LizzGo

I see one of the items MSC offers for purchase is a cash advance. Has anyone done this and why would you? I'm not sure I see the advantage. And also- would this be like a cash advance on your credit card, in other words, an exorbitant fee on your card?

I suppose if I would have given this some thought....how impractical and inefficient if only one person did the the laundry? I would think (hope) laundry staff would share in the tip pool. That is why I would never remove automatic gratuity; for all the people behind the scenes. And yes I hope they are already being paid well, but that they see the gratuity as a bonus.

I was thinking I would like to tip the person who actually does the laundry. But I prob would not give a tip to the butler or assistant for the laundry person as I would have no way of knowing if the tip would go to the right person.

What do these excursion and tour guide stories have to do with Yacht Club tipping?

 

FWIW, we just got off our Divina Yacht Club cruise a couple of days ago. In addition to paying the auto-grats we gave our waiter 40 euro, his assistant 20 euro, and our butler 10 euro. The waiter and his assistant were outstanding. I wouldn't have tipped the butler, but my wife wanted to so we did. I didn't think our overall butler service, while very good, exceeded my expectations. Butlers make significantly more than the other staff and have a lighter workload. Which is what my waiter told me when he said yes to my question about whether he would like to become one. He also told me that working the Caribbean where there are a lot more Americans is prized, because they do extra tipping way more than cruises with predominantly Europeans.

Thanks for the info. We will be on our first YC cruise in a few weeks and have been following this thread with interest. We intend to keep the auto-gratuity but to also tip additionally for outstanding service. When you say butler do you mean room attendant - the person who cleans your room?

Also does anyone know who looks after stocking the mini-bar - is that the room attendant as well? Also, we have purchased a laundry package. Do we actually see the person who handles our laundry so we can tip that person as well?

I read so where that laundry service is included in MSC Yacht Club. Is this true?

Which ship and which port of embarkation? It is different in US vs Europe.

In US, you will look for the white YC tent just outside of the main entrance to the terminal. Leave your luggage with the YC porters and NOT the regular porters. You will be escorted inside, through security, then to YC lounge for check in process. From there you will be taken to the gangway to meet a butler that will take you to the YC. For disembarking in ports of call, just let the butler know when you wish to leave the ship. At your final disembarking, you will be escorted to the gang way for leaving and will be taken to the front of the line to get off. Hope this is the info you are looking for.

Actually, we will be in Europe- Barcelona.

We will be taking our first MSC YC in October. In the planning stages now and wondering about embarkation, and more importantly disembarking.

I believe I have read that YC gets priority embarking; do we also have priority disembarking? Anything anyone would care to share about their experience would be appreciated.

What is the best way to get from cruise port to Sants station?

Butler 60€

Conceirge 20€

Waiter 20€

Hostess 20€

Maitre’d 20€

There was previous mention of an assistant butler. Do we assume they share tips?

Again - a little off-topic, but our cruise leaves from Barcelona and we will be spending a few days there before and probably after as well. I have read that in Spain, especially, tipping is not huge. The change left over, or perhaps 10% in a high end restaurant. And that locals consider large tips insulting - a big tipper is "showing off", and one can even insult by leaving too large a tip. Anyone care to weigh in on this?

IKR? And cruises are not supposed to be stressful. Tipping doesn't stress me - thinking about tipping, to whom when and how much THAT stresses me.

YAY! Wine and champagne- that's the answer I was looking for.You made my day! TYVM

We are booked in YC.

Off topic here but seems a good place to ask. On Celebrity we always got premium drinks package. I asked my TA if we should upgrade. MSC told her YC drinks are between basic and premium. Not sure what that means. Any clarification out there?

I believe we tip in general above the average. Since others are sharing here goes. 7-day cruise

 

Butler. 140

Asst. 100

Maitre d 50

Hostess 40

Waiter 100

Asst 70

Bartender in Topsail 50

Pool boys. 50 and 40

Concierge 20

Porter at YC tent 5

 

Nothing at Venchi (gelato) or at Seaview Lounge

 

Dennis

 

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What currency is that? Also- some of those mentioned I do not recall every interacting with on previous cruises - pool boy, assistant butler, hostess, concierge... I would only think to tip those I knew well enough to remember!

We will be cruising MSC for the first time in October. Previously on Celebrity we tipped our room steward, sommeliers and waiters at the end of our cruise, but not as much as Frank 808! We tipped our room steward whom we saw twice a day everyday, $100. I think we gave everyone else $20 or $30 each. I imagine we will do the same this time.

On the MSC website it states they do not encourage additional tipping. I imagine they do not want to end up like all-inclusive resorts where you see people tipping each and every time they get a drink or any service . Although we did this I have to one of the things I enjoyed about cruising is that the pressure to tip all the time was gone. I liked tipping at the end - it felt more meaningful and personal.

Very helpful, thanks. Just to be clear: one asterisk is included in premium package and two is up charge? What did you think about L Etoile?

Just booked Fantasia Oct 17 leaving out of Barcelona. I have a couple of questions:

Drinks - included- is this a premium package or do we need to upgrade? I ask this because on Celebrity we always upgraded so we didn’t have to think about whether or not our drink was included or not.

Restaurants: How many choices included? Are specialty worth the up charge?

Any other FYI’s appreciated!

TYIA

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Yes, any one of perks but before we had two of four perks

This fall -pretty much anywhere but not Caribbean. Only OBC offered. Previous cruises had drinks pkg, and generous OBC which more than covered gratuities.

We would like to book a cruise with Celebrity but are waiting for their Go Better promo where you can pick up to four different perks. We are waiting for this promotion to pop up again but not sure if it ever will. Does anyone know if this is a regular thing we can count on?

Thanks I’ll try that

We would like to book a cruise with Celebrity but are waiting for their Go Better promo where you can pick up to four different perks. We are waiting for this promotion to pop up again but not sure if it ever will. Does anyone know if this is a regular thing we can count on?

Our second Celebrity cruise on the Silhouette and have booked a third. I cannot imagine what would compel us to try any other line. I would say - other than sh*t show on embarkation day, which we did not experience last time, everything was pretty darn close to perfect. Food - outstanding. we tried specialty dining this time, and while it was fabulous, love the MDR so much not sure we will bother next time. The staff is outstanding.

Hello all - I am starting to look at Mediterranean cruises for next fall. I found one I liked with Celebrity, but was disappointed that in Mykonos the ship departs at 6 p.m. - which is a good 3 hours before the island wakes up! Does anyone know of a Greek isle or Mediterranean with an overnight stay?

We are thinking about doing this too. I'm not exactly sure how it works. You pay per person (lets say two) and you have to book day one or two right away. Then what? You book the other two reservations on the ship?