Tipping 101

[TOMVH]

I will be on the Encore next week and will be enjoying the haven. (yeah!)

I'm from Belgium and here we are not in the habit of tipping cash. It feels even really awkward to do.

So who can help me?

 

How do you tip your room steward/butler/concierge? Do I give him/her cash? Put it in an envelope? What do I say?

It feels so strange for us. 🙂

 

Help me please!

 

Thanks

[Travelicious]

24 minutes ago, TOMVH said:

I will be on the Encore next week and will be enjoying the haven. (yeah!)

I'm from Belgium and here we are not in the habit of tipping cash. It feels even really awkward to do.

So who can help me?

 

How do you tip your room steward/butler/concierge? Do I give him/her cash? Put it in an envelope? What do I say?

It feels so strange for us. 🙂

 

Help me please!

 

Thanks

What I usually do is leave a cash tip on the counter with a note thanking them for taking such good care of us.  I either put it in an envelope or just lay the note on top of the cash.

[travelmatron]

It's customary to put the tips in an envelope with the staff person's name on it.  It can be left in the room but also handed to the person with a verbal thank you.  Some people like to add a thank you note, some people just hand them cash, and or leave it in the room.  If you have an onboard credit you can use that towards the gratuity.  I'm sure the crew is happy to receive it anyway it comes their way.  

[RocketMan275]

We were in the Haven on Breakaway last week.  We gave our butler and steward some cash on the first day and then the same amount on the last evening of the cruise.  We sometimes gave cash but on the last evening we put the cash in an envelope along with a short thank-you note.  

[Hutcha]

You can get envelopes at the concierge desk. Put the cash in there, maybe a thank you note. On the last night, hand them the envelope and tell them thanks for a great cruise. Your prepaid tips cover everyone except the butler and concierge. Of course extra for great service is always appreciated. Two weeks ago I tipped extra to the cabin attendant, Haven restaurant Maitra D and hostess. I also tipped the waitresses per meal. None of the above is required, but they have all been through a hard time lately. I didn't mind, and could afford to add 10% to the cruise price.

[PTC DAWG]

I fold it over, hand it over and say thanks…simple as that.  

[tallnthensome]

I

19 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I fold it over, hand it over and say thanks…simple as that.  

^^^^^^ This. I tip cash directly the first time we meet and at the end. I've always found much better service when tipping some up front . 

[PTC DAWG]

10 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

I

^^^^^^ This. I tip cash directly the first time we meet and at the end. I've always found much better service when tipping some up front . 

I usually ask the room steward for a bucket of ice daily on our first meeting, while I’m handing him a $20. 🙂

[acct1975]

You also don't have to tip before and after.  Some people like to tip at the beginning as a gesture and to increase the odds of good service. Some people only tip at the end, for a variety of reasons mostly because they don't want to pre-tip on a bad experience.

 

I find tipping at the beginning is a nice gesture and at the end only if the service was beyond what you expected. Let an extra thank you for above and beyond service.

[Trimone]

I just don’t bother, they should be grateful of your business, there are plenty of other cruise companies after your business.

[complawyer]

i give the cabin steward $20 at the beginning, middle and end of cruise. a little more if he was outstanding, the butler 100 at the end, and 1 dollar to the bartender after every drink, or just give him/her $5.00. i usually tip whoever is waiting on me in the restaurants dollars, and if im inthe buffet and have an omelet specially made, i usually leave him a buck or 2

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

I've always found much better service when tipping some up front . 

If you always tip up front, how do you know you're getting better service?  That's a serious question.  I always tip at the end and have never not had great service.

[mertziek]

Tipping is very individualized.  No right or wrong answers or amounts.  Some tip little, some a lot.  You need to ask yourself what you feel the service was worth to you and how much you feel you can afford.  The room steward is included in the daily service charge you are billed but he/she keeps the room so neat and tidy and I feel work the hardest so a bit extra seems fair.  Butler tipping can vary but many suggest from $5-$10 per person per day.  If you have a great butler or have him/her serve meals in your room, tip more.  If a butler who never sees you and does nothing extra, tip less but he/she is not included in the daily service charge.  Neither is the Concierge and tip him/her according to how much is done for you.  We usually give the concierge and steward about half of what we give our butler.  Remember the steward already gets extra from the daily service charges so he/she should end up with as much as our butler does.  We also tip $2-$3 for drinks and always leave a few dollars tip at meals, even the buffets.  These people work so hard to make our vacation special.  There are no right or wrong answers.  We tend to over tip.  That’s us.  We understand the home situations many of these workers are from, spending months at a time away from home, and they send most if not all of their money back home.  On recent b2b cruises, we knew a restaurant server we had made friends with on a prior cruise was on our ship and was so excited to see us again.  He happened to be on our ship so we made a special effort to go to his dining room to eat dinner with him as our server on two occasions and saw him in the lunch buffet one day, too.  We tipped him generously.  We received an endearing note of friendship and gratitude with a gift AND he later posted to his Facebook page to us that he used our tip to have electricity turned back on at his home in the Philippines.  They were without power for several months since they had a typhoon.  He never told us this until after the cruise was over.  Now tell me how you cannot justify a tip after hearing a story like that?  Many of these staff spend months away from home to make a living and support families back home.  So my advice - be generous if the service is good and remember many of these staff are from poor third world countries.  We look at it as our way to give back.

