Tipping in the YC lounge?

I believe we tip in general above the average. Since others are sharing here goes. 7-day cruise

Butler. 140

Asst. 100

Maitre d 50

Hostess 40

Waiter 100

Asst 70

Bartender in Topsail 50

Pool boys. 50 and 40

Concierge 20

Porter at YC tent 5

Nothing at Venchi (gelato) or at Seaview Lounge

Dennis

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Hi Liz,

 

Yes MSC says that tips are discouraged. In other words...they do not want the staff hinting or suggesting in any way. You will note that MSC does not say that tipping is prohibited...just discouraged. I tip very discretely on the last night and the staff have shown me that they are extremely appreciative.

 

You can always tell how well your tips were received when you go to the final breakfast before leaving the ship. The staff will show their appreciation.

To comment, I have never had staff even hint of a tip. Like you experience, I see that the staff is genuinely surprised and grateful for the tip. The only exception was the porter working the YC tent that expected a tip from you. Although he was not an employee of MSC.

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I agree ... they always appear surprised (and pleased) when being tipped. We've never sensed any expectation from anybody and always had very friendly goodbyes from those we didn't tip. Last year, on Meraviglia, we had so many different waiters looking after us throughout the cruise, we didn't tip any. Yet, when we were leaving after lunch, they all made a point of coming over to us to thank us and to wish us well. (We'd had a wonderful rapport with them - especially at lunch, when they'd have more time. Even waiters that weren't in our area would come over to us to have a chat - and a laugh - when things were quiet).

I believe we tip in general above the average. Since others are sharing here goes. 7-day cruise

 

Butler. 140

Asst. 100

Maitre d 50

Hostess 40

Waiter 100

Asst 70

Bartender in Topsail 50

Pool boys. 50 and 40

Concierge 20

Porter at YC tent 5

 

Nothing at Venchi (gelato) or at Seaview Lounge

 

Dennis

 

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Hi Dennis. Hope to see you and Joanne on another cruise. We have are sailing seaside for oct 2019 and Meravagilia booked for Feb 2020. Once we get the royal cruises off the books, we will be sailing more on MSC YC.

Like you, I love the value that YC provides.

Have you got some of your fellow HAL cruisers to try MSC YC?

Back to the subject about tipping. Seems that we tip generally the same amount to the staff. Funny thing that we are so close in amounts, yet we did not even discuss this when we were in top sail lounge. Seems we both enjoyed the service provided by staff. I didn't tip the pool attendants as I had no interaction with them the few times I went to the pool. We are not lay in the sun people as I am quite tan naturally :)

Please keep in touch. If your kids need anything have them contact me next month when they are here.

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I believe we tip in general above the average. Since others are sharing here goes. 7-day cruise

 

Butler. 140

Asst. 100

Maitre d 50

Hostess 40

Waiter 100

Asst 70

Bartender in Topsail 50

Pool boys. 50 and 40

Concierge 20

Porter at YC tent 5

 

Nothing at Venchi (gelato) or at Seaview Lounge

 

Dennis

 

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What currency is that? Also- some of those mentioned I do not recall every interacting with on previous cruises - pool boy, assistant butler, hostess, concierge... I would only think to tip those I knew well enough to remember!

American dollars.

What currency is that?

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Some of these are MSC Yacht Club unigue. In the YC restaurant there is an asst maitre d (hostess). On our cruise a wonderful Ukrainian woman. YC pool deck has permanently assigned pool boys who serve multiple roles including Bev stewards. The YC has a concierge desk, generally interfaces for all interaction with offices outside the YC. They work for the YC Director, an officer right under the hotel director. We routinely interacted with all.

Frank808 is correct. US dollars. We were on the same cruise.

Dennis

What currency is that? Also- some of those mentioned I do not recall every interacting with on previous cruises - pool boy, assistant butler, hostess, concierge... I would only think to tip those I knew well enough to remember!

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We are booked in YC.

Off topic here but seems a good place to ask. On Celebrity we always got premium drinks package. I asked my TA if we should upgrade. MSC told her YC drinks are between basic and premium. Not sure what that means. Any clarification out there?

Hi Dennis. Hope to see you and Joanne on another cruise. We have are sailing seaside for oct 2019 and Meravagilia booked for Feb 2020. Once we get the royal cruises off the books, we will be sailing more on MSC YC.

 

 

Please keep in touch. If your kids need anything have them contact me next month when they are here.

 

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We are February 2019 on Preziosa for 2 weeks, December 2019 for Meraviglia. Then we will do a split Baltic on Meraviglia and Western Mediterranean on Grandiosa late summer 2020 when the sailings come out. Already have the bookings to lock in the prices.

We could be convinced to add a second Meraviglia February 2020 :-). What dates?

The kids are getting close to Honolulu. They know to get in touch.

DENNIS

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We are booked in YC.

 

Off topic here but seems a good place to ask. On Celebrity we always got premium drinks package. I asked my TA if we should upgrade. MSC told her YC drinks are between basic and premium. Not sure what that means. Any clarification out there?

They are premium wines and champagnes, but the house pour, with recommendation that change with the menus each night, is quite varied and high quality.

Dennis

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YAY! Wine and champagne- that's the answer I was looking for.You made my day! TYVM

To comment, I have never had staff even hint of a tip. Like you experience, I see that the staff is genuinely surprised and grateful for the tip. The only exception was the porter working the YC tent that expected a tip from you. Although he was not an employee of MSC. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Frank, the porters at the pier are notorious for standing in front of your luggage with their hands out. You can hand them a $5.00 bill and they will get the message. I have never lost any luggage yet. I do know some folks who were embarking in Boston and their luggage was in a big cart with a lot of others and the fork lift driver pushed the entire cart off the pier. Rumor had it that the porters were stacking all the luggage, from pax who did not tip, into that cart. I think New York and Boston are the toughest when it comes to the Long Shoremen porters.

Bea and others make a good point. There are many staff who serve us and we don’t tip them because our interaction is too brief. The good thing is that someone else did tip them. These things seem to even out over time. Some pax don’t tip at all and others are very generous.

YAY! Wine and champagne- that's the answer I was looking for.You made my day! TYVM

Don't limit yourself to the nightly recommended pours. Peruse the beverage menu and order away. I think the YC plan includes any beverage not marked with ** and that is any bar on the ship. We never did order off the menu. Even the Italian sparkling wine was fine for us. But there is champagne on the menu. Clearly the superior wines and champagnes are an added charge.

Dennis

All I can see is the amount per drink that's tipped ... nobody's prepared to say how much they tipped individuals at the end of the cruise - though everyone's quick to say that they do!

We tipped our butler 80 euro.

Thank you for all your replies.

No matter how many cruises we've been on, I always get a little stressed out over the tipping thing. Sounds like we're right about in line with what everyone else does.

IKR? And cruises are not supposed to be stressful. Tipping doesn't stress me - thinking about tipping, to whom when and how much THAT stresses me.

IKR? And cruises are not supposed to be stressful. Tipping doesn't stress me - thinking about tipping, to whom when and how much THAT stresses me.

Exactly! And when we started cruising in suites a few years ago, with suite restaurants, butlers, etc., it brought on a whole new level of stress. And now with the YC, we're adding pool attendants. :o

(And I don't mean stress that's going to ruin my vacation. These are just the things I'll be thinking about prior to our trip. I want to make sure we're doing the right thing.:D)

Don't forget the head butler! :D

I smiled at him and noted how much we appreciated the service. [emoji3]

Dennis

Don't forget the head butler! :D

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I would just toss out some thoughts. We in the USA have embraced a tipping culture that is not really common around the world and even breeds resentment in some quarters. Just reading posts about folks "stressing" out about tips really brings out how crazy this tipping culture has become in our North American culture. We have traveled widely on 6 Continents and very few folks outside the USA are stressed about tips.

When we started cruising (over forty years ago) tipping was a very personal thing and one gave cash tips to only a few folks who who provided direct service such as cabin stewards, waiters, etc. But when the cruise lines moved towards open dining, using teams of stewards, etc. we saw the implementation of auto-tip schemes where the cruise line "very secretly" disperses money from their tipping pool funded by nearly all passengers. But even as the cruise lines have continued to increase "auto tips" there are many Americans (and it is primarily Americans and Canadians) who feel obligated to dispense even more tips. One Aussie friend told me that many around the world think that Americans simply do it to impress everyone that they can! Personally I miss the days when tipping was a personal thing "from me to you." But tossing out hundreds of dollars (above auto tips) has reached ridiculous proportions. And it creates some bad vibes because most Europeans do not buy into the American culture. Just fruit for thought.

Hank

Still trying to figure out why anyone (American or not) cares about what others tip.:confused:

Tip as much or as little as you want to whomever you want. Seeking affirmation from random internet strangers is unnecessary.

I can understand questions such as "Does the concierge have envelopes?" (yes) or "Are they allowed to take cash?" (yes) but anything related to "How much should I....?" is silly.

I didn't see any "How much should I ...?" questions on this thread. I asked, out of curiosity (as I've already posted) if anyone cared to share how much they tip. IINM I'm the only one who asked anything about amounts.

My post was mainly directed to most tipping threads but was also directed towards the "Americans simply do it to impress everyone that they can!" comment in the post before mine. If I'm surrounded by Americans or non-Americans, what I tip doesn't change. What they do is irrelevant to what I do and vice versa.

Too many individuals stress over "...doing the right thing" or being "...in line with what everyone else does" when only the individual can make those decisions.

I believe we tip in general above the average. Since others are sharing here goes. 7-day cruise

 

Butler. 140

Asst. 100

Maitre d 50

Hostess 40

Waiter 100

Asst 70

Bartender in Topsail 50

Pool boys. 50 and 40

Concierge 20

Porter at YC tent 5

 

Nothing at Venchi (gelato) or at Seaview Lounge

 

Dennis

 

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GULP!! $ 615.00???

Yes, I am aware this post will bother some people, but I am merely offering my opinion.

I fall into the "I'm already paying per day gratuities" and have tipped the Butler extra (note we didn't really use him except once I think) but aside from the extra to him and to the bartenders ...sorry but no (exception would be made if they did something really really extra special) I am not tipping extra. The biggest reason being I am already paying 2 or 3 times more when booking the YC. And for that yes I do expect my service and experience to be above that of what I would have paid for an inside, oceanview, or balcony cabin.

PS...What does the pool boy do? (not being snippy I am actually asking as I cannot figure out who you are talking about)