How much extra to tip for really excellent service, at end of Princess cruise?

[Jetswdo]

On Princess, we have had unusually good service from our wait staff and our room steward--- really nice people, hard working, and great service.  Yes we have paid into the premier package, but we like to tip a bit  extra in cash at end of cruise----

Does this sound right for the two of us? :  $200 for room steward, $200 for main waiter, $100 for his assistant, $50 for manager, and $25 for the hostess?  This is a 10 night cruise which ends in a couple of days. I certainly don't want to over or under tip.  Any guidance on this would really be appreciated.  Thanks in advance,  Anita

[1025cruise]

That's very generous. I'm not nearly as generous.

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, Jetswdo said:

On Princess, we have had unusually good service from our wait staff and our room steward--- really nice people, hard working, and great service.  Yes we have paid into the premier package, but we like to tip a bit  extra in cash at end of cruise----

Does this sound right for the two of us? :  $200 for room steward, $200 for main waiter, $100 for his assistant, $50 for manager, and $25 for the hostess?  This is a 10 night cruise which ends in a couple of days. I certainly don't want to over or under tip.  Any guidance on this would really be appreciated.  Thanks in advance,  Anita

Wow!  I don’t doubt the excellent service but I do think that might be over the top and completely unexpected.  I would think $50 is more than sufficient for each the room steward, waiter and assistant waiter and $20 each for the restaurant manager and the hostess.  
I doubt they will expect this but it is very kind of you.  Also remember that it is so important that you fill out your post cruise survey and list them by name.  
 

[memoak]

8 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Wow!  I don’t doubt the excellent service but I do think that might be over the top and completely unexpected.  I would think $50 is more than sufficient for each the room steward, waiter and assistant waiter and $20 each for the restaurant manager and the hostess.  
I doubt they will expect this but it is very kind of you.  Also remember that it is so important that you fill out your post cruise survey and list them by name.  
 

Sorry but I believe the amount of extra gratuities is really in the eye of the person tipping. We have often tipped a steward well over $100 on a two week cruise for out of this world service. It all depends on how beyond the ordinary they go. Same with bartenders who hold places at the bar for us and start mixing our drinks when they see us coming in

[Cruise Raider]

1 minute ago, memoak said:

Sorry but I believe the amount of extra gratuities is really in the eye of the person tipping. We have often tipped a steward well over $100 on a two week cruise for out of this world service. It all depends on how beyond the ordinary they go. Same with bartenders who hold places at the bar for us and start mixing our drinks when they see us coming in

You are right about tipping being very personal.  

[donaldsc]

49 minutes ago, Jetswdo said:

On Princess, we have had unusually good service from our wait staff and our room steward--- really nice people, hard working, and great service.  Yes we have paid into the premier package, but we like to tip a bit  extra in cash at end of cruise----

Does this sound right for the two of us? :  $200 ($50) for room steward, $200 for main waiter (we never have the same waiter so $0), $100 (same as waiter $0)for his assistant, $50 (manager is not staff but a supervisor so $0)for manager, and $25 ($0)for the hostess?  This is a 10 night cruise which ends in a couple of days. I certainly don't want to over or under tip.  Any guidance on this would really be appreciated.  Thanks in advance,  Anita

 

That is way more I would tip.  See my attached notes.  

DON

[memoak]

3 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

That is way more I would tip.  See my attached notes.  

DON

Again there is no right or wrong when it comes to tipping. As long as you pay the CA the extra is up to you. Every experience is different   How do you account for having bar space saved so you always have a place to sit, towel animals nightly, breakfast waiters who have your pot of tea ready when you walk etc. ?

[Treasure Hunter]

Those amounts are very generous. The closest we came to those amounts was a head waiter who supervised my husband’s meals and had them made to order ( a heart condition means no salt). And the head waiter saw us the last day and hugged and kissed us. Otherwise about half ( this is extra on top of the suggested daily gratuity) would be our choice. But you are right about the  kind, hardworking staff so you do what makes you feel good. 

