Give me the skinny on tipping please

[ithaca gal]

You can either bring your own envelopes, or ask for some at the front office. I usually bring a package of blank thank you cards from the dollar store and write a note of thanks and maybe something I've learned about them during the cruise i.e. "I hope you enjoy the time with your family when you go home at the end of the next cruise." You don't have to do that, it is something I enjoy doing.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

 

I always draw a little cartoonish picture on the front of the envelope. Maybe a cocktail pic for the wine steward ... sometimes just a sunset pic for the room steward. I hope it shows appreciation in addition to the contents!

 

But I love your idea of adding something about them that you learned on the cruise. Shows you were listening and you care! Thanks for the idea!

[ithaca gal]

If I:

- pay the pre-included tips,

- leave a $20 for room steward at the end of the week,

- sit at the same dining room table every night and leave a $20 at the end of the week, and

- give $1 or $2 any time someone does something special for me like bring me room service or just generally do something nice,

 

where would that stand on the tipping scale between being a cheap ba***rd and being an overtipper (like Steve Martin's character in My Blue Heaven)?

 

In other words, does the crew get paid a sufficiently decent wage that this is enough for them to feel appreciated for their good work?

 

Be honest - I want to be a generous (but not ridiculous) tipper when I get good service.

 

The fact that you are leaving the auto-tips in place in the first place takes you out of the cheap ba***rd category! :) The "tip police", as some people like to call people like us who realize that leaving the service charge in place and then give additional tips would most likely tell you that it is not necessary to give more than the auto-tips but it is a very decent thing to do. We usually give a minimum of $20 to the room steward and $15 to his assistant -- more if service is exceptional. (That usually doesn't happen as we don't require much.)

 

In the dining room, again, we usually tip about $20 to the main waiter and $15 to his assistant if they are "pretty good". More if they are hustling to keep us happy -- whatever that means! :)

 

We tip $2 for room service. IF the maitre'd/ dining room manager comes to our table every night and seems to want to make dining a great experience, we tip him $10. Most times we don't have to because he only shows up on the last night or two, to make sure we know who he is! LOL

 

I'm sure there are people who tip more than we do, but I think we are average (among those who like to reward good service and show appreciation). Again, there is no NEED to add to the service charge or auto-tip ---- just like there is no obligation to tip a waiter on shore. But it is the right thing to do.

[sherilyn70]

You outlined pretty much how we always do it. Our last cruise we had pre paid gratuities and then gave out $20s to those that gave us excellent and consistent service. We never really interacted with the steward so we didn't give him extra this time (normally they're on our list) but both the server and his assistant had been so wonderful we slipped each of them extra on the last night.

[Illyria]

LESS than US waitstaff? Really ? :(

 

The envelopes mentioned. Are the staff's name/position/your cabin no etc on them or how do you make it known where the money is going?

 

I have the auto-grats on my booking and was planning on tipping extra as I see fit. I can certainly see myself giving more to my room steward and I'll go from there.

Most mass market cruise lines got rid of the envelopes when they introduced the automatic daily gratuities. So no more of those envelopes in your cabin at the end of the cruise, with names of positions and cabin numbers. If you want to tip someone extra - you literally hand them cash (or ask guest services for a blank envelope to put the cash in).

[GUT2407]

i LEAVE AUTO TIPS ON AND IF i THINK THEY ARE WORTH IT JUST hand them some cash, sometimes in an envelope sometimes just give it to them.

[donaldsc]

This brings up another question about rccl diamond lounge. On our last 15 day TA I figured my wife and I had a total of 6 drinks during the C&A event each night and always took one addional with us down to late dining, that make a total of 8 per day for 15 nights adding up to about 120 drinks for the cruise, most of those were Martinis or Makers. I gave our waiter, who was the same all week, a tip of $120.00. I felt that was sufficient, but my wife thought I was being cheap and gave him another $60.00. I would be interested to hear what others who get free drinks leave as a tip..

 

Four drinks per person per day and during a limited time period. Were you able to walk a straight line back to your stateroom.

 

DON

[OzKiwiJJ]

I like to use an envelope and write a short thankyou note on the front of it.

[hdowney]

Yea I think a nice note with the tip is good, particularly if you have gotten to know them during the cruise. Personalizes it a bit I think. Shows you care.:)

[ger_77]

Do you give the envelope directly to the steward or leave it on the desk in room?

 

If we see our cabin stewards on the last night (which we usually do), we hand it to them, otherwise you can leave it on the desk with their name on it.

 

I always draw a little cartoonish picture on the front of the envelope. Maybe a cocktail pic for the wine steward ... sometimes just a sunset pic for the room steward. I hope it shows appreciation in addition to the contents!

