Tip Etiquette for Excursions?

[shiner6]

Would someone please share with me what do you tip for excursions? The people who drive you around receive how much? What about Float plane pilots? Is there a standard? What about large tour groups vs. small ones? Is the gratuity included in the cost of the excursion?:confused:

[lah66]

Would someone please share with me what do you tip for excursions? The people who drive you around receive how much? What about Float plane pilots? Is there a standard? What about large tour groups vs. small ones? Is the gratuity included in the cost of the excursion?:confused:

 

On our 11 cruises, I never had one excursion where tips were included. We give at least 20% for good service, more for great service. The private tour guides work really hard and I am glad to tip them well. The only exception I can think of was when we went up in a helicopter to land on a glacier. The trip was $1000 for the four of us and we tipped $100 which I am sure was much more than he was used to by his reaction.

 

Our last cruise we went on the Coz Bar Hop. Super fun but some woman on the bus got the idea of passing a hat around. I tried to put $40 in it for our tip and she gave me all but $5 back and told me I only needed to put in a few bucks. So some people are cheap. Then and there I decided to always give my tip personally. It is nice to shake the tour guides hand and thank him for his time!

 

Hope that helps. Lauri

[toberman]

Would someone please share with me what do you tip for excursions? The people who drive you around receive how much? What about Float plane pilots? Is there a standard? What about large tour groups vs. small ones? Is the gratuity included in the cost of the excursion?:confused:

 

WOW - So many Q's in one post!! :) But - good for you for asking.. I've ran into the exact same quandary before. My observations only...

 

If?? a person only drives you around from place A to B and maybe C... does he/she deserve a tip. My thought - don't think so.. they did a job. Did they provide a narrative of where we are, what we're looking at etc... Ok, maybe a tip. Did the pilot offer an explanation of where we were, and what we were looking at... did he/she detour to show us something special?? If so - I think a tip would be good, if they didn't... well they were just doing their job.

 

The worst experience I've had was when a tour rep on the bus suggested that since the 'Driver' got us from point A to B without incident.. he should get a tip! Sorry, not me.

 

Original question though... Tip from 10 - 20% of the cost of the tour, depending on how much the guide or operator actually made the experience more enjoyable.

[cb at sea]

No, there is no recommended amount to tip. If you feel you got more than what you paid for, tip! If not, don't! On really good excursions, we'll tip about $10-20 for the both of us. A tip is not required...although, sometimes, the guide will try and make you feel guilty if you don't tip....do NOT fall for that line! I find that offensive and the tip (if any) reflects that offense!

Edited May 13, 2014 by cb at sea

[jamscckmc]

We usually will do $5 per couple for 1/2 day bus tour, $10 all day bus tour. More if it's a small group private tour. $20 for an all day catamaran or other snorkel type small boat excursion.

 

I've also experienced the pass the hat both good and bad. In St Petersburg, Russia we did a two day tour with a local quide. I got out a $20 and a guy on the bus was trying to collect $1 from each person. That would have only been a $40 tour for two days.

[#1TravelMom]

Tips can vary GREATLY! We know many of the guides in the Caribbean really rely on tips, so we are rather generous. In Jamaica recently, we had the best guides ever for our river tubing excursion. We gave them $20 tip for our family of 3. There was another family of 4 - they gave the 2 guides $2 each for a total of $4 tip. I was embarrassed for them. They seemed to really have fun just as we did - not sure how they decided on the tip amount.

[slidergirl]

I've never taken a cruise excursion (ship's or private), but I have taken a couple of land trips where the group had guides and drivers. They were all with the same company (I can't mention, but they are definitely ADVENTURE trips for WOMEN ;) ) We tipped $10/day each for the guides and $5/day for the drivers. I put in a bit more at times when the guides were extraordinary.