Haven Tipping! Yes! A tipping thread! We’re back!

[Two Wheels Only]

15 minutes ago, Grimix said:

I guess I may have done it wrong, but the service and attitudes were so great, and I felt the money would do more for them than me...

 

You can't do it wrong. As long as you feel that you tipped the appropriate amount, you did it right. Nobody on the forum can legitimately tell you that you were wrong...no matter how much over or under the average you are.

[DaCruiseBug]

I'm going to start off by saying...it's your money...spend it on whoever and whatever you want.

 

Having said that, tipping has turned into a "who's got the biggest d***" competition it seems. I tipped $50, well I tipped $80, no I tipped $120, hey I tipped $200. It's not a competition.

 

The most overtipped person on the entire ship is the concierge in the Haven.

 

For example, the Escape has 95 suites that are almost always occupied. There's 2-3 people that work as concierge staff on the Escape based on what I saw earlier this year. If everyone tips the concierge $50-100 (as many have stated) that's $4,750-$9,500 per week in tips that they're splitting between the 3 of them. That's $20,357-$40,714 per month just in tips which divided by 3 comes out to $6,785-$13,571 per each of the concierge staff (if there's 3 of them). This is on top of their regular salary. Yes, some people don't tip them but some also tip them $200-300 (i've see it). 

 

At the end of the day what does a concierge do? Make restaurant reservations? Show reservations? Excursions? Nothing that really takes much effort or is overly difficult. A room steward deserves tips much more than any concierge.

 

On our Escape cruise our room steward and butler each got $60. The concierge got $0 because they didn't do anything for us. Bartenders got $1 per drink. Our server in the Haven restaurant also got $60. If you want to show off and tip $500 knock yourself out...I couldn't care any less.

Edited November 2, 2022 by DaCruiseBug

[PATRLR]

15 hours ago, Grimix said:

And the fact that I just survived a surprise RIF on the second day after my return means I live another day to do on another cruise!

Good for you.  But I'll say I definitely don't miss those days, working for a very large computer/printer maker that seemed to have RIFs as their primary core competancy.  I know now that when they finally did get me, it was the best thing that could have happened to me :).

 

[forevertravel]

I have never cruised NCL. We have always cruised all inclusive. Are we saying that besides the gratuities NCL charges per booking we should tip over $100/day? I understand how hard the crew works. I just want to be sure if we ever cruise NCL we are tipping as expected. I guess if I give butler $50 tip for four or five day cruise, that's not enough.

[cruiseny4life]

11 minutes ago, forevertravel said:

I have never cruised NCL. We have always cruised all inclusive. Are we saying that besides the gratuities NCL charges per booking we should tip over $100/day? I understand how hard the crew works. I just want to be sure if we ever cruise NCL we are tipping as expected. I guess if I give butler $50 tip for four or five day cruise, that's not enough.

The only reason you need to tip, in addition to the Daily Service Charge, is if you are sailing Haven. In this case, the concierge and butler are not included in the Daily Service Charge. Tip them what you feel appropriate. Feel free to use the comments in this thread as a guide, but ultimately you make the decision.

 

If you are not sailing in the Haven, then don't feel as if you have to tip anyone at all. Or, you may feel that you'll tip everyone. The decision is yours. Don't feel obligated to/not to tip. Enjoy your vacation and smooth sailing!

 

FYI - the gratuity charged for the Free at Sea dining/beverage package is separate from the Daily Service Charge. The Free at Sea gratuities are 20% of the package you have with Free at Sea (if you chose Free at Sea).

 

The Daily Service Charge is the money that passengers used to provide to servers, room stewards, and others. It's called a Daily Service Charge now and is maybe, possibly distributed to staff, but it might not be. You can, if you so choose, file complaints with guest services and have the Daily Service Charge removed, but I've heard it's a pain in the arse. Also, I like to think that some of the fee does actually get to the crew in some way.

[GeezerCouple]

On 11/2/2022 at 1:41 PM, cruiseny4life said:

The only reason you need to tip, in addition to the Daily Service Charge, is if you are sailing Haven. In this case, the concierge and butler are not included in the Daily Service Charge. Tip them what you feel appropriate. Feel free to use the comments in this thread as a guide, but ultimately you make the decision.

 

If you are not sailing in the Haven, then don't feel as if you have to tip anyone at all. Or, you may feel that you'll tip everyone. The decision is yours. Don't feel obligated to/not to tip. Enjoy your vacation and smooth sailing!

 

FYI - the gratuity charged for the Free at Sea dining/beverage package is separate from the Daily Service Charge. The Free at Sea gratuities are 20% of the package you have with Free at Sea (if you chose Free at Sea).

 

The Daily Service Charge is the money that passengers used to provide to servers, room stewards, and others. It's called a Daily Service Charge now and is maybe, possibly distributed to staff, but it might not be. You can, if you so choose, file complaints with guest services and have the Daily Service Charge removed, but I've heard it's a pain in the arse. Also, I like to think that some of the fee does actually get to the crew in some way.

 

Sorry for the late comment... just noticed this.

 

There are some ships that have suites that are NOT "Haven" suites.  They also have Butlers who perform much the same types of services.

