Tipping in a suite

[krnplcd]

Hi All,

 

I am in the middle of planning for my honeymoon with my S.O. We just upgraded from a Balcony to a B1 and now to a SF. Just curious how much I should plan on tipping for the butler/conceirge service? I don't plan on using it very much... but I figure if I'm tipping a million other people might as well plan on tipping these people well (just dont' know what the expected amount is?).

[palmyrafan]

This has been covered recently in another post but I will be happy to help out.

 

Tipping is a personal issue and everyone tips differently. My husband and I believe in tipping for great service.

 

We tip the concierge about $250 for the week, the butler about $150 and the the room steward about $200. These amounts can/will be adjusted if someone does an excellent job.

 

As for upcharge dining like LeBistro and Cagney's. Some people choose to tip while others don't. On average we tip about $20-$25 per meal at the upcharge places, again, dependent on the service.

[RichNY]

Hi All,

 

I am in the middle of planning for my honeymoon with my S.O. We just upgraded from a Balcony to a B1 and now to a SF. Just curious how much I should plan on tipping for the butler/conceirge service? I don't plan on using it very much... but I figure if I'm tipping a million other people might as well plan on tipping these people well (just dont' know what the expected amount is?).

 

 

Actually tips are not expected. Your tips should be based on the service you receive not just because you have a concierge or butler. Don't forget your room steward is part of the tip pool but we will usually tip on top.

 

We have sailed in suites many times and our tips are rarely the same from cruise to cruise..At the end of your cruise put your heads together and come up with a tip amount based on the service you received. I'm sure the staff will be very happy to have earned their tip(s)

 

Hope this helps..

[krnplcd]

Hey thanks for the help from both of you! Just wanted a rough estimate. I know that amount of tipping is of course a personal preference! I think the 600 dollars is a good estimate!

[johnsak123]

Naturally the amount of tip should be based on what you feel comfortable with and more important the level of service. Unfortunately we are in a tip motivated society and most people in the service industry think it is a given. If I say so myself I happen to be a generous tipper but I tip according to service. I do not tip because i "have to" or it is expected. If the service is bad I will tip accordingly. It is rare that I wouldnt tip at all.

The butler I recently had on the Jewel was not the best but I tipped him anyway. Of course it wasnt as much as I usually tip because of his lack of concern and feeling that he was doing me a favor by doing his job. He also accused me of breaking the safe out of ear shot but I heard him and that annoyed me.

[youngestof9]

We did not tip that much at all. On our most recent trip on the Gem, it was just me and my husband we gave the concierge $75 and our butler $100.

 

The room steward is included in the DSC so you do not have to give them more, unless you feel they went above and beyond. We did give ours an extra $25.

 

Maybe I'm cheap, but I did not think that my concierge should get $250. Yikes. He was nice, but basically walked us to a couple of shows and made dinner reservations.

[RichNY]

Hey thanks for the help from both of you! Just wanted a rough estimate. I know that amount of tipping is of course a personal preference! I think the 600 dollars is a good estimate!

 

If you are just talking about tipping the concierge and the butler for 2 people on seven night cruise..Your amount is pretty excessive...maybe half that amount.

[my_crib_too]

On our last Suite cruise we never met nor talked to the concierge. We stayed in a lower level suite though.

[mydreamvacation]

On our recent POA cruise our butler was excellent and I gave him $200, gave the room steward $125 and the conceirge did not get a penny as he was rude to me and never did a thing for us. I gave the money I had budgeted to him to other people on the ship such as the hostess in Lazy J (Cagney's on other ships) and waitstaff in the specialty restaurants.

 

It all depends on the service you get and what they do for you. I have tipped one butler as high as $400 in the past but the service was over the top I would have given more if I could. (that was a nine day cruise). I usually start with a basic budget of $10 for each the concierge and butler per day and adjust it up or down depending on the way they act. This is the first time I have given a concierge nothing.

[krnplcd]

If you are just talking about tipping the concierge and the butler for 2 people on seven night cruise..Your amount is pretty excessive...maybe half that amount.

