What is a resonable tip for the butler??

[CFD062]

Hi all... Crusing next month, first one with a butler, not really sure what guidelines we should use for tipping. Please help... Thanks:D

[TrinaLC]

Do a search with tip + butler, lots of good threads

 

bottom line, depends on how much you use him/her. Many tip in the 150-200 range for doing breakfasts, a few special small cocktail parties (by that I mean maybe 2-3 couples), a few other special deliveries.

[Frick_&_Frack]

We used our Butler for breakfasts and a few snacks (just ourselves). She also brought up a few items for the Concierge and Lattitudes. We gave $150.

[flyingpirate]

I usually go by $10 per day per person then throw an extra $50-$100 on top if he/she's been exceptional.

[UKDeb]

When do you tip? I read on another thread about pre-tipping (Shoreguy, I think). Is this common practice? How much and when? I worry about getting the tipping wrong. Dh says I worry too much. :D

[TrinaLC]

Tip the butler and the concierge at the end of the trip. They don't expect anything upfront and some will refuse it. You'll know how much you've used them and can tip accordingly at the end.

 

Note concierge can be hard to find last morning - consider tipping night before.

[Robbie I]

I always tip up front. It started when I was parking my car and a friend with me gave the attendent a tip when we got out of the car.When we came back to get the car it was right up front no wait. After that I always tip 1/2

up front and 1/2 after. As far as the buttler I gave him $100 the first day and told him thats for starters. Then another $100 two days in and so on. I found the service TOP SHELF I don't know if tipping up front had anything to do with it . I followed the 10 pd pp we had 6 people for 10 days so at the end Denny recieved $600 Well worth it . He took very good care of us. Many of partys and gusts at all hours and he was always there treating eveyone like he was there personal buttle. Great Job

[awatt]

What is a reasonable tip for the butler if you only have coffee delivered in the morning, -no meals, insuite dining or other services?

[shoreguy]

When do you tip? I read on another thread about pre-tipping (Shoreguy, I think). Is this common practice? How much and when? I worry about getting the tipping wrong. Dh says I worry too much. :D

 

I think you will find most of the butlers will not accept a pre tip. That has been my experience the last 3 times. I did provide a tip mid cruise for a party.

 

You can not get tipping wrong - What ever is right for you.

[shoreguy]

What is a reasonable tip for the butler if you only have coffee delivered in the morning, -no meals, insuite dining or other services?

 

Funny you should ask - last cruise I only had breakfast 2 days. Now the Butler did deliver treats twice each day and make sure the fruit was always fresh. I tried to tip the second to last day and he refused to take a tip since he felt he had not done enough. Answer - I made him bring lunch then still had to follow him down the hall and put the $100 in his pocket - go figure

[WHOCARES]

I was kinda doing the math here, if a Butler has 10 suites to look after. And the average tip is lets say is $100.00 per suite per week. 52 X $1000.00 is 52,000.per year plus there wage (I sure thats almost nothing). Now they don't work 52 weeks a year, and its 7 days a week 24/7. Its a hard job, but I sure in their country of orgin that goes a long way.

[awatt]

Funny you should ask - last cruise I only had breakfast 2 days. Now the Butler did deliver treats twice each day and make sure the fruit was always fresh. I tried to tip the second to last day and he refused to take a tip since he felt he had not done enough. Answer - I made him bring lunch then still had to follow him down the hall and put the $100 in his pocket - go figure

 

Thanks Jim. That was what we tipped last year for AM coffee only, and after reading the anove posts was thinking we had been too cheap.

[DaisyL]

Since NCL does not give an estimate for tips, I looked up suggested tipping for Celebrity and they recommend $3.50p/day-p/person. So for a 10 day cruise that would be $70 so I would round that up to $100. I will probably only get some breakfasts served.

 

Sorry, I need guidelines... what do I know how much their service is worth?

 

What do they do for small parties? Do you purchase food? I would definitely purchase bottles of wine but what about the non wine drinkers? Can I purchase beer? mixed drinks? And if I do decide to have a small party, I will tip extra; from what I've read here.

