Tip for room service?

[frites]

We will be on the Solstice for the 12 days Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are part of a tour group, so the gratuities are pre-paid.

But I read on the ship guide that we should tip for room service. We plan to order a simple continental breakfast each morning. Mainly because we need at least 2-3 cups of coffee to be human. How much should we tip?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Iamcruzin]

We will be on the Solstice for the 12 days Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are part of a tour group, so the gratuities are pre-paid.

But I read on the ship guide that we should tip for room service. We plan to order a simple continental breakfast each morning. Mainly because we need at least 2-3 cups of coffee to be human. How much should we tip?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Tipping is a personal choice. I base the tip on how much I order which is usually for 2 people in the room. For a continental breakfast $2-$3. Lunch or Dinner $5.

[WestLakeGirl]

Not required but always appreciated, a dollar or two for coffee & simple snack

[Jane2357]

We get room service coffee every morning :D it is my wake up call of a liquid kind. We always tip $2.00 for the delivery person - I find it easy to take an envelope full of $1.00s - then set out a couple each night so that as I stumble to the door - they are right there. If you have a butler (suite) I do not tip upon delivery but tip for various things as we go along.

[spookwife]

We will be on the Solstice for the 12 days Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are part of a tour group, so the gratuities are pre-paid.

But I read on the ship guide that we should tip for room service. We plan to order a simple continental breakfast each morning. Mainly because we need at least 2-3 cups of coffee to be human. How much should we tip?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

between $3-5 per day, depending on how much you order

[Lsimon]

We will be on the Solstice for the 12 days Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are part of a tour group, so the gratuities are pre-paid.

But I read on the ship guide that we should tip for room service. We plan to order a simple continental breakfast each morning. Mainly because we need at least 2-3 cups of coffee to be human. How much should we tip?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

Your prepaid gratuities include room service staff - I've confirmed this with Celebrity twice in the past few years. With rare exception, all the expected tips once onboard Celebrity are either included in the daily gratuity, included in other charges, or added onto a related billing automatically.

 

Because of this you never have to worry about stiffing the staff which rely on tips or gratuities for their service. At the same time many cruisers, including myself, often tip additional over and beyond the auto-charged amounts. To do so is a personal choice and if you choose to do so then it should be for personal reasons or as a reward you'd like to make for the service and not from fear of stiffing the staff.

 

As far as comments as to what is appropriate for additional room service tips I've read everything on these boards from a dollar or two to much larger amounts.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Lsimon

[cb at sea]

The tips (suggested, or prepaid or added to your account) cover your cabin attendant, waiters and ass't waiters and head waiter.....

 

Room service isn't included, so a small tip, proportional to how much they have to carry to you is appreciated. $1-2 for coffee/danish, more for a full dinner for 2!

[Lsimon]

The tips (suggested, or prepaid or added to your account) cover your cabin attendant, waiters and ass't waiters and head waiter.....

 

Room service isn't included, so a small tip, proportional to how much they have to carry to you is appreciated. $1-2 for coffee/danish, more for a full dinner for 2!

 

Sorry but room service is included. As I said in my post above, I've confirmed this twice with Celebrity over the years. The first time was back when the auto tips where first put into place. At that time they increased the tips to add a new category called "other service personnel. I emailed Celebrity asking who this new category covered. I recall that their response listed several positions, or types of positions, including the room service staff.

 

Then a little less than two years ago there was a debate in this forum about whether room service tips were covered. I couldn't find the email response discussed above so I emailed them again just to make sure of the facts. Their response clearly indicated that the room service staff were part of the daily gratuity tip pool. If you don't believe me then email them yourself. I have no agenda against these people and no reason to say something like this other than to let people know about facts I have confirmed. As I said in my post, I am among those who do tip them additional and feel they deserve it but at the same time I feel accurate facts should be known so others can be informed when making up their mind on this subject.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Lsimon

[junetraveler2014]

We will be on the Solstice for the 12 days Sydney to Auckland cruise. We are part of a tour group, so the gratuities are pre-paid.

But I read on the ship guide that we should tip for room service. We plan to order a simple continental breakfast each morning. Mainly because we need at least 2-3 cups of coffee to be human. How much should we tip?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

We tend to tip a bit higher than standard but not too much higher and it is always a personal preference to how much or if you tip. For room service, generally if it is just coffee we tip $2.00, $3.00 if it includes pastries and $5.00 if a complete breakfast. Never have lunch or dinner thru room service but on occasion have had pizza at night, in which case it would be $5.00. Hope this helps

[pxy cda]

Yes it is included in your gratuities and we have found it is your room steward that typically brings the food.

 

We usually tip $2-$5 depending on the volume ordered.

 

When we arrive, we usually ask the room steward for a few things to get us set up (items for pressing, egg crate on bed for better comfort and if possible loungers or foot stools for the balcony, wine glasses and an ice bucket for the wine we bring onboard - and yes you are allowed 2 bottles per cabin ;) ). I have this in a little note with a $20 to give to them - we always have stellar service!

 

We also take a handful of thank you cards so that at the end of the cruise we can give them a personalized thank you with a little extra cash for those who have gone above and beyond to make our cruise special - Barstaff, room steward casino/restaurant staff.

 

This extra gratuity is optional and totally in your discretion. I always budget some extra $ for additional tips as they work so hard to make our trip special every time!