European cruise tipping.. bring euros or dollars?

[PompeySailor]

6 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

At least you now know that money is only good in the country that made it......

 

I always carry some Chinese Yen to spend at my local Chinese restaurant in Orlando and a few Bhat when I decide to eat Thai in Celebration 😜

[klfhngr]

Must be a FL/Humidity thing! 😜

[the penguins]

6 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We're getting ready to go!! Woohoo!

Do you recommend dollars or euros for tipping (diamond drinks, suite drinks, extra cash here and there) on European (Greek Isles out of Ravenna) cruises? 

If dollars, we need to pack small bills, if euros, we'll get them after we arrive (got a zero fee debit card just for such things).

Thanks!!

It makes no difference, for the crew the ship. If you intend to bring some Euros rather than change them back in to 💲use them at the end of the cruise for tips and top up with 💲or anything else if you need to. Once off the ship any cash tips should be in Euros.

[klfhngr]

Our favorite bartender from our May cruise, out of Italy, didn't have a preference.

[danv3]

Our waitstaff eagerly accepted Euros on our med cruise in July.  They're over there for the season and I assume want some cash to spend ashore without the need for currency exchange.  

[steamboats]

12 hours ago, LinRon3 said:

Speaking of Krones [ha], we learned that Norway, Sweden and Denmark Krones are different currencies each nation with different exchange rates etc.  IOW, Danish Krones are no good in Sweden or Norway and visa verse in each. 

 

No need to get any Krones in Scandinavia... You can pay with your credit card even at the stalls on a market. In Scandinavia locals hardly use any cash anymore.

 

steamboats

[zap99]

23 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

We're getting ready to go!! Woohoo!

Do you recommend dollars or euros for tipping (diamond drinks, suite drinks, extra cash here and there) on European (Greek Isles out of Ravenna) cruises? 

If dollars, we need to pack small bills, if euros, we'll get them after we arrive (got a zero fee debit card just for such things).

Thanks!!

Anything smaller than 5 Euro is a coin, not bills, or notes . The European ATM's don't dispense coins.

Edited August 17, 2022 by zap99

[cruisin from florida]

44 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Anything smaller than 5 Euro is a coin, not bills, or notes . The European ATM's don't dispense coins.

Hmmm. And coins are harder to exchange for other currency, in my experience. 

I think we'll take some dollars, get some euros before we board, and ask folks what they prefer. We're doing a week in Italy after the cruise, so we're not going to get stuck with a bunch of euros.

[TeeRick]

57 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Anything smaller than 5 Euro is a coin, not bills, or notes . The European ATM's don't dispense coins.

And ATM's dispense only $20 paper bills in $USD.  So what is the problem?  Getting $euro's in paper bills from the ATM is the best exchange rate.  Especially if your bank rebates ATM fees.  If you want to tip below 5 Euro you can make change I guess.

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

And ATM's dispense only $20 paper bills in $USD.  So what is the problem?  Getting $euro's in paper bills from the ATM is the best exchange rate.  Especially if your bank rebates ATM fees.  If you want to tip below 5 Euro you can make change I guess.

No problem to me as I always tip dollars on US,or Caribbean.Euros in Europe and pounds in UK. The Dollar/Euro exchange rate makes the maths easy.🤣

[the penguins]

19 hours ago, TeeRick said:

On European cruises, there are at least two ATM's on board the ship.  One dispenses $Euro's and one dispenses $USD.

Usually Euros by Guest Relations and Dollars in the Casino 

[PompeySailor]

3 hours ago, ChC said:

 

Correction, Chinese money is Yuan, not Yen. Yen is Japanese, you will get cursed behind your back if you attempt to give the Chinese restaurant staff Yen.

Well spotted

Was pretty sure, not many would notice 😎

[Jam0610]

22 hours ago, klfhngr said:

On the ship, either will work. While on land, Euros are preferred. We just got back from a 10 day Med cruise, I was SHOCKED that no one wanted USD! A few shops in Greece took our dollars, but in Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, and Italy, ALL wanted Euros! We were  there in May of THIS year, so trust me on this!

 

EDIT: We took a boatload, no pun intended, of smaller USD bills and $2 bills, we came back with a bunch! 😉

 

I am serious with this question. I don't think I have seen a $ 2.00 bill in thirty plus years. Where do you get them? Didn't even think Mint still made these. 

[neverbeenhere]

40 minutes ago, Jam0610 said:

 

I am serious with this question. I don't think I have seen a $ 2.00 bill in thirty plus years. Where do you get them? Didn't even think Mint still made these. 

Go to your local bank, they either have them or can order you some.

[neverbeenhere]

BTW:

Anyone with any unneeded or undesired currency, you can forward it to me. I accept it all.

[PompeySailor]

I have quite a few, I also have an uncut sheet of sequential $2

Might be worth double face value.

Its the Silver and Blue seal versions that increase in value for numismatist’s

[klfhngr]

1 hour ago, Jam0610 said:

 

I am serious with this question. I don't think I have seen a $ 2.00 bill in thirty plus years. Where do you get them? Didn't even think Mint still made these. 

I walked in to Wells Fargo and asked for $100 in $2's. They did say to request ahead next time. But they had a boat load of them that day. In Mexico, they love them as tips! I just got my son a bunch on his cruise last month for tipping, they were a hit! Not sure why.

