Tipping the Butler

[JahHaus]

We, of course, will be tipping our butler on our upcoming 10-day cruise on Constellation...my question is whether he expects an additional 'kiss' each time he does anything for us? For instance, when he sets up and delivers breakfast to our SS each morning, or, if he books my reservation in the specialty restaurant, is he expecting an additional gratuity...on the spot? I have no problem tipping...I just don't want to over-tip

[WineDown17]

There are lots of interesting posts on this topic...

 

We did not tip our butler each time... And he took VERY good care of us.

 

We DID tip him about half in advance when we arrived.. and then made him "whole" at the end based on his service provided.

 

I have also heard of people bringing little gifts to their butlers.. something that represents where they are from.. maple syrup or candy.. I have also heard of folks that tip ADDITIONAL dollars in the form of calling cards throughout the trip..

 

All of these are appreciated and folks believe that this incents them to go above an beyond. However the sentiment that cash is king is also pretty prevalent...

 

It is up to you..

 

Also- I am not sure how the automatic tipping that is new impacts this..

[wannuhcruise]

JanHaus, thanks for asking this. I was wondering the same thing!

[raudacruise]

Sort of look at it like this:

 

1. Tipping the butler each time he brings breakfast/lunch doesn't make sense. There is a separate butler charge in the recommended tip package.
   
2. Tipping the butler before the cruise seems to be a little - I don't know - invalidating what a tip is. More like a bribe. Maybe you do this to get into a fancy restaraunt but I sure wouldn't want to start off a 14 day cruise doing something like this.
   
3. Tipping the butler mid-cruise for extraordinary service I heartily recommend. Pick your own criteria for what that means. When we have a sailaway party and the butler makes sure we have enough glasses, ice, whatever - that's extraordinary. Of course, since this is the first night, we have sort of "pre-tipped" ;).
   
4. Candies/Calling Cards ... think of that as more of a personal connection. If you are going to give things like this it should be personalized as much as possible. Candies for example that come from where you live. Explain the background. More than likely you're butler will appreciate it - but not as much as cash.
   

$0.02 (less than what we tip the butler ;))

[dkjretired]

Additionally, it has been mentioned that many of the workers on the cruise ships consider it an insult to be tipped in the beginning. I did not tip my butler each time but did tip him well at the end because he was excellent.

[Lsimon]

You take care of your butler at the end of the cruise.

 

You should consider any services which you consider excellent or over and beyond what you'd normally expect in calculating the tip.

 

There is no need to tip him for every event during the cruise. Personally, I've never kissed the butler nor even thought of it but to each their own.;)

[wannuhcruise]

One other question... Is there a chance that someone other than our butler would be delivering room service? If that's a possibility, then I'll be certain to have a tip ready.

[kitty9]

The only time another person will deliver room service is if you call for something during his off hours during the day or if you want something late at night.

[WineDown17]

Clearly my intent was not to insult.. but rather give him confidence that we would tip appropriately. Unfortunately, not everyone does.

 

In fact our butler let us know it was appreciated... maybe he was the excecption, and others would be insulted. If that is the case, clearly I wont do it in May...

 

I cant help but wonder if the poor tipping though is the very reason they have moved to automatic tipping- which hopefully solves the issue.

[meow!]

We had a very good Philippino butler aboard the Century last May. We just let him know that we were very pleased with his service and we "would remember that". At the end, we tipped him at double the recommended rate. Any comments?

[BurgerBits]

We've only had a butler once - 12-night Baltic sail last summer - and he was just outstanding.

 

DH attempted to tip him the first time he brought our morning coffee, but he waved it away with a smile, saying "No, it's truly my pleasure, sir!"

 

You can bet that guy got an EXTREMELY LARGE tip from us at the end of the trip!!

[raudacruise]

It gets back to "for each his own":

 

1. I think I mentioned I was talking about a 14 night TA trip. If not forgive me. Waiting until the end of the 14 days seems to be a little unreasonable. A little tipping for special events lets the butler know you are probably not going to stiff him at the end. You can argue that he knows he shouldn't get tipped until the end, ....... blah, blah, blah. Building up a good relationship during a cruise of the length makes things work. And if he says, no thanks - wait till the end, we would certainly respect that but its never happened before.
   
