? Tipping for concierge and butler? Before or after?

[bellevuemountain]

Hello!

 

Can anyone share their experiences with tipping the concierge and butler? What is an appropriate amount for each? Should they be tipped ahead of time or at the end of the cruise? Thanks for your help!

[roger001]

Hello!

 

Can anyone share their experiences with tipping the concierge and butler? What is an appropriate amount for each? Should they be tipped ahead of time or at the end of the cruise? Thanks for your help!

 

There's been some really, really lenghty threads on this even recently. Many different opinions expressed. Do a search for this topic/subject and you should find lots of thoughts/opinions...and more quickly than it will take this thread to generate it again.

 

Here's the link to the most recent I believe.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1740783&highlight=tipping

[njhorseman]

I'm not going to get into the "how much to tip" debate, but we never tip in advance because the amount of our tip will vary based on how much service we receive and the quality of that service...things that we won't know until the end of the cruise. In any event tipping in advance always smacked of bribery to me.

[bellevuemountain]

I'm not going to get into the "how much to tip" debate, but we never tip in advance because the amount of our tip will vary based on how much service we receive and the quality of that service...things that we won't know until the end of the cruise. In any event tipping in advance always smacked of bribery to me.

 

Good point! Thanks...

[bellevuemountain]

There's been some really, really lenghty threads on this even recently. Many different opinions expressed. Do a search for this topic/subject and you should find lots of thoughts/opinions...and more quickly than it will take this thread to generate it again.

 

Here's the link to the most recent I believe.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1740783&highlight=tipping

 

Oups... Did not want to create a faux pas. I will go and check immediately and thank-you tremendously. Is there any way I can delete the present post so it does not start a new debate?

[Nclbella]

Oups... Did not want to create a faux pas. I will go and check immediately and thank-you tremendously. Is there any way I can delete the present post so it does not start a new debate?

 

Wow, I am a lurker and this for some reason set me off.....

 

OP, you did nothing wrong! You asked a question that has probably been buried in at least page 10.

Also, since November maybe people had a different opinion on tipping. The nit picking on this board is amazing, and it seems to me that people are being intimidated.

[EileenN]

There is always a person or 2 who are aggressive with their opinions. I appreciate the question being asked again...there are always other opinion and I like to hear them all.

[DMH15]

Wow, I am a lurker and this for some reason set me off.....

 

OP, you did nothing wrong! You asked a question that has probably been buried in at least page 10.

Also, since November maybe people had a different opinion on tipping. The nit picking on this board is amazing, and it seems to me that people are being intimidated.

 

I do not think the person who provided the info to the link replied in a mean spirited way. To me it just seemed matter-of-fact. But due to the fact it is written, not spoken words, two people might look at it differently. Sorry it set you off.

 

OP, I hope you get the info you seek. There really are a lot of great people on this board.

[Nclbella]

I do not think the person who provided the info to the link replied in a mean spirited way. To me it just seemed matter-of-fact. But due to the fact it is written, not spoken words, two people might look at it differently. Sorry it set you off.

 

OP, I hope you get the info you seek. There really are a lot of great people on this board.

 

I very much appreciate your response. I do feel that people get harped on for asking a question that someone asked 2 months ago. It's not right. The whole purpose of a board like this is to find out info from people who have interests in common, if I wanted to do research on it I would google, go to fact websites, etc.

Instead, people choose to come here to get real life experiences. Maybe someone experienced something this past week that was not on the thread from November.

[roger001]

I very much appreciate your response. I do feel that people get harped on for asking a question that someone asked 2 months ago. It's not right. The whole purpose of a board like this is to find out info from people who have interests in common, if I wanted to do research on it I would google, go to fact websites, etc.

Instead, people choose to come here to get real life experiences. Maybe someone experienced something this past week that was not on the thread from November.

 

 

Harped on??? Harped on??? Are you joking??? If you are refering to my post answering the OPs request for information, take a better look. I did in the most cordial way provide the OP with excellent info regarding the subject, a full three page link that will provide some immediate thoughts regarding tipping (including some of mine). With that, the OP could have answers right now...not having to wait for days while this discussion may or may not generate again. Info out of date??? It's less than a month old and you can be assured that the tipping thoughts do not change in that amount of time. And....the OP responded with a gracious thank you. And to the OP.....an excellent question. Ask anything any time. However, if a previous thread is presented in an effort to provide you with some immediate assistance, that is not intended as an insult, but instead as an effort to assist.

[Cruisin&Relaxin]

Harped on??? Harped on??? Are you joking??? If you are refering to my post answering the OPs request for information, take a better look. I did in the most cordial way provide the OP with excellent info regarding the subject, a full three page link that will provide some immediate thoughts regarding tipping (including some of mine). With that, the OP could have answers right now...not having to wait for days while this discussion may or may not generate again. Info out of date??? It's less than a month old and you can be assured that the tipping thoughts do not change in that amount of time. And....the OP responded with a gracious thank you. And to the OP.....an excellent question. Ask anything any time. However, if a previous thread is presented in an effort to provide you with some immediate assistance, that is not intended as an insult, but instead as an effort to assist.

 

You get a major thumbs up from me roger001. I was getting ready to answer in a similar fashion. I saw your response and sat back satisfied the OP got the very best answer that could be given. I read nothing inappropriate or "mean spirited" in your response.

