Tipping for Tour Guides and Bus Drivers

[doowopbob]

We have our first Regent cruise coming up in Sept.  The first part is Northern Europe of which the currency is the Euro in three of the ports and the other 6 ports have different currencies.  The second cruise is all British pounds and Euros.  What do you suggest using to tip the guides and drivers in the ports that don't use the Euro or Pounds ?  Don't want to try to exchange to the local currency for just the tips.  Will they except the Euro or USD ? 

[FengShui@Sea]

Euro will be welcome, not so for USD.  

[Pcardad]

59 minutes ago, FengShui@Sea said:

Euro will be welcome, not so for USD.  

They might prefer USD now that it is worth more than a Euro. It is the kindness behind the giving that is most important.

[FengShui@Sea]

55 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

They might prefer USD now that it is worth more than a Euro. It is the kindness behind the giving that is most important.

 

Perhaps true if someone were to give the same amount of USD as they would give in Euro, however currency rates fluctuate daily.   I think the kindest gesture someone can make is to offer a commonly accepted currency rather than one from half way around the world.

 

[coljack]

It is easy to obtain lots of dollar bills before we leave the US.  It has always been very hard to get small change, e.g. 2 pound coins, when we convert to Euros.  Anyone have a good way to do this for those of us living in the US?

[RachelG]

I try to tip in local currency, but I have never had anyone refuse a tip or act insulted if I tipped in US dollars.  And now, they might actually prefer dollars.  It was definitely that way when we were in Turkey last month.  The Turkish lira has taken a nosedive- dollars we’re much preferred.

[1982CruzStart]

There are some great online websites that will provide information on tipping in various countries and how easily it is for the people of that country to accept USD or Euros in place of their own currency.   

I would not expect anyone in tourism to refuse a tip but in some countries, the cost of exchanging anything but their own currency can render the tip almost useless. 

Do a little research, it will make life easier for those people you are trying to thank for their hard work. 

[HotRoot]

We were in Cambodia maybe 15 years ago.  I found a bag of coins from that trip.  Took them back to tip the tour guide.  He was thrilled.  Coins have been discontinued and his children had never seen any.  I had no idea they were financially worthless or I would have just tossed them.  We also gave him USD which he said was better than local money.

 

Tipped the bartender in Latvia for a bag of ice for the room - $1 US.  She was thrilled.  She had never seen a USD.  We pulled out the wallet and showed her all denominations we had.  We then distributed $1 US to the rest of the staff.

[PhD-iva]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:44 PM, coljack said:

It is easy to obtain lots of dollar bills before we leave the US.  It has always been very hard to get small change, e.g. 2 pound coins, when we convert to Euros.  Anyone have a good way to do this for those of us living in the US?

We try to arrive home with about €50 - 100 euros left over, including small coins. Then we have them available for the next trip.