Concierge Tipping

[scottie99]

Could anyone advise me on the accepted way for tipping the Concierge in the Neptune Lounge. If for example she/he arranged a dining reservation or helped in any way, should I tip for each service as it happens and if so how much? or should I just leave it until the end of our cruise and leave a bigger all inclusive tip for all their services (again how much is normal?)

[sail7seas]

We always tip the concierge (and his/her alternate) by envelope at the end of our cruise. If we are back-to-back, we tip at the end of the first segment and again at the end of our second cruise.

The amount varies depending upon how much we asked him/her to do for us.

[Two if by Sea]

I am not used to carrying so much cash. I always tip by credit card whenever possible, e.g. in restaurants. Even in cabs nowadays one can pay (and tip) by credit card.

Is there ANY way to do that on board ship?

[Harry1954]

we always tip at end of segment and by envelope, trying to thank them in person.
harry

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am not used to carrying so much cash. I always tip by credit card whenever possible, e.g. in restaurants. Even in cabs nowadays one can pay (and tip) by credit card.

Is there ANY way to do that on board ship?

Sorry - you can not tip anyone extra by credit card.

Cash is the only way.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always tip the concierges at the end of each segment whenever we do back-to-back cruises.

What you tip is up to you - it all depends on how much the concierge has done for you.

Tipping is a personal matter.

[starysacz]

We always tip the concierge at the end of the cruise and the amount depends on the frequency of our requests and of course their excellent service in the Neptune Lounge. Always in cash.

[MercedMike]

Well, you know, in fact those concierges are members of the Purser's staff, just like the staff at the front desk. As such they are salaried employees and not really dependent on tips. They are not part of the tip pool for the auto tips.

However, they are usually soooooo nice and sooooo helpful that I feel a tip in an envelope at the end of the cruise is well deserved.

[sail7seas]

The Concierges ARE Front Office Staff. They do rotations serving as Concierge in the Neptune Lounge.

We cruise Maasdam so much that sometimes one of the girls (and one fellow--- The very wonderful, Franz) we know as Concierges have rotated back to Front Office.

[O2B@C]

I am not used to carrying so much cash. I always tip by credit card whenever possible, e.g. in restaurants. Even in cabs nowadays one can pay (and tip) by credit card.

Is there ANY way to do that on board ship?

As already stated, no, there isn't. But I understand how you feel - I'm not comfortable carrying a lot of cash either. The way I solved the problem was to get traveler's checks, keep them in my cabin safe, and then cash them in the Neptune Lounge on the last day of the cruise so I could give out cash tips. The concierges also happily supplied me with envelopes for that purpose. Voila - problem solved!

[dakrewser]

As already stated, no, there isn't. But I understand how you feel - I'm not comfortable carrying a lot of cash either. The way I solved the problem was to get traveler's checks, keep them in my cabin safe, and then cash them in the Neptune Lounge on the last day of the cruise so I could give out cash tips. The concierges also happily supplied me with envelopes for that purpose. Voila - problem solved!

Alternatively, you can get cash (charged to your credit card) from the casino...

[Two if by Sea]

cash the [travelers checks] in the Neptune Lounge on the last day of the cruise so I could give out cash tips. The concierges also happily supplied me with envelopes for that purpose. Voila - problem solved!

Ah, yes, I could do that.

As the concierges are there to do just about everything we need, maybe I could just give them the travelers checks and let them do the tipping :).

I'd better not take that too far though or I'll just book the vacation and let them enjoy it :).

[Pam in CA]

I am not used to carrying so much cash. I don't bring a lot of cash with me but I do bring traveler's checks. If I need cash, I can cash them in at the Pursar's desk. That way, I don't have to have a lot of cash with me but can tip or pay for things as I need them.

[ekerr19]

Alternatively, you can get cash (charged to your credit card) from the casino...

You can also get a cash advance from the concierge... I've done it twice recently. Very easy.

[dakrewser]

You can also get a cash advance from the concierge... I've done it twice recently. Very easy.

Hadn't tried that - thanks!

[sail7seas]

We've never required a cash advance so it never occured to me Concierge could do that for us if necessary. Good to know......just in case. Thanks for sharing that helpful tip.

[fpat]

found this post on a search I am interested as to the range of dollars that is common

[O2B@C]

Don't know what's "common." We didn't use their services very much on our 7-day cruise - just a few small requests - so I gave them $30 to split between the two of them, in an envelope with a thank-you note. It seemed to be appreciated. If I had asked them to arrange cocktail parties for me, or make reservations, or anything like that, or if I had spent a lot of time in the Neptune chatting with them, I probably would have given them more. But that's just me.

