Not your normal TIP question?

[I Luv Crusin]

I ALWAYS prepay our gratuities and will often tip extra for great service. I just don't know what is appropriate. We just got off the Pride for a week cruise on Sunday. Our waitstaff and stewards were GREAT! We gave $40 to the heads and $20 to the assistants. Do you more or less than this for extra tips? Was that too little or too much! Thanks!

[Pyrate13]

As far as I'm concerned, the amount you tip is whatever you feel appropriate, not what anyone else thinks you should or shouldn't give. JMHO

[Micahs Grandad]

Once upon a time when you had the same table in the DR for breakfast and lunch so they served you 3x we would do what you did.

 

These days when we go to lido twice normally and DR once we leave auto tips for normal service and something extra for extraordinary service.

 

However do as you feel you are comfortable with.

[mdsgu]

Grab a bucket of popcorn -- tipping questions always generate A LOT of responses.

 

Some feel the auto-grats are enough. Some feel you should tip in the beginning. Some feel you should tip at the end. The ones who tip in the beginning think they might get better service. The ones who tip at the end think tipping at the beginning is just a bribe.

 

Basically, no one is going to change their mind. The best answer, as far as I can tell, is you should always leave the auto-grats in place, and then, if you choose, tip in cash whenever and whatever you feel is appropriate.

[Havingfun2010]

I ALWAYS prepay our gratuities and will often tip extra for great service. I just don't know what is appropriate. We just got off the Pride for a week cruise on Sunday. Our waitstaff and stewards were GREAT! We gave $40 to the heads and $20 to the assistants. Do you more or less than this for extra tips? Was that too little or too much! Thanks!

 

If you prepay and tip extra, than what is the question? Tips are a personal choice you make. What you consider great, is what most people consider, doing their job the right way. Basically, I won't disclose my tips, unless you want to hear some bragging. Than I tip $100.00 per person to all.

[easyboy]

What you gave is fine. Same amounts for us depending on how impressed we were on the service.

 

 

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[I Luv Crusin]

As far as I'm concerned, the amount you tip is whatever you feel appropriate, not what anyone else thinks you should or shouldn't give. JMHO

 

My sister felt I over-tipped, I felt they should get more. I APPRECIATE good service but don't know what is excessive or cheap. :(:confused:

[A&Jfamily]

My sister felt I over-tipped, I felt they should get more. I APPRECIATE good service but don't know what is excessive or cheap. :(:confused:

 

Don't worry about what others think and do what you feel is right for the service you received. We have given all ranges depending on the length of cruise, the level of service etc.

[bichonandon]

My sister felt I over-tipped, I felt they should get more. I APPRECIATE good service but don't know what is excessive or cheap. :(:confused:

 

I wish I knew too. If someone hadn't tactfully suggested I should tip more, I wouldn't tip one cent extra because I have gratuities already charged on my bill. On our last 7 day, we tipped $40 to our steward and $40 to our MDR waiter, asking him to disperse as necessary to his team since several different people waited on us throughout the week. If I'm being cheap, I would like to change that. If I'm being excessive, I'd also like to change that! We tried to gauge the reactions of our steward and waiter to help us know whether or not we were being fair. Nothing but polite "thank-yous," so we are still lost.

 

I understand the claim of "it's personal choice." It's obvious that we all have to make a choice, and that the amount beyond what is charged is discretionary. Moving beyond the obvious, I'd like to hear suggested amounts based on experience, and while there are many who feel it's "personal," there are also some who don't view it as such.

 

I'd like to hear from people who, like me, don't view the amount as a taboo subject. Maybe my personal outlook is due to the fact that in the US where I am from, there are accepted norms that one does not see being avoided, and most agree on percentages for standard service and above standard service. If someone doesn't tip 15% for standard service, they are considered a cheapskate by everyone I know. That is how we know what to tip here in the US.

 

Many thanks to those who don't have any problems with posting suggested tipping amounts. It's much appreciated.

[meatloafsfan]

I think as long as you are paying the expected daily gratuities, you're covered. That to me is the equivalent in a restaurant of the 15%.

 

If your service is better than average, you can go up from there. It could be $5 extra, $10, $20, $100 - to me, the extra really depends on how far and how consistently anyone went above average during your cruise (and the length of the cruise).

[Nic6318]

My sister felt I over-tipped, I felt they should get more. I APPRECIATE good service but don't know what is excessive or cheap. :(:confused:

 

 

Hi

 

It's your money and you wanted to reward great service, you gave what you thought was right.

 

What really is your question? Did you give more that me? Yes? Did you give more than Joe next door? No. So, what does that mean? You gave something in between. You know that since you already prepaid your gratuities, there was no need to pay anything more. So unless you want specifically to be the person who gives the most, there is nothing to think about.

 

Your sister told you she thought you over tipped. Does it matter? To whom? Why? Is there a rule that she can point to? If you hadn't given anything extra, would she have said you under tipped? You already know that you had prepaid a sufficient amount. It's your money, you are allowed to give what you want. It's easy.

[sw33twif3]

I've always prepaid gratuities. Then I get envelopes at Guest Services and deliver extra tips to people who have given me extra service.

[deliver42]

This is just me, but I usually give $25.00 each to my cabin steward, waiter, and if there is one, the ass't waiter. Like I said, it's just me. Whatever you feel comfortable with. If I have my time dining with a different waiter every night, then I give nothing over my pre paid grats.

[Pyrate13]

My sister felt I over-tipped, I felt they should get more. I APPRECIATE good service but don't know what is excessive or cheap. :(:confused:

 

You felt it was appropriate and that is exactly my point, don't worry about what others think, tip what you feel is right. We once tipped our waiter $100 above and I don't give a damn what others think about whether that was too much. His service was worth it to us and that is all that matters to me.

