Tipping on Oceania excursions

[ORV]

I changed banks during our off time(Covid era) am not exactly sure of their ATM procedure or fees for Foreign usage. The old bank's fees were negligible. If I am going to spend much time at all in Europe I usually get some Euros before I go. I do that mostly for convenience as the fees at ATM weren't much more than what the bank charged for Euros ahead of time. 

[Beagle5]

1 hour ago, cptxcpl said:

Cruises hit a port a day and getting local currency can be difficult.

I am always happy to tip a guide, but it has become only reason I carry cash at all on a trip these days.

And, as you say, getting local currency can be difficult (or an inconvenient task) particularly when you want small denominations suitable for tipping.

This whole system needs to be updated with the world moving to cashless transactions. (Maybe not so much in the US?) Very few people under the age of 60 carry cash at all these days in Australia.

The vast majority of transactions are tap and go and the banks are removing a lot of ATMs.

Guides should be setting up QR codes or transactions IDs so you can transfer your tip from your phone. I saw a homeless man with a pay ID this week in Melbourne, and the buskers are doing it, so it should be possible for tour guides.

Sure you can still tip in cash if you want to, but for some of us, sliding notes from palm to palm seems archaic.

 

 

[clo]

6 hours ago, basor said:

There are quite a few banks that offer debit cards with ATM fees refunded.  We use our Charles Schwab debit card all over the world and have had all ATM fees refunded....well worth it.

We use our USAA ATM card which rebates us $15/mo.

[Harters]

18 hours ago, cptxcpl said:

Is it preferable to the guides to be paid in local currency?

Of course. 

 

When I tip a guide in America, it would never cross my mind to offer sterling.

[Nol2929]

On 10/21/2021 at 2:43 PM, cptxcpl said:

Great input.  Is it preferable to the guides to be paid in local currency? I know they will always accept dollars but which would they prefer? Cruises hit a port a day and getting local currency can be difficult.

Just to add to this I'm wondering if it would vary from country to country, as some destinations the local currency may not be that stable and dollars would possibly be a huge bonus?

[Kate-AHF]

On 10/22/2021 at 10:11 AM, Harters said:

Of course. 

 

When I tip a guide in America, it would never cross my mind to offer sterling.

 

But here is my problem..... I'm in Croatia for one day.  When I ordered currency from my bank prior to sailing next week, I did not order a small amount of croatian kuna... the fees were huge.  If I want to tip the guide for that one day, I'm going to have to find an ATM when I get off the ship and before I start the tour.  I have no idea if the guide would prefer euros or USD, or if kuna is the only easy option for them.

 

This is not the first time we've been to Croatia, but on previous trips it's been more than one single day and I've not had a problem visiting an ATM for a small stockpile of kuna.

 

What I don't think anyone wants on this thread is to end up with tiny amounts of currency from countries they may not make it back to anytime soon.

 

I never worry about getting too many euros... that hasn't happened yet and if it should... leftovers can always go in the home safe to be used on another trip.

[LHT28]

26 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

 

But here is my problem..... I'm in Croatia for one day.  When I ordered currency from my bank prior to sailing next week, I did not order a small amount of croatian kuna... the fees were huge.  If I want to tip the guide for that one day, I'm going to have to find an ATM when I get off the ship and before I start the tour.  I have no idea if the guide would prefer euros or USD, or if kuna is the only easy option for them.

This is not the first time we've been to Croatia, but on previous trips it's been more than one single day and I've not had a problem visiting an ATM for a small stockpile of kuna.

 

 

I would give them Euro before USD 

JMO

[ORV]

42 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

 

But here is my problem..... I'm in Croatia for one day.  When I ordered currency from my bank prior to sailing next week, I did not order a small amount of croatian kuna... the fees were huge.  If I want to tip the guide for that one day, I'm going to have to find an ATM when I get off the ship and before I start the tour.  I have no idea if the guide would prefer euros or USD, or if kuna is the only easy option for them.

 

This is not the first time we've been to Croatia, but on previous trips it's been more than one single day and I've not had a problem visiting an ATM for a small stockpile of kuna.

 

What I don't think anyone wants on this thread is to end up with tiny amounts of currency from countries they may not make it back to anytime soon.

 

I never worry about getting too many euros... that hasn't happened yet and if it should... leftovers can always go in the home safe to be used on another trip.

That's much like our MO.  I did manage to use up all of my spare Euro and more on our Sept of 19 trip from Amsterdam through Northern France and ending in Lisbon. It was a great cruise.

 

What is your tour? I distinctly remember using an ATM in the Old town area in Dubrovnik to buy something from a vendor that did not take a credit card. 