[OceanLiner]

Okay, this topic created so much flamming towards me that it actually caused the thread to be locked by the moderators. My intial post simply stated that we tip around $100-$150 to the concierge during the first full day. The flames then started after which the moderators opened the thread to allow me to post this response.

This is a follow up to a great series of questions about tipping the Neptune Lounge concierge staff, which was started by fann1sh. Unfortunately the thread has been locked, so my follow up cannot be directly attached, but the link is referenced below. I would urge you to read the original thread first so that my response might make more sense when held in the original thread context:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=431098 (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=431098)

and now, the follow up.......

My apologies for taking so long to respond, but I felt some research into this matter was needed to address these questions. That being said, the concierges of the ships and the hotels of which I surveyed found it humorous that any discussion of tips would veer in the direction of amount or timing. All of them, particularly those at sea, thought that the main issue was that of not getting tipped at all!

From an objective standpoint, our tipping of $150 to just the concierge divides out to slightly over $21.00 per day on a 7 night cruise. We travel with our two sons, so this would work out to around $5.00 per person per day. Various internet references, and personal contacts within the hotel industry, benchmark $20 as a very acceptable amount for help with a request from a concierge. Our tip of $150 therefore covers a request per day, and should each of our party make a request, the economies of scale quickly tip in our favor. We pay more and get less from the shore excursions, and they last only 4 hours.


Subjectively, I have never taken into account as to how the staff is paid. It is none of my business. The Neptune Staff is highly trained and very professional, and regardless of how they are paid they need to be recognized for the outstanding services that they provide. I do not ask to see anyone’s pay stub before I issue a tip because the amount of the tip is based on the value of the experience that they provide.


Perhaps this is more of an issue of the expectations of services to be provided by the staff. We look towards the staff as being our gateway to experiences, not just a booking department. Through the staff we have been able to spend extra time with the crew and dine with them in their mess, tour the engine and control rooms, watch the preparation of the meals (the “cold room” is amazing), and have some experiences that are beyond description. (Our personal favorite was sitting with the Disney engineers and going through their wish book of ideas for the next class of Disney ship.) On one 10 night HAL cruise I had a business emergency that meant that I needed to leave the cruise and fly home. The concierge staff arranged for the proper documents to leave the ship, provided the necessary papers to allow me through the port, and got me off the ship and into a waiting car so that I could catch the plane home. While I was gone my family was adopted by the staff and they wanted for nothing. It took me only one day to fix the emergency and I signaled the staff that I could return to the cruise at the next port. They again took care of all the arrangements and secretly brought me back on board to the surprise of my wife and children.

Some mention has been made of Americans traveling abroad and foreign cultures. Having traveled extensively throughout Northern Europe it is rare that we are taken for anything but locals. Though not very attractive, I am not really an ugly American. While I am respectful of local customs and cultures, it is elusive to me as to which culture I need to be sensitive too on a ship of American ownership, under a Netherlands flag, with Dutch officers, and an Indonesian staff.


As a final note, do not think that our actions on any one ship go unnoticed on any other ships or other cruise lines. We really were not sure of what to do for the outstanding children’s staff on our first Disney Cruise, when the concierge mentioned the idea of international phone cards. So we purchased some cards while at a port and our children gave them to the staff as a thank you. Fast forward four years to the Volendam. We go to Club HAL on the first night and one of the counselors comes up to us and asks if we had been on the Disney Wonder. We said yes, and she apologized for not remembering the name of my oldest son, but she immediately remembered the name of my youngest son and she thanked us for what we had done for her and all the staff.


In summary, the amount of the tip and its timing should be what feels most correct to YOU. All of us have an opinion but the matter should best be left to your needs and discretion.

[AWED23]

Oceanliner.....Well said in my opinion....I handle tipping in much the same way as you describe and I too find myself warmly welcomed when returning. I know that "Standard" policy is to tip at the end but it has been my experience that a Franklin given graciously up front to the Dining room manager, my room steward and Neptune Concierge or on other lines to my Butler is always well received and if at the end I feel service has been good additional tipping is made...Have a nice day.

[fpat]

OceanLiner

thanks for the info and the links, i am not looking to get into a debate with others on the topic but I do as you do, I like to tip up front and again at the end if warrented. I am in the service industry and I know it is appreciated. I am just off the Emerald Princess and I took care of people up front and as in the past and this case it was very well received by the crew I gave it to. Your thoughts in your posts are my setiments excatly. I just booked the PH on the Noordam and what you did was the range I had in mind as we are a family of 5 but I just wanted to make sure I was not out of line.

