Question for past Christmas cruisers??

[theduffys]

Do you bring along some small gifts for the staff if you are cruising on Christmas day? I never did like to work on Christmas but, at least, I was home for part of the day. I think it would be really hard to have to work AND be far away from the people you love. I thought a small gift, like a phone card, might be cheering. What do you think? Your advice has never been wrong yet!!

[geoherb]

We never have. I think a sincere "thank you" along with the gratuity at the end is sufficient. Many crew members don't celebrate Christmas, so it's just another day to them.

[TWELVEOHONE]

Do you bring along some small gifts for the staff if you are cruising on Christmas day? I never did like to work on Christmas but, at least, I was home for part of the day. I think it would be really hard to have to work AND be far away from the people you love. I thought a small gift, like a phone card, might be cheering. What do you think? Your advice has never been wrong yet!!

 

I never had and I don't know of anyone else that has.

I am sure they will appreciate it but it is not neccesasry

[woohoo]

How generous of you!

I think you should go for it!

It may not be necessary but

it sure is thoughtful!!

[shg]

We have been on a Christmas Cruise for the last 18 years, and most of the times "Santa Clause" has given our children gifts, and the some of the cruise lines, including Celebrity, give the passengers gifts. There are always private Christmas parties with families that come down to breakfast on Christmas Day in their pajamas, and exchange gifts between themselves. I have never seen anyone give the crew actual presents, but often they are given larger tips because of the holiday, and most of them could use the money to send home.

[shg]

We have been on a Christmas Cruise for the last 18 years, and most of the times "Santa Clause" has given our children gifts, and the some of the cruise lines, including Celebrity, give the passengers gifts. There are always private Christmas parties with families that come down to breakfast on Christmas Day in their pajamas, and exchange gifts between themselves. I have never seen anyone give the crew actual presents, but often they are given larger tips because of the holiday, and most of them could use the money to send home.

[caviargal]

IMO, these folks would appreciate extra cash more than anything else.

 

They live in very small, shared quarters so "stuff" is not a good idea, and many are of different religions and do not recognize Christmas.

 

Money, IMO, is universally appreciated.

[patrioticgirl]

The original poster's thoughts on being away from family and friends on holidays are exactly why I do take the small gifts along for the ship employees who make my voyages so enjoyable. I'll share a personal story to explain why I elect to do so.

While on the Connie during the Christmas holidays in 2004, I was quite fortunate to have both wonderful tablemates and wait staff. On the last night of our cruise, we noticed that our charming young female waiter was near tears as she brought our dessert. She confessed that it was the first time that she'd been away from home for the holidays. She was obviously missing her family and we were very sad for her. I went back to my cabin determined to find something to leave so that she'd have a holiday present to open. I'd already left my tip with her so more money just didn't seem appropriate and I wanted her to have a more personal gift. I promptly used the Celebrity Today flyer to wrap the very inexpensive watch with the band that I'd made with swarovski crystals just prior to sailing. She had admired it several times during dinner and had seemed surprised that I had made the band, so it seemed like the perfect solution to the gift problem. I snuck back into the dining room as they were sitting up the tables and handed the odd looking package to her with a Merry Christmas wish. The look of surprise and gratitude in her eyes was worth a hundred times more than the minininal cost of the watch itself.

Since then, I try to do something a little special on every cruise, even when it's not a holiday. On three of my holiday voyages, I've left a small treat bags for my waiters and room stewards as an extra little present. I buy a pack of those small clear holiday bags (reindeer or ribbons in December and bunnies in April) that you can usually find at Hallmark or the dollar store, a roll of ribbon, and a few bags of small size candy bars and Hershey's candies. I fill the bags with the candy, add 5 or 10 dollars in cash, then tie the bag with a pretty ribbon. I leave the bags in an obvious place so the stewards can find them when they clean the room or on the table so the waiters can find them after dinner. Never once has anyone appeared offended by the gesture; the receiving individuals have been quite appreciative and I have gained great enjoyment from the resulting smiles and laughs. (The greeter at the Waterfall Cafe on Summit in April loved the fluffy bunny ears that I handed him at breakfast and he giggled throughout the many resulting photo opportunities he had that morning.. with adults and kids, alike!) The materials for the bags are easy to pack and don't really add to an accumulation of "stuff". I also pack a collection of candy bars to give to other individuals who normally don't get tipped but go above and beyond. It's quite fun to see the waffle cook and the security people who stand for hours during port days grin when I hand them a small tip wrapped around one of those Hundred Grand or Payday candy bars!:D

[drfun48]

IMO, these folks would appreciate extra cash more than anything else.

 

They live in very small, shared quarters so "stuff" is not a good idea, and many are of different religions and do not recognize Christmas.

 

Money, IMO, is universally appreciated.

Many if not most are in fact Christian...the Europeans,South Americans,large numbers of Philipinos,Mexicans and Canadians as well as most of the Indians who work on Celebrity are not Hindu but Christian. If they are not,I still don't think they would mind sharing in your celebration if it involved a cash gift.

To relate a personal incident,being Polish we celebrate the Christmas vigil with a ceremonial breaking and sharing of a bread wafer -the oplatek. I have always sought out Polish crew to share this with them and the respone has been unbelieveable-frequently evoking tears of joy and tales of the homeland.It really helps make their Christmas and mine.