tipping - sailing out of Vancouver

[Woody14]

So making the assumption that I can sail this summer from Vancouver on my return cruise I have booked on the Celebrity Eclipse.   Do you think the novelty of tipping in Canadian $ will have any cachet?    I know money is money and no crew member is going to say no to cash but the norm would be USD so would Canadian be a novelty or a pain in the but?

[stefndoug]

it's worth less than US, and everything on board is in US dollars.  I would say it would be a pain in the butt to get converted. 

[bcwife76]

We live in Vancouver and are taking our third Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver this July and the thought of tipping in CDN money would never enter my mind. Like the PP said, everything charged on the ship is in US funds so it will be a lot easier for the crew to accept and use US$.

[Fouremco]

No matter where you are sailing, USD is the preferred choice of crew members.

[gnome12]

19 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

No matter where you are sailing, USD is the preferred choice of crew members.

I doubt that is true of European cruises. There I would assume that the preferred choice would be Euros. (I realize that this thread is about sailing out of Vancouver, so not applicable, but the statement by itself is not really accurate.)

Edited March 7, 2022 by gnome12
clarification

[Fouremco]

9 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I doubt that is true of European cruises. There I would assume that the preferred choice would be Euros. (I realize that this thread is about sailing out of Vancouver, so not applicable, but the statement by itself is not really accurate.)

I may have overstated the case. Based on tipping threads I've read, and my personal experience talking to bartenders and room stewards on European cruises, USD is always acceptable, as are Euros or British Pounds, depending on the itinerary. So, maybe not "preferred" in Europe, but definitely acceptable.

[TeaBag]

Another vote for USD here.  Many of the crew send money home, so if they got CAD, it would mean less for them. also, most of the ports are US ports so CAD wouldn't work there either.

Very nice of you to think of giving the crew some cash, but USD would be preferable, I think.

[jeda4137]

If tipping in Canadian - DO NOT  ever use Loonies and Toonies.  Foreign coin is uselss in all countries!  Only bills . Use USA $$ s bills , but when in Mexico - Peso is much preferred if on a land trip (all inclusive)

When travelling to Mexico, we have traded Canadian coin for US $$s to help out our waiters as it is uselss to them. Makes for quite the load to bring home. 

[DirtyDawg]

Tipping with

16 hours ago, Woody14 said:

So making the assumption that I can sail this summer from Vancouver on my return cruise I have booked on the Celebrity Eclipse.   Do you think the novelty of tipping in Canadian $ will have any cachet?    I know money is money and no crew member is going to say no to cash but the norm would be USD so would Canadian be a novelty or a pain in the but?

I would not be too much a pain in the butt if you were tipping with a Canadian $10 bill per drink. It's a nice purple colour, which is pretty,  and I think the crew would be ok looking for a bank to convert them if they had forty or fifty on them each after your cruise. But tipping with that gorgeous red one per drink would definitely not be a pain in the butt. 😊

[squadron]

17 hours ago, Woody14 said:

So making the assumption that I can sail this summer from Vancouver on my return cruise I have booked on the Celebrity Eclipse.   Do you think the novelty of tipping in Canadian $ will have any cachet?    I know money is money and no crew member is going to say no to cash but the norm would be USD so would Canadian be a novelty or a pain in the but?

Inconvenient - ship accounts operate on US dollars.    It will be a pain and some will not know what it is and limited opportunity to use it.

[*Miss G*]

If you don’t have US, do go ahead and tip in Canadian.  They can use it at a Canadian port or deposit into their onboard accounts to exchange into whatever denomination they wish.  It will still be appreciated.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2022 by *Miss G*

[GUT2407]

Ran into a crew member on shore one day, he was sorting out paying for some shopping (this was in NZ towards the end of a 35 night cruise) he had almost every currency you could imagine. Chatting later he explained that they could deposit pretty much anything into their bank account through the crew purser and personally (with no family to support) he liked local currency.

 

[cmich068]

I would also stick with US dollars for all the reasons described here - but especially now with additional COVID restrictions meaning crew members often can't get off the ship in ports, so local currency has even less utility for them now. 

 

I imagine whatever they currency they receive, the cruise line will accept it and convert it for them (as they do for guests), but they probably lose a percentage or two on the transaction. 

Edited March 8, 2022 by cmich068

[*Miss G*]

If anyone is particularly concerned with the monetary value of paying in Canadian currency then all they have to do is up the tip.  There will be many who won’t tip extra because it’s already coming out of their onboard expenses, so whatever additional the crew receives, they will be happy.