Some of these non-Haven suites on are ships that have no Haven, but there are some on ships that ALSO have Haven suites.

 

If a Butler helps to makes your cruise better, you can show your appreciation regardless of what type of suite you have.

 

These suites also have a Concierge available.

 

GC

[scooter6139]

Personally, I love that people are willing to share why they felt comfortable in their tipping extra to staff.  As this will be our first time in a Haven room, all this info helps me know what is the average and where both extremes exist.  I would love to over tip for good service, as I like to reward service personnel who do a good job.  Trying to convince the wife on this will take some doing though, as we rarely carry high amounts of cash on a vacation.   🤑

 

A big thank you to those who have shared specifics, I appreciate it.  

[CDR Benson]

20 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

. . . [A]s we rarely carry high amounts of cash on a vacation.   

 

Available cash was something I had to address, as well.  I usually carry some walking-around money, but nothing near the amount of cash I would need for tips on board.  I relied on two resources.  

 

First, the ATM at the hotel in which we stayed the night before sailing.  I obtained most of what I needed that way.

 

Toward the end of the cruise, when I decided I wanted to add more to my intended tip amounts. I accessed the shipboard ATM in the casino. 

 

 

[RocketMan275]

Based upon experience, I've got a good idea of how much cash I will need for tips.  I put cash back in an envelope in my safe all year long.   There's always enough in the envelope to cover the tips.

[DwayneG]

Though I've never done it personally I know I've read on these boards that you can get "vouchers" for tips in the amount you want from guest services and then give tose to the staff as you wish.  These would then be billed to your shipboard account.  I do suspect, though, that your credit card fee would be deducted from what the  employee actually collects (Google says merchant fee is 1.3-3.5%). Still might be less than hotel ATM, certainly less than ship ATM.

[Grimix]

On 12/7/2022 at 11:42 AM, CDR Benson said:

Toward the end of the cruise, when I decided I wanted to add more to my intended tip amounts. I accessed the shipboard ATM in the casino. 

Towards the end of our cruise when I needed additional tip money I also went to the Casino, but got $300 from my room charge, and played Paigow for 45 minutes breaking even while giving the dealer some tips as well. With the 3% back from the NCL MC there is essentially only the Casino loss tax (if you play)

[fishchick]

We are currently aboard NCL Getaway in a haven suite and I came here to see what others do with regard to tipping their butler. 

 

Ours has gone above and beyond to make sure we have everything we need (mainly copious coffee pods and creamers) and has been quick and responsive to any requests. we plan on $150 for him for a 5 day cruise.

 

our housekeeper has kept this room absolutely spotless (not easy with my husband) and pristine. she will get $100.

 

we aren’t drinkers, we didn’t use the concierge at all, and we tip casino staff as we play. 

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, fishchick said:

We are currently aboard NCL Getaway in a haven suite and I came here to see what others do with regard to tipping their butler. 

 

Ours has gone above and beyond to make sure we have everything we need (mainly copious coffee pods and creamers) and has been quick and responsive to any requests. we plan on $150 for him for a 5 day cruise.

 

our housekeeper has kept this room absolutely spotless (not easy with my husband) and pristine. she will get $100.

 

we aren’t drinkers, we didn’t use the concierge at all, and we tip casino staff as we play. 

 

Both perfectly reasonable gratuities an in line with what we would do. We tipped our room steward $100 last week. Merry Christmas NCL. 

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, fishchick said:

We are currently aboard NCL Getaway in a haven suite and I came here to see what others do with regard to tipping their butler. 

 

Ours has gone above and beyond to make sure we have everything we need (mainly copious coffee pods and creamers) and has been quick and responsive to any requests. we plan on $150 for him for a 5 day cruise.

 

our housekeeper has kept this room absolutely spotless (not easy with my husband) and pristine. she will get $100.

 

we aren’t drinkers, we didn’t use the concierge at all, and we tip casino staff as we play. 

 

I hope this was a helpful thread for you! I know these types of threads have been helpful to me, regardless of other's bloviating that you should just tip for whatever reason you want. 

 

I hope the concierge, butler, and restaurant host are doing amazing. I'm sure they are!! I can't wait to get back onboard in a couple weeks to enjoy.

[complawyer]

we've covered this topic many times in the past, but i would never think of not tipping the butler, cabin steward and concierge.

 

we also tip any staff that performs a service for us, including waiters, bartenders, and even the servers in the buffet that make my crepes or omlets.

 

when staying in a haven, i also frequently tip the maitre 'd at cagneys or modesto. after the first $20, he bends over backwards to help.

[BKMorris]

I understand that I actually have a day and night butler in the haven.  Should I leave a tip for each of them? The “day” butler probably ends up with most of the tips if they don’t divide them.

[Sydneyberlin]

On 10/26/2022 at 10:15 AM, BirdTravels said:

Nowhere is 15% considered adequate. Minimum of 18%-20% is today’s standard. 

In ONE single country in the world and that’s the US. 

[BirdTravels]

40 minutes ago, Sydneyberlin said:

In one single country in the world and that’s the US. 