[Kate-AHF]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

That's much like our MO.  I did manage to use up all of my spare Euro and more on our Sept of 19 trip from Amsterdam through Northern France and ending in Lisbon. It was a great cruise.

 

What is your tour? I distinctly remember using an ATM in the Old town area in Dubrovnik to buy something from a vendor that did not take a credit card. 

 

Okay, here is how much of an airhead I can be (particularly when my head is focused on the next two cruise, not on this one anymore). 

 

To answer your question, I just checked to see what we are doing there and we will actually be in Croatia three days. The first day, in Dubrovnik, is a rest day after 6 days of touring (and this is our 4th stop in Dubrovnik).  The next is a visit to Trogir from Split.  The third is on the next leg of the B2B2B 4 days hence. 

 

So I guess I will be dragging my tired carcass off the ship in Dubrovnik to find a bank ATM.  After having my card skimmed two times out of the last four trips - I only use bank ATM's now.

[LHT28]

I have  a DEBIT card connected to one account  & keep a small amount in it  when travelling

I can go online & transfer more $ if needed to that account  from another bank

 

Have had our VISA hacked  but not the debit card

 

 

[Kate-AHF]

3 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I have  a DEBIT card connected to one account  & keep a small amount in it  when travelling

I can go online & transfer more $ if needed to that account  from another bank

 

Have had our VISA hacked  but not the debit card

 

 

 

Interesting.  I do take a debit card for the "travel checking account" with us, with a small amount of cash in it.  But never do I take the main checking account debit card.

 

I wonder why the difference for you.  They will both be chip and pin, both just as easily skimmed I would think.

 

[1985rz1]

38 minutes ago, Kate-AHF said:

 

Interesting.  I do take a debit card for the "travel checking account" with us, with a small amount of cash in it.  But never do I take the main checking account debit card.

 

I wonder why the difference for you.  They will both be chip and pin, both just as easily skimmed I would think.

 

The chip on a chip card can't be skimmed because the transaction is encoded differently each and every time.  The flaw is these cards still have a magnetic strip, which is what the skimmers target when the chip card is inserted.

 

I would think the touchless tap would eliminate that particular shortcoming.  But I don't know if there are other security holes.

Edited October 24, 2021 by 1985rz1

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, Kate-AHF said:

 

Interesting.  I do take a debit card for the "travel checking account" with us, with a small amount of cash in it.  But never do I take the main checking account debit card.

 

I wonder why the difference for you.  They will both be chip and pin, both just as easily skimmed I would think.

 

Sounds like the same thing

 

I have a debit card that is not connected to my main accounts  at an online bank

I do have the ability to transfer funds from my main bank to that "travel account"

 

Most places in Europe/Canada have Tap/go   but there are scammers everywhere that can skim the card  that is why I only keep less than $500  in my "travel account"

[Harters]

On 10/24/2021 at 5:01 PM, Kate-AHF said:

But here is my problem..... I'm in Croatia for one day. 

I understand the issue of the single day visit. It used to be an issue, years ago, when we were driving through different countries. Nowadays, most member countries of the Union use the Euro so it is much easier. In your example of Croatia, my guess would be that Croatia receives more visitors from the Euro zone countries than it does from, say, America. As such, a tour guide will probably be more accustomed to being offered euros as a tip, rather than dollars.

 

Here's an interesting article on the Croatian tipping custom, written by an ex-pat American.

https://www.expatincroatia.com/tipping-in-croatia/

[Kate-AHF]

30 minutes ago, Harters said:

I understand the issue of the single day visit. It used to be an issue, years ago, when we were driving through different countries. Nowadays, most member countries of the Union use the Euro so it is much easier. In your example of Croatia, my guess would be that Croatia receives more visitors from the Euro zone countries than it does from, say, America. As such, a tour guide will probably be more accustomed to being offered euros as a tip, rather than dollars.

 

Here's an interesting article on the Croatian tipping custom, written by an ex-pat American.

https://www.expatincroatia.com/tipping-in-croatia/

 

It is so much easier with the euro, isn't it?  I got a taste of how it used to be when we circumnavigated South America in 2019/20.  That made for an interesting currency order before we left.  Blew the collective minds of our backwater bank branch in "Where am I?" Virginia.

 

Great article on tipping.  Many thanks!

[SelectiveMemory]

On 10/21/2021 at 2:43 PM, cptxcpl said:

Great input.  Is it preferable to the guides to be paid in local currency? I know they will always accept dollars but which would they prefer? Cruises hit a port a day and getting local currency can be difficult.

