Tipping Tour Guides on Alaskan Shore Excursions

[GirlScoutMom2015]

Hi all - I just realized I have no idea what an appropriate tip is for our tour guides. We are a group of 19 girl scouts and adults chaperones and will be going on the Carnival Tracy Arm Fjord Catamaran, a White Pass Railroad / Motor Coach combo tour in Skagway which includes lunch at Bennett Station and a kayak/hike of the Tongass National Forest in Juneau with Beyond Alaska.

 

We don't want to overtip but definitely don't want to undertip either so all suggestions are very much appreciated. We are also not sure if a tip is expected on the catamaran but will certainly tip if expected / recommended.

 

Thanks so much

Jen

[mapleleaves]

Near the top of the page you'll see SEARCH THIS FORUM. Do your search with the word ' tip' and you'll find MANY past threads on this topic.

[Putterdude]

We normally tip $5 pp for a half day and $10 pp for a full day excursion. The dynamics of your excursion is a bit different as you are a group of Girl Scouts and have 3 elements to your excursion. I would hope that someone will come along with more of a guide than ours.

[GirlScoutMom2015]

Putterdude - thank you so much for the reply and the guideline. Although we are taking 3 different shore excursions, they are all with different companies so your guidelines are a great place to start and I can live with those amounts. So the only question that remains is whether to tip the catamaran excursion people which is a Carnival excursion or if our price includes a gratuity on that one.

[Putterdude]

My guess is that it is an independent operator who would like a piece of your tip pool. I will tell you that a lot of posters talk about tipping but from observation many, many do not. I would think something in the range of $3 or so per person per element of your tour would be very generous. Yes, these people are working for tips but they should recognize the nature of these young people....I am sure that you people have done some fund raising and the girls have saved, but I bet their parents are footing a significant part of the tab. Good on you for taking this on.:)

[sh2738]

I think that it is a personal preference whether to tip or not. I have personally never tipped on an excursion. It has never even occurred to me to tip. In my opinion, the excursions, especially those in Alaska, are already expensive enough. But that's because it is usually just me and one other. If I was going with a large group I might tip a dollar or two depending on what we were doing. The only people that I tip on cruises are the luggage guys loading the luggage onto the ship, cause I want to see my suitcase. It's all a matter of personal preference. If you feel that the guide deserves more money, especially if it is an independent tour outside of the cruise ship, then by all means tip.

[xlxo]

The only people that I tip on cruises are the luggage guys loading the luggage onto the ship, cause I want to see my suitcase.

• I find my luggage gets more abuse on a cruise compared to a flight.
  
• You do know that the luggage guy you are tipping will spend no more than 2 seconds to unload your luggage from the cab and sling onto a luggage cart with other luggage.
  
• He will spend more time handling your money than your luggage.
  

Edited July 3, 2015 by xlxo

[Miss Dot]

Glad you are even thinking of a tip. Many of these ppl really depend on tips as they are just employees of a bigger operation. It is expensive living in Alaska and most of these ppl share a great amount of info with you. Just returning from our trip we were saddened to see such a lack of tipping. I know these excursions were expensive!!!! But we always gave a nice tip too.

[PSUtraveler]

We tipped between 5-10 dollars per person on excursions, depending on the type of excursion, how long it was, and how helpful the guide was. Our excursions usually included bus transfers as well. We tipped a few dollars to the drivers, in general. I have no idea if we would be considered generous or stingy with those amounts, though. In any case, hope this helps!

[watchdiva]

We are also in the $5-10 per person range for tipping on our excursions.

[agabbymama]

On our HAL cruisetour a few years ago, the customary amount recommended by HAL was $3.50 pp per day and $2.00 pp per day for the driver. Now those people were with us 24/8 and attended all of our needs.

 

On local port tours, my friend and I usually tip $2.50 pp for half day tour and $5.00 pp for a full 8 hour tour.

 

I would think a couple of dollars pp would be sufficient for the tours for just a few hours of the day. If the guides are very attentive to the girls and you feel they went above and beyond, you could always tip more.