Tipping - Euros or Dollars?

[sunchaser1008]

We are booked on a 10 day Mediterrean cruise next June. First time cruising & so far, CC has been a wealth of info. The gratuities are included in our cruise, but I have been reading on CC that we should not forget those people who are not included (i.e. porters, room service, etc). Should we tip in Euros or dollars? Also, any ideas on how much extra we should bring for this? (I realize tipping is a personal thing, but a "ballpark" figure would sure be very helpful)

Thanks, and I'm sure I'll have alot more questions as the time gets closer.

[paul929207]

I usually tip staff on the ship with the onboard currency. Off the ship I use the local currency if possible.

[eh2zed]

Agree that you use the onboard currency. As for how much it really depends on how much room service you intend to use. We tip 1-2 USD for a simple coffee order but maybe 3-4 for full meals. Tips for dining room staff, cabin stewards are included in your prepaid and tips for bar service are included on your account. Pier side porters which would be local currency is generally the equivalent of 1USD per bag handled. There generally is no onboard porter to tip.

Now additionally some people give extra tips for outstanding service to a few select individuals on the onboard staff who are already beneficiaries of the prepaid gratuity. If you may be inclined to do this its really up to you to decide how much.

You are expected to tip local tour guides and drivers if you take ship provided or private tours. This is in local currency or USD if you have no local money. Again this is a personal decision but for a half day ship bus tour we would likely do 5USD for the guide and 2 for the driver. A private guide and driver might be 20.

Hope that is helpful.

[dzcruisers]

I use euros if I have 1 or 2 euro coins. I figure they can use them when they get off the ship to go into port. The local economy is more apt to take euros. If you tip dollars and they have to exchange them for euros they lose some of their value. Actually I'm sure they appreciate either.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Dollars it is easer

[tiyana4]

I agree about using onboard currency while on the ship. However, for excursions we always go by what the tour operator asks for in final payment. Some of our tour operators in the Med (Ramses, Ephesus Deluxe, etc.) wanted U.S. dollars whereas others wanted euros. We don't book ship excursions so we always plan ahead and whatever currency they expect for payment is what we use to tip.

 

Now what you decide to tip is entirely up to you. There is an excellent cruise tipping calculator floating around on these boards that is a great guide. Enjoy the Med - we did!!!

[sunchaser1008]

Thank you everyone for the advice, guess we'll bring both dollars & euros! Never having cruised before, all this research can be overwhelming. How lucky are we to have waited until technology makes it possible to simply type in any question on CC or TA & get wonderful people to answer it! :)

[tiyana4]

BTW, you picked an amazing place for your first cruise! It was by far our favorite cruise to date. Have a great time!

[Keith1010]

Thank you everyone for the advice, guess we'll bring both dollars & euros! Never having cruised before, all this research can be overwhelming. How lucky are we to have waited until technology makes it possible to simply type in any question on CC or TA & get wonderful people to answer it! :)

 

I wish you all the best for your first cruise.

 

If you are like many of us, you will love the cruise and will look forward to taking another one.

 

The Mediterranean is an amazing area of the world to cruise.

 

Keith

[GlendaleCruiser]

I use either, depending upon what I have the most of at the time. They can spend dollars on the ship or wire them home. They can use Euros in port when they have a chance to get off.

 

Seems to be that both are appreciated.:D