 

Thanks,

[markf]

I recently came back from the Jewel-and I feel differently--I called the butler 3 times during the week-and only gave him 20 dollars--I would have given him more if he gave us meals--he only brought snacks on a tray--like cake and sandwiches --I wasnt trying to be cheap but felt 5 dollars a visit would be reasonable--but maybe I was wrong--I gave the concierge 20 as well and she only made dinner reservations for me --

[jame_g]

We only tipped our butler $10 for the week for both of us, and we were hesitant to give him that much. Of course he ignored our requests and his routine duties for our cabin. We ended up having to contact the concierge in order to get our butler to do anything or to have him send another butler instead. (We also found out that when he should have been working he was sometimes partying and drinking in other suites.)

 

We did give the concierge and our cabin steward a nice tip for their attentiveness.

 

I think the tip should depend on how much you utilize their services, what you use them for, and the level of service received. And I'd like to see people's opinions based more on frequency of use. Giving the butler or concierge $100 for the week when you've only utilized their services a couple times seems a bit excessive to me, especially when I have to save my $$$ to cruise. I have worked in the service industry and depended on tips, so I think I have some understanding of a reasonable tip, but I like to stay in touch.

[CFD062]

Jame, what cabin were you in??

[CFD062]

correction...what stateroom were you in

[SRUTKO1226]

On our recent Dawn trip, our delighful butler, Carmen, refused a pre tip. She asked that we tip her at the end of the trip.

 

She brought us two dinners in our room. One from Cagneys and one from La Trotteria. She served them course by course and it was wonderful. She brought us breakfast 3 times and lunch once. She brought us a movie to watch one afternoon. She lugged our liquor from the gift shop on the last night:rolleyes: She brought food from the butler's menu and extra glasses and mixers for an informal party we had.

 

I thought about what that would have cost in a regular and fine dining restaurant at home and calculated a tip accordingly.

 

She also brought her lovely personality with her every time she entered our cabin. That was priceless. She has great plans for returning to her country and starting a business. We wish her the best of luck and good fortune.

[jame_g]

correction...what stateroom were you in

 

11506 (PoAm, 1/7/06)

 

Nice room, wonderful location. Terrific steward. (Bernadette)

[DaisyL]

She brought us two dinners in our room. She brought us breakfast 3 times and lunch once. She brought us a movie to watch one afternoon. She lugged our liquor from the gift shop on the last night:rolleyes: She brought food from the butler's menu and extra glasses and mixers for an informal party we had.

 

I thought about what that would have cost in a regular and fine dining restaurant at home and calculated a tip accordingly.

OK? The service you received seems like responses to reasonable and typical requests.

So what did you tip?

[lastingtouch]

I know we're discussing tipping but I want to give BIG kudos to Carmen too. We had her twice and she was the greatest. She brought us nice big plastic glasses everyday, popcorn and potato chips, had meals, snacks and a dinner party for 6 delivered, to order, on time. We gave her $200+ The crew works real hard and deserve it. When we're on vacation we want it to be memorable and Carmen made us feel special. :) di

[flyingpirate]

I was kinda doing the math here, if a Butler has 10 suites to look after. And the average tip is lets say is $100.00 per suite per week. 52 X $1000.00 is 52,000.per year plus there wage (I sure thats almost nothing). Now they don't work 52 weeks a year, and its 7 days a week 24/7. Its a hard job, but I sure in their country of orgin that goes a long way.

 

For example, if he/she were to work two full contracts, with the customary thre months off, that would be forty weeks a year, divide the months, weeks, days, hours, and those "extravagant tips" work out to a whopping $6.18 an hour. Add that to the probably less than minimum wage already being received, ah, yes, certainly a fortune............

 

Did you know that the butlers not only serve, but they have to collect and wash all the dishes and they have to keep the pantry and serving area spotless and ready, sort the linen for the laundry. No buspersons, no help. That butler is doing everything but cooking!

[markf]

I read in the celebrity cruise line brochure that 3.50 per day per person is the recommended tip for a butler-If they really expect 100 a week then the cruise line has to do a better job of explaining what is expected of them etc--In reality using a butler is not something most people are used to-especialy me--and I consider myself to be somewhat worldy

[Big Al B.]

I have a question concerning the concierge. In our case, we probably won't be worrying about dining reservations nor priority tendering. I really can't foresee using the services of the concierge much if at all. If we don't use them, is it proper not to tip? Or is there a minimum if we just use his services a minimum of times?