2. I should mention the special events. On one sailaway fellow cruise critic members went through about 8 bottles of champagne (or bubbly, a lot of it was Cava from Spain). And mid-cruise "wine tasting", I think it was about of 20 bottles of wine (and I'm not kidding you on this - I can probably find pictures). The butler made sure we had plenty of glasses (plus crackers/cheese/etc) and cleaned up the mess the next day. Why would you not want to tip him for that before the end of the cruise? Again, this is over the top service, not just bringing in breakfast each day.
   

[Project_gal]

You do not tip the butler each time he does something for you but we have always tipped the butler in over an above the standard gratuities. We give approximately half at the start and the rest at the end. The first time, it was an experiment. [As Brits in an American world, it is always difficult to know what to do and how to do it.] It was obviously appreciated and accepted as intended - not a bribe but as an indication that we were not going to be non-tippers.

[Keith1010]

You do not need to tip your butler each time he does something for you. The examples you gave are part of the butlers responsibilities. At the end of the cruise if you think that the butler exceeded your expectations you can adjust the recommend tip accordingly. But there is no need to tip the butler until the end of the cruise.

 

Enjoy the butler. We have found them to be excellent on each of our Celebrity Cruises.

 

Keith

[Keith52]

I would say play it by ear. We just got back from Galaxy Trans Atlantic and was in Conciege Class and we tipped our morning coffee person a $1 each and then a little extra at the end.

 

Since you have a Butler I believe that is part of the service but if he gives you great service go ahead an tip.

[Keith1010]

I would say play it by ear. We just got back from Galaxy Trans Atlantic and was in Conciege Class and we tipped our morning coffee person a $1 each and then a little extra at the end.

 

Since you have a Butler I believe that is part of the service but if he gives you great service go ahead an tip.

 

I really don't see a need to do this for the butler.

 

The butler will bring the morning coffee.

 

Just as one does not tip the waiter in the dining room each time they do something, and one does not tip the steward/stewardess each time they do something there is no need to tip the butler each time he does something.

 

Yes, if you have a room that does not have a butler and you order room service it is fine to give a tip for that at the time they bring the items.

 

Keith

[CathyCruises]

When we were in CC, our coffee and croissant were brought each morning by the same girl, not our steward. At the end of the cruise I gave her $20--I thought it was ridiculous to remember to find $1 every day--and she was usually our wake up call, so we were barely with it when she brought in the tray. Had it been our steward, I would have assumed that his normal tip at the end of the cruise should have been sufficient, since we made virtually no demands of him other than the AM coffee.

 

Cathy

[Lsimon]

....On one sailaway fellow cruise critic members went through about 8 bottles of champagne (or bubbly, a lot of it was Cava from Spain). And mid-cruise "wine tasting", I think it was about of 20 bottles of wine (and I'm not kidding you on this - I can probably find pictures). The butler made sure we had plenty of glasses (plus crackers/cheese/etc) and cleaned up the mess the next day. Why would you not want to tip him for that before the end of the cruise? Again, this is over the top service, not just bringing in breakfast each day.

 

Ahhhh Cava fresh from port in Spain on a SS veranda....does it ever get much better?

 

I know what you mean. We had a big mai-tai party on our SS veranda last March and the butler did a great job with the set-up and clean up. In that case we did tip him in cash the next day but we had also already turned in our tip charge form and while we'd already tipped him over the suggested amount his effort for the party went above and beyond. I'm not sure if I'd tip in cash after such a major event if we hadn't already set the end of cruise tips but it wouldn't be a bad idea no matter what.

[jnliddell]

Please forgive my ignorance on this subject. We recently prepaid our gratuities when we booked our SS on the Century. The butler was included in this amount. Of course we will want to show our appreciation for excellent service, but I am unsure what the amount should be. Any guidelines?

[BurgerBits]

Please forgive my ignorance on this subject. We recently prepaid our gratuities when we booked our SS on the Century. The butler was included in this amount. Of course we will want to show our appreciation for excellent service, but I am unsure what the amount should be. Any guidelines?

 

Recommended amount is $4 per person, per day -- if I'm recalling correctly! -- but it will have been included in your prepaid gratuities.

[bubbie617]

Even if you have pre-paid gratuities, you can still give the butler an additional tip in cash at the end of the cruise. We did auto-tipping last year on Summit and we tipped our butler an additional amount in cash on the last evening. The only problem with the butler was he refused to come home with us! :cool:

[Blazerboy]

Well, Larry, it does depend, doesn't it! :D

Personally, I've never kissed the butler nor even thought of it but to each their own.;)