Gifts for the Crew

[5waldos]

In addition to tips, people often talk about things they want to bring for their crews. I have two suggestions- your seasick medications (we left a jar of ginger pills and also some Bonine- they get sea sick too! In fact the first morning out we met many staff who looked far greener than we did!). Also, information about frequent flyer programs. I was very surprised to discover that the staff we talked to knew nothing about these programs despite that fact that they fly trans-Pacific once a year often for many years. It takes about 3 round trips to earn a free ticket. Bringing information would be very useful and on our next cruise I will go supplied with info from the major carriers to leave.

[eco]

They like the tips the best though! Make it fun and leave the tip along with a towel animal you made for them on the last day (just go to the towel animal making demo during the cruise).

[Putterdude]

I agree, we have done the phone card and the Walmart card thing but at the end of the day it is the cash that they most appreciate and it is easy to pack.;)

[5waldos]

I absolutely agree about the money but did find that leaving the seasick pills brought some grateful thanks. In fact we went around offering them one rather rough night when some of the new crew were looking less than stable. I was offering these additional suggestions in place of the tee shirts and local hats that some have recommended.

[excited_cruiser86]

A friend of mine who is a frequent cruiser also mentioned bringing along some of those chocolate gold coins. He would always keep them on him and the staff and crew got a kick out of them. After giving these to his usual bartender for a few days (along with a monetary tip, of course) the bartender starting 'forgetting' to charge him for drinks. Remember, alot of these people are away from home for long periods of time and a nice gift can help to brighten their day.

[eco]

I absolutely agree about the money but did find that leaving the seasick pills brought some grateful thanks. In fact we went around offering them one rather rough night when some of the new crew were looking less than stable. I was offering these additional suggestions in place of the tee shirts and local hats that some have recommended.

 

Wasn't knocking your ideas at all, in fact I think they are great, but you know some around here will think that it is ok to remove the gratuities from the S&S account and then just leave a couple of Dramamine. Anything you do extra for the crew (after tipping) is greatly appreciated.

[Livin4Real]

We take money and do some money origami type things with it. It looks cool and it's something they can use. Our last steward loved it :)

 

http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/

[5waldos]

We take money and do some money origami type things with it. It looks cool and it's something they can use. Our last steward loved it :)

 

http://members.cox.net/crandall11/money/

 

origami money for origami towels- that is a cool idea.

[Cotton]

5Waldos - Your information for the crew is a good service to them. I doubt many of them know about it.:)

 

And to think...I only leave mini packs of M&Ms and a coupla bucks every day (in addition to the auto tips of course). Never tees or gifts from home.

 

I like your idea very much! I'm sure you won't mind my borrowing it next cruise.:)

[MrSegway]

I can tell you that many of the service staff simply appreciate ANYHING due to the fact you are noticing them and not taking them for granted. On one of our early cruises we came across one of those 3 for $10 T-shirt shops and we bought $20 worth. We've given them to the dining staff at the end of the week. Once we gave one to our bar tender in one of the clubs. She thanked us both as tears came to her eyes. The next day she told us when she finally got to her room that night she simply stood in front of the mirror and wore the shirt. She said no one had ever given her anything before. :(

 

I think the money is good idea as well as these guys are trying to scrape and save for their families (of course I'm talking in addition to the normal S&S gratuity fee).

 

Bottom line is these guys are a long way from home. And they work hard and long hours to make your trip enjoyable. And yes they sometimes make a mistake. So a little appreciation and encouragment goes a long way.

[Tbay-eh]

Whenever we hit a port I would ask our steward if there was anything he wanted picked up, I was surprised when most of them said "Good chocolate" not the little minty things they leave on our pillows. They said they take it home for their families. I would get some high end chocolate or whatever they requested. Within reason of course. I would also leave any non-prescription meds (tylenol, bronine, cold pills etc) one steward said that they only have access to generic brands and some of the name brands work much better. And this was above and beyond the autotips and the extra tip I would normally give them.