Thanks for the posts and the info.

[dakrewser]

OceanLiner

thanks for the info and the links, i am not looking to get into a debate with others on the topic but I do as you do, I like to tip up front and again at the end if warrented. I am in the service industry and I know it is appreciated. I am just off the Emerald Princess and I took care of people up front and as in the past and this case it was very well received by the crew I gave it to. Your thoughts in your posts are my setiments excatly. I just booked the PH on the Noordam and what you did was the range I had in mind as we are a family of 5 but I just wanted to make sure I was not out of line.

Thanks for the posts and the info.

Nor do I wish to get into a debate with you. It may well be that, in your experience, you find it necessary to bribe the staff in order to get good service. (it is called a "bribe" when you give someone money in anticipation of services rendered). We've never found that necessary with the HAL ships.

Of course the crew will take your bribe with a smile - they're well trained not to offend passengers. That doesn't mean we should go out of our way to offend them, however.

And, to my mind, you are "out of line" by bribing the staff - way out of line.

By all means, tip for services rendered. Tip generously. But do wait for the service to occur!

[fpat]

Nor do I wish to get into a debate with you. It may well be that, in your experience, you find it necessary to bribe the staff in order to get good service. (it is called a "bribe" when you give someone money in anticipation of services rendered). We've never found that necessary with the HAL ships.

Of course the crew will take your bribe with a smile - they're well trained not to offend passengers. That doesn't mean we should go out of our way to offend them, however.

And, to my mind, you are "out of line" by bribing the staff - way out of line.

By all means, tip for services rendered. Tip generously. But do wait for the service to occur!

No problem to each his own, I do not look at it as a bribe what so ever. IMO a bribe is more to get some one to do what they should not do. Tiping in advance is more of a thank you in advance. I do not walk up to someone and hand them money to try and get something. For Example on day two of my cruise on the Emerald I made a request of the head waiter, I needed a table of 9 in anytime dining at a certain time as I had small children in our party, we also hit it off with our waiter on the first night, so I made a request of the head waiter and he said it would not be a problem and I thanked him and gave him a tip in appreacition, I felt there was no reason to wait until the end of the cruise to do this. I have found in business with employees instant gratification is very much appreciated for a job well done. Later in the cruise I was able to have some nice conversations with our head waiter about wines, food, stafing and rude guests. I am in the food industry and always like to see how things are done. The head waiter also shared with me that tips that are given to them are pooled with the other head waiters in the dining room and that they were not kept for themselves. He was in no way offended by my gesture, he was more offended by some of the rude guests and how his staff was treated by people that do not do the right thing.

My question here was to see what the proper range of tip would be for the concierges. I am not looking to bribe anyone but if I make requests of the concierges and have them make reservations for me, spa appointments, etc and they do it and set it up for me for my cruise as I will have planned out what I want to do so once they do this there is no reason not to thank them with a tip at that time as I might not need anything else from them and if I do I could tip them again if I so choose. If I walk in and hand the concierges $100 and say that I met some nice people and I want them to hang out with me in the lounge that could be a bribe, if have some requests made and they are met a tip can be given end of story. The only other way of putting it would be when I do land vacations and I contact the concierge to set up dinner reservations, maybe book some tours for me , baby sitting etc. this is all done before I get to the hotel, when I check in I will go to the concierge thank him or her and give them a tip on day one. again no reason to wait until I check out.

From reading all of the posts on this topic there are many opinions, just like there are many cruise lines for us all to try and find the one that suits us best. I have one opinion you have another and we both like to cruise, best of luck to you on your next voyage.

[Gator83]

[quote=fpat;12932166]No problem to each his own, I do not look at it as a bribe what so ever. IMO a bribe is more to get some one to do what they should not do. Tiping in advance is more of a thank you in advance. I do not walk up to someone and hand them money to try and get something. For Example on day two of my cruise on the Emerald I made a request of the head waiter, I needed a table of 9 in anytime dining at a certain time as I had small children in our party, we also hit it off with our waiter on the first night, so I made a request of the head waiter and he said it would not be a problem and I thanked him and gave him a tip in appreacition, I felt there was no reason to wait until the end of the cruise to do this. I have found in business with employees instant gratification is very much appreciated for a job well done. Later in the cruise I was able to have some nice conversations with our head waiter about wines, food, stafing and rude guests. I am in the food industry and always like to see how things are done. The head waiter also shared with me that tips that are given to them are pooled with the other head waiters in the dining room and that they were not kept for themselves. He was in no way offended by my gesture, he was more offended by some of the rude guests and how his staff was treated by people that do not do the right thing.

