What is a "typical" extra tip for a good cabin steward?

[OCruisers]

For an EXTRA tip we give $20 for the two of us per week. :)

[RiotAct]

$6,000.

[island lady]

When we are pleased with our room steward we leave a thank you note with an extra $20 for a 7-night cruise. We are pretty neat and don't have any special requests.

 

^ +1....unless they really go all out...and then we leave 40-50....as we did on Brilliance last month.

[dchppage]

We must have really over tipped. We left $100 for the Family Suite (8 people) $50 for the Jr Suite (2 people). Waiter $300, Asst. Waiter $150 and Concierge $100. We ate in the dining room 5 of the 7 nights and our waiter and asst. were excellent and service was superb. We were on the Christmas sailing on Liberty and had a great time! Can't wait to be at sea again!

[yuvraj]

I don't have a standard amount. Whatever I give is a gesture of thank you so my view is that the gesture is as important as the amount.

 

The minimum if I choose to tip (for 7 day cruise) is $10. The max is $50. This is per cabin. I never feel obliged to tip extra, so only do this because I want to and the service has to be outstanding and trouble free to warrant this.

 

I am low maintenance. We keep our cabin tidy, we don't eat in our cabin or make a mess. This has a bearing on how much we tip.

[Cafedumonde]

We did $60 extra for a balcony cabin with 4 people (7 night cruise). $30 extra for 2 people inside (7 night cruise).

[parrotfeathers]

We must have really over tipped. We left $100 for the Family Suite (8 people) $50 for the Jr Suite (2 people). Waiter $300, Asst. Waiter $150 and Concierge $100. We ate in the dining room 5 of the 7 nights and our waiter and asst. were excellent and service was superb. We were on the Christmas sailing on Liberty and had a great time! Can't wait to be at sea again!

 

 

That is very generous and kind of you.

[scubaslayer]

We didn't tip the room steward extra. She did her job, but we were not super messy and she really didn't go above and beyond. We also made the decision by asking the tip breakdown at guest services. The standard tip is $13.50 per day, per person.

Out of the $13.50

Room steward gets- $3.45

Other housekeeping staff-$3.55

All dining staff to include head waiter, waiter, assistant waiter, chef, and others- $6.45

 

So on our 7 night cruise, balcony room, with 4 people our room steward received- $13.80 per day or $96.60 for the week in tips.

 

Our waiter and assistant waiter however were superb and we tipped an additional $70 to the waiter and $40 to the assistant. We did not use the envelopes, but rather passed cash on the last night. They seemed appreciative as could be and of course they will all receive glowing remarks on the survey.

[Beachammo]

We must have really over tipped. We left $100 for the Family Suite (8 people) $50 for the Jr Suite (2 people). Waiter $300, Asst. Waiter $150 and Concierge $100. We ate in the dining room 5 of the 7 nights and our waiter and asst. were excellent and service was superb. We were on the Christmas sailing on Liberty and had a great time! Can't wait to be at sea again!

Don't think you over tipped. Only you knows what's right. For us it the extra tip depends on the number of days. 23 nights in a balcony we would tip more than 14 nights in a JS for fantastic service.

 

 

 

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[billslowsky]

$6,000.

 

I never went that high, but the time he discreetly removed the body I left extra.

[chris1978uk]

We didn't tip the room steward extra. She did her job, but we were not super messy and she really didn't go above and beyond. We also made the decision by asking the tip breakdown at guest services. The standard tip is $13.50 per day, per person.

Out of the $13.50

Room steward gets- $3.45

Other housekeeping staff-$3.55

All dining staff to include head waiter, waiter, assistant waiter, chef, and others- $6.45

 

So on our 7 night cruise, balcony room, with 4 people our room steward received- $13.80 per day or $96.60 for the week in tips.

 

 

 

I imagine this is the approach we’ll be taking on our first cruise this summer.

 

Now I’ve not been on a cruise yet, and I’ve no idea what a steward actually does, but I’ve stayed in plenty of hotels and know what services we generally need (I’d say we’re very low maintenance).

 

I also don’t know how many rooms a steward is responsible for, but I imagine 20-30?? Assuming these rooms only have couples in then, on auto-tips alone, the steward is making more in a week than I do in a month [emoji24] That’s before being paid their salary, or the additional tips where the rooms have more than two guests. And now we’re talking about how much extra is the norm?

 

Now I don’t doubt that stewards work very hard for long hours and do a great job, as do all the other staff we don’t see and don’t tip, but aside from coming from the UK/Ireland (so not having that ingrained-from-birth American tipping culture in me), I have to say that based on the figures above I certainly won’t feel guilty for not leaving any (extra) tips. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford it then that’s fine, lucky you, but it really seems unnecessary to me.

 

 

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[soremekun]

I never went that high, but the time he discreetly removed the body I left extra.

With just a nod and no talking as you handed over the cash and never saw him again.

 

_______________________

Carnival Paradise - August 2015 - 5 nights

Carnival Splendor - August 2016 - 6 nights

Carnival Magic - August 2017 - 8 nights

Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas - August 2018 - 7 nights (booked)

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas - August 2019 - 9 nights (booked)

[soremekun]

I tried that once, not sure I’ll bother again.

 

33 night cruise, half way nearly half the passéngers were changing.

