Room Stewart Tipping

[Krazy Kruizers]

I always give the room Stewart something extra at first and tell him there will be more latter. ( I still do the automatic tipping ) I like to have a little extra service. We are in a Deluxe Suite and think I paid for it. :D I wounder what others do. Also give the water staff at any other place more latter. Bill

 

We do leave the Hotel Service Charge in place.

At the end of the cruise we do tip extra to those crew members who made our cruise an enjoyable one. Usually that is our cabin stewards and the dining room staff.

We also tip the staff in the Pinnacle, Tamarind and Canaletto whenever we eat there.

If we have the same staff waiting on us in the bar/lounge, then we give them a tip at the end of the cruise as well. Lately we rarely have the same staff each night.

We do not believe in giving tips at the beginning of the cruise.

[cruiseguyforever]

We used to tip extra. We never got better service when we did, so we do not tip extra anymore. The workers know who takes off the automatic tips. We tip the standard amount. No more. no less.

[Randyk47]

We do leave the Hotel Service Charge in place.

At the end of the cruise we do tip extra to those crew members who made our cruise an enjoyable one. Usually that is our cabin stewards and the dining room staff.

We also tip the staff in the Pinnacle, Tamarind and Canaletto whenever we eat there.

If we have the same staff waiting on us in the bar/lounge, then we give them a tip at the end of the cruise as well. Lately we rarely have the same staff each night.

We do not believe in giving tips at the beginning of the cruise.

 

What KK said. :)

[dr.dawg]

i agree with bruce muzz; i've never tipped a STEWART. never had one named that. but i most always, except for one cruise, tip extra the STEWARDS. :) but not those on my 'floor' or 'room' -- only my deck and in my cabin. :rolleyes:

[alwaysfrantic]

Only here or on a Disney board would this turn into an argument of manners and grammar.

 

I generally tip extra at the end, with extra on bar tabs as I go, though I understand that is not possible on HAL. ( I will save a lot of money on that difference.)

 

One time though, on a port day on a different line, it occurred to me that maybe the room steward had the day off in port. I gave a $20 to her that morning saying I thought perhaps she needed to pick up a few things at the store. I will tell you there was NO reaction of it being a bribe, or looking for extra or illegal services. She asked if she could hug me, and then she cried.

[sail7seas]

You should feel free to tip a bartender or bar steward anytime you wish. They happily accept any cash you wish to provide. :)

 

Just because you can't write it on a bar tab you still can tip above the automatically applied service charge on all beverage slips.

[cruz chic]

Only here or on a Disney board would this turn into an argument of manners and grammar.

 

I generally tip extra at the end, with extra on bar tabs as I go, though I understand that is not possible on HAL. ( I will save a lot of money on that difference.)

 

One time though, on a port day on a different line, it occurred to me that maybe the room steward had the day off in port. I gave a $20 to her that morning saying I thought perhaps she needed to pick up a few things at the store. I will tell you there was NO reaction of it being a bribe, or looking for extra or illegal services. She asked if she could hug me, and then she cried.

When the money comes with a laundry list of items I would say it's more like a bribe. Your situation wasn't like that at all.

[Cruising-along]

We tip extra at the end of the cruise. I agree with those who feel it's more like a bribe to tip at the beginning of the cruise. We have never had any problem getting extra ice or any other reasonable request, and we have never had to tip up front to get it. We always let our stewards know verbally that we appreciate their hard work -- a smile and kind word goes a long way.

 

That goes with asking for a specific time/table with open dining too. Just not needed, and not our style. ;)

[solocanadian]

We always tip our room and dining stewards at the end of the cruise. I agree with the other posters...to do it before then seems like "bribery" to me.

Sheila, thanks for emphasizing stewards. :)

[SeaRay48]

Interesting discussion on WHEN to tip cruise ship personnel. I agree with both sides of the issue as I like to tip early in the cruise, and at the end of the cruise.

[Boytjie]

When I tipped once at beginning and end, and asked for extra ice for afternoon cocktails, I had no problem. The room steward brought one of those wine chilling buckets full of ice, and refilled it morning and evening. I never wanted for ice. I was practically in steerage.

 

Last cruise, partially because so many here frown upon "bribery", I was going to tip extra only at the end. I asked for extra ice right up front. Was told "Oh, just call for it". So each afternoon, when my stewards are off duty, I am calling for ice. And waiting. Someone else brings it. He finally says "You should ask your room stewards for additional ice." Well, I did. Three times, on three different days, and even told him a wine chiller with ice would work. But for some reason they just wouldn't bring it. Except the one day more than halfway through the cruise when most of the alcohol was gone anyway and he wakes us up early in the morning to ask if we want ice. I said "yes, when you do the room, please leave extra ice." He still did not leave extra ice. Those room stewards did not get an extra tip in the end.

 

Limited experience, but maybe tipping in advance is the way to go.

 

We have always asked for extra ice from our stewards and always got it - sometimes we would get two ice buckets. And we never tip in advance. Seems like you had a bad apple, one that needs to be bribed to do the work that others do with a smile!

