How much do we tip our Room Stewards?

[bandlady74]

Hi,

 

I've read most of the earlier posts on tipping, but can't seem find any real specifics on this. At the end of the cruise, how much would you suggest we tip our room stewards? I understand that we'll also be paying the $11/day for the "group" tips, by my husband and I will still want to tip them in cash.

Thanks for your help - only 4 more days!!!!:)

 

Amy

[patseacruiser]

You don't say how long your cruise is. IF you are very happy with their service and it's a 7 day cruise I leave an extra $20 or so. If I'm very happy I leave more. I also leave an extra $20 or so for my waiter if I'm happy. Last time I was so happy with my assistant waiter and not my waiter that I left the assistant waiter the extra tip. Maybe I'm cheap. I'd like some to weigh in on what they leave.

[bandlady74]

I'm sorry, it's a 7-day cruise to Alaska out of Seattle.

Amy

[innlady1]

Hi,

 

I've read most of the earlier posts on tipping, but can't seem find any real specifics on this. At the end of the cruise, how much would you suggest we tip our room stewards? I understand that we'll also be paying the $11/day for the "group" tips, by my husband and I will still want to tip them in cash.

Thanks for your help - only 4 more days!!!!:)

 

Amy

 

We usually give them $10 or so if they get us a chair for our verandah at the beginning of the cruise....and $20 or $30 for each portion of our 10 day cruises at the end of the cruise.

[pms4104]

We always have been fortunate to enjoy wonderfully efficient, responsive and professional service from our various cabin stewards.

 

If I recall correctly, on our 10-day trips we have given our cabin steward $100 and on our 14-day sailings, when we had a team of two stewards, we gave them a total of $150. Sorry, haven't done a 7-day for a while.

[uppitycats]

You do understand of course that the pre-paid tip (or "service charge") is really all that is expected..but if the stewards have gone "above and beyond" for us, we generally tip $20 for a 7 day cruise, $50 for longer ones.

[cb at sea]

The $11 per person per day covers your room stewart, your waiter, ass't waiter and head waiter. That's the recommended amount.

If you feel the service was waaaay above and beyond from any of those serving you, you can feel free to tip additional amounts, based upon the service you received.

Your room attendant will share his/her tip with his/her assistant....this is standard procedure.

As long as you tip the recommended amount, you're good to go. Of course, if the service is truly horrible (and I truly doubt that will happen!!!), feel free to reduce your tip amounts accordingly.

[dandro]

We tipped both the room steward and assistant room steward $20 each at the end of our 7 day cruise in addition to the autotipping.

 

Since we had open seating, we had different waiters/wine stewards every night, so we did not leave anything extra for dining room service.

[ore-ee-gun]

You don't say how long your cruise is. IF you are very happy with their service and it's a 7 day cruise I leave an extra $20 or so. If I'm very happy I leave more. I also leave an extra $20 or so for my waiter if I'm happy. Last time I was so happy with my assistant waiter and not my waiter that I left the assistant waiter the extra tip. Maybe I'm cheap. I'd like some to weigh in on what they leave.

 

This is in line with what we do. Some posters will share that they tip much, much more than that (I read once that someone reported that they tipped the Neptune concierges $100. :eek:) but in reality, I think they are the exception.

[CowPrincess]

We usually do whatever the steward would get from the auto-tip, as extra. I think they get around $4/day/person. So that's what we do -- $4 per day. We round up or down. And put it in an envelope addressed to the 2 members of the team which we leave in the cabin the last night when we go for dinner. I usually leave $5s and $10s, so it is easier for them to split however they've decided to split it. So for a 7-day cruise, we'd leave 7x$4x2 passengers = $56 (so I'd probably round down to $50, unlikely I'd round up to $60). For me alone, it'd be 7 x $4 x 1 passenger, $28 so I'd round up to $30.

[Jemima]

Why this insistance on excess tipping? The auto tip takes care of most or all tipping on the ship. These tipping threads give the impression extra tipping is a "must do". It is ok to tip extra if you wish, but it is not necessary. We choose to tip the cabin stewards extra because we ask extra of them - sending out laundry daily, new laundry bags daily etc. We also give a small tip for room service. We only tip dining stewards extra if we have fixed dining and if we have made some special requests.

