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Arrival Gift for Cabin Steward?


mt_goodrich
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My mother is a seasoned cruiser, with over 20 under her belt.

 

My wife and I will be going on our first cruise this coming January 2005.

 

One piece of advice my mother gave (along with many other things) is to bring a simple gift of cookies in a tin to give to your cabin steward when you arrive.

 

Mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies and she will pack a tin full of them. She said she gives it to the cabin steward when they first meet and she swears that the service is second to none after that.

 

Does anyone else do anything like this?

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A lot of people give gifts to their cabin attendant. I talked to a CC member that used to work on a cruise ship. He said that cabin attendants work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. And they get paid almost nothing and rely on tips for their salary. Their contracts normally last about six months. That's a lot of work, and time away from your family. He said he bought lots of books and magazines to read. He also said he bought lots of chips, candy bars, and junk food to munch on. I guess the stuff to do and eat on the ship gets old real quick. I think a gift of homemade cookies would be very appreciated. I usually buy them a box of candy bars and a calling card. It seems to go over very well. I have heard much discussion on this subject and lots of people buy something for their cabin attendant.

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I have never tipped the staff before my cruise and service to me has been above what is expected.

It does make me wonder- if a lot of people gave them food each cruise wouldnt they be as big as houses...lol

 

I take their pictures during the week with a disposable camera then get the camera developed. I give each person their prints along with my thank you card and tips. They can send their picture to their family showing them hard at work.

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To each his own but I think it's a horrible idea & could seriously backfire. If you want to do something nice for the people who make your cruise more enjoyable, give them money. One size fits all; everyone likes the color.

 

They do not want stuff. There's no place to put it. This person lives for 6 months in a cabin smaller than yours with another person.

 

They may be allergic to the food. They may be on a diet or diabetic & you're giving them chocolate. Gee, how nice. If your boss came in & said in lieu of bonuses we're giving everyone cookies you'd be furious.

 

When I was in a service industry & people gave me "stuff" I almost always threw it away. Unless I know someone really well -- and that's probably not a cruise ship passanger I just met -- in this day & age, sadly, I'm not about to eat homemade food. You just never know. I am not saying you or your mother are trying to poison the cabin steward; nothing could be farther from the truth but what is the recipient supposed to think? Let me put it this way, do you let your kids / grandkids / neices & nephews eat unwrapped homemade treats on Halloween? Of course not. It's the same concept.

 

Take the money you would have spent on the ingredients & give that to the cabin stweard instead. It will be far more appreciated.

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They may be allergic to the food. They may be on a diet or diabetic & you're giving them chocolate. Gee, how nice. If your boss came in & said in lieu of bonuses we're giving everyone cookies you'd be furious.

 

When I was in a service industry & people gave me "stuff" I almost always threw it away. Unless I know someone really well -- and that's probably not a cruise ship passanger I just met -- in this day & age, sadly, I'm not about to eat homemade food. You just never know. I am not saying you or your mother are trying to poison the cabin steward; nothing could be farther from the truth but what is the recipient supposed to think? Let me put it this way, do you let your kids / grandkids / neices & nephews eat unwrapped homemade treats on Halloween? Of course not. It's the same concept.

 

Not only is this an excellent point, with which I totally agree, but additionally, I've heard that staff are not allowed to have food in their cabins! I'm sure you wouldn't want to jeopardize anyone's job.

 

They want $. And only $. Trust me!

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Hi, the steward, waiter and rest of the people on the ship are there for one reason: to make money ......and the money is actually pretty good even in comparison with what many of us make in the USA. So do not feel sorry for the steward. Many of the stewards, waiters, ect. work for few contracts and save enough to open some bussiness of their own in the country where they reside. They have access to all the cookies, candy bars, phone cards and you name it. They are not locked on the ship.......they do get time off and shop in the same places where 'we' do. They buy what they want.....often when you see them in ports they wear nicer things and have better 'stuff' (cameras, video equip.) than many passengers. You can also see them in some local restaurants having good time........and that is the way it should be.

They are people just like us or our kids regardless what country they are from.

Dealing with different people on every cruise they have seen more and heard more stories that I ever will.

Just pay them the recommended tip and treat them with the same respect as you would treat anybody else......and every one will be happy and your service will be just as good as the cabin next door to you.

Wes

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How do you know you won't get 'second-to-service' without the cookies???

 

Sounds pretty inane (and insulting) to me. The C.S. always give excellent service without a bribe. If they went beyond the call of duty, tip at the end of the cruise with cash.

