opened it to find the sum of $2.00.

The term: "Many years ago"  leaves opening for a few questions.  50 years ago a job at an inexpensive restaurant might have involved serving the "lunch special" -- valued at, say, $10 - which means that she would have given you a 20% tip- pretty generous.   Or five years ago (also "many" in some contexts) you might have spent the entire day cutting her lawn, trimming shrubbery and mending a broken fence for a friend of your mother (who had volunteered your services) -- which means you were stiffed.

 

Please provide some more context.

[ontheweb]

24 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

The term: "Many years ago"  leaves opening for a few questions.  50 years ago a job at an inexpensive restaurant might have involved serving the "lunch special" -- valued at, say, $10 - which means that she would have given you a 20% tip- pretty generous.   Or five years ago (also "many" in some contexts) you might have spent the entire day cutting her lawn, trimming shrubbery and mending a broken fence for a friend of your mother (who had volunteered your services) -- which means you were stiffed.

 

Please provide some more context.

In another post, he said he was 16. He has told me previously that he is older than me, and I am in my mid-70s. So it was 60+ years ago. And $2 then bought a lot more than it does today.

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

In another post, he said he was 16. He has told me previously that he is older than me, and I am in my mid-70s. So it was 60+ years ago. And $2 then bought a lot more than it does today.

60+ years ago a ride on the  New York subway cost 15 cents -- $2 would purchase thirteen trips, with a nickel left over.  Today, you'd have to scrounge up the difference  to get just one ride with your Jefferson.

[clo]

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

unless the tour guide is a dude

Dude?????

[mom says]

35 minutes ago, clo said:

Dude?????

I think that autocorrected from dud. 

[clo]

10 minutes ago, mom says said:

I think that autocorrected from dud. 

Thanks SO much. I truly was clueless 🙂

[sanger727]

8 hours ago, ontheweb said:

In another post, he said he was 16. He has told me previously that he is older than me, and I am in my mid-70s. So it was 60+ years ago. And $2 then bought a lot more than it does today.

and yet, some people have never left that era. I worked as a waitress in 2006. On occasion large families would come in. Order appetizers, drinks, and the most expensive items on the menu. Rack up a 100+ bill. And then tip $2. They were not foreign or old; just cheap and/or rude.

[clo]

6 hours ago, sanger727 said:

and yet, some people have never left that era. I worked as a waitress in 2006. On occasion large families would come in. Order appetizers, drinks, and the most expensive items on the menu. Rack up a 100+ bill. And then tip $2. They were not foreign or old; just cheap and/or rude.

I know.

[MBP&O2/O]

“We also tip the driver at least $10 as they have a difficult job and it takes a lot of skill.”

 

Exceptions to the rule.

On the last cruise I was on the driver reversed out of the parking bay and into another bus. He then clipped the post on the way out of the car park. The tip he got was to go and get driving lessons.

His driving was so bad every one on the bus complained..

[rkacruiser]

On 8/29/2021 at 3:04 PM, rkacruiser said:

I must add my most recent observations of cruise guests ending a shore excursion.  Increasingly, I have seen that neither the guide nor the driver receive any gratuity.  

 

I am a little surprised that no one has reacted or responded to my post.  Am I the only cruiser who has witnessed this?  

[Heidi13]

9 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am a little surprised that no one has reacted or responded to my post.  Am I the only cruiser who has witnessed this?  

 

I find that it depends on the nationality of the pax you are sailing with. When sailing with mostly Australian/NZ and UK pax it is very common, unless the guides provide exceptional service.

 

On our 2015 WC where over 95% were Aus/NZ, the guides were not expecting tips and were surprised when some were provided. Same on our Baltic Cruise with mostly British pax, the guides were not standing at the door with outstretched hand and in most cases when the bus had 2 doors, both were opened, when back at the ship.

[jocap]

4 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I find that it depends on the nationality of the pax you are sailing with. When sailing with mostly Australian/NZ and UK pax it is very common, unless the guides provide exceptional service.

 

On our 2015 WC where over 95% were Aus/NZ, the guides were not expecting tips and were surprised when some were provided. Same on our Baltic Cruise with mostly British pax, the guides were not standing at the door with outstretched hand and in most cases when the bus had 2 doors, both were opened, when back at the ship.

All my life, in the UK, the usual tipping for a coach journey has been that someone will pass round a hat for tips- I still see this on local history or sightseeing journeys. I think that many Brits don't like tipping face to face, so passing the hat is a way out- and also for those who don't agree with tipping. 

[navybankerteacher]

22 hours ago, mom says said:

Yeah but convert that to current dollars, adjusted for inflation. Len said he was 16, so that must have been around 60 years ago. In today's dollars that would be a tad over $18. 

Not quite right - $2 to $18 suggests that something today costs 9 times what it did in 1960.   The New York Times went from 10 cents to $3 - 30 times as much; a gallon of gasoline from 25 cents to $3.25 - 13 times as much; and US postage from 4 cents to 55 cents - 14 times as much .

 

An ounce of silver cost $1 until the US stopped converting paper money to silver - now you have to pay about $25 to get a silver dollar.

 

So that $2 tip would now have to be anywhere from $26 to $50.

Edited August 31, 2021 by navybankerteacher

[chefestelle]

21 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

We usually tip $20 for a half day excursion, $40 for a full day unless the tour guide is a dude and that has only happened two times.    We also tip the driver at least $10 as they have a difficult job and it takes a lot of skill.

Wow, I was really puzzled there for a moment. Then I realized dude was meant to be dud. Hahahaha

[chefestelle]

11 hours ago, sanger727 said:

and yet, some people have never left that era. I worked as a waitress in 2006. On occasion large families would come in. Order appetizers, drinks, and the most expensive items on the menu. Rack up a 100+ bill. And then tip $2. They were not foreign or old; just cheap and/or rude.

My grandfather used to insist on buying one lunch for my sister and me and he also insisted on leaving the tip. He was definitely left in a bygone era. He had his favourite diner and he always left 50 cents or a dollar for the whole bill. Sis and I were ready, though. As we got up to leave, we always slipped money under our respective plates... 

[chefestelle]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I am a little surprised that no one has reacted or responded to my post.  Am I the only cruiser who has witnessed this?  

No. I've witnessed this on other things I've been on besides excursions. It's certainly more prevalent than the past!

[sanger727]

2 hours ago, chefestelle said:

My grandfather used to insist on buying one lunch for my sister and me and he also insisted on leaving the tip. He was definitely left in a bygone era. He had his favourite diner and he always left 50 cents or a dollar for the whole bill. Sis and I were ready, though. As we got up to leave, we always slipped money under our respective plates... 

I’m sure your server appreciated that. I waitressed at a full service restaurant which meant I had to tip out the bartender and busser based on my orders. A $2 tip on a $100 bill meant I lost money in the table ☹️

[chefestelle]

35 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I’m sure your server appreciated that. I waitressed at a full service restaurant which meant I had to tip out the bartender and busser based on my orders. A $2 tip on a $100 bill meant I lost money in the table ☹️

I've heard of that. I think it should be illegal! I hate to think my tips are subsidizing cheapskates and not augmenting everyone's income!