How much to tip Shore excursion driver or guide?

We are booked on a couple of shore excursions in Juneau and Skagway. Should we tip them? If so, how much?

Yes, you should tip. It depends on how good a job you feel they did. A couple bucks on up per person depending on the service they provided.

It really depends. I don't go off of cost on this but time. For example, I did an all day bus ride to the Yukon from Skagway and the driver/guide (same person) did entertain/educate us quite a bit. I think I gave her $20 but she was with us all day and she did make a difference on the trip. I think a few dollars would have been inappropriate but a few dollars would be appropriate for a 2 hour tour.

Yes, if they've with you all day and do a good job, a larger tip is appropriate. Number of hours is included in service with my previous post. Also, if someone really wows you, reward them with a tip.

We are thinking of going on a whale watching tour in Juneau we will be 4 of probably 10 onboard (Not in same group)., rail/bus tour in Skagway, and the crab boat tour in Ketchikan. For anyone that has done any of those tours what/who did you tip? We are a family of four.

We are thinking of going on a whale watching tour in Juneau we will be 4 of probably 10 onboard (Not in same group)., rail/bus tour in Skagway, and the crab boat tour in Ketchikan. For anyone that has done any of those tours what/who did you tip? We are a family of four.

I usually tip about $5 per person on a whale watching trip. I think $20 is appropriate for this for the 4 of you. I may be on the cheap end but that is usually what I do.

This is one of those situations where I don't think a 15-20% tip is the way to go. For example, an 8 hour bus ride into the Yukon costs the same as a 3 hour whale watching trip.

I don't remember tipping on the train ride. Not sure if there was an opportunity to do so.

I don't know if we are cheap, but this is what we did (we are a family of 4):

3 hour Whale watching excursion on a boat with 20 total passengers: $20

2 hour ocean raft trip with 15 total passengers: $20

2 hour glacier trek with just our family and a good guide: $40

It really depends upon the excursion and the guide or driver but our rule of thumb is $5 per person for a 1/2 day and $10 per person for a full day and it goes up from there depending on how well the person does their job.

Just finished a 14 day cruise tour. We tipped $5 for half a day and $10 for a full. The drivers all seemed very happy with that.

It really depends upon the excursion and the guide or driver but our rule of thumb is $5 per person for a 1/2 day and $10 per person for a full day and it goes up from there depending on how well the person does their job.

- whether it is a large tour group or a private tour just for our own small party

- whether one person is serving as both driver and guide, or if there are two or more different people to be tipped.

For boat excursions there is often a van driver who drives you from the pickup point to the dock, then the boat captain and possibly a naturalist and additional crew members on board.

Sometimes they just have a tip jar when there is a larger crew.

It gets even more complicated on some of the combo tours where you have different people guiding you or serving you at different locations for different parts of the tour.