Tipping on cruise

[mdvlprof]

This may be duplicate of old posting, but didn't see anything.

 

Any suggestions about tipping? We are traveling 4 in a room (1002). Following catastrophic illness, son is quad, wheel-chair bound, and fed by PEG tube - cannot eat. Daughter is CNA. The other forum don't deal with disabilities.:confused:

[uppitycats]

This may be duplicate of old posting, but didn't see anything.

 

Any suggestions about tipping? We are traveling 4 in a room (1002). Following catastrophic illness, son is quad, wheel-chair bound, and fed by PEG tube - cannot eat. Daughter is CNA. The other forum don't deal with disabilities.:confused:

 

When you ask about "tipping" -- are you expecting some special services from the cruise crew? If so -- they're not going to provide your son with anything -- it sounds like your daughter is providing his personal care? Otherwise, tipping is the usual tipping you'd do for ordinary people on a cruise.

 

How tipping is done is somewhat different with each cruise line. Which line are you on? Some now have a set "service charge" which is billed to your account, and payable at the end of the cruise. For example, NCL charges $12 per person, per day -- and whether your son ate or not wouldn't matter -- you'd still owe the tip for him, as the tip covers the people who clean and maintain your room, as well as the waiters that would serve the rest of you in the dining venue.

 

If you (or your daughter) intends to stay in the room with your son during meals, then she'd want to tip whoever brings her meals through room service. Tips there would be anywhere from $1-2 to $5 or more, depending on how much is brought.

 

I DO hope that the cabin you've booked is a handicap-accessible cabin! Otherwise your sons wheelchair will not fit through the door, and if by chance it did, no one else in the cabin would have room to move around. In addition, the bathroom would probably not accommodate his needs.

 

4 to a cabin..with one of the persons in a wheelchair -- is going to be pretty cramped! Good thing it's family! :o

[Splinter]

Tipping is standard (as above). If we make an unusual mess in the cabin then we might give our cabin steward a little extra something (although not all cruise lines allow this and require that the tips be pooled). Since most often it is no more work to make up an accessible cabin vs. a non-accessible one, generally we don't give anything extra.

 

Are you going to trade off staying with your son during meals or is your daughter going to miss all the dining room meals and have only room service for the whole cruise? Even if she is a CNA, I assume this is her vacation too, and everyone should share in this in the family (IMHO). I hope you are paying her way.

[leoandhugh]

If we have been on a cruise on which the friend in the wheelchair has needed assistance going down the gangway (and he always does) I make sure that the gangway personnel (they are usually security) are tipped before the cruise is over. They, otherwise, do not share in the tips for cabin and dining room staff. Just our personal choice - nothing mandatory.:)

[mdvlprof]

Thanks.

We're not expecting any extra service, except for trash (and reserved HC cabin). Will be tipping cabin. Should we Also tip everyone else since he wont be eating?

 

Taking turns caring for son and pushing his wheelchair around. DD just has extra credential since she has wanted to be nurse since she was 8. Continues school in fall.

[uppitycats]

Thanks.

We're not expecting any extra service, except for trash (and reserved HC cabin). Will be tipping cabin. Should we Also tip everyone else since he wont be eating?

 

Taking turns caring for son and pushing his wheelchair around. DD just has extra credential since she has wanted to be nurse since she was 8. Continues school in fall.

 

Your question, "should we also tip everyone else..." is yes. I'm very sorry about your son...but the crew should not be punished because your son had an unfortunate event in his life that caused his disability. The crew makes very little money otherwise, and count on tips to supplement their income.

 

You don't need to provide extra tips for the handicap-accessible cabin, for for taking out the trash .. just whatever the customary tip is for service providers, including those who would serve your son at meals if he were able to partake of them.

[Arwenmark]

Thanks.

We're not expecting any extra service, except for trash (and reserved HC cabin). Will be tipping cabin. Should we Also tip everyone else since he wont be eating?

 

Taking turns caring for son and pushing his wheelchair around. DD just has extra credential since she has wanted to be nurse since she was 8. Continues school in fall.

 

I am not sure which cruise line you are on but most now add automatic service charge to your daily bill. It is between 10 and 12pp per day. It covers the room steward and the dining staff, you tip extra for room service, all drinks include a tip. you tip extra if you use the Childrens centers. You tip extra for Butler and concierge if you have a suite, you tip the porters at the dock loading your bags.

 

There are literally hundreds of threads on these forums regarding tipping and all of them get very nasty.

As mentioned the crew recieves almost NO pay other than the tips they recieve and they work 12 to 15 hours a day 6 to 7 days a week for 6 to 10 months at a time. They earn those tips.

[Queenie2]

You know I'm going to have to slightly disagree. I've been on lot of cruises, in fact I cover accessible travel for a living. I'm a pretty good tipper; however I say that if your son does not go to the dining room, then I see no reason to tip the dining room staff. After all tips are for service, and if he didn't take advantage of the service offered, I see no reason to tip for it. You wouldn't tip someone in the spa if you didin't have a treatment, right?

 

On one cruise I didn't eat in the main dining room once. Two nights I ate ashore (and tipped those waiters), two nights I ate in alternative restaurants on board (and tipped the service folks), two nights I had room service (and tipped) and one night I had a snack in the bar (and tipped). I ate ashore whenever possible during the day, and I'd just go a grab a cup of coffee at the buffet in the AM.