 

Yeah I tend to overbudget for everything in life. Makes life easier for me. Means I always end up saving more (For the next cruise perhaps?).

[snorkelmom19]

I had the same question before I cruised NCL in a suite for the first time. Anyway, the way I figure my tip is that all the other cruise lines with butlers reccommend $3.50-5.00 per person per day. So I use that as a starting point of $5 pp per day. Everything extra I add more to the tip. It ususally adds up to about $200 for us for 4 people for a weeks cruise. We don't do parties and have breakfast in the room a few times and a few snacks. I tip the concierge according to how much I use them--in an SF on the star you will not have priority seating for shows and probably (my experience, others may vary) will only see them once or twice the whole cruise. If they go out of your way to get you seats or reservations or fix a problem I can see tipping them higher, but it is usually less than half of what we tip the butler. We also tip the steward more. Everyone does this differently, just thought I'd give you another opinion--congrats on your upcoming marriage and have a great honeymoon cruise.

[RichNY]

Yeah I tend to overbudget for everything in life. Makes life easier for me. Means I always end up saving more (For the next cruise perhaps?).

 

If overbudgeting was your goal, you did a fine job......:D....enjoy your suite..:D

[Aladdin1968]

We tip on the basis of the service rendered. We have always had a suite, sometimes only with the two of us, sometimes with the children and sometimes also with other family members.

 

When we travel alone, we do not use the butler much, so we tip him not more than USD 150 per week in total. When we are with the children we need the butler a bit more often and tip USD 200 per week in total. When we are with a larger party (GV) we tip around USD 350 per week in total. More guests does not automatically mean a lot of more work. We once had a really bad butler and we gave him nothing. On the other side we once tipped a butler that did outstanding work extra. We think the amount we give is sufficient, especially if you realize that a butler takes care of multiple suites and we are talking about per week numbers and let also not forget the low to zero tax burden.... I suppose many passengers make less per month, on a net basis, whilst they also have to work very hard in their business life. Personally, I have never felt sorry for the butler: it is hard work, but the revenue is rather good, assuming the butler is par or above par.

 

The concierge is a different chapter. We only use the butler for a few restaurant reservations and maybe the reservation for the transfer back to the airport. We do not join excursions, because we most of the time know our way around or stay on the ship. Therefor we do not tip the concierge more than USD 50 per week in total. This is still very well rewarded, IMHO.

 

I strongly disagree with people that argue substantial tipping is compulsory, because the butler or concierge needs a minimal salary. If they do not make enough to make ends meet, they should take another job or talk to NCL for a proper reward. I do not think having a suite means that you should pay extra for service you do not need and that is not included in the price.

 

As to the stewards: they are in the DSC so we do not tip them extra. This is a principle for us, because if we would tip the steward extra, we should tip everyone behind the scenes extra. Some stewards that do suites seem to expect someting extra, because they sometimes pop up the last day of the cruise to have a chat, whilst they were invisible (in a positive way) the days before. So I guess there must be a fair share of passengers that do tip them.

 

Also there seems to be a small cultural difference between US guests and European guests. In the US tipping is a part of daily life, whereas in Europe tipping mainly seems to take place in restaurants if service was extremely good and for the rest some small money for cab drivers, housekeeping and bell boys. This might explain some of the ritual flamethrowing in threads re tipping and DSC. :rolleyes:

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

Actually tips are not expected. Your tips should be based on the service you receive not just because you have a concierge or butler.

 

Actually tips for the butler and concierge ARE expected. They are not part of the tip pool so they rely on tips for the majority of their income. The same applies to kids club counselors, but that is another subject.

 

Almost everyone else on board is included in the DSC so tips for them are not expected.

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

 

As to the stewards: they are in the DSC so we do not tip them extra. This is a principle for us, because if we would tip the steward extra, we should tip everyone behind the scenes extra. Some stewards that do suites seem to expect someting extra, because they sometimes pop up the last day of the cruise to have a chat, whilst they were invisible (in a positive way) the days before. So I guess there must be a fair share of passengers that do tip them. :rolleyes:

 

Yesterday someone posted they had spoken to members of the crew and deduced the stewards make at least $5000.00/month. This is indeed a very handsome sum.

