Do you pre-tip your cabin steward?

[nolababe504]

I always give them cash $20 on embark day and tell the stewart I want my soft cooler always filled with ice!! He always kept it filled with ice. Everytime we left the room I think he was in there checking on the ice. I also asked him to check the ashtray on the balcony, I didn't want to put them down the toilet if it got clogged. He always emptied it!! I also leave him little notes on a post-it if I need something else!! I even let the cabin stewart come in and have a drink with us and told him where it was if he ever wanted to make one and we were out of the room:) I have never had a bad cabin stewart. Also at night he would make us two towel animals because I told him I love those things:) I always tip before and get some little extras!!

[1tuckersmom]

Yes always..

Would we have poor service if we didn`t? I`m not sure.

I am sure that we have always had great service tho.:)

[bobmal99]

I always pre-tip my steward.

Not so much to bribe them,

but to let them know, I know

how hard they have to work,

and how many people barely

leave anything.

 

That being said, all my requests

are taken care of very quickly..

[Rockportgirl]

All of these "extras" ya'll pre-pay for are things they will do regardless if you just ask them. And if you have a bad steward, paying them up front is not going to turn them in to a good one. JMO, but we never tip up front and have always had what I consider excellent service. I just don't want newer people thinking this is something they need to do to get great service.

[Starzend]

All of these "extras" ya'll pre-pay for are things they will do regardless if you just ask them. And if you have a bad steward, paying them up front is not going to turn them in to a good one. JMO, but we never tip up front and have always had what I consider excellent service. I just don't want newer people thinking this is something they need to do to get great service.

 

Hi Rockportgirl,

I am certain that a new member will not think pre tipping their cabin steward is something they need to do.

If they read my original message I think they will "Get It"....

However when they read the narrow minded use of the word "Bribe" being used here, they will indeed be disheartened, as am I..

I don't want to know a bad steward, that's why they get a pre tip from me ON THE FIRST DAY..

[gazingm42]

OP: The bottom line IMHO this is a personal choice. I personally like tipping them myself. I tip much more than the recommendations are in cash. But

that is my choice. Many will disagree and many will agree. But the bottom

line it is your choice how how you wish to tip.

 

I have heard that if you prepaid the tips that you can not change the allocation

of the funds once you are on the ship.

[DebBrown]

Question for you cash tippers. Do you divide up the $10 per day and pay that individually to the waiters and room steward? I know that a small portion is divided amongst the rest of the staff. Also, just curious, do you tip the maitre d? I have a couple of times but then wondered why I was doing so. Still not sure why they expect people to tip him/her.

[GlendaleCruiser]

I've never pre-tipped or bribed my steward. I've had some that were just so-so (they got auto tips alone) and great ones (They got cash in an envelope with a Thank You note). I sometimes ask them to do me a favor and when they do they get cash.:D on top of their auto tips.

[discjoker]

I NEVER bribe my steward. While at the end of the day it is personal choice, I feel that it will not impact service one bit. I have had a few special requests on some of my crusies, never "pre-tipped" and have always received excellent service.

[near the beach]

I have pre tipped our room steward with cash once. I am not sure if it really helped. We received great service. We have on all of our cruises. That one time I didn’t notice any difference in service.

 

For those of you who do extra tip your room steward and wait staff with cash at the end of your cruise how much do you tip for a seven day cruise?

 

These amounts are above the already paid gratuities on our sail & sign card.

 

Since they are the highest paid salaried person in the dining room. Why would anyone tip the maitre d?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We do not

[JennLuvs2Cruise]

I always leave the auto tips on, but I never tip the room steward on the first day. I leave them an extra tip at the end of the cruise, anywhere from $20-40 depending on the service. The same goes with our waiter team. :)

 

I have always received amazing service from our room stewards without having to pre-tip them. I don't think it's necessary. I think an extra tip at the end of the week is appreciated & more appropriate.

[BIG_Steve]

On NCL they charge a daily service charge that is effectively the tip. On CCL both times we prepaid the tips when we bought the ticket.

