What would you tip?

[chrismakris]

What would you tip for exceptional service(above and beyond what you are already tipping) from the waiters, bartenders and cleaning staff at the end of a cruise?

[Lois R]

What would you tip for exceptional service(above and beyond what you are already tipping) from the waiters, bartenders and cleaning staff at the end of a cruise?

 

Hi, tipping is such a personal thing....not sure you are going to get

a specific answer about the exact amount. I will say, usually go with your

gut;)...anything above and beyond is appreciated.

[Chicago Boy]

What would you tip for exceptional service(above and beyond what you are already tipping) from the waiters, bartenders and cleaning staff at the end of a cruise?

 

 

In addition to our the tips that are applied daily to our account, we tip the bartenders or cocktail waiters and additional 10 to 15 % of the bill. On a two week cruise we tip our wait staff half way through and again at the end. As for our state room steward we tip him or her per service and something extra the last night. Everyone else gets tipped as appropriate. We leave for Barcelona to pick up our Trans Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale. Getting excited. :)

[4774Papa]

What would you tip for exceptional service(above and beyond what you are already tipping) from the waiters, bartenders and cleaning staff at the end of a cruise?

In addition to the prepaid 15%, I tip waitstaff a little more by putting a dollar or two next to the check for great service.

At the end of the cruise, I generally tip $20 for the head waiter at our table and $10 for assistant waiter and $10 for sommelier. For the room steward, about the only thing special we ask from them is room service and we tip a couple of dollars for breakfast each time. At the end, I usually tip from $10-$20, depending on how good the steward.

 

Another thing, I always tip the waitstaff some cash at the Elite HH, and that helps with great service. They have our favorite drinks ready when we sit down.

[dorisis]

It depends on the service. The better the service, the larger the tip. The crew onboard work very hard and they deserve a little extra unless the service has been bad.

[packercruising]

Totally up to you. Kinda like asking how much to put in the offering at church. The circumstances will be different every time, because you have different staff every time. We never have assigned seating for dinner, so we always stick with the good ones. Good is a relative term and depends on your definition. Also depends on your financial situation. What would you tip on land for the same services?

 

If you want to make sure the person providing the service gets the tip, give it to them in cash. If you add it to your cabin account, it gets split.

[cruzsnooze]

You are already charged for great service so you don't have to tip extra unless you really want to. The cruise line has already figured out what is fair and they expect you to get fantastic service so I don't tip extra. It would have to be something way over the top for me to tip twice for the same service.

[TomTN]

On the Silhouette last May we had the best room steward ever. She ask several times if there were any problems, and if we needed anything. Service was excellent also.

Had to give her a nice tip, and some great remarks on the survey.

[spookwife]

What would you tip for exceptional service(above and beyond what you are already tipping) from the waiters, bartenders and cleaning staff at the end of a cruise?

 

honestly it depends on how far over and above. Typically between $20 and $50 though. of course everyone's idea of 'over and above' is subjective. for instance we were thrilled when the cabin steward pulled our luggage into the room( after a brief panic as we walked down the hall to find nothing waiting for us and DH wanted to change for dinner) while others expect that to be the norm.

[wwcruisers]

Wow -- a civil tipping thread -- so proud of you guys! ;)

 

We sometimes have folks we cruise with ask us how much to tip a particular individual. We usually start our analysis with whether it is extra for crew covered by the auto-tip, or someone who is not in the usual tipping pool. Next, the question is: what did that particular crew member do for you? Did you utilize their services regularly? Did they go "above-and-beyond" on one or more occasions? We get a copy of the auto-tip break-down (who gets what per day), and use that as a base guideline for our extra tips. But, as others have pointed out -- it's a very personal thing, and ultimately it's up to you. :cool:

Edited November 18, 2013 by wwcruisers

[wpgcycler]

Thanks to the people who have suggested amounts/ranges. While I can appreciate that there is obviously discretion exercised when tipping, surely there are typical amounts or ranges just as there are for on land services (15-20% in a restaurant, a couple of bucks for the parking valet, $2-5 for the housekeeper in a hotel room, $1 per drink for a bartender and so on).

 

I'm guessing that most folks who start this sort of thread are like me - TOTAL cruise virgins. To simply say "it's a personal thing" or it's "up to you" is not particularly helpful. I truly have no idea whether $20 on top of the amount collected by Celebrity would be an insult to the cabin steward or if it's something they would appreciate. Similarly, I don't know if $100 for the same individual would be expected or be over the top. We simply do not know and want to be politely appreciative to the staff but at the same time do not want to offer rewards which are obviously (to the cognoscenti) way out of whack.

[chrismakris]

Hello,

 

Thanks for all the advice. My wife and I are heading out on a cruise in a few weeks and this is the only thing I haven't budgeted for.

 

How about the specialty restaurants? We will be eating in Qsine one night.

 

When tipping the head waiter and assistant, do you tip them seperatly or do you give to the head waiter and he splits it with his assistant?

[Happy2cruise]

It depends on the service. The better the service, the larger the tip. The crew onboard work very hard and they deserve a little extra unless the service has been bad.

