Room stewards - Extra tip?

[13cheermom]

For those that sail with Carnival, do you give extra money for a tip to your room steward and what do you feel is a fair amount? To clarify, leaving automatic gratuities intact, just an extra amount for services well done. Sometimes it just seems as if they do an outstanding job, and then sometimes just okay. For an average 7-day cruise what would be the fair amount? Thanks for sharing your thoughts based on personal experience.

[mrstriceasnice]

I've always heard $10 a day at the end of the cruise.

[HawkIVette]

I usually give an extra $20 to the room steward if the service was good. I think they deserve that. $40 if great and exceptional.

BTW, I usually give an extra $20 each to the head waiter/waitress and both of his asst. waitstaff. They earn it big time.

[Jenhem31]

We gave ours an extra $40 our last cruise.

 

 

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[LUVS2CRUZE]

If I ask for something when we arrive I will give the person $5-$10 then if he continues good service, I will give more every couple of days....say I ask for a lounge chair on the balcony, or to have ice in my room twice a day, extras like that. One time we had my mother and she was 80something, the room stewart was really good with her. When we went into port and she stayed in her room, he would check on her and bring her things. I gave him between $10 and $20 a day.

My mother felt she was a queen.

[BobbyD]

We are very low maintenance. When I meet them the first day I just ask if they can fill my ice bucket every day. I rarely, if ever, ask for anything special. I have always added an extra $20 at the end of the week.

[springs741]

We also leave auto tips in place and tip additional for room steward and wait staff.

 

We do YTD and don't always eat in the MDR. If we find a good team we will request them but are open to other teams as well. Our last cruise we did 5 nights in the MDR. We elected to tip 10 per night in addition to the auto tips. So the $50 was divided $30 to the team we dined with three nights and $20 to the team we dined with two nights. I don't know if this was high or low but we were comfortable with the amount.

 

As for the room steward we usually do $10 per night. More on the trip we had the 21 month old granddaughter with us. This last trip slightly less as service was OK but not what we had become accustomed to on previous trips.

 

If you leave auto tips in place you cover all those that enhance your trip but that you never come into contact. The extra for wait staff and room steward should be what makes you feel right.

[ah4sail]

On our last cruise in July, on top of the automatic gratuities, we gave $20 to our room steward, $20 to the waiter (we had anytime dining, but had the same waiter 3 nights of 8), $20 to the bartender at the bar where we had a before dinner drink most nights (who we also tipped each night -- we really liked her and her drinks!). We also left a tip at the Chef's Table.

[Orison]

For those that sail with Carnival, do you give extra money for a tip to your room steward and what do you feel is a fair amount? To clarify, leaving automatic gratuities intact, just an extra amount for services well done. Sometimes it just seems as if they do an outstanding job, and then sometimes just okay. For an average 7-day cruise what would be the fair amount? Thanks for sharing your thoughts based on personal experience.

 

I threw $5 once after asking for something out of the ordinary. Other than that, no.

[Out of Iowa]

I had requested single beds but arrived onboard to find they had been made into a double....I left a note and $20. When I returned to the cabin, the beds were magically returned to their twin state. Perhaps some people would say I shouldn't have to tip for what was requested in the booking, but it was extra work at a busy time.

 

Extra tip daily, too - and there is no daily request for ice, etc. Just make the beds (most days) and keep the towels/bathroom tidy.

[GTO-Girl]

We always prepay our gratuities and then I give our room steward an extra $20-30 on the last evening.

[Luckysll]

I cruise solo and am pretty low maintenance. Very rarely do I ask for anything over and above the regular (excellent) service provided. I usually tip at least an extra $15 to $20 at the end of a 7 day cruise.

[OCruisers]

Your gratuities have been paid which cover your cabin steward. An extra $20 cash at the end of a 7 day cruise when you've had good service is adequate. ;)

[cb at sea]

Unless they do something REALLY special, I think the suggested tip is sufficient. They are supposed to give you towels, ice, clean up, etc,.....to me, that is NOT "above and beyond"!

 

If they are friendly, but not too friendly, I think that's good. We usually give about $10 over the suggested tips...but it's not mandatory by any means!

 

This is the thing about "auto" or "prepaid" tips...you tend to forget how much you've already spent!!!

[mmckm]

We leave auto tips on. We tip the last night. The only thing we usually ask of him is to make sure we have lots of ice. Other then that we are low maintenance. For a 7 day cruise in a suite we will tip $50 for the steward and $20 for his helper. Handed to each in a envelope. We do anytime dinning and will usually leave $5 every night in MDR. We have a favorite bar and will give him $20 on the last night. Specialty dinning $15. I don't tip any management such as head waiter, ect. they are well paid. Will tip the servers when doing the chefs table. If service was bad or not up to par, I would ajust according. We have never had a bad room steward on any cruise line. sometimes dinning room staff is either having a bad or just not into it that day. The staff is away from home for long periods and I can see where it could play on your mood sometimes.

