question about tips?

[dsschmidt1995]

I am looking online planning our cruise already. We have prepaid our tips, does the staff onboard the cruise ship already aware of this or will be expected to tip on top of the amount already paid?

 

Do we tip at the ports as well? I am really confused as to how this all works. First time cruisers, and nervous we will do something wrong.

 

thank you.

[A&Jfamily]

There are tons of threads on tipping. But basically what you have paid covers a daily allotment for wait staff and stewards. They will likely assume you have paid; if you withdrew your tips they would likely be called in by supervisor to discuss. If your service is exceptional many of us tip more to individuals.

 

Every alcoholic beverages charges an auto 15% so it's included there.

 

On excursions we leave something but if we book thru the ship it is less; they over charge versus private and thus I think they have received extra already.

 

 

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[Elaine5715]

I am looking online planning our cruise already. We have prepaid our tips, does the staff onboard the cruise ship already aware of this or will be expected to tip on top of the amount already paid?

 

Do we tip at the ports as well? I am really confused as to how this all works. First time cruisers, and nervous we will do something wrong.

 

thank you.

A&Family is correct. You will also need some dollars to tip room service if you use it and for the porters ( similar to airport skycaps) that will collect your checked luggage at boarding. If you would like extra attention and frequent drinks from bar staff , just a dollar ( above the included 15%) will assure you are never without.

Now, don't be surprised when the anti tip squad shows up to pound down any pro tipping thought.

[boaterette]

There are tons of threads on tipping. But basically what you have paid covers a daily allotment for wait staff and stewards. They will likely assume you have paid; if you withdrew your tips they would likely be called in by supervisor to discuss. If your service is exceptional many of us tip more to individuals.

 

Every alcoholic beverages charges an auto 15% so it's included there.

 

On excursions we leave something but if we book thru the ship it is less; they over charge versus private and thus I think they have received extra already.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I have to disagree with this. Carnival charges more for the excursion. They keep the money not the tour operator. I always tip them Depending on the tour it could be any where from a couple of dollars a person to 20 a person. I generally tip the bar staff a buck every drink as I usually get excellent service from them even if they are busy.Enjoy your cruise.

[poohnpals]

When tipping the bar staff, do you add it to the slip or give cash?

[dsschmidt1995]

Tipping the bartender is something I won't worry about since neither hubby and I drink anymore. I cleaned motel rooms for 6yrs, I know how much it means to be left a tip.:D I didn't know if the staff knew those that prepaid tips or not and didn't want to offend the staff if I didn't leave them a huge tip.

[Havingfun2010]

A&Family is correct. You will also need some dollars to tip room service if you use it and for the porters ( similar to airport skycaps) that will collect your checked luggage at boarding.

 

Longshoreman do not require tips, and your bags will still be safe. Think of them like the people who put the bags on a plane....do you tip them?

 

If you would like extra attention and frequent drinks from bar staff , just a dollar ( above the included 15%) will assure you are never without.

 

Not true. The bartenders will still serve you, even if you only tip 15%. An extra dollar to make a 15 second drink is more than sufficient, but of course they will be happy, who wouldn't! Of course, instead of tipping more for the perceived better service, the money you save, could just buy an extra drink each day.

 

Now, don't be surprised when the anti tip squad shows up to pound down any pro tipping thought.

 

What is an anti tip squad? Many people only tip 15%. Very few Carnival employees will actually go beyond what they are required. If you feel they deserve more, than do so, but most are just mediocre at best.

[Elaine5715]

When tipping the bar staff, do you add it to the slip or give cash?

 

You can do either.

[Elaine5715]

What is an anti tip squad? Many people only tip 15%. Very few Carnival employees will actually go beyond what they are required. If you feel they deserve more, than do so, but most are just mediocre at best.

 

You might receive mediocre service but I do not.

[Havingfun2010]

You might receive mediocre service but I do not.

 

Until you experience good or great service, you won't know what Mediocre service is.

[nissach]

What is an anti tip squad? Many people only tip 15%. Very few Carnival employees will actually go beyond what they are required. If you feel they deserve more, than do so, but most are just mediocre at best.

 

They are referring to people who say tipping is optional, not mandatory. You should tip what you feel is right for you and not what someone else tells you is the right amount.

All employees are paid and have a job description. If you feel they have gone beyond that job description, you may want to tip them(or you may not). It is a personal choice!

[goduckies05]

I'm only a tip squad person on cheers as you definitely don't tip fully on that to the servers. You pay tips on $50 per day with cheers at 15% so if you drink more than 6 drinks and don't tip you have now shorted the servers compared to those drinking the same amount of drinks on non cheers. Your choice to do it though.

