How do you tip extra?

[CowPrincess]

We write thank you notes, include our cabin # and names, and address envelopes to the crew who will be receiving "extra thanks". The cabin steward envelope is left on the bed when we go for dinner the last night and we hand the envelopes to the wait staff at dinner on the last night.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are many people who fell that the gratuities, tips or Hotel Service Charge (whatever you want to call it) is enough.

But there are some of who do tip extra whenever we have gotten excellent service.

We just use an envelop for the cabin stewards and hand shakes for everyone else we wish to tip extra.

[Keith1010]

I never worry about what others do or not do. We like to take care of the crew.

 

Keith

[legaljen1969]

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

 

On our last cruise, we completely intended to dine in the MDR on the last night but were surprised by some other passengers with an invitation to dine with them in a specialty restaurant.

 

We made sure to go by the MDR at lunch and distribute our additional tips.

 

Please do not assume that everyone who is not there on the last night has decided to stiff the waitstaff. I would never remove auto tips, but I have had times when I did not tip over and above for one reason or another.

[notentirelynormal]

Please do not assume that everyone who is not there on the last night has decided to stiff the waitstaff. I would never remove auto tips, but I have had times when I did not tip over and above for one reason or another.

 

With auto tips I think that assumption is a little silly. You are not stiffing by leaving it on. It used to mean that but not anymore.

 

For the OP: we simply leave on the auto tip and bring an envelope to the table with the waiter and assistant waiter's name on it PLUS we add our name and stateroom number. If we don't add the last part they will ask as they will need to check that we did leave the auto tip on and that they really will get to keep the money. We just hand it to them when they are attending to our table.

[kelkel2]

I never worry about what others do or not do. We like to take care of the crew.

 

Keith

 

Exactly. I have never paid any attention to other people in the dining room on the last night to see who was tipping extra and who wasn't. We usually tip our cabin steward extra, but in all honesty since we have any time dining we usually have different servers and never make a "connection" with anyone enough to tip extra. Do I feel bad? Not really, we're still tipping, just not above and beyond!

[Dayenu]

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!

 

Probably you didn't see others tipping, or they didn't tip additional. I saw envelopes or folded cash passing at shaking hands.

 

Editing: I would not give tips to the front desk.

Edited July 16, 2015 by Dayenu

[AnchorsAweigh2011]

Tipping is a personal choice and you’ll get a differing range of opinions on the subject. My wife and I like to reward outstanding service with an extra tip for our waiter, assistant waiter and cabin stewards on the last night of the cruise.

 

You should do what you are comfortable with and don’t feel any pressure to give extra

 

Happy cruising!

[SuiteTraveler]

We auto tip and if anyone does anything above and beyond, we give that crew member an extra tip, as much as $50 to $200 depending on what they did or how long we were on the ship. I have had grateful crew members burst into tears, throw their arms around me and hug me, you name it. It really feels good to know you have done something that means so much to that person. I usually also fill out a comments card regarding the deserving crew member and make sure it gets to their management.

[Ryan&Ronnie]

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

 

Those are some awesome ideas, Judy.

 

We also always tip in addition to the pre-paid gratuities. We used to always get envelopes (from the cruise line) designated for waiter, room steward, etc. so that it was more clear about the tipping. But when the pre-paid tipping started and envelopes have to be requested, we started bring our own "Thank You" cards. We will definitely use your ideas on our next cruise! Besides, isn't FUN what it's all about!