Christmas Gift & cruising on Christmas

If we give our room porter a Christmas card (We will be cruising on Christmas) with a cash gift (like $50 or something) do they have to put that back into the tip pool? (I will prepay my gratuities :) I have learned lots from reading from you guys) and I know they prefer money versus a gift of something. Advice please :)

I will be on Viking Ocean, will there still be some kind of excursion on Christmas Day? I believe we are in Tunsia that day and not a smart place to be running around alone and I am sure most places will not be open.

What typically goes on a ship on Christmas day that does not have any sea days??

thanks!

I am not real familiar with Viking Ocean, but on other lines, the porter could keep the cash under the terms you described.

I don't think Christmas is a big holiday in Tunisia.

There may be some on the Viking Ocean Forum who may be familiar with pool tips

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=875

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have no experience with Viking Ocean Cruise Line, but I have sailed on Christmas cruises on Princess and Holland America. I am 99.9% certain that the cash gifts that I gave to our Room Stewards and MDR Stewards were kept by them.

May I suggest that you directly contact Viking Ocean Cruises and ask your question? They ought to help you to clearly understand what you are thoughtfully wanting to do.

They will be able to keep them for themselves.

Keith

Typically as long as auto-tips are kept in place, they can keep extra tips.

Almost everything near the port or tours will be open Christmas Day, maybe reduced staff in heavily Christian countries.

The tour operators and shopkeepers who rely on cruise business are open when ships are in port, regardless of day.

Awesome! Thank you all so much for the info :)

 

I don't think Christmas is a big holiday in Tunisia.

My favorite post all week.

Anytime you hand someone cash, you can be sure it goes into their pocket. And a good point was made...many of these people are of other faiths and don't observe Christmas. But, I'm sure they all appreciate cash!

Anytime you hand someone cash, you can be sure it goes into their pocket. And a good point was made...many of these people are of other faiths and don't observe Christmas. But, I'm sure they all appreciate cash!

no, you cannot. as has been already stated, if auto gratuities have been removed then ALL funds given the staff from anyone who has removed tips must be pooled. any EXTRA cash received is theirs to do with as they see fit.

I too am not familiar with Viking, but on our last Christmas cruise even ship sponsored tours didn't happen( we deliberately went with a ship sponsored one precisely because it was the 25th). as in the tour guides never showed despite numerous attempts to get in touch with them. in port shopping was greatly minimized.. only about 1/2, if that , were open. whether or not Tunisia would be the same, who knows. you may be better off going on the Viking board and asking for opinions of other passengers who have previously sailed that itinerary during the same time frame.

Forget the Christmas card -- just write a nice little note on a plain card thanking them for whatever and put the cash in there.

Many of the staff do not celebrate Christmas.

Forget the Christmas card -- just write a nice little note on a plain card thanking them for whatever and put the cash in there.

Many of the staff do not celebrate Christmas.

even atheist me still calls them 'Christmas cards' even though the ones I send out stick with phrases like 'happy holidays', 'seasons greetings' and 'winter wishes' and feature cute snowmen or snowy scenes instead of angels, wise men or babies in mangers.

even atheist me still calls them 'Christmas cards' even though the ones I send out stick with phrases like 'happy holidays', 'seasons greetings' and 'winter wishes' and feature cute snowmen or snowy scenes instead of angels, wise men or babies in mangers.

:D Hi-5

no, you cannot. as has been already stated, if auto gratuities have been removed then ALL funds given the staff from anyone who has removed tips must be pooled. any EXTRA cash received is theirs to do with as they see fit.

 

I too am not familiar with Viking, but on our last Christmas cruise even ship sponsored tours didn't happen( we deliberately went with a ship sponsored one precisely because it was the 25th). as in the tour guides never showed despite numerous attempts to get in touch with them. in port shopping was greatly minimized.. only about 1/2, if that , were open. whether or not Tunisia would be the same, who knows. you may be better off going on the Viking board and asking for opinions of other passengers who have previously sailed that itinerary during the same time frame.

The OP said he/she is prepaying gratuities so most likely not going to go through the trouble of removing them.

If we give our room porter a Christmas card (We will be cruising on Christmas) with a cash gift (like $50 or something) do they have to put that back into the tip pool? (I will prepay my gratuities :) I have learned lots from reading from you guys) and I know they prefer money versus a gift of something. Advice please :)

 

I will be on Viking Ocean, will there still be some kind of excursion on Christmas Day? I believe we are in Tunsia that day and not a smart place to be running around alone and I am sure most places will not be open.

 

What typically goes on a ship on Christmas day that does not have any sea days??

 

thanks!

Took me about 1 minute to find this bit of information about Tunisia in Google -

The Constitution declares the country's determination to adhere to the teachings of Islam and stipulates that Islam is the official state religion and that the president must be Muslim.

I would guess the people of Tunisia will not care much that it is Christmas. There are more people in the world who are not of the Western Christian faith then who are. If the ship does not have tours for some reason, you could always take a private tour tehre.

DON

‎‎

There is a small Orthodox Christian community in Tunisia, but as Don just pointed out, it's a predominantly Muslim country. If you want to put the money in a Christmas card, I would suggest one with non-religious imagery, but that's just my opinion.

Roz