Tipping questions

[davethomasowns]

Hello all! Me and my girlfriend are leaving on the Miracle on March 6th and I had a couple last-minute tipping questions. I prepaid with the automatic gratuity when I booked, but I know there are some other tipping expenses. (BTW, search was still down so I couldn't find older threads whith undoubtedly exist)

 

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail?

2. How much do you tip if you order room service?

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise?

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion?

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping?

 

I know that it’s “give however much you feel their service was worth” and “depends on how well they did,” but I am looking for examples of how much you all tip. We are both 21-year-old college students and admittedly, we don’t know much about average gratuities.

 

Thanks in advance!

Shane A

[jleq]

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail?

$1/bag

2. How much do you tip if you order room service?

A couple of dollars

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise?

Waitstaff/steward covered by your autotip. But you might want to consider giving them $10-20. They generally work hard for you

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion?

$2

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping?

If you had a favorite bar server, you might want to give them $5-10 at the end of the cruise; if you wish, the same to the MaitreD

[skylock]

Hello all! Me and my girlfriend are leaving on the Miracle on March 6th and I had a couple last-minute tipping questions. I prepaid with the automatic gratuity when I booked, but I know there are some other tipping expenses. (BTW, search was still down so I couldn't find older threads whith undoubtedly exist)

 

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail? Zero usually, but for service more than just taking my bags, no more than $1 a bag.

2. How much do you tip if you order room service? $1-$2

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise? If they are VERY good $5-$10 same for room stewart otherwise just the auto tips

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion? $2 - $10 usually per person

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping? Possibly a favorite bar tender or server on the lido a few bucks. The deli guy got a few bucks from me last time. I loved him.

 

I know that it’s “give however much you feel their service was worth” and “depends on how well they did,” but I am looking for examples of how much you all tip. We are both 21-year-old college students and admittedly, we don’t know much about average gratuities.

 

Thanks in advance!

Shane A

 

A lot of people on here appear to be big tippers. I am not. I feel I am a fair tipper. I do not tip for service I do not receive and I will remove the auto tips for poor service. I only had to do that once, but it can happen.

 

Do not overextend your budget. Just give what you can comfortably afford to give.

[VentureMan_2000]

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail?

 

$1 per bag

 

 

2. How much do you tip if you order room service?

 

$1

 

 

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise?

 

You tip is automatically billed to your Sail & siagn card $10 per person, per day for all your TIPs while on board. Covers your wait staff and your cabeni steward.

 

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion?

 

Tough one... not sure I'd TIP anything... you already paid.

 

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping?

 

No one else. Bar Staff automatcally ad 15% to your bar tab for a TIP, so no need to give them more.

[cathyoo]

Don't think I'm a big tipper cause my budget is small but for me

 

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail?

$2/bag and rounded up -4 bags=$10

 

2. How much do you tip if you order room service?

A couple of dollars

 

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise?

Per couple - generally $20-25 head waiter, $15-20 assistant. Last cruise I turned that around because our assistant was better than our head waiter.

 

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion?

Depends on how many tour guides I need to tip on that excursion and how long the excursion was.. I generally plan on tipping at least 15% of the tour's cost, adjusted for the actual experience

 

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping?

Even though the tip is included in the cost of our drinks we add an additional dollar or two for each round. I only tip the Maitre'd about $2. My husband always tips his morning speciality coffee girl and we generally give an extra tip to our steward ($25-40) and assistant ($10-25) depending on length of cruise and service.

 

For me tipping is part of the cost of cruising. It is nice that you are trying to get a handle on this before you cruise. I know some people forget all about the tips since they incorporated auto tipping. Have an absolutely wonderful cruise.

[MrPete]

And just remember, just to make it easier as you go along, all these things will be fed to you along the way by either the cruise director, print outs, or the TV.

 

Relax! They do everything for you!

