newparks Posted February 23, 2013 #1 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I am doing the eight day land tour in China before we board the Diamond Princess. Can anyone tell me if we can use US Dollars for tipping or should we use Chinese CNY? We will have the crew members to tip on the River boat also the Tour Mgr. I read where Princess is suggesting $30 per day on the River boat, that seems high to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 23, 2013 #2 Share Posted February 23, 2013 First of all, China in general is not a tipping society. So for example, there is no tipping in hotels or for taxi drivers. However, the tourist industry does encourage tipping, both on river cruising and for tour guides. Tips for Chinese are best done in the local currancy as that is what they can spend the easiest (imagine trying to tip a Chicago waiter in Chinese money). If they do get US $, they can exchange them, but that is extra effort for them. When we were on a China river cruise a couple of years ago, the suggested tipping was $10/day/person. However that was not a Princess tour, but was with Viking. By the way, we obtained the Chinese money we needed at at ATM at the airport upon arrival in China. You can also usually exchange US $ for Chinese currency at the front desk in hotels. The exchange rate is controlled by the government and is the same everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CA Posted February 23, 2013 #3 Share Posted February 23, 2013 Since you are doing the Princess pre-cruise land tour and I assume you're asking about tipping the guides on the Princess tour, I'd bring lots of crisp new $1 bills. That's what I plan to do for my 3-day Princess pre-cruise tour in April/May. When I did a 16-day river cruise a number of years ago, I always tipped with $US. I also used $ to pay street vendors. I used ¥ only for bathrooms and in very few places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lois1112 Posted February 23, 2013 #4 Share Posted February 23, 2013 I am doing the eight day land tour in China before we board the Diamond Princess. Can anyone tell me if we can use US Dollars for tipping or should we use Chinese CNY? We will have the crew members to tip on the River boat also the Tour Mgr. I read where Princess is suggesting $30 per day on the River boat, that seems high to me. I did this tour in 2006.....Bangkok to Beijeing with the tour after the cruise. You will love this trip! we had an excellent tour guide on the land portion...she told us up front that the individals who helped us around places (such as in Xian) were tipped by princess...however if you needed extra service - such as wheelchair help....you should tip. We tipped in american currency... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newparks Posted February 24, 2013 Author #5 Share Posted February 24, 2013 I did this tour in 2006.....Bangkok to Beijeing with the tour after the cruise. You will love this trip! we had an excellent tour guide on the land portion...she told us up front that the individals who helped us around places (such as in Xian) were tipped by princess...however if you needed extra service - such as wheelchair help....you should tip. We tipped in american currency... Thank's for the response. Can you give me an idea as to what you tipped the Tour Mgr and the crew on the Riverboat?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 25, 2013 #6 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Thank's for the response. Can you give me an idea as to what you tipped the Tour Mgr and the crew on the Riverboat?? Again, ours was not on a Princess tour, but on Viking one. Suggested amount for the ship personnel was $10/person/day Suggested amount for tipping our tour guide who was with us on both land and the boat for 11 days was $100/person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newparks Posted February 25, 2013 Author #7 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Again, ours was not on a Princess tour, but on Viking one. Suggested amount for the ship personnel was $10/person/day Suggested amount for tipping our tour guide who was with us on both land and the boat for 11 days was $100/person. Caribill, thank you for help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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