How much to give for "extra" tips?

[nevarez]

When one gets great service on a 7-day cruise, what is a reasonable "extra" tip amount that shows we appreciate the great service. I've read on some threads that people give extra tips above the $10/pp per day. We're leaving for a 7-day in a week and a half and would like to get ideas. I don't want to give an amount that's "insulting". Is there an unwritten standard that I should know about in case the crew has an expectation now since people seem to tip "extra" fairly regularly.

[dakrewser]

No extra tip would ever be considered "insulting." Still, we always consider that it takes service 'above and beyond' to earn something extra. Perhaps $2/day or so for cabin steward and DR steward, $1-$1.50 for asst. $1-2 for wine steward, etc. $2-3/day for the concierge(s) if in a suite.

 

But, again, only if they go beyond expectations. No one is expecting an extra tip, no one will make you feel bad should you not do so.

[Jemima]

I really do not think most passengers tip extra. If you do tip extra, the amount is up to you. Do not feel under any obligation to do so, but tip extra if you wish. We do usually give a moderate extra tip to one or more people.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We do tip extra to those who have made our cruises enjoyable ones and have really gone out of their way and pampered us.

 

It is a personnal matter as to how much you should (if you want to) give extra.

[caviargal]

We do tip extra to those who have made our cruises enjoyable ones and have really gone out of their way and pampered us.

 

.

 

 

So do we. In our case, that generally includes the Sommelier, the PG manager and staff and the ladies in the Neptune.

[fcorey]

This is really subjective. Tip based on how you feel your stewards performed. If they went above and beyond then tip what you feel they deserve. On our last trip I left our room steward an extra $5 per day or slightly higher. Our Pinnacle Grill server, whom we had once and requested again for our second visit with a group, was tipped $20-$30, but he and his assistant were VERY good. I think we tipped the DR staff about what "dakrewser" listed in his post. They were also very attentive and genuinely warm people.

[tomc]

Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't. After the auto-tip went into place, I started handing the cabin steward and waiter some green at the end because I think a little personal "thank you" encourages them for the next person.

 

If I can afford to pay $5,000 for a 7-day cruise, I can afford to slip them a ten. And if you think I pay five grand, you're as crazy as I am. Even so, those of us in the cabin next to the garbage compactor can afford a ten here and there.

[bankerbabe]

We handed out small thank you cards with cash tips on the last night of our Noordam cruise last month. I did not notice anyone else at our dining table handing out envelopes, though, so I think that we were the exception rather than the rule. Our room steward seemed genuinely surprised and grateful - either he is deserving of an Oscar or he really doesn't get an extra tip from everyone. I'm hoping our dear Noogie gets tips regularly and is just practicing for that Oscar.

 

That said, we tipped extra because we received service that we felt was above and beyond. We purchased the unlimited laundry service, so there were clothes almost every day for our room steward to remove, plus he was extremely friendly and always had a nice smile. We tipped him an extra $40 for our ten day cruise. It didn't seem like a lot to us.

 

We tipped the dining room steward and his assistant $40 each because some nights we ordered multiples of some of the courses and they were very quick about bringing us the second appetizer (or whatever) so that no one else had to wait. One night I was so thirsty that the poor guy had to fill my water three times before we even ordered, and he did it with a smile. Again, $40 each didn't seem like a lot of money, given the cost of the cruise and what we would have paid in tips on a land-based vacation.

 

And finally, we tipped the wine steward an extra $50 because he never once charged us a corkage fee, despite the fact that we brought our own wine every night. Again, considering the cost of the corkage fees would have been $150 for the ten nights, a $50 tip was a bargain.

 

Anyway, that is my long-winded tip rationale.

[TMJplus1]

I think this is a great question! On our 8-day Zuiderdam I was confused about how much extra to give. We heard of some people giving up to $100/ea. extra cash in tips to cabin steward, etc. We ended up giving an extra $20/ea. to our (fabulous!) cabin steward, $10/ea. to our dinner waiter and his assistant, and $10 to each of our "cabana boys" at HMC. We also tipped room service an extra $2 for each order. I have no idea if these were appropriate or considered paltry, but they were what I could afford and I did want to tip extra to those who I felt had served me well.

[MercedMike]

LOL -- how times change.

 

On our first two cruises on HAL, in the 70s, the policy was "No tipping!" Being young and carefree in those days we frequented the nightclub and the last night of the cruise tried to hand the server there $5, and he actually refused to accept it.

