Tip Question for Shore Excursion

[TXCruisingMomof2]

OK we have cruised once before but it was almost 10 years and my hubby handled everything money wise. This time he isn't going so it is on me to figure out. I feel more confused than I remember being last time.

 

I know on the ship I have the prepaid thing and I can tip as I feel needed/ deserved in addition to that.

I know if I use room service I should tip - I think 1 to 5 dollars depending on size of order?

 

Now we are doing an excursion in Coz with several parts I guess.

Do we tip whoever the excursion sends to transport us from the ship to the excursion?

We are first going on a boat to another semi submersible boat/sub thing... so that is the sea portion... Do you tip all the people that are workers? Im guessing we will have one or 2 people with driving the boats.

Then we are going on a short bus ride, from the reviews I think we have a driver and a guide, so again we tip these 2?

Then we go to a cocoa place, a tequila place and then some little town with shops... do we tip at the cocoa & tequila places?

And then they return us to the ship, so we again tip for that?

 

Oh boy this is complicated... and all these people how much do we tip them?

 

This excursion thing is called land & sea... its like 4 or 5 hours... through Carnival has anyone done this? Wondering how expensive the chocolate shop & tequila shop might be for bringing some home?

[kerryincork]

Is this in Greece? If in Europe tipping is not the culture here. What often happens is there is bucket or some sort of container at exit. You just toss change (a few €) on on your way out. Have a look around and see what the Europeans are doing.

 

Or if you want give a larger tip to tour guide €5 to €10, as the guide & driver often pool & split the tip as well.

 

Or the tour guide might make an announcement up front.

 

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[TXCruisingMomof2]

No its Cozumel Mexico

[easyboy]

On excursions, we give tips only to the guide and driver only if we have enjoyed the excursion. We give $10 to the guide and $5 to the driver.

 

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[notentirelynormal]

OK we have cruised once before but it was almost 10 years and my hubby handled everything money wise. This time he isn't going so it is on me to figure out. I feel more confused than I remember being last time.

 

I know on the ship I have the prepaid thing and I can tip as I feel needed/ deserved in addition to that.

I know if I use room service I should tip - I think 1 to 5 dollars depending on size of order?

 

Now we are doing an excursion in Coz with several parts I guess.

Do we tip whoever the excursion sends to transport us from the ship to the excursion?

We are first going on a boat to another semi submersible boat/sub thing... so that is the sea portion... Do you tip all the people that are workers? Im guessing we will have one or 2 people with driving the boats.

Then we are going on a short bus ride, from the reviews I think we have a driver and a guide, so again we tip these 2?

Then we go to a cocoa place, a tequila place and then some little town with shops... do we tip at the cocoa & tequila places?

And then they return us to the ship, so we again tip for that?

 

Oh boy this is complicated... and all these people how much do we tip them?

 

This excursion thing is called land & sea... its like 4 or 5 hours... through Carnival has anyone done this? Wondering how expensive the chocolate shop & tequila shop might be for bringing some home?

 

Sheesh. You've confused me just reading about your adventure. Look. You paid for your excursion. You paid to be taken from Point A to Point B then Point C etc. You paid for them to give you the tour that you are taking. The only reason to tip above and beyond to anyone is if they have done something to deserve it.

 

I am not tipping the guy who drove me from the ship to the boat. Why? That is his job. He is already paid for that. Now, with that said if there is a guide on the bus and she gives you useful information and makes your trip enjoyable than I would tip her a dollar or two. If she didn't add value to your trip then why tip her. She didn't do her job. Remember, you have to get back to the ship too. Are you tipping that person too? If no guide the same applies to the bus driver. The longer the excursion the bigger the tip. Most people tip around $5 for a half day per person (or thereabouts) and some tip more if they really enjoy it. I don't for a moment believe those people that say they tip 20%. Really? You tipped a guy 20% to drive you three miles down the road and not say a word. Then the next guy and the return guy. I don't think so.

 

 

The same goes for the boat excursion. If they added value to your trip throw a dollar or two in the jar that will undoubtedly be accessible to you as you leave the ship. The same with the tequila place. Unless they add value to your excursion why on earth would you tip them? Trust me, if they expect a tip there will be a jar front and center.

 

 

One thing I learned along the way: I used to give the guide, say, $5 at the end of the tour. Then I realized that the guide throught I was generous but the rest of my family was cheap. So now when I go tours where I think tips will be required I get a bunch of $1s and hand one to each member in my group so that as we leave the bus they can each hand their tip personally.

 

 

This is what I do. It may not be what anyone else does so I'll state right now. This is my opinion and mine only so no one needs to pick apart my response.

 

I am going to Alaska next month. Quite a few people are saying give 20% tip for the excursions. Are you nuts?! Maybe these people are richer then me but I'm not paying $3300 for the excursion then an additional $500 in tips. Her job is to fly us. That's why the excursion is so much. It is ludicrous to me so just not going to happen. For my entire trip I'd be looking at around $4000 just in tips. Bottom line to the story - tip who you feel deserves it and how much you feel they deserve. In most cases under $5 per person is plenty.

[cb at sea]

I have to agree...no tip is needed, unless you are totally enchanted with your tour! We've had "guides" who merely take up space, and guides who have really made the day fun. The latter gets a tip. The former does not. Drivers...not so much tipping needed...as stated, that's what you paid for...the driving.

When we tip it's NOT a percentage, but a "thank you"...$5-10 is more than ample in 99.9% of the cases!

[Schoifmom]

Chances are that since it is 1 excursion, you will have 1 driver and 1 guide. I will tip the guide usually around $10pp and the driver usually $5pp, depending on the experience that I have.

[Strophic]

I tip the driver and the tour guide. I can't help but roll my eyes at people like notentirelynormal who will drop thousands on a vacation and then try to nickel and dime their tour guides as much as possible. Throwing down an extra five dollars won't kill you. In fact, it will make you feel good! So why not do it? You could apply the same logic to justify not tipping a waiter at a restaurant, but you wouldn't do that (I hope).

 

It depends on where you cruise, but a lot of popular cruise ports are very impoverished countries where a couple dollars goes a long way. If you enjoyed your excursion, a $5-10 tip will mean a lot to your guide, and what is it to you? Not even two drinks. I'm sure that giving an extra $5 to your driver and tour guide won't hurt your wallet too much, and it will make you feel good.

[OCruisers]

Almost impossible to say exactly how much to tip. So very much depends on how much the tour guide does and is involved in your excursion.

[notentirelynormal]

I tip the driver and the tour guide. I can't help but roll my eyes at people like notentirelynormal who will drop thousands on a vacation and then try to nickel and dime their tour guides as much as possible. Throwing down an extra five dollars won't kill you. In fact, it will make you feel good! So why not do it? You could apply the same logic to justify not tipping a waiter at a restaurant, but you wouldn't do that (I hope).

 

It depends on where you cruise, but a lot of popular cruise ports are very impoverished countries where a couple dollars goes a long way. If you enjoyed your excursion, a $5-10 tip will mean a lot to your guide, and what is it to you? Not even two drinks. I'm sure that giving an extra $5 to your driver and tour guide won't hurt your wallet too much, and it will make you feel good.

 

I didn't say I didn't tip. I said I am not going to tip 20% like some people are always suggesting. I tip the going rate for where I am. Think about those poor countries though. Your tour guide making on say a 40 person bus $5 each. That equals $200 a day tip for only one bus. Say they do two or three. Those poor tour guides are making more money than teachers and such on their same island. Again, if they drive me from Point A to Point B and add nothing of value to my trip, I don't tip. I work for my money and if they want money from me, they should work for it too. How much I paid for my vacation does not have anything to do with how much I tip. I tip just fine in restaurants as well, thank you for asking.

 

Oh, and when I cruise I am tipping than for more then myself. Our next cruise is DH and 4 grandchildren. That comes out to $30 for a single bus ride.

[lenquixote66]

I was on a tour last year .My guide was fantastic . When I went to tip her I realized that I had forgotten to take money with me. As I cruise to this port at least 2 times every year I told the guide that I would find her on my next cruise 2 months later .Her reply was "If you enjoyed the tour ,tell your friends ,no personal gratuity is warranted".

[ldubs]

On excursions, we give tips only to the guide and driver only if we have enjoyed the excursion. We give $10 to the guide and $5 to the driver.

 

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Yep, this is pretty standard in my experience and is what we do also.

[ldubs]

I didn't say I didn't tip. I said I am not going to tip 20% like some people are always suggesting. I tip the going rate for where I am. Think about those poor countries though. Your tour guide making on say a 40 person bus $5 each. That equals $200 a day tip for only one bus. Say they do two or three. Those poor tour guides are making more money than teachers and such on their same island. Again, if they drive me from Point A to Point B and add nothing of value to my trip, I don't tip. I work for my money and if they want money from me, they should work for it too. How much I paid for my vacation does not have anything to do with how much I tip. I tip just fine in restaurants as well, thank you for asking.

 

Oh, and when I cruise I am tipping than for more then myself. Our next cruise is DH and 4 grandchildren. That comes out to $30 for a single bus ride.

 

Don't agree necessarily, but kind of followed what you were saying until you got to the part about the DH and grand kids. Costs a little more when you add 4 persons to your party. Kind of normal to expect. :)

[notentirelynormal]

Don't agree necessarily, but kind of followed what you were saying until you got to the part about the DH and grand kids. Costs a little more when you add 4 persons to your party. Kind of normal to expect. :)

 

Of course I take into account the more people the bigger the tipping. That's why I said in an earlier post I get small bills for everyone in the party to hand to the guide as we leave so it doesn't look like I was a big spender and everyone else didn't tip at all. I am still not going to tip anyone 20% to do nothing, not even what they are hired for. I have been on bus rides where the "guide" didn't say a word until it was time to get off then reminded us all several times that there was a tip jar at the front of the bus. I think they got zero. That was the most the guide had said on the 40 minute ride. I would have like to have known something about their island and where we were going. Nothing, nada and that is what I and everyone else tipped. But I do think it ridiculous to tip $2000 just because it was a helicopter ride and not a canoe ride. I don't make $2000 an hour extra for doing my job, why should they? Not for one moment do I believe that everyone else tips $330 per person. I would much rather pay two months mortgage.

 

My next cruise the helicopter guys are going to take us from that excursion to the whale watching guys. There won't be any time to eat so I have made arrangements for the whale watching guys to order us 3 pizzas to take on board. For their trouble I am ordering them one and the helicopter guys one. This has nothing to so with their tip, just seems like a nice thing to do since they are going out of their way for us.

[ldubs]

Of course I take into account the more people the bigger the tipping. That's why I said in an earlier post I get small bills for everyone in the party to hand to the guide as we leave so it doesn't look like I was a big spender and everyone else didn't tip at all. I am still not going to tip anyone 20% to do nothing, not even what they are hired for. I have been on bus rides where the "guide" didn't say a word until it was time to get off then reminded us all several times that there was a tip jar at the front of the bus. I think they got zero. That was the most the guide had said on the 40 minute ride. I would have like to have known something about their island and where we were going. Nothing, nada and that is what I and everyone else tipped. But I do think it ridiculous to tip $2000 just because it was a helicopter ride and not a canoe ride. I don't make $2000 an hour extra for doing my job, why should they? Not for one moment do I believe that everyone else tips $330 per person. I would much rather pay two months mortgage.

 

My next cruise the helicopter guys are going to take us from that excursion to the whale watching guys. There won't be any time to eat so I have made arrangements for the whale watching guys to order us 3 pizzas to take on board. For their trouble I am ordering them one and the helicopter guys one. This has nothing to so with their tip, just seems like a nice thing to do since they are going out of their way for us.

 

I wouldn't tip 20% either. My comment was about what sounded like you first saying you don't tip overpaid bus drivers then somehow making a point that you had to cover the tips for your group. I just didn't read it the way you intended I guess.

[notentirelynormal]

I wouldn't tip 20% either. My comment was about what sounded like you first saying you don't tip overpaid bus drivers then somehow making a point that you had to cover the tips for your group. I just didn't read it the way you intended I guess.

 

Sorry for the confusion. The bus driver comment came from a post where someone told me that if I tipped more then just a few dollars I'd feel better about myself for those poor people living in those poor countries while I am so rich and cheap. Not quite what the PP said but that was the meaning.