How much do you tip?

[PaulC29]

Depends on the individual - I'll do $20 for a 7 night but some might just keep the auto tips and give nothing more. Of all the cruises I've done (none on Princess so far) I've always wondered what percentage don't attend the final night in the MDR due to that being when most give the "extra" $$$ tip. Don't want to be the only ones at the table not to give "something" extra. 

Also love to hear how some staff change their stories in hopes to increase tips.

[Nebr.cruiser]

We usually tip the room steward about $20 pp if they do a good job.  

 

Normally we don't eat at the same table or have the same waiter every night, but if we do have the same quite often and they are good, we will tip $20 or so to the waiter and assistant waiter at the end of the cruise.

 

We always leave the auto tips on.

[wowzz]

19 minutes ago, PaulC29 said:

Depends on the individual - I'll do $20 for a 7 night but some might just keep the auto tips and give nothing more. Of all the cruises I've done (none on Princess so far) I've always wondered what percentage don't attend the final night in the MDR due to that being when most give the "extra" $$$ tip. Don't want to be the only ones at the table not to give "something" extra. 

Also love to hear how some staff change their stories in hopes to increase tips.

With DMW you can't be sure of eating in the same dining room each night, let alone at the same table with the same staff, so there is no reason to avoid going to the MDR on the last night. 

On our last 14 day cruise,  we never once had the same wait staff,  and saw no reason to tip any of them. 

[pris993]

15 hours ago, trbarton said:

On my last year in December I brought 3 bags of See’s Candy in my carry on. One for the room steward & 2 for the wait staff. They were surprised & enjoyed the thought. 
 

Tom😀

Going on a holiday cruise this year, plan to do something similar.  

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, pris993 said:

Going on a holiday cruise this year, plan to do something similar.  

Plus cash I trust !

[pris993]

9 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Plus cash I trust !

Of course, comes without saying for me. 

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, pris993 said:

Of course, comes without saying for me. 

I'm sure you do, but strangely some people thing that the crew prefer sweeties, or fridge magnets etc as opposed to good old cash !

[memoak]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

With DMW you can't be sure of eating in the same dining room each night, let alone at the same table with the same staff, so there is no reason to avoid going to the MDR on the last night. 

On our last 14 day cruise,  we never once had the same wait staff,  and saw no reason to tip any of them. 

On our cruise in April had many different servers in club class so we have tips to the restaurant host to parse out among staff they were all brilliant 

[shiner6]

We always carry extra cash in order to tip for exceptional service. We never consider not adding additional tips to the automatic gratuities.  The cost of gratuities are actually part of the cruise cost IMHO. I wish the companies would list them up front instead of playing name games with add-ons.  We are not wealthy, however, we appreciate the care and services we receive while onboard and genuinely love to see the recipient's reaction when we show our gratitude. I think because of my occupation (RN for 48 years), I am empathetic and ever so grateful to have someone take care of me for a change, that tipping is the least I can do.  On all of my cruises, I come back refreshed and renewed to come into contact with such caring people.

[BuckeyeMark]

5 minutes ago, shiner6 said:

We always carry extra cash in order to tip for exceptional service. We never consider not adding additional tips to the automatic gratuities.  The cost of gratuities are actually part of the cruise cost IMHO. I wish the companies would list them up front instead of playing name games with add-ons.  We are not wealthy, however, we appreciate the care and services we receive while onboard and genuinely love to see the recipient's reaction when we show our gratitude. I think because of my occupation (RN for 48 years), I am empathetic and ever so grateful to have someone take care of me for a change, that tipping is the least I can do.  On all of my cruises, I come back refreshed and renewed to come into contact with such caring people.

This is so good.  It's about grace and gratitude. It's about being glad to say "thank you" with something a little extra for someone who is doing more than is expected. And that is how you come back refreshed and renewed ... I've been pampered and treated to a high level of care and I am soooo grateful for it!  It's the opposite of entitlement or compulsion.  Well said!

[Ombud]

On 5/10/2022 at 10:11 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

@sirclean I am not sure that incident was an outlier, but on all of my 4 post COVID cruises had an Elite/Suite line. 

Same here but I've only cruised 3 times post covid (so far)

18 hours ago, trbarton said:

On my last year in December I brought 3 bags of See’s Candy in my carry on. One for the room steward & 2 for the wait staff. They were surprised & enjoyed the thought. 
 

Tom😀

👍I can't find those individual bags of macademia nuts so I'm back to dove chocolates or Ghirardelli squares. Not my favorite (milk chocolate caramels) as I'm not doing carry on (bottle wine as ..... like I said 'I'm cheap') and those won't pack well.

[cr8tiv1]

7 hours ago, Ombud said:

 

👍I can't find those individual bags of macademia nuts so I'm back to dove chocolates or Ghirardelli squares. Not my favorite (milk chocolate caramels) as I'm not doing carry on (bottle wine as ..... like I said 'I'm cheap') and those won't pack well.