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I've recently talked to a CC member that worked on a ship. And he said they WERE allowed to have candy and junk food in their rooms. He said he would have, and I quote "killed for a box of snickers." And this is coming from someone who actually worked on a ship and is speaking from experience. You are right however, that money is always appreciated. No one dislikes having money given to them. I just think that some of the CCers want to give them a more personal gift. Money can seem pretty impersonal and doesn't take much thought. And there are those who like to give cards and more personalized gifts in addition to the money they give the cabin attendants. It is just in their nature. It is who they are. They are the same people who are the first to send you a get well card when you are sick. Or they are the first one to send you a thank you card for a gift or a nice dinner in your home. Some people are just very thoughtful and and like to do very personal and thoughtful things for others. I think that's why some people want to do a little more than just hand over a few dollars. They want to do something a little more personal and thoughtful. That is why there is so much talk about what "gift to get for the cabin attendant." It is just in some people's nature to go the extra mile and do something thoughtful.

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.

"Some people are just very thoughtful and and like to do very personal and thoughtful things for others. I think that's why some people want to do a little more than just hand over a few dollars. They want to do something a little more personal and thoughtful. That is why there is so much talk about what "gift to get for the cabin attendant." It is just in some people's nature to go the extra mile and do something thoughtful.

"

 

It is wonderful that some people are that way but lets also be realistic:

do people bring 'gifts' for the people that clean the rooms in the hotels that they are staying in ??? I do not know of any.

The job is pretty much the same except it is on a ship. The people/stewards are mostly young adults and very nice people but they are not our 'personal' stewards or servers and they have a job to do and they do it well and 'yes' they expect to be paid for it in the form of a tip.

They are not 'uninformed' or 'people that have not seen anything' and 'do not know anything'.......they are young intelligent adults that have seen a lot of the world and have access to old the 'good stuff'.

They can 'buy' all the 'snickers' that they want and anything else that they desire as long as they have the money.

Some of the 'gifts' that they will gracefully accept and be so very thanful for them are just plain 'junk' and they have no place to keep it but they are smart enough to pretend, and show it to you how much they 'love' the jar of cookies, t shirt or whatever. Are we smart enough to know that it is not so.

Every week or so there is a new group of 'guests' and if only every 5th or 10th person brought a gift........where does one put all of this junk......they share small cabins and there is not much room to start with.

The best gift is 'being respectful and nice to the people that serve you' and 'pay' them with the 'tip' recommended or if they were extra special and you 'felled in love ' with one give them some extra money.

 

Wes

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"

 

It is wonderful that some people are that way but lets also be realistic:

do people bring 'gifts' for the people that clean the rooms in the hotels that they are staying in ??? I do not know of any.

The job is pretty much the same except it is on a ship. The people/stewards are mostly young adults and very nice people but they are not our 'personal' stewards or servers and they have a job to do and they do it well and 'yes' they expect to be paid for it in the form of a tip.

They are not 'uninformed' or 'people that have not seen anything' and 'do not know anything'.......they are young intelligent adults that have seen a lot of the world and have access to old the 'good stuff'.

They can 'buy' all the 'snickers' that they want and anything else that they desire as long as they have the money.

Some of the 'gifts' that they will gracefully accept and be so very thanful for them are just plain 'junk' and they have no place to keep it but they are smart enough to pretend, and show it to you how much they 'love' the jar of cookies, t shirt or whatever. Are we smart enough to know that it is not so.

Every week or so there is a new group of 'guests' and if only every 5th or 10th person brought a gift........where does one put all of this junk......they share small cabins and there is not much room to start with.

The best gift is 'being respectful and nice to the people that serve you' and 'pay' them with the 'tip' recommended or if they were extra special and you 'felled in love ' with one give them some extra money.

 

Wes

I appreciate your thoughts on this but it's just something I do to say 'thank you'. Since I tip $$ as well, I just assume they appreciate it.

 

Now, since I've never been on a cruise, this will be the first time I've given one of these gifts to a cabin steward. I generally make them whenever I stay somewhere (bed-n-breakfasts, etc). I concede the point that I don't put them together in Vegas (at a standard hotel), I just tip housekeeping generously each day and give them a thank you card at the end of the trip.

 

Does that mean I deserve scorn for this? I sure hope not, and I've never felt that before!

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trish1C -- I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think any reasonable person would think a passenger would want to poison his cabin attendant, thus assuring that he'd have a messy cabin for the next week.

 

It is true that the person could have an allergy or some other problem with the gift, but it'd probably be appeciated and passed on to a fellow co-worker. I know I would appreciate the thought even if I couldn't use the item personally.

