how much to tip?

[Bert64]

I don't want to offend people who I know get sensitive about the tipping issue, but when you tip like say the waiters, do you tip for the days you are on or the nights you spend in the dining room? I'm going on a 4 day, 3 night cruise (which really ends up being a half day, 2 full days, and barely a morning...far too short, but I take what I can get time away for:) ) and I was wondering as to what the 'status quo' was...do you tip for those 3 nights you had dinner in the dining room, or 4 nights since it was *technically* a 4 day cruise? I AM NOT ARGUING ABOUT TIPPING THEM! I don't mind and I probably will tip them the 4 days just because I appreciate how hard they work, I'm just curious as to what others do...I don't know whether the waiters work in other areas serving food during the day (where they probably don't get tips) or if they just work getting things ready in the dining room, so that's why I'm curious.

[springtxbill]

Tip by the number of days of the cruise. The waiters all have other duties on the ship besides just waiting the tables. On one cruise our waiter was responsible for making sure all of the waiters had the proper uniforms for each day.

[caviargal]

You tipped based upon the number of nights aboard, not days. Believe me, you will see and hear plenty of reminders about suggested tipping!

[dc-snoopy]

Tip per day of the cruise (e.g. 4 nights for you). The tip covers their service in the WJ, Seaview, and other facilities around the ship as well as their dinner service. If you are planning on dining exclusively from room service (where you tip when the come) or the specialty restaurants (JR, Chops, Portofino's, etc) where you tip that night, you should tip per night. If you plan on not using the dining room, Seaview, or WJ, then you should talk with the DR manager/head waiter when you board and clear that up. This way, they don't have to set the table and do the extra work when you won't be there.

[superjerryw]

The last poster is correct, you tip based on the number of nights. On ships that allow you to charge your gratuities to your Seapass account they charge you a fixed amount that is multiplied by the number of nights of the cruise. If you wish to tip more you do it with cash.

[Bert64]

Uhoh, I've gotten 2 for tip by day and 2 for tip by night:p So in case it's just semantics, let me clear it up...4 days/3 nights? Will standard tipping be $40 or $30 per person?

[QueensChick]

3 nights standard tip = $30

 

Have a great cruise. :)

[springtxbill]

$40.

[setsail]

An easy way to solve this is after you get on the ship just go to the pursers desk and have them put the tips on your seapass account. It will be just the basic min. amount. You will get coupons to hand out at the end. If you want to tip less than the basic amount this would not be for you.

[Bert64]

An easy way to solve this is after you get on the ship just go to the pursers desk and have them put the tips on your seapass account. It will be just the basic min. amount. You will get coupons to hand out at the end. If you want to tip less than the basic amount this would not be for you.

 

 

Well that's where the issue is because I was gonna pay for everything onboard in cash, and wanted to before I even leave, get my tips ready for everyone so it was one less thing to have to worry about (and money I won't spend in the bar and casino;) ) I guess it's not that big of a deal, the people I'm travelling with and I were just talking about it last night, and we weren't exactly sure whether it was $30 or $40. But thanks for your suggestion, I'll pass that on to my travelmates.

[TPKeller]

This always seems to be confusing, but it shouldn't be.

 

There are always people who espouse tipping higher than the recommended amounts, and that is fine, but it's only fair to say that, if you tell someone to do it.

 

The official recommendation from the lines work by counting the number of NIGHTS you are on the ship. If you count the number of DAYS, then you are tipping more than the recommended amount. One reason this may be confusing, especially to newer cruisers, is that you might not realize that a cruise ship never has an empty night! The "turnover" days in the home port always have two sets of people who count that DAY as part of their cruise. The ones getting off, and the ones getting on. If everyone tipped according to the number of DAYS, then the staff would be getting double tips on the turnaround day.

 

Some would say that this may be warranted, but it is definitely NOT what the line officially recommends.

 

Theron

 

P.S. There are so many questions about this, that I put a blurb on my tip calculator... click on the "Days" link for the explanation (nothing more than we've covered here though).

 

http://members.aol.com/CruiseTip/

[dc-snoopy]

It is nights. I'm sorry I was confusing since I mixed days and nights. For a 4-day, 3-night cruise you tip $30 (actually $10.50 for cabin, $10.50 for waiter, $6 for asst waiter, and $2.25 for head waiter) however you can tip extra. For those amounts, most people paying in cash will at least increase to round dollars, but feel free to tip what you want.

 

Now, another taboo subject is how much? Although the recommendations are $3.50pppd for waiter and cabin attendant, $2pppd for asst waiter and $0.75 for head waiter, ballpark what do people pay for good service. The last cruise, I tipped $5pppd, $3pppd and $1.50ppd respectively. Do others feel this was too much? Too little? for great service? Just curious...tipping is always perplexing...even more for a service that you are not sure of.

[setsail]

Bert, if you want to pay the min. you can also prepay your tips with your final payment through the ta and it is taken care of beforew you even board.

[TPKeller]

I ... wanted to before I even leave, get my tips ready for everyone so it was one less thing to have to worry about

By the way, the tip calculator was designed for this very purpose! :D

 

Hope you find it helpful!

 

Theron

[DeanD]

The tips should be calculated per night or per 24 hour day, not per day of the week. The OP is going on a 3 day/3 night cruise.