Agree totally:)

[chrismakris]

Thanks for explaining it better for me Wpgcycler. While this is our second cruise I felt bad after our first cruise because I tipped the head waiter an extra 20 bucks and was told he splits that with his assistant.

 

Definitely not enough because he was really good.

[A Sixth?]

I use this simple formula to determin if/how much extra to tip. :D

 

 

Seriously, the built in tip is fine if you feel you got good service and didn't request a lot of extras.

 

If you ask for special tables in the MDR, $10-30 is a reasonable range IMHO, we tip a bit extra (10% or so) on the bar tab if service was above and beyond, and the room guys get $20-40 per week extra if we asked for extra things like pillow, ice, what-ever.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Thanks to the people who have suggested amounts/ranges. While I can appreciate that there is obviously discretion exercised when tipping, surely there are typical amounts or ranges just as there are for on land services (15-20% in a restaurant, a couple of bucks for the parking valet, $2-5 for the housekeeper in a hotel room, $1 per drink for a bartender and so on).

 

I'm guessing that most folks who start this sort of thread are like me - TOTAL cruise virgins. To simply say "it's a personal thing" or it's "up to you" is not particularly helpful. I truly have no idea whether $20 on top of the amount collected by Celebrity would be an insult to the cabin steward or if it's something they would appreciate. Similarly, I don't know if $100 for the same individual would be expected or be over the top. We simply do not know and want to be politely appreciative to the staff but at the same time do not want to offer rewards which are obviously (to the cognoscenti) way out of whack.

 

You asked an honest question and you deserve an honest answer. The cabin steward will not be insulted by $20 on top of the regular gratuities. He or she will not be insulted by $100 either and, if that is within your means, it is a nice gesture.

 

One thing you should know is that your waiter has to tip out his assistant if you don't tip the assistant separately. Same with the cabin attendant. We always tip them separately. We did not know this on our first cruise.

 

Thank you for wanting to be fair with the staff. Enjoy your first cruise!

[mikechass]

We don't drink, so I never extra tip the head waiter, the bartenders, etc.

We do however tip the waiter, assistant waiter and the stewart.

It breaks down like this for a Week long trip... anything more goes up

Room Stewart usually gets $25

Head waiter is $15

and Assistant is $10

We aren't well off but I always think they work so hard I am happy to give what we can.

I also think, picking up after yourself is a huge help too...

Leaving the room tidy, cleaning up your dishes when you have a snack around the pool etc etc.

I appreciate all their work, and do what I can when we are away.

 

Hope that helps

Have a great time.

Chass

[wwcruisers]

Thanks for explaining it better for me Wpgcycler. While this is our second cruise I felt bad after our first cruise because I tipped the head waiter an extra 20 bucks and was told he splits that with his assistant.

 

Don't feel badly for being confused. From what I can tell, the on-board tipping system is very convoluted. In addition to waiters and stewards needing to make sure that their assistants are taken care of -- they are also required to "kick-up" tips to folks who are not in the auto-tip pool at all.

 

The one and only time we had a truly horrible room steward (on RC), we later realized we should have had a clue from day one: the linens (or should I say, lack of). Our sheets were threadbare, and we couldn't get extra towels (and yes, we asked -- repeatedly). When our bathrobes finally arrived, they were more like stained and ripped up rags -- we just left them hanging in the closet. We finally concluded that, not only was our room steward hiding from his passengers -- he must have been hiding from the laundry manager on tip day! :rolleyes:

[pxy cda]

There is no obligation to tip over and above the gratuities onboard.

 

But we typically budget about $100-$200 for those extra tips. Get a number small bills (ones and fives):

• $5-$10 to anyone who touches your bags upon leaving the airport. (taxi driver, porter, room steward or bag delivery - Average $2 per bag).
  
• $2-$5 for room service depending on volume of food (snack or full meal)
  
• $1/Drink to bar/wait staff if they go over and above - if in cashless mode on the ship, we just add addt'l tip to the check - a server will find you fast in a crowded room if you tip with cash as that wont be pooled ;)
  
• Room Steward - we give $20 at beginning of cruise when we give our particular needs (ice, extra towels, pressing etc) and extra at the end only if performance is exemplary (otherwise we leave it to the upfront $20 and standard prepaid tips) I sometimes pick up some AT&T prepaid cards for them to call home - it's a bit more personalized for them. I also agree leaving a tidy room makes their life easier.
  
• Dining Room Staff - it really depends on performance - this past cruise this meant a WOW card with $60 to the assistant waiter who was amazing and we left the std tip for the head and lead waiter as they just performed as expected - but typically we provide $20 each for the 2 waiters and $10-15 for the head waiter.
  

We obtain envelopes and note paper from customer service to write personalized thank you notes to go with the tips at the end of the cruise.

 

I have also gone to customer service during the cruise to speak to the officer in charge of particularly exemplary individuals to ensure their performance is highlighted to their superiors. Too often CS is only used for complaints - it's important to let the boss know who is going above and beyond and provide positive feedback - one of our bartenders on a past cruise won an achievement award (we saw him at the achievers dinner at the captains table) with recognition at a staff meeting so this feedback does go a long way.