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Tipping cruise director


ghstudio
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We're thinking of taking a river cruise on AMA/Viking/Uniworld ships in Europe. One thing I checked, out of interest, was tipping guidelines. I found that with some variation, these lines recommended around 5-8 euros per day per passenger to the cruise director...and a separate amount to the crew.

 

I did a quick calculation and for a 10 day cruise (actually 7 nights on the boat), the cruise director would get a tip of roughly $12,000 for a 12 night cruise (7 nights on the boat). That's figuring a 160 passenger boat (AMA). And then they recommend that you give the tour guides and drivers for tours off the boat an additional gratuity.

 

I don't' know about you, but assuming the cruise director can work at least 1/2 a year, that's over $200,000 per year in tips....and some just turn around and work more cruises.

 

That seems beyond excessive....especially since I think it's reasonable to assume that the cruise lines actually pay their cruise directors.

 

I have no problem with the $12-16 a day for the crew....or tipping guides off the boat...but the tip to the "tour guide" seems way overboard.

 

Any thoughts....

 

We may just skip river cruising and stick to ocean cruises....perhaps sailing on Regent, Crystal, etc.

Edited by ghstudio
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ghstudio,

I have done the arithmetic myself and come to the same conclusion.

Some passengers have suggested that the guides are not paid by the company, they work almost 24/7 while on the cruise for board and lodging (on some lines a cabin on a passenger deck) and tips.

You won't be the only one not to pay the suggested amount. Or you could try a company that includes tips in the fare, but make sure that does include all the tippable staff.

It's not suprising that tourist guides around the world say: "I used to be a schoolteacher but the tips for guiding/cruise directing make my take home pay much better."

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On Viking, the recommended gratuity for the Program Director is 2euro pp per day. On our cruise, our Program Director was marvelous. She gave the pre-dinner updates of the next day's activities, gave presentations, filled in as concierge and tour guide, with great enthusiasm, all with a smile on her face and in her voice. She was Viking's best ambassador.

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The Cruise Director is the real make/break point on your cruise. If you have a good one, s/he is worth his or her weight in gold. I had no problem following AMA's guidelines for Reka -- she was worth every penny to us.

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On Viking, the recommended gratuity for the Program Director is 2euro pp per day. On our cruise, our Program Director was marvelous. She gave the pre-dinner updates of the next day's activities, gave presentations, filled in as concierge and tour guide, with great enthusiasm, all with a smile on her face and in her voice. She was Viking's best ambassador.

 

And on AMA

Europe: For good service, we recommend 3 Euros per passenger, per day for the Cruise Manager and 12 Euros per passenger, per day for the crew, which will be divided up among the ship's personnel. It is also customary to acknowledge a particularly good performance of a local guide by leaving a tip of 1-2 Euros per tour. Gratuities on most vessels, but not all, may be charged on credit card as well as cash.

 

OP may want to revisit the research . . .

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We have the option on Avalon of prepaying our gratuities. It is $128pp total. That comes to $256 for both of us for an 11 day vacation!!

 

There are 128 passengers. 128 * $128 = $16,384 for EVERYONE (not sure how many employees on the ship).

 

If we did €3 for the CD (3 * 2 * 11) = €66 *1.35 (conversion) = $89.10 and

€12 for the staff (12 * 2 * 9 [only on the boat for 9 of those 11 days]) = €216 * 1.35 = $291.60

 

89.10 + 291.60 = $380.70!!

 

We plan to prepay the gratuities and bring extra to tip extra where we feel appropriate. Also some extra for bus drivers, tour guides and the like.

Edited by CaroleSS
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We did a river cruise last summer and was told suggested gratuity was $60 per person per day. I gave half thinking that was way too much. This river cruisewas already costing $300 PP per day. I think it's gouging the generosity of Americans who are used to tipping.

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We did a river cruise last summer and was told suggested gratuity was $60 per person per day. I gave half thinking that was way too much. This river cruisewas already costing $300 PP per day. I think it's gouging the generosity of Americans who are used to tipping.

 

Really? What line? Who told you?

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We have the option on Avalon of prepaying our gratuities. It is $128pp total. That comes to $256 for both of us for an 11 day vacation!!

 

There are 128 passengers. 128 * $128 = $16,384 for EVERYONE (not sure how many employees on the ship).

 

If we did €3 for the CD (3 * 2 * 11) = €66 *1.35 (conversion) = $89.10 and

€12 for the staff (12 * 2 * 9 [only on the boat for 9 of those 11 days]) = €216 * 1.35 = $291.60

 

89.10 + 291.60 = $380.70!!

 

We plan to prepay the gratuities and bring extra to tip extra where we feel appropriate. Also some extra for bus drivers, tour guides and the like.

 

We prepaid with Avalon last year, its so much easier than having to worry about working it all out. Plus alot cheaper I see, I hadnt actually done the math, just presumed it was the same.

We did tip a few people directly too, we had a fantastic drink waiter who remdmbered our drinks, names and cabin number from day 1 and was so nice, plus the young guy who did our room, he was lovely and nothing was ever a probldm. This was our choice though, didnt really need to tip ontop of the prepaid. A euro or 2 here and there if we had a bus and for tour guides, but I noticed alot of people didnt do that.

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We did a river cruise last summer and was told suggested gratuity was $60 per person per day. I gave half thinking that was way too much. This river cruisewas already costing $300 PP per day. I think it's gouging the generosity of Americans who are used to tipping.

 

Omg $60 per person per day..what company were you with. Just doing the math on our 15 day one last year..doubling it for 2 of us...$1800. !!!!!!!

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tassietravellers, We are looking forward to a wonderful experience on Avalon! From your comment, I will assume we made a good choice. Thanks for the reassurance!

