Europeans: how much do you tip?

[catharina]

Hi guys

 

I am wondering about the tipping for our first cruise.

MSC has the 6 euro a day service charge which takes care of our room steward and such, and every drink is with 15% on it, so I guess the barmen etc are also covered.

 

But then? I always read a lot about american people tipping (and quite a lot in my opinion) but it is no comparison for me, as I am from Holland, yes, the country where the word Dutch comes from. We are notorious non-tippers. Especially since the euro, prices in restaurants have doubled in 7 years orso, so most of the time we think: No tip, the prices are high enough.

 

Tipping is not that standard in Europe. Or at least, in my part of Europe.

 

So I am wondering how much is nesecary or appropriate.

 

I am especially curious how much other europeans tip, although would not mind to get answers from Americans as well :-)

 

-the porter that takes our bags at the port? we have 4 bags, say if I give them a 5 euro bill, would that be okay?

 

-the bellboy that takes us to our room, as apparently is standard on MSC, do we nee to tip him/her just for bringing us? If so, how much?

 

-do we need to tip the room steward extra? Or is the service charge enough?

 

-if we do get room service (which is ala carte priced already on MSC!) how much do we nee to tip? 1 euro?

 

-we won't do spa/children's club so those are not of interest. also no ship excursions, just do ourselves and a private one in Tunesia

 

-anyone I am forgetting here?

 

greetings Cat

[catllar]

Tipping is a minefield it seems, Americans seem to tip everybody, including the ships's cat, and good luck to them if that's what they feel good doing. Personally I don't feel the need to tip someone for doing his/her job (I don't tip my plumber, my doctor, nor the girl who slices the hamon the deli counter) If, on the other hand the person has gone above and beyond the call of duty then, perhaps yes. Here in France we only "round up" to the next euro or so to avoid carrying lots of small change. Anyway, that's just my thoughts and if we europeans are perceived as non-tippers, far be it for me to disabuse anyone LOL!!

[boulders]

So I am wondering how much is nesecary or appropriate.

 

I am especially curious how much other europeans tip, although would not mind to get answers from Americans as well :-)

 

-the porter that takes our bags at the port? we have 4 bags, say if I give them a 5 euro bill, would that be okay?

 

-the bellboy that takes us to our room, as apparently is standard on MSC, do we nee to tip him/her just for bringing us? If so, how much?

 

-do we need to tip the room steward extra? Or is the service charge enough?

 

-if we do get room service (which is ala carte priced already on MSC!) how much do we nee to tip? 1 euro?

 

-we won't do spa/children's club so those are not of interest. also no ship excursions, just do ourselves and a private one in Tunesia

 

Out of the people you mention, the one that I would be SURE to tip would be the porter. My first cruise, I didn't tip, and I never received my luggage. :( Of course, this was in Miami, not Europe. I would err on the side of too much (as a North American, of course :p) and give 10 euros. By the way, do cross-packing, not one bag per person, but spread your clothes between two suitcases, so even if one bag doesn't show up, that doesn't mean that one person doesn't have clothes for the week.

 

Room service, one euro. A few euros for the private tour.

 

Tip the others if you feel you need to, but I would say it's not necessary.

[Bonnie J.]

Are you cruising in the Caribean? On what ship?

In Caribean the US dollar is used to tip on the ship and to buy anything in any port there.

The cruise staff depend on tips as they are paid so little as the cruise line count on them getting tips. I know for a fact that waiter in the dining room only get $75 A MONTH! The busboys get less than that. The automatic tip gives $3.50 per day, per person, to waiters and room stewards, think its $2.50 to busboys and the difference is given to buffet people.

Remember they work 7 days a week, much more than 40 hours a week and for at least 6 months, usually 8 month with no days off!

Porters at the port should be given $1 per bag - on one cruise two passengers couldn't find their suitcase. They found them at the purser's desk with luggage tags with their ID taken off. They did not tip the porters!

On most ships room service is free, there is no charge for it so a small tip should be given when food is delivered.

We haven't had a bell boy take us to our cabin in many, many years. You just find it your self - you will be directed to its locatin.

We only tip extra above the automatic tips if we have fantastic service. If we take a tour in a port - Not Ship's Tour- we may tip our guide.

On the ship the crew work so hard for you they are worth all tips they get!

[cb at sea]

Porters---$1-2 per bag, depending on weight and size.

 

You don't need to tip anyone "showing" you to your room, unless they're carrying bags!

 

Room service---$1-5, depending on how much they have to carry.

 

No need to tip excursion operators, unless they give you ALOT more than you think you paid for!

[pg.]

Are you cruising in the Caribean? On what ship?

In Caribean the US dollar is used to tip on the ship and to buy anything in any port there.

The cruise staff depend on tips as they are paid so little as the cruise line count on them getting tips. I know for a fact that waiter in the dining room only get $75 A MONTH! The busboys get less than that. The automatic tip gives $3.50 per day, per person, to waiters and room stewards, think its $2.50 to busboys and the difference is given to buffet people.

Remember they work 7 days a week, much more than 40 hours a week and for at least 6 months, usually 8 month with no days off!

Porters at the port should be given $1 per bag - on one cruise two passengers couldn't find their suitcase. They found them at the purser's desk with luggage tags with their ID taken off. They did not tip the porters!

On most ships room service is free, there is no charge for it so a small tip should be given when food is delivered.

We haven't had a bell boy take us to our cabin in many, many years. You just find it your self - you will be directed to its locatin.

We only tip extra above the automatic tips if we have fantastic service. If we take a tour in a port - Not Ship's Tour- we may tip our guide.

On the ship the crew work so hard for you they are worth all tips they get!

 

Bonnie,she mentions a stop in Tunisia,,, don't think she will be in Caribbean.

[Tiggertastic]

We're from the UK and our previous cruises were always booked with gratuities included so we know they are taken care of

 

However on UK/european ships, if we feel the steward has looked after us, we leave him 20 euros and we also have given the waiter at our table the same

 

On american ships, we've not so far given any extra than the pre paid gratuities. The last 12 nighter we never met the steward, we even raised it with the hotel director but he/she never introduced themselves so we had to ring reception when we had towels missing etc - so they got nothing extra left. We did give $25 to the teen club rep as they are not included in the ship tips and they did a fantastic job - at $2 a day it was a bargain.

 

We've got a cruise next month without pre paid and they take it anyway at the end of the trip from the bill. We will do the same, give extra to those that deserve it and again the teen club.

 

In the UK, thre are many places you don't tip at all and in restaurants we try to leave 10 to 15% but it isn't the normal culture to tip everyone. I always give my hairdresser something extra but not the manicurist etc as its not expected or normal - I do take them a present at christmas though.

 

thanks

[jocap]

Hi, Catharina-good to speak to you again.

As you know, everyone in the EU has to earn a living wage. The workers at the docks in France will come under this, and will most likely be the same as at many other EU ports and not look for tips. They will probably not turn them down, but it is not expected in most places, eg.Barcelona, Southampton.

You will have paid your gratuities up front, so again, no-one on the ship will expect any more. It is an Italian ship, and reading about tipping in Italy, the most to tip anyway is 10%, compared with 5-10% in France and The Netherlands.

For room service, there was a discussion on a UK site about this, and no-one had heard about any tipping being necessary, nor had anyone thought to do it. MSC is geared to the European way of life, so it will not be a big issue.

If you are using taxis in port, most countries you are visiting will be happy with a round up of the fare to the next euro. (Beware tho' if you come to London, where they are used to wealthy tourists, and may expect £2!!).

Enjoy your trip, esp. for your Dad's sake, and if you have any worries, talk to the other passengers on board, who will probably be from your part of the world; Belg. Ger. and French. Ask them!

And if anyone does anything extra special....that's the time to give a little gift of money as a thank-you, not a right.

Enjoy!- jocap.

[Arwenmark]

I am American and a good tipper, but if your cruiseline has Service charges in place then that is sufficient For those that are covered by it.

 

You need to know who that is. Those that are not, such as room service people or porters etc. you should give something. The 5 euros for 4 bags is probably okay, not generous but okay.

 

some people mention not tipping their plumber or Dr. well neither do Americans, but we realize the pay structure on cruise ships. We may not like that pay structure, but why penalize the worker because that IS the pay structure?

 

I believe that IF in Europe the pay for waiters for intstance was equivalent to $2.60 an hour as it is in my home state or if you realize that the ship board service people make salary of $50 to $100 a MONTH perhaps you would rethink the no tipping that is common there.

 

If your waiter is making $15. or $20 an hour that is a bit different. Still not huge salary but okay.

 

But the argument that," I am from such and such a place and we don't tip" really does not cut it.

 

Those who don't want to tip will always find SOME excuse not too. But don't kid yourself about how much those hard working people serviing you are actually getting paid.

[jocap]

Arwenmark- your points are very good, but we are talking about a European line, which is set up to deal with a non-tipping culture....indeed, many lines just include tips. Because the lowest rate an unskilled person in Europe can earn by law is $9 per hour, it has not arisen in a big way until the fairly recent incursion of large US lines into Europe, which has left people puzzled and perplexed by what is expected of them.

Porters often come under union rules, and will have a strict payment scheme in place. Some may even be penalised if they take tips and do not admit them, but most get on with their jobs without looking for anything.