 

Then our next three cruises on HAL were the "tipping not required" days, which thoroughly confused everybody. By the end of those cruises we, like most other people, were tipping pretty much according to the standards of other lines.

 

Now, it is "automatic tipping." Our last two cruises the bulletin has carefully explained this is distributed among ALL the hotel staff. Consequently, we feel the ship has established the standard for tipping, and that is what they deserve and there is no need for anything additional. We are fighting strongly against any "EXPECTATION" of any additional tip!

 

As always, our rule for tipping is to tip according to service received. HAL has always emphasized EXCELLENT service and we feel that is what the automatic tip covers. Any extra tip we give is for TRULY OUTSTANDING service, far over and above simply excellent! When we do, we usually tip between $10 and $30 for the two of us to that outstanding server.

 

I strongly feel that if the pax will stick to this kind of thinking all will be fine. I urge everyone NOT to allow an "expectation" of any additional tip to develop!

[DrTee]

I always tip anyway. These people work hard for little money.

[sail7seas]

We have always received wonderful service on all HAL ships and we always tip above the automatic tip amount.

 

We always give something extra to the bartenders in Ocean Bar as we sit at their bar most every night and they take such good care of us. We always tip the Concierges, cabin steward and dining stewards. Always tips the stewards in Pinnacle and sometimes Maitre d'/Pinnacle Manager.

 

Each cruise there is someone else along the way we like to thank. It can vary from cruise to cruise who or what that position is but there is always someone who went far out of their way to do something special that made our cruise more enjoyable.

 

[May4]

In my opinion, the $10 auto tip makes a lot of sense and I support it. In the past, having the "ritual of the envelopes", I guess you could call it, gave us a last chance to express our appreciation and say good-by. I'm not ready to let that tradition go.

 

So here's what we do. On the last day, we like to give out several envelopes with thank you notes and cash gifts. We always remember our diningroom stewards, wine steward, and room steward, of course. But we also like to hand an envelope with a little "somethin', somethin' " to crew members who might be surprised to be remembered.

 

For example, recently we caught up with one of the delightful little ladies who sees to the ladies rooms and was always so nice, the fellow who brought stacks of towels to our hallway and worked so hard, the fellow in the Lido who brought the coffee refills in the morning (My motto: keep it coming!), the gentleman who worked in the Explorations Cafe during the long afternoon shift, and the YumYum man.

 

We have fun planning who to surprise on each cruise.:D

[tomc]

MercedMike --

I urge everyone NOT to allow an "expectation" of any additional tip to develop!

In October, a particular person in a certain position quickly knew my very-much-desired wish, smiled, joked about it and made sure I had it. He got the green handshake at the end. This April, another person was in that position and I had to ask every time, there was no smile, no recognition. No green handshake.

 

That's just one example.

[garydm]

It seems incredible how the automatic tipping has now become part of the "fare" and the expectation of tips beyond that is apparent. We are fairly low maintenance people, and on our last cruise we had an average cabin steward. I left the auto tip in place and at the end I gave him an extra $20. He looked insulted that it was so little.

 

Gary

[tomc]

At the end I gave him an extra $20. He looked insulted that it was so little.

I do much the same, when I think something extra is proper, but I let the cabin steward know it's extra and he's always been happy. He knows it's on top of the auto-tip.

[Spinner2]

We also do the "extra for outstanding service" that has been mentioned here, but I also start a couple of days before the end of the cruise to get my "notes" written about the outstanding people that have taken care of us on that cruise. I get a stack of the comment cards from the desk and do a separate note for each person that I want to write about. It's my understanding that the supervisors do share these notes with the named employee and that commendations may help influence promotions. Money is one way to show appreciation and I want to do that, but I think praise is important too.

 

On our last Noordam cruise the assistant dining steward, Komang, took over on Day 2 as the "temporary head steward" when the person in that position was taken ill and was out for the entire 11 days. Komang got some help from other staff, but mostly he was doing the job of two people and he did it so well. We could not have asked for better service. We found out on the last day that this was his very first cruise job ever, he'd arrived in NYC from Indonesia when this cruise started, had one evening meal service with a head steward, and then he was on his own. We made it a point to let everyone we could find in management know how much we'd appreciated the fine job that he did for us. Komang, you rock!