[mrpayroll]

Do whatever makes you feel good. There is no right or wrong answer.

[So_Tweetie]

It is all relative to what you feel comfortable with and I certainly will not be the person to advise against good treatment of people who gave you great service.

 

That said, $10-$20 extra per day for an individual crew member seems steep. There have been <10 crew members in my 40+ cruises who I tipped this much because they moved mountains (icebergs?) for me during a sailing. 

 

Examples:

One bartender on a 15-day cruise made my coffee every morning and would greet me by name and have it waiting for me. He was also my bartender in the evenings when I switched from caffeine to vodka/sodas. One night he went out of his way to protect me from an overzealous pursuer, making sure I was escorted safely to my cabin after I made it clear to him I was uncomfortable.

 

An assistant restaurant manager gave me free use of a Sanctuary cabana for a half-day day so I could try out the experience before committing to the purchase of a full-day. He also found me in restaurants around the ship and checked in on my experience throughout the cruise.

 

Things like this, IMO, warrant above and beyond gratuities. For the most part though, I stick to $3-$6/day for good service. 

 

 

[reedprincess]

You're not out of line if you find that the service warrants it.

I've been on sailings where I've had a waiter that was exceptional, and on a 7 nighter, got $100 as an extra...and other sailings where they were as expected, and there wasn't really anything extra.

And other sailings where a maitre'd actually made the cruise - and made it clear what maitre'd were supposed to be doing, and got a lovely extra tip, and others where a maitre'd couldn't be found t the last night - nothing there.

All that ti say, if service was fab, and you can be generous - why not be generous? There's no right or wrong amount - just what you think is worthwhile to reward above and beyond - and your amounts don't sound outrageous or anything for a 10 night cruise at all.. 

Definitely be sure to name them in the survey.

And, if possible, name them on an Instagram message to Princess also, and the Princess FB page, along with any other social media outlets available - that goes a long way also...

Glad you had a fab crew!! 

[So_Tweetie]

30 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

 

if possible, name them on an Instagram message to Princess also, and the Princess FB page, along with any other social media outlets available - that goes a long way also...

 

I second this. Anytime I have reached out through social media platforms I get very good service, bordering on creepy. One time I mentioned a bad experience anonymously on Twitter and within 24hrs someone from the corporate office called my cellphone to fix it. I have no idea how they figured out who I am but they are apparently VERY in-tune with social media.  

[Bgwest]

Identifying staff you want to commend in the post cruise survey, and naming names (very important) is, I've been told, far more important to the individual crew member than cash. 

Of course, one can always do both!

[cruzsnooze]

I think more like $500 for each, you don't want to appear chinzie since you seem to have money to burn and want to show off.  

[memoak]

40 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I think more like $500 for each, you don't want to appear chinzie since you seem to have money to burn and want to show off.  

You obviously have never been a person who lived on tips especially in states where minimum wage is under $10 per hour. You really have no business talking about how someone tips. That is a private affair

[Leo37]

Tipping is very personal based on where in the world you're from, your financial means etc. If the service has been great and these amounts feels right for you, go for it. I don't think anyone would accuse these of being 'under' tipping or 'stingy'. Great to hear you've had such good service.

[Arizona Wildcat]

6 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Those amounts are very generous. The closest we came to those amounts was a head waiter who supervised my husband’s meals and had them made to order ( a heart condition means no salt). And the head waiter saw us the last day and hugged and kissed us. Otherwise about half ( this is extra on top of the suggested daily gratuity) would be our choice. But you are right about the  kind, hardworking staff so you do what makes you feel good. 

Agree.  We have no allergies and rarely ever interact with the maitre d thus rarely tip them extra.  Very personal.  You choose.

[cruisepest]

Jetswdo,

 

You are being very generous and no one could accuse you of under tipping.

 

One thing to remember is to slip them the tip in private and in cash, so they do not have to split the tips with the other crew. A few of the bar staff told us that.

 

In the old days onboard the crew would pool their tips together and split them up back when you got the little envelopes at the end of the cruise. My wife likes to give the special handshake and palm them with the cash now.

