How much for extra tips?

[eandj]

If the answer to the above is no, then I'd feel I should tip them which makes prepaid gratuities pointless?

 

Sorry if this a dumb question!

 

No, gratuities aren't pointless. Yes they are shared. But remember, there are tons of behind the scenes staff, people serving and cooking in the buffet etc. that will be included.

If you want to acknowledge appreciation to someone you come in contact with, then handing them an envelope personally will go into their own pocket.

[WeBcruisingMN]

We tip somewhat in the middle of the amounts mentioned, and we usually give the extra monetary tip and a handwritten thank you note (trying to mention specific ways we saw them provide excellent service or go 'above & beyond'). Typically, we tip our stateroom attendant, main waiter, ass't waiter, and sommelier. We have heard that the handwritten notes are treasured by the staff, as well as the extra $. We try to hand the envelope personally to them near the end of the cruise. We have also been prone to giving extra $ when they say that they have a baby on the way back home or that they are getting married.

 

We are open to tipping any other staff members, as we notice excellent service. On the Reflection, there was a very cheery ladies' room attendant who was taking care of the restroom in the Ensemble Lounge area most nights. She was genuine, complimentary on how we looked, helped us find an open toilet room, and shared some of her life (when we asked her questions). We were so happy to give her a tip, and she was very grateful.

 

On our most recent cruise (Eclipse, January 2018), I had a couple of favorite ladies' room attendants, Roxan and Jenilyn. I asked one of them if we mention their excellent service and name them in the Celebrity survey, do they receive anything as a 'bonus'. One of the ladies told me they get an hour of free internet. I'm not sure if this applies to all levels of staff, but it was good to hear, and it made me want to document as many names as possible, for staff that was serving excellently.

[4774Papa]

Thank you for mentioning tour guides and drivers. We do tip them as well. Is this the amount you tip per person? Or as a couple?

As a couple.

[cb at sea]

If we don't ask anything extra from our cabin attendant...then no additional tip is needed. The tips they charge to your account are ample for them doing what they're supposed to do. Same with the wait staff.

If you get "stellar" service and extras, then $20-50 per cabin should be ample.

For bartenders...the included 18% is ample for opening a beer or a simple mixed drink....if we frequent one bar/ bartender the majority of the time, we tip them an extra $20-50 on the last night.

 

You don't have to "tip as you go"...as that is NOT how it's done on a cruise. Last night tipping is the customary way to tip.

[miXterOB]

Thanks for the thread Math teacher!

 

I do additional tipping unless service is really horrible in which case...I get it addressed before I get further disappointed or even resentful.

All the cabin stewards, dining servers and assistants have received additional from me over the prepaid grats.

 

Here's a question...

My PIC received stellar service in Blu in December and both of us were blown away by it.

She is highly allergic to everything in both the garlic and onion families. Once we told him, he blew us away with not only presenting the following night's menu for dish selection by PIC, he and the chef also prepped additional items for her to try minus the onion/garlic ingredients. I was already a huge Blu fan but she was delighted. Said she had never been so well served.

 

So what would you suggest for extra in that circumstance? It was a 7 night cruise on Equinox.

I suspect she gave him $80, maybe $100. I took care of the others.

TIA!

[DENIE]

Great thread OP!

 

We have been on a few cruises and formulated our own policy. We automatically leave extra for our stateroom attendant during our cruise and at the end - always receive great service. We may leave an extra $40-$50 per cruise. Our last attendant on the Infinity (Sept 2017) was appreciative and gave my wife an upgraded "suite stateroom" tote bag (beach bag?) as a small token of appreciation. She expressed that she appreciated the extra $$ because she had a rare "day off" while in port and was able to meet a friend from her homeland in San Francisco and enjoy some time together. She provided awesome service all week long, and we adored her!

 

We also give to those who have a direct impact on our experience...especially in the lounges/bars we frequent. We often tip a $1 or $2 every couple drinks. These people work hard and deserve something that goes a long way for them. We don't tip on every drink in every location. But, if we go to the same bars and have the same servers, we try to leave extra for them.

 

A side note...if our wait staff are not busy at the moment, we ask them about where they are from, etc. (but ONLY if they are not inundated with other guests). We find many of them enjoy telling us about their native countries, etc. They are people too, and we enjoy getting to know them as well.

[A Sixth?]

For a typical 14 day cruise, I usually tip extra:

 

1) Room Steward $20-$30

2) We do Select dining these days, but usually find a good table and tip the head waiter $20-30, assistant $10, Wine Steward $14-20.

3) Waiters at the elite happy hour, I take a lot of $1 bills and usually tip about $2 every night.

4) Private tours, I usually tip $5-10 for all day tours and bus driver $2-5. Ship's tours, usually the low end of that scale.

 

I assuming that this in addition to to the 18 percent tip already paid which is plenty

 

Don't feel you need to tip more but if you want this is a good guideline

 

You have already tipped, do not feel bullied by millionaires

[4774Papa]

I assuming that this in addition to to the 18 percent tip already paid which is plenty

 

Don't feel you need to tip more but if you want this is a good guideline

 

You have already tipped, do not feel bullied by millionaires

Yes, those tips were in addition to the 18% gratuity that we pay through the cruise line.

 

It is interesting to read what people tip. I have had discussions with a lot of cruisers, while on cruises.

 

Some people never tip extra at all.

Some people even remove the gratuity if they can.

Some people need a lot of support from the staff, like ice daily or from their suite butlers. About the only thing we ask for is submitting laundry and we usually tip a few dollars extra for that.

Some people tip $50 per day at Luminae. Of course, Luminae is for Suite guests. We upgraded to a suite once and loved Luminae. I tipped $50 to the entire staff for the entire cruise. $50 a day for 14 days is $700. That is fine, if you want to do that, but appears excessive to me.

 

I talk with tour guides after I have tipped. Sometimes I ask them what is a typical tip. They tell me that about half the people on tours never tip at all. I have read that some people like to tip 10% of the tour price. That is fine, but very few people do that. Still, tipping is personal and nothing is wrong.

 

At the Celebrity Elite happy hours, I tip a dollar bill a couple of times an evening. Most don't appear to do that.

[Math teacher]

I appreciate everyone's responses! Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question(s).