Tipping - but not on the Cruise

[Huggsy]

Sorry to bring up this subject again but I'm asking regarding our Miami overnight stay before the cruise. We will of course be having an evening meal either at the hotel or by walking out to a restaurant somewhere. For you folks on the other side of the pond or anyone who's in the know - when it comes to the bill is it customary to add the tip onto say, the debit or credit card or, give $$ separately to your server - also, what percentage?

Advice please🙂

 

[asnaleah]

Cash or card is fine. Twenty percent 

[tripperva]

Many people give 20% cash or credit card if the service was good. If not good service, any amount up to 15% is customary. Some folks are happy to give 15% to 18%  either way, good service or not.We choose 20%.

[FengShui@Sea]

Our experience in downtown Miami last month was that most restaurants add 18% 'service charge' and then hand you the credit card machine with a screen asking if you want to add a tip.  Apparently the service charge doesn't all go to the server.  

[Pcardad]

21 minutes ago, FengShui@Sea said:

Our experience in downtown Miami last month was that most restaurants add 18% 'service charge' and then hand you the credit card machine with a screen asking if you want to add a tip.  Apparently the service charge doesn't all go to the server.  

It should - they just trying to scam you into giving more.

[Scout16]

Since the topic has come up, I am asking for tipping thoughts on events once you are on the cruise.  What is the customary tip for tour guides, bus drivers, taxi drivers, and people in on shore restaurants and bars.  I know that it varies by country but is there some place where the suggested amounts are listed?  This might be a useful item to include with the shore tour paperwork.  i ave also heard that in many countries you should use only the local currency.

The other item that I am not sure about is the tipping for pre or post cruise tours.   

[Pcardad]

US Dollars should be fine everywhere - most people would probably prefer them. Regent is not going to provide a list as they say no tipping is required. On an excursion, I tip a minimum of $5 up to $20 (from the 2 of us) to be split between driver and guide based on how long the excursion is. Normal businesses open to the public probably won't expect tips as that is very much an American custom but I tend to give them something but not what I would give here.

[Brownie54]

We give what Pcardad suggested. We get it all ready at home before we go…especially if we are going on separate excursions.

We were shocked how many fellow passengers on the WC2017 gave nothing! The drivers and guides are not employed by Regent.

[Pcardad]

I order new currency from the bank. I get $1, $5, $10 and $20 in brand new bills. Good to have for many reasons including tipping. Some Middle-Eastern countries will only accept USD if not marked or folded and only the newest series. At the end of the cruise, I offer to swap it out for older bills at the Front Desk because they are always running low.

[Lonedaddy]

3 hours ago, FengShui@Sea said:

Our experience in downtown Miami last month was that most restaurants add 18% 'service charge' and then hand you the credit card machine with a screen asking if you want to add a tip.  Apparently the service charge doesn't all go to the server.  

Many restaurants in Miami do add service charge - it usually gets pooled.  They get a lot of foreign tourist that don't know that it isn't usually included in the price like in Europe.

[1982CruzStart]

9 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I order new currency from the bank. I get $1, $5, $10 and $20 in brand new bills. Good to have for many reasons including tipping. Some Middle-Eastern countries will only accept USD if not marked or folded and only the newest series. At the end of the cruise, I offer to swap it out for older bills at the Front Desk because they are always running low.

I agree. As it is not just the middle Eastern countries but also ones in South America where they require new bills otherwise if you give them used ones it can be like giving them useless paper. Their banks wouldn't accept any used bills. As well down there they wouldn't accept $50 or 100 US bills as there was so much counterfeiting at that time. 

[Huggsy]

3 hours ago, Scout16 said:

Since the topic has come up, I am asking for tipping thoughts on events once you are on the cruise.  What is the customary tip for tour guides, bus drivers, taxi drivers, and people in on shore restaurants and bars.  I know that it varies by country but is there some place where the suggested amounts are listed?  This might be a useful item to include with the shore tour paperwork.  i ave also heard that in many countries you should use only the local currency.

The other item that I am not sure about is the tipping for pre or post cruise tours.   

Good point

[Wendy The Wanderer]

5 hours ago, Huggsy said:

Sorry to bring up this subject again but I'm asking regarding our Miami overnight stay before the cruise. We will of course be having an evening meal either at the hotel or by walking out to a restaurant somewhere. For you folks on the other side of the pond or anyone who's in the know - when it comes to the bill is it customary to add the tip onto say, the debit or credit card or, give $$ separately to your server - also, what percentage?

Advice please🙂

 

Here in Florida, we tip at least 20%.  You can do it on plastic, or you can give the cash separately. Sometimes servers really appreciate the latter, sometimes it doesn't matter to them.

[Timeflies]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

US Dollars should be fine everywhere - most people would probably prefer them. Regent is not going to provide a list as they say no tipping is required. On an excursion, I tip a minimum of $5 up to $20 (from the 2 of us) to be split between driver and guide based on how long the excursion is. Normal businesses open to the public probably won't expect tips as that is very much an American custom but I tend to give them something but not what I would give here.

 

[Timeflies]

Thanks for that comment - very useful. 

 

I have been wondering about that for the 2024 world cruise and what currencies to take for tips on excursions.  In your experience do Australia & NZ accept USD for tips, or do they prefer local currency?

 

 

[Pcardad]

22 minutes ago, Timeflies said:

Thanks for that comment - very useful. 

