Haven tipping

[bjtravelnews]

Hello everyone.  We usually get a balcony cabin.  For our upcoming cruise I have booked a Haven cabin.  Hubby doesn't know and I want to surprise him.  I know I have read somewhere suggestions on how much to tip the butler but can't find that post.  Please, can someone give me an idea of how much to tip the butler each day (7 night cruise) and if there are any others who should get an extra tip?  Also, never having had a butler before, what kinds of services can we expect to ask for?   Thanks so much everyone.  We are celebrating a big anniversary and can'r wait for the cruise!!!!

[BirdTravels]

Totally up to you. 

 

The Butler and Concierge are not included in the Daily Service Charge. 

 

When people ask, our response is the same

 

Butler $10-$15 per person in room per day 

 

Concierge $5-$10 per person in room per day

 

Steward extra $5-$10 per person per day

 

 

[gmbhardy]

Bird, you disseminate great, and most of the time, accurate information but I’ve read this recommendation many times and totally disagree. You are paying a premium to stay in the Haven and because of that premium you should receive an elevated level of service. According to your recommendation, your suggesting that Haven patrons should pay an additional $490.00 in gratuities. Unless you’re requesting things that are totally over the top, I don’t think you should feel obligated to tip that amount. Tipping is a very personal consideration and ultimately you can tip whatever you want but to recommend that amount to first time Haven guests will shock a lot of people after what they paid for the Haven experience.

[dinkydee718]

For our upcoming 9-nt cruise (6 people) I expect we will tip the butler an extra $270 and the concierge around $100 (we rarely bother the concierge). I tip $5/pp per day for the butler. If they’re amazing I would round up a bit. Personally, $10 a day per person would be too steep for me ($540) but that is a completely personal decision you would have to work out for yourself. 

 

I should add that having prepaid the dsc of almost $1,000, we typically only tip the steward more if they are phenomenal.

 

The one thing that the butler does for everyone is to bring a daily snack to the cabin. They can also bring movies if it is an older ship with DVD players. 

Edited July 24, 2019 by dinkydee718
My math sucks

[KateQ22003]

5 hours ago, gmbhardy said:

Bird, you disseminate great, and most of the time, accurate information but I’ve read this recommendation many times and totally disagree. You are paying a premium to stay in the Haven and because of that premium you should receive an elevated level of service. According to your recommendation, your suggesting that Haven patrons should pay an additional $490.00 in gratuities. Unless you’re requesting things that are totally over the top, I don’t think you should feel obligated to tip that amount. Tipping is a very personal consideration and ultimately you can tip whatever you want but to recommend that amount to first time Haven guests will shock a lot of people after what they paid for the Haven experience.

 I completely agree with this. Gratuities should be based on how much you utilize the position, not a flat rate. If you never ask the concierge for any reservations or assistance,  the tip should reflect that. Same with the butler. I know some who have the butler running constantly, and others who only see their butler when he/she brings the afternoon snacks. Tips should be adjusted accordingly. Base your tip on how much they did to make your cruise enjoyable, not on pre-conceived expectations.

[imacruiser99]

42 minutes ago, KateQ22003 said:

 I completely agree with this. Gratuities should be based on how much you utilize the position, not a flat rate. If you never ask the concierge for any reservations or assistance,  the tip should reflect that. Same with the butler. I know some who have the butler running constantly, and others who only see their butler when he/she brings the afternoon snacks. Tips should be adjusted accordingly. Base your tip on how much they did to make your cruise enjoyable, not on pre-conceived expectations.

Totally agree, but to add, if you never use a service (like concierge) why even provide a tip to them?  I do not tip just because the only time I see or talk to them is when they are giving the Haven presentation.    Cabin steward and Butler will be used during the cruise and my experience normally go above and beyond the level of service you get with the rest of the ship.  I tip Haven bartenders more as well since they usually have my drink ready almost when I walk into the bar area.  

[sverigecruiser]

 

If you don't ask them for anything you don't have to tip them. (Just my opinion.)

 

We have probably tipped our butlers between 50 and 100 $ for a week. We tip a few times during the cruise, often when they serve a small "pre breakfast" (We always eat breakfast in the restaurant too.) 

[BNBR]

If the butlers were actually being tipped like this, they would be earning substantially more than the captain.  Please don't let these obnoxious suggestions get to you. 

