How do you tip extra?

[Peachypooh]

We recently were on Liberty of the Seas and tipped our waiter, assistant waiter and room steward extra on top of the pre paid gratuities.

I gave an envelope to our room steward when I saw him that last evening and also handed our waiter/assistant waiter a small envelope each when we went to dinner that last night. I did it in a discreet way. We were by a window so I faced the window when they were by the table in order to not call attention to ourselves.

My question is this. We were seated by a window so I had a view of the rest of the dining room. I saw nobody tipping extra. Not even shaking hands where they might have discreetly passed a tip. Was I supposed to drop off the tips at the front desk? Or were people just not tipping. I live in fear of breaking etiquette rules so please let me know for the next time. Thanks!

[Clarea]

I don't think you need to tip discreetly. We just hand the envelope to the wait staff. For the stateroom attendant, we leave the envelope on the bed before we leave for dinner on the last night.

[Peachypooh]

Thanks for your quick answer.

[George C]

Many people tip extra and many do not, I normally do not tip waiter extra since I eat at least half my meals in specialty restaurants but do tip room steward extra. No need to hide the fact that you are giving the extra tip ( we do tip specialty restaurants after each meal)

[treborrv]

On the last night I simply approached everyone I wanted to tip and gave it to them with a handshake and a thank you. No real discretion, but no attempt to be flashy either. I think any way you do it is OK.

 

Rob

[Langley Cruisers]

...I saw nobody tipping extra. Not even shaking hands where they might have discreetly passed a tip. Was I supposed to drop off the tips at the front desk? Or were people just not tipping.

 

Remember, people were tipping - they have already been charged the gratuities on their daily account, or had pre-paid with their final bill before leaving home. Many passengers do not tip extra, not even a dollar extra, and that is absolutely their personal decision. You did a nice thing and you did it with discretion and good taste. Having said that, it really is no one's business who tips or doesn't tip extra (no offense intended, just making a point).

[Creepella]

Sometimes we do the extra tipping at the beginning of the last meal, and sometimes at the end. Maybe you weren't looking when people were passing their envelopes. Although, recent cut-backs in service have made the amounts a bit less. We even have a Wow card left over from our last cruise.

[boscobeans]

We recently were on Liberty of the Seas and tipped our waiter, assistant waiter and room steward extra on top of the pre paid gratuities.

I gave an envelope to our room steward when I saw him that last evening and also handed our waiter/assistant waiter a small envelope each when we went to dinner that last night. I did it in a discreet way. We were by a window so I faced the window when they were by the table in order to not call attention to ourselves.

My question is this. We were seated by a window so I had a view of the rest of the dining room. I saw nobody tipping extra. Not even shaking hands where they might have discreetly passed a tip. Was I supposed to drop off the tips at the front desk? Or were people just not tipping. I live in fear of breaking etiquette rules so please let me know for the next time. Thanks!

 

You did what most folks I know do when tipping extra. Sometimes when we know a staff member has plans to visit a port we will give them a few dollars up front to spend.

 

bosco

[cb at sea]

If we tip additionally beyond that which we've already paid, we'll leave the cabin attendant's in the cabin if we don't see him/her before we leave for dinner.

 

If we tip more to the waitstaff, we don't bother being "discreet"...what's the point of that? Just thank them and hand them the envelope! It's not a secret or shameful or anything! It's not a bribe!

 

But...do NOT forget how much you've already tipped....many folks do forget and tip what, in any other circumstance, would be about double what is expected and appropriate.

[Newtoncruise]

I am sure the staff are thrilled by the extra tips they receive from the generous American guests. It helps make up for the tips that are removed by many European and Antipodean guests where tipping is not so culturally engrained.

 

I might well tip some staff in addition to the prepaid tips if service is stellar. When travelling in a suite the concierge and bar staff will get an envelope at the end of the cruise....

 

Our fellow table guests last cruise removed the lot on the last day and never showed for dinner......that is wrong and terrible form!

 

A friend just got back. He removed his family tips and gave cash to those who he thought deserved tips!

 

The culture of tipping is so different around the world and it is really too much to expect everyone to tip similarly....so there will be threads like this that help explain other people's thoughts on the matter.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Newtoncruise

[Cigar King]

I like to tip at the time of the service, in addition to the prepaid tips. That way I feel like those who are doing something for me get something directly from me.