 

In all cases, we've received nothing but warm, genuinely friendly service.

[golfadj]

Ever had "great" service?

 

All the time.

[golfadj]

Question for you cash tippers. Do you divide up the $10 per day and pay that individually to the waiters and room steward? I know that a small portion is divided amongst the rest of the staff. Also, just curious, do you tip the maitre d? I have a couple of times but then wondered why I was doing so. Still not sure why they expect people to tip him/her.

 

I will tip the MD if they have done something to make my dinner more enjoyable and generally do not.

 

My DW has a bunch of food allergies and the asst MD will come to our table each night so she can preorder food made special for her.

 

That rates a large tip.

[Gig103]

[quote name='Starzend'][B]Sorry if this sounds cliche, or actually the acronym: [U][COLOR=Red]T[/COLOR]o [COLOR=Red]I[/COLOR]nsure [COLOR=Red]P[/COLOR]rompt [COLOR=Red]S[/COLOR]ervice.[/U][/B][/quote]

I thought you may want to know that the etymology of the word is NOT an acronym.
[URL]http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp[/URL]

I did not tip in advance, but I did not do auto-tip either and left an envelope.

[nodogkisses]

Never have we tipped at the beginning of the cruise--we always wait until the last evening to personally thank our room steward and hand him some extra cash. We make sure to tell him that he still will get the tips from Carnival that we have prepaid. We have always had excellent service from all of our room stewards on every Carnival cruise we have taken and never once have we tipped at the beginning.

[Starzend]

[B]Thanks Mike,
Its a Backronym..[/B]

[ib4cruzn]

Never miss the opportunity to make a friend while cruising.

Money talks. That's it. No further explanation needed. Although I have been denied access to some places afloat your cabin steward can open all sorts of doors for you if you have the right connections.

YMMV

[poffles]

No I don't. We do the autotip only, unless something is above and beyond. Cleaning the room and making the bed is not what I consider above and beyond. We are pretty low maintenance.

... and why does it matter what anyone else does. Do what makes you feel good.

[ib4cruzn]

[quote name='Gig103']I thought you may want to know that the etymology of the word is NOT an acronym.
[URL]http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/tip.asp[/URL]

I did not tip in advance, but I did not do auto-tip either and left an envelope.[/QUOTE]

Gotta love Barb!

[Starzend]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']Never miss the opportunity to make a friend while cruising.

Money talks. That's it. No further explanation needed. Although I have been denied access to some places afloat your cabin steward can open all sorts of doors for you if you have the right connections.

YMMV[/quote]

[B]I could not agree with you more![/B]:)
[B]Cabin stewards have AWESOME connections..[/B]

[Isa65]

[quote name='DebBrown']Also, just curious, do you tip the maitre d? I have a couple of times but then wondered why I was doing so. Still not sure why they expect people to tip him/her.[/quote]

Actually, we got off the Victory last Sunday and in the Friday Funtimes there was a section stating that there would be envelopes provided in each stateroom for tips intended for the Maitre D'. With a long story on how they make all the shows and arrangements happen, etc etc etc.
On the last night, the Maitre D' (007 in our case) came by all the tables to wish us a pleasant journey home and of course to collect his envelopes.:)

[Name Of The Game]

Typically we don't. On the last cruise when the beds for my mom and I were together [B]as usual[/B] and the steward hadn't knocked in order for us to tell him, we left a note with $5.00. Folks on this board said we shouldn't have tipped for that. Next time we won't....

[Rockportgirl]

[quote name='ib4cruzn']Never miss the opportunity to make a friend while cruising.

Money talks. That's it. No further explanation needed. Although I have been denied access to some places afloat your cabin steward can open all sorts of doors for you if you have the right connections.

YMMV[/quote]

Really? What sort of "doors"? I just can't imagine any place a room steward could get me that I would need or want to go. And if that really is the case, then it is a sort of bribe. "I know I'm not SUPPOSED to go there, but can you get me in for a couple extra bucks?" :cool: