Shore Excursion Tips

[gf42]

What do you think is an appropriate tip for a shore excursion ? Would you give a different answer for a Celebrity shore excursion or a private shore excursion company ? Thank you

[Gonzo70]

There is no correct answer; there are many legitimate factors - here are the most important ones for me:

1) Size of tour - the smaller/more intimate the higher I am likely to tip

2) Length of tour - the longer the tour, larger the tip

3) Quality of the guide - self-explanatory

4) How much work the tour requires the guide to do (i.e. is it mostly transportation and lots of time on one's own, or is the guide actively involved much of the tour)

5) Country the tour is in - some countries have different customs/norms for tipping guides versus others

 

Things I don't consider factors:

1) Cost of the tour (i.e. I don't tip a percentage of the tour's cost)

2) Private vs. Celebrity excursion (though private excursions are generally smaller, so in that sense it is indirectly a factor)

3) Quality of the tour in regards to factors the guide cannot control (i.e. I wouldn't penalize the guide if the weather was bad or I just didn't end up liking certain areas visited - through no fault of the guides)

 

The most I recall tipping was $20 per/person for an all-day tour where the guide was outstanding, it was a fairly and worked her butt off. I have had a couple bum guides where I tipped nothing, but usually I have tipped at least $5 per/person to the guide and at least a couple bucks total to the driver (though on occasions where it has been a large coach bus and the guide was fine, but due to the large group size just didn't give me any personal attention or do anything above-and-beyond have generally done $5 total instead of per/person (there are two of us) - though in recent years I have totally avoided such large, crowded excursions.

[jelayne]

We rarely do ships excursions.

 

For a small group (4-10) private excursion we tip between 10-20% of the cost depending on the quality of the guide and what is customary for that country. If there is a driver in addition to the guide we tip them separately.

[easyboy]

When satisfied, we give the driver a $5 tip, regardless if it's a ship's excursion or private. For guided tour, we also give the guide a $10 for a 4 hour trip. A bit higher if a full day.

[BluenoseCaper]

It depends upon where you are also. We did a British Isles cruise last year and arranged several private excursions. All of the guides were appreciative but seemed very surprised to get a tip. That is our experience, for what it is worth.

[eandj]

What do you think is an appropriate tip for a shore excursion ? Would you give a different answer for a Celebrity shore excursion or a private shore excursion company ? Thank you

 

 

Depends. We have given 0$. We have given lots. "Appropriate" to us is linked to the experience. If the tour was above and beyond what we expected, the tip is there. If the tour was a basic look- and- see, with no added info or time spent in customer service, the tip might be 0$. We don't worry about percentages or what others might do.