RCCL Excursion Gratuities

[Jbluebird]

We have several excursions booked through RCCL.  Do you typically tip the drivers and tour guides for the excursions?  And if so, what is the usual amount?  We haven't cruised in many years so I just wanted to get a sense of the going rate. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

[orville99]

13 minutes ago, Jbluebird said:

We have several excursions booked through RCCL.  Do you typically tip the drivers and tour guides for the excursions?  And if so, what is the usual amount?  We haven't cruised in many years so I just wanted to get a sense of the going rate. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

With very few and rare exceptions, no.

[Cruise5life]

Yes i tip.  Depending on the excursion.  From 5-10 bucs to guide and a few bucks to driver.  

[1025cruise]

I usually tip a $5. As far as I'm concerned, the driver and tour guide can split it.

[Tatka]

We rarely go on RCI excursions and for the most part we do not tip.

[SG65CB]

When they drive us around the Caribbean island and I see the housing I get the idea they can use the $10 a lot more than I can. 

[moposh]

I do tip on the most part.  Maybe $5.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, SG65CB said:

When they drive us around the Caribbean island and I see the housing I get the idea they can use the $10 a lot more than I can. 

That's why they take the routes that they do.😇

[AC Stew]

Jbluebird: Good question and diplomatically phrased.

 

If you are pleased with your tour experience, of course, you should tip! Tours are obviously contracted out to local tour operators. Your driver and guide are back at work after a long Covid shut down. While they shouldn't actively solicit your gratuity, you can be darned sure that they'll appreciate you giving it!!

 

FYI: If it's a fairly basic tour day on a bus, we'll typically tip $5 pp. for the guide and a couple of bucks to the driver. Although, I'm guessing that the guide would probably give a portion of her tips to the driver.

[moposh]

35 minutes ago, orville99 said:

That's why they take the routes that they do.😇

When I went to Labadee years ago, we did a tour.  It was basically the tour guide telling us a hard luck story.  

[Cherful59]

Driver $5. - $7.  Tour guide $5 - $15.  Depends on how informative, helpful, and/ or interaction and length of tours. 

[LynnTH]

Jumping on this.  We have a Land & Sea Tour on our European Cruse.  Booked through RCCL. Cost was $150 per person.  At first I was thinking 20% but now thinking that may be a bit much.  (there is 7 of us going in our group).

[NightOne]

5 hours ago, Jbluebird said:

We have several excursions booked through RCCL.  Do you typically tip the drivers and tour guides for the excursions?  And if so, what is the usual amount?  We haven't cruised in many years so I just wanted to get a sense of the going rate. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

 

Always.

 

I don't tip with ones or fives. Not virtue signaling like some cheapo is going to accuse me of on this post but rather just telling the truth.

 

As always, you are free to do as you wish.

 

[NightOne]

5 hours ago, orville99 said:

With very few and rare exceptions, no.

 

Need that money to bid from GS to OS I take it? 😞

[pcur]

I tip $5 to each of them.  The driver, who kept me safe on the roads, definitely deserves a tip.  Plus, I thank him for keeping us all safe as I hand it to him.

[orville99]

25 minutes ago, NightOne said:

 

Need that money to bid from GS to OS I take it? 😞

Nope, just don’t believe that after paying inflated prices to take an excursion that there is any need to pay the people hired with our payments anything additional to do the job we paid them to do in the first place.

[atxcarter]

Yes, we generally tip $20 per tour (for reference, there is usually 4 in our party - 2 adults, 2 kids).

[AC Stew]

30 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Nope, just don’t believe that after paying inflated prices to take an excursion that there is any need to pay the people hired with our payments anything additional to do the job we paid them to do in the first place.

 

Appalling statement. I suppose then, that you don't tip your servers in a restaurant, even if the service was good? There's no difference here. If you think that the tours are overpriced, then you should not book them. Do some research and book your own tours which I often do, and there can be a very significant cost savings. Even with a tip!

 

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, AC Stew said:

 

Appalling statement. I suppose then, that you don't tip your servers in a restaurant, even if the service was good? There's no difference here. If you think that the tours are overpriced, then you should not book them. Do some research and book your own tours which I often do, and there can be a very significant cost savings. Even with a tip!

 

You are certainly entitled to your own opinion, but I am under no obligation to give it any sunlight.

[time4u2go]

No, not usually.

[nzdisneymom]

We usually do, but how much varies based on how long the tour was and what it involved.  And that's whether we book through the cruiseline or book a tour independently.

[latebuyer]

Thanks for this post. I forgot about tipping and as a canadian will have to make sure to have some small US bills handy. I think the amount i tip may depend on what i thought of my guide.

[Mum2Mercury]

In general, we avoid ship-sponsored excursions /use private vendors.  We have always been very happy with our private vendor tour guides and tip them about 10% of the cost of the excursion.  

 

In contrast, the few ship-sponsored excursions we've used have been large groups shepherded by lackluster tour guides who put in the minimum amount of effort.  We typically do not tip them.  

[goldfish65]

$5-$10 typically. That's not a lot of money. I feel they appreciate any tip, as it's voluntary; they realize no one has to give them anything.

[Mapleleafforever]

All part of of the total cost of the tour in my opinion. Usually 5 bucks per person for us for ship excursion. 

 

For private tours it's more.