Tipping Question (other than on the ship)

[leela14]

Kind of a dumb question, but asking it anyway.

 

I'm trying to get a handle on who else is gonna need to be tipped aside from onboard. Whenever I've travelled to Europe before I just never paid any attention to it cause either my DH or my coworkers took care of it. I figure I should at least have a handle on it myself.

 

We are doing the pre-cruise package in Barcelona. So in the morning I guess we bring our bags to the lobby of the hotel, and they are put on the bus by the bus driver. I assume we tip him, but it's in euros, would it be one euro per bag? Per passenger? I have no idea.

 

Now when we get to the port - do we tip anyone there, or just walk right to the ship? I assume at this point we don't touch our bags - the bus driver gives them to the port guy, not sure if we need to tip again?

 

I always find the tipping confusing and I'll be honest, a little annoying. I'm so thankful for auto tipping/service charges onboard.

 

If there is anyone else we are supposed to tip, I'd love to know.

 

Are taxi drivers supposed to be tipped in Europe or is that just a North American thing? And do they take credit cards? I'm always shocked when cabs don't take credit cards. They all do here in Canada, but I haven't seen it elsewhere that I've been. We were shocked in Miami when we were taking a cab to the airport and ended up having to stop at an ATM because he didn't take credit cards.

 

TiA.

[BeachBumMama]

I'd say the bus driver you could tip after you get there. You'll be tipping him for putting your bags on and off the bus and giving the bags to porter if that's the case. If you have to get the bags and then go to a porter to load on the ship, you should tip the porter as well. I normally tip at least $2.00 per bag.

 

You should also take small bills to tip room service if you use it. And on most excursions they'll tell you... 'We do accept tips'. So you may or may not want to tip on your excursions.

 

As for cabs, I have to tell you, I haven't used one that took credit cards here in U.S., maybe they do but I just automatically use cash. I'm not sure in Europe.

 

And even though the tips are included (which is wonderful), we have always tipped a little extra, especially to the room stewards. Also, you might want to tip a little cash at a specialty restaurant, a favorite bartender, etc. That's all up to you. Personally, we always take about $200 in small bills of one's, fives, and tens for this purpose. And that includes tips for airport porters, cruise porters, cabs, and such also.