 

Tip the butler $50 for the week for the cabin, concierge about the same if you use it.  The butlers have 10-15 cabins.  They don't do much more than drop some snacks off to their cabins and may bring you dinner if you want it.  Basically they are food runners.  Do you tip room service runners $30/day to drop off a snack? Come on....  If you happen to find a lot of other uses for the butler, tip a bit more.  Else, just be realistic. 

 

 

[DeltaOne]

On our last Haven trip the Butler visited our cabin twice a day.  A morning run to check/replenish the coffee maker, maybe drop off some fruit.  Then an afternoon run to drop off snacks.  

 

I agree with most posters, the flat rate per day, per person, is crazy.  

 

I don't remember the exact tips I left, but it was around $40 to $50 to the butler for the week.  $20 or $30 to the concierge, whom we only asked one or two questions during the week.

 

I did tip the maitre d and head hostess in the Haven Restaurant.  They made our visits to the Haven Restaurant enjoyable, they certainly went above and beyond to make us happy.  

 

I should have tipped one of the Haven bartenders.  I didn't, but he was a joy to talk to and made me some great drinks.  Even suggesting and pushing me to try a few new things.  I did turn in a complimentary comment card for him -- I hope it helped him in some way.

[pathubia]

Everyone tips different as you can see.  I usually tip my steward $50-75, depending on service and personality.  On the Gem we had a Haven Valet, I tipped him $50.  Concierge $75-100, same with Butler, and how often I have utilized them. 

 

Have a great cruise. 

[phissy]

You have received a pretty good “idea” of who and what to tip from previous posts. I would add that on some of our cruises, the Butler was MIA and only showed up last evening just to say “Hope you had a wonderful cruise, with his hand out”.  He received a verbal thank you and nothing more. The room steward covered for butler and he received the butlers tip.    

The Concierge is in charge of the butlers, and we did mention to him the situation with the Butler. They do need that feedback from guests to assess how things are going. There is no standard set amount ...just your experience and how you want to respond to those employees. Each cruise is unique.

[threetocruise]

We have recently cruised in the Haven and tipped what we were comfortable with.  Our butler, Jefferson and our room stewardess Jocelyn were awesome and we feel our tips reflected that, both going out of their way to thank us for our generosity.  We used the concierge for going to the tender and to the show and we asked a few questions - we feel we tipped them accordingly as well. We had a wonderful, attentive bartender in the lounge that we tipped a few times during the trip (gotta keep your bartender happy, lol).   My feeling is that they are grateful for whatever tips they receive and for us, they really made our trip special so we were happy to show our gratitude. 

[zqvol]

You tip based on the service that you request. If you don't use the butler and/or concierge then don't tip them. Just because you are in the Haven does not obligate you to become a tipping machine.

[david_sobe]

I agree that you should tip more the amount you use each person.  For those that say they never use the concierge, do you not use them and love them on disembarkation day when they cut you to the front of the line?  Unless you self disembark, its impossible to say you don't use the concierge.

[voyager1964]

On our recent 15-night TA, I paid to our butler $140 in the middle of cruise, after which his service has significantly improved; we then utilized him for several in-room breakfast/afternoon meals. I also left ~$80 additional to the room steward, towards the end - he seemed to be happy. We utilized the concierge/assistant concierge several times; however, there were some misunderstandings. When I left them $60 the last night, they seemed to be positively surprised, and they also thanked me the next morning 🙂 Go figure

[Hotspring]

The other big question besides how much to tip but how to tip.   Some folks suggest that they actually use something called cash to pay the tips (as filthy as it is).   Most people prefer to earn airline or other rewards on their credit cards and tip via their shipboard accounts by purchasing a voucher for the steward, butler, and concierge.   This also ensures that appropriate taxes are taken out and notifies NCL management how pleased we are with their employee's service---seeing that we are voluntarily tipping.    Problem is that some posts have suggested that the vouchers are not desirable?  Why not, are they hiding their earnings from their national governments?

[don't-use-real-name]

1 hour ago, Hotspring said:

The other big question besides how much to tip but how to tip.   Some folks suggest that they actually use something called cash to pay the tips (as filthy as it is).   Most people prefer to earn airline or other rewards on their credit cards and tip via their shipboard accounts by purchasing a voucher for the steward, butler, and concierge.   This also ensures that appropriate taxes are taken out and notifies NCL management how pleased we are with their employee's service---seeing that we are voluntarily tipping.    Problem is that some posts have suggested that the vouchers are not desirable?  Why not, are they hiding their earnings from their national governments?