[macdon9876]

But...do NOT forget how much you've already tipped....many folks do forget and tip what, in any other circumstance, would be about double what is expected and appropriate.

 

 

One aspect I find confusing and disagreeable is the lack of transparency for how the prepaid tips are distributed.

 

According to their website, $7.75 pp/pd is allocated to "Dining and Culinary Services". It's safe to assume that this includes wait staff, but does it also include the people at the cafe, pizzeria, buffet and hot dog stand? What about the cooks? The maître d'?

 

That is why I tipped extra to our wait staff. I had no idea how much of my prepaid tips were actually making it into their pockets. (I only tipped our waiter and assistant, though... apparently there is also a "head waiter" but I couldn't tell you who that was for us).

 

I try to compare it to shore dining: if I went into a fine restaurant and received the level of service we had on Indy last week, I'd be tipping 20% of the bill. For a nice restaurant that could easily get into the $15-20 range (or more). Now, many restaurants ask or require that waiters "tip out" the back-of-house staff and that can vary, but as I understand is usually around 15-25% of total tips received.

 

It plainly states that the stateroom attendant receives $3.85 pp/pd of the prepaid grats, so I'd like to see the same done for all employees who receive a tip (especially the ones guests directly interact with). This would make it much easier to figure out whether, and how much, additional tips would be appropriate.

 

IMO, of course! :)

[foxgoodrich]

I like to tip at the time of the service, in addition to the prepaid tips. That way I feel like those who are doing something for me get something directly from me.

 

We do the same some of the time - we always bring a WAD of one dollar bills with us. We use these for extra tips to bar servers, bartenders, a couple of them each morning when the room service guy brings our coffee, and sometimes we tip people who don't normally get tips - like crew cleaning restrooms.:p

 

We usually do give some extra bucks to both our waiter and assistant waiter, also our cabin steward. In the dining room, we just give them the extra cash in an envelope on the last night.

 

But we like to have some FUN and try to WOW our cabin steward if we have an excellent one. We try to be prepared for this and think about it ahead of time so we'll have a plan in case we have a wonderful steward, which has happened about 75% of the time on our 22 RC cruises. One time we made 25 one dollar bills into origami roses (green pipe cleaners for stems - brought them from home) and put them in a glass as a 'vase' on the bed on the last night. Several times we've taken one dollar bills and laid them out in a giant heart shape on the bed - that's easy, but very impressive;). And we often save a towel animal for the last night if we can figure a way for "him" to hold some money between his paws - and we put it on the bed clutching the extra tip. We've had a lot of hugs from cabin stewards on disembarkation morning! A couple of them actually teared up, so we quickly figured out that they are not used to passengers doing something special to surprise them.

 

Sometimes we tip them early in the week. It just depends on the guy/lady and how well we bond, I guess. But I do enjoy doing something over the top with the extra tip - the reaction we get the next day is priceless!!

Judy

[LMaxwell]

Cash in hand or cash in envelope in hand. I never leave it for them to find; I make sure it is in their hand.

[w&k]

DH does the 'green handshake' for special folks (in addition however the auto-tips get distributed).

 

This spring, we were talking to our cabin stewardess, and she mentioned that she was going to cover for another steward that was ill instead of getting off the ship that afternoon at St. Martin. I asked if there was something I could bring her, since she was staying on the ship. Her face lit up, and she asked me to bring her back a chocolate bar, if we happened to see one. I happened to find a great deal on the BIG Godiva bars, so I got an assortment, and let her choose which one she wanted. She was happy, and so were the girls at work when I got home.

 

I had to do the tipping last spring... DH blew his knee halfway through a 10 day trip, and ended up in a huge immobilizer with his leg out straight. So many folks went above and beyond to help us out, it was amazing. I broke some large bills at the casino, and spent the last day handing out $10s and $20s to the staff that had been so helpful.

 

The best reaction was the young gentleman from the off-site parking lot... he helped get my hubby up out of the wheelchair and into the shuttle, and took us by ourselves so nobody would trip over him. Then, at our car, he helped me get DH back down out of the shuttle and into the car. It took us two tries to get the luggage arranged correctly, and the heaviest bag had to go up and over the front seat.

