Need Tipping Guidlines

[ny cruisequeen]

We will be in Egypt and Israel this summer on a Princess Cruise. We have hired Guided Tours Israel and Ramses Tours each for the 2 days in each country. These are not overnight tours.

 

What is the recommended tipping percents in each country? We want to be appropriate and in line with what a fair tip would be.

[MercedMike]

Well, I always find this question a little strange. I am the one giving the tip, so the question is not what does the guide expect or what is a "recommended" tip, but rather "What is the experience worth to me?"

 

I carry a stash of small to medium bills, and at the end of the tour I decide how much the guide should get based on how well he has performed. If you insist on percentages, I would say that 2% to 25% of the cost of the trip is the range I tip in.

 

We have had many outstanding guides, and a few mediocre ones. The outstanding ones got a large tip, the mediocre ones a very small tip. Whether it was more or less than somebody "recommended" does not bother me.

 

I will note that both our Israel guide from Avitours and our Egyptian Express guide were outstanding. They both got very substantial tips, more than 20%, because they really made the experience memorable for us!

 

IMAO this is a wonderful system. If outstanding guides are richly rewarded, they will stay around. If poor guides get poor tips,they will become disgruntled and start selling real estate or something. In the long run, all of us as tourists benefit from this culling of guides by the customers.

[Keith1010]

I would also have a range in mind for your tip. But in the end decide during the tour how much you want to tip. I would base the percent on the overall cost of the tour, the quality of the tour, and most important the quality of the tour guide.

 

Keith

[lcumpire]

I am taking both of these excursion in the fall but overnights - I am planning between 20-25% as I expect very good guides. If after the first day I will know if I have a good guide or not and then adjust accordingly.

 

Have a great trip!

[Lilli40]

Tipping.

Egyptian demanding bakisk without rendering a service, I made the same plane similar to most of the people small and medium bills but they were expecting more everywhere.

As for our tour guide we we paid 25% of the cost of the trip and some people gave her more(she was very good guide)

 

lilli

[MercedMike]

Tipping.

Egyptian demanding bakisk without rendering a service, I made the same plane similar to most of the people small and medium bills but they were expecting more everywhere.

As for our tour guide we we paid 25% of the cost of the trip and some people gave her more(she was very good guide)

 

lilli

 

LOL -- all over Egypt there are importunate people wanting a dollar for some small, or even imaginary, service. Even the tourist policeman on the camel at Dashur came riding over to be in a picture so he could hold out his hand. At the sphinx there was a young man standing at the exact spot for the best picture. For a dollar he would move so you could stand there! In every restroom there is a guy handing out sheets of tp for a dollar!

 

Just relax, carry a stack of $1 bills, and pass them out freely. You really are a "rich American" compared to them. Much easier than obsessing over it.