Tipping

[Tascat]

Sailing on Millie in fortnights time (Sydney to Auckland) and would like advice on tipping.I understand that room service(breakfast,drinks etc.) should be tipped on each occasion,however does this have to be American dollars, or is it acceptable to use other currency e.g. Australian.

 

Also can remember someone posted the wine packages available. Does anyone have that still? Can you order wine off the package in the Olympic Restaurant.

 

In cabin 8102cc. Any good? Seems abit close to lifts. Any comments.

 

Our first cruise with Celebrity, so apologies if I am asking tired questions.:)

[keela1eva2]

You can tip in whatever currency you like but most would tip in US $. If you have Aus $ then they will be only too happy to accept. I gave euros sometimes towards the end of my holiday as I ran short on US $.

You will also be asked at some point on board if you want the tips to be added to your account and now quite honestly I do this and if I wish to give extra then I give that in cash.

The Steward and the waiters etc get these tips in their hand on the morning of the 2nd last day.

On the issue of lifts and position in ship. I have often been in the room right by the lift and never had a problem with noise.

I am on the 23rd November cruise and looking forward to it. My room is also on your deck in a 2A balcony.

 

Sue

[Kitties26]

Hi Tascat

I'm also on the same cruise as you. You should check out the roll call and register for the connections party too.

Good question about the tipping in AUS dollars, I just assumed we would have to change our money for lots of $1 USD for tipping for room service, but now I am thinking of just tipping in Aussie dollars. Although handing over a couple of gold coins just doesn't seem the same as handing over paper USD notes.

[Tascat]

Thanks,have registered for connections party,so hopefully see you there.Rex:)

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Sailing on Millie in fortnights time (Sydney to Auckland) and would like advice on tipping.I understand that room service(breakfast,drinks etc.) should be tipped on each occasion,however does this have to be American dollars, or is it acceptable to use other currency e.g. Australian.

 

Also can remember someone posted the wine packages available. Does anyone have that still? Can you order wine off the package in the Olympic Restaurant.

 

In cabin 8102cc. Any good? Seems abit close to lifts. Any comments.

 

Our first cruise with Celebrity, so apologies if I am asking tired questions.:)

 

I wouldn't be worried about your stateroom being near the lift. We had the same position on Celebrity Mercury cruising down from Mexico to Sydney last year. No noise, and nice and handy to the stairs and lift.

We're on the 07 December sailing, so look forward to you reporting for us from the ship. Love to hear all about it.

 

Jillybean:)

[keela1eva2]

I am on the 23rd November cruise so I assume you are on the 12 night prior to mine. Is this correct? Enjoy.

When I was in the Med they were happy enough to take Euros and I am sure that NZ$ or $aus would also be acceptable. They will no doubt spend some money whilst they are in this area of the world<

 

Me I am just so excited about my adventure and all on my lonesome. No problem for me!

 

Sue

[BurgerBits]

Just a note on 'pre-paying' gratuities...

 

Aboard Century last June/July, I filled out the prepayment form and submitted it several days prior to the deadline. Come the last day or two of the cruise, no gratuity cards... I called guest services, they said they were coming... waited... waited... no cards. THEN, the empty envelopes were delivered...

 

Finally called guest services again only to find that they 'never received' my prepayment form and it was too late to arrange pre-pay. Thank goodness I had brought along plenty of cash and could cover everything!!

 

BE SURE TO CHECK your room charges if you submit a prepayment form, to see if the charge has been posted to your account. I didn't do this.

 

My butler informed me that this was a fairly frequent problem - so did my waiter - and they both said they'd received checks in the mail from guests many, many times from past cruises.

 

Word to the wise!!

[love_the_sea]

I am on the Millenium Auckland to Sydney sailing in Feb 2009. When we tip the porters handling our luggage for embarkation shouldn't we tip in NZ currency? or will they accept US $. Whether I get foreign currency before the trip or use an ATM at the airport it is hard, if not impossible, to get small bills. Any advice? Thanks

[pcur]

The crew are paid by the cruise line in US $$, so if you tip in a foreign currency they might have to pay a currency conversion fee to deposit it into their shipboard or bank accounts. The ship charges about 3% to do this. You might want to allow for it.

 

I make my DH add a little extra to tips we put on our credit card when we eat out, because many establishments in the U.S. take the credit card fee, AND taxes, out of the tip, so I make him pay a little more.

[love_the_sea]

Thanks Peggy,

I hate to be dense but want to be sure I understand. The porters on the dock are part of the ship's crew?

[Karynanne]

Thanks Peggy,

I hate to be dense but want to be sure I understand. The porters on the dock are part of the ship's crew?

 

The porters on the dock are not part of the ship's crew. They work all year around at that particular port.

[Amerie]

Sailing on Millie in fortnights time (Sydney to Auckland) and would like advice on tipping.I understand that room service(breakfast,drinks etc.) should be tipped on each occasion,however does this have to be American dollars, or is it acceptable to use other currency e.g. Australian.

 

Also can remember someone posted the wine packages available. Does anyone have that still? Can you order wine off the package in the Olympic Restaurant.

 

In cabin 8102cc. Any good? Seems abit close to lifts. Any comments.

 

Our first cruise with Celebrity, so apologies if I am asking tired questions.:)

 

If I recall correctly, CC 8102 has a wedge-shaped balcony that is half the size of regular balconies, and it also looks right into the windows of the adjacent Celebrity suite.

 

People who didn't know about the half-sized balcony have received quite a shock on entering their rooms, especially as they are Concierge Class staterooms. Personally, I think they should be reclassified and downgraded.

 

When I did a search on the main Celebrity thread using "Milllennium + 8102" I found:

 

"

Re: Worst cabin on the ship

While I can't tell you what cabins are the worst, I can tell you the cabins to avoid on the Millennium if you book a concierge-class stateroom and want a standard 41 square foot CC balcony. Avoid 9094 and 9100 on the Sky Deck and 8102 and 8108 on the Panorama Deck. These are wedge-shaped balconies of roughly 20 square feet next to all-window Celebrity suites. The balconies are way too cramped for comfort and offer no privacy. "

 

There are other posts you will find about 8102 if you do the same search.

[The_Big_M]

There are other posts you will find about 8102 if you do the same search.

 

Unfortunately, her cruise is just finishing up now so if we see a report will see what she thought of the cabin.

[pcur]

The porters on the dock are not part of the ship's crew. They work all year around at that particular port.

 

Correct, they work for the port authority, and they should be tipped, if possible, in the local currency. Euros is your best bet, but they will accept US $$ in most departure ports. For UK departures I don't think you have to tip at all, since it's not the custom there.