 

I told out steward to skip our cabin (gave him a few days notice) as I knew he would be busy. He thought he had done something wrong, next came a visit from the supervisor then head of housekeeping and finally the head of hotel, who finally understood.

 

Sometimes with language issues it is easier to just let them follow the script.

 

Simply using the do not disturb sign is sufficient.

[island lady]

Simply using the do not disturb sign is sufficient.

 

Keeping our same cabin on our B2B Alaska cruise, we let our cabin attendant know we did not need turnaround service. He was extremely grateful for letting him know, which saved him a lot of time on that busy day.

 

Do not disturb is one thing, but this kept him from having to check on

us all morning.

[soremekun]

Keeping our same cabin on our B2B Alaska cruise, we let our cabin attendant know we did not need turnaround service. He was extremely grateful for letting him know, which saved him a lot of time on that busy day.

 

Do not disturb is one thing, but this kept him from having to check on

us all morning.

Good point. I can appreciate that. I will employ that in addition to the do not disturb sign next time.

 

_______________________

Carnival Paradise - August 2015 - 5 nights

Carnival Splendor - August 2016 - 6 nights

Carnival Magic - August 2017 - 8 nights

Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas - August 2018 - 7 nights (booked)

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas - August 2019 - 9 nights (booked)

[island lady]

Good point. I can appreciate that. I will employ that in addition to the do not disturb sign next time.

 

_______________________

Carnival Paradise - August 2015 - 5 nights

Carnival Splendor - August 2016 - 6 nights

Carnival Magic - August 2017 - 8 nights

Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas - August 2018 - 7 nights (booked)

Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas - August 2019 - 9 nights (booked)

 

Good idea...and also a good point! :)

[navybankerteacher]

For good, nothing extra. I already pay for good.

 

Great the they will get extra.

 

How much depends on how great and how long the cruise is.

 

Well said.

 

Only on NCL did I ever experience service which fell short of "good". On most cruises, I have felt the service to be "very good" (say $2 to $5 per day), "superior" ($5 to $7 per day" or, occasionally, "over the top" ($7 to $10 per day).

[donaldsc]

I want to make sure I leave an additional tip for our cabin Steward. He was excellent. We had two cabins. One cabin was two adults, and the second was a cabin with kids. I want to make sure he knows we appreciated his great service, however, I don't have a ton of extra money. Whats typical? Or what do you leave? And yes we have autograt already...this will be additional.

 

Another thing to think about. The difference between $20 and $50 is $30. Say your cruise for the 4 of you costs $5000 total with everything. The extra tip of $30 is only 0.6% of your total cruise cost. Will you miss it?

 

DON

[phoneman69]

We just got off 7 day and left an extra 25. Thought I was being generous but some of these post are over the top of my budget but very generous.

[navybankerteacher]

We just got off 7 day and left an extra 25. Thought I was being generous but some of these post are over the top of my budget but very generous.

 

$25 for 7 days is about $3.50 a day - which is what I'd leave for "very good" service - I don't see too many much above that.

[geoherb]

DH is one who likes to tip extra. I try to remind him of the days when we gave out cash tips. The cruise lines used to recommend $3 per passenger per day for cabin stewards. That worked out to be $42 for the two of us for a seven-day cruise. We'd round up to $50 for good service and $60 for exceptionally good service. Now DH will give an extra $20 for good service and up to $40 for outstanding service.

[GUT2407]

Another thing to think about. The difference between $20 and $50 is $30. Say your cruise for the 4 of you costs $5000 total with everything. The extra tip of $30 is only 0.6% of your total cruise cost. Will you miss it?

 

DON

And the difference between 50 and 80 is 30.

 

Where is the line drawn?

 

I say it’s drawn at exceptional service.

 

I’ve paid for good already.

 

Now just what amounts to exceptional service is an individual question.

[Flatbush Flyer]

And the difference between 50 and 80 is 30.

 

 

 

Where is the line drawn?

 

 

 

I say it’s drawn at exceptional service.

 

 

 

I’ve paid for good already.

 

 

 

Now just what amounts to exceptional service is an individual question.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited January 4, 2018 by Flatbush Flyer

[cbr663]

... And now we’re talking about how much extra is the norm?

 

Now I don’t doubt that stewards work very hard for long hours and do a great job, as do all the other staff we don’t see and don’t tip, but aside from coming from the UK/Ireland (so not having that ingrained-from-birth American tipping culture in me), I have to say that based on the figures above I certainly won’t feel guilty for not leaving any (extra) tips. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford it then that’s fine, lucky you, but it really seems unnecessary to me.

 

 

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Great response. This thread is about tipping extra, or over tipping. Many people wrote about exceptional service, yet I wonder how much of this is simply standard service. Coming back and finding your cabin cleaned, for instance, is standard service. Ice bucket filled - standard service. Being friendly and polite - standard service.

[NMLady]

I want to make sure I leave an additional tip for our cabin Steward. He was excellent. We had two cabins. One cabin was two adults, and the second was a cabin with kids. I want to make sure he knows we appreciated his great service, however, I don't have a ton of extra money. Whats typical? Or what do you leave? And yes we have autograt already...this will be additional.

 

How many days was your cruise? We leave an extra $3-10 per day, depending on extra services, friendliness.