 

On one cruise our waiter Geraldo was bad. So bad after 25 years we still rembere his name. He seemed fine at first but he got worse as the cruise went on. (We would have moved tables now. This also was not on Princess.) He would be drunk or feeling no pain, unfreindly, he hit on some of the single women at the table during the cruise, told people they could not have more food ect.  He treated his poor assistant waiter like a dog. It got so bad on the last night all of us at the table took out the tips we were going to give him and gave him 1$. We then gave his tips and slipped them to the assiatant waiter who was excellent.   

 

 

[Mara4166]

Like most others, I think this is a bit too much, but if you feel the service is worth and you have the funds for it, then please tip as much as you want to.  We have tipped our room steward $40 for a 7 day cruise, the Sabitinis suite breakfast team $60 to split between all of them who have served us (there were 7-8 of them and the person serving us varied each day).  We have not really connected with the MDR staff on any cruise recently so have not tipped them, but we have tipped a really good waiter in the atrium who served us many drinks - I think we tipped him $20 or $30 for the week.  
 

Our additional tips may be a bit low, but Britain is not a big tipping culture and we are also aware of the Crew Appreciation being is in place as the ‘official’ tip for good service.  Whenever we have tipped they are very appreciative.  We will only tip someone who we feel has been excellent and made an effort at getting to know us (personal touch).

[enjoysailing]

I realise that extra tipping is a personal choice, so whatever you feel is right, go with it.

Myself, I have little calculations going on in my head, and feel it is a bit OTT. How many cabins does the steward service? If a fair few passengers do this kind of amount it could be $2000 in their pocket, quite a boost on the wage and share of tips already receiving for the 10 days. So for me it would be less.

Edited Wednesday at 09:00 AM by enjoysailing

[HaveDogWillTravel]

10 hours ago, memoak said:

How do you account for having bar space saved so you always have a place to sit, towel animals nightly, breakfast waiters who have your pot of tea ready when you walk etc. ?

Because Princess crew are, in my experience, some of the best.  There is no need to do anything but be pleasant, cheerful and enjoy their company to get exceptional service. I routinely get treated like this yet my upfront tipping is zero and my end of cruise additional tipping is usually modest.
 

I am a firm believer that tipping is a very personal affair. But I want to pipe in that in no way is tipping large sums of money either at the beginning or end of a cruise a requirement for exceptional service on Princess. That said I have occasionally tipped triple digits at the END of a long sailing when service was absolutely above and beyond the job title description.  

 

Edited Wednesday at 11:06 AM by HaveDogWillTravel

[nbsjcruiser]

12 hours ago, Jetswdo said:

 $200 for room steward, $200 for main waiter, $100 for his assistant, $50 for manager, and $25 for the hostess? 

Very generous. For us we obviously pay the gratuities up front  but if we feel the service has been quite good, we typically will tip an extra $20 to that person.

[chisoxfan]

I can only respond with a quote from the union steward when I was working over the summer in a steel mill and making what I thought was an exorbitant wage:

'Slow down college boy you are making us all look bad'.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

13 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

 I would think $50 is more than sufficient for each the room steward, waiter and assistant waiter

that's what we usually do as well on top of regular grats, if service has been outstanding. We do not tip the hostess or the manager.

[chill6x6]

14 hours ago, Jetswdo said:

On Princess, we have had unusually good service from our wait staff and our room steward--- really nice people, hard working, and great service.  Yes we have paid into the premier package, but we like to tip a bit  extra in cash at end of cruise----

Does this sound right for the two of us? :  $200 for room steward, $200 for main waiter, $100 for his assistant, $50 for manager, and $25 for the hostess?  This is a 10 night cruise which ends in a couple of days. I certainly don't want to over or under tip.  Any guidance on this would really be appreciated.  Thanks in advance,  Anita

I don't disagree with that.  10 days..$20/Day for steward. The waitstaff I'd probably do half that mainly because we woundn't be in the MDR every night.  If you are getting great service I see no reason not to tip as you feel though!