Shore excursion tipping

[mnsailor]

We are scheduled for a two week Caribbean cruise on Star Legend in a few weeks.  As we have not cruised for several years, I am not sure about rules/guidelines for tipping on shore excursions.  Is it simply cost based, e.g. x % of excursion cost, or does it depend on the type of excursion (active, cultural, other) or the number of tour guides/hosts.  I assume/hope cash in USD is acceptable. All help appreciated.

[CruiseOrLand]

In general, I don't approve of tipping in US dollars. But in the Caribbean, this is not as hard on the recipient as it would be in Europe. They'll lose a lot of your dollars in getting them exchanged. There are several islands (and even countries) where USD are the main tourism currency.

 

I personally don't refer to the cost of the excursion that much. I think about the "experience" I just had, and the quality of the guide, and whether the bus driver did things that deserve a separate, smaller tip for him. Sometimes I don't tip at all, which I can see during the exit from the bus is the practice of a lot of the visitors. In general, I always tip. Sad to say, I once tipped only to find out that the Windstar tour had dropped us off at the wrong entrance to the marina with the tenders. (Parts had been closed for a fish-kill cleanup.) We had to blunder around and walk a distance. So I made sure to tell the Excursion Manager about the poor service.

[milepig]

I follow the same policy for other thing things in the area. If the custom is to not tip I don’t tip tour guides either. If tipping is the custom I tip. 
 

I never know what to do for tours with a local owner/guide. I sort of feel like their price is the price they set. But I’m just not sure. So if they were really great I tip then more than a their fee. 

[Strenz]

I also believe that you tip in their currency however the Caribbean for the  most  part Dollars are fine. We tip. I believe that if you can afford to do this you can afford to tip same for a restaurant. I know restaurants in Europe sometimes the tipping is included therefore a few Euros will do. I always tip a guide and separately a driver if there are two people with different jobs. 15-20%. Tours by Locals pay a hearty fee  to TBL even though they are independent contractors. Perhaps we are lucky but in 30+ years of travel never had a  bad driver or guide. Happy Sailing 

[sb44]

We tip all of our guides and drivers. Amount varies by type and length of tour but most of our tours are private and tip around 10%. In Caribbean we tip in US Dollars which is preferred. Even on French and Dutch islands the guides prefer USD. In Europe we always tip in Euros. In the UK we tip in Pounds. Tipping has changed over the years and is now expected in Europe and UK. Generally 20% in the US, Caribbean and 10% overseas where somewhat of a living wage is paid in the service industry.  Cabin stewards $50 -$70 a week. Other crew based on relationships.  We have some who take care of us every year on cruises, know what we eat, drink, etc. If we can afford a cruise we can be generous with people who are away from home for 9 months. They are working for money, not because they enjoy leaving their countries and their families for 3/4 of each year. 

[milepig]

On 12/1/2019 at 9:50 PM, sb44 said:

We tip all of our guides and drivers. Amount varies by type and length of tour but most of our tours are private and tip around 10%. In Caribbean we tip in US Dollars which is preferred. Even on French and Dutch islands the guides prefer USD. In Europe we always tip in Euros. In the UK we tip in Pounds. Tipping has changed over the years and is now expected in Europe and UK. Generally 20% in the US, Caribbean and 10% overseas where somewhat of a living wage is paid in the service industry.  Cabin stewards $50 -$70 a week. Other crew based on relationships.  We have some who take care of us every year on cruises, know what we eat, drink, etc. If we can afford a cruise we can be generous with people who are away from home for 9 months. They are working for money, not because they enjoy leaving their countries and their families for 3/4 of each year. 

I beg to differ. Except for maybe the small change, the only tipping done in Europe is by American and is only expected of us. No one else. The servers make an actual living wage and service is included in the bill. Just say no!

[Strenz]

I lived and worked in Europe there was tipping then and now. Not simply tourists but residents as well.   There are specifics ie., France and Germany no restaurant tipping then and small tipping  in other countries in restaurants back in those days that seems to be changing yearly in my recent traveling.   However, tours, taxis always had  tipping  it is simply the percentage that has differed over the years.  Hotels never until more recently and I believe that is recent occurence.  Yes, Europe has high working standards but rewarding good service is simply polite. We travel with our European friends on land and sea never has their been  a discussion that only Americans are expected to tip. I have never heard of that before and we are tri-lingual. Again, we are not wealthy but we can afford to go to a restaurant, a tour, taxi and on a WS cruise,  we so believe that we can afford to tip and for us the right thing to do. There is lots of web info out there about different circumstances in different countries and cultures of what is proper. Happy Sailing

[mnsailor]

I found the following Cruise Critic article updated February 2019:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

Tour operators in port are usually independent of the cruise line. For a half-day shore excursion, give the guide $2, or $4 to $5 for a full-day excursion -- consider giving a bit more if there was especially personalized service. And don't forget the driver -- give drivers $1 for half-day excursions, $2 for full-day ones.

 

[minidonuts85]

We usually tip $20-40 for a half/full day group excursion to the guide(s) (they usually pool tips) and $10 to the driver if applicable. We'd tip more for a private excursion and buy them lunch if they'd like to sit down and break bread with us.