Tipping after prepaid gratuities

[MellowJello]

We are going on a 5 day cruise in 2 weeks on the Triumph (there are 2 of us on the trip). We prepaid our gratuities, but I was wondering what/if any other tipping was expected. We intend to tip our room steward $10-20 at the beginning and end of our cruise. What about room service, bartenders, etc?

 

Thanks!

[Perfect Stranger]

Yes, do tip room service. A couple bucks per order should do it.

 

Some people tip bartenders extra but I just let them have the 15% already included.

 

No need to pre-tip the room stewards. If service is excellent you can always leave extra at the end.

[hftmrock]

We are going on a 5 day cruise in 2 weeks on the Triumph (there are 2 of us on the trip). We prepaid our gratuities, but I was wondering what/if any other tipping was expected. We intend to tip our room steward $10-20 at the beginning and end of our cruise. What about room service, bartenders, etc?

 

Thanks!

 

you should tip bartenders and room service. they are not included in the prepaid gratuities. Make sure that your bar tab doesnt already have the tip added in.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

I pretip the room steward because I usually buy a soft cooler and keep beer in it. I ask him to keep it full of fresh ice.

[Tapi]

you should tip bartenders.

 

Bar tabs get an automatic 15% tip.

 

Personally, I don't tip anybody (except room service) beyond the prepaid gratuities, unless they go way beyond their call of duty.

[Pine Bluff]

We are going on a 5 day cruise in 2 weeks on the Triumph (there are 2 of us on the trip). We prepaid our gratuities, but I was wondering what/if any other tipping was expected. We intend to tip our room steward $10-20 at the beginning and end of our cruise. What about room service, bartenders, etc?

 

Thanks!

 

Don't waste your time or money pretipping your room steward. He will perform the same regardless, and if he's not up to par it just adds insult.

 

Bartenders automatically get tipped on every purchase.

 

No one seems to be sure about room service since the $2 alternative started.

[legion3]

Never pre-tip however, I will tip at the end, for outstanding "earned" service. Waiter, steward and anyone who goes above and beyond.

 

Not sure of your circumstances but if you have kids in the kids club, if they have stood out then tips might be appropriate. I'm not sure I would or could tip them all but if any rose above .

 

Shore excusion persons also are tipable people.

[TerReuv]

I pretip the room steward because I usually buy a soft cooler and keep beer in it. I ask him to keep it full of fresh ice.

 

We also bring a cooler and the steward keeps it filled morning & night. No need to tip ahead of time. Ours did go over & above so we tipped some extra at the end of the cruise. But, they will keep your cooler filled without extra tipping.

[Smokin J]

Usaually a $1 or 2 for room service, But I always Pre tip :eek:(Bribe more like it) the room steward, have done so every cruise and have gotten service Byond what I would exspect , They keep my cooler fresh with ice, Leave us numerous towel animals that we request( we like a zoo) and always have fresh clean robes/pool towels almost daily.

John

[OCruisers]

In addition to our pre-paid tip thru the ship, we often tip some others in cash.

 

LuLu

~~~~

[ShellLoves2cruise]

I just returned from my cruise on the Carnival Dream and I left my auto-tips on and tipped extra to the staff in the MDR, my room steward and occasionally I gave more to certain bartenders/servers for their excellent service.

 

This trip I traveled with an acquaintance, who informed my before the cruise she always removes her auto-tips and tips in cash. As soon as the tips showed up on her S&S account, she went right down and removed them...throughout our cruise she found everything in the world to complain about which much of it was not a problem or issue to me and I feel she did this so she could justify not leaving any tip at all when all was said and done. I was honestly very embarrassed to share a cabin with her and I tipped extra above what I would have normally tipped above the auto-tips to try to compensate for her cheapness and with her it was her being cheap!! Those people work their butts off for us and IMO there were no issues other than the ones she created. I also tipped room service when she didn't attempt to after ordering enough food for 6 people that she knew the 2 of us would not eat, she did this every night and morning. She did far more that I won't go into to show how cheap she was.

 

I will never, ever share a cabin with her again ~ I was not only embarrassed but also appalled by her behavior!!

 

ETA - she also informed a couple first time cruisers we met they should remove their tips too but thank goodness they didn't listen to her.

Edited November 5, 2013 by ShellLoves2cruise
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[jburk]

We tip for room service, usually $1 an item.

 

I tipped the hostess bc ds has food allergies and she helped us a lot. Odd, she seemed surprised when we tipped her at the end.

 

We tipped our waitstaff a little extra at the end, again bc of ds' food allergies. Every night gluten free bread was waiting for him. They just went above and beyond.

 

On our firsy cruise dh would tip one bartender extra bc he liked him.

[OCruisers]

:o Good Grief, Shell! What an uncomfortable and embarrassing situation for you!

 

LuLu

~~~~

[luvsviola]

I tip room service $3-4, and we left $30 extra for our head waiter last time who went above and beyond, making sure that my tube fed child had appropriate food, and got me bitter and blanc on nights that it wasn't "officially" served.