[brucory]

Why this insistance on excess tipping?

 

Tipping is very personal...

 

The OP asked for some guidelines on what other people do, and has been fortunate that some people were happy to provide that information. As far as I have read, none of the posters so far have insisted on anything.

 

We generally leave a little extra, but that's because we are happy with the service we have received and appreciate the hard work of those that looked after us. They certainly appreciate it and it probably helps to get them through the 10 month stints at sea...

 

:D:D:D

[Luke Warmwater]

Why this insistance on excess tipping? The auto tip takes care of most or all tipping on the ship. These tipping threads give the impression extra tipping is a "must do". It is ok to tip extra if you wish, but it is not necessary. We choose to tip the cabin stewards extra because we ask extra of them - sending out laundry daily, new laundry bags daily etc. We also give a small tip for room service. We only tip dining stewards extra if we have fixed dining and if we have made some special requests.

 

I agree. The acceptance of the auto tip, and the insistence of some to pay extra only encourages the cruise companies to pay these guys as little as possible. The cost of the cruise should be the cost of the cruise.

[esther e]

I've got my steel shield in front of me, waiting to get attacked, but here goes anyway: I wish all cruise lines would charge more and have gratuities included in the fare. If someone has a burning desire to give extra, they can contribute to the crew fund.

[Former Goalie]

I've got my steel shield in front of me, waiting to get attacked, but here goes anyway: I wish all cruise lines would charge more and have gratuities included in the fare. If someone has a burning desire to give extra, they can contribute to the crew fund.

I agree, but someone on another thread pointed out one thing. If it gets built in to the cruise fare, it becomes commissionable, thus that would put a significant amount of the "extra" in the TA's pocket.

On some cruises, the pre-paid grats are broken down on the invoice, thus maybe these are non-commissionable. I'm not a TA, and don't know how this actually works, just pointing out a potential issue.

[whogo]

I will be the first on this thread to admit to tipping nothing extra.

[Himself]

If you want to go over and above--you do not have to--I would say maybe three or three fifty a day. It is just a guess on my part.

[Quentin]

I will be the second person on this thread to admit to not tipping extra. With the exception of special requests,(in which I do tip) I feel the auto tip adequately expresses my thanks to those crew members who serve me.

[esther e]

Don't forget this is an invisible forum, so to speak, and anyone can say they tip $$$$$ extra and in reality not. I take that with a grain of salt. We tend not to tip extra because we never ask for anything extra. At the onset of the cruise I remind the steward I would like laundry bags and laundry forms to always be handy, but other than that, we ask for nothing.

[novamatt95]

Hello All:

 

My wife and I have taken several crusies with Holland America and we tend to plan an extra $50 total. $20 for Steward, $20 for Waiter and a $10 for a particular bartender or drink person that handles us well throughout the cruise.

 

We dont always tip the money if the service was not "above and Beyond". And we never adjust the auto tip.

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

[Nasmas]

We usually leave a little something extra. There was only one cabin steward that we stiffed. But, he deserved it. He didn't do a thing for us but clean the room. If we needed him, we couldn't find him so he didn't deserve it, I don't think. In 2007, on the Westerdam, we had Ketut, and he was marvelous, so he got a big tip. My husband was not well during that cruise and Ketut so was helpful and concerned. We have been extremely lucky with cabin persons except the one time.

[serendipity1499]

I've got my steel shield in front of me, waiting to get attacked, but here goes anyway: I wish all cruise lines would charge more and have gratuities included in the fare. If someone has a burning desire to give extra, they can contribute to the crew fund.

 

I agree, but someone on another thread pointed out one thing. If it gets built in to the cruise fare, it becomes commissionable, thus that would put a significant amount of the "extra" in the TA's pocket.

On some cruises, the pre-paid grats are broken down on the invoice, thus maybe these are non-commissionable. I'm not a TA, and don't know how this actually works, just pointing out a potential issue.

 

It was my post on another thread which quoted a long post by Phillip217 a knowledgeable cruise line Officer, on May26,2008...Not only would it be commissionable but it is also taxable to the crew & it would reduce the amount they would get..Unfortunately, I'm unable to pull up the URL for this post..If someone on here has that ability please pull up his post & post the URL...Phillip's entire post was very informative..This is what I posted on the other thread..

