Have you been butled?

[shedevil]

Ok, lets not kid ourselves folks. As a travel service provider myself, I can tell you that the only tips that count is cool, hard cash. A smile and a handshake is nice, but if it don't come with the green stuff, it aint worth much to me. Thank yous aint gonna pay the rent or put braces on little Bobby's teeth. And I don't have to tell you where the toys, small musesum items (junk) and trinkets end up....

 

Hanlon

 

We think that it is important to build friendships and share our community with people we meet all over the world. If the only thing that is important to you is the green stuff.....then you are missing out on a lot of other important things in life and in travel. :(

[BeBeReader]

It's nice to be idealistic about gifts, trinkets, etc., but to working people who are in a service business where they depend on tips, cash is what really means something. That's reality. Try leaving a waiter a teeshirt and see how far that gets you. If you left a pair of your diamond earrings, then they would really be touched! :D (Interpret as a joke.)

[rreett]

I think we also need to think about all the space those who work on a ship have for their personal items (or don't have). Although a book on our home town may be very itnteresting and appreciated once they get more than one or two space would become an issue! I am sure they are squished into their cabin already with just neccessities.

[Princess Checkers]

We think that it is important to build friendships and share our community with people we meet all over the world. If the only thing that is important to you is the green stuff.....then you are missing out on a lot of other important things in life and in travel. :(

 

In order to afford butler service in our cabin, it required additional resources -- money. Include the trinkets, with a HEFTY cash tip -- it's fun to see postcards of where you live, but your butler can't send that home to help get medicine and better food for his family. Many cruiseship employees take these jobs knowing that brutal hours and demanding passengers will allow them the chance to make a real difference in the lives of their families back home. International goodwill is built on understanding the difficulty and daily struggle from which our butler faced growing up -- a childhood most of us can only imagine...It's naiive to think that toys and trinkets will mean as much as money. Cash means options and opputunities -- like the ability for you to afford a butled cabin. While you certainly seem to have good intentions, at the end of the day what matters is the future our butler can make for himself and his family. Trinkets and toys don't allow for a very bright future. Share your cash along with sincere thanks.

[shedevil]

In order to afford butler service in our cabin, it required additional resources -- money. Include the trinkets, with a HEFTY cash tip -- it's fun to see postcards of where you live, but your butler can't send that home to help get medicine and better food for his family. Many cruiseship employees take these jobs knowing that brutal hours and demanding passengers will allow them the chance to make a real difference in the lives of their families back home. International goodwill is built on understanding the difficulty and daily struggle from which our butler faced growing up -- a childhood most of us can only imagine...It's naiive to think that toys and trinkets will mean as much as money. Cash means options and opputunities -- like the ability for you to afford a butled cabin. While you certainly seem to have good intentions, at the end of the day what matters is the future our butler can make for himself and his family. Trinkets and toys don't allow for a very bright future. Share your cash along with sincere thanks.

We gave our butler, room steward, and several others additional tips based on the quality of service and how they enhanced our cruise. In addition, we gave small gifts to crew members from our local museum and we gave some small American toys to several crew members. We gave them the tips in an envelope with a note explaining why we felt they deserved "a little extra." If you feel comfortable with the amount of your tip....then it is not too much. I got the feeling the act of saying a personal thank you meant as much as the extra $$.

 

Never saw any lady butlers on Oceania.

 

 

Ahem....am I missing something? My original post stated that we shared a little about ourselves at the beginning of the cruise with a couple of postcards of death valley. I also posted that we gave our butler, room steward and several others who made our trip special very significant tips in envelopes with notes explaining how they made our trip great. Why am I getting beat up on the idea of sharing our community with folks who might never see the high mojave desert? Can the board moderator just delete my original post. I gave the crew good old American dollars in an envelope, the other small stuff, was just to break the ice at the beginning of the cruise. In fact, a couple of crew members asked for more of the postcards because they were sending the death valley cards to their families.

 

So - please quit beating on me like I am a moron and that I gave crap instead of cash. We gave the crew cash, and we thanked people, and we tried to not be ugly Americans. Interestingly, we got a an email from one of the crew thanking us for the gifts.

 

Jeez........I am frustrated with this and I don't know why I am getting bashed. Please stop or could the moderator delete all of my posts on this thread so people will leave me alone. I surrender.... I won't share any more stupid ideas about taking a moment to build friendships with the crew. Stupid me.......stupid me.....stupid me......I won't give them any more postcards. I must go now and write 100 times. Don't give postcards. Don't share ideas on cruisecritic.com.

[Princess Checkers]

and try and see Oceania's guests through the eyes of those who serve us, both on the ship and private tours...

 

Hard as it may be to believe, we've witnessed guests with a seemingly endless stream of freeflowing cash spending on food, drink and souvenirs while in port, then "tip" private tour guides with some token amount of cash and whatever leftover local currency they happen to have on them. Pathetic? YES! Yet it happens, and not infrequently. Mind you, this is from folks who go on and on and on about the wonderful service and exclusivity of their experience. Ironic, indeed.

 

The point is to be mindful of why our hardworking staff and tour guides bust their you-know-whats to make our trip memorable. Your generosity is what they will remember most.

[WendyandBarry]

and try and see Oceania's guests through the eyes of those who serve us, both on the ship and private tours...

 

Hard as it may be to believe, we've witnessed guests with a seemingly endless stream of freeflowing cash spending on food, drink and souvenirs while in port, then "tip" private tour guides with some token amount of cash and whatever leftover local currency they happen to have on them. Pathetic? YES! Yet it happens, and not infrequently. Mind you, this is from folks who go on and on and on about the wonderful service and exclusivity of their experience. Ironic, indeed.

 

The point is to be mindful of why our hardworking staff and tour guides bust their you-know-whats to make our trip memorable. Your generosity is what they will remember most.

 

 

So we the cruiser's HAVE to pay extra because the line will not pay the help enough to live on. who's fault is that I wonder.

 

I tip for the EXTRA service that I receive, not to pay their wages. So if they just do their job and nothing extra, then they get paid nothing extra.

 

Barry

[Princess Checkers]

I agree, Barry. I'm referring to extraordinary service provided by our butler and private tour guides. Our experience has been that these folks often go above and beyond customary service excellence and should be recognized for such.

[Captski]

Ok, lets not kid ourselves folks. As a travel service provider myself, I can tell you that the only tips that count is cool, hard cash. A smile and a handshake is nice, but if it don't come with the green stuff, it aint worth much to me. Thank yous aint gonna pay the rent or put braces on little Bobby's teeth. And I don't have to tell you where the toys, small musesum items (junk) and trinkets end up....

 

Hanlon

 

Interesting article just posted to CC about tips. Seems that saying thank you and sharing with the staff is welcomed.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/features/articles.cfm?ID=261

 

"Here's another hint. What makes a serious difference, to them, beyond receiving gratuities, is you. Your smile is going to travel more miles than your cash. Show kindness. Treating them with a ray of light, laughter and a good time will set the pattern of great service."

 

Maybe the best tip is to be good travelers and not arrogant travelers.

 

Rick