Tipping on Tours

[5elmst]

Is it customary to tip over and above the price of the excursion? If so, how much? To whom? If there are more than one- captain and mate on a catamaran for example, do you tip individually? Or one tip and let them divvy it up? I'm going to the bank on Monday and trying to figure out how many singles and fives to get :)

[Carnac767]

Yes, it is customary to tip on an excursion, both your guide and driver. Usually it's a couple of bucks for the driver and five or ten for the guide--maybe more for a really long tour. It depends upon how long the tour is and the quality of the service provided. I've noticed a lot of cruisers, especially in Europe, stiffing the guides and drivers. The catamaran tours we've gone on ususally had a tip jar, which is shared among the crew.

[5elmst]

Thank you, that's exactly what I needed to know!

[vols_159]

normally they ask /beg for tips at the end of the trip.. always keep 1 or 5 just for tips..

[Pokeraddict]

Having worked in the service sector 90% of the time the employees involved will have an agreement in place that all tips are pooled and then split between kitchen staff, busboys and bartenders. This is also done with drivers and tour guide, captains and mate's.

 

It is usually done on a % bases, so for the sake of driver and guide it could be a 60/40 split or anything in between.

 

Of course there is theft and lying as to how much the person(s) brought in.

[roger001]

I do pretty much what #2 said. It's all going to depend on the length of the tour and how involved each person was. Minimum probably is $3 for driver, $5 for tour guide. Long tour maybe $5 and $10. You just have to judge for yourself what you felt the worth of the individual was in contributing to the total tour experience. A recent Segway tour in Nassua, I asked the 4 employees that were involved with our fun experience, each to different extents, if they pooled and divided tips. They did not. I tipped each one then individually. Helper $3, van driver $5, Segway initial instructor $5, and the primary guide that led us on the travels $10. And they were all worth that or more. We absolutely fell in love with a young lady, our tour guide in Santo Tomas on the river tour (Evelyn). At the end we gave her $10, but then gave her an additional $20 to give her church (which she had taken us to as they prepared for Easter Sunday). No correct answer....just take a bunch of $1s and $5s....if you wish to tip.

[cb at sea]

NEVER ask someone you're going to tip what is "normal" or if they're "splitting" it! They will invariably tell you a higher amount, and that the tips are per person!

 

Is it "customary" to tip? If you feel you got a lot from the guide, then a tip is lovely. If your tour is basically transportation...then you've paid for that.

 

You tip because you appreciate their efforts. You are under no obligation to tip, unless you feel a tip is warranted.

[trish1c]

It is customary to tip. On every tour we have taken the staff announces that tips are welcome. They often also tell you if they are spliting them.

The amount is up to you.

[sdmike]

When we did our Victor Bodden tour in Roatan we had a driver that took us wherever we wanted all day in a van, "guides" that assisted us on the zipline, and a guide of VB's animal park. There were 11 of us. The total cost was something like $900. We gave $60 for the 3 guides to share, plus another $40 to the driver at the end of the day after he drove us around for 7 hours. They all seemed happy with the tips, which amounted to just over 10% of our base cost.

[che5904]

It is customary to tip. On every tour we have taken the staff announces that tips are welcome. They often also tell you if they are spliting them.

 

The amount is up to you.

 

Wow, we always do NCL sponsored tours and never have we had anyone tell us tips are welcome. It has either been a can at the front of the bus that says tips or the driver and tour guide stand just outside of the doors when you exit to thank you for coming.

 

We were very surprised on our tours that most just got off saying thank you. There were only at most a dozen of us that gave anything to the driver or guide.

 

We've always just gave $5/$3, they seemed appreciative to get it.

[trish1c]

Che I want to go on excursions with you! :) I always tip but I hate being "told" to tip.