Does your ships purser not have local currency?  On Oceania the Marina purser at the main desk had a huge variety of currency.  Not sure how hefty the fees to exchange might have been - we only hit EU ports on our cruise so I made sure and ordered Euros from our bank before we sailed.  Still used the purser several times to break larger bills down to 5s and 10s, and they were happy to do so.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, SelectiveMemory said:

Does your ships purser not have local currency?  On Oceania the Marina purser at the main desk had a huge variety of currency.  Not sure how hefty the fees to exchange might have been - we only hit EU ports on our cruise so I made sure and ordered Euros from our bank before we sailed.  Still used the purser several times to break larger bills down to 5s and 10s, and they were happy to do so.

Breaking bills is one things, exchanging currencies is another. It's a convenience they offer, and they charge dearly for it, just like they do when booking a hotel with them. Nothing wrong with making a profit, I'd just prefer it not be off me on certain items. 

 

Also depending on where you are at they don't have all currencies. I doubt they have the strange currency that Croatia used the last time I was there. 

[Harters]

On 10/26/2021 at 12:33 PM, Kate-AHF said:

so much easier with the euro, isn't it?

I have an interest in the Great War and have often visited battlefields in Belgium & France. The border between the coutries meanders along and you can move from one to the other and back within a few hundreds down the road. I remember on one trip I wanted to photograph a bar that was relevent to a book I was writing. It was in France but the the best angle for the shot was to make a few steps into Belgium. It used to be a pain, in pre-Euro days, in having to take both Belgian and French francs.

 

And to keep this loosely on the tipping theme, in the early days of me visiting, there was a distinction between the two countries. France was basically a no tip area, whilst the Dutch speaking part of Belgium was fairly similar to the UK (say 10% tip in restaurants). Belgium has now moved much closer to the French tipping model.

 

By the by, Kate, we've had some excellent holidays visiting your state. My military history interest also extends to the American War Between the States. In fact, it was that conflict that sparked my general interest (our own civil war hardly having any visible signs left now).

 

John

[clairol]

On 10/24/2021 at 6:01 PM, Kate-AHF said:

 

But here is my problem..... I'm in Croatia for one day.  When I ordered currency from my bank prior to sailing next week, I did not order a small amount of croatian kuna... the fees were huge.  If I want to tip the guide for that one day, I'm going to have to find an ATM when I get off the ship and before I start the tour.  I have no idea if the guide would prefer euros or USD, or if kuna is the only easy option for them.

We are just off Riviera and were in Croatia for just a day everywhere we went they accepted Euros - including tour guides, taxis and even public included. Most things are posted in Kuna but they can/will convert. Hope that helps. 
 

(PS - they are switching to euros soon!)

[Hlitner]

On 10/13/2021 at 7:19 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

One should still make an effort to tip according to cultural norms of the country. My eyes were opened when friends in Italy started to complain about how the "big tipping Americans" came in and upped the tip ante. This can lead to changes in tipping norms to the point where locals become compelled to tip at the same level in order to get good service. That should not be the case.

 

My goal as a traveler is to "be a good guest" and abide by local norms. It's not my country and I don't make the rules there, nor do I want my presence to be "felt" as anything more than a transitory passage.

 

On the Italy boards here on CC a few years back we had some fun times pointing out to travelers that some companies with websites in multiple languages would add info about "standard tipping practices" only to the English version....

 

 

With this we do agree :).  We have often seen examples (first hand) of folks imposing their own cultural standards when traveling in countries where the norms are completely different.  It can cause resentment, and even problems!  Consider somebody from the UK who goes to a decent NYC restaurant, spends a few hundred dollars on dinner, and then leaves a tiny rounding up tip similar to the practice in parts of Europe.  Or an American who goes to a Tokyo restaurant and tips 20%!  Either is not in keeping with the local cultures (and might have a waiter chase you with a butcher knife in NYC).  

 

So, we tend to stick with the local tipping culture (a little online research can yield the info).  And for those fellow Americans who think it is fine to tip big in Japan or Australia....they should be aware that folks will take the money but not think highly of the tipper.  In fact, in Japan they would be seriously offended but too polite to say a word.  In Australia a big tipping American would certainly inflame the feelings of many locals who insist they pay folks a "living wage" and tipping is neither appropriate or expected.  We still laugh about a decent Sydney restaurant where our waiter actually went home in the middle of our meal (his shift was over).  That would not happen in the USA.  And in Mexico (where we live part of the year) the waiter would likely come over to the table, say he/she was leaving...and could we please tip now!  

 

But we do support some exceptions to the "rules."  During a recent trip to Greece, we were very generous with tips (even by American standards) out of appreciation that folks had come to work and were often overworked due to lack of adequate staff.  COVID has caused lots of strange labor shortages and we truly want to reward those who serve.

 

Hank