[sassyredhat]

Me neither Roger...:D

Pat

[iluvdoxies]

we tip on the last day

[Laszlo]

Who tips on the 1st day??? And if you did and your butler did a lousy job are you going to ask for some money back LOL

[2inTul]

Harped on??? Harped on??? Are you joking??? If you are refering to my post answering the OPs request for information, take a better look. I did in the most cordial way provide the OP with excellent info regarding the subject, a full three page link that will provide some immediate thoughts regarding tipping (including some of mine). With that, the OP could have answers right now...not having to wait for days while this discussion may or may not generate again. Info out of date??? It's less than a month old and you can be assured that the tipping thoughts do not change in that amount of time. And....the OP responded with a gracious thank you. And to the OP.....an excellent question. Ask anything any time. However, if a previous thread is presented in an effort to provide you with some immediate assistance, that is not intended as an insult, but instead as an effort to assist.

 

It sure does seem there are a lot of self-appointed hall monitors lately! :rolleyes:

 

roger001 - I thought your response to the OP was quite helpful. Keep up the good work.

[sjbdtz]

It sure does seem there are a lot of self-appointed hall monitors lately! :rolleyes:

 

roger001 - I thought your response to the OP was quite helpful. Keep up the good work.

 

 

Agreed.

 

 

 

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[Aladdin1968]

This topic has been discussed over and over but gladly CC has new folks every day so there is no reason to dismiss any OP. We tip the afternoon before debarkation. Is more convenient for the butler/concierge who has a very busy debarkation day. The amount depends on the level we have used his or her sevices and the quality of the services. We have had very good service and rather poor service. We do not tip because it is expected but on the basis of the quality. If we are satisfied we tip the butler USD 15 per person per day including children. If we are really dissatisfied we tip zero. That has actually happened. If it is somewhere in between we tip somewhere in between. We normally do not use the services of the concierge apart from an occasional priority debarkation or restaurant reservation and we tip him or her USD 50 per voyage.

[Cruisin&Relaxin]

Hello!

 

Can anyone share their experiences with tipping the concierge and butler? What is an appropriate amount for each? Should they be tipped ahead of time or at the end of the cruise? Thanks for your help!

 

If you have access to a ship with a haven/courtyard and you use the services of the courtyard valet/butler, you should also tip this person in addition to your room butler.

 

We recently used the courtyard valet to get us breakfast, lunch and drinks in the afternoon everyday on our cruise. He was wonderful and he got the great majority of the tip money we brought with us.

 

We provided a small tip to the room butler for bringing us snacks and keeping our glassware refreshed.

[b00kbug]

Even the person in the link that was offered admitted having a hard time finding info after a search on CC.

 

Keep Calm and Cruise On - no need for feathers to get ruffled here.

[beau4]

On boarding day, first time in a suite, we had a problem with our safe. When the butler came to introduce himself we asked if he could arrange to get it fixed. He said he would and we handed him some money. He did not reach for it and quietly stated, "You can take care of me at the end of your cruise." The safe was fixed within the hour and since then we have never extended monies before the last night. BTW, he was a great butler and got tipped well.

[2inTul]

This topic has been discussed over and over but gladly CC has new folks every day so there is no reason to dismiss any OP. We tip the afternoon before debarkation. Is more convenient for the butler/concierge who has a very busy debarkation day. The amount depends on the level we have used his or her sevices and the quality of the services. We have had very good service and rather poor service. We do not tip because it is expected but on the basis of the quality. If we are satisfied we tip the butler USD 15 per person per day including children. If we are really dissatisfied we tip zero. That has actually happened. If it is somewhere in between we tip somewhere in between. We normally do not use the services of the concierge apart from an occasional priority debarkation or restaurant reservation and we tip him or her USD 50 per voyage.

 

I went back and re-read every post in this thread and did not find any post that "Dismissed the OP" rather all of the posts, with the exception of those that chastised other posters, tried to answer the OP's questions and direct them to more information.

[Nclbella]

Oups... Did not want to create a faux pas. I will go and check immediately and thank-you tremendously. Is there any way I can delete the present post so it does not start a new debate?

 

Here, obviously, the OP felt like he/ she did something wrong. That was why I responded the way I did. Why didn't anyone else respond to the OP and say that no problems were created? Seems silly to me that everyone is congratulating the one person who made the OP feel like he/she did something wrong, to the point that he/she wants to completely delete their post:rolleyes:

[bonvoyagie]

As for how much - that is up to you - you are paying extra for the perks that come with the suite - this includes afternoon snacks and the coffee maker. Anything you ask the butler to do above and beyond this is what you are going to tip on.

 

I find that the concergie is not as vital to me as the butler. He/She can help arrange your excursions and ensure that you get on and off the ship as easily as possible. On our last cruise we had questions about getting our boarding passes printed out ahead of time - we were also looking at the BAGs program - all of our options were explained very nicely by the concerige. He also took us off the ship through some of the crew exits which allowed us to skip the crowds.

 

On the last night of the cruise I went down to the hotel desk and had them cut two vouchers to our butler and concergie for their tips. They insured me that they would get the $$ - it also showed up on my final bill.

 

enjoy your suite life :)

[sjbdtz]

Even the person in the link that was offered admitted having a hard time finding info after a search on CC.

 

Keep Calm and Cruise On - no need for feathers to get ruffled here.

 

 

Here's a neat trick, if you're having trouble with the CC Search function.

 

CC is indexed by Google.

 

 

Just google the terms, and then go to the appropriate CC threads.

 

:)

 

 

 

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