Excursion Tipping???

[CocoKai]

We are headed out next week and I want to make sure I do the right thing. I have booked private excursions (non cruise ship related) in Juneau and Ketchikan. Juneau is whale watching/fishing at $160/pp and Ketchikan is plane and bear watching at $400/pp. What would be an appropriate tip for these excursions? There are seven of us. Should I just tip the owner of the excursion and let them divide it out to their employees? The total tab is about $1600 for one and $3200 for the other. I hate tipping!!!! I'd rather have it included in the cost. Thanks so much for any direction you can give us.

[Pssunshinegal]

We are headed out next week and I want to make sure I do the right thing. I have booked private excursions (non cruise ship related) in Juneau and Ketchikan. Juneau is whale watching/fishing at $160/pp and Ketchikan is plane and bear watching at $400/pp. What would be an appropriate tip for these excursions? There are seven of us. Should I just tip the owner of the excursion and let them divide it out to their employees? The total tab is about $1600 for one and $3200 for the other. I hate tipping!!!! I'd rather have it included in the cost. Thanks so much for any direction you can give us.

 

I tip the individual people. On the bear trip my tip would be dependent on how many bears I saw and whether I felt they went the extra mile to make sure that I got the most for my money. On fishing trips, I do tip the captain if we get our full limit and the size of the fish. I tip the deck hand that does a lot of work as far as keeping the back of the boat free of "fish guts" and hauling the fish to the processor, etc. On one trip the captain did all the fileting, so I tipped him for that because it was cheaper than what the processor would have charged.

 

Our bear trip was a several overnight trip and I think 1700/each (Hallobay). I did not tip the pilot. I tipped the camp cook and our private guide, but not the owner. Hope this makes sense.

 

Janice