MSC has chosen to charge grats. up front, and the poster will appreciate your saying that this is sufficient.

jocap.

[klfrodo]

 

But the argument that," I am from such and such a place and we don't tip" really does not cut it.

 

.

 

I didn't have a dog in this fight until now.

 

Respecting someone elses culture is the only way to live life. There are some places in this world (Japan for one) where to tip is to insult them. They take it as bribery or that they didn't do a good enough job.

 

As the saying goes, "When in Rome, do as the Romans".

 

For what it's worth I enjoyed reading the first few posts. I found it very educational and enlightening.

[BIG_Steve]

Tipping is a minefield it seems, Americans seem to tip everybody, including the ships's cat, and good luck to them if that's what they feel good doing. Personally I don't feel the need to tip someone for doing his/her job (I don't tip my plumber, my doctor, nor the girl who slices the hamon the deli counter) If, on the other hand the person has gone above and beyond the call of duty then, perhaps yes. Here in France we only "round up" to the next euro or so to avoid carrying lots of small change. Anyway, that's just my thoughts and if we europeans are perceived as non-tippers, far be it for me to disabuse anyone LOL!!

 

The American hospitality industry isn't the same as Europe or Great Britain. Here, the waiters and similar workers work for very little, and the guest is expected to tip. We've been told over the years by the restaurant owners that if they had to pay the help more, it would only raise our bills. Who knows? I hate the whole tipping "system," but that's how we do it here, so I play along.

 

Hopefully, the DSC balances the whole thing out. Meaning workers who depend on tips get them from folks who don't realize tipping may be "expected."

[smeyer418]

while its slightly OT here is a history of tipping in the US. It was at one time very much like Europe is today.

 

Originally Posted by Cuizer2

http://able2know.org/topic/123887-1

 

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/so...ning-9643.html

 

http://blog.aurorahistoryboutique.co...-the-gratuity/

 

http://www.allsands.com/Lifestyles/t...ett_twj_gn.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_%28gratuity%29

 

 

 

also here is a CC listing of the various cruise lines with a warning its slightly dated.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1124969

 

also some cruise lines say specifically that the room service is included but I as an American still give a dollar or two.

 

Cruise lines mostly are used to the American system. That is the way it is set up. When I am in Japan I expect not to tip or other places as well. That is my respecting their culture. The culture on cruise ships varies greatly. Some have mandatory service charges, some have opt in some have opt out. Some include it in the fare some expect the people to tip- its literally all over the lot. Your cruise line will have a suggested guideline on their website.

 

On most tours in the Mid east(like Tunisia), the guides/drivers get paid next to nothing and in fact sometimes nothing at all. So they rely on tips or on the kickback(baksheesh) they get from the stores they take you to shop. I don't particularly like this- as they try to force me to shop...which I do anyway(in China it almost became "the Meyers are shopping again" if it wasn't nailed down we tried to buy it) so either pay it up front, tip generously or shop....but don't give $2(about 1.25 euro) for a full day tour.

 

and its a good question thanks for taking the time to find out what to do before you get on board!

[catharina]

Hi Guys

 

sorry could not answser sooner, time difference you know :-)

 

no, we sail the Mediterranean on MSC, sorry, should have mentioned that

 

Jocap, thanks for your insight! This is what I would imagine. Every time I read about people earning 2,6$ per hour on a cruiseship, I was wondering if this was even possible on an european line. Apparently not.

 

Thanks for all your great tips and suggestions.

 

Arwenmark: i never intended to use my culture as an excuse not to tip. I just wanted to say: we never tip here (next to never) so I do not know how much is appropraite. I do not want to offend anyone so i do want to tip, but only if and how much is necesary. Americans tip more by nature because you are used to it.

 

With all this tips together, and knowing the porters won't really expect it, I guess I'll give them 5 euro for the bags. And the person who shows us to our rooms gets zero :-)

 

As far as our tour guide in Tunesia goes: we hired him for a priovate tour and we pay 80 euros for 3,5 hours (for 4 people) This is much cheaper than the ships excursion, but I am sure he earns more with it than a sip's excursion tour guide. So probably the arranged price of 80 is enough, UNLESS he goes above and beyond

[catharina]

By the way, if I were rich, I would tip around more generously.

But I am buying this trip for my parents and next to the cruise I have to pay for train tickets, prepaid gratuities, drinks, shor ex etc . So I am not looking to get out of tipping, just trying to figure out what is normal/minimum/expected in European cruising.

 

Rest asure: I will not be one of those at the front desk removing the gratuities to save some bucks.

But I am not going to tip everyone who smiles 10 euros either :-)