Gifts for Cabin Stewards on the Pride

[caliseas]

We are sailing on the Pride in November. I am planning on buying some phone cards to give as "thank you" gifts during the cruise to our cabin steward, room service, wait staff or any other member of the staff who helps us enjoy our cruise to the fullest. (this is in addition to the tips of course!) However, I need to know what countries/areas to buy phone cards for.

 

I have heard that on the Pride, the staff that serves you is primarily Mexican...but I don't know if that is correct. Any of you recent cruisers remember the nationality of those on your cruise?

 

Thank you and happppyyyy sailing!!!

[Cotton]

Although your heart's in the right place......they want CASH if you give anything extra.

 

After several years on this board, as well as talking w/different cabin stewards, the consensus is the same:

 

They get many, many, many phone cards, and little trinkets folks think they'd like. One steward told me that he and his roommate have more then 300 phone cards in a drawer. As for other items, they neither want nor need anything.

 

Magazines and books are left in cabins quite often, and most of the crew can't read much English anyway, so they are tossed in w/the ship's garbage.

 

CASH is the way to go, if you intend to give them something extra they would appreciate. Most send money home to their families.:)

[Grayce]

Just give extra cash, why buy a phone card that might not work? They can use the extra cash to buy an appropriate card if that's what they need.

[cathyoo]

can't go wrong with cash. I bring thank you cards, those singing kind were a hit on my last cruise. The nice thing about giving the cash is that you will be able to adjust to the service you receive.

[dan40]

Pictures of dead American Presidents are their favorite gifts.

 

Dan

[girlsonlycruisin']

We are sailing on the Pride in November. I am planning on buying some phone cards to give as "thank you" gifts during the cruise to our cabin steward, room service, wait staff or any other member of the staff who helps us enjoy our cruise to the fullest. (this is in addition to the tips of course!) However, I need to know what countries/areas to buy phone cards for.

 

I have heard that on the Pride, the staff that serves you is primarily Mexican...but I don't know if that is correct. Any of you recent cruisers remember the nationality of those on your cruise?

 

Thank you and happppyyyy sailing!!!

 

We always give cash. Often we give our Cabin Steward a "welcoming" gift of cash on our first day. Since starting that, we have had even more spectacular service!

 

And we always bring thank you cards along too. Another thing we do is bring $2 bills along for tipping room service. Forget the $1 coins, they get confused with quarters too easily.

[Caliber1]

Just give cash as others have mentioned here. Some may not have phones at home so there is no way to call home. In any case, cash is usually more appreciated.

[Insel]

can't go wrong with cash. I bring thank you cards, those singing kind were a hit on my last cruise. The nice thing about giving the cash is that you will be able to adjust to the service you receive.

 

I like the idea of the cards. I'll have to add it to my list for next year.:rolleyes: It grows every trip!!

[Cotton]

.... Often we give our Cabin Steward a "welcoming" gift of cash on our first day. Since starting that' date=' we have had even more spectacular service!

 

[b']You welcome your steward?:D [/b]

Did you not have great service before you began bribing cabin stewards? Would more than likely have rec'd the same great service anyway.

 

.... Another thing we do is bring $2 bills along for tipping room service. Forget the $1 coins, they get confused with quarters too easily.

 

They can also be confused by the $2 bills. I've been told that many don't know what they are, and think they aren't real US dollars. They're used to seeing $1s, $5s, etc.:)

[dan40]

We always give cash. Often we give our Cabin Steward a "welcoming" gift of cash on our first day. Since starting that' date=' we have had even more spectacular service!

 

And we always bring thank you cards along too. Another thing we do is bring $2 bills along for tipping room service. Forget the $1 coins, they get confused with quarters too easily.[/quote']

 

The American dollar is no longer the all powerful money it once was. Many island merchants do NOT take the $2.00 bills. So forget the $2.00 bills and the $1.00 coins.

 

Dan

[Princess Cruiser27]

Cash is the only way to go. I woundn't go with the phone cards or other gifts. Most of the crew "shares" cabins with other crew members, which means there's not much storage in there cabins.

[iancal]

Cash is King. Besides, the staff know what cards to buy and where to buy them in terms of best bang for the buck.

[caliseas]

Thank you to all who kindly replied their opinions on this thread.

However, my question really was..." Any of you recent cruisers remember the nationality of those on your cruise? " I am still primarily referring to cabin stewards, but if you noticed a majority of one nationality on board the Pride recently, I would be very interested in knowing.

 

My intentions are good and I actually have family members from India that work on the ships. I know not all phone cards go to waste and many actually trade them w/ their co-workers for other items or for a phone card for their country.

 

Thanks for any replies answering my question!

[dragonflymy2000]

the staff on pride is varied as with any other ship. I actually though most of the people working were either Russinan or Phillipine, there were almsot not Mexican people on the ship.

[Wennfred]

Posted by CCL

I can only speak of the calling card we have purchased from Walmart in Puerto Vallarta. You can use that in any public phone in Mexico marked TELMEX, they are blue phone booths and readily available/abundant everywhere. We have NEVER had any problems using or finding any of these TELMEX phones. Some places I can think of that we have used them include Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Ensenada, Acapulco, Zihuatanejo, Ixtapa, Huatulco, Cozumel, Cancun.

And we have been using this particular brand since 2000, as I said in my previous post, this particular calling card sold by Walmart (at least in the PV location) will also work in the United States as a Verizon calling card.

 

 

Posted by Bunting:

Here´s another option buy your phone in Mexico..................