[innlady1]

What KK said. :)

 

Ditto.

I have a question about Pinnacle: Are they not included in the automatic tipping?

[Harry1954]

We also always stay in deluxe vs and as S7S said, we agree that we assume the service will be impeccable. If it is below the standard we expect from HAL, we quietly comment to the steward(s) and if that doesn't work, we then go to the concierge. I have yet to see over the many cruises we have experienced this not working .. and in the end we always tip as well as the automatic tipping because the service turns out well in each case.

 

I like the idea of a comment card during an especially long cruise ..that is not something I have tried, but will do so on the WC as we will be on for 76 days and hopefully, will be inclined to write up some platitudes.

harry

[Boytjie]

I like to think I shamed our neighbors into tipping extra at the end of that cruise when they saw me do it in the hallway and seemed like they were all of a sudden acting like "oh, I guess we should do that".

 

Why would you have a need or desire to shame your neighbors into tipping extra? And just how would you know whether they tipped or not? :confused: :eek:

[nana51]

I guess it is bribery to tip at the beginning. I like to think if it was me, I would know all my hard work was going to be appreciated. They know they are dealing with someone who understands your job is low paying and a little extra helps. I'm sure they aren't insulted when they get it.

[VirginiaTripster]

My wife and I have only cruised once before and we tipped daily just like we do during hotel stays. Each day my wife made an origami figures out of a fresh dollar bill plus left a couple of gold colored one dollar coins. She also would leave a special note thanking our steward. It was a nice way of brightening up someone else's day is all. Our steward said she saved all the figures so that she could show them to her son when she got back home. Until then she was keeping them on her small dresser in her room. We pre-pay our regular cruise tip so this was just an extra thank you. These stewards work so hard to make our stay nice. Also, if you want you can order books from Amazon that show you how to make origami figures out of dollar bills.

[sail7seas]

When the money comes with a laundry list of items I would say it's more like a bribe. Your situation wasn't like that at all.

 

 

:) I agree ^^ .

 

[sail7seas]

We also always stay in deluxe vs and as S7S said, we agree that we assume the service will be impeccable. If it is below the standard we expect from HAL, we quietly comment to the steward(s) and if that doesn't work, we then go to the concierge. I have yet to see over the many cruises we have experienced this not working .. and in the end we always tip as well as the automatic tipping because the service turns out well in each case.

 

I like the idea of a comment card during an especially long cruise ..that is not something I have tried, but will do so on the WC as we will be on for 76 days and hopefully, will be inclined to write up some platitudes.

harry

 

 

 

:) Hi Harry.....

 

Seeing we sometimes stay in the same cabin (at different times, of course :eek: ), we sometimes have the same stewards and we agree that are most usually outstanding. It is very rare when we have had a steward we thought needed a bit more training...... actually, I have no memory of us having a steward I would ever have classified as 'bad'.

 

Lucky you...... you'll be doing a good chunk of WC. VERY happy for you.

 

[Typhoon1]

We haven't met Stewart yet. Edwin and Ibra on our last cruise.

[cavecreekguy]

Why would you have a need or desire to shame your neighbors into tipping extra? And just how would you know whether they tipped or not? :confused: :eek:

 

You are reading into things. I did not say I had a "need or desire" to shame my neighbors. I am just saying that when they heard me tell our steward "Thanks for taking such great care of us this week" and I slipped him a tip, they all of a sudden seemed to be fumbling for wallets. It was just an observation.

[cruz chic]

You are reading into things. I did not say I had a "need or desire" to shame my neighbors. I am just saying that when they heard me tell our steward "Thanks for taking such great care of us this week" and I slipped him a tip, they all of a sudden seemed to be fumbling for wallets. It was just an observation.

I'm surprised that you would be able to see that much. Was their door wide open so you could see what they were doing?

[geoherb]

DH tried to find our cabin steward and his assistant the last morning to give them a little extra in addition to the auto tip. Neither was to be found.

[Harry1954]

:) Hi Harry.....

Seeing we sometimes stay in the same cabin (at different times, of course :eek: ), we sometimes have the same stewards and we agree that are most usually outstanding. It is very rare when we have had a steward we thought needed a bit more training...... actually, I have no memory of us having a steward I would ever have classified as 'bad'.

Lucky you...... you'll be doing a good chunk of WC. VERY happy for you.

Thanks, we are really excited .. not sure if DW will stand me for that long .. but we shall see .. she is taking her easel/paints and I will work on the sea days as I did in WC 2011. Hope we have same concierge as she was wonderful on prior WC.

harry

[Cruising-along]

DH tried to find our cabin steward and his assistant the last morning to give them a little extra in addition to the auto tip. Neither was to be found.

 

They're so busy that last morning, sometimes it is hard to find them. We try to give them our extra tip on the last evening, seems to be easier that way. :)

[sail7seas]

We always tip last afternoon/evening as we know sometimes crew are not in their usual places at the usual times on disembarkation morning.