Candy for the Crew

[LilBlackDress]

I always have a tray of mixed chocolate minis out and let my Room Attendant know they are welcome to have whatever they want... Pre-Covid they might take a few pieces a week. After the restart, I was getting asked if they could take some for their roommate or friends. 
Our first cruise, post covid was the 2nd sailing after the restart... They went through 8 lbs of chocolate. 
On our next cruise in Feb, the crew was able to get off the ship in some ports so the craving for sweet and salty wasn't as strong. But I still offered it and they did take some

[Joe33472]

12 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I remember getting Orange flavored Kit Kat's in London a decade ago... I'm still hoping to find them again.

 

In some Asian food stores they have really interesting flavors of Kit Kats.   Matcha is one of my favorites, but I've also seen strawberry, cranberry, and a host of other interesting things.   The sweetness is also notched down a little to appeal to the target demographic.   I'd still go for the Cadbury from Ireland 🤣.  I have a business trip to Dublin in October, so I'm sure my family will have requests.  I just usually look for unusual stuff and a bunch of milk bars.   

[mjkacmom]

12 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

DW was a teacher in BC until she retired in 2016.  The funniest end of the year gift she got was a goat, donated in her name, to some African family in some country we have long since forgotten about. It came with a nice certificate in a plastic frame. We still laugh about it to this day.  Over the years there have been thousands of mugs, Christmas tree ornaments, framed pictures of students, baked goods and so many knick knacks and trinkets we couldn't even begin to catalog them.

 

Everything eventually found its way to the rubbish bin.  The best gifts she got were Amazon gift cards or Tim Hortons gift cards.  They equal cash 🙂 

Mom of 5 here, target gift card was my go to, many times adding a card from myself and or my kids, once I sent an email to the principal and superintendent expressing how impressed I was, and cc’d the teacher. I have teacher friends and even I get stuck with mugs.

[Mum2Mercury]

On 7/19/2023 at 4:05 PM, ATG said:

Last few cruises we’ve gotten a business card with their name.  That works better since I have terrible photo skills.

I did like the cabin steward giving us a business card on the first day!  

21 hours ago, pilot said:

How do you know they want candy?

 

You should try a test. On a table place a $10 bill and a bag filled with $10 bag of candy. Ask them to pick one. 

More realistically:  Place the cash and the candy on a table ... and tell the crew member, "You may take one or you may take both."  I'm betting more than 90% will take both, even if they anticipate giving away the candy.  

[PhillyFan33579]

On 7/16/2023 at 7:24 PM, sjinnj said:

In addition to the cash tips, I plan to give, is it OK to also give the crew candy?  My sister, who is a frequent cruiser says she does, and now my wife wants to do the same on our upcoming cruise, so I wanted to see if other folks do the same.  Just to be clear, this is in addition to giving a cash tip, not instead.  

Per bartenders on Freedom at Schooner, Boleros, Lime and Coconut and Casino bars, 100 percent of the them stated they prefer cash over candy. Granted this is a very small poll, but that is consistent with what I have heard on my previous 66 cruises. 

[Wanna Be Retired]

Even though I give them candy I still give them extra money.  The candy is just extra.  I would give the tip with or without the candy.

[Orsino]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:44 PM, RD64 said:

The only non-cash “additional” gift I would give is to the Filipino crew in port cities (ie Vancouver) where there happens to be a Jollibee restaurant location. Jollibee is a restaurant that every Filipino holds near and dear to their heart.
 

They could not care less for your chocolates or random tokens from your home state that they don’t want. Give them a gift card to use at Jollibee for take out and you will see true gratitude as opposed to the forced “thank you for something I truly do not want and have no use for but I have to fake gratitude for”.

I’m mostly on a ‘do what you want’ point of view on non-cash tips. There is, after all, the possibility that a non-cash gift has extra value due to rarity or difficulty on obtaining on a cruise ship. 
However, the notion that a *gift card* is better than cash is easily dismissed. Cash is clearly better than a gift card. The gift card can only be spent at the location it is tied to. Give cash and they can spend it at Jollibee if they want to and more importantly, elsewhere if they don’t. 
 

[Norwich Cruiser]

Cash is King

[sjinnj]

15 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Per bartenders on Freedom at Schooner, Boleros, Lime and Coconut and Casino bars, 100 percent of the them stated they prefer cash over candy. Granted this is a very small poll, but that is consistent with what I have heard on my previous 66 cruises. 

Just to be clear, this is in addition to giving a cash tip, not instead.  