 

I can't draw my way out of a paper bag (unrecognizable stick-men), so I wouldn't even attempt it. They might think I was swearing at them or something! LOL I envy those with artistic talent.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Wendy&Grumpy]

If I:

- pay the pre-included tips,

- leave a $20 for room steward at the end of the week,

- sit at the same dining room table every night and leave a $20 at the end of the week, and

- give $1 or $2 any time someone does something special for me like bring me room service or just generally do something nice,

 

where would that stand on the tipping scale between being a cheap ba***rd and being an overtipper (like Steve Martin's character in My Blue Heaven)?

 

In other words, does the crew get paid a sufficiently decent wage that this is enough for them to feel appreciated for their good work?

 

Be honest - I want to be a generous (but not ridiculous) tipper when I get good service.

 

Most cruise lines include autograts at amounts which are considered industry standards.

 

Not only is nothing more required, the autograts themselves are not required.

 

Tips should be based on quality of service received, not on some perceived need to subsidize wages of some "poor" "underprivileged" "you fill in the blank" crew member.

 

When it comes right down to it, the amount you do or do not tip is your business, at your discretion.

 

Anyone in a service position worth their salt is going to provide good service, and be appreciative of all tips received, no matter the amount.

[hdowney]

:confused: yours is likely to be an unpopular opinion here. And if you are someone that removes auto-grats on-board, it is likely and unpopular opinion on the ship too.

[Husky61]

:confused: yours is likely to be an unpopular opinion here. And if you are someone that removes auto-grats on-board, it is likely and unpopular opinion on the ship too.

 

I guess now that they have found out it would be unpopular on this forum as well as the ship, they have changed their ways to conform.:rolleyes:

[Cruisin' Chick]

Most mass market cruise lines got rid of the envelopes when they introduced the automatic daily gratuities. So no more of those envelopes in your cabin at the end of the cruise, with names of positions and cabin numbers. If you want to tip someone extra - you literally hand them cash (or ask guest services for a blank envelope to put the cash in).

 

If you ask at the passenger services desk, you may find out that the tipping envelopes are still available.

[hdowney]

:thumbup:

[DalTXColtsFan]

Still say that anyone who hasn't seen My Blue Heaven needs to. Unique comedy and Vinnie will make you never see tipping the same.

[PhoneGoddess]

Still say that anyone who hasn't seen My Blue Heaven needs to. Unique comedy and Vinnie will make you never see tipping the same.

 

One of my favorite movies! :D

[CanadianDee]

Hmm. Putting My Blue Heaven on my must-watch list.

 

I love the auto-gratuities. We consider them - as do most, I think - the obligatory tip. After that, we tip for over-and-above service and all room service.

 

The OP's tip look generous to us, but not extravagantly so.

Edited June 4, 2015 by CanadianDee

[tarheelkate]

Just got off RCCL Freedom last week and they did leave two or three "extra tip" envelopes in the room on the last night.

Edited June 5, 2015 by tarheelkate

[Elaine5715]

If I:

- pay the pre-included tips,

- leave a $20 for room steward at the end of the week,

- sit at the same dining room table every night and leave a $20 at the end of the week, and

- give $1 or $2 any time someone does something special for me like bring me room service or just generally do something nice,

 

where would that stand on the tipping scale between being a cheap ba***rd and being an overtipper (like Steve Martin's character in My Blue Heaven)?

 

In other words, does the crew get paid a sufficiently decent wage that this is enough for them to feel appreciated for their good work?

 

Be honest - I want to be a generous (but not ridiculous) tipper when I get good service.

 

Unless you are an obnoxious jerk, your plan is generous but not over the top. You will find the crew appreciative and when you return, you will likely be remembered and no request denied. Ignore the anti tippers..they hate the idea that more the minimum can be even expected from them while they expect the maximum from the crew.

[pris993]

If I:

- pay the pre-included tips,

- leave a $20 for room steward at the end of the week,

- sit at the same dining room table every night and leave a $20 at the end of the week, and

- give $1 or $2 any time someone does something special for me like bring me room service or just generally do something nice,

 

where would that stand on the tipping scale between being a cheap ba***rd and being an overtipper (like Steve Martin's character in My Blue Heaven)?

 

In other words, does the crew get paid a sufficiently decent wage that this is enough for them to feel appreciated for their good work?

 

Be honest - I want to be a generous (but not ridiculous) tipper when I get good service.

 

We do about the same as you describe. Some times more if staff go out of their way to respond to our requests.

 

On some cruises we feel everything was outstanding, then we tip more - recall on a recent TA on HAL, we tipped about $300 beyond the auto tip in the MDR and to our Room Steward.

 

Whether this is generous or not we don't know. We do what we feel is right. In 50+ cruises, we felt service was very poor once and did not tip at all, this was before auto tip. Interestingly the waiter from the MDR was looking for us on the morning we departed and asked us if we forget something, we said no we did not forget.