[Maria63]

I think dollars would be preferred before euros as tips, if the person you are tipping is saving money to send to their home country as remittances. And many of the staff very likely do this. At least you can't go wrong with dollars when tipping onboard.

 

Otherwise in Europe, when not on the ship, you would of course tip in euros. One thing though, Europeans, esp. Northern Europeans and Scandinavians, are often amazed at the generous tips American visitors hand out. We don't have the same tipping culture at all, as the staff in the hospitality business mostly work on fixed salaries and don't depend on tips the same way as in the US. The crew on ships on a European itinerary with mostly non-Americans as guests, often eagerly await deployment to itineraries where they get to serve the generous Americans. Many Europeans are not at all familiar with the American tipping culture, and simply don't understand the importance of tips.

 

[PompeySailor]

26 minutes ago, Maria63 said:

 

A very large generalization for the continent of Europe don’t you think 

 

That’s because in Europe wages are relatively higher in the service industry and tips are just not the way of life for the majority of the WORLD.

 

Europeans pretty much understand the US culture of tipping, it is just NOT the way it is or has been done in Europe for 100’s of years 

 

Maybe tipping in the US for last 250 years is the norm in US

But for 80% of the World tipping is not a thing 

that’s reality 

 

Where  do you get your information on Europeans, I am intrigued 

or is it all guess work and assumption 😎

Edited August 17, 2022 by PompeySailor

[Maria63]

2 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

A very large generalization for the continent of Europe don’t you think 

 

That’s because in Europe wages are relatively higher in the service industry and tips are just not the way of life for the majority of the WORLD.

 

Europeans pretty much understand the US culture of tipping, it is just NOT the way it is or has been done in Europe for 100’s of years 

 

Maybe tipping in the US for last 250 years is the norm in US

But for 80% of the World tipping is not a thing 

that’s reality 

 

Where  do you get your information on Europeans, I am intrigued 

or is it all guess work and assumption 😎

 

It's just my experience, as I have family members and friends who have at various times worked in the hospitality business, both here in my home country and in Continental Europe. I haven't done it myself, but I remember for instance my now sister-in-law telling stories from when she worked in a hotel in Helsinki and later in Continental Europe, and how much American guests could tip her.

 

When my DH & I first visited America, we were very nervous about how to go about the tipping. Guide books are full of advice on how to do this, who you need to tip and how much. It's something you just don't know if you haven't grown up in the system - as I myself of course have not. It's also a usual topic of converstaion between Europeans on a cruise in for instance the Caribbean. We worry about the tipping and how to do it right.

 

You are perfectly right that it is because the base salaries over here are generally higher - sorry, I was unclear in how I put it. Please understand I did not mean to offend anyone, I just find for instance the difference in tipping culture interesting and intriguing. I'm not saying that either system is better or worse, it's just how it is. 

[PompeySailor]

I get where you are coming from, however 

Europe really isn’t the same as USA (America)

 

Both are continents, that’s it as in likeness in a nutshell.

 

USA is made up of States 

Europe is many many different countries and cultures and different languages and currencies and rules and labor laws.

Tipping being a USA thing, not a European thing.

 

USA is one country and 1 language and 1 currency 

(Granted there are many languages spoken and many people from other countries that are US citizens and 2nd 3rd generation etc etc

 

Americans (Not all) put Europe and Europeans into one basket.

Which is like the rest of the word saying the US is made up of Canada, Mexico and South America 

Europe is a name for a continent of countries.

Euroland was a German dream to conquer Europe by politics and the Euro  also a German dream to combine countries together.

 

Europeans are far more travelled than US 

that’s a fact

Some Americans think you can leave the country and go to Europe on a drivers license 😜

 

Passports by Country

USA 44%

Canada 70%

UK 83% (Europe)

Sweden 90% (Europe)
 

Data regarding passport issuing is very skewed, so my figures are probably not 100% accurate, but more of a indicator 

 

I like you are form somewhere else, now living in a different country.

 

We adapted, we embraced and immersed ourselves i into the US culture and way of living. I respect the country and the flag and the culture and am a law abiding citizen.

I am still English (British) but I am not European

Americans are Americans from America 🇺🇸 

 

I love watching Family Feud 

My favorite  question 

Q: Name a romantic Country

A: Paris

🤣

 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by PompeySailor

[goldfish65]

Let's not hijack 

[PompeySailor]

Tipping threads are the best 👍🏻

[Joseph2017China]

2 hours ago, klfhngr said:

I walked in to Wells Fargo and asked for $100 in $2's. They did say to request ahead next time. But they had a boat load of them that day. In Mexico, they love them as tips! I just got my son a bunch on his cruise last month for tipping, they were a hit! Not sure why.

Because who wouldn't want a $2.00 tip on top of an 18% tip.  That's more than double the normal tip!

[Maria63]

6 minutes ago, PompeySailor said:

 

 

Europeans are far more travelled than US 

that’s a fact

Some Americans think you can leave the country and go to Europe on a drivers license 😜

 

 

In a way I agree with you - but on the other hand, I think one needs to consider how big the US actually is. That's something we (I mean people I've met and happened to discuss this with) tend to forget, when we say that people in the US are less travelled. If I travel some 150 km south from were I live, I'm already in a foreign country where I don't even understand the local language. If I go 300 km west, I'm also abroad and in an other country, and 400 km east I'd be in Russia and I need a visa and not just a passport. So I wouldn't be to hard on the US folks who have never "been abroad" or needed to apply for a passport.🙂