Excursion Tipping

[Mindymc]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how much? I want to show my appreciation but don't want to overtip or under tip either. Doing two excursions without the cruise line and one with if that matters.

[Clarea]

Usually good with 10%-20%.

[FloatMe]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how much? I want to show my appreciation but don't want to overtip or under tip either. Doing two excursions without the cruise line and one with if that matters.

 

I hope this thread gets some traction because I always feel uncomfortable when it comes to tipping on excursions and I am interested in what others do. Tour guides, bus drivers, boat drivers, lunch waiter if the meal is included, one tip for all or tip separately?

 

To keep denominations easy, here is what I have been doing.

 

Tour guide $5 per person

transportation $1 or 2$ pp

Waiter $2 pp

Bar tender/drink waiter $1 every trip to the bar (we both drink soda)

 

Am I off base? Too little?

 

I am particularly generous for good service. In April, on a sailing excursion to the pitons on antigua, I tipped a crew member $10 privately because he payed particular attention to my mother who has mobility issues and her own oxygen. He was great!

[Hotel CA]

Usually good with 10%-20%.

 

Bob--

 

when you say 10-20% do you mean each aspect of an excursion or do you just give 1 tip at the end and trust they will disperse the tip fairly? I am thinking of something that has multiple players like a sail and snorkel where you might be driven from the cruise pier to a marina in a bus and then you have deck hands, bartenders and snorkel instructor types-- just 1 general tip of 10-20% instead of tipping each a smaller amount?

[Clarea]

Bob--

 

when you say 10-20% do you mean each aspect of an excursion or do you just give 1 tip at the end and trust they will disperse the tip fairly? I am thinking of something that has multiple players like a sail and snorkel where you might be driven from the cruise pier to a marina in a bus and then you have deck hands, bartenders and snorkel instructor types-- just 1 general tip of 10-20% instead of tipping each a smaller amount?

I think you're making it too complicated.

 

Normally, there is one person (or a tip jar) at the end of the excursion that is obviously collecting tips. Many times they announce their willingness to accept tips.

[Dancer9933]

I don't always tip but When I do I hand it to the kayak guide or whoever made the trip for me to make sure they get it. I will give a couple bucks to the driver but depending on how crazy expensive the excursion was in the first place I may not be as inclined to throw money around.

[cruisegirl1]

The 10-20% is a good guide, especially as Bob noted that many Caribbean tours have that tip bucket an the end of the day. The staff likely have some formula they use to divvy up the tips.

 

We tip a bit differently with (European or other ) private/semi private sightseeing tours with a driver and guide. We give 10-15% to the guide and 10% or slightly less to the van/car driver. We try to tip in the specific country currency. In the rare occasion we are on a tour that has a bus, we give the bus driver a few US dollars or the foreign equivalent.

 

We have found that many foreign countries have different guidelines than we use in the US. We generally ask the hotel staff what is appropriate for the particular city. We find a big difference in what taxi drivers except.

 

 

Hope that helps.

 

M

[FloatMe]

Ha! This just came across on of my social media feeds. Insider's guide to tipping, in which there is a small paragraph on excursions. [emoji2]

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

[George C]

I hope this thread gets some traction because I always feel uncomfortable when it comes to tipping on excursions and I am interested in what others do. Tour guides, bus drivers, boat drivers, lunch waiter if the meal is included, one tip for all or tip separately?

 

To keep denominations easy, here is what I have been doing.

 

Tour guide $5 per person

transportation $1 or 2$ pp

Waiter $2 pp

Bar tender/drink waiter $1 every trip to the bar (we both drink soda)

 

Am I off base? Too little?

 

I am particularly generous for good service. In April, on a sailing excursion to the pitons on antigua, I tipped a crew member $10 privately because he payed particular attention to my mother who has mobility issues and her own oxygen. He was great!

 

This is about what we do, sometimes a little more if it was a excellent trip

[Sitzmark]

I think you're making it too complicated.

 

Normally, there is one person (or a tip jar) at the end of the excursion that is obviously collecting tips. Many times they announce their willingness to accept tips.

 

On the fury catamaran in Cozumel they gave a five minute or so talk about it and had a bucket. On the turtle farm tour in grand cayman, the guy vanished so fast at the end that no one had a chance to tip.