OzarksTraveler

Thanks, Spinnaker2. Have a wonderful voyage!

I hate to miss any TA opportunity, but I'll be staying on this side of the pond this fall. I just returned home four days ago from a week in Venice (sigh!) followed by a Croatia / Montenegro / Greek Islands / Athens cruise with friends. I'm now mowing the grass and maintaining my Aegean suntan. I'll be beach-bumming on the Outer Banks in August and will head down to New Orleans for Halloween. Not a bad itinerary either. :)

I hope you'll post here about your autumn crossing. Which ship / itinerary have y'all chosen?

I appreciate this thread too. A great thread for Newbie.

 

Can you explain why you differentially tip the butler/housekeeper? I'm curious about what they do and how that translates to passenger's tip amounts.

 

Thanks.

In my experience, butlers spend much more time and effort providing services to passengers, e.g., providing information and answering questions, making reservations, delivering and serving room service meals, and a host of other services. They're the folks I rely to help me navigate everything from minor medical issues to laundry/cleaning to who's who on the ship. Not to mention the fact that they help me find all the stuff I'm constantly losing in my suite. And believe me, I can lose a pair of sunglasses between the door and the bathroom. ;)

It’s not advertised and you either learn about it on CC or by word of mouth from other guests.

 

We actually found out from an onboard HR manager that we became acquainted with an asked what we could do with some unspent OBC. You cannot donate unspent OBC but you can purchase something and donate it to a crew raffle, with the raffle proceeds going to the crew welfare fund.

@SilverSpectre ... Thank you for this additional info about how to use OBC to purchase something to benefit the crew fund.

I'm very late to this thread, but have enjoyed so much viewing every post.

I was along on this cruise as well, and second all the good reports here from Spinnaker2 and others.

But I'm an easy touch for transatlantic crossings, although this was my first North Atlantic crossing. I hiked in Newfoundland (in the rain) and in Donegal in beautiful weather -- both lovely walks.

Thanks to all who were along on this cruise -- it was a most congenial group.

Time to schedule my next transatlantic voyage. :)

P.S. Spinnaker2 is right that the trivia competition was brutal. Jimmy said this voyage set a new participation record for Silversea trivia competition.

I appreciate this thread because, although I've sailed on Silversea eight times, I had no idea there was a Crew Fund. Not sure how I missed learning that. But I like the concept and will donate in the future.

Re tipping suite attendants, in the past I have tipped our butler/housekeeper sometimes and not tipped them other times. When I've tipped, the tip amounts are $100/$50. I've never tipped an SS bartender.

FTR, I'm an American. ;)