 

We don't drink, so no idea for the bar.

[Colorado Kat]

If you have more than carry-on luggage, it's good to tip the porters on drop-off. I usually do $2 per bag.

[lego7191]

Our tipping habits (personal preferences and to give others ideas if needed):

Taxi or shuttle drivers

Luggage handlers at port (curbside porters)

Bartenders and bar waiters on ship not in main dining room (lido, lounges, casino, etc) - usually $1 bill per drink, or $2 for bucket of beer

Bar waiter in dining room - larger cash tip at end of week

Cabin stewards - cash tips at end of week

Main dining room waiters for dinner - cash tip at end of week

Dining room waiters during breakfast or lunch in main dining room - few dollars depending on service

Room service - dollar per plate/item depending on what is ordered

Massage, cosmetologist, hair or nail techs if used

Casino table dealers

Pianist in piano bar

[alreadypacked]

The last few years, we have pre-paid our tips prior to the cruise. But we also tip our room steward $3 - $5 extra every other day or so. We think it appropriate especially since we may have a special request or two and, hey, when someone is coming into our personal space, we like to take a little extra care of them. They work hard--I'm sure enough cruisers rake them over the coals. I've worked in customer service before and know their job is hard. We tip room service $2 - $3 each order.

[ShellLoves2cruise]

:o Good Grief, Shell! What an uncomfortable and embarrassing situation for you!

 

LuLu

~~~~

Yes it was LuLu, she is not a close friend but had booked the cruise, had no one to go with her (now I know why) and I couldn't pass up a cruise but this is one time I really wish I had, she was a nightmare but I refused to allow her to ruin my cruise...I just did my best to make sure the staff knew who was who and did a lot on my own, or with people I met on board. Never again!!

[Aplmac]

Strive to be generous.

 

You're the Rich American on a cruise.

 

They're the slaves.

 

.

[Name Of The Game]

Strive to be generous.

 

You're the Rich American on a cruise.

 

They're the slaves.

 

.

 

Slaves? Really? They're the ones who are "rich" relative to the others in their home countries.

[Pine Bluff]

Strive to be generous.

 

You're the Rich American on a cruise.

 

They're the slaves.

 

.

 

Huh? Now these people are owned and asre on these ships against their will?

[jmcancruise]

What is this about a $2.00 alternative?? Never heard of it.

[twentyknots]

On a recent Fantasy cruise I told our cabin steward, Made, that I intended to tip him extra at the end of the cruise. I gave him a choice of $25 for sure, or I would play the $25 at the blackjack tables for him throughout the cruise and give him whatever was left. He didn't hesitate, taking the blackjack option. Aware that there could be a language problem, I made sure he understood that there was a high probability that he would get nothing. He excitedly gave me permission to bet it.

 

On the last night of the cruise his tip was up to $80 and I had decided to set a ceiling of $100 and a floor of $50 since it was late and we still had packing to do. My luck turned bad and the $80 gradually fell to $50, so I put 2 $25 chips in my pocket for Made, cashed out and left. The next morning I saw Made in the hallway and gave him the $50. He was so excited. We were happy his bet paid off.

[MellowJello]

On a recent Fantasy cruise I told our cabin steward, Made, that I intended to tip him extra at the end of the cruise. I gave him a choice of $25 for sure, or I would play the $25 at the blackjack tables for him throughout the cruise and give him whatever was left. He didn't hesitate, taking the blackjack option. Aware that there could be a language problem, I made sure he understood that there was a high probability that he would get nothing. He excitedly gave me permission to bet it.

 

On the last night of the cruise his tip was up to $80 and I had decided to set a ceiling of $100 and a floor of $50 since it was late and we still had packing to do. My luck turned bad and the $80 gradually fell to $50, so I put 2 $25 chips in my pocket for Made, cashed out and left. The next morning I saw Made in the hallway and gave him the $50. He was so excited. We were happy his bet paid off.

 

 

I really like this idea (considering your room steward is a good sport)! Sounds like yours was! Maybe mine will be too, and my fiance will LOVE permission to go to the black jack tables!

[okgirl]

Yes it was LuLu, she is not a close friend but had booked the cruise, had no one to go with her (now I know why) and I couldn't pass up a cruise but this is one time I really wish I had, she was a nightmare but I refused to allow her to ruin my cruise...I just did my best to make sure the staff knew who was who and did a lot on my own, or with people I met on board. Never again!!

 

This is why I would never travel in the same cabin with a casual aquaintance. I'm blessed to have my sister as my cabin mate, but if that weren't possible it would be solo cruising for me.

 

I prepay gratuities and tip extra on each bar tab usually $1. I tip taxi and porters, and usually $2 for room service.

 

I almost never tip my cabin steward or the MDR staff, but last week on the Magic even though we had YTD we had the same wait team and they were excellent. We tipped them $40 on the last night.