[pusywillow]

I have never sailed Carnival, so I'm glad I read this thread. On Princess I leave the auto tips on and leave $100 for the steward and $100 for the waiter the last night.

[HollandAvery]

For those that sail with Carnival, do you give extra money for a tip to your room steward and what do you feel is a fair amount? To clarify, leaving automatic gratuities intact, just an extra amount for services well done. Sometimes it just seems as if they do an outstanding job, and then sometimes just okay. For an average 7-day cruise what would be the fair amount? Thanks for sharing your thoughts based on personal experience.

 

If they do a good job I'll tip an extra $25-75 dollars. If it's close to a holiday like our next cruise I'll probably tip them $100 as an early holiday gift if they do a great job (:

 

If they did just an OK job throughout our cruise I would probably tip about $10-15 extra.

[GradUT]

Well, I am obviously in the minority here, but I do not tip extra. The steward is supposed to clean my room, bring fresh towels and fill the ice bucket and that's what he/she does. I am supposed to tip through the autotip and that's what I do.

 

However, I must agree that if a steward treated my mother like LUVS2CRUISE's steward did, I would tip extra, but it would have to be something REALLY extreme like that.

[RubyGold]

Our last cruise in September, we felt the steward was the most pleasant we've ever had. He tidied the room like a ninja, only once did we bump into each other during cleaning time.

 

Also, he was the most courteous in passing.

 

We gave him an extra $100 and the dining room $50.

[momof3cruisers]

Unless they do something REALLY special, I think the suggested tip is sufficient. They are supposed to give you towels, ice, clean up, etc,.....to me, that is NOT "above and beyond"!

 

If they are friendly, but not too friendly, I think that's good. We usually give about $10 over the suggested tips...but it's not mandatory by any means!

 

This is the thing about "auto" or "prepaid" tips...you tend to forget how much you've already spent!!!

 

Completely agree. My sister had actually forgotten that the tips were already being charged to our account and apparently gave our MDR team a VERY generous tip.

 

I am betting however that most people just leave the standard tips in place. Our room steward a few years ago was just great with our kids. Especially one night when they wanted to skip the dining room and order room service. He chatted with them the whole time he was doing our room (connecting cabins) and en he helped them move their stuff to our room so he could take care of theirs. Just a really nice man. They still talk about that as one of their favorite nights of the trip. So, yes, we definitely tipped him extra.

[T. Advisor King]

I always leave the auto-tips in place. On the last day, I visualize actually taking that money (which is in addition to the cabin fare already paid) out of my wallet and handing it over as a tip (in proportion to the manner in which Carnival distributes it, of course). Then I consider how reasonable that amount is compared to the service given. We are very low-maintenance (I would open the balcony divider myself rather than ask the steward if I had the tool). As I have never asked for anything "above AND beyond" and have never received anything more than "standard service", I have never tipped the cabin steward extra.

[tm32561]

If I ask for something out of the ordinary, I tip accordingly. If I ask for something because our cabin was neglected...... No ice, wet countertops, I still keep the pre paid tips in tact and I am always tempted to go to guest services to reduce tips, but I have never had totally bad service, so I've never tweaked my prepaid tips.... however any extras for the week, no tip. I think the towel folder needs an extra tip because we want an abundance of the little cuties and often times the steward is not the towel animal folder. So I always personally deliver a $20 to that person.

 

 

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[michaelandjoanne]

I've posted this comment on other similar threads. I treat the auto/prepaid tips as their Salary and any cash tips as a bonus. Just like at my work employees are ranked from needs improvement to exceptional. For the needs improvement I would still leave the auto tip on place but would complain to GS about something serious or leave a comment on the end of cruise survey for non-serious issues. If they are average, no bonus, if they are great or exceptional I usually tip 50% to 100% more.

 

This is just what makes me comfortable and I can afford it. No one should feel any guilt or obligation to provide bonuses.

 

 

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[bobnsons]

The way I see it, if someone can take care of me for a week and be friendly and smile all the time, they DESERVE it.

 

 

Only had one time with a female room stewardess. She kept telling me Carnival Rules. She was the only one they didn't get an extra tip.

[petesweet]

I think the towel folder needs an extra tip because we want an abundance of the little cuties and often times the steward is not the towel animal folder. So I always personally deliver a $20 to that person.

 

What a perfect place to ask my question!!

 

One thing that has always bothered me about Carnival is the sheer number of crew members in your personal "circle." There is the room steward and also a morning assistant and an afternoon assistant. Then there is the waiter and two assistants.

 

I always go on a cruise expecting to give extra tips. I don't have a lot of money, but I appreciate the pampering I get. But who to tip?

 

Thanks for any insight.

 

Kathy