[joeyancho]

Five pages on a candy bar.  Crazy.  Summary:   1.  only bad people give out candy.  2.  Crew members are money grubbers who look at passengers as ATM machines.   

[pilot]

2 hours ago, sjinnj said:

Just to be clear, this is in addition to giving a cash tip, not instead.  

I think what most of us are saying is…you are spending a few bucks for the candy, instead of buying the candy, they would probably appreciate the extra cash instead. 
 

Remember these hardworking people are working months at a time, far from home, for money, not candy. 

[Mum2Mercury]

17 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Per bartenders on Freedom at Schooner, Boleros, Lime and Coconut and Casino bars, 100 percent of the them stated they prefer cash over candy. Granted this is a very small poll, but that is consistent with what I have heard on my previous 66 cruises. 

Did you ask them the right question:  "Would you rather have money ... or the same amount of money PLUS a small candy bar?"  

12 minutes ago, pilot said:

I think what most of us are saying is…you are spending a few bucks for the candy, instead of buying the candy, they would probably appreciate the extra cash instead. 
 

Remember these hardworking people are working months at a time, far from home, for money, not candy. 

We heard you, but realistically anyone who brings candy is bringing a bag of $3 mini-bars.  Divided between this and that crew member, it'd be maybe .40 per bar.  Would you really say to your cabin steward, "I pre-paid my tips, and here's an extra .40 for you."?  That's the reality.  

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, Orsino said:

I’m mostly on a ‘do what you want’ point of view on non-cash tips. There is, after all, the possibility that a non-cash gift has extra value due to rarity or difficulty on obtaining on a cruise ship. 
However, the notion that a *gift card* is better than cash is easily dismissed. Cash is clearly better than a gift card. The gift card can only be spent at the location it is tied to. Give cash and they can spend it at Jollibee if they want to and more importantly, elsewhere if they don’t. 
 

Most things can be ordered on Amazon,,, if someone really wants to spend money. And Royal has provided the means for crew to order and have items delivered to ships on many ships itineraries. 

[woods1967]

I am cruising at the end of the year and I think it is a great idea to give a cash tip, and include some sort of candy bar. I equate the candy as a little something extra. For those who seem to indicate instead of giving the candy bar just include a few more dollars, I wonder if when they give a Christmas present to someone do they wrap it or put a bow on the present? Why? Wouldn't the person rather you just skip those things and increase the price of the gift? Maybe those who do that, like to add a little something to the gift to make it a little more special........

[RD64]

On 7/19/2023 at 9:08 PM, Tree_skier said:

DW was a teacher in BC until she retired in 2016.  The funniest end of the year gift she got was a goat, donated in her name, to some African family in some country we have long since forgotten about. It came with a nice certificate in a plastic frame. We still laugh about it to this day.  Over the years there have been thousands of mugs, Christmas tree ornaments, framed pictures of students, baked goods and so many knick knacks and trinkets we couldn't even begin to catalog them.

 

Everything eventually found its way to the rubbish bin.  The best gifts she got were Amazon gift cards or Tim Hortons gift cards.  They equal cash 🙂 

And the occasional LCBO (liquor stores in Ontario) gift card.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Did you ask them the right question:  "Would you rather have money ... or the same amount of money PLUS a small candy bar?"  

We heard you, but realistically anyone who brings candy is bringing a bag of $3 mini-bars.  Divided between this and that crew member, it'd be maybe .40 per bar.  Would you really say to your cabin steward, "I pre-paid my tips, and here's an extra .40 for you."?  That's the reality.  

We (my friend and I) showed the bartenders the original post in this thread so we couldn’t “influence” their decision. Every bartender said they would rather have cash and they didn’t care about the candy. Keep in mind we are talking about 10 bartenders, so not a significant number of crew members. 

[sjinnj]

16 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

 

Reading some of the silly responses here, I am sorry I asked. 

 

What is comes down to is here is your tip and a candy bar OR here is the same tip and nothing else.  

Edited July 21, 2023 by sjinnj

[taglovestocruise]

17 hours ago, Orsino said:

I’m mostly on a ‘do what you want’ point of view on non-cash tips. There is, after all, the possibility that a non-cash gift has extra value due to rarity or difficulty on obtaining on a cruise ship. 
However, the notion that a *gift card* is better than cash is easily dismissed. Cash is clearly better than a gift card. The gift card can only be spent at the location it is tied to. Give cash and they can spend it at Jollibee if they want to and more importantly, elsewhere if they don’t. 
 

