Med Cruise Tipping: Euros or Dollars?

We are going on our first Med cruise this summer. We always bring a bunch of $1 bills for extra bar tipping, room service, etc. in addition to the normal gratuities for Caribbean cruises. Would the staff on ships based in Europe for the summer rather have euros than dollars? I would think so, but wanted to see what others think.

We've always tipped in dollars on board. But the crew would probably PREFER euros since they're worth more! I think either is fine.

I'm sure they'll be very happy with either. If they need to shop for amenities like toothpaste etc. they'll need euros. I am assuming here that this is not provided by the cruise line????

As Eclipse will be sailing from Southampton I was considering taking pound coins to tip with (again £1 is more than 1$ or 1 euro) I hope this will be ok, although if I have euros left towards the end of the cruise I may use them.

Would it be better to buy some $ to tip with?

I do my extra tips in Euros, it's never been a problem.

On ship, the crew uses a cashless system just like guests do, they have a little store for toiletries etc., & they don't pay what we pay in the ship shop :)

We have always tipped both on board and on land in dollars.

Ships generally operate with US dollars, would guess personnel on board who buy items pay for them in dollars just like passengers.

Regardless, never found any one any objecting to received US$, oh, just one except once in Istanbul, a lady was begging, my DH tried to give her US$s, she objected and a near by police man simply said - she was objecting not because of the dollars only she wanted more dollars...

But the crew would probably PREFER euros since they're worth more!

We've always tipped in dollars on board. But the crew would probably PREFER euros since they're worth more! I think either is fine.

While that might have been the case a few months ago, the Euro has been in free fall for the past 6 months. Folks holding Euros have seen the value of that currency decline over 30% in less then a year.

Hank

We are going on our first Med cruise this summer. We always bring a bunch of $1 bills for extra bar tipping, room service, etc. in addition to the normal gratuities for Caribbean cruises. Would the staff on ships based in Europe for the summer rather have euros than dollars? I would think so, but wanted to see what others think.

One euro is still worth a bit more than one dollar. Other than that I don't think crew likes "local currency" more as they live on a ship where every price is in dollars, and they probably won't spend much time and definitely not much money ashore.

In general, I will tip with the ship currency when on the ship. On land I use the local currency unless another is widely used. For instance, in the Caribbean, the US$ is widely used. In many non-Euro parts of Europe, Euros are widely used.

We have always tipped both on board and on land in dollars.

 

Ships generally operate with US dollars, would guess personnel on board who buy items pay for them in dollars just like passengers.

 

Regardless, never found any one any objecting to received US$, oh, just one except once in Istanbul, a lady was begging, my DH tried to give her US$s, she objected and a near by police man simply said - she was objecting not because of the dollars only she wanted more dollars...

Sorry to go off topic but just in reference to the comment I highlighted.

If you ever visit Australia I would recommend that you either use Credit Card or Australian Dollars. Even though your dollar is much stronger then ours at the moment, the person you give US dollars to has the inconvenience of having to get it changed into Australian. They might accept it but unless it is a very large amount they probably won't like it. I think you would find most people here won't accept anything but Australian currency.

Back on topic.......especially if the ship will still be sailing in the Mediterranean for awhile I think either US dollars or euro is fine to use on the ship......whichever is more convenient for you.

I actually asked a crew member once, and he said they prefer euro when sailing in Europe. No need for exchange when spending money ashore

I tip in Euros for a Europe-based ship. The ship itself may run on the US$, but the crew can't spend the US$ on shore. They can use my EUs when they go ashore and go to do their little shopping, dining, etc. They can use other passengers' US$ onboard in the crew areas.

I actually asked a crew member once, and he said they prefer euro when sailing in Europe. No need for exchange when spending money ashore

Great feedback thanks all. So I think maybe consensus is if they buy something on the ship it's on account, so currency not a factor, if they go ashore they'd probably want Euros. So I'm thinking we'll tip Euros.