[Frick_&_Frack]

We also ask if there is anything specific the room stewards or waiters would like if we are going outside. Sometimes they remark on something we have (like candy or such in the cabin - and I'll always find some for them) ;)

 

One the cruise we just completed, our assistant waiter loved my bag that had all sorts of keychains on it - specifically the small DelSol bear keychain. I picked one up for her at a port and she was in tears over it. Such a small thing really....but she couldn't believe I remembered that she commented on the first night of the cruise that it was so cute - and then found it on the second to last day.

 

Of course, nothing is taken away from auto-tip nor extra cash....this is always just something personal to show that the crew members who we got to know meant something special to us.

[KingofSomewhereHot]

I once left 3 bottles of insulin for my room steward...

[5waldos]

I once left 3 bottles of insulin for my room steward...

 

I am certain he was very grateful!:D How did you do?

[5waldos]

5Waldos - Your information for the crew is a good service to them. I doubt many of them know about it.:)

 

And to think...I only leave mini packs of M&Ms and a coupla bucks every day (in addition to the auto tips of course). Never tees or gifts from home.

 

I like your idea very much! I'm sure you won't mind my borrowing it next cruise.:)

 

Don't mind at all- and I think M&Ms are a nice touch. I was surprised to realize that they didn't know- I will tell you that Pacific Islanders know about FF miles! We were talking with one guy who had worked on the ship for 15 years- back and forth across the Pacific at least 15 times and not a mile to be had for it:eek: He could have traveled first class- especially since the needed miles are often less if you residence is in Asia.

[Wolfie48]

In addition to tips, people often talk about things they want to bring for their crews. I have two suggestions- your seasick medications (we left a jar of ginger pills and also some Bonine- they get sea sick too! In fact the first morning out we met many staff who looked far greener than we did!). Also, information about frequent flyer programs. I was very surprised to discover that the staff we talked to knew nothing about these programs despite that fact that they fly trans-Pacific once a year often for many years. It takes about 3 round trips to earn a free ticket. Bringing information would be very useful and on our next cruise I will go supplied with info from the major carriers to leave.

 

On the last day of our cruise this last Sunday, I went around the ship looking for the people who made our cruise extra special. The one that was the most touching was the young lady at the specialty coffee bar on the Promanade. I held out $20.00 to her thanking her for her kind smile and the coffee she made for me each morning. She got tears in her eyes as she thanked me and told me how much she enjoyed serving me each day. A small jesture on my part made someone so happy and gave me a good feeling to go home with.

[FlaKrznNubie]

We always give RCL Tee shirts & caps..... ;)

[richbum]

On the last cruise that we took, when room service was delivered, we tipped a few dollars along with a bag of candy, mini choc bars, hard candy etc. The person delivering the food loved it, and was very appreciative.:D

[PunkinsDad]

What an awesome thread!!! These crew members work SO hard to ensure that our vacations are enjoyable. I love the idea of asking them if there is something that we could pick up for them in a port. I'm going to steal that one.

 

One of the things we've done on past cruises (and WDW trips....our other vacation addiction!!) is this. We live in the Mobile AL area. Part of the history and heritage of Mobile is Mardi Gras. I'll bet most folks don't know it, but Mardi Gras in America started in Mobile (NOT New Orleans). So we prepare some small ziploc bags containing some beads, and a small note explaining the history of Mardi Gras in Mobile and containg a thank you message from our family. We give these to crew (or castmembers in the case of Disney) who do something nice for us, or ones that we just like for whatever reason.

 

While this little gift has no practical or monetary value, the reaction that we get from them is astonishing. I think it's really just the fact that we took the time and effort to make a special "thank you".

 

I can't take credit for this idea, my DW ran across it surfing one of the WDW message boards and we've been doing it ever since.

 

One of the things we love about cruises and WDW is the wonderful employees that we meet. For us, it's one of the great things about our vacations. We've met so many facinating people and some of thier stories and life experiences are so wonderful and inspiring. It's really great for our children in particular to get an idea about how life is for people in other parts of the world.