87 year old mother in law visits Jollibee in Las Vegas 5 or 6 times a week. 1 side order of a  chicken leg, she only eats the skin dunked in gravy, and a large Halo- Halo. Pretty disgusting but she is happy and somehow remains healthy.  She even drives herself there. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by taglovestocruise

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Depending where you get them, you can get candy bars for <$1 each.  So I guess the "rule" here is to make sure you walk onto the ship with 10 pounds (weight) of coins, so you can tip the workers an extra 75 cents each.  

 

Or, just get a bunch of candy bars and hand them out with the cash. 

[HBE4]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:17 PM, OCSC Mike said:

 

Somehow it's only gotten worse.

 

I'm a little late to this thread but I'm amazed by some of the, uh, "passion" shown. 

 

On 7/16/2023 at 7:31 PM, neverbeenhere said:

Tim Tam 

if they fit my bag. 

 

 

I just discovered Tim Tam.  They are amazing and apparently not very many stores in my area sell them. Just one in fact, which is now my favorite store.

[HBE4]

3 hours ago, sjinnj said:

Reading some of the silly responses here, I am sorry I asked. 

 

What is comes down to is here is your tip and a candy bar OR here is the same tip and nothing else.  

 

You forgot option #3 which is: Tip + Extra Tip in place of candy bar + the candy bar. 😉

 

Just kidding.

 

Don't be sorry.  You should see some of the responses when the subject is "Tip standard amt vs Tip Extra vs Don't Tip at all". Then you'll see some real heated and silly responses. 

 

My reply to you is the same as I post on those thread.  Your tip to the crew member is between you and the crew member.  It's allowed, for sure.  Will the appreciation they show be genuine?  Nobody knows but sometimes yes and sometimes no and there is no way  for you to know for sure. Will they find it demeaning?  Maybe some will and some won't but again there will be no way for you  or anyone else here to know.

 

It is a thoughtful touch in addition to the cash but unless you really know that it's something the person wants (like the root beer story), it's not all that thoughtful.  For example, my adult niece doesn't 't eat chocolate because it makes her skin breakout. But in that case, the crew member will probably just pass it along to someone else so it will get appreciated by someone else.

 

I personally wouldn't do it myself only cause I'm not thoughtful - I'm a cash is king kind of guy - but it's your cruise, your money, your candy and your tip so do as you like.

[Kiki and The Noush]

3 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

87 year old mother in law visits Jollibee in Las Vegas 5 or 6 times a week. 1 side order of a  chicken leg, she only eats the skin dunked in gravy, and a large Halo- Halo. Pretty disgusting but she is happy and somehow remains healthy.  She even drives herself there. 

I can hear my Dad's voice in my head - he would say at 87 you eat like a crocodile, and what does a crocodile eat?  Anything it wants to!  

[taglovestocruise]

20 minutes ago, Kiki and The Noush said:

I can hear my Dad's voice in my head - he would say at 87 you eat like a crocodile, and what does a crocodile eat?  Anything it wants to!  

And she does, her everyday routine for decades is to have a single piece of white bread covered with a quarter inch of butter and layered with a table spoon of white sugar. Then off for a 90 minute nap. 

[boscobeans]

On 7/16/2023 at 10:39 PM, Husky1987 said:

Yes, I'm sure a crew member would rather have $20 and a couple Butterfingers than $20.  But I'll bet they'd also rather have $25 than $20 and a couple Butterfingers.

So true.      5 or 10 bucks could mean a dinner out for the family back home/.

[pcur]

On 7/19/2023 at 3:40 PM, Etta1213 said:

I like this idea. I have, however, read on other web sites how inferior US chocolate is compared to, for example, Europe. Any thoughts?

I went on a "chocolate farm" tour in Kauai in 2021.  They gave us samples to eat from 24 different countries so we could taste the difference.  Truly educational (hint: it's the soil).  Anyway, yes, US chocolate is not made the same, but most people just taste the chocolate flavor.  Kind of wine connoisseur vs just somebody that wants a good tasting wine to drink.

 

But, if I was working somewhere I had little access to chocolate, ANY chocolate would taste great to me!

 

IMO, Ghirardelli chocolate is one of the best US made chocolates, but I'm a local and prejudiced.  Godiva is next IMO.

 

If you want THE best, order online some from Lydgate Chocolate Farms in Kauai.  Also, if Coralc is anywhere on this board, she can tell you what she thinks, too. I brought her a bag of it home with me.

Edited July 22, 2023 by pcur