My question here was to see what the proper range of tip would be for the concierges. I am not looking to bribe anyone but if I make requests of the concierges and have them make reservations for me, spa appointments, etc and they do it and set it up for me for my cruise as I will have planned out what I want to do so once they do this there is no reason not to thank them with a tip at that time as I might not need anything else from them and if I do I could tip them again if I so choose. If I walk in and hand the concierges $100 and say that I met some nice people and I want them to hang out with me in the lounge that could be a bribe, if have some requests made and they are met a tip can be given end of story. The only other way of putting it would be when I do land vacations and I contact the concierge to set up dinner reservations, maybe book some tours for me , baby sitting etc. this is all done before I get to the hotel, when I check in I will go to the concierge thank him or her and give them a tip on day one. again no reason to wait until I check out.

Aren't the concierges just doing their job by assisting you? If so, why is it necessary to tip since they are getting paid to do their job? Just curious.

[Two if by Sea]

Aren't the concierges just doing their job by assisting you? If so, why is it necessary to tip since they are getting paid to do their job? Just curious.

Ah, well, that's a whole philosophical question about how people should be compensated. Just as an example, restaurant waiters in the US are paid far less than the (non-waiter) minimum wage, on the expectation that they will be making most of their money on tips. They're even taxed on those tips -- whether or not they receive them!

In other service industries it is not so clear-cut, but in all of them, the bottom line is this: people who take jobs in areas where tipping is expected, do so with that expectation and accept a certain salary on that assumption. If nobody were to tip, the cruise lines would have to pay higher salaries to attract the same caliber personnel, and the rates would go up accordingly.

Personally, I would FAR rather they do it that way -- pay people what they ought to be earning, and have job performance determine whether they are rehired, promoted, etc., and do away with tips entirely -- in EVERY industry.

But until that happens, I'm going to keep tipping for services rendered, because that is how the system has been structured.

[middle-aged mom]

It is my understanding, and I would appreciate a clarification if I'm wrong, that the concierges who work in the Neptune Lounge are members of the hotel staff. They work in the Neptune Lounge on a rotational basis. In other words, they are officers, and receive salaries, and are not dependent on tips as compensation for their services. Is my understanding correct?

I have expressed my thanks monetarily to individual Neptune Lounge concierges for exceptional service (eg - I needed last-minute alterations on a formal gown, and the Neptune Lounge concierge took my gown to the ship's tailor for the necessary repairs, stayed to ensure the work was done, and returned the gown to me).

I would appreciate hearing from those in the know. Thank you.

ps I just read MercedMike's post #8 on this thread, and I see that my question was answered there. I should have read more carefully. Thanks, Mike!

[sail7seas]

The ladies (and gentlemen) who work as concierges in Neptune Lounge rotate from the Front Office. They all are part of Front Office Staff and take turns in Neptune Lounge. I do not believe any of them are officers.

They are all very gracious and appreciative when guests choose to tip.

[Harry1954]

Indeed tipping is a personal item. I respect all the views; however, we have paid to be on the ship and make use of the staff. this is a given and therefore five star service is expected. Natually, most of the time the concierge, the crew, our steward, etc .. provide superior service - hence we tip quite lavishly at the end of the segment. I want to wait and judge the service since this is MY vacation and I have spent considerable time/money/effort to plan it, get my business in order, and assist my dear spouse as well - I have done my work and now it is time for the staff to do theirs. Of the thirteen cruises we have taken, only a couple of times have we encountered boorish or sloppy behavior on the part of crew - and in those cases, they got very little. This is why we wait until the end .. but again, that is our personal preference and not meant to be critical of other approaches.
harry

[caviargal]

We have had suites with NL access on three HAL cruises and have had concierges ranging from good to outstanding. We chose to tip accordingly at the end of the cruise.

[Sale Away]

Not that I really thought of it as a tip but knowing that the concierges were Filipinas and the stewards Indonesian, I hit an Asian market and got them some snacks I figured they couldn't get in port easily. And gave them some cash at the end also.

[advocado]

On the Noordam recently, at the end of the one week cruise, I tipped the concierges $100. I used them and they certainly enhanced the quality of the cruise. I felt it was proportionate to the value of their services to us. Had I only used the Lounge for my morning coffee and a late afternoon cookie, the tip would have been less.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have also had some excellent concierges and some not so good -- that happens in life.

So dpending on the service we get and how much we use them, depends on the tip we give them.

[dakrewser]

Had I only used the Lounge for my morning coffee and a late afternoon cookie, the tip would have been less.

Should have been a lot less, as the comestibles are handled by the PG staff, not the concierges...

:rolleyes: