Tipping Butlers

How much extra do you tip the butler? (above the $10 that is automatically charged to your account) Last year on the Spirit (in a balcony cabin), we gave our room steward an extra $5 every day. He took very good care of us.

It depends on how long the cruise, and a matter of how much you use him/her. You have to tip the concierge too (or not) Don`t want to be forward with your money:eek:

I will make the call at the end of the cruise. I usually tip the steward at the beginning but now with a B and C I don`t think I will.

I read on another forum that you should tip the Butler approximately 10.00 a day if he/she does a great job....My hubby, daughter and I will be in a penthouse on the wind next month and have decided to give our Butler $50.00 up front on the first day and then more on the last day. We will determine his whole tip dependent upon the quality of service he/she has given us. We plan to tip $50-$100 more on the last day. Our cruise is 11 days, so you could say, we plan to tip our butler between $100-$150 on a 11 day cruise..I hope this seems fair, if not, please advise...

What about the concierge? Not sure about that.

As pointed out on another thread NCL state that there is no need to Tip the concierge but like all tipping one has a choice, as do the ships crew on the service they give

I always tip the Conceirge..We usually slip them $5.00 everytime we use them. Depending on how many times you need to use them..I would say $5.00 a day.

I just wanted to add that the butlers, concierge, and people who babysit on the NCL cruises do not get part of the $10 per day per person gratuity that is charged to guests. The reasoning behind that is that not everyone on the ship uses or has access to those services. My husband and I discovered that while also trying to figure out how much to tip the butler and concierge.

I know it's very tacky to do so -- BUT if you want really OUTSTANDING service from the butler or concierge, tip them up front as follows: give them a $50 or $100 bill (depending on how fat your wallet is) torn in half. Tell them the other half will be given to them at the end of the cruise if the service is excellent. They can scotch tape the two torn halves back together and the bill is perfectly acceptable as legal tender.

As I said, REALLY TACKY (and nothing that people with OLD MONEY and STRICT ETIQUETTE would approve of), but it works great!!!

We just give $20.00 up front and they understand there is more where that comes from--we always have had good butler service. Depending on how much we use them our tipping is between $70.00 and $100.00 for a 7 day cruise. If we have an insuite party we give alot more as they really go out of their way to make special arrangements for such. Also our concierge gets about $10.00 each time we use his/her service. Money does talk when it comes to this kind of service----the more you give the more you get IMO.

Retiredonthesea

I know it's very tacky to do so -- BUT if you want really OUTSTANDING service from the butler or concierge, tip them up front as follows: give them a $50 or $100 bill (depending on how fat your wallet is) torn in half. Tell them the other half will be given to them at the end of the cruise if the service is excellent. They can scotch tape the two torn halves back together and the bill is perfectly acceptable as legal tender.

 

As I said, REALLY TACKY (and nothing that people with OLD MONEY and STRICT ETIQUETTE would approve of), but it works great!!!

You are right. That is about the tackiest thing I have ever heard of. You are treating this as a bribe by saying here is what you are going get if I think you do your job properly. What if they do not perform to your standards...do you ask for the other half back.:eek:

People have reported that cruise staff think it is even tacky to pretip in any form. Because by pretipping you are basically telling them that you think they need incentive to do their job properly. I have never pretipped and have never had a single reason to not tip the person at the end of the cruise, along with others who have gone above and beyond in their jobs.

PE

Thanks for the info on tipping the butler. I have never been in a penthouse. This is a once in a life time exprience for me.

Am I unsterstanding this correctly? The butler tip of $10 a day will not be added to our charge account. The $10 a day per person is added to the account as it is for each pax. Is the $10 a day tip for the butler per person or for the suite?

Oops!

Thanks for the info on tipping the butler. I have never been in a penthouse. This is a once in a life time exprience for me.

 

Am I unsterstanding this correctly? The butler tip of $10 a day will not be added to our charge account. The $10 a day per person is added to the account as it is for each pax. Is the $10 a day tip for the butler per person or for the suite?

The $10/pp/day, that is added to your onboard account, is for the wait staff and your room stewards.

There is no tried and true number given for tipping the butler. We have used $10/pp/day as a starting guideline for our butler service in the past. We usually adjust this upward depending on what we do beyond breakfast in our suite. Remember they do so many things for and are there for you for whatever you mau need/want.

