Butler Tips, once or every time???

[kgtgirl]

Hello we are of to a cruise this Friday on the Dawn and it's our first time in a 2 bedroom family suite with a Butler. I know that at the end of the cruise you give your Butler a tip, but do you also tip during the week? Like if you order breakfast to your room do you tip than or just give one large tip at the end?

 

 

Thanks

[Mom2B&Z]

We tip at the end, adjusting the tip according to the requests we make and service received.

Enjoy your cruise, we love the two bedroom suites!

 

 

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[gymbomb]

Just at the end of the cruise is fine. We tried to tip our butler the first time he brought us something and he declined it and told us that if we were happy with his service we could tip him at the end.

[Lupush]

We always tip at the end but usually give a few bucks extra during the week when we order room service, etc.

[BirdTravels]

We only tip at the end of the cruise. Butler, Concierge, and something extra for the room steward.

[roger001]

At the end.

[DMH15]

Another for "at the end"... some butlers will stop you if you attempt during the cruise and say "at the end if I have taken good care of you".

 

 

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[Njkrewzer]

I tipped the night butler each time I saw him, and tipped the day butler just once at the end

[graphicguy]

Just at the end of the cruise is fine. We tried to tip our butler the first time he brought us something and he declined it and told us that if we were happy with his service we could tip him at the end.

 

I’ve always tipped at the end, too. This time (GEM) I was going to tip at the beginning to see if it makes a difference.

 

I did that once on an RCCL cruise (tipped room steward at the beginning of the cruise). He was practically my shadow for the rest of the cruise.

[Turtles06]

Imho, a tip at the beginning is a bribe, and may also be perceived as insulting, as in "don't you trust me to do my job?"

 

A tip at the end is a thanks for the service received.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[dexddd]

Hello we are of to a cruise this Friday on the Dawn and it's our first time in a 2 bedroom family suite with a Butler. I know that at the end of the cruise you give your Butler a tip, but do you also tip during the week? Like if you order breakfast to your room do you tip than or just give one large tip at the end?

 

 

Thanks

 

The 2BR on the Dawn are very nice especially the bathrooms with the window out to the sea.

[Two Wheels Only]

It's up to you but most tip at the end.

[cb at sea]

Tips are extended to those who have served you on your last day/evening....not "as you go".

[sverigecruiser]

Imho, a tip at the beginning is a bribe, and may also be perceived as insulting, as in "don't you trust me to do my job?"

 

A tip at the end is a thanks for the service received.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

I agree with you if you mean to tip before asking for anything.

 

On NCL we have tipped the butler a few times during the cruise, normally when he/she deliver breakfast, but we have tipped the concierge at the and.

[jdvmd]

Tip at the end of the cruise.

[Skipper305]

We tip the Butler at the end, but on initial contact mention “We’ll take care of you at the end”. Always had great service.

Room steward we like to tip daily.

[Summerstravel]

We tipped at the end of cruise and our Butler was awesome. Great Service Great Tip.

[Guest phd1003]

We have always tipped at the end. We offered a tip early one time to a butler and he asked us to wait till the end. However we did give a Steward a partial tip midweek because he was lucky enough to have some time off in Nassau.

 

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[boopsahoy]

Hello we are of to a cruise this Friday on the Dawn and it's our first time in a 2 bedroom family suite with a Butler. I know that at the end of the cruise you give your Butler a tip, but do you also tip during the week? Like if you order breakfast to your room do you tip than or just give one large tip at the end?

 

 

Thanks

We tip at the end but if we use the night butler we tip him a few bucks there and then.

[golfjunkey]

I guess you see the pattern, tipping at the end is the most popular. A tip,we picked up here on CC was to take some small blank thank you cards along on the cruise. We give the tip to our butler and concierge in the thank you cards on the day before final debarkation with few lines to personalize our thanks for the fine service they provided. We just returned off the GEM last week. Our butler and concierge were wonderful. Just ask and they will provide. Have a fun time.

[Cuizer2]

Hello we are of to a cruise this Friday on the Dawn and it's our first time in a 2 bedroom family suite with a Butler. I know that at the end of the cruise you give your Butler a tip, but do you also tip during the week? Like if you order breakfast to your room do you tip than or just give one large tip at the end?

 

Thanks

 

I just tip at the end.

[DMH15]

As usual the only right answer is to tip who you want, when you want, however much you want. There are no 'rules' for tipping nor are there any 'recommended' amounts to tip.

 

 

 

Of course...

 

But I read the OP asked what we do and we told him.

 

It is like these threads where someone has no idea what to tip the butler and concierge and they ask what people do.

 

I think this thread and others are thoughtful because it shows people care and they want to have just a little guidance, then make their own decisions.

 

But these threads always seem to come back to replies that say "do what you want". Duh.

 

 

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[AusQueen]

We tip at the end - concierge, butler and room steward . I think that's the normal expectation. In the restaurants - we also tipped those who regularly served us. Just a way of saying they have been appreciated for their efforts.

[DMH15]

Actually no the OP asked what is the standard, although it was worded a little oddly. In fact the entire first post was based on an the invalid premise "I know that at the end of the cruise you give your Butler a tip". :)

 

 

 

Actually, no. They never asked about standard or norm in procedure or anything about amounts. Just asked what others do as to whether we tip all at the end or incrementally in addition to a tip at the end.

 

They said "What do YOU do?"... That implies varying responses. If they had said "what do WE do?"... that implies a blanket or "standard" response.

 

Some of us answered the actual question, and as you will see, the majority answered that we tip

only at the end. That is different than a "standard" as that would require a larger sampling of responses than this thread provided.

 

I pointed out that "do whatever you want" did not really answer the OP's question. Just like "tip whatever amount you want" doesn't really answer the question when people ask what others tip in other threads.

 

 

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[Cuizer2]

Of course...

 

But these threads always seem to come back to replies that say "do what you want". Duh.

 

 

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If "do what you want" is so obvious, then why was there a question? The fact is that is the impression that there is some standard that MUST be followed. So the correct answer in this case is, there is no standard and you should do what you believe is correct.

 

People get on here and claim they tipped the butler $1,000 without providing details, while others claim the tip $10/day again, without further explanation. When I tipped my butler on the Jade, he replied that he didn't do anything for me. While I admit I did not ask much of my butler, he did do things for me that I appreciated and I tipped him for it. The amount is not important. Clearly I tipped what I felt was fair and clearly he was happy with it.

 

Have you ever read a tour guide book. They also give tipping suggestions. One problem that most US travelers do not understand is tipping, to a very large degree, is something that is not world wide. It is very common in the US and having grown up in the US many US travelers do not understand that it is not common outside the US. Thus the many questions, and thus the "obvious" answer is not so obvious.

 

Because people get on here and claim everyone should tip hundreds of dollars per person, it is important to explain that that is not the standard.

 

Reading further I now see we cannot even agree on what was the question. If we cannot agree on what was the question, they NOTHING is obvious.