 

When we got finished, I thanked him, and handed him a folded bill. He looked at the bill, and told me that he couldn't accept it, and tried to give it back, because $20 was too much. I looked him right in the eye, and told him there were two of them, and he absolutely deserved both. He was flabbergasted, and I got a great big hug. He then went back to the car to shake DH's hand and thank him as well.

 

It's truly amazing what the staff do, and we always try to reward great service with a little something extra.

 

Wendy

[jjtt]

We do the same some of the time - we always bring a WAD of one dollar bills with us. We use these for extra tips to bar servers, bartenders, a couple of them each morning when the room service guy brings our coffee, and sometimes we tip people who don't normally get tips - like crew cleaning restrooms.:p

 

We usually do give some extra bucks to both our waiter and assistant waiter, also our cabin steward. In the dining room, we just give them the extra cash in an envelope on the last night.

 

But we like to have some FUN and try to WOW our cabin steward if we have an excellent one. We try to be prepared for this and think about it ahead of time so we'll have a plan in case we have a wonderful steward, which has happened about 75% of the time on our 22 RC cruises. One time we made 25 one dollar bills into origami roses (green pipe cleaners for stems - brought them from home) and put them in a glass as a 'vase' on the bed on the last night. Several times we've taken one dollar bills and laid them out in a giant heart shape on the bed - that's easy, but very impressive;). And we often save a towel animal for the last night if we can figure a way for "him" to hold some money between his paws - and we put it on the bed clutching the extra tip. We've had a lot of hugs from cabin stewards on disembarkation morning! A couple of them actually teared up, so we quickly figured out that they are not used to passengers doing something special to surprise them.

 

Sometimes we tip them early in the week. It just depends on the guy/lady and how well we bond, I guess. But I do enjoy doing something over the top with the extra tip - the reaction we get the next day is priceless!!

Judy

 

 

Judy - I love your ideas on different ways to surprise the staff!! :D I will have to remember this on our next cruise!

[SpongeAlan]

I normally feel that the prepaid tips are adequate for the service that I receive. Last week we were on the LOTS and we had a Waiter and assistant waiter that were the best that I have ever had on a cruise. I felt that these guys went out of there way to make Dinner special that I would have felt bad not showing them that I recognized this. The total that I gave was $100 which for the 4 of us, for 9 nights is a pretty small price to pay. I felt great doing it. I know how little these folks make and they have families to support.

 

Its not a matter of whether you agree or disagree with the extra tipping, if it makes you feel good to something nice to someone who has done everything they can to enhance your trip. Go for it!

 

A shout out to Darryl and Selven at table 652 on the Liberty. Anyone on that ship would be lucky to have these guys as your servers.

[JimAOk1945]

On the last night I simply approached everyone I wanted to tip and gave it to them with a handshake and a thank you. No real discretion, but no attempt to be flashy either. I think any way you do it is OK.

 

Rob

 

This is my method of choice as well.

[zteamtwo]

What kind of tipping do you do for Coastal Kitchen? Do those waiters get some of the "pool tip money"?

[ckfred]

On our last cruise, we didn't get any envelopes. So, I went to the purser's desk and added gratuities to what we had already prepaid.

[Cigar King]

What kind of tipping do you do for Coastal Kitchen? Do those waiters get some of the "pool tip money"?

 

We tipped after each meal, since I wasn't sure when we would be back or if we would have the same staff. It worked well. They really took care of us anytime we were there.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Cigar King

[Rhubarbtart]

Its always an issue that I get uncomfortable talking about.

if the staff are nice and good, I always tip extra,

[mr walker]

Our fellow table guests last cruise removed the lot on the last day and never showed for dinner......that is wrong and terrible form!

 

We have sad memories of our cruises with the last night desertion of the dining room by the ones stiffing the waitstaff. And the last day removal of the auto-tips is even worse form. Karma awaits

[Cigar King]

I hope Karma comes around and bytes them, but, I suspect it won't.

[metachal]

On our last cruise, we didn't get any envelopes. So, I went to the purser's desk and added gratuities to what we had already prepaid.

 

I often have to stop by guest relations and ask for envelopes since they don't give them out automatically any more.