 

Quote On May 26, 2008 Phillip217, who I believe is a Cruise Line Officer, discussed the History of Tipping & why the Cruise Lines cannot incorporate tips in your Cruise cost..This is what he said..

 

"For all of those who whine and moan about just adding extra money to the price of the cruise and omitting tipping altogether, you may be surprised to learn that the cruise lines have actually considered that idea a few times over the past 100 years. If we did it, that money would be taxable and commissionable, reducing the net earnings of our crew rather substantially.

 

Phillip answers several more questions throughout this thread ...His posts are very informative...I downloaded a couple of his posts into WORD, (4 pages) However, failed to note the URL for the thread & can't pull up anything for 2008..

 

Phillip goes on to explain what waiters make on most cruise lines..He claims that all Crew are guaranteed a minimum wage in their contract: $1.00 per day plus tips with a minimum guarantee..This is part of what he said:

 

"Most cruise line waiters are promised a MINIMUM GUARANTEED SALARY of around US$1600 - US$2200 PER MONTH."

 

He goes on to say that when ships go into dry dock, if the & waiters have not made their guaranteed minimum the cruise line must puts $$$ into the tipping pool..

 

If anyone has the ability to pull up the URL it might be worth it to bring the thread forward again or even post the URL on this thread... Unquote

As far as additional tipping, we agree it is un-necessary to tip extra & it's a very personal decision....That being said, we usually will leave a small amount $20-$40 for a 14 day cruise for the two waiters & two cabin stewards, $50-80 for 2 on the longer cruises..

Again this all depends on the extra service we've received from our Stewards, such as laundry bags, ice refilled, hangars etc..It's the same with our waiters..We just include the extra tips into our cruise budget..Only on one cruise, were we very unhappy with the service of our cabin steward and did not give him anything extra..

However, we've never reduced the auto tip...

Betty

 

[patseacruiser]

I don't mean to imply that you must tip above and beyond the autotip. However, when I get on within the first 10 minutes I have asked my cabin steward to empty the minibar and take it away, bring me 4 extra pillows and a minimum of 2 extra blankets. And that's only 10 minutes into our trip. LOL That's probably the most I ask for - little odds and ends here and there - but if you can do it with a smile I will tip a little more.

[serendipity1499]

I don't mean to imply that you must tip above and beyond the autotip. However, when I get on within the first 10 minutes I have asked my cabin steward to empty the minibar and take it away, bring me 4 extra pillows and a minimum of 2 extra blankets. And that's only 10 minutes into our trip. LOL That's probably the most I ask for - little odds and ends here and there - but if you can do it with a smile I will tip a little more.

 

Oh Yes I've forgotten that too...I also ask for extra pillows & maybe an extra blanket if the tends to be cold..We only once had a mini bar on the Prinsendam, & asked that it be emptied..But we do ask for extra Ice for our water bottles..Betty

[sail7seas]

I agree. The acceptance of the auto tip, and the insistence of some to pay extra only encourages the cruise companies to pay these guys as little as possible. The cost of the cruise should be the cost of the cruise.

 

These 'guys' and the ladies who work aboard the ships apply for these jobs, train for them, and are part of a union. They know and accept the terms of their contracts and sign them willingly.

 

No One and I mean No One adores the HAL crews more than my DH and me (perhaps some care for them as much as us) but we do not delude ourselves about their positions and how desireable they are in their communities and culture. They work exceedingly hard, are separated from their families and miss their babies being born and parents perhaps passing while they are at sea...... But to say the cruise lines are being encouraged by us to underpay them is not apt IMO The stewards and cruise lines have a very good idea just how much they will earn in tips. The cruise lines guarantee a minimum wage and if the tips do not equal that amount (due to dry dock for example), the cruise line augments.

 

Our choosing to tip extra is not an insistence what anyone else do but an expression of our appreciation for how special they make our stays aboard the ships. The cruise lines/seamen's unions have negotiated these contracts and all parties signed willingly. I have not read here anyone insisting everyone should tip extra.