[Pellaz]

OP, it sounds like you tipped an amount that I would equate with receiving "exemplary" service. A bit more than we'd normally tip our MDR staff, but not out of line if we had received really amazing service.

With YTD and different serving crews as we've had lately, "amazing service" is a harder yardstick to achieve over several nights in the MDR, but we tipped $30 extra on our last cruise because we got good service halfway through the cruise and "kept" that crew for the rest of the voyage.

In the end, it's your money and your call. I just like seeing the smile on the crews' faces when you do it, and I think anything from $5 to $100 would elicit that big smile. (A $100 bill would probably result in an additional gasp, though. :) )

 

Most of the time we don't tip extra. I feel bad for the Carnival waitstaff because they have so many tables it's hard to give a more personalized service. Same for the stewards.

 

On our recent RCCL cruise, we did tip an extra $30 for each of our two waitstaff. They weren't overworked and gave fantastic service, bringing us extra dishes, topping off our water glasses, remembering we like coffee after dinner and so forth. We tipped our steward an extra $20 because he provided a few extra requests. If it weren't for that, we'd have just left his tips in place and called it good.

 

So, let me get this straight. You tip extra when the employees aren't overworked, but don't tip extra when they ARE overworked? If they are "overworked" and still manage to give good service, what then?

Edited November 3, 2017 by Pellaz
c/response/big smile/

[ohioblue52]

The ONLY person that knows how much I tip is the person receiving it. If you feel the need to broadcast the fact, IMO you need to rethink the whole reason of your gratuity. Tip in proportion to the amount your heart is moved and your experience was improved.

[evandbob]

For those who think Carnival room stewards are "overworked", do you continue with the twice a day service, or give them a break by opting for once a day?

 

Reduced demand for services can be considered a non monetary award.

 

Whenever I've cruised solo I opt for once a day service and absolutely no towel animals.

[ABQrobin]

For those who think Carnival room stewards are "overworked", do you continue with the twice a day service, or give them a break by opting for once a day?

 

Reduced demand for services can be considered a non monetary award.

 

Whenever I've cruised solo I opt for once a day service and absolutely no towel animals.

 

We do like our towel animals..... but we opt for once a day service, and give our room steward $20-25 the first day we meet.

[May1cruiser]

It depends on the person and their service. Because we have anytime dinning, we might give them each night if they exceed our expectations.

We have found the bar staff to be the most friendly. I have given an additional tip at the end to them. The range is between $20 to $100 for the best bar staff. I had one that was so appreciative he almost refused to accept the additional tip since I was tipping above cheers auto tip for the entire cruise. The staff works really hard and makes our vacation enjoyable..it feels good to show appreciation.

[RogueMonk]

Carnival adding even more rooms (27 or more) to a steward is not my problem. It is a corporate decision that has affected my cruising experience and now I'm made to feel guilty if I simply ask to have the level of service maintained as was the custom. I should pay more for this? I think not. I believe Carnival should ask less of their employees in the form of fewer rooms for the sole purpose of providing better service to the passenger.

 

Agreed. But how do you communicate this?

[n6uqqq]

2400 post since year 2004 and you don't know how much to tip?

[stressedmomof3]

I do not believe the OP is trying to start a war on this thread, but actually brings up a legitimate point. People from different countries tip differently just as people from the North and South or West coast and East coast of the USA for that matter. IMO they are just looking for some sort of guidelines to help out in the future of sorts.

 

I have no issue stating what we do as a family. We leave auto tips on no matter what. And if the service we receive goes above and beyond, we give up to $40 extra for a 5-7 day cruise for the steward or/and our waiter for our party of 5 for super excellent service. ( We have only cruised from Texas though)This may be cheap or excessive on where you are from, but it's more than they were expecting from the get go and it shows our appreciation in the end. If and when we decide to cruise from a foreign port or out of New York or Hawaii, I am sure I will be looking for input as what others do as well since I know the average cost of living is different and so tipping should be different as well.

 

In my opinion, going above and beyond would include things such as being personable and knowing all of our names, a room steward who dressed up all of our daughter's towel animals with her sunglasses, ribbons, and baby doll items to put a smile on her face each day ( and yes-these things were left out in the open) , going to YTD and our waiter ( yes we request the same waitstaff everyday if they are good) bringing out our favorite appetizer and/or knowing what drinks we all would like as we sit down, a room steward who fills the ice bucket when initially asked and keeps it filled for the remainder of the cruise,a room steward treating our children as guests instead of being invisible beings from another planet, room stewards being room ninjas but checking in with us if they see us passing in the hall if everything is satisfactory...

 

 

I hope the OP can get some good feedback to use for future references.

[mpdog42]

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Edited November 5, 2017 by mpdog42

[funkidd]

I think the op tips just about right. I always prepay tips also but I think the steward and waitstaff deserve an extra tip usually. I wonder how much or if any of the prepaid gratuities actually make it to the waiters or steward. I usually give 10 extra per day to steward and 10 per night in mdr. We’re out 140 extra but I dole it out as I go so I get better service. The first day of a 7 day cruise I give the steward 40 bucks then I give him 5 extra bucks every day and ask to get extra towels or something like that. In the mdr I give one waiter 5 bucks my wife gives the next team waiter 5 bucks. We usually give the third guy 10 bucks somewhere in the cruise. I find that by tipping every day we tend to get better service. Since we do anytime dining we might get different waiters but when we get the same one, we get pretty good service. I also tip 5 bucks for brunch.

 

 

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[GUT2407]

Actually seems like the typical tip question.