 

I have been wondering about that for the 2024 world cruise and what currencies to take for tips on excursions.  In your experience do Australia & NZ accept USD for tips, or do they prefer local currency?

 

 

 

I am at 130+ countries and the only country I can remember that didn't want US dollars was a bar in Madagascar...they said the bank charged them too much to swap them out.

[FengShui@Sea]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Here in Florida, we tip at least 20%.  You can do it on plastic, or you can give the cash separately. Sometimes servers really appreciate the latter, sometimes it doesn't matter to them.

Not being from Florida I am wondering what you would (or would not) add when your bill has an automatic 18% 'service charge'?  I added about an extra 12% and she seemed thrilled.  But I really wondered is I was being scammed.

[Catlover54]

Here are my thoughts:

 

Huggsy, as you are going to Miami, you do not need to have fresh and crisp dollar bills there, but getting a bunch of them in different denominations in advance is a good idea (it would be awkward to ask a guide to make change!) .  Please tip waiters in the U.S.  (unless service was awful or surly) either in U.S. cash, or for convenience just add it to the credit card bill.  Valets who carry your suitcases to your room  also appreciate a quick tip when they are done( $5 per big bag, more if you have a big pile, this will change if inflation rises more).  Do not tip in pounds, Euros, or non-U.S. foreign currency while in the U.S.

 

You are NOT required to tip extra beyond what is pre-calculated on your bill  (e.g. the 18% in many Miami venues ), no one will chase after you.  But extra may make a hard-working pleasant. waitress happy even if you will never see her again, and you are only looking at paying marginal difference. 🙂

If nothing is already added, and service was adequate but not exceptional, 20% is the guide.

 

Regent quietly notifies  that tipping of guides and drivers on excursions is not already included, so if they did a decent job, in U.S. and elsewhere, we tip in amounts appropriate to the standard of living of the local country (e.g., in some places like Caribbean or South America, $20 for a half day tour to a good group guide and $5-10 to a bus driver is plenty right now , (though I have tipped anywhere from 0 to $100), whereas it is not really that much for a guide in Scandinavia or Iceland -- but the latter is less likely to expect to be tipped, given their wages and social benefits are great).  If you get a good individual guide for a private tour, in a first world country, I also offer about 20%.  

I have read online about some excursion guides in northern Europe and Australia taking pride in not accepting tips -- but I frankly have never encountered one who pushed my tip back to me.

 

The countries with inflation worse than that in the U.S. and western Europe appreciate dollars and Euros instead of their local currency.

 

As we have had two years of Covid and people in travel business have lost a lot of money, if there has ever been a time to be generous with hard workers who do a good job, this is it. 

 

But do not feel you have to tip if service was very poor, surly, or offensive (I will offer a suggestion to the guide as I leave if something seriously displeased me , and if it was really bad -- rare, but it happens, like a guide who made ongoing culturally inappropriate sexist remarks -- I tip nothing and let the excursion desk know after the tour).   

[Huggsy]

Thank you to everyone and particularly to Catlover - most informative  .... who would have thought what a minefield this subject is! 

[GUT2407]

In Australia and NZ tipping isn’t expected or required, sure very few will refuse it, but remember minimum adult wage in Australia is over $20 an hour. However if you must tip local currency is prefered as $US can’t just be spent and requires a trip to a bank etc to convert it.

[SWFLAOK]

14 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

In Australia and NZ tipping isn’t expected or required, sure very few will refuse it, but remember minimum adult wage in Australia is over $20 an hour. However if you must tip local currency is prefered as $US can’t just be spent and requires a trip to a bank etc to convert it.

I wish I had read this before I had spent 3 nights in Sydney in January 2020 after back to back Regent cruises that ended there. We tipped at every place we ate. No one told us it wasn't expected. But a few of our tour guides complained about how high the cost of living was in Australia and how low their salaries were. When asked for specifics, we knew that they were overpaid for tour guides and their cost of living was low compared to their salaries since prices were less than in the US.  But we still tipped, despite having almost no service provided by any restaurant workers, and didn't tip our tour guides at all.

In the US, tipping is expected in restaurants. Service workers are not overpaid as they are in Australia and NZ, so they strive to provide the best service to achieve good tips. They should be rewarded for their hard work.

[Dolebludger]

I tip 15%. I used to tip 20% but restaurant prices have become so high recently, and that doesn’t put any more work burden on the servers.

[frantic36]

5 hours ago, Timeflies said:

Thanks for that comment - very useful. 

 

I have been wondering about that for the 2024 world cruise and what currencies to take for tips on excursions.  In your experience do Australia & NZ accept USD for tips, or do they prefer local currency?

 

 

 

 

I concur with Mr Gut. In Australia and New Zealand do not tip in US dollars. Either add a tip onto the credit card or use local currency. It is not usually worth the time and effort to go to the bank to exchange US dollars unless you are giving a massive tip. Also it is a matter of national pride that we wouldn't tip in the US in our currency and we think it is more respectful to use our currency in our country.

[ronrick1943]

11 hours ago, Pcardad said:

It should - they just trying to scam you into giving more.

I agree——————-

[cruiseluv]

11 hours ago, FengShui@Sea said:

Our experience in downtown Miami last month was that most restaurants add 18% 'service charge' and then hand you the credit card machine with a screen asking if you want to add a tip.  Apparently the service charge doesn't all go to the server.  

Really? Sounds like a scam. I would not patronize restaurants that do this