PE

I will make the call at the end of the cruise. I usually tip the steward at the beginning but now with a B and C I don`t think I will.

Ann, what's a B and C?

I think she means Butler and Concierge.

:)

I know it's very tacky to do so -- BUT if you want really OUTSTANDING service from the butler or concierge, tip them up front as follows: give them a $50 or $100 bill (depending on how fat your wallet is) torn in half. Tell them the other half will be given to them at the end of the cruise if the service is excellent. They can scotch tape the two torn halves back together and the bill is perfectly acceptable as legal tender.

 

As I said, REALLY TACKY (and nothing that people with OLD MONEY and STRICT ETIQUETTE would approve of), but it works great!!!

If I were your butler I'd do the bear minimum for you and let you keep your worthless half of a $50 or $100 bill.

I think she means Butler and Concierge.

:)

Doh!!!!!

I am at the end of our second internet package so might as well end it with this,

I gave our concierge 100.00 the day I met him, he was wonderful (alex) and gave him another 30.00 the other day as a christmas token, I would have probably given him an additional 50 or so but had no other use for his services, he was wonderful efficient and always attentive when asked for help, he did not seek us out..

lanie our butler I gave 50.00 when i met her , another twenty a few other times and then I think 30.00 also for christmas, I think she came in tip wise a bit higher than alex but she was amazing, I gave the room steward 20.00 upfront and 20.00on christmas day- it was christmas after all. he too was impeccable,

by the way lanie was by far the best butler i have ever encountered, she became like family, one day I was really stressed out working with a difficult situation with a client with the slow internet on the ship she first gave me a lecture that vacation is time to relax not work and then rubbed my neck to get the kinks out, turns out she was a massuse in her country, well worth the money I gave her, even more, plus she was just a joy to have around.

They can scotch tape the two torn halves back together and the bill is perfectly acceptable as legal tender.

Actually ripped money can be a problem if not dealing with a US bank which of course the crew generally isn't.

Pardon my ignorance but what exactly does a butler do over and above what the room stewards are doing? I have read that the conceirge will make your restaurant reservations for you but other than that what else does each one do?

We were off the OS and the only thing the Butler did for us is bring us those worthless treats every afternoon. We ended up thorwing them away. Tip $20 and that was way too much. Did not see the Concierge until Thur. tip $0

We were off the OS and the only thing the Butler did for us is bring us those worthless treats every afternoon. We ended up thorwing them away. Tip $20 and that was way too much. Did not see the Concierge until Thur. tip $0

I am assuming by OS you mean Owners Suite. Which ship were you on that you did not meet the Concierge, before even boarding the ship, while occupying an Owners Suite?

As for the Butler he is there for your convenience. He would have brought you breakfast of which you could have ordered anything your heart desired. Some people do not like the "useless" afternoon treat and some people do, that's not the Butlers fault.

PE<---believes some people CANNOT be pleased...

Before we left this morning lanie brought us room service and I mentioned that I wished I could have seen the courtyard, in the blink of an eye she said I will be back went and checked and then up we went (I will post pictures) she was just perfect, took care of all our needs and things I didn't know I even needed lol. MUCH different than our last butler. I told her the first day I would prefer cheese instead of the canapes that come with the romance package, she made sure we had a fresh plate of cheese every day in addition to the other treats, she was just wonderful

As others have mentioned, the butlers and concierges aren't part of the "pool" for the $10 p/p/day charge. Also, our butler absolutely would not take a tip at the beginning of our cruise. My DH had asked for something and was going to tip him, but he said, "Don't worry about it; it's part of my job; let me know how you feel about the service you received at the end of your cruise; it's my job to make sure that your experience is excellent." In addition to the fact that his service was excellent (he had a knack it seems for knowing which pax wanted the "subservient" butler mode and which, like we did, prefered an amiable, personable, and more "relaxed"--not less professional, just more person-to-person--butler), he was just so fun to talk with and he never made it seem as if the time he spent chatting with us was interferring with something else. He got a really good tip, even though we didn't have many "extra" needs throughout the cruise. We'd probably have tipped even more if we had it to do over again.

beachchick