[Jade13]

Sometimes I do; sometimes I don't. After the auto-tip went into place, I started handing the cabin steward and waiter some green at the end because I think a little personal "thank you" encourages them for the next person.

 

If I can afford to pay $5,000 for a 7-day cruise, I can afford to slip them a ten. And if you think I pay five grand, you're as crazy as I am. Even so, those of us in the cabin next to the garbage compactor can afford a ten here and there.

 

Well, $5,000 for a couple would be about average for a 7 day in an outside cabin in Alaska. That is including the approx $800pp it would cost to fly to Anchorage in high season (from most other states).

[tomc]

Well, $5,000 for a couple would be about average for a 7 day in an outside cabin in Alaska.

Really? I was just joking and made up a figure. I have to take cheap cruises and book the cheap seats out of necessity. I have no idea what the costs are for outsides, verandahs, suites, etc. I should look.

 

Actually, I checked the Eurodam NE/C for next year for a b2b NYC-Montreal-NYC and near fainted. It was something like $4k for a single-share K/cat; way out of my income range. I settled for a r/t NYC-Carib-NYC at $1k.

[gratefulguy]

Another way to figure what an "extra" tip might be is to figure the "auto-tip" as a (mostly) standard 15% tip. If you want to increase this to equal a 20% tip for really good service, add 1/3 to the amount of the breakdown of the auto-tip. Since I haven't cruised on HAL yet, I don't know how they apportion the daily auto-tip amount, but some lines say that, (for example), $3.50 goes to the room steward. So you could add approx. $1.15 per day for excellent service.

On my last cruise (Princess), I put the extra amount inside a thank-you note I wrote and included the tear-off stub from the "Excellence" award card you could get at the Purser's Desk. This way the person knew his extra effort was not only appreciated, but also acknowledged that passengers are aware of the effect good service recognition has on employee retention and promotion.

It is all a matter of personal choice, but I also believe in showing respect to the people who do these jobs--they deserve "please" and "thank you" as much as the tip.

[Chivalrygirl]

It seems incredible how the automatic tipping has now become part of the "fare" and the expectation of tips beyond that is apparent. We are fairly low maintenance people, and on our last cruise we had an average cabin steward. I left the auto tip in place and at the end I gave him an extra $20. He looked insulted that it was so little.

 

Gary

 

Gary thanks for your level headed comments, no need for me to jump into the debate, everyone knows my thoughts on the American habit of tipping, not to mention those who go so far over the top with their one upmanship!

How did you enjoy your holiday in NZ and the break from the tipping regime ;)

Would love to hear about it sometime and wondering how I can contact you?

Val

[Opinions]

It seems incredible how the automatic tipping has now become part of the "fare" and the expectation of tips beyond that is apparent. We are fairly low maintenance people, and on our last cruise we had an average cabin steward. I left the auto tip in place and at the end I gave him an extra $20. He looked insulted that it was so little.

 

Gary

 

I agree...I wonder how long it will be until the cruiselines are "suggesting" how much the extra tipping should be plus the "automatic" tipping.

[MercedMike]

MercedMike -- In October, a particular person in a certain position quickly knew my very-much-desired wish, smiled, joked about it and made sure I had it. He got the green handshake at the end. This April, another person was in that position and I had to ask every time, there was no smile, no recognition. No green handshake.

 

That's just one example.

 

EXACTLY the way it is supposed to work. The auto tip covers doing an excellent job. Any extra tip is for an OUTSTANDING job!

 

:D

[MercedMike]

It seems incredible how the automatic tipping has now become part of the "fare" and the expectation of tips beyond that is apparent. We are fairly low maintenance people, and on our last cruise we had an average cabin steward. I left the auto tip in place and at the end I gave him an extra $20. He looked insulted that it was so little.

 

Gary

 

NO, I refuse to let it happen that way! Anyone who shows any "expectation" of tips beyond that not only will get NO tip, but he will get a negative comment on the comment card.

 

I have never gotten anything but effusive thanks from stewards and waiters, no matter how much, or even if, I tipped them. They have been unfailing polite. But, if you think your steward looked insulted -- that is why you use envelopes for tips!;)

[tomc]

Mike...

EXACTLY the way it is supposed to work. The auto tip covers doing an excellent job. Any extra tip is for an OUTSTANDING job!

Let me tell you, he was very surprised. I had the impression he was not used to being tipped, but he went above and beyond.