[funcruiser1234]

I never prepay tips, but I always tip the recommended amount. Sometimes if the service was exceeding my expectations I will tip extra in US cash. This allows the crew to know their service was excellent and I get to see their excitement.

[mmckm]

When tipping the bar staff, do you add it to the slip or give cash?

 

I always tip cash that way the server gets it for sure. If you put it on the slip i was told it goes into the pool along with the 15%.

[A&Jfamily]

I have to disagree with this. Carnival charges more for the excursion. They keep the money not the tour operator. I always tip them Depending on the tour it could be any where from a couple of dollars a person to 20 a person. I generally tip the bar staff a buck every drink as I usually get excellent service from them even if they are busy.Enjoy your cruise.

 

I didn't say that we didn't tip, in fact from what I have read on these boards we tip more than most people. I was stating fact and just said that we tend to tip less for excursions booked through the ship, and it is because I feel that Carnival over charges for their excursions. Whether that is passed on to the operator is not my concern; the operator is choosing to contract with Carnival. It is JMHO, and truly just that, my very humble opinion.

[JillySue]

I'm only a tip squad person on cheers as you definitely don't tip fully on that to the servers. You pay tips on $50 per day with cheers at 15% so if you drink more than 6 drinks and don't tip you have now shorted the servers compared to those drinking the same amount of drinks on non cheers. Your choice to do it though.

 

On most of my drinks (with cheers) I tipped an extra buck (if it was a waiter schlepping my drink to me, or if the bartender was quick, attentive and took great care) and I got excellent service. My drinks were always BEAUTIFUL, they remembered my orders, recommended things based on my preferences and even made me some fancy "off menu" drinks! A little goes a long way when it comes to tipping :) a few bucks here and there for such personal service is very worth it, in my opinion. Money well spent.

[ASchaff]

I dont believe they know who has and has not prepaid, we have always prepaid, and recieved excellent service. We tip additional when called for. Most of the excursion tour guides rely on tips. I always make sure to have cash for them.

[In2why]

I am looking online planning our cruise already. We have prepaid our tips, does the staff onboard the cruise ship already aware of this or will be expected to tip on top of the amount already paid?

 

Do we tip at the ports as well? I am really confused as to how this all works. First time cruisers, and nervous we will do something wrong.

 

thank you.

 

 

We also prepaid our tips. This was our experience on our last cruise.

 

We didn't slip our steward anything extra at the beginning of the cruise, but we did tip extra twice. Once my youngest wet the bed. I think he just slept way too deeply on the ship that night since he had not wet the bed in years until that night or I would have brought a pad with us. I removed all the sheets and the mattress pad from his bed so the steward would know we needed the bed remade and left a $10 on top of it. The Steward and assistant were great, the room was always cleaned when we were gone so we rarely saw either of them, and the only other time we tipped was when we called because we didn't know how to work the thermostat. It was night time, not to late but late, and we were freezing since it got cold outside that night. We gave him a $5 when he came and explained why we were still freezing.

 

When we had room service delivered we gave them $3 each time. There were 4 of us in the room and I ordered 3 or 4 items at a time.

 

Normally we just let the 15% cover any of our bar or soda orders, but we had an really excellent guy who served our entire family as if he were there just for us. Because it was a large family group we pretty much used a part of the deck by the pool as our meeting place the whole cruise and he hung out with us, knew all of our names and we never waited at all for drinks. Even if it was sodas ordered with the soda card. Each time he brought us a bucket of beers, or a round of drinks the guys gave him a couple of dollars and I know that my husband and brother both tipped him extra at the end of the cruise. If we had moved around or he hadn't been so excellent with brining the kids sodas, and even the older women coffee we wouldn't have bothered or tipped extra and let the 15% stand.

 

We didn't add extra or remove tipping to the food service in the dining room, lido, or steakhouse. They did what was needed nothing more, nothing less.

 

In the ports we tipped our driver just like we would a cab driver in any city. We tipped the crew that took us to swim with Stingrays and snorkel in Grand Caymans $20 because he actually personally helped us. But the other tours were group tours and other than when the operator put his hand out he never interacted with us so we just said thank you and considered the money we spent enough.

 

Other than that we tipped the porters that took and delivered our bags 5$.

 

I think bare bones with tipping could be the prepaid tips and then the porters at the terminal a dollar per bag, and that is really all we planned for, but circumstances were different in person.

 

So far as money goes......stay away from the pictures if you don't want to spend too much money. There are really overpriced and you can ask people to take your picture of your party and just about everyone will. For us the Steakhouse was okay, but not that big of a deal. Excursions are better and less expensive if you book your own. If you are driving to port look at hotels with free parking and shuttle service, it was cheaper for us to stay one night in a hotel then for parking at the terminal and we got free shuttles and breakfast. You will spend more than you expect so build in a cushion. But how much is entirely up to you.