Excursion Tipping

[imusttravel2000]

Does anyone know the guideline for tipping excursion guides?:rolleyes:

[bplazo]

I would like to know also, I think my husband always gives $20.00 and there are four of us. I always worried maybe we do not leave enough. Although I have seen some who do not leave any.

[Love2cruisegirl]

We are recently off RCCL/NOS (Western). At each port, we had excursions planned. My DH went prepared to pay $5-10/pp in tip or a total tip of

$10-20 depending upon services rendered during our excursion. He also took an extra $5 bill in case he wanted to give the guides a little something extra in addition to our pre-planned tipping amounts. Then, once we were toward the end of our excursion, we discussed how we felt the guides had been during each excursion.

In Jamaica for example, we did The Original Canopy Tour which had about 6 guides that help you throughout the day. They were GREAT! I got scared at one point in the tour & the guides were SO NICE about it. The rest of the excursion, they checked on me...asked how I was doing...VERY caring! So we ended up giving the $20+ tip for them.

Unfortunately though, our cozumel excursion didn't go as planned & we were not happy with services rendered. Therefore, we tipped I believe about $6-that's it. We were that unhappy and I ended up emailing the excursion operator about the whole situation & got a partial refund.

We talked to some other people on our ship & they indicated they handled their tipping about the same way we did. Hope this helps.

[Katiekakes]

Would you tip for excursions booked offered by the cruise lines. They are over priced, but I would still think you would tip the people doing the excursions? We have tipped them in the past but noticed that a lot of people do not tip at all!

[Big Al B.]

We generally tip both the guide and the driver even on ship's excursions. I usually go around $5 for the guide, $3 for the driver.

[johnql]

My rule of thumb is: $2-3 per person for a half-day tour (3-4 hrs), $5 pp for a full-day tour. This goes for both the driver and the guide. Of course, this can be lowered or raised depending upon the service rendered. Also, it doesn't matter whether the tour was booked independently or through the ship.

[Jazzfman]

Dolphin quest in ocho rios had a Great assistant that help me get Mom in the water off a dock (she has emphezema) stayed with us the whole time and then out....they should have had a ramp or a lift....he got 20$ (Name was Okie-Dokie)....most other excursions between 3-10 bucks depending on service and attitude....:cool:

[virgenia]

On our last trip which was to the Med, I specifically watched whether people tipped or not. About 50/50. We usually tip the guide about $5 each, but if were unhappy, did not feel compelled to tip. On two of the ships tours where the driving was really tough (Amalfi coast and Corfu), we tipped the bus driver also. We don't always tip the driver, but guess we should.

[Sheffie]

Would you tip for excursions booked offered by the cruise lines. They are over priced, but I would still think you would tip the people doing the excursions? We have tipped them in the past but noticed that a lot of people do not tip at all!

 

These people are making less than the people with whom you book private excursions due to the cruise line's cut. We ALWAYS tip these people.

[johnql]

These people are making less than the people with whom you book private excursions due to the cruise line's cut. We ALWAYS tip these people.

I don't really think that's how it works. The cruise line charges more than what a private excursion would usually cost. I figure the mark-up is their cut. I don't believe the excursion company (or any of their employees) makes any less. I could be wrong about this but that's my understanding.

[imusttravel2000]

Thanks everyone.....

Wonderful and helpful information.