Where other countries automatically add a "service charge" which is the same. 

[Sydneyberlin]

9 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Where other countries automatically add a "service charge" which is the same. 

Oh- you don’t have this forced upon gratuity in the US? Apologies, I wasn’t aware. I had assumed that we’re talking about gratuity IN ADDITION to the gratuity. I was obviously incorrect, which tends to happen from time to time 😉

[wcook]

I’ve never tipped a cent to the Haven staff, and probably never will. They don’t let riff raff like me in the place. 

[BirdTravels]

16 minutes ago, wcook said:

I’ve never tipped a cent to the Haven staff, and probably never will. They don’t let riff raff like me in the place. 

So, what is your point?

[complawyer]

wcook.if you'd be willing to pay the cost of a haven cabin, i'm sure that the entire haven staff would welcome you with open arms, riff-raff or not.

 

then, if you choose to tip or not to tip (that is the question) the decision is entirely up to you.

 

the best thing about ncl, is they never, ever discriminate as to who purchases which cabins.  so feel free to book a haven, and worry not about your riff-raff status

[mearsfansinboise]

On 1/14/2023 at 10:56 PM, BKMorris said:

I understand that I actually have a day and night butler in the haven.  Should I leave a tip for each of them? The “day” butler probably ends up with most of the tips if they don’t divide them.

You don't have a day butler and a night butler in the Haven; you have 1 butler and 1 room steward. 

If you order room service at night in the Haven, you call the butler line and then it's another butler who brings it and you can tip them like you would any room service delivery - a couple bucks or whatever you do or don't want to do.  But they aren't your butler, they are only the one who is on night duty for Haven room service.

[Greenpea2]

On 11/1/2022 at 9:51 PM, DaCruiseBug said:

I'm going to start off by saying...it's your money...spend it on whoever and whatever you want.

 

Having said that, tipping has turned into a "who's got the biggest d***" competition it seems. I tipped $50, well I tipped $80, no I tipped $120, hey I tipped $200. It's not a competition.

 

The most overtipped person on the entire ship is the concierge in the Haven.

 

For example, the Escape has 95 suites that are almost always occupied. There's 2-3 people that work as concierge staff on the Escape based on what I saw earlier this year. If everyone tips the concierge $50-100 (as many have stated) that's $4,750-$9,500 per week in tips that they're splitting between the 3 of them. That's $20,357-$40,714 per month just in tips which divided by 3 comes out to $6,785-$13,571 per each of the concierge staff (if there's 3 of them). This is on top of their regular salary. Yes, some people don't tip them but some also tip them $200-300 (i've see it). 

 

At the end of the day what does a concierge do? Make restaurant reservations? Show reservations? Excursions? Nothing that really takes much effort or is overly difficult. A room steward deserves tips much more than any concierge.

 

On our Escape cruise our room steward and butler each got $60. The concierge got $0 because they didn't do anything for us. Bartenders got $1 per drink. Our server in the Haven restaurant also got $60. If you want to show off and tip $500 knock yourself out...I couldn't care any less.

Can we have a vote on the best answer? Cuz if so, i nominate this one! You know, this topic is "done" over and over and really, this assortment of answers is no different from any other one I have seen since I started cruising decades ago. There is no blanket answer, period. That is MY answer. There is no "standard" or "usual" answer. But just for the heck of it, I'll give MY "answer" (which is not "the" answer, since there is no one "correct" answer): I tip based on service. In general, room steward consistently works hardest for me. Usually $70-$100 for the week. If I have a butler that goes out of his way to be helpful and IS extra helpful, $75 to $100. Concierge? The most I have ever asked of a concierge is to make 1 dinner ressie, and other than 2 times, none have even been particularly friendly. Maybe $50, based only on guilt that I "SHOULD" tip them. Bartenders range from $1 to $2 a drink, to $2 a drink plus another $20 each at the end. And no one has ever responded with less than obvious gratefulness. Do what feels right. .

Edited January 20, 2023 by Greenpea2
typos

[cruiseny4life]

48 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

Can we have a vote on the best answer? Cuz if so, i nominate this one! You know, this topic is "done" over and over and really, this assortment of answers is no different from any other one I have seen since I started cruising decades ago. There is no blanket answer, period. That is MY answer. There is no "standard" or "usual" answer. But just for the heck of it, I'll give MY "answer" (which is not "the" answer, since there is no one "correct" answer): I tip based on service. In general, room steward consistently works hardest for me. Usually $70-$100 for the week. If I have a butler that goes out of his way to be helpful and IS extra helpful, $75 to $100. Concierge? The most I have ever asked of a concierge is to make 1 dinner ressie, and other than 2 times, none have even been particularly friendly. Maybe $50, based only on guilt that I "SHOULD" tip them. Bartenders range from $1 to $2 a drink, to $2 a drink plus another $20 each at the end. And no one has ever responded with less than obvious gratefulness. Do what feels right. .

It's so weird to tip the concierge. They are supposedly the supervisor of the butlers. They are who you go to if you don't get your daily canapes on time, right? Why the heck are we tipping a manager? It makes no sense whatsoever. And, like you, we tip them because we're told by NCL we should.