Tipping - Canada/New England Cruise

[Gypsy-Bear]

We are sailing on the Gem out of Quebec City in September.  All of our stops are Canadian ports except for Bar Harbor and Boston.  Even though we have paid gratuities on the beverage package and daily service charge we still like to tip cash to crew members who provide great service as well as at the specialty restaurants.  My question is what currency should we tip in?  We've only done Caribbean cruises before so have tipped in US$ but was thinking the crew might appreciate CAN$ to spend in the Canadian ports.  Thoughts?

[shof515]

us dollars is accept in almost every Canada ports just like the Caribbean. it is best to use us dollars

 

also, the ship will relocate to the Caribbean or somewhere else after the canada/new england season

Edited August 2, 2019 by shof515

[Nic6318]

Hi Gypsy Bear

 

Dollar for dollar the USD is valued about 30% more than the CAD. What do you think they would prefer? You're not going to give them a "loonie", unless they wanted one as a souvenir, and even that they could get themselves. 

 

They can access exchange services just as easily as you can. They return to the same ports repeatedly, they get into a routine (just like anyone else), and know what works for them. Just like I have USD's at home all the time, if they felt the need to keep some CAD's or any other currency, they would already have it.

 

have a great cruise

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, Gypsy-Bear said:

We are sailing on the Gem out of Quebec City in September.  All of our stops are Canadian ports except for Bar Harbor and Boston.  Even though we have paid gratuities on the beverage package and daily service charge we still like to tip cash to crew members who provide great service as well as at the specialty restaurants.  My question is what currency should we tip in?  We've only done Caribbean cruises before so have tipped in US$ but was thinking the crew might appreciate CAN$ to spend in the Canadian ports.  Thoughts?

The currency on the ship is USD for passengers and crew. The New England cruises are for a very short period and the people you tip would have to be fortunate enough to get some shore time to be able to spend any CAN dollars (the crew work 7 days a week). Tip in USD.