[Ombud]

25 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Where do you get them?

[cr8tiv1]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Where do you get them?

 

Silly question....of course, in Hawaii  !  They don't melt like chocolate and comes in different flavors.  This is why I can never travel with a carry on.  On this last 25 day cruise, I had 50 packets and 4 cans, along with an assortment of Mac Nut chocolates.  I come prepared.  

[Ombud]

Just now, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Silly question....of course, in Hawaii  !  They don't melt like chocolate and comes in different flavors.  This is why I can never travel with a carry on.  On this last 25 day cruise, I had 50 packets and 4 cans, along with an assortment of Mac Nut chocolates.  I come prepared.  

I meant store name

[cr8tiv1]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

I meant store name

 

Any store in Hawaii carries them. ABC Stores, Walmart, Target, CVS (aka Longs Drug Store), but I would guess difficult to find off island.  It really isn't worth shipping you some.  Cost would be prohibitive.  

 

 

[Ombud]

Sticking to what I'm doing: $$s + individually wrapped chocolates

[pris993]

14 hours ago, PaulC29 said:

Depends on the individual - I'll do $20 for a 7 night but some might just keep the auto tips and give nothing more. Of all the cruises I've done (none on Princess so far) I've always wondered what percentage don't attend the final night in the MDR due to that being when most give the "extra" $$$ tip. Don't want to be the only ones at the table not to give "something" extra. 

Also love to hear how some staff change their stories in hopes to increase tips.

Best story I ever heard was from a cabin steward.  Told us about 3 days before our cruise was to end, he was leaving the ship the next day, being transferred to another ship at next port.   We thought the story was strange.  Don't know what happened but she was there till the end, and we gave her the extra tip money on the last day.   We wondered if this was a ploy to get us to tip her early??

 

[brisalta]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

Where do you get them?

 

https://www.maunaloa.com/products/new-honey-roasted-packs-05oz

 

https://www.maunaloa.com/pages/where-to-buy

 

Mauna Loa also has an Amazon store front.

Edited May 12, 2022 by brisalta

[caribill]

What applies to Europe in the following paragraph should also apply to cruise ships.

 

Don’t Overtip

 

The widespread tipping culture of the United States hasn’t yet got much of a foothold in Europe. While adding 10% onto your bill will be appreciated, there’s no need to go wild. Each country’s slightly different, so do your homework and find out what the norm is. Rounding up a taxi fare and sticking with the service charge that’s already on your bill in a restaurant – that’s likely to be enough.

 

source of this paragraph:

https://www.thediscoverer.com/blog/5-mistakes-to-avoid-on-your-first-trip-to-europe/XvHyVpKgiwAG5amU?utm

 

[Charleyben]

Well I like to arrive on the first day with my barrow load of cash to ensure that all the staff and crew are properly tipped in addition to their wages and other perks.

 

Everyone mentions the cabin steward, waiters and other dining room staff but I always seek out the more deserving.  Those staff who maintain the plumbing , electrics and general maintenance all receive my appreciation.

 

The painting crew up on deck also receive my consideration however I did once withhold the gratuity when I saw a painter miss a bit.  No mention on here of the ship's cat.  What do you think the reason is for the ship not being overrun by vermin.  Toddles definitely warrants a bowl of milk each day and I also bring on a few worming tablets as I understand that they are not easily obtainable on board.

 

i always take care of the robotic barman and ensure that he has the latest software updates.

 

it's lovely to see how many of the ships crew turn up outside my cabin on the last to wish me well.  I obviously hand out any remaking cash at this point and increase the auto gratuities at reception before it is too late.

 

My wife has suggested that I may wish to reconsider the amount that I tip and that we could afford another cruise.  

 

I will have none of it.

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Silly question....of course, in Hawaii  !  They don't melt like chocolate and comes in different flavors.  This is why I can never travel with a carry on.  On this last 25 day cruise, I had 50 packets and 4 cans, along with an assortment of Mac Nut chocolates.  I come prepared.  

Wouldn't it just be easier to give out cash !

[majortom10]

I can just imagine the cabin steward returning to his suite 😀 after a hard days work  struggling to open his door with the pile of Mac Nut chocolates, sweets and fridge magnets. Cash is king.

[cruiseypop]

 I've been on a lot of cruises and I've only ever tipped 3 types of people.  The room service person once and the casino cocktail server when midway through the cruise when I start getting free drinks (because I've gambled a lot).  I've tipped each $1.   Oh... and I tipped the porter at the pier $5 for our two bags.  I typically don't get room service and drink about 5 free drinks in the casino, so I guess my total tip per cruise averages about $10 in total.  So, I haven't really tipped at all and no one has really asked or given me the stink eye for not tipping.  Even when I dined at the Crown Grill, I asked once and the server said it was included in the cover charge, so no tip was necessary.  

[cr8tiv1]

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

Wouldn't it just be easier to give out cash !

What makes YOU think I do not also give cash?