question on tipping on board - Euros or US dollars

[lilpepper]

We are heading off to our first European cruise in the Med. and wondered about the currency which is appropriate to tip on the cruise. Are both accepted or one or the other.........euros vs US dollars? We'll be sailing from Barcelona so we were thinking of converting to euros for tips. We want to make sure we have enough of either in advance.

thanks for any info.

[c-legs]

IMO....and only my opinion:

US$ for tips as most of the crew members are conditionned to receive their ''cuts'', whenever the lines distributes them , in US$ and it is preferable for them to send US$ to their families, the US$ being by far the currency of choice pretty well all over

 

I also think ( could be wrong) that,overall, the currency of wages/tips within the industry is US$ .

 

Cheers

[excitedofharpenden]

The onboard currency is USDs so that is the currency I would use. If you have a few euros left at the end that you want to hand out as extras I'm sure those staff members wouldn't turn it down though.

 

Phil

[Esprit]

***** Solstice this summer I will tip in Euro's as the ship will be based in the Med' until November. The crew need Euro's and they suffer with exchange fluctuations and commission just like us.

 

There is a supermarket in Barcelona where you will find crew filling shopping trollies all day long on debark/embark day

[grayjay]

I'm sure that the crew will be happy to receive gratuities in either $ or €, but you shouldn't forget that the smallest bill in Euros you can hand over is 5 € which is approx. 7.50 $ at the current exchange rate. Other than that you have to use coins which might be a bit awkward to handle. So personally I'll have both, for example my 1$ notes are useful for room service to tip for breakfast or such, and I can always ask my state attendant what he might prefer as his little extra "thank you", if he has given exceptional or very good service. Last cruise I put both denominations into the envelope because I did not have enough $ left. I don't think he will have minded!

[TravelerThom]

We are heading off to our first European cruise in the Med. and wondered about the currency which is appropriate to tip on the cruise. Are both accepted or one or the other.........euros vs US dollars? We'll be sailing from Barcelona so we were thinking of converting to euros for tips. We want to make sure we have enough of either in advance.

thanks for any info.

Enjoy your first Med cruise; don't know if you have cruised Celebrity before. Celebrity "standard" tips will be automatically billed daily [unless you are doing Select Dining, in which you will have paid before sailing] in US$ to your shipboard account. You can demand that these be removed [with the assumption that you will be tipping directly] but this complicates things for both you and the ship workers, and I personally strongly discourage doing this. You may well know all this, but the "standard" tip would be more appropriately termed a service charge, and it is the majority of the workers compensation. If the automatically billed standard tip is left in place, it is my understanding that the employee can have this directly deposited in a bank account [most of the employees are supporting families back home (either wife or parents) who can be set up to access this account (the wonders of electronic banking)]. In addition to the "standard" tip / service charge, many people think the service is wonderful enough that they also give a cash tip. Since your ship is operating in Europe this additional cash would be welcomed in Euros that could be used for incidental expenses. If I worked on the ship and had a choice between US$1 and 1 Euro [~$1.40] I know which I would take;) [yes, I know that it is not always a one for one choice]. I assume you know that bar gratuity of 15% is automatically added to drinks [but occasional extra cash doesn't hurt service]. The one time it is expected that you tip in cash [no other choice] is for room service delivery. Hope this helps.

 

Thom

[sczcardfan]

We are heading off to our first European cruise in the Med. and wondered about the currency which is appropriate to tip on the cruise. Are both accepted or one or the other.........euros vs US dollars? We'll be sailing from Barcelona so we were thinking of converting to euros for tips. We want to make sure we have enough of either in advance.

thanks for any info.

 

From my experience service industry workers will gladly take a tip in any usable currency, so I wouldn't worry about euros vs dollars too much. The official onboard currency is dollars, but on a Med cruise it certainly wouldn't be difficult for them to either use the euro or change it to dollars if they'd prefer.

 

I remember a few years ago, stuck in Heathrow airport and ordered a couple beers and was paying with a credit card because I only had euros and dollars (was just expecting to transit Heathrow, not be stuck there for 4 hours). For some reason, the bartender couldn't add a tip to the credit card. When I asked him if he cared if I tipped him in euros instead, he looked at me like I had two heads...and then explained that he was quite happy to take dollars, euros, pounds, or pretty much any other currency I might have to tip with...

[helpthejuggler]

When I asked him if he cared if I tipped him in euros instead, he looked at me like I had two heads...and then explained that he was quite happy to take dollars, euros, pounds, or pretty much any other currency I might have to tip with...

 

He was probably surprised that there would feel obliged to offer a tip. It is not common to tip in UK bars unless you have spent quite some time there.

[lilpepper]

Thanks to all that responded as that helped clear up things! We will definitely take both. I'm thinking now about the taxis and other tour guides while in port. Would the same thinking of either/or apply or should the countries own currency be what we should tip? In our case Euros....???

thank you!

[TravelerThom]

Thanks to all that responded as that helped clear up things! We will definitely take both. I'm thinking now about the taxis and other tour guides while in port. Would the same thinking of either/or apply or should the countries own currency be what we should tip? In our case Euros....???

thank you!

Basically if you are off the ship you should use local currency. In the case of taxis, unless they accept credit cards, will have to be paid in cash, and [unless a previous agreement has been reached] that will have to be in local currency [ie Euros]. Same situation if you eat or drink off the ship. And many WCs either have a fixed charge, or expect a tip, and this should be in local currency. Taxis and guides will accept tips in any currency, but local currency would definitely be preferred.

 

Thom