One company Movistar....sells phone for about 400 pesos around 38 USD then gives you about 350 pesos worth of call time.....you do not have to sign up with a calling plan. If you run out of time you buy a card from a Movistar shop, and just key in the PIN and get your credit......you then have the phone to keep with you for your next trips to Mexico, especially CCL since you seem to have been here a lot!!!!.....here´s their current rates on this type of pay as you use system....

 

To call USA: USD $1.10 for 30 minutes.

To call other Movistar phones and land lines within Mexico: USD $0.60 per call (no minutes limit).

To call other company's phones within Mexico (like Telcel, Unefon, Iusacell): USD $0.60 per minute

To receive USA calls: Free

To receive Mexican phone's calls: Free

To send txt messages: USD $0.10

To receive txt messages: Free

 

These rates are current as of last week, I would just suggest checking with them before you buy your phone.......

 

The phones of course are very basic no camera, no video etc etc but intended to keep you in touch at a good price

[Jsme]

Pictures of dead American Presidents are their favorite gifts.

 

Dan

 

 

 

ROTF

[dan40]

Another thing or two about buying them phone cards. They do have their own internet cafe on board, AND, for the most part the crew members are fairly young. Which means most of them are way more techy than us old farts and I'll bet most of them now sport international cell phones. So even if you buy them a phone card that works, it is probably still a hassle for them to use it. Cash on the other hand is pretty universal.

 

Dan

[trock]

Cash is king.. it's all about the Benjamins... Instead of OBC would you like a calling card? LOL.. stated in jest...

 

Tip upfront-

I dont know if I would call it bribing.. I would call it an incentive... I started tipping the room stewart upfront on about our 4th cruise- I have not done it everytime, as on a couple of cruises our stewart never introduced himself and we just tipped accordingly.

 

I think it makes a huge difference...

 

I know if I were tipped upfront I would be more attentive...

:)

 

While going to college I worked in an industry where we relied on tipping.. So I do know how to tip.. sometimes I over tip because I am so afraid of not giving enough... but I agree with the other posters.. stick with cash!

[Rockee4055]

Pictures of dead American Presidents are their favorite gifts.

 

Dan

 

Well that was a different response!!!! You better hope the secret service isn't montoring the boards or they may be knocking at your door very shortly....:eek:

[Rockee4055]

Cash is king.. it's all about the Benjamins... Instead of OBC would you like a calling card? LOL.. stated in jest...

 

Tip upfront-

I dont know if I would call it bribing.. I would call it an incentive... I started tipping the room stewart upfront on about our 4th cruise- I have not done it everytime, as on a couple of cruises our stewart never introduced himself and we just tipped accordingly.

 

I think it makes a huge difference...

 

I know if I were tipped upfront I would be more attentive...

:)

 

While going to college I worked in an industry where we relied on tipping.. So I do know how to tip.. sometimes I over tip because I am so afraid of not giving enough... but I agree with the other posters.. stick with cash!

 

I always like to tip up front. No flames please since the last time I posted this I got toasted.

 

I just think it is a nice way to introduce yourself to them and show them that you appreciate all that they will be doing for you during the week.

[shawilson]

Cash for sure. We have been on Pride twice. Our room stewards have been mostly from the Phillipines and Indonesia. One of our stewards, from Bali, told us he used to work in a fancy hotel there. If you recall, a few years ago there were terroists bombings in Bali, and he lost his job because of the decline in tourism. He hopes to go back to his old job soon. Please take the time to chat with the folks that make your cruise special. You could learn a lot from them.

[cathyoo]

Thank you to all who kindly replied their opinions on this thread.

However, my question really was..." Any of you recent cruisers remember the nationality of those on your cruise? " I am still primarily referring to cabin stewards, but if you noticed a majority of one nationality on board the Pride recently, I would be very interested in knowing.

 

My intentions are good and I actually have family members from India that work on the ships. I know not all phone cards go to waste and many actually trade them w/ their co-workers for other items or for a phone card for their country.

 

Thanks for any replies answering my question!

 

I'm just confused as to why you would want to give something they would need to trade when there is such an easier option? Your family members have told you they prefer "gifts" as oppossed to CASH? If you give the crew cash they can buy their own phone card. Some crew members may even have international cell phones. Cash would help them pay the bill. Every ship I've been on has many nationalities. Doesn't matter if 70% are Mexican if your steward is Polish, Indian, etc.

 

I'm truly perplexed, if you want to say thank you why even take the chance that the item will be of no use. What if your server/steward has no one to call? On my first cruise someone told me about telephone cards. I was all set to do that but after reading the advice on this board I came to my senses.

 

The only way I would give phone cards is if I had a bunch given to me. But than I would just leave them and not consider them a tip.

 

I guess the only way I would give phone cards would be if

[DukeFamily]

In case it hasn't been stressed enough - forget about the phone cards! Just give them extra cash. That says "thank you" much louder than some "thing" they may have NO use for!

[dan40]

Well that was a different response!!!! You better hope the secret service isn't montoring the boards or they may be knocking at your door very shortly....:eek:

 

Its a common euphemism for money, and/or for the documents needed to visit many countries. I'm pretty sure the SS knows already.:D If not, I'd be happy to 'splain it to them.:p

 

Dan

[trock]

I always like to tip up front. No flames please since the last time I posted this I got toasted.

 

I just think it is a nice way to introduce yourself to them and show them that you appreciate all that they will be doing for you during the week.

 

I agree... and if it works for us.. nothing to flame!

 

PS.. do you know any currency that has living Presidents pictured ? LOL!!