Silly Tip Envelope Question

[lishka]

Ok...having never sailed RCI before, I am not familiar with the tip envelopes.

We have two cabins - hubby and I in one and three kids are in the other.

Will we get five envelopes in total or 2 (one for each cabin??)

 

(Just curious...trying to get organized ahead of time...for a change!)

[FitzLA]

We just got one envelope for the 2 of us in our cabin. I would say just give 1 for each cabin. Enjoy!

[PhoenixCruiser]

We just got one envelope for the 2 of us in our cabin. I would say just give 1 for each cabin. Enjoy!

 

Agreed :) Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

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[Alexis]

Here is the tip calculator by CC tpkeller.

Fill in the number of nights + people, plus cruise line and it will tell you how much you are to tip all the personnel you get envelopes for.

http://cruisetip.tpkeller.com/

[negc]

We signed a form authorizing RCI to charge our tips to our Sea Pass account and we received one envelope for each staff person to be tipped and two vouchers for each attendant, one with my name on it and one with my wife's name. In most instances we added some cash to the envelopes because of the extraordinary service we received.:)

[DonnaK]

We received one envelop "set" per cabin, but since both cabins had the same stewards and wait team, we pooled the appropriate tips for 5 people (plus a little extra) into one envelop for each crew member and labeled each envelop from cabin 1388 and 1390.

[lishka]

Excellent idea, Donna K....

that would be easiest for sure!

Wait staff will be the same..not sure about the stateroom, though, as one cabin is a JS and one an inside...? They are close together (8588 & 8587) so should be the same staff??

 

Thanks so much, everyone!

[Duck111]

Tip ahead of time to ensure great service!!!!

[GuyFromCalifornia]

You can also go to Guest Services at any time if you would like to obtain some envelopes. This might be because there are additional people you want to tip or you might want to provide your tip earlier than the last evening.

 

(I was eating in some of the other restaurants onboard toward the end of my last cruise and wanted to provide my tip to the dining room waiter and other staff on the last day I ate there so I just got some extra envelopes in advance.)

 

Mark

[Alexis]

Excellent idea, Donna K....

that would be easiest for sure!

Wait staff will be the same..not sure about the stateroom, though, as one cabin is a JS and one an inside...? They are close together (8588 & 8587) so should be the same staff??

 

Thanks so much, everyone!

 

A JS does not request a tip any higher than a regular cabin. It is called a JS suite, but is not included in the suite categories that request a higher tipping amount. ;)

[cruisePRN]

Tip ahead of time to ensure great service!!!!

 

Sometimes this can backfire and the staff find it an insult.

[traveler/]

Tip ahead of time to ensure great service!!!!

We will tip our RA a little extra in the beginning for bringing us something like bigger ice bucket or another pillow etc. We make sure they know this is extra tip. We then tip according to procedure and some extra for above average service at the end.

At a hotel, we now tip daily to housekeeping and our service is always good. We don't wait until the end because the staff may be different. This way, they know we are tipping and our service is good the whole time.

[traveler/]

Sometimes this can backfire and the staff find it an insult.

Why?

We have good luck tipping for extra service or when service is rendered(room service or RA or bartender).

Sometimes a staffer may say, no tip is necessary, but they will accept if we explain we want them to receive it. They remember us for doing it, too.

[harry0]

Like Traveler, we always ask for the"bigger ice bucket" because the small one holds 8 ice cubes. When it comes we let him know how great the room is and we tip him. I never got anything but great service. Was it because of the tip? Who knows, they work thier butts off and deserve it.

Harry

[texasnana]

We prepaid our Tips in our price of the cruise. Will they get the tips then??

[TPKeller]

If you're at the same table at dinner, obviously you will have the same wait-staff. However, there is no way to know ahead of time if you will have the same cabin staff. It just depends on where their section boundaries are set, and I don't think you can find that out until you get there and meet the staff in person.

 

Ha ha...at this time, the tip calculator doesn't really handle that option! :) Probably won't ever!

 

Theron

[negc]

Tip ahead of time to ensure great service!!!!

It really doesn't ensure anything. We do not tip in advance and I don't know how our service could have been any better. If you tip in advance and don't get great service, other than reducing the final tip, how can you recover what you have already paid up front? Besides, if you tip up front and receive great service, how do you really know that it was because of the tip and not because you had a great room steward or dining room wait staff? I prefer to tip at the end and view the tip as an expression of gratitude for the great service I received, while some may consider an upfront tip is more in the line of a bribe or a demand for extra attention. Do what you want,but just don't think that an early tip guarantees anything