 

My personal favorite is a delightful gentleman named Manny that we met at WDW. Manny is over 80.....looks about 65. He works the entrance turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom. We've run into Manny on our last 2 trips. He immigrated to the US from Cuba (legally) about 2 years after Castro came to power. To do so, he had to leave his wife and infant son behind. It took over 4 years for them to be able to join him here. Wen I listened to Manny talk, with tears in his eyes, about America and how lucky he'd been to be able to come here and live the American dream with his family..........wow.........it really puts things in perspective.

 

There have been many others. The chance to interact with people from other places and cultures is one of the incidental "bonuses" of cruising IMHO. We always make sure to take care of outstanding crew members when we tip, but sometimes I think the personal touch, even if it's just a heartfelt "thank you" goes almost as far.

[TahoeBob]

In addition to tips, people often talk about things they want to bring for their crews. I have two suggestions- your seasick medications (we left a jar of ginger pills and also some Bonine- they get sea sick too! In fact the first morning out we met many staff who looked far greener than we did!). Also, information about frequent flyer programs. I was very surprised to discover that the staff we talked to knew nothing about these programs despite that fact that they fly trans-Pacific once a year often for many years. It takes about 3 round trips to earn a free ticket. Bringing information would be very useful and on our next cruise I will go supplied with info from the major carriers to leave.

 

My last cruise was on RCI, What I did for our room attendant was give him our regular tip in the envelope, Then I gave him a extra $20.00 he was very happy. Then I asked him if he could do me a small favor, of course he said yes he would. I then handed him another $20.00 and asked him when he got home if he would buy his daughter something special from us as a present.

[PunkinsDad]

My last cruise was on RCI, What I did for our room attendant was give him our regular tip in the envelope, Then I gave him a extra $20.00 he was very happy. Then I asked him if he could do me a small favor, of course he said yes he would. I then handed him another $20.00 and asked him when he got home if he would buy his daughter something special from us as a present.

 

Bob, that was awesome. I'm willing to bet that he will remember your kindness for the rest of his days.

[Pattakins]

We always decorate our room and door in some fashion that depicts our port stops/destinations. On our last cruise one of the things I had was a large plastic door cover in a tropical motif. This hung on a wall in our cabin. On our last morning, the girl who brought our room service commented on how much she liked it. So, when we were packing, I took it down carefully and asked our steward to please give it to her. It was then that he told us that every staff member who had been in our room had asked him about it. (we usually ordered from room service at least twice a day). He said they all wanted that silly plastic door cover. I was surprised, as I had never thought about them wanting or needing anything like that before. So, I asked him if he would like all of the decorations we'd brought, and he almost cried. I even gave him our hula girl lights. I can't tell you how much he appreciated it...and it made me feel good to do it. So now, besides the normal tips, I will always ask the staff if they would like to have our decorations. I will also make sure that some of them go to the room service staff if they are interested. For our next cruise, I am going to buy some of those door decorations (they actually hang great on the cabin wall and look like a mural), along with other room decor to hand out along with the tips.

[pnjkeith]

we always give rcl tee shirts & caps..... ;)

 

lmao:d:d

[nbsjcruiser]

On the last day of our cruise this last Sunday, I went around the ship looking for the people who made our cruise extra special. The one that was the most touching was the young lady at the specialty coffee bar on the Promanade. I held out $20.00 to her thanking her for her kind smile and the coffee she made for me each morning. She got tears in her eyes as she thanked me and told me how much she enjoyed serving me each day. A small jesture on my part made someone so happy and gave me a good feeling to go home with.

 

Last year on the Radiance we had a young guy from Brazil that was waiting tables in the area in the buffet where we ate breakfast every day. Always had a smile on his face and talked to us for a few moments every morning. On the last morning DW gave him $10 just to say thank you and he was quite surprised and thankful. Of course we mentioned his name in our end of cruise survey to make sure he stood out.

[jmcancruise]

This thread is great. We always leave on the auto tips and tip extra besides, but this thread has really got me trying to think of something special we could do for those who take such good care of us. We all love to say what a wonderful cruise we have had, but let's not forget those who work so hard to make it that way. If any of you crew read this thread, just let me say again thankyou. I appeciate the way you take care of us.