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How much extra do you tip if you are in a Penthouse Suite?


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Depends on how much you use them. We had our butler bring us one breakfast, a blender and some strawberries for mixed drinks etc - He also fixed the coffee machine a couple of times and made sure it was stocked etc. We tipped him $150 and the Conc. $100.

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We normally start with the following formula then make adjustments up/down based on what services we request and service received.

 

Concierge $10 per cabin per day

Butler $10 per person per day

Room Steward Addition $5-10 per cabin per day

 

I know the room steward is included in the DSC but we have always had exceptional service and tip extra.

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We gonna be in a courtyard villa. Do you recommend tipping the butler and concierge on a daily basis or at the end of the cruise?

 

When ever I tried to tip the butler early, they would refuse and tell me to catch them at the end of the cruise.

Others likely have had different experiences. It likely depends on the person.

As for quantities, I agree with the above posters. I generally don't tip the concierge as much (ususally closer to $5 / day) because I never seem to utilize them for anything other than embarkation / debarkation. If I do, the tip will reflect it.

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We gonna be in a courtyard villa. Do you recommend tipping the butler and concierge on a daily basis or at the end of the cruise?

We always tip on the last evening on board. I usually take thank you notes and include the tip in them.

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I was never able to find our butler the final night or the next morning to tip him. I still feel badly about that. But I wrote a letter to corporate to tell them how wonderful our butler and concierge were to us.

 

If that happens, is it "safe" to leave a tip for the Butler in a marked envelope at the customer service desk?

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I was never able to find our butler the final night or the next morning to tip him. I still feel badly about that. But I wrote a letter to corporate to tell them how wonderful our butler and concierge were to us.

 

If we don't see the butler the final evening, we just give him a call and have him come to our suite so we can thank him personally and hand him his tip.:)

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I was never able to find our butler the final night or the next morning to tip him. I still feel badly about that. But I wrote a letter to corporate to tell them how wonderful our butler and concierge were to us.

 

If that happens, is it "safe" to leave a tip for the Butler in a marked envelope at the customer service desk?

 

There's a form you can fill out at the guest services desk that allows you to direct a specific gratuity to an employee, and at the same time charge it to your onboard account. We did this for our concierge on a cruise last year.

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I usuallly carry some envelopes with me for tipping. But also found the S.T.Y.L.E. cards that give the employees a good review. One can be filled in for each employee that you find working above and beyond. The employee is rewarded with special perks.

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take thank you cards with you! much easier than finding them in port! I know this from experience. I, too, prefer to hand out the tips in person and have never had a problem locating the employees that I wanted to tip extra the last evening of the cruise!

 

Beverly

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I'd prefer to have the butler & concierge tip added to my bill (freq flyer miles!)...do they know they've been tipped if you do that the last night? I would hate to say goodbye and have them think we weren't tipping!

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I'd prefer to have the butler & concierge tip added to my bill (freq flyer miles!)...do they know they've been tipped if you do that the last night? I would hate to say goodbye and have them think we weren't tipping!

 

 

This may not be as desirable for them. I know a while ago when I worked in the food service industry servers preffered cash tips because they don't have to claim as much for the tips when it comes time for taxes. Cruise employee tax law could be different though. Just saying, if you really want to thank them, cash is better IMHO

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We were on the NCL-Sun repositioning cruise from Santiago to Miami in April. We personally gave envelopes to our butler and concierge. Jose and Virginia gave us the greatest service during our 15 day cruise and were thanked accordingly.

 

I was not happy with the games that were played in the Four Seasons by the asst. maitre des. We ate there several times and requested the same wait staff. On the last evening a generous handshake was given and the guys in the tuxes were chasing down the wait staff to harrass them. I complained to the front desk as well as to our concierge who bought it to management attention. I can only hope that management addresses to all their staff that bullying and harassing is unacceptable.

 

Otherwise we found the service in all areas on the Sun excellent!!!

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This may not be as desirable for them. I know a while ago when I worked in the food service industry servers preffered cash tips because they don't have to claim as much for the tips when it comes time for taxes. Cruise employee tax law could be different though. Just saying, if you really want to thank them, cash is better IMHO

 

With the exception of the POA, we are talking about foreign-flagged cruise ships operating in international waters, with almost none of the employees who receive tips being American citizens or residents of the US. In short, US income tax laws are for all intents and purposes irrelevant.