 

On the same cruise I tipped the concierge $100 because she was very helpful in arranging some business related services for us.

 

I also say that tipping is a very personal thing, and you should go by what you feel. If you don't make use of a service or get very crappy service (it has happened on cruises) then I say don't tip or adjust the amount. On the other hand if you get stellar service and have lots of special requests, I think a little more is a good idea.

 

Candy

[uppitycats]

You know I'm going to have to slightly disagree. I've been on lot of cruises, in fact I cover accessible travel for a living. I'm a pretty good tipper; however I say that if your son does not go to the dining room, then I see no reason to tip the dining room staff. After all tips are for service, and if he didn't take advantage of the service offered, I see no reason to tip for it. You wouldn't tip someone in the spa if you didin't have a treatment, right?

 

On one cruise I didn't eat in the main dining room once. Two nights I ate ashore (and tipped those waiters), two nights I ate in alternative restaurants on board (and tipped the service folks), two nights I had room service (and tipped) and one night I had a snack in the bar (and tipped). I ate ashore whenever possible during the day, and I'd just go a grab a cup of coffee at the buffet in the AM.

 

On the same cruise I tipped the concierge $100 because she was very helpful in arranging some business related services for us.

 

I also say that tipping is a very personal thing, and you should go by what you feel. If you don't make use of a service or get very crappy service (it has happened on cruises) then I say don't tip or adjust the amount. On the other hand if you get stellar service and have lots of special requests, I think a little more is a good idea.

 

Candy

 

This system might work on a cruise line where you tip at the end of the cruise...but on many lines these days they're putting it as a "service charge" (for example, NCL charges $12 per person per day) and you'd have to go to the front desk, explain why you didn't want to tip (in this case, restaurant servers), and they'd have you fill out a bunch of paperwork, and then there is the issue of -- how much of the $12 per person goes to waitstaff vs. the cabin stewards, and are they willing to divide it up accordingly (probably not..whatever you left would just be divided among everyone, so everyone would get less).

 

I think so long as it's added on like that, you should just consider it part of the cost of your cruise overall, and if you can't afford it (or really object), you probably shouldn't cruise those lines.

[Arwenmark]

I agree that the Per person service charge added is part of your fare and it is a HUGE part of the crews salary. No one likes the way that whole thing is structured but that IS THE WAY IT IS and if you don't pay it these people are working 16 hours a day 7 days a week for nothing.

Because you choose not to eat on board or in the dining room or whatever is NOT the waiters fault. No one else is going to step up and pay your share.

They charge the full service charge for children that don't necessarily eat in the dining room etc.

I suppose the OP has a most unique situation where her child will not be eating anywhere. so I suppose they could go and have a bit of the tips removed. But I would not do it.

It should be looked at as part of the cruise fare and just paid.

[mdvlprof]

Something to think about.

 

Know about auto-tipping. Not new to cruising, just new to cruising with adisabled son. Took a couple years off to make sure he was medically stable. He has indicated that he is anxious to cruise again.

[KL&KR]

We tend to do more like Leo and Hugh -- since it is most often a matter of needing some extra help up or down the gangway, we try to carry ones and fives with us and tip them on the spot. A couple of times, when it turned out to be one particular person (usually the staff had nominated the biggest/beefiest guy to help us LOL), we went back at the end of the cruise and tipped him again.

 

Kristen and Kathy

[uppitycats]

We tend to do more like Leo and Hugh -- since it is most often a matter of needing some extra help up or down the gangway, we try to carry ones and fives with us and tip them on the spot. A couple of times, when it turned out to be one particular person (usually the staff had nominated the biggest/beefiest guy to help us LOL), we went back at the end of the cruise and tipped him again.

 

Kristen and Kathy

 

Yes, I do the same...I try to make sure to tip generously when any of the crew comes to offer any sort of special help.

[LindaKE]

Just a thought. Do the wait staff in the buffet help carry your plates, etc.? I may need to be ready to tip then also.

[xxoocruiser]

Just a thought. Do the wait staff in the buffet help carry your plates, etc.? I may need to be ready to tip then also.

 

Buffet wait staff will certainly help you with your tray. You generally don't even have to ask, they'll just come up to you most of the time.

 

Re: tipping Buffet staff

All dining room wait staff does a rotation in the buffet during the cruise. Therefore there is no daily tipping needed. It's all been taken into consideration with the Tip Fee the cruise line adds onto your at the end of the cruise. If there's someone in particular that has really been of assistance in the buffet to me all week , I generally tip them towards the end of the cruise. Otherwise it's not necessary.

[Arwenmark]

Buffet wait staff will certainly help you with your tray. You generally don't even have to ask, they'll just come up to you most of the time.

 

Re: tipping Buffet staff

All dining room wait staff does a rotation in the buffet during the cruise. Therefore there is no daily tipping needed. It's all been taken into consideration with the Tip Fee the cruise line adds onto your at the end of the cruise. If there's someone in particular that has really been of assistance in the buffet to me all week , I generally tip them towards the end of the cruise. Otherwise it's not necessary.

 

This is not necessarily true it used to be but not now on some lines. for one thing NCL does not have trays anymore. and they have reduced the staff, [economy] to the point there is no one around TOO help you. you have to seek out someone before you get on the line on you own. and then of course you are at their mercy for how much of what food you get, and where you get seated.