 

Tipping is such an individual thing. There are guidelines and we don't tip less than those, but often pay extra for the added value that someone provides to our vacation enjoyment.

 

Don't stress about the tips. Do as you feel comfortable and enjoy your vacation!

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tassietravellers, We are looking forward to a wonderful experience on Avalon! From your comment, I will assume we made a good choice. Thanks for the reassurance!

 

Tipping is such an individual thing. There are guidelines and we don't tip less than those, but often pay extra for the added value that someone provides to our vacation enjoyment.

 

Don't stress about the tips. Do as you feel comfortable and enjoy your vacation!

 

Carole, we had a great time with Avalon last year and have booked with them again for June next year.

Tipping isnt a big thing in Australia, so we were quite happy to prepay.

Enjoy your trip :)

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Uniworld suggests 3 euros per day for the Cruise Manager and 10 euros per day for the rest of the crew. On the SS Antoinette, they said that all 60-some crew members split the tip pool evenly, regardless of position or seniority, which was interesting. The tips for our 7-night cruise added 91 euros or about $123 to the total bill, but the Cruise Manager and the crew were all excellent and earned every penny.

 

For 2014, all gratuities are included in the cost of sailings for Uniworld, along with open bar during the whole cruise.

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CaroleSS, we were on the Avalon Vista this summer and tipping was as suggested above 3E and 12E per passenger per day. I had a tooth problem while on the ship and had to have a root canal in Regensburg. Our Cruise Director made all the arrangements for an appointment with a dentist, walked my wife and I to the office, introduced us to the dentist and translated all the documents for us. At the end of the trip we tipped him an extra 20/30 Euros and for 3 of our waiters and maid an extra 10 Euros each. We gave the extra to them personally rather than in the provided envelope. They earned every penny.

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CaroleSS, we were on the Avalon Vista this summer and tipping was as suggested above 3E and 12E per passenger per day. I had a tooth problem while on the ship and had to have a root canal in Regensburg. Our Cruise Director made all the arrangements for an appointment with a dentist, walked my wife and I to the office, introduced us to the dentist and translated all the documents for us. At the end of the trip we tipped him an extra 20/30 Euros and for 3 of our waiters and maid an extra 10 Euros each. We gave the extra to them personally rather than in the provided envelope. They earned every penny.

 

sounds like a good outcome. root canal work is expensive here. was it covered by travel insurance?

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The Cruise Director is the real make/break point on your cruise. If you have a good one, s/he is worth his or her weight in gold. I had no problem following AMA's guidelines for Reka -- she was worth every penny to us.

 

I agree that the CD makes or breaks the cruise. On our AMA Waterways cruise, our CD was worthless, and we gave her what we considered an appropriate gratuity......nothing!

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The CD is an important part of the river cruise experience and we have no problem tipping the recommended amount.

 

We had two of the best CDs ever on our two cruises with AMA, Pili and Csaba, and in both cases tipped more than the suggested amount as they were fabulous and made the overall experience even more exceptional.

 

On our other river cruises, we have had efficient and hard working CDs as well and fortunately never had a bad experience, though some were better than others.

Edited by caviargal
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I agree that the CD makes or breaks the cruise. On our AMA Waterways cruise, our CD was worthless, and we gave her what we considered an appropriate gratuity......nothing!

I also had a worthless CD on my one and only AMA river cruise. She constantly ignored me and seemed more interested in the suite passengers than the rest of us. Needless to say she got zilch from me.

 

I do want to travel on AMA again but their high costs for singles has prevented this. I keep looking for deals and hopefully will find one in the coming years.

Edited by rogerdawhip
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We were on a 14 day Uniworld cruse this summer. Uniworld recommended a 3 euro per passenger per day tip for the cruise director. Our ship had 100 passengers, Thats 300 euro per day. If she worked 200 days a year, which I am sure she wouldn't, that would make her 60,000 euros a year. Not too shabby.What I think is happening is that the cruise companies are shifting the cruise directors salaries to the customers. Not bad for their profits if they can get away with it.

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We had a wonderful CD on Ama. Lilo met us in Budapest, stayed with us the whole time, made dining recommendations and reservations for us on land, stayed with us in Prague and arranged for a private transfer to another hotel for us with no additional charges. She popped up on all of our excursions to make sure everything was OK. She counted our luggage, made sure everyone and everything got to it's destination, and made sure we were all enjoying ourselves. She was worth every penny. These people are not to be confused with CDs on ocean cruises. They are more like personal assistants.

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We were on a 14 day Uniworld cruse this summer. Uniworld recommended a 3 euro per passenger per day tip for the cruise director. Our ship had 100 passengers, Thats 300 euro per day. If she worked 200 days a year, which I am sure she wouldn't, that would make her 60,000 euros a year. Not too shabby.

 

Well, not exorbitant either --> when you consider they don't work a standard 8 hour day.

 

Most CDs (at least the good ones....) are visible 12 to 14 hours/day - for the length of the cruise.

 

On your 14 day Uniworld cruise, your CD would have probably worked over 160 hours, when most people would work 75 or 80 hours in a 2 week time frame. I think that work schedule could drain you really quickly.

 

Fran

Edited by franski
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Well, not exorbitant either --> when you consider they don't work a standard 8 hour day.

 

Most CDs (at least the good ones....) are visible 12 to 14 hours/day - for the length of the cruise.

 

On your 14 day Uniworld cruise, your CD would have probably worked over 160 hours, when most people would work 75 or 80 hours in a 2 week time frame. I think that work schedule could drain you really quickly.

 

Fran

 

Let's not forget that the 60,000 euro per year equivalent is the tip, not the cruise directors salary.

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