Tips

[Peregrina651]

It was $14 pp per night posted to our on board account on the day before disembarkation.

[comcox]

I was reading on another thread that you cannot us any On Board Credit to pay gratuities if you have them put on your account. Does anyone know if this is true? Our TA gave us an OBC just for that purpose.

[Azulann]

I was reading on another thread that you cannot us any On Board Credit to pay gratuities if you have them put on your account. Does anyone know if this is true? Our TA gave us an OBC just for that purpose.

 

I would have your TA get the definitive asnwer for you directly from Viking. It is part of their job, IMO.

[mort&fran]

It was $14 pp per night posted to our on board account on the day before disembarkation.

Just got the documents for our March 5 cruise on the Viking Sea; the 'recommended' gratuity is $15 per.

[Peregrina651]

Just got the documents for our March 5 cruise on the Viking Sea; the 'recommended' gratuity is $15 per.

 

Looks like prices are going up. I was wondering if that were the case. At least I know to adjust my calculations when trying to decide which is a better offer, OBC or pre-paid gratuities (especially considering that on Viking OBC can not be used for gratuities or shorex booked before boarding).

[mort&fran]

Looks like prices are going up. I was wondering if that were the case. At least I know to adjust my calculations when trying to decide which is a better offer, OBC or pre-paid gratuities (especially considering that on Viking OBC can not be used for gratuities or shorex booked before boarding).

 

P-651, you have been providing a wealth of USEFUL (!) information. Glad that I could provide some reciprocity.

 

Safe travels.

[Oceanboy1]

Hi we are going on the Caribbean Experience trip in May the price quoted by Viking includes all gratuities so surely no extra tipping required on board for us

 

 

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[CharTrav]

Hi we are going on the Caribbean Experience trip in May the price quoted by Viking includes all gratuities so surely no extra tipping required on board for us

 

 

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Yes, not required but as others have said, if you feel the need you are free you add. We gave something extra to our cabin steward on both our ocean (last year) and river (2014) cruises.

 

 

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[Peregrina651]

Hi we are going on the Caribbean Experience trip in May the price quoted by Viking includes all gratuities so surely no extra tipping required on board for us

 

 

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Yes, fares quoted in UK include tips and you won't see anything added to your on board account as will the US guests. A tip/service charge is already included in the price of drinks from the bars and spa services. Any additional tipping would be as you see fit for additional services rendered services.

[jiminyC_fan]

Question, when tipping room service what currency do you use? We are on the Viking Homelands and will have a few different currencies to contend with. Thanks!

[CharTrav]

Question, when tipping room service what currency do you use? We are on the Viking Homelands and will have a few different currencies to contend with. Thanks!

 

 

Euros or dollars. I think we used Euros when we were on VH last Summer.

 

 

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[jiminyC_fan]

Thank you CharTrav. On our river cruise we only had to work with Euro's except in Budapest which made it nice.

[friendlyfifer]

Money is money. I'm sure crew members would be happy to receive Euros or Dollars. However the sooner, we move away from tipping the better. Crew/staff should be paid a fair rate for the job they do and good service is not something which should receive an extra reward. Exceptional service, on the other hand, should be recognised by management and the customer. Try tipping in Japan or even in Spain (rural spain not tourist land) and waiters will insist on giving you your money back.

[Fpacifico]

At the sandals resorts, staff can be fired for accepting tips. Only the butlers receive tips. As far as I'm concerned, I tip when I eat out so this is no different. They don't make a lot of money and for the most part they try their best to make sure we enjoy our vacations.

[jiminyC_fan]

I agree Fpacifico. I will continue to tip as I feel they deserve it. I feel they do go above and beyond what is expected. I wouldn't want their job nor their poor salary.

[Fpacifico]

I agree Fpacifico. I will continue to tip as I feel they deserve it. I feel they do go above and beyond what is expected. I wouldn't want their job nor their poor salary.

 

Definitely

[garycarla]

We tend to be good tippers when we are out.

 

But - it is getting crazy on cruises. I know folks here want to tip the waiter or room steward for doing a great job.

 

What I do not get is why folks do not tip the guy in the engineroom for doing a great job in terrible work conditions. Or the guy washing dishes. Or the folks in the laundry pressing table lines. Or the guy scrapping paint and rust on the side of the ship.

 

What is the difference?

[Fpacifico]

We tend to be good tippers when we are out.

 

But - it is getting crazy on cruises. I know folks here want to tip the waiter or room steward for doing a great job.

 

What I do not get is why folks do not tip the guy in the engineroom for doing a great job in terrible work conditions. Or the guy washing dishes. Or the folks in the laundry pressing table lines. Or the guy scrapping paint and rust on the side of the ship.

 

What is the difference?

Do we not enjoy our vacation due to the efforts of these people.

[garycarla]

Do we not enjoy our vacation due to the efforts of these people.

 

Yes we do. Totally.

 

We enjoy our cruise due to efforts of the cook, and dishwasher and linen cleaners, and floor cleaners and engineers and back office clerk, and pilot and..... But - how many of them have people given extra tips to?

[jiminyC_fan]

I would pretty much guarantee that their salary is adjusted because their jobs aren't normally a tipping position unlike the other positions that are.

[Vineyard View]

Cruise Critic published an article on 2/5/17 about tipping on cruise lines. It provided a very interesting overview of the average compensation for various employee levels on cruise ships....including the 'behind the scenes' positions -

Most compensation levels for customer facing roles do rely heavily on passenger tipping....and many behind the scenes roles are not heavily compensated at all.

The article is one worth reading IMHO.

[Krisval]

We tipped $3.00 for breakfast room service. Only ordered once- delivered when requested, nicely prepared and hot, courteous staff. We will order again on next cruise in September, though agree with earlier comment that eating in the restaurant can be a nicer experience.

Next time I'm ordering gelato sometime- someone in another post said they did that each night! Our cruise was cut short, so didn't have a chance to give it a try, but each out in September!

[Krisval]

Oops, reads like I was saying the server was "hot"! Can't even remember, too early in the morning!

[Peregrina651]

Oops, reads like I was saying the server was "hot"! Can't even remember, too early in the morning!

 

LOL :eek:

 

And I'm sorry you told me about the gelato because that is a killer for me. My BIL (who sailed with us in June) was very upset that the gelato bar wasn't open after dinner because there were a couple of nights, after the show, when he was craving a dish of it.

[rjscott]

On one of our Viking river cruises, they did something very nice at the conclusion of the Captain's farewell dinner. They had a parade thru the dining room of all the servers, bar staff, housekeeping staff, and those "behind the scenes" people you may never see or see infrequently but don't know what they do. Their names and job title were announced and everyone applauded them. It was so nice to give these people recognition.

 

Becki