Tipping for excursion guides.

[gailellen12]

For an 8 hour excursion?  For a four hour or less excursion?  Thanks in advance 

[Harters]

I suppose this much depends on the country, many of which will generally have a low/no tip culture. I come from one such culture so my instinct is not to tip at all (unless I was visiting somewhere heavily influenced by American tipping culture, such as the Caribbean). FWIW, we did a ship's excursion from Vista in Monaco earlier in the year. I had not intended to tip and, when the trip finished, the guide had walked away from the bus, clearly not waiting for anyone to tip her which, as far as I could see, no-one did. 

Edited September 20 by Harters

[PelicanLvr]

Speaking from the "American tipping culture" (see post above), I feel blessed and so lucky to live surrounded by 1st world problems such as how much to tip a cruise tour guide.

 

It is my pleasure to share a few dollars per person with a good guide who helps make a tour a good experience especially in a less fortunate location.

 

I generally give $5-10 per person based on the duration of the tour, quality of the guide etc.

 

I go to my bank at home and bring lots of small bills ($1, $5, $10) and reward excellent service both on the ship and in port.

 

It costs so little (from our perspective) to make someone's day!

 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

7 hours ago, gailellen12 said:

For an 8 hour excursion?  For a four hour or less excursion?  Thanks in advance 

As Harters said, it depends on location. Caribbean...$5 pp half-day, $10 pp full day. Japan...please do not insult your guide by even appearing to want to tip.

[ORV]

Also for me it's determined whether we are on a small private tour or a bus full of people. 

[sunlover12]

To add to AMHuntFerry's comment, French Polynesia is another country where it would be insulting to them to offer a tip. 

[gailellen12]

Our  cruise is mostly Europe and UK. 

[goletans]

It's a good idea to research "Tipping" for the countries you will visit. Mr Google should be able to help with this. 

[PhD-iva]

22 hours ago, PelicanLvr said:

Speaking from the "American tipping culture" (see post above), I feel blessed and so lucky to live surrounded by 1st world problems such as how much to tip a cruise tour guide.

 

It is my pleasure to share a few dollars per person with a good guide who helps make a tour a good experience especially in a less fortunate location.

 

I generally give $5-10 per person based on the duration of the tour, quality of the guide etc.

 

I go to my bank at home and bring lots of small bills ($1, $5, $10) and reward excellent service both on the ship and in port.

 

It costs so little (from our perspective) to make someone's day!

 

 

Thank you for your response. I so heartily agree.

And, I appreciate the advice that in some countries it would be an insult to tip the guide. I'll be in Japan in April 2025, so AMHuntFerry, thanks for that "tip"!

[Harters]

17 hours ago, gailellen12 said:

Our  cruise is mostly Europe and UK. 

You'll find that different European countries have different attitudes towards tipping generally. There's sound advice, at post #8, to research the particular countries you're visiting.

 

Please bear in mind also that the UK is a European country and not something separate from the others (except that we are one of the 17 countries in Europe that are not members of the Union). 

[Techno123]

The other thing to research is the currency to use. In some countries where inflation is rampant, guides etc prefer a more stable currency like the euro (or even the dollar 😁) but in countries with a strong currency and low inflation then they often prefer to be tipped in their own currency

[alcpa1]

We base our tipping on the quality of the guide and driver. If we are pleased with their services, in the appropriate ports, we tip from $ 5.00 pp to $50.00 pp depending on the length and quality of the tour.

In August we declined to tip (in Europe) when we had a very poor guide and an even worse driver who locked the back door of the bus and met each passenger with tip jars in hand at the front steps. Every passenger on the bus went immediately to the Shore Excursions desk to note their dissatisfaction. 

[IDL]

On 9/21/2024 at 4:45 PM, Techno123 said:

The other thing to research is the currency to use. In some countries where inflation is rampant, guides etc prefer a more stable currency like the euro (or even the dollar 😁) but in countries with a strong currency and low inflation then they often prefer to be tipped in their own currency

We took a Scandinavian cruise, which was bus tours, and tipped the guide and driver in US$ and everyone was thankful; was not going to carry a number of different currencies just for tipping. 

[Techno123]

36 minutes ago, IDL said:

We took a Scandinavian cruise, which was bus tours, and tipped the guide and driver in US$ and everyone was thankful; was not going to carry a number of different currencies just for tipping. 

Remind me to tip in UK pounds when I come to the US then - I'm sure the people concerned will be thrilled 😳

 

By doing this you are passing the inconvenience and expense of converting currency from you to the person you are tipping. It would be rude not to be thankful and guides are not going to say 'no thank you, have you got any krone/krona/euros' but you'll leave guides/drivers with cash they can't readily use without paying high fees on currency exchange.

 

Of course there are some countries where people prefer to receive £/$/€ as inflation is so high that the local currency quickly loses its value - Scandinavia is not one of those places.

[IDL]

20 minutes ago, Techno123 said:

Remind me to tip in UK pounds when I come to the US then - I'm sure the people concerned will be thrilled 😳

 

By doing this you are passing the inconvenience and expense of converting currency from you to the person you are tipping. It would be rude not to be thankful and guides are not going to say 'no thank you, have you got any krone/krona/euros' but you'll leave guides/drivers with cash they can't readily use without paying high fees on currency exchange.

 

Of course there are some countries where people prefer to receive £/$/€ as inflation is so high that the local currency quickly loses its value - Scandinavia is not one of those places.

You are certainly welcomed to do whatever you like and entitled to your opinion but it’s rude to criticize others. I’ll be glad to take your UK pounds with no issue. 

[osandomir]

7 hours ago, Techno123 said:

Remind me to tip in UK pounds when I come to the US then - I'm sure the people concerned will be thrilled 😳

 

By doing this you are passing the inconvenience and expense of converting currency from you to the person you are tipping. It would be rude not to be thankful and guides are not going to say 'no thank you, have you got any krone/krona/euros' but you'll leave guides/drivers with cash they can't readily use without paying high fees on currency exchange.

 

Of course there are some countries where people prefer to receive £/$/€ as inflation is so high that the local currency quickly loses its value - Scandinavia is not one of those places.

It’s all relative. Some times tipping in other currencies, like your example with British pounds, has more value. And some don’t give any tips at all. The people in hospitality are used to receive tips in different currencies. They know how to exchange money and appreciate tips whatever the currency is.