 

We usually put our tip for our Butler, steward and Concierge in an envelope with a brief note at the end of the cruise but give a sweetener tip in cash at the beginning to our Butler and steward with the additional comment of there will be more to come at the end of the cruise.

Edited March 16, 2022 by mertziek

[tallnthensome]

10 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

If you always tip up front, how do you know you're getting better service?  That's a serious question.  I always tip at the end and have never not had great service.

Because I've sailed enough and have noticed added touches throughout the cruise before the end that I wouldn't get if I had not tipped the first day. When I have stewards placing full buckets of beer in my cabin without asking while we were out of the room isn't done because I'm a nice person and just lucky  ..... Just one example. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

15 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

When I have stewards placing full buckets of beer in my cabin without asking while we were out of the room isn't done because I'm a nice person and just lucky

Was this NCL?  I didn't even think they had buckets of beer.  What kind of beer?

[NikiPinkston]

This may be a little bougie, but I always buy some of these cruise thank you cards in which I place our tip & write a quick note.  For me, it just streamlines the process.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cruise+thank+you+cards&crid=RILJ8YVZ1TVR&sprefix=cruise+thank+you%2Caps%2C178&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_16

[tallnthensome]

3 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Was this NCL?  I didn't even think they had buckets of beer.  What kind of beer?

This happened to me on the Bliss and also the MSC Seaside. The bucket (don't know where it came from) was filled with ice and covered with a bathroom towel. Budweiser ...... Also had the steward on the Seaside leave me a bucket of Coronas on the mini fridge. Both without asking .... the steward also got my two girls chocolate covered strawberries on out 15 day Panama Canal sailing on the Bliss. Stewards know right up front and remember who gave them cash up front ..... They appreciate it. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

19 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Stewards know right up front and remember who gave them cash up front ..... They appreciate it. 

I'm sure that they appreciate back end cash just as much as front end.  

[tallnthensome]

Just now, ChiefMateJRK said:

I'm sure that they appreciate back end cash just as much as front end.  

I'm sure they do ....... although if you were a cabin steward and you had one guy out of the ten give you some cash on the first day who do you think will stand out in their mind all week?  You approach it however you want but please feel free to share your stories of the extra perks you got from the stewards by not tipping some up front . Do tell .....

[mearsfansinboise]

38 minutes ago, NikiPinkston said:

This may be a little bougie, but I always buy some of these cruise thank you cards in which I place our tip & write a quick note.  For me, it just streamlines the process.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cruise+thank+you+cards&crid=RILJ8YVZ1TVR&sprefix=cruise+thank+you%2Caps%2C178&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_16

TOTALLY bougie; and I love it!! - - thanks for the link @NikiPinkston

[MoCruiseFan]

4 hours ago, TOMVH said:

I will be on the Encore next week and will be enjoying the haven. (yeah!)

I'm from Belgium and here we are not in the habit of tipping cash. It feels even really awkward to do.

So who can help me?

 

How do you tip your room steward/butler/concierge? Do I give him/her cash? Put it in an envelope? What do I say?

It feels so strange for us. 🙂

 

Help me please!

 

Thanks

 

The only rule to tipping is that there are no rules.  Simply tip whomever you want, any amount you want, any  time you want.  There is no recommended or typical amount to tip anyone at any time.  You might get any number of people saying what there OPINION is of a typical amount, but in reality, that creature does not exist.  Lastly, given all of that, there is no such thing as tipping "extra".  Just about any method of tipping that you can think of is utilized by someone.  Remember if someone handed you cash while you were cruising, you would not turn it down.  Finally you do not have to say anything, perhaps a simple "thank you" when you hand them whatever you choose.

Enjoy your cruise and have a wonderful time.

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

I

^^^^^^ This. I tip cash directly the first time we meet and at the end. I've always found much better service when tipping some up front . 

I don't bribe people to do their job.

[MoCruiseFan]

3 hours ago, acct1975 said:

You also don't have to tip before and after.  Some people like to tip at the beginning as a gesture and to increase the odds of good service. Some people only tip at the end, for a variety of reasons mostly because they don't want to pre-tip on a bad experience.

 

I find tipping at the beginning is a nice gesture and at the end only if the service was beyond what you expected. Let an extra thank you for above and beyond service.

 

If you have to bribe someone to do their job they do not deserve a tip.  Do you go ask for anything back if service was substantially sub-par?

[MoCruiseFan]

2 hours ago, complawyer said:

i give the cabin steward $20 at the beginning, middle and end of cruise. a little more if he was outstanding, the butler 100 at the end, and 1 dollar to the bartender after every drink, or just give him/her $5.00. i usually tip whoever is waiting on me in the restaurants dollars, and if im inthe buffet and have an omelet specially made, i usually leave him a buck or 2

In other words just as I said, whatever amount you choose to whomever you want, when ever you want.

[MoCruiseFan]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

Because I've sailed enough and have noticed added touches throughout the cruise before the end that I wouldn't get if I had not tipped the first day. When I have stewards placing full buckets of beer in my cabin without asking while we were out of the room isn't done because I'm a nice person and just lucky  ..... Just one example. 

You have absolutely NO WAY of knowing this.  You are making an assumption.