 

I'm with those who say that a personal touch is nice. Recently I took my daughter to sleep-away camp, and I took brownies for her counselors (not enough to share with the kids, but just a snack for the counselors to share in the evenings). It was just a thank-you for the 24/7 job they're doing to make our kids happy. You'd have thought I'd given them each a new car or paid their college tuition.

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This 10-20 is on top of what you will normally give them for the week for tips. (I dont know what the tip is for the week--I give my 70. and tip on top of that.

 

I have never paid them ahead of time. (They cant spend the moeny anyways)

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Shelli - Just want to say Hi, we're neighbors -- DH and I live in Cherry Hill! :)

 

Hey, Neighbor! You'll just love your cruise, I'm very sure. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me... my contact info is on my web site, linked below. I'm passionate about cruising and I just love to talk about it! :)

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I've heard it both ways, that the pre-tip is in addition to vs. combined with the post-tip. What makes most sense to me is that the combined pre-tip plus post-tip should be appropriate given the service provided. So if the pre-tip inspires superlative service, than the overall tip should be superlative. If the pre-tip inspires nothing better than what you would have normally tipped the expected amount for and nothing more, then it makes sense to reduce the post-tip down from that expected amount to reflect the lack of provision of service commensurate with the size the overall tip would be without reducing the tip down.

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Actually wieslaw, I don't buy anything for the person who cleans my hotel room because I rarely see them. And it's not always the same person every day either. But with a cruise, the same person cleans your room every day. And you see them often, or at least I do. And they do extras for you like icing down your cooler, running to get extra pillows, or making little creatures out of the towels. People don't form much of a relationship with hotel housekeepers because it's a diffferent set up than what you see on a cruise ship. With a cruise ship you have the opportunity to get acquainted with this person and you might come to like them. In anticipation of this, people get a gift for the person. If you don't like them, you can always keep it. But if you do like them, it's nice to have something to give them as a thank you.

 

My last cabin attendant was not young, but older with a family and kids. He showed us their pictures. He was a very nice man. When asked, he told us he hadn't gone ashore in over a week because he was too busy. So there might not always be an opportunity to go get the "snickers" or anything else he might be wanting to munch on. These people are very busy.

 

I also think there are still people out there that like it when you do something thoughtful and nice for them, like baking them cookies. Have you ever heard the expression "it's the thought that counts?" Sometimes, just knowing that you were appreciated means a lot. Whether or not you are given money, cookies, calling cards, or anything else, all that matters is that you did a good job and were appreciated. I think that no matter how we thank them, they will be glad that we thought of them and did something nice.

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Being nice is wonderful. I certainly don't want to stop anybody from being generous. The world would be a better place if we were all nicer to each other.

 

That said, I stand by my original post. Do you want your boss to give you cookies in lieu of cash?

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Being nice is wonderful. I certainly don't want to stop anybody from being generous. The world would be a better place if we were all nicer to each other.

 

That said, I stand by my original post. Do you want your boss to give you cookies in lieu of cash?

Of course not, these gifts are on top of cash. Otherwise I'd have to agree it's over the top.

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If my boss gave me cookies and no cash, I would be disappointed. If he gave me cash and cookies (which is what I am talking about) then I would be ecstatic! And I agree that this world would be a much nicer place if people were just a little more thoughtful and thankful like some of the kind CCers that have posted here about the thoughtful things they plan on doing.

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Well, all in good measure, sure. If my boss gave me $100 and $100 in cookies, well, I'd really like to have $200 more. $100 and $2 in cookies is another story. So how much cash are we talking about (in terms of how much folks are gifting their steward) vs. how much value of cookies?

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we have never pre-tipped on any of our cruises and service has ranged from Great to so-so. After hearing so many discussions on it we are going to try it on the Serenade. No cookies though, I'd hate to give someone something they don't want and have them "pretend" they liked it.

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Okay Bicker, now this is getting pretty funny. Can you imagine $100 worth of cookies? I can just see this poor cabin attendant balancing a huge pile of cookies and trying to figure out where he's going to put it!

 

Actually, I don't think anyone is talking about spending $100.00 on cookies or snicker bars. It's just a small token gift probably under $10.00 to let someone know they are appreciated and hopefully assure you a little better service. I don't think it's a bad idea.

 

And I am actually thinking that I might just fill out a comment card for anyone who does an outstanding job. I've heard that's the fastest way to a promotion or raise. And it would probably be appreciated more than anything else. I would love it if a customer raved about my work in a comment card to my boss.

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