Can you please give tipping tips

[tthomp]

Please help you experienced cruisers!

 

We take our first cruise this weekend! I realize that our board account on Carnival will take care of all tips at the end, BUT I've also read things here about tipping extra..... some of the recommendations have included:

 

- a tip to your cabin steward early (or even the 1st day!) to ensure good service

- a tip to those serving drinks

- a tip to the dining wait staff to ensure good service

 

 

I'm so confused - does an "extra" tip really improve things? Or is it sufficient just to pay the regular calculated percentage at the end of the cruise?

[Nitemare]

We've taken 5 cruises so far, Princess and Celebrity, and had fantastic service on each cruise without a tip in advance.

 

You can check the Carnival board, I'm sure there's a thread there about the pros and cons of tipping in advance.

[Happy ks]

There is absolutely no need to tip ahead of time your room steward or dining room server, you should receive outstanding service, if not, let the head waiter know about it. Poor service can be corrected during the cruise, you can only complain about it afterward. If the service you receive is worth it to you, give them extra at the end of the cruise. Tips of 15% are automatically added to any beverage purchase, you can tip additional if you want to, we sometimes leave extra for a favorite bar server at the end of the cruise.

 

You may want to take along plenty of $1 bills for room service, cabs, porters, etc...