[dkb363]

We always give our room steward an extra $20 or so at the end, in addition to the tips automatically given. We do the same for our waiters - but we do this for good service. So far we've always had great service. We always tip tour operators, on a tour that costs about $150, I'll tip $20/25 for us. I just figure tips into the price of the tour when I book. We have never tipped the matre d because we have never used his services. If I used them, I'd tip him. I tip room service $2 per trip, I love the convenience and am willing to pay for it. But I'm a real softy - I know these workers live in poorer countries and save money for their families - so I give.

[Theresa522]

The day you leave is my 15th wedding anniversary. Wish I were going too!!

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[popsec]

Hello all! Me and my girlfriend are leaving on the Miracle on March 6th and I had a couple last-minute tipping questions. I prepaid with the automatic gratuity when I booked, but I know there are some other tipping expenses. (BTW, search was still down so I couldn't find older threads whith undoubtedly exist)

 

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail? $5 for 3 bags

2. How much do you tip if you order room service? $1 for just coffee and danish, $2 if we order sandwiches

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise? We only eat in the dining room a few times so maybe $10-15 for head waiter and $5 for asst....for really good service we'll tip more

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion?on a 3 or 4 hr tour we'd probably tip $15-25

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping? on an 8 day cruise cabin steward recieves $40, assistants $20 ea (on the last Fascination cruise there was an assistant in the mornin and a different one in the evening). We've also tipped a friendly bar waiter an extra $10

 

I know that it’s “give however much you feel their service was worth” and “depends on how well they did,” but I am looking for examples of how much you all tip. We are both 21-year-old college students and admittedly, we don’t know much about average gratuities.

 

Thanks in advance!

Shane A

 

These are just what we tip. We tip because we are fortunate enough to cruise and the crew makes it special

[BLUEROSEKY]

1. How much do you tip the guys who grab your luggage at the port before you set sail? We tipped $10 for 5 bags, we also used a porter after debarkation and tipped him $15 because he carted them all the way to the car for us and loaded them.

2. How much do you tip if you order room service? We tipped $5 each time

3. How much on average do you tip your waiters at the end of the cruise? $30 to our waiter and to our steward- They were awesome

4. How much do you tip a good tour guide that just took you on a great excursion? $30 we had a great guide and alot of fun

5. Who else do you guys also end up tipping? That was pretty much it.

 

 

I had budgeted for the tipping, I am a decent tipper as long as service is good. We had wonderful service on our cruise and excursions. Do what you can affordable do, and enjoy your cruise. You should have a blast.

 

Karen

[funship freddy]

I just take a wad of 50's and give them out liberally.

 

Call me crazy... but I get good service.

[Kurbanfan]

Porters get 1 to 2 dollars a bag.

 

Room service 2 dollars

 

Auto tips take care of great service. Sometimes we will give 20 dollars upon meeting our steward for extras. Only one time did we tip our steward at the end of a cruise. She went way above great service.......

 

Tours depends on how good they were. We normally don't do too many tours.

 

That's it. Bartenders and drink service get the auto 15% tip.

 

Good Luck!

[blessedwith12]

Do you usually leave your "extra" tips in a card (on the dining room table or in your room) or do you personally hand them the tip?

[VentureMan_2000]

"Extra" TIPs can be nicely handle by visiting the Purser's Desk and asking them for a couple gratuity envelopes.

 

Put cash in the envelope.

 

Then, typically, on the last night, you would hand the envelope to your table's head waiter when leaving... along with a handshake and thank you.

 

You would do the same for the Room Steward, if you decided to TIP extra for him. He will be hanging out in the Halls a bit more than usual the last evening... :D

 

For a Bar Tender that impresses you, you would be wise to Reward him early on, rather than later... you might get better drinks during the week. :)

[blessedwith12]

Thanks for the information. I'm leaving in 2 weeks on my first cruise. My daughters think I am going overboard trying to figure out all the details!. Just don't want to embarass myself or them by being clueless.:D

[DaveC426913]

$1-$2 per preson per service eh?

 

That might explain why, when I gave the dive leader on the dive trip a $10, he did a little jig for me...