 

Also, remember that the dining room staff, room stewards and other back-of-the-house staff who are compensated from the DSC pool are already not receiving most of their "tips" in cash because the passengers are not tipping them directly (except for extra tips), but rather paying the DSC to the cruise line, which in turn distributes the money to the staff. The same goes for bartenders and bar waiters who are compensated from the 15% gratuity that is added to bar bills, not primarily from direct cash tips.

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I'd prefer to have the butler & concierge tip added to my bill (freq flyer miles!)...do they know they've been tipped if you do that the last night? I would hate to say goodbye and have them think we weren't tipping!

 

We did it on the last afternoon of the cruise, and the concierge thanked us that evening, so they do know when passengers tip them that way.

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This may not be as desirable for them. I know a while ago when I worked in the food service industry servers preffered cash tips because they don't have to claim as much for the tips when it comes time for taxes. Cruise employee tax law could be different though. Just saying, if you really want to thank them, cash is better IMHO

 

I placed the tips for concierge and butler on our account and specifically asked if taxes were taken out. The crew member on the desk said, "No, this is not an American ship." I also remember James, the crew member who is known on CC said the entire amount goes to the crew member.

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I bring thank you notes and give them to the butler and concierge on the last evening, if possible. As I stated above, I placed the tip on my onboard account since, after a 14 day cruise, it was more than the cash we had on hand. We gave the concierge about $7.50/day and the butler about $17/day. We ate in the cabin an average of once a day.

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I was never able to find our butler the final night or the next morning to tip him. I still feel badly about that. But I wrote a letter to corporate to tell them how wonderful our butler and concierge were to us.

 

Sorry but that's not an excuse for not tipping.

 

You could have called him to your room.

You could have left it in an envelope in the room.

You could have left it at front desk.

Or you could have put it or a money order in with the letter to corporate.

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We were pretty surprised not to see the butler at all on the last evening / morning but we had tipped him via the reception desk (added a payment to him on our account). Still felt it was odd that he didn't drop by. Perhaps $150 wasn't enough - I've not idea what he would normally get. He did call us the last morning to check up that everything was ok.

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IMO, the tip should depend on what the Butler and Concierge do for you during the cruise.

 

Our concierge made 2 dinner reservations for us in a 2 week period. That's all. I tipped her $40 for handling these two requests - which I consider pretty generous since she didn't do another thing for us whatsoever or even offer to do anything else such as a bridge tour.

 

Our butler delivered the suite snacks every day in the afternoon, a turkey sandwich on one day and wine on another in a 2 week period. He forgot one item I requested for the entire day, so I had to call and remind him before dinner as to what we had requested that morning. He finally did get it for us after the second reminder. I didn't hold it against him, I just figured his mind was somewhere else that day. (We are very low maintenance and compassionate of others.) So we tipped him $10 per day since he did something for us every single day.

 

Our cabin steward got us different pillows and lighter blankets for our bed in additional to making up our room every day and cleaning as necessary. He generously stocked our bathroom with Elemis products - more than he had to. So we tipped him and his assistant extra (beyond the prepaid tips) for his extra good daily service. He actually was the nicest and most personable of the employees we encountered on the villa floor - always smiling - always saying hello to us anytime he encountered us in the hallways or the courtyard - he took us into the Garden Villa and showed us around after it was vacated a port early by the occupants. I actually think he should be promoted to butler because he would make a great one! (He might have been promoted, from what I can tell our former butler is now on another ship!)

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IMO, the tip should depend on what the Butler and Concierge do for you during the cruise.

 

Not sure on that one - The part that bothers me personally is their wages are so low with out tips what if a large number of customers "didn't use their services much" - We had one breakfast delivered and some strawberries and a blender delivered. In addition the butler brought the daily snacks and kept the coffee machine stocked etc.

 

Our Concierge booked two reservations for us and had a Ulu picked up for us on the last day from ships security.

 

Was that a lot or a little? I don't know. All I know is they get paid next to nothing and make most of their money from tips. Which puts passengers in a tough spot of making decisions that impact livelihoods.

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