Gifts For Cabin Stewards, Or Others

[Krazy Kruizers]

We always lave the automated tips in place just to make certain that the crew get their portion of the tips and we always give to those who have served us well and made our trip an enjoyable one -- more CASH!!!

[Bequia]

If you insist on a gift, a potatoe masher always comes in handy. You never know when you'll need it. And they can easily be stowed away. :p

[oakartist]

:cool:Cash is the best unless you know of something they need. On one cruise the cabin stewart was having trouble reading and I picked up reading glasses for him in port. I knew the power he needed because he tried my reading glasses before I went into to buy them.

[amapola]

I agree cash and recommendations are the absolute best. And regarding Christmas, many of the staff and crew may not even celebrate it, so to them Dec. 25 is just another day with no special meaning. Everyone is free to do as they wish, of course :).

[Shirley and Les]

I plan on bringing a one pound box of See's chocolates for the cabin steward with a $20 inside..... :D

Don't forget the cabin steward is really a team of two or more people and the primary attendant has to share the tip with helper(s). It is a lot easier to divide cash instead of deciding who wants all the caramels vs the cashews, etc., etc., etc. :eek:

Les

[cruzincurt]

How about no candy and $40 instead? As for someone suggesting they increase fares to cover the low wages, go right ahead, just send an extra $200 or so with your final payment.

[cusyl]

I correspond with a crew member on the QM2. I asked him his opinion on what the guys on the ship would like as we are cruising Christmas week.

He said that he personally collects baseball caps and he has them from all over the world.

[Floflegs]

Cash as well as the added gratuities but we put it in a personal thank you card.:)

[Max Circus]

I correspond with a crew member on the QM2. I asked him his opinion on what the guys on the ship would like as we are cruising Christmas week.

He said that he personally collects baseball caps and he has them from all over the world.

 

That's cool. I wonder if he keeps them with him or sends them home?

 

Illustrates the point though that most cruisers don't know anything about the steward or waiter making it hard to provide an appropriate "personal" gift. For all you know, the steward is allergic to (fill-in-the-blank). Or you bring him a Red Sox cap and he/she is a (dreaded :eek: ) Yankees fans.

 

Seems to me the safest way to give them something extra is to give more cash.

[cusyl]

He keeps them all, they stack on top of each other. Am sure they are from states and cities, not baseball teams. (The caps with a bill)

[VentureMan_2000]

I find the whole concept of wanting to do something special for the folks you are hiring interesting. You are paying them for their work... they are not keeping your cabin clean and made up out of the goodness of their heart.

 

It sounds a lot like you all want to do something "for the little people"... more to make yourself feel good as opposed to really helping them out.

 

I agree... cash is king. I always prefer cash over any other kind of perk. WHile the gesture is nice, I wouldn't want a bunch of "cutesie" things given to me.

 

Want to make "the little people" feel good, give them a cash tip up and beyond the suggested tip. But keep in mind, only good work should be rewarded this way.

 

That being said, I like to tip "the little people" more to make me feel good... and I hope it makes them feel good too.:rolleyes:

[grammyof14]

What is suitable to give your room stewards or concierge? both during and at the end of the cruise. Last cruise I left them each an envelope with $50 in it. Enough or not??? This is all new to us. Don't want to be too stingy

[VentureMan_2000]

Porters you tip $1 per bag.

 

Cruises charge you $10 per day per person for tipping. It is automatically added to your cruise bill. A cabin with two people will be charged $20 each day to cover all tips on the ship.

 

You do not need to tip more than this, no matter what others say. The Cruise Lines have determined that this is fair tip... and will bill your room automatically.

 

Additionally, tips are automatically added to your cocktails and drinks, so no need to tip here either.

 

My personal opinion is that $50 additional is way too much... $50 is more than a 100% tip on top of the tip you will already be paying.

 

Tipping is about $3.50 per person, per day for your cabin steward ($7 per day). This is automatically added to your bill. For a 7 day cruise, that is $49.

 

The $49 they cruise will be charging you is plenty. You need not tip further. Some like to tip more... and you may. Just be aware that the cruise is automatically adding TIPs to your bill.

[cruzincurt]

Automatically added? Not always the case. On RCCL Mariner I had to go to the pursers desk to have the automatic tip added to the sail'n sign account.

[TrentS]

SOME cruise lines automatically add the minimum tips, BUT NOT ALL LINES DO THAT! Some you have to request it as stated above, and others do it the old fashioned way. They let YOU, the passenger, give the tips out.

[Shirley and Les]

What is suitable to give your room stewards or concierge? both during and at the end of the cruise. Last cruise I left them each an envelope with $50 in it. Enough or not??? This is all new to us. Don't want to be too stingy

Hey Grammy, you sound too much like my DW.

Suggested tip for a cabin attendant is $3.50 per person per day for the cruise. So, for a one week cruise, it is $24.50 per person in the cabin. Rounding up, that sounds like $50 for two peope in a cabin for normal service. If your steward goes around the bend, a bigger tip is appropriate.

[1cat4jan]

I find the whole concept of wanting to do something special for the folks you are hiring interesting. You are paying them for their work... they are not keeping your cabin clean and made up out of the goodness of their heart.

 

I do find the concept of making "friends" with the staff on the ship simplistic, to say the least.

 

I guess my definition of "friend" is different than most - kinda like people who sign all their greeting cards "love." Careless use of both words weaken them.

 

The staff on the ship smile and ask you how your day was because that is their job and they know, if they do it well, with a friendly attitude - they will get a good tip.

 

They are working hard for two reasons - to keep their jobs and to get the highest tip possible.

 

That's not to say they don't have pride in their work - or that they aren't friendly by nature - but to say you've become "friends" with people paid to serve you - seems strange to me.

 

Do you have your friends at home clean your toilet?

 

And yes, I do believe some pax bond with some staff - and I do believe sometimes there are genuine feelings between these groups - but even if you become "friends" - that doesn't mean this "friend" wants trinkets and t-shirts, etc. - they need cash - they want cash.

[JillianS1128]

ok, from a crewmember (well staffmember)

 

if you're from Canada or the UK, bring Canadian/UK goodies-especially if you're going to be using camp carnival (since Camp Carnival is made up of a lot of Canadians and brits) :) There are a lot of snacks that they don't sell in the states that we miss a lot. (McIntosh toffee, dill pickle and ketchup chips, crispy crunch bars, smarties)mmmm :)

 

as for gifts for your stewards/waiters, it has been said that we don't really have a ton of room to store things. Special thoughts and gestures will ALWAYS be appreciated, it's sweet but, gifts will likely be admired for a couple weeks and then, unfortunately, discarded as there simply isn't room to collect 6-8months worth of gifts :)

[momofmeg]

my nana was a cruise queen and always brought gifts for her stewards and waiters and for them to send to their families, she got to know some people really well. needless to say last year we have our cabin stewardess a bracelet and she cried....she was so excited....sometimes the smallest gesture means the most!

But how did you know if you would have a stewardess and not steward? Plenty of cruises my stewards and dining waiters were all male-more men do these jobs then women. Three times in 10 cruises that we have had a female waiter. Twice in 10 cruises we have had a female steward. So that means out of 30 people who have served us-only 5 have been female.

 

Now alot of the lounge waiters are waitresses but I don't drink that much.

 

I also think money is best. We often double the tip when we have a superior waiter or steward-they ALWAYS appreciate that and have made that very clear to us by their thankful smiles and words of thanks. I do like the idea of personal cards and giving them a picture you took of them.

[momofmeg]

Automatically added? Not always the case. On RCCL Mariner I had to go to the pursers desk to have the automatic tip added to the sail'n sign account.

We did that too and they give you little cards to give them in envelopes so they know you have tipped. We added a little extra to both our waiter and steward-the asst. waiter was not so good so she just got the basic tip.

 

The reason we put the tips on our sail and sign card was we did not bring enough cash and we wanted to tip extra to those that gave us great service-so we did it that way.

 

Plus I have heard they have to pool their tips-we figured by tipping them on the sail and sign card and then giving the extra cash-it would be their choice as to whether they pooled everything.

[mared1]

A gift is just that a gift. Give whatever you want to - you have no control over what the receiver of the gift will do with it.

I do give extra tips for good service. And I always verbally thank the staff for a job well done. Some times I leave a handwritten note expressing my thanks along with some money.

I do like the idea of leaving a note with a couple of dollars daily to the cabin steward.

[Francis]

yes, cash in king. give them cash, it is easy to carry and they can buy whatever they want. this was what we did on our rcl explorer of the seas cruise. the waiter in windjammer was exceedingly friendly and we gave him cash on the 7th night, wrote him a nice note so that he could show it to his boss. he was an assistant waiter, we hope he would get his promotion soon.