[puddles99]

Actually tips for the butler and concierge ARE expected. They are not part of the tip pool so they rely on tips for the majority of their income. The same applies to kids club counselors, but that is another subject.

 

Almost everyone else on board is included in the DSC so tips for them are not expected.

 

I'm pretty sure that tips are not the majority of anyone's income on board or else NCL likely wouldn't be so nonchalant in their tipping suggestion (quoted below).

 

Also, certain staff positions provide service on an individual basis to only some guests. We encourage those guests to acknowledge good service from these staff members with appropriate gratuities. For example, for guests purchasing bar drinks the recommended gratuity is 15 percent. For guests purchasing spa treatments the recommended gratuity is 18 percent. Similarly, for guests using concierge and butler services, we recommend they consider offering a gratuity commensurate with services rendered.

 

We tip based on quality of service and I think the OP will have a little wiggle room if they choose to set aside $600. Enjoy! :)

[DMH15]

On our last Suite cruise we never met nor talked to the concierge. We stayed in a lower level suite though.

 

Never met? Did you eat b/l in Cagney's? Ours walked thru asking all daily.

 

Just curious what ship/which suite? Wow! I would have def talked to mgmt.

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

I'm pretty sure that tips are not the majority of anyone's income on board :)

 

Many, many people have reported that many/most of the crew report tips and/or the DSC are the vast majority of their income. I have never had that discussion with a crewmember. I think it is a bit personal.

[Buford T Justiice]

Yesterday someone posted they had spoken to members of the crew and deduced the stewards make at least $5000.00/month. This is indeed a very handsome sum.

 

seven days a week, ten hours a day comes to about $18 per hour.

 

Yes indeed a handsome sum:rolleyes:

[palmyrafan]

If you are just talking about tipping the concierge and the butler for 2 people on seven night cruise..Your amount is pretty excessive...maybe half that amount.

 

We tip this way because when we have stayed at the suite level, the Butler, Concierge and Room Stewards have all gone out of their way to make sure our cruise was top-notch. Last minute dinner reservations or room service? Done. Maintenance in the suite? Taken care of. Our room stewards have always gone out of their way to make sure our suites are totally clean and refreshed whenever we come back to our suite. Fresh water, toiletries, etc., always taken care of.

 

That is why we tip so well. We just add it in to the total we allot for the cruise. Some people drop that much just on their excursions while we tend to do our own exploring in port instead of expensive excursions. :)

[palmyrafan]

Many, many people have reported that many/most of the crew report tips and/or the DSC are the vast majority of their income. I have never had that discussion with a crewmember. I think it is a bit personal.

 

We heard from someone in the cruise industry that most ships are registered anywhere but the U.S. Reason? U.S. registered ships have to at least pay minimum wage while ships registered in other countries do not. Also, many of the crew work 8-10 months at a time before being given time to go home (whereever that is). Many of the crew have families (their own or their parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.) where they are the major breadwinner and the money usually gets sent home. Many of the crew have openly discussed it with passengers on our cruises.

[palmyrafan]

If you are just talking about tipping the concierge and the butler for 2 people on seven night cruise..Your amount is pretty excessive...maybe half that amount.

 

Not if you've paid over $5000 for your suite for a week for 2. Comes out to about 10% of the fare. Sounds quite reasonable to me :)

[mickeysgal]

Do you tip if you eat at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch? If so, what is the guideline for this?

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

seven days a week, ten hours a day comes to about $18 per hour.

 

Yes indeed a handsome sum:rolleyes:

 

For someone from India, Philippines or the other third world countries NCL recruits from, it is indeed a handsome sum. I venture to guess they live like kings when they get home.

[Fine and Jim Dandy]

Do you tip if you eat at Cagney's for breakfast and lunch? If so, what is the guideline for this?

 

No requirement to tip at Cagney's for any meal, as the servers are covered by the DSC. Wife and I drop $5 to $20 per meal when we are there. Low end at breakfast, high end at dinner.