 

Just guessing - - -

 

Maybe with the voucher concept the full tip is diminished by some token fee tax levy etc. so a $100 tip results in say

$90 actually being deposited into the crew members account.

Can't say - don't know and the crew member is perhaps not likely to reveal the inner workings of NCL.

Just like you can't visit a crew member in his quarters or entertain that member in yours without approval there are

policies and things that are not discussed between the crew and the guests - under the penalty of who knows what.

 

Best method is get a card or Thank You Note and envelope - put cash into it and give it to the crew member directly.

Need cash and don't have it go to the Casino (certainly while open) and work a deal billing your on board account.

There maybe a fee - alternatively an ATM machine in the Casino again a fee - what's new here folks !

 

While travelers checks are not in vogue much I do carry a stipend of them to cash and voila result cash for tips.

[sverigecruiser]

14 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I agree that you should tip more the amount you use each person.  For those that say they never use the concierge, do you not use them and love them on disembarkation day when they cut you to the front of the line?  Unless you self disembark, its impossible to say you don't use the concierge.

 

My opinion is that if you don't ask for anything, you don't have to tip.

 

The priority embarkation is not something anyone has to ask for.

[AlexandNessa]

I've seen the figures thrown around here (10$ - 15$ pp/pd Butler, 5-10$ pp/pd concierge). 

 

That's a limited number of posters' personal guidelines, not NCL's. 

 

NCL doesn't provide you a suggested tipping amount for a reason. Simply consider the amount of services you've requested, if you're satisfied with the services you've received, what you're comfortable with, kiss it up to God, and don't give it a second thought. There will always be people who tip more than you and people who tip less. 

 

If you want my guideline, it's simply this: tip with what you can sleep with at night... And don't tip under the influence of the drink package. 😉

 

 

Edited July 27, 2019 by AlexandNessa

[FLcruisergrl]

We tip the butler around $150-175 for a week cruise and the concierge $50. The steward gets the DSC plus around $50 more if they are good. That’s what WE tip, not saying it’s high or low. Tipping is personal and you should tip what you are comfortable with based on the level of service requested/provided.

[david_sobe]

52 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

My opinion is that if you don't ask for anything, you don't have to tip.

 

The priority embarkation is not something anyone has to ask for.

I did not say priority embarkation.  I said priority disembarkation.   I never knew a suite guest that self disembarked.  Priority disembarkation takes coordination with the concierge.  But if you really did self disembark and wait in the long lines and elevators and did not speak with the concierge then I would agree with you about not tipping them if you never used ANY of their services.

Edited July 27, 2019 by david_sobe

[sverigecruiser]

29 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

I did not say priority embarkation.  I said priority disembarkation.   I never knew a suite guest that self disembarked.  Priority disembarkation takes coordination with the concierge.  But if you really did self disembark and wait in the long lines and elevators and did not speak with the concierge then I would agree with you about not tipping them if you never used ANY of their services.

 

Sorry, my mistake.

 

I meant disembarkation, not embarkation.

 

Priority disembarkation doesn't need any coordination with the concierge if they just tell you where to go when you want to disembark. 

[Harratine]

Tipping is personal, I.e. if you are using services, you should tip more.  Last cruise we had the butler help out a lot,,,, bigger tip.  Concierge, not really any help so less.  Another suite we knew the people there used the concierge a lot and butler very little.  It depends on much you have them do.

[graphicguy]

Tip whatever you feel comfortable with.

 

I have always used the concierge a lot while staying in the Haven.  I plan nothing.  I let him/her take care of all my restaurant, entertainment, excursion, etc. plans.  I also let them deal with any billing or customer service issues.  Therefore, I tip them the most ($100 per person in my cabin).  I rarely use my Butler.  So, (S)he gets a flat $50 for bringing snacks and ice.

 

Room Steward gets $75, as they are usually the ones bringing extra towels, etc.

 

I tip my favorite Haven Bartender $50 for making my favorite drinks throughout the week without me even asking.

 

Haven Restaurant wait staff seems to rotate.  So, actually don’t tip them unless they have gone over and above taking care of me.  But, I also don’t eat every meal in the Haven Restaurant, either.

[Cruising89143]

17 hours ago, zqvol said:

You tip based on the service that you request. If you don't use the butler and/or concierge then don't tip them. Just because you are in the Haven does not obligate you to become a tipping machine.

 

 